Last night's episode of LOST was further proof that no show on television, maybe in television history, has as large a scope on what it's trying to achieve, while also simultaneously providing some of the best character work that there's ever been. This show just owns. They shouldn't even call it LOST, they should call it OWNED. You hear that, Heroes?

Where to begin?

- That scene where smokey comes and demolishes the snipers in the trees was just completely bad ass. It was very similar to the last scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where the Ark melts the Nazis' faces. Good Lord, that was just bad ass.

- I absolutely just LOVE that they keep taking Ben deeper and deeper. Just when you think you know everything about Ben, they add another layer of complexity. I sometimes find this maddening...such as in Juliet's episode earlier this year. But damn, he's one wicked ass villain/hero.

I mean, take that one instance where he convinces Sayid to kill the man who killed his wife. That smile he gave as he walked away was just devlish. The man is the master screw turner.

And then that scene at the end where he's talking to Charles Widmore...just more proof that there's a reason that he's always a step ahead. That scene, and the scene earlier where he says that Charles "broke the rules" hints that he knows, or is supposed to know exactly what happens...almost as if it's all happened before.

My guess is that Alex's killing was a game changer. There's a theory going around that they're stuck in some kind of loop and that Charles and Ben have gone through a similar scenario before. Last night's episode added a little more fuel to that fire.

- Last night's episode was pretty damn brutal. First they kill a bunch of "red shirted" (Star Trek reference) castaways, then they killed Ben's daughter, and they topped it all off with Sayid killing his lover's assassin. It's further proof that Season 4 is the "Empire Strikes Back" season of LOST. Everyone's getting their asses handed to them.

- It's just amazing how well the LOST writers either a) plotted this all out from the beginning or b) tie everything up so tightly that everything seems to work out in the end.

Remember in the Season 1 finale when the smoke monster is taking Locke through the jungle and it tries dragging him down into the ground...and Locke asks Jack to let him go because he's confident that he's going to be okay? Well, that completely falls in line that Ben would sneak into an underground lair and unleash the smoke monster.

- The scene where the guerrilla guy kills Alex was damned brutal. Michael Emerson deserves an Emmy nomination for his scene where he calls Alex a pawn and that she's really not his daughter. That's just hard core.

I also liked that Ben asked Locke to stay close to Ben...that he couldn't die. It's further proof that Locke is the key to this show. And it all concluded that they're going to Jacob's cabin. If there's one thing S4 has lacked, it's been a good Locke storylne. Last night's episode really kicked off his arc. His episode is the one after next and I am psyched.

Oh well. Sorry if this post is difficult to read. I didn't have a lot of time to write out a fully coherent post.

Not one of my all-time favorite episodes, but I did like the sense of dread and the action that the show produced.

- Matthew