Let's talk about pacing for a moment. "The Shape of Things to Come" raced at full speed through the hour last night. It made me remember the last season of the Sopranos, where everybody and everything was shoehorned into the scripts. Last night we got the return of Vincent and Smoky, Claire's fake-out death, a truly shocking murder, a peek at Ben's secret lair, an explanation of why Sayid is Ben's paid assassin, time-travel, and a bunch of other meaningful information. On the one hand, this makes for an exciting episode, vastly superior to snoozers like "The Other Woman," but on the other, couldn't they divide the action up a little more evenly throughout the season? Is this a mark of writers who finally know where they're going and are concerned they don't have enough time to get there — or are they simply trying to deal with a strike-truncated season?

Back to that shocking murder. Poor Alex. To hear your father call your mother "an insane woman," then repudiate his relationship with you seconds before your murder at age 16 is tremendously sad — as is the fact that they have killed off yet another of my favorite female characters. They'd better not harm a hair on Penny's head, but after Ben's hotel room confab with Widmore, that hope is probably in vain.

Of course, Alex's death is the first time we get to see Ben drop the Evil Manipulator mask. He can't believe his eyes when Kearny pulls the trigger, which of course makes it all the more shocking to us (as does its placement shortly after finding out Claire's not dead after all). "They changed the rules," Ben mumbles. Which leads me to think that his nonchalance and bravado in his negotiations with Kearny are due to the fact that he's been in this exact situation before—only it doesn't end in Alex's death. This is a pivotal moment. Now we know why the stakes are so high. Before it was about power and possession, now Ben wants revenge in addition to the island. We get a glimpse of Ben's secret lair (its entrance, anyway), learn that he can summon, if not control, the Smoke Monster, and see him time travel (to 2005 Tunisia, Iraq, and London). All of this hinges on Alex's death.

Finally, Sayid. I know you are grieving for Nadia, but I thought you realized that Ben can't be trusted. He points out Ishmael Bakir, names him Nadia's killer, shows a photo in support of that allegation, and you swallow it hook, line, and sinker? The smile on Ben's face as he walks away after Sayid offers his allegiance is wonderfully evil and creepy—back to his true form after his daughter's death.

A few random comments:

• The Shape of Things to Come is also the title of a novel by H.G. Wells, that takes the form of a history book from the future—but I'm sure you guys already knew that!
• Ben vomits orange liquid when he wakes in the desert. The anti-sickness serum is orange—so if you dose yourself before you time travel, perhaps you don't become unstuck in time.
• He's also wearing a parka with a Dharma insignia we haven't seen before, and the name Halliwax, though later he uses his Dean Moriarty passport.
• It's open season on doctors. Jack is already popping pills and showing signs of a disturbing illness, while the doctor from the freighter floats up dead, his throat slit. (By the way, Kendrick—the fictitious couple Ben tells the London hotel clerk he's on his way to see—is the doctor's name in Audrey Niffenegger's novel, The Time Traveler's Wife.)
• Finally, a question for you. When it comes to great, brain-hurty episodes like this one, I find I need several additional viewings and a supplementary podcast or two, plus visits to some of the websites, to come close to picking up all, or at least more, of the nuances and details. I'll enjoy that, but man, it's a time suck. How much time do you spend on Lost throughout the week?

• I know that a lot of you like Juliet. I don't — and I'm not entirely sure why. I think it may be a combo of her constantly smug expression plus a vulnerability that makes me want to slap her rather than identify with or want to help her — because it's her passive-aggressive way of manipulating people. I'm not sure if this the way the character is written or the way actor Elizabeth Mitchell plays her. Either way, I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention that Juliet got another of the evening's best lines. Jack expresses incredulity that Ben has a therapist on staff, and Juliet shoots back: "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack." Hah!
• Too much Juliet wasn't the only disappointing aspect of "The Other Woman," though after last week's tour de force, anything barring full disclosure of What It All Means, explained by a naked Desmond, was bound to fall short of expectations. "The Other Woman" falls into the category of Lost episodes that seem interminably long because they do little to advance the storyline. Did we really need a whole new character (Harper) plus her not particularly interesting back story, just to get Juliet to follow Charlotte and Dan to the Tempest? Ben has or had a crush on Juliet (or chose to make people believe that). Did we need precious minutes wasted on Goodwin/Harper/Juliet to explain Ben's anger at Juliet? We already know he's ruthless and controlling, why drag Juliet up the hill to see that "the Tailies" killed Goodwin? I'm sure this was all meant to underscore the hatred that leads to Juliet's defection but, to me, this storyline felt shoehorned in and unnecessary.
• On the other hand, I really want to know what happened to Ben's childhood sweetheart, Annie, assuming here that she is the person who Juliet looks so much like.
• Speaking of unbelievable, let's talk for a moment about Locke, who apparently now believes everything that Ben tells him. I'm glad for the tidbit of info about Charles Widmore and his search for the island (it's looking more and more like he is "The Economist" who employed Sayid's doomed futuresweetie), but hasn't Locke learned that whenever Ben starts handing out dossiers, it's for Ben's benefit and nobody else's? Totally loved Ben's laconic "so has the revolution begun yet?" He's got Locke's number all right.
• Ben obviously fears and hates Widmore. So because Ben = bad, does Widmore = good? Or - my take, so far - are they both bad apples, bent on the island's exploitation, each for his own nefarious purpose? And where does Penny fit into it all?
• I assume Claire wants to talk to Miles because of her previous chats with psychics back home (who told her not to let other people raise her baby). Miles is not so stable, and it seems that Claire doesn't make it off the island — or makes it off the island and dies. Is there a connection?
• C.S. Lewis and Dan Faraday have disarmed the Tempest station. They have either saved everyone on the island from the poison gas Ben meant to kill them with, or they have destroyed one of the island's lines of defense, making it easier for the Freighties to attack.

Lots of crazy stuff happened both on and off the island tonight:

• For starters, there's a discrepancy of 31 minutes and 20 seconds between the island and its immediate surroundings, which makes the prospect of time travel an ever more probable storyline.
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• Not only is Sayid a member of the Oceanic 6, he's working as an assassin and Ben (Ben!!!!) is his boss.
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• Who doesn't love a double-crossed affair? Especially since today is Valentine's Day. Also, gotta love the beeper.
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• Ben has a drawer full of foreign currency and passports, one of which has the name Dean Moriarty under Ben's photo. Dean Moriarty = one of the main characters in Jack Kerouac's On The Road; Kerouac also wrote The Dharma Bums. Moriarty = Professor James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's arch-enemy.
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• When Sayid and crew found Hurley in the closet, I starting thinking my impression last week that Locke was pleased with Hurley's apparent ability to see Jacob was wrong. After the reveal (Hugo = bait), I'm back to my original interpretation.
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• Island Sayid removes Naomi's bracelet (inscribed "N, I'll always be with you, R.G."). Future Sayid fingers a similar bracelet on Elsa's dead wrist. Is it the same one?
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• How has Ben manipulated Sayid into working as his killer? And who else is on the list Ben has given to Sayid?
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• Who is The Economist?
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• Best Line: Hurley, after Miles calls him "Tubby": "Oh, awesome, the ship sent another Sawyer."
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• Honorable mention: Miles, to Frank: "In case you zoned out while you were tweezing your goatee . . ."
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• Favorite New Theory: The island is a giant lump of super-magnetic holmium.