# Lost 4.9: "The Shape of Things to Come" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670 "2008-04-24T13:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/121 "2008-04-27T21:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=middleman] My faves: Adam and Eve, white rock/black rock, La Mer, Henry Gale, and Who’s foot was just sitting around? Even this is not satisfying. This show drives me mad. [/QUOTE] I don’t have a link, but I think I remember the producers saying in the past that Adam and Eve play a big role in the entire show. Of course, as mentioned earlier, all of it is subject to change, but I’m holding out hope that they’ll get to that towards the very end. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/122 "2008-04-27T21:52:13Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] I agree – but it’s _yea_. Different word from _yay_. I thought it was a joke when I started noticing people on the SDMB misspelling _yea_ y-a-y; now I think it’s an example of an old word that people still use verbally but don’t know how to spell. … [/QUOTE] I was saying “Yay!” as in “Hooray!” as in the opposite of “Boo!” for the smoke monster not “Yes! The smoke monster!”. This [site](http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/yea.html) agrees with my use of “yay”. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/123 "2008-04-27T22:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=mshar253] I don’t have a link, but I think I remember the producers saying in the past that Adam and Eve play a big role in the entire show. Of course, as mentioned earlier, all of it is subject to change, but I’m holding out hope that they’ll get to that towards the very end. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard the same. I think Adam and Eve fit into the “fits into one of the others but we don’t know it” sub-category. More and more, I think they are two characters who know who are victims of time travel. Hopefully not Nikki and Paulo. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/124 "2008-04-27T23:20:48Z")
Who are Adam and Eve? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/125 "2008-04-27T23:24:05Z")
I think they’re the two skeletons in the cave with the bag of black and white stones from way back in early season 1. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/126 "2008-04-27T23:35:37Z")
[QUOTE=middleman] I’ve heard the same. I think Adam and Eve fit into the “fits into one of the others but we don’t know it” sub-category. More and more, I think they are two characters who know who are victims of time travel. Hopefully not Nikki and Paulo. [/QUOTE] Why hopefully? I’d hate to think that that episode was a bottle episode and nothing more. It was disturbing and, on the face of it, random. Why shouldn’t it have a purpose? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/127 "2008-04-28T00:34:33Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Maybe it was an indicator that Ben had finally made a mistake because he was rock stupid enough to believe that he might be able to pick up some WMDs nearby? -Joe [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/128 "2008-04-28T01:22:05Z")
I’ve stopped looking for any type of logic or consistency and am just enjoying the roller-coaster ride. It’s much less aggravating this way. I hope the smoke monster becomes a Gold Dragon in the next episode, squaring off against Jacob the Arch-Angel/Chimera on the beach in an apocalyptic battle that determines the fate of the world, during which Claire will continue asking, “How will this affect my bye-bee?!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/129 "2008-04-28T06:31:14Z")
I don’t think Ben _controls_ the smoke monster. That critter’s been itchin’ to get into the compound for a while; what Ben did was disable the electric fence that kept it out, knowing that it would go on a rampage at first chance. Which is why he told everyone to run away fast. Locke and Sawyer…hm. It might have been a regular power struggle once, but now they’re reversing roles, as Sawyer becomes more concerned with others as he finds the family he never had, and Locke becomes more tunnel-visioned on his _own_ survival, as he rejects the idea of family, his own having been so bad. ---
**Author:** ![running\_piglet\_cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@running\_piglet\_cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_piglet_cheese)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/130 "2008-04-28T11:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=The Them] I don’t think Ben _controls_ the smoke monster. That critter’s been itchin’ to get into the compound for a while; what Ben did was disable the electric fence that kept it out, knowing that it would go on a rampage at first chance. [/QUOTE] Alex had already turned the fence off to let in the bad guys. Also, I wouldn’t think you would have to go into a secret tunnel/cave just to turn on/off fence. Who are Nikki and Paulo? ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/131 "2008-04-28T11:57:09Z")
No one is offering an analysis of this week’s title? Surely there is something to it? It couldn’t be so straight forward. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/132 "2008-04-28T13:14:16Z")
[QUOTE=running piglet cheese] Alex had already turned the fence off to let in the bad guys. Also, I wouldn’t think you would have to go into a secret tunnel/cave just to turn on/off fence. Who are Nikki and Paulo? [/QUOTE] Nikkie and Paulo were lovers and diamond thieves. They were buried alive on the island. From Lostpedia: [Nikki](http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Nikki) [Paulo](http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Paulo) ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/133 "2008-04-28T13:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] I don’t see how that would fit [Ben arranging the murder of Nadia, with the intent of manipulating Sayid]. Ben gets deposited in the desert. Goes to the hotel. Not even sure what year it is. He sees Sayid on the TV mourning his wife. I don’t see how Ben could have set it up. More likely he is just using what he finds to his advantage. [/QUOTE] Could be. I realize that with the episodes that have already been broadcast it doesn’t work. When Ben gets dumped in the desert, it seems that Nadia is already dead. However, I no longer underestimate the lengths to which Ben will reach to achieve his objectives. Ben apparently got transported to the desert from someplace cold – the listening station? Ben could’ve made the arrangements to have Nadia killed from there. I’m not wed to the theory, but it seems like this would be something that would appeal to the writers – adding yet another level of machinations to Ben’s maniacal methods. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/134 "2008-04-28T13:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=middleman] **Pet Peeves** - All the other little crap that either doesn’t matter, fits into one of the others but we don’t know it, stuff that will never be answered because the creators went a different direction, red herrings, or mysteries that WE created in our heads. [/QUOTE] The numbers! I don’t want these ubiquitous digits to end up being just a MacGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/135 "2008-04-28T13:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=KRM] Nikkie and Paulo were lovers and diamond thieves. [/QUOTE] Apropos of nothing, I never have understood the nearly unanimous dislike of Nikki and Paulo. The buried alive episode is one of my favorites, maybe perhaps because it _was_ a stand-alone sub-plot that had nothing to do with the story arc. I feel the same way about the X-Files comedy episode about a cockroach infestation. (after a quick search, titled “War of the Coprophages”). I guess it’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/136 "2008-04-28T13:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=Algernon] Apropos of nothing, I never have understood the nearly unanimous dislike of Nikki and Paulo. The buried alive episode is one of my favorites, maybe perhaps because it _was_ a stand-alone sub-plot that had nothing to do with the story arc. [/QUOTE] I agree. It was one of my favorites as well. I loved the Twilight Zone vibe. I didn’t like the characters but I don’t think we were supposed to. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/137 "2008-04-28T14:32:17Z")
I love that collapsible baton of Ben’s. It’s the same kind that Agent 355 used in Y: The Last Man. It must have been Brian K Vaughn’s idea to give one to Ben. He is still writing for Lost, right? ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/138 "2008-04-28T14:41:56Z")
I still see his name as a producer. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/139 "2008-04-29T03:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=KRM] I agree. It was one of my favorites as well. I loved the Twilight Zone vibe. I didn’t like the characters but I don’t think we were supposed to. [/QUOTE] I also agree. I like the occasional “stand alone” episode like the X-files used to do. The one about Desmond and Penny could have been a movie. But the Nikki and Paolo one was good too. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670/140 "2008-04-29T03:53:13Z")
What I really enjoyed about the Nikki and Paulo episode was how it took these two characters that people complained came clumsily out of nowhere and were never really integrated into the story or made good use of, and managed to fairly skillfully weave details of their actions into flashbacks to various previous episodes we’d already seen, justifying their existence by at least giving the idea that it had all along had been building up to this nice little morality play culmination episode, even if it hadn’t actually been planned that way at all (I have no idea if it was or not). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-4-9-the-shape-of-things-to-come/446670.md?page=8)