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So...after next week's teaser preview, do we all think that Ben's "man on the boat" is Michael Dawson?

Yes, I think we all do.

And presumably we'll find that out for sure next week, when the last of the Oceanic Six are promised to be revealed. But that doesn't mean Michael's actually one of the Six.

In the Tempest station, Juliet holds a gun on Dan and tells him to stop what he's doing -- but he says he can't, that he's trying to save them all, to render the poison gas inert before it can contaminate everything and kill everyone.

Charlotte and Juliet struggle as Dan works, and Charlotte insists they need to disable the poison-gas system before Ben can use it to kill again, because they know he has used it before. Dan stops the system just in time, and all are relieved: "Man, that was a close one," he says, with magnificent understatement.

Flashback: In her lab, Juliet is reading Jack's dossier. Ben enters, and she tells him Jack is a spinal surgeon who could help him. Ben does not seem excited. Instead he takes her to where they found Goodwin's body, which Ana-Lucia left impaled by a stake. Juliet is shocked and grief-stricken; Ben says he supposes the Tailies found out Goodwin was an impostor.

Juliet accuses Ben of knowing this would happen, that he wanted Goodwin to die, but why? Ben says: "After everything I've done for you...how can you not understand that you're mine?"

Juliet finds the Tempest station, gets inside, and holds a gun on Daniel who is trying to hack into the computer system despite a recorded warning of "contamination" being imminent.

Flashback: Juliet arrives at Ben's for a cozy dinner, and he thanks her for caring for Zack and Emma, two of the Tailie kids who were "on the list" and kidnapped by the Others. She asks about Goodwin, gone three weeks now on his mission. Ben says he's trying to make a case for Ana-Lucia joining them, but Ben is dubious about her.

Flashback: Juliet and Goodwin, a year later, are picnicking. Their relationship's still a secret, even though Goodwin wants to leave Harper and they have been sleeping separately for a year now. He tells Juliet that Ben has a major crush on her, which she knows already. Goodwin works at the power station where he says that if he pulls the wrong switch, poisonous chemicals could kill everyone on the Island.

Oceanic 815 crashes, and Ben sends Goodwin off to infiltrate the Tailies, while Ethan Rom is sent to infiltrate the Lostaways' fuselage group.

On Island: Jack and Juliet find injured Kate, and Juliet disappears on pretext of getting water. In Ben's living room, Ben shows Locke a safe holding a videotape, a surveillance tape of Charles Widmore with a captured Other. Ben says Widmore owns the ship waiting offshore, and that he will stop at nothing to get control of the Island. Widmore, he says, wants to exploit the Island because of its mystical powers, such as Locke's miraculous recovery from paralysis.

Who is Ben's man on the ship? Locke asks. Ben: "All right -- but you might want to sit down."

Kate inquires what Dan's carrying, but Charlotte knocks Kate out when she sees a gas mask in his bag. Juliet tells Jack that Harper was her therapist, not a friend. Claire asks Locke if she can talk to Miles and try to get information from him about who sent him. Locke brings the still-imprisoned Ben a meal, and Ben brokers a deal for his freedom. He says he can show Locke who their common enemy is.

Flashback: Juliet talks to Ben about the Island's fatal pregnancies as he stares moonily at her. Goodwin stops by, and Ben gets suspicious.

Juliet has an appointment with Harper, who asks her what she thinks of Ben. Juliet says he's been very good to her. Harper says, "No wonder, you look just like her," but doesn't explain who Juliet's lookalike was in relation to Ben.

Instead, Harper says she knows that Juliet's been sleeping with Goodwin, and she warns Juliet that if the affair doesn't stop, Goodwin will be in great danger from Ben.

Harper, in the jungle, tells Juliet that Ben wants Juliet to stop Dan and Charlotte -- with a gun if necessary. Jack arrives and Harper leaves, vanishing in a very mysterious way. Juliet asks Jack to help her find Dan and Charlotte. Harper told her they are headed to the Tempest, the station that powers the Island.

It is morning and Dan and Charlotte are looking at a map. Dan expresses doubt that he can "do it," but Charlotte reassures him that he can. Kate happens upon them, and Charlotte pulls a gun on her.

Flashback: Juliet catches Goodwin looking through her storeroom. He says he works at the power station and has an injury, but fibs to her about its nature; it's a chemical burn. Juliet patches him up and Goodwin mentions that Henrietta, a pregnant woman, died that morning. Juliet mentions that she and Harper don't like each other. Goodwin turns out to be Harper's husband, but there's a noticeable attraction between him and Juliet.

Flashback: Juliet meets Harper, her therapist, in Harper's home office in New Otherton, a week after arriving on the Island. Tom comes in and says Ben wants to see Juliet. Ben welcomes her home to her own new cottage, evading the fact that she thinks she'll only be there six months.

On Island: Juliet sets up camp for the night. Jack comes up and tells her and Sun and Jin that Charlotte and Daniel have vanished along with their personal stuff; Jin says he saw them go into the jungle. Jack and Juliet set off to track them; Kate goes too, separately.

In a rainy jungle, after hearing the Island's unexplained whispers all around her, Juliet unexpectedly meets Harper again. It's clear they aren't happy to see each other. Harper says Ben sent her to find Juliet and to tell her where Charlotte and Daniel are headed.

I'm sad about her going home. She was turning out to be one of my favorites of the females.

No surprises so far: We've said goodbye to Kady Malloy and Luke Menard. Acceptable losses, I have to say.

He's our special guest for tonight's kickoff show. His song was decent -- except for the annoying beat-box parts. Why did we once love that so?

Tonight at 8, episode 6 of Lost, "The Other Woman," focuses on Juliet Burke (played by Dallas' own Elizabeth Mitchell). This time, we get to see Jules in on-Island flashbacks, rather than flash-forwards, or time-flashes like the ones Desmond had last week.

Apparently Juliet will get in some snuggle time with someone, but it may or may not be Jack. It may only be another flashback round of kissyface with the late Goodwin -- the guy sent by Ben to infiltrate the Tailies, who then got killed by Ana-Lucia.

For more-spoilerish stuff gleaned from ABC.com, go to the jump...

UPDATE: EW.com's Doc Jensen clarifies plot points from last week's ep, "The Constant," with showrunner Carlton Cuse. Yay!