'Lost' in More Flashbacks

I know I said that I might rip my eyes out of I had to see another flashback on Lost, and while that still holds true, I actually made it through the entire hour of this week's episodes with my eyes fully intact. Maybe it was due to the fact that the flashbacks were more detrimental to the story (since they involved "the rescuers" -- and let me take this moment to point out that I use the term "rescuers" very loosely) or to the fact that I'm completely hooked on this "why are they here?" mystery that I'm sure the writers will somehow find a way to string along for way too long until I no longer care -- either way, the trip through the not-so-distant past was interesting.

What did annoy me about this outing, though, was the way we were all supposed to be soooo surprised that "the rescuers" are on the island to get Ben. We waited all hour for the shocking twist de jour, and all we got was this lousy tidbit that we had all suspected from the start. I want to know WHY they want Ben. Is it related to his mass genocide of the Dharma group? Or is there something more going on? And who is this "man" that Ben has on their ship? As usual more questions than answers, but at least there are some answers. Thank goodness for small favors.

Raise your hand if you're not at all surprised that Ben is still as conniving as ever. Everybody? That's what I thought. Locke is crazy to think that Ben's harmless except for his mouth (of course, Locke just might be crazy, after all, he's taking orders from a taller Walt!)! It is his most effective weapon, but it doesn't mean it's his only. Meanwhile, Juliet is probably wishing that she had been on Oceanic flight 815. There's no telling what happens now that "the rescuers" know that she's a "native." Next up, we find out the identity of another one of the Oceanic 6. I still think that one of them is Locke and it was his funeral that tore Jack up in last season's finale.

Screencaps courtesy Lost-Media.com.