They've changed the rules.

Lost – The Shape of Things To Come
Locke’s camp comes under attack and Jack tries to identify a body that has washed ashore.

What is there to say about this episode that couldn’t be said in 4 minutes? I’ll give you the answer: a lot! It was most definitely a game-changing episode. First off, we get a flash-forward of Ben and Sayid. Now we know that Charles Widmore has something to do with why Sayid is teamed up with Ben later on – he had Sayid’s wife Nadia killed. I have a sneaking suspicion that Ben may have had a hand in that as well, but that will play out later. Sayid is convinced he needs to help Ben assassinate all known associates of Charles Widmore. This week’s flash-forward started with Ben waking up in the middle of a desert wearing a parka with a gun wound in his right arm. Two Middle Eastern gentlemen toting AK-47s ride up to him and act threatening, to say the least. While one of them is searching Ben’s pockets, he suddenly transforms into Jason Bourne, calmly and efficiently ending their lives.

The ship’s “security” guards have obviously made it onto the island since they killed Rousseau and took Alex captive last episode. They make their way into Locke’s camp and proceed to mow down anything that moves. Sawyer is very sneaky and manages to make it over to Claire’s cabin in order to drag her virtually untouched body out of the wreckage of her cabin. Apparently on the island you can launch a rocket at a cabin, reducing the entire thing to burning toothpicks, and if only one person is inside she’ll survive and just be a bit shell-shocked.

The main security guard, Martin Keamy, tries to get Ben to come out of his cabin by holding a gun to Alex’s head. Ben calls Keamy’s bluff and Keamy paints the ground with Alex’s brains. I saw Hitman this weekend so I can assure you I know exactly what happens when someone is shot in the head. If you too would like to know, please rent Hitman because I don’t want to think about that movie ever again. Ben is left in shock, mumbling something about changing the rules. He runs into his secret room and summons the smoke monster, which turns Keamy’s “security” team into pulp. Ben goes over to say goodbye to his daughter, which is a really touching moment and I’ve got to give Emerson props for the way he acted. He made Ben into a very human character in that scene.

Locke and his crew move out. There is some strife, so Sawyer, Claire, Miles, and Hurley decide to head back to the beach to join Jack’s group. Ben and Locke have decided to head to Jacob’s cabin to find out what’s going on. Since Hurley is the only person who knows where Jacob’s cabin is, he is forced to stay with Locke and Ben at gunpoint. While all of this was going down I didn’t get the feeling that Hurley really wanted to go to the beach. I think he wants to stay with Locke and Ben. I may be completely wrong on that guess, but that’s the nature of the show.

The episode started out with Bernard finding the body of the doctor aboard the ship washing up on the beach. The satellite phone was broken, so Faraday rigged it so it could transmit Morse code to the ship. Obviously Jack has suspicions about Faraday and why his group is on the island, and they were confirmed during this episode. Faraday sent a message to the boat asking about the doctor, then lied to the group. But, Jack had Bernard on hand to call him out. The people on the boat said that the doctor was fine and nothing was wrong on their end. The island’s time difference is rearing its nasty head again. Jack violently confronts Faraday about why they are on the island and Faraday admits that rescuing the survivors of Flight 815 is not on their agenda. Jack has had a stomach bug all episode and right at this moment he hits the ground like Mike Tyson when he fought Buster Douglas.

The most interesting scene in this episode occurs during the flash-forward with Ben. He breaks into Charles Widmore’s house and confronts him in his bedroom. Charles has taken the Chuck Bukowski method of sleeping to heart and pours himself a tall glass of scotch to wash away his dreams. Ben accuses Charles of killing Alex, and Charles tells Ben it was his fault. Charles also makes it clear to Ben that the island will be his again. Ben says that because Charles changed the rules by killing Alex, he is going to kill Penny.

• I’m not convinced Rousseau is dead. She seems too tough to go out the way she did.
• I like how the Lost producers were like, “What are we going to do with all these random survivors that walk around and carry firewood and stuff?” and then the another producer is all, “I know, let’s get a bunch of guns and shoot them all and blow some shit up.” I didn’t catch the credits so would someone please check and tell me if Michael Bay directed this episode?
• When Ben finds himself in the desert and doesn’t know what year it is…that’s a telling moment. Now we know that time travel has something to do with everything.
• This episode began with a top shot of Ben splayed out in the desert. The series began with a shot of Jack splayed out on the beach. Hmmmm.
• When they’re playing Risk and Hurley says, “Australia is the key to the whole game.” Am I the only one who gets the sense that may have more meaning than just talking about Risk?