LOST: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham and Lafleur

The climactic scene in 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham,' in which Ben strangles Locke, shot atop the Ben-Locke canon and may just grace the cover of their Greatest Hits. Shocking, dark and poignant, it is why LOST still thrills.

The rest of the episode? Personally, I found most of Locke's pleading to the Oceanic 6 rather unconvincing. "We have to go back"? That's all you've got, John? It probably didn't help that he was greeted with responses ranging from tepid (Sayid, Mr. Habitat for Humanity) to downright cruel (Kate).

The parts that worked were the most unexpected: Widmore explaining his side, Abbadon getting offed rather abruptly and the news that Locke's former love, Helen, was apparently dead from a brain aneurysm. I think she's either a) not dead, or b) dead and killed by Widmore, et al.

Tidbits:

-Does this seem to tie up loose ends with Walt? That was rather anti-climactic.

-Lapidus apparently took off in one of the boats with "some woman." Could it be anyone but Sun? And who wants to bet that they're the ones shooting at Sawyer and Juliet during those flashes?
-When Locke belly flops into the Tunisian desert in 2007, cameras are eyeing him. These didn't seem to be there when Ben landed in the same spot in 2005.

As for 'Lafleur': how groovy to see Sawyer in such masterful mode. He, Juliet and the gang seemed to get permanently stuck in 1974 at the height of Dharma's heyday, thanks to Locke turning the frozen donkey wheel. We see bits and pieces of their lives between 1974 and 1977, by which time Sawyer is the head of Dharma security and Juliet, who still delivers the occasional baby in her spare time, is his romantic companion.

I was surprised how believable I found their romance. They've been flirting all season, but when it finally came to be, it seemed to make sense. Meanwhile, they save Amy, a pregnant Dharma-ite, from certain death by shooting two thugs who had put a potato sack over hear head. This doesn't sit well with the guy in charge, Horace Goodspeed, last seen in Season Three. It seems he's concerned that it broke a truce with the "hostiles."

Sure enough, Richard Alpert walks into camp with the swagger of an opposing head cheerleader. He doesn't recognize Sawyer, now going by the name Jim Lafleur, who unloads information only someone in his position could know (hint: Jughead).

The revelation that Jin encounters Jack, Kate and Hurley in 1977 shouldn't be surprising, considering that we witnessed it two episodes ago, yet it packed a wallop. The look on Sawyer's – sorry, Jim Lafleur's – face was perfectly conflicted.

Tidbits:

-We got another glimpse of the four-toed statue. Except this time, the statue was complete with a body (back facing us) suggesting the Losties were passing through an ancient civilization.

-It would be shocking if Amy's baby is not someone we know.
-What happened to Daniel through all this? Is he down constructing the Orchid? Did he follow the little girl Charlotte and scare her Bogeyman style? He doesn't seem to be part of Juliet and Sawyer's life 1974-77. At least that we can see.

-What the hell happened to Bernard and Rose? I'm sure they're not dead.

-Are Locke and all the Ajira passengers in another time? It would seem so.

-Wouldn't Juliet know to look out for Ben in the 70s? I'm surprised she hasn't spotted him.

-Best line of the night: Sawyer referring to Richard as "Mr. Eyeliner."

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham: B+ Lafleur: A-