Episode summary:Jack gets suspicious when newcomers Charlotte and Daniel vanish into the jungle. As he and Juliet search for them, Juliet--briefly separated from Jack--encounters Harper, one of the Others.
In flashbacks, we learn that Harper is the Others' shrink and see her counseling Juliet when she is new on the island. We eventually learn that Harper is Goodwin's wife, and becomes angry as Juliet and Goodwin begin having an affair. Ben also isn't happy about it. He has his eye on Juliet. We learn that Ben sent Goodwin to infiltrate Ana Lucia's group of crash survivors in hopes that Goodwin would get himself killed, which he did. Juliet is shattered when she learns what has happened and is fearful of Ben.
Back in the present (or whatever), Harper tells Juliet that Charlotte and Daniel are heading to the Tempest. We learn that this is a Dharma station housing deadly chemicals--the same chemicals Ben used years ago to wipe out all the Dharma settlers. Harper says that Charlotte and Daniel plan to release the chemicals and kill everyone on the island, and that Juliet must stop them.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the jungle, Kate--on her way back to the beach after leaving Locke's group--encounters Charlotte and Daniel. They're evasive about what they're up to and Kate is suspicious. She asks to look inside a large bag Daniel is carrying and sees that it contains gas masks. At the same time, Charlotte hits Kate on the head with a gun and knocks her unconscious.
Jack and Juliet find Kate a short while later and, while Jack attends to Kate, Juliet dashes off to the Tempest station to stop Charlotte and Daniel from completing their mission.
At the Tempest, Juliet finds Daniel typing furiously at a computer keyboard. He tells Juliet he's not trying to kill everyone, he's trying to save them. He's trying to make the gas inert so Ben can't use it again. Charlotte then creeps up behind Juliet and the two women get into a scuffle while Daniel types away. It turns out Daniel was telling the truth, he makes the gas harmless.
Right about then, Jack and Kate show up and get clued in as to what's happening.
Meanwhile, back in Otherville, Ben persuades Locke to let him out of his cell. He promises to reveal who sent Daniel, Charlotte and the rest from the freighter. In the living room of his house, Ben opens a hidden safe and pulls out a videotape which shows Charles Widmore, Penelope's dad, beating someone senseless. The person being beaten is one of Ben's people and Widmore has somehow found out about the island and wants to take control of it.
Now having a common enemy, Locke releases Ben, letting him live among the rest of those who have settled in the Others' homes.
Questions/clues/observations:* When Locke asks Ben to identify the
spy on the freighter, Ben says "ok, but you better sit down." We don't learn who spy is, but all the speculation that it's Michael seems pretty well reasoned.
*
Was Harper real or a vision/ghost? She appeared and vanished mighty fast. And how did Ben get her to deliver a message to Juliet?
* There was
mysterious whispering when Harper showed up in front of Juliet. Does this whispering signal the arrival of ghosts? Last season, Ben heard weird whispering right before his dead mom showed up.
* Did
Widmore find out about the island via the Black Rock journal he bought in that auction? What, exactly, are his plans?
* What was the original purpose of
the Tempest? What were the Dharma's studying there?
* Harper says Ben likes Juliet because she
looks just like "her"? Who does Juliet look like? Ben's mom? A former wife of Ben's who died in childbirth?
* We get a brief look at
Sawyer and Hurley playing horseshoes and Hurley's winning big time. Sawyer asks how he got so good and Hurley says "I guess I'm just lucky." But we know he's been anything but in the past. Did the island "cure" his bad luck?
* Ben and Juliet have an interesting exchange about
the children the Others abducted from Ana Lucia's group:
B: "I want to thank you for how wonderful you've been with Zack and Emma."
J: "They're really sweet kids. Ben, They've been asking me about their mother in Los Angeles. I'm not really sure what to say."
B: "They'll stop asking in time."
J: "They're children...do they really belong here?"
B: "They're on the list Juliet. Who are we to question whose is on the list on whose not"
Again, we ask, what's the deal with these lists?
Also see:Lost Season 4 Episode GuideThe Best Lost Sites on the WebLost: What we STILL don't know
