(S03E09) In case you happened to miss the numerous commercials, ABC had promised that "Stranger in a Strange Land" would answer three big Lost questions for viewers. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made it clear in this week's podcast that at least one of them was the meaning of Jack's tattoos. After watching the episode, I'm not entirely sure what the other two huge revelations were supposed to be. Is it possible that ABC (gasp) overhyped this episode?
This episode brought us back to the major pre-Desmond island events. Sawyer, Kate, and Karl were still rowing back to the island. Kate did the standard "not without Jack" routine, but was quickly shot down by Sawyer. The usually stubborn Kate did not put up much of a fight, and this trend continued throughout the episode.
Jack was back in the familiar surroundings of his cell, but not for long. Following an unpleasant exchange with Tom, Jack got moved to the polar bear cage to make room for Juliet, now under arrest for Pickett's murder. The Others may have a shortage of reliable doctors, but they apparently have a surplus of creepy enforcers. We got our first look at Isabel, the island's "sheriff," whispering something to Tom. Her eyebrows were more than enough to make me afraid for Jack.
Jack's flashback began in Phuket, Thailand, where he was living a carefree beachfront existence. After a meaningless encounter with Thailand's answer to Short Round from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Jack vainly attempted to construct a kite on the beach. Jack's awkward fumbling amused no one but Achara, played by the inexplicably famous Bai Ling. After a few minutes of flirting, the kite was aloft. The part of me that was bored by that scene truly wishes that phrase was a metaphor.
Sawyer's second unilateral decision had the escapees making camp on the other side of their island. Kate began to win me over by finally asking Karl some pertinent questions. Karl, now perfectly lucid, explained that the Others mainly use Alcatraz for "projects," and, in fact, live on the original island. They abduct people, Karl claimed, to "give them a better life." He's certainly living proof of that, right? Karl also reminisced about Alex, telling Kate and Sawyer that they renamed a constellation "The Teddy Bear."
Juliet was sent out to enlist Jack's help in treating Ben, who was worse for wear after his intense surgery. Ben's vitals were low, and his stitches were infected. Even after Juliet informed him of her Pickett-related trouble, Jack refused to help her. I am not quite sure why Jack initially ignored Juliet's pleas, since he was so focused on saving her later in the episode.
The second phase of the flashback found Jack and Achara on a dinner date. After being served by Achara's brother, Achara asked Jack about his kite-flying impairment. It will come as no surprise to regular viewers that Jack blamed this on his father, who was "not the kite-flying type." Obsessive theorists were undoubtedly researching Mary Poppins connections immediately after this scene aired. Achara spoke for all of us when she silenced Jack and professed her total lack of interest in his Daddy issues. The date took an interesting turn when a man approached Achara with an envelope (presumably filled with cash), prompting Achara to casually mention her "gift." The gift ended up being her ability to mark people with self-defining tattoos. Jack's mark reads: "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." Jack later told Isabel that the tattoo had another meaning, but failed to elaborate on what that meaning was (and why it got him brutally beaten by Achara's brother).
In what was probably the second revelation of the episode, the fate of Tailies Cindy, Zack, and Emma was finally made clear. Well, not really. Jack woke up in his cage to an entire group of people staring at him through the bars. A smiling Cindy approached Jack and gave him vague answers to his questions. We learned that the group "watches," that the role of the Others is "not that simple," and that the missing Tailies did not know about Ana Lucia's death. I guess that Cindy and Emma don't frequent Michelle Rodriguez's website. Jack unfortunately scared Cindy off before we could hear some answers, but we did get a glimpse of Zack and his teddy bear. The sinister glare that Zack gave Jack left me unconvinced that the Tailies are safe and sound, however.
Sawyer's vulnerability during his man-to-man talk with Karl made it obvious that the love triangle is far from resolved. As he was telling Karl to go back for the woman he loved, Sawyer realized that Kate's desire to save Jack was rooted in deeper feelings than loyalty. Kate was also slow to protest when Sawyer accused her of sleeping with him because he was going to be killed. This was definintely not Sawyer's week.
For a while it looked like Juliet was marked for death, but, thanks to Jack's intervention, she ended up being merely marked. It's a little disappointing that Jack's tattoo mystery was wrapped up just in time for Juliet's tattoo to be introduced. What did the symbol on her lower back mean, and do more Others bear a mark? The threat of Juliet's execution was enough to motivate Jack to treat Ben, but Ben received the grim news that he may not walk again. His ability to manipulate was still intact enough to warn Jack that Juliet is still an Other, despite her behavior. Sides will have to be taken in the coming weeks, since the Others decided to move back to the crash survivors' island.
I am going to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and hope that this episode was building up to something bigger than tattoo interpretation. ABC's promotion of the episode set the bar a bit high, which was out of their hands. A few thoughts:
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Was Tom trying to turn Jack against Kate and Sawyer by pointing out that they left "without looking back"? It hardly seemed like an innocent question.
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Karl's reasoning behind the abductions sounded a lot like Goodwin's rationale in Season Two.
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If Ethan's skills as a surgeon were so valuable, why did Ben give him the dangerous task of spying on the fuselage survivors?
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Zack's teddy bear looked different than the one carried by the barefoot Others in Season Two. Any opinions?
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Locke's paralysis was healed by the island. Could Henry's potential nerve damage be healed by the island also? If not, Henry may need to borrow Locke's wheelchair.
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The Others get political and sports news, yet have no knowledge of The Brady Bunch? What gives?
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During Juliet's verdict reading, there was what looked like a DHARMA logo on the lectern.
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Are Cindy and the other "watchers" going to be transported back home with the Others? They were not visible in the beach scene.
See you next week for Hurley's flashback!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-22-2007 @ 7:01AM
Tele-Toby said...
It might have been easier to explain the choice of Ethan to spy on the survivors had we not seen Ben send him immediately to the crash site. If they discovered that Claire was pregnant, and then sent him to observe her and bring her back, that would have made more sense. As it is, Ben should have chosen one of the others to go investigate in order to protect Ethan's position in their society.
As for Karl not knowing about 'The Brady Bunch', it could be that any tv feeds are filtered so that they do get news reports and maybe some documentaries, but they're spared the pop culture "junk food" of sitcoms and the like.
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2-22-2007 @ 7:10AM
Stephen said...
easter eggs and next episode's trailer:
http://www.dharmasecrets.com/forum/index.php/topic,9877.0.html
not to be missed epiaode
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2-22-2007 @ 7:58AM
Jeff said...
BORING.
Move it along please, nothing to see here, mooove it along. Wake me when there REALLY IS some good information that would lead somewhere.
It's getting pretty old and the ratings are showing that too. Not even in the Neilson's top 20 for the week fo Feb 18.
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2-22-2007 @ 8:19AM
b said...
Another irritating episode. The Kate and Jack characters have become self-parodies; almost any attractive actress could have played Acharra better than Bai Ling. Lots of hype and little payoff.
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2-22-2007 @ 8:20AM
Rico said...
Jeff,
Your comments lead me to believe that you only like the show when its Neilson ratings are doing well. This confuses me, because I personally tend to watch shows that I like, not those that other people like.
Anyway, as to the tattoo, Achura told Jack before she gave it to him that he is a leader, a great man, and that that makes him lonely. His tattoo says "He walks among us, but he is not one of us." Isabel, when she first spoke to Jack, read his tattoo and mentioned that perhaps he didn't know what it truly said, implying that it (the tattoo) is open to interpretation, depending on your translating skills. Sure, the tattoo says what it says, but the meaning underneath is different. Like Shakespeare.
Anyway, it looks like Jack is destined to become a great leader, whether he wants it or not. Did you see how Ben looked at him when he was helping him to the boat? Almost as if Ben had found his own replacement. A little premature, maybe, but I saw it nonetheless.
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2-22-2007 @ 8:33AM
Jake said...
Why is everybody so upset? You people give up so easily. This was by far the best episode yet!!!! I mean, this episode answered the BIGGEST question. Jack's tattoos! IMO this has been the biggest mystery. And the way the writers answered the mystery, and by answered I mean did not answer, was great! No other show would promise to answer such a mystery by doing it half @$$ed and leaving all the viewers wondering why exactly Jack shouldn't have gotten a tatoo and why he got beat up... but hey, they did devote an entire episode to where he got the tattoo and who gave it to him and what it said, something that could have been taken care of with a nice five minutes of dialogue.
http://forums.go.com/abc/primetime/lost/thread?threadID=1543466&forumStart=60
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2-22-2007 @ 8:34AM
hugeliver said...
Exactly HOW did this answer the questions of Jack's tatoos?? Big deal! We saw where he got them and what they could potentially mean. It didn't show why he got beat up or what the 'consequences' where.
Wow. BIG revelation. He's a leader. Have we not SEEN that quality since episode one.
WRAP THIS UP ALREADY!!! We're tired!
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2-22-2007 @ 8:36AM
Bill said...
So they answered the question about what Jack's tattoos mean by saying... I don't know what. They're open for interpretation, they define him as a person, they're about being a leader but alone, they're about walking among us but not being one of us, they're worth getting beat up over, he inexplicably became obsessed with getting them to the point that he almost beat up his girlfriend so he'd get them? I don't get any of that. And unlike most of the unanswered questions, I don't care if it's never explained. I think this qualifies as my least favorite Lost episode ever.
The only highlight was Diana Scarwid, from Wonderfalls, who was awesome here as ever.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com
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2-22-2007 @ 8:44AM
Matt said...
To plagiarize a previous post: BORING! Hello, am I the only once feeling embarrassed with myself to be still watching Lost? Of course Jack's tattoo doesn't mean he's Christ - it says "I'm a massive bonehead"!
It is so easy to throw stuff in the episodes just to give off a mysterious aura (such as the tailies going: "we're here to watch" - oooohhh) and then not following up on it until 2 seasons later.
Sloppy script, boring flashbacks, cringeworthy dialogues - Lost blows hot and cold, but these days it is mainly cold. My advice to the producers: wrap it up people, and save your reputation. Lost has jumped the shark.
Only reason I'll be watching next week is in the hope to witness Charlie's burial - the little twit deserves a gruesome death for being so annoying. But I ain't counting on it.
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2-22-2007 @ 8:45AM
Jack Thompson said...
Does anyone know what Jack's girlfreind in Phuket's gift was? All she said was that she knows who people are? What does that mean? Why did they beat him up for getting a tattoo from her? How is that a special gift you have to keep secret? I don't get any of it and all last nights episode did was add to my dissappointment and frustration.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:05AM
Gordy said...
Why not send Ethan? Like Ben said when he sent him, "there may be survivors." Um...he is a doctor, right?
The three questions answered for me:
1. What happenned to the kidnapped tailees? By the way, they were there to watch Juliet's trial, not Jack.
2. What's up with Jack's tatoos? As the other poster said, the tatoo's meaning is open to interpretation, but the artists interpretation is the real one, right? So, Jack is a lonely leader.
3. Which island do the others live on? I kinda knew that one, since the producers referred to the smaller island as 'Alcatraz-like'.
So many questions remain.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:09AM
Keith McDuffee said...
I wonder if the big "5" tattooed on Jack's arm has anything to do with the fact that five guys beat the everliving shiat out of him.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:11AM
Katie said...
Love your post, Jake, and I really hope that most of it was sarcasm. Because if the Losties out there are really desperate to know so much about Jack's tatoo, then I just realized I don't give a poop about Lost anymore. Entertaining for an hour, but I just can't dredge up any real interest in the story.
And ABC sucks for their overblown promos. At least our favorite characters actually asked WHY the Others are kidnapping and killing and such things. Kudos to the writers for continuing to NOT give us any real information... I kind of feel bad that Jack keeps getting blamed for things, like Juliet's trouble. Hello! Juliet never would have shot that guy if they didn't kidnap Jack in the first place! And ooooh, so they killed Ethan... Guess Ben thinks that's bad, but it's OK for Ethan to kidnap Claire and hang Charlie.
The only interest I have in the show is finding out the Others motivation... and that's exactly what the writers NEVER tell us anything about.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:19AM
JS said...
""Your comments lead me to believe that you only like the show when its Neilson ratings are doing well. This confuses me, because I personally tend to watch shows that I like, not those that other people like.""
That's just a load of bunk. The drop in the ratings reflects a real problem in the show's direction. Real rational people like I hope exist here on this thread, would never ever have the conversations Jack, Sawyer and Kate had yesterday. That is why viewers are fleeing in droves. And the Neilsen ratings support that.
When Jack is in his cage and wakes up to find the snatched ones staring at him he dismisses them, instead of asking what happened in the 2 months time they have been held captive. He doesn't followup at all when he risked his life so many times defending and searching for them. Instead we have a Jack tantrum. yaaay
Instead he devotes his energies to save a woman he knows nothing about. Yes, Julie is interesting/intriguing but there is a bigger picture going on.
On the other island we have Sawyer and Kate who have a living breathing "other" in their midst and they don't grill him either. Instead they sit there and listen to his damn puppy love backyard tale. Once again K&S trifle about their love triangle instead of getting some concrete answers. yaay
Worst backstory and stuntcasting ever. So Irrevlevant and wasteful of an episode. I hope this is the last of C&*% Tease episodes, because in January didn't ABC put the screws on the writers to move things along a lil bit? So hopefully this episode was the last of the ones in the can before they saw the writing on the wall with the ratings.
What a drag to have Lost and BSG have a stinky skid in the same month.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:27AM
Tammy said...
So when in the time line was Jack at Phuket? Before he got married, after she left him, after his blow up with Dad over him operating drunk? I wasn't sure if I missed something to help place this backstory in the timeline.
I did expect more from this episode but it did provide some information too. For me the best part was Sawyer singing "show me the way to go home."
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2-22-2007 @ 9:28AM
Mel said...
Lost hasn't jumped the shark. It's so slow to unravel, it probably hasn't even reached the ocean where the shark lives.
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2-22-2007 @ 9:35AM
David said...
ABC lied to us, what a shock.
Any how many islands are there?
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2-22-2007 @ 9:47AM
Ben said...
I don't think it told us about all of Jacks tatoo's. Clearly when the thai guys came to beat him up they rolled his sleeve up and there was one line of text but we've all seen that he has more above that. So even if that tells us a bit about one tatoo there are others he got later they've not explained.
All in all it was a so-so episode, I'll watch to see where it goes but its losing my interest lately....
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2-22-2007 @ 10:02AM
silky said...
Can someone tell me again why I am suppose to care about Jack's tattoo? I like how the writers have assumed that the viewers actually cared about his tattoo in the first place. What's next an entire episode on why Hurley has long hair?
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2-22-2007 @ 10:05AM
Vince said...
I still liked the show but it did raise as many questions as it answered. Real life it ain't.
Maybe Jack's tatoo actually says "Kick me" in Thai?
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