The Shape of Things to Come (Lost)

"The Shape of Things to Come" is the 81st episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and is the ninth episode of the fourth season. It aired on April 24, 2008 on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada.ABC Medianet, (February 20, 2008) "ABC Announces the Return of Television's Biggest Hits Shows". Retrieved on March 19, 2008. The episode was written by co-executive producer Drew Goddard and co-producer Brian K. Vaughan in late February 2008 and directed by executive producer Jack Bender in mid-March.ABC Medianet, (April 7, 2008) "Locke's Camp Comes Under Attack and Jack Attempts to Identify a Body That Washes Ashore". Retrieved on April 7, 2008. 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).

"The Shape of Things to Come" is one of a few Lost episodes to contain footage filmed outside Hawaii. The episode aired as the first of the second batch of fourth-season episodes that were originally planned to air uninterrupted by a hiatus with the rest of the season; however, the 100-day 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike paused production and caused the writers to condense the second half of the season, which aired after a four-week break.Nichols, Katherine, (April 22, 2008) "The Dirt on Lost", Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved on April 26, 2008. "The Shape of Things to Come" received positive critical reviews, and the original broadcast in the United States was viewed by 14 million people. Much praise was directed at Emerson's acting skills, particularly in his reaction to the execution of his character's daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde). His performance in this specific episode received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards; the episode was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series.Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, (July 17, 2008) "Complete 2008 Nominations List ". Retrieved on July 17, 2008.

Plot The episode is set on December 27, 2004, the survivors' 97th day on the island. At the beach camp, the corpse of Dr. Ray (Marc Vann), the freighter Kahana doctor, washes ashore. Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) calls the freighter and asks what happened to Ray via morse code. 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? The doctor is fine." 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.

Meanwhile, Alex is captured by Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand) and others from the freighter.Sarnoff, Elizabeth (writer) & Vaughan, Brian K. (writer) & Williams, Stephen (director), "Meet Kevin Johnson". Lost, ABC. Episode 8, season 4. Aired on March 20, 2008. As they take her to the Barracks, she sets off an alarm heralding the arrival of Ben's enemies. Ben, John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) fortify Ben's house, while James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) goes to retrieve the other survivors in the Barracks. 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. Keamy finds and frees Miles Straume (Ken Leung), giving him a walkie-talkie to take to Ben. Ben communicates with Keamy, who threatens to kill Alex if Ben does not surrender. Ben attempts to negotiate and is shocked when Keamy executes Alex. Locking himself in the house's secret room, Ben enters a hidden chamber. He re-emerges shortly after covered in soot, and the smoke monster attacks Keamy's henchmen. The survivors flee for the forest, with Ben lingering briefly to grieve over Alex's body. Afterward, Ben and Locke depart to locate Jacob for further instructions. Sawyer, Hurley, Claire and Aaron turn to return to the beach with Miles, but Locke holds them at gunpoint, successfully demanding that Hurley goes with him (as he has found Jacob's cabin before).Lindelof, Damon (writer) & Cuse, Carlton (writer) & Bender, Jack (director), "The Beginning of the End". Lost, ABC. Episode 1, season 4. Aired on January 31, 2008.

Flashforwards show Ben on three continents in autumn 2005. Ben is startled when he wakes up in the Sahara Desert wearing a winter jacket and with a large cut on his upper arm; challenged by two armed locals, he kills one of them (Nick Hermz) and knocks the other (Sammy Sheik) unconscious and travels on horseback to Tozeur, Tunisia on October 24, 2005. Ben journeys to Tikrit, Iraq, where the funeral of Sayid's wife Nadia Jazeem (Andrea Gabriel) is taking place. Ben tells Sayid that Widmore ordered Ishmael Bakir (Faran Tahir) to kill Nadia. Ben lures Bakir into a trap to be killed by Sayid, who shoots Bakir repeatedly. Ben recruits Sayid to become Ben's assassin, and leaves for London, where he breaks into Widmore's penthouse; although Ben cannot kill Widmore, he states that he is going to kill Widmore's daughter Penelope (Sonya Walger) in retribution for Alex's death. In their conversation, Widmore claims that the island is his and that he will take it back from Ben one day.

Production

The Writers Guild of America went on strike on November 4, 2007,McNary, Dave & Littleton, Cynthia, (November 2, 2007) "Writers Call for Strike", Variety. Retrieved on November 3, 2007. by which time only eight of the planned sixteen episodes of Lost fourth season had been written.Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (November 5, 2007) "Lost Writers: 'Like Putting Down a Harry Potter Book in the Middle' ", Variety. Retrieved on November 8, 2007. These episodes aired from January to March 2008.Grossman, Ben, (November 7, 2007) "Strike Coverage: ABC to Air Partial Season of Lost", Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on November 8, 2007. After the strike ended on February 12, 2008, the writers found that there was only enough time to produce five episodes, although the fifth episode would later be expanded to two episodesAusiello, Michael, (April 11, 2008) "It's Official: Lost Finds Extra Hour ... But There's a Twist!", TV Guide. Retrieved on April 26, 2008.—and they proceeded to compress most of the storylines of the planned eight episodes into six,Levin, Gary, (February 11, 2008) "Television Production Goes from Stalled to High Gear", USA Today. Retrieved on March 22, 2008. with some carrying over into the fifth season. Executive producer/head writer Damon Lindelof stated that "we are going to execute our full story plan for season four. This simply requires a shift from high-octane storytelling to superhigh-octane storytelling. It requires no cramming, only a slightly heavier foot on the gas pedal ... so, hold on to your hats. Those of you waiting for the long-anticipated and Hurley Ping-Pong tournament, however, will be very disappointed."Dos Santos, Kristin, (February 13, 2008) "The Return of Mother, Life and, Oh Yeah, Lost", E!. Retrieved on March 22, 2008. The writers expressed interest to air the eighth episode with the second batch of episodes,Albiniak, Paige, (February 24, 2008) "Ten Reasons Why Lost is Found ", New York Post. Retrieved on March 17, 2008. but ABC did not comply and "The Shape of Things to Come" served as the mid-season premiere. The writers realized some advantages to the strike: they were able to use actors whose shows had been canceled during the strike, and they were able to respond to confusion from the audience.Jensen, Jeff "Doc", (February 22, 2008) "Writers' Strike Postscripts", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on March 22, 2008. 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".Dos Santos, Kristin, (May 9, 2008) "Is Claire Dead? Are They Really Time Traveling? Lost Bosses Speak!", E!. Retrieved on June 27, 2008. The first three seasons were broadcast on Wednesdays in the United States and Canada;Dos Santos, Kristin, (December 14, 2007) "Lost: It's Baaack!", E!. Retrieved on December 14, 2007. the pre-strike fourth-season episodes aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m., a time slot normally occupied by Grey's Anatomy.Martell, Erin, (February 13, 2008) "Second Batch of Lost Episodes Will Follow Grey's Anatomy", TV Squad. Retrieved on February 25, 2008. "The Shape of Things to Come" and the following three episodes were broadcast on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m., after Grey's Anatomy.Ausiello, Michael, (February 13, 2008) "Exclusive: Lost Finds Post-Grey Berth!", TV Guide. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.

"The Shape of Things to Come" was written alongside "Something Nice Back Home" and "Cabin Fever" in February and March 2008.Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", (March 13, 2008) "Darlton Lost Interview ", UGO Networks. Retrieved on March 22, 2008. Its title is derived from the 1933 science fiction novel of the same name by H.G. Wells.Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (April 25, 2008) "Official Lost Audio Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on April 25, 2008. Co-executive producer/writer Drew Goddard called the episode "maybe my favorite thing I've done on Lost, and I've been lucky with all the episodes I've gotten so far".Dos Santos, Kristin, (March 21, 2008) "If Loathing Ben Is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right", E!. Retrieved on March 21, 2008. Shooting began on March 10 and continued through March 25,Gordon, Mike, (February 29, 2008) "Lost Going Back into Film Action Here on March 10", Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved on March 22, 2008. alongside filming of "Something Nice Back Home".Garcia, Jorge, (March 25, 2008) "Hey Jorge! A Question for You ... ", The Fuselage. Retrieved on March 26, 2008. 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. Several crew members and Michael Emerson flew to London to film the scene. A scene in which Claire has a prophetic vision was produced; however, it was cut due to runtime constraints.Jensen, Jeff "Doc", (April 25, 2008) "Ben Unleashed", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on April 26, 2008.

A shoot-out early in the episode sees the end of the three background survivors who joined Locke in his trip to the Barracks in the early fourth season. 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". Hoban later also acted as a stunt double for Dominic Monaghan, who plays Charlie Pace, a major character in the first three seasons.Snierson, Dan, (May 24, 2007) "", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on July 7, 2007. Hoban has one line in "The Shape of Things to Come", and he had to audition for it against the other background actors.McPherson, Sam, (June 22, 2008) "The Lostpedia Interview:Sean Douglas Hoban", Lostpedia. Retrieved on July 11, 2008.