Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - 1:25 AM
After the Juliet flashback return episode and the crazy mindtrip departure that was Desmond's flashback, Lost was back in (somewhat) familiar territory with a Jack flashback episode. And as is usual for his episodes, the present drama trumped the flashbacks easily. The episode was called "Stranger in a Strange Land," a shout-out to Robert Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel (or maybe the book of Exodus, but I'll go with Heinlein) about a man who returns to Earth after being raised by Martians. I'm sure you could try to work out plenty of hidden parallels and theories, but chances are much better than it simply referred to Jack's flashback of an extended trip abroad.Which was somewhat boring. I could tell what they were trying to do, sure. The whole crazy "American doctor away in a foreign land experiencing crazy stuff he never tells anyone about" thing. But they could've made it a heck of a lot more interesting. Bai Ling was - let's see, what's the best way to put this - way more creepy than tantalizing. And the tie-in to the present-day drama - something about how Jack's tattoo basically reinforces that he's the hero - was pretty cloudy. Or did anybody else get more out of that than I did?
The rest of the episode was solid. Some could call it a filler, but structurally, you need these, and there were plenty of good character moments. Back in the present (I can't really say "on the island," since this episode took place on both islands plus the ocean in between), Jack got put in another cage, this time Sawyer's previous quarters. Before that happened, he got to have another chat with Tom, in which he again didn't ask any of the questions any of us would, but did bring up how the Others have a tendency to kidnap pregnant women and children, and hang people from trees. That was encouraging -- it's nice to know that the writers aren't trying to hide the fact that the Others used to give off a much worse impression than they do now. Remember when Tom was the creepiest guy you've ever seen? "Thing is...we're gonna have to take your boy." Now he's a happy-go-lucky heavy guy who likes flannel shirts. Or does the dichotomy make him more creepy?
The episode also marked the glorious return of Cindy the Flight Attendant! And the children! Turns out all those people kidnapped by the Others are alive and well and "here to watch." I really hope that has a significant meaning that we don't understand right now and isn't just more Cryptic-Speak. But the scene was still quite cool, especially when the little kid asked Cindy to ask Jack how Ana-Lucia's doing. It also revealed that Cindy was, in fact, taken by the Others, which I should remind you was never officially explained.
We also get the advancements of a few relationships -- Jack stuck his neck out pretty far for Juliet to stop her supposed capital sentencing. Personally I think it would be much cooler if the entire thing was a ruse -- a total ploy to make Jack fall in closer with her -- but then again, she did kill Pickett.
As for Sawyer and Kate, it wasn't really so much of an advancement; Sawyer assumed that Kate only slept with him because she thought he was a dead man. While its clearly an attempt by the writers to keep a relationship from fully forming, they have the right idea, especially since its wholly in Sawyer's character to try to back away like that. He also had a bizarrely humorous heart-to-heart with Karl, Alex's star-crossed love. Aside from revealing that he had probably lived on the island all his life like Ben -- he had never heard of the Brady Bunch -- Sawyer took pity on him and let him go, back to what we can only assume is the Others Neighborhood we saw in the season premiere.
Next week, we finally leave the Neilsen-ratings craphole that is time on the Others Island; all the Others and Jack are headed back, presumably to the same place as Karl. That's another good sign for the show. As is the fact that Kate and Sawyer finally join back up with the rest of the castaways -- in our time, may I remind you, for the first time in nine months. It's about time.
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