Talking to Digital Spy about his ongoing role in the mysterious island drama, Dale admitted that he was given very little information about who Widmore was, or how important he would be to the show's mythology, when he first started on the show:

I think [Charles Widmore] is more involved in the show than even I realise... From the initial scenes I did with Henry Ian Cusick, the lines would indicate to me that he's a rich, powerful arsehole! That's what I think he probably is, so I just use that basic colouring and work from there. The [producers] don't tell anyone what's going on because the show has a lot of nutcase fans, and people could get a lot of money if they sell the storylines online. So they protect themselves by telling nobody.

So does that mean he knows nothing about what's coming up?

Truthfully, no. I know as much as anyone else, but I don't even know as much as you because I got sick of it. It went through a lull in scripts in the third season. At that point I felt like I had watched them wandering in a line through the forests a bit sweaty for the 1000th time. I thought 'I can't watch this anymore'. Then out of the bushes came a black cloud, which grabbed a black man and threw him to the ground, and I thought 'I definitely can't watch this anymore.'

While I'm a big fan of Dale's honesty, I can't help but wonder how much longer he's going to stay with the show if he keeps making comments like that... The Island won't always need you alive, after all, Mr. Widmore.

Alan Dale Talks Lost, Grey's [Digital Spy]

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?