The Shape of Things to Come (Lost)
[3] The narrative centers on Ben Linus (played by Michael Emerson) as he and the Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crash survivors at the Barracks come under attack in December 2004, while flashforwards to late 2005 show him recruiting Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) as a hitman and confronting his enemy Charles Widmore (Alan Dale).
Daniel lies about the response, saying that rescue helicopters will be sent soon; however, Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) calls him out on this and correctly interprets the freighter's message: "What are you talking about?
Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), who suffers from stomach pains throughout the day, forces Daniel to reveal that it was never their intention to rescue the survivors.
He is partially successful, as he saves Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) from her exploded and burning house, but three survivors (portrayed by extras) are shot to death by the mercenaries.
[16] They would later even conclude that the season was better as a result of the interruption, as they were able to discard "languid, contemplative material" and felt "recharged [with] a real energy to attack [the] last six episodes".
[17] The first three seasons were broadcast on Wednesdays in the United States and Canada;[18] the pre-strike fourth-season episodes aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m., a time slot normally occupied by Grey's Anatomy.
[24] The scene in which Ben confronts Widmore was actually filmed in London, because actor Alan Dale was unable to fly to Hawaii as he had been appearing in a production of the play Spamalot.
One of them, Doug, was played by Sean Douglas Hoban, who received credit as a co-star for the first time in his run on the show, having been cast in the pilot as "Passenger #4".
[28] A couple of Easter eggs are present in this scene:[29] Ben's parka has a name tag that indicates that it was formerly owned by Edgar Halliwax (François Chau) and it displays the first appearance of the logo for a Dharma station called the "Orchid" that would not be seen until the episode titled "There's No Place Like Home".
[30] Another Easter egg is glimpsed in the next scene, when Ben reveals his forged Canadian passport previously seen in "The Economist" for his alias Dean Moriarty,[31] which is also the name of the central character in Jack Kerouac's 1951 novel On the Road.
"[35] "The Shape of Things to Come" was viewed in the United States live or within five hours of broadcast by 12.075 million people,[36] ranking Lost as the fourteenth most watched program of the week.
[38] In Australia, "The Shape of Things to Come" was watched by only 683,000 viewers,[39] but Lost was nominated in the same week for two Sun-Herald Bogie Awards—a parody of the Australian Logie Awards—in the categories of "Most Underrated" series and "Most Jerked Around by the Networks".
"[42] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly called "The Shape of Things to Come" "one of those deliciously dense episodes in which the nourishment of revelation is mixed with huge chunks of sugary intrigue" and speculated that the scene in which Alex is executed will be "sitting very high on this ranking of all-time pivotal Lost moments" by the series' May 2010 end.
"[49] Erin Martell of AOL's TV Squad summed up "The Shape of Things to Come" as "a brilliant episode ... [with] tons of action, several big revelations, and more questions to ponder".
[50] Don Williams of BuddyTV decided that the episode was "worth waiting five weeks for" and "so jam packed that I need to give my brain time to rest".
[51] Williams's colleague Oscar Dahl ranked the scene in which Alex is killed as the fifth best moment of the season, noting that "it was perfectly paced ... and provided a huge shock ... and some of the best acting you'll ever see".
[55] Jamie Poniewozik of Time worried about the show's direction in which Widmore is suddenly the antagonist and Ben travels the globe to seek revenge.
[56] Daniel of TMZ called "The Shape of Things to Come" "another solid episode of Lost", grading it as a "B" and claiming that "I enjoyed it the whole way through, even if it never gave me that 'OH MY GOD!!!!'
Kevin Thompson of The Palm Beach Post wrote that "with those big ol' eyes of his, [Emerson] could always say more with a lengthy stare than he could with twenty pages of dialogue.... [He has], once again, proved why he has become Lost's star as well as its heart and soul.... an Emmy should belong to [him].
"[60] Among those who also praised Emerson's performance as Ben were Robert Bianco of USA Today,[61] Matt Roush of TV Guide,[62] Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy, who gave the episode a perfect rating of five stars,[63] John Kubicek of BuddyTV[64] and aforementioned critics from The Star-Ledger,[54] The San Diego Union-Tribune,[42] Time,[56] Entertainment Weekly,[25] IGN[47] and TV Squad.
