Season 4 Secret Clue 6

Welcome back to the LOST Secret Clue, where we dig deeper to find the clues and secrets you might've missed to fuel your theories! This week's episode, "The Other Woman", was a terrific look back at Ben's true twisted nature, Juliet's habit of falling for the wrong man and a nail-biting race against time towards the new island station, The Tempest. A villain stands revealed, Hanso returns, a telnet system, some bad gas and a dead bunny...

We've seen Ben go to some pretty desperate lengths to stay in control before, but he truly sunk to a new low this week. Since the first conversation between Ben and Juliet in season three, many have suspected that they may have been involved at some point, or at least have history and 'The Other Woman' went all out to show that it was completely one-sided. From excitedly giving her flowers, lingering his fingers next to hers and staging a dinner party for two, Ben's true colours were revealed; he may be a master tactician and a special connection to Jacob, but when it comes to matters of the heart, he's still the confused and angry little boy we saw arrive on the island. Ben's had some chilling lines before, but none so much as "You're MINE!"

In fact, this may be the first time we've seen Ben's Achilles Heel, Juliet, and the reason for this may lie in the whispered put-down therapist Harper muttered: "You look just like her." Who could Harper be referring to? As a therapist, she may have jumped straight to the oedipal choice, Ben's mother. Ben never seemed to move on after causing her death during child-birth, so having a brilliant woman who looks just like her working on a way to bring new life to the island could certainly capture his eye. Another possibility stems from Ben's obsession in beating the fertility problem - we've never learned what happened to young Ben's girlfriend Annie. Could she, too, have died in childbirth on the island, meaning Ben sees Juliet as a way to rectify the past?

In the present, we witness Locke once again falling prey to Ben's mind games over leadership and, before no time, Ben is walking around upstairs and promising Locke the truth - and what a truth it is. We've long suspected Widmore's involvement in island proceedings, and his purchasing of the Black Rock ledger in 1996 in last week's episode supported it. Not only has Ben confirmed that Widmore is the man behind the freighter, but that he means bad news for everyone on the island with his plans to exploit it. Finally, he tells Locke - off-camera - who his man on Widmore's boat is, and the news is good enough for Locke to set him free. Whoever it is, Locke must now believe that they are indeed the right man for the job.

Ben's reveal of Widmore's search for the island begs an interesting question though; what are Ben's intentions for the island moving forward? Through Goodwin in Juliet's flashback, as well as Faraday and Charlotte's mission, we not only learnt of the existence of another station but its purpose. It would appear Ben has told his people that the Tempest is the island's power station, though the truth is far more deadly: Ben has stockpiled more of the deadly gas we've seen him so effectively use with the intention of wiping the island clean of life if necessary. Talk about a selfish scorched earth policy - no one is getting their hands on Benjamin Linus' toys, no matter what they are. Goodwin learned this the hard way; Jack had best watch his back.

The particularly interesting thing about The Tempest is the way it ties to previous information we've learned. The Hanso Foundation made a surprise, subtle return last night as one of Harper's diplomas was a "Certificate of Recognition" from the group. Another was from the "Experimental Social Psychology Society"... which certainly sounds like the sort of project they might be involved in. Those who followed The Lost Experience will remember that the Hanso Group had six major departments working on various pseudo-scientific developments meant to save humanity from itself - one being a way to decimate a select portion of the population through a biological attack... Could Goodwin have been former Hanso?

Considering we're well aware of the close ties between Widmore and Hanso, and that Dharma was once a Hanso project supposedly shutdown in 1987 (The Purge?), is it such a stretch that Widmore might be simply be coming home to claim what he believes is his? Or is conflicted, twisted Ben truly the good guy?