TVSquad

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were unavailable for the podcast this week due to scheduling, but ABC has posted an old interview with Matthew Fox in its place. Since the Jack-centric "Stranger in a Strange Land" episode aired last week, the clip concerned the actor's tattoos. The podcast was considerably shorter than normal, but here are the highlights:

• Matthew Fox uses tattoos to represent memories or meaningful events in his life, so the writers took a similar approach to dealing with Jack's tattoos.
• At the time of the interview, Fox anticipated that the tattoo back story would be set after Jack had divorced Sarah.
• The actor mentioned that, for him, getting a new tattoo is an extensive process.
• Next week's regular podcast will feature mini-interviews with Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim.

"Stranger in a Strange Land," last week's newest Jack-centric episode, made me seriously question the value of Lost's hero. The episode was not terrible, but was easily the least entertaining of Jack's flashbacks. I am beginning to think that there may be nothing left of interest in Jack's past. That leaves the present and future. Currently Jack is a prisoner of the Others, and through him some facts about the Others have been revealed. This may come to end, however, if Jack gets rescued.

How many more Jack episodes are necessary? What does his character contribute to the mythology and development of the story? Could there be a Lost without Jack Shephard?

"Stranger in a Strange Land" cannot compete with "Flashes Before Your Eyes" in the Easter egg department, but there were a few useful clues. This episode moved away from the time theme and focused more on symbols. So far, fans have found the following eggs:

Marks: The overhyped revelation concerning Jack's tattoos shed some light on his possible future with the Others. Achara told Jack that he was a leader and a great man, then tattooed him with the phrase, "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." Fans that are familiar with the Chinese characters on Matthew Fox's arm have made it known that the characters represent the words "eagle," "strike," "long," and "sky" (or "void"). These words are connected to a poem by Chairman Mao Tse-tung, which contains the phrase "eagles high, cleaving sky" and discusses fate. Is Jack destined to lead the Others someday?

It was another slow week for the Lost death pool, although "Stranger in a Strange Land" featured a close call for Juliet. Her death would have been worth quite a few points, too: 14 for the episode, and I might have even thrown in bonus points for her type of death (being executed by the Others is pretty cool, no?). Alas, it was not to be. Since there are no new updates, I have decided to give players a rundown of the possible life expectancy of the remaining characters.

(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?

ABC just released the newest Lost audio podcast, which was once again hosted by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The podcast features a short interview with Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), details about "Flashes Before Your Eyes," and information about "Stranger in a Strange Land," which airs Wednesday night. Here's what we learned:

• Henry Ian Cusick considers Desmond to be a quieter, less conventional hero. He also prefers to be called Ian.
• Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse admit that Desmond's episode was not a "flashback" in the traditional sense. Desmond was allowed to make choices within his own past, but was course-corrected by Fionnula Flanagan's character (the woman in the jewelry store).