"Stranger in a Strange Land" -Episode 3.09-

Greetings!

I hope this message finds you well. While I have come to love writing about LOST every week, I am struggling to do it this time. I was sorely disappointed with this episode and hopefully by putting my thoughts on
paper I will come to some new revelations. However, my initial reaction is that the episode totally stalled the momentum that was building in the previous two — it was repetitive, boring and classic "filler" material.

*sigh*
So, we found out how Jack got his tattoo (or part of it at least), we know where the children and Cindy are, and we realized how idiotic Sawyer is... Were these the THREE HUGE MYSTERIES REVEALED?? Was there anything in this episode we didn't know?

I cannot believe that after such an amazing and tantalizing Desmond episode last week, they made us sit through this. I'll try to bring up some relative, and hopefully interesting points, but I'm not sure I'll have much to say.

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"Stranger in a Strange Land" - Episode 309 -

1) Jack's flashback — We already knew Jack went to Thailand and that is where he got his tattoo...or mark. The only new thing we found out is who gave him this mark, what it "means" (not says), and what the immediate consequences of it were. I felt overall that this flahsback story was flat. We can figure out that this took place shortly after his divorce with Sarah and prior to his return to the States to deal with his dad, but it lacked any real substance. If we never knew the specifics of this story it would not affect our perception of Jack. Now, for example, if we never learned of Jack's divorce and/or his daddy problems, then he would be somewhat of a mystery to us. But does it really take a "seer" to tell us Jack is a leader and that he is lonely and angry?? We could have told him that after watching the pilot episode!

2) When will the right questions be asked? — A LOT of people are complaining about this episode. Most are simply frustrated with the characters not pressing for answers. Like Sawyer letting Karl go... Good grief, the kid obviously has been on the Island for some time and knows SOMETHING about what the Others are doing. But Sawyer decides to let him go to probably die trying to get his girl back. I don't think it would be as bad if the characters at least ASKED the questions and then didn't get defined answers...but they are not even asking!

I read an interesting post (thanks "MerlboroMan") that included a few instances of dialogue where one extra line would have made a big difference —
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"I get frustrated with the show sometimes, as much as I love it, and it's because it feels like there is 'intelligent' dialogue missing. Last night was a prime example of where if one person would have said one more thing at the right time we may have actually learned something.
For example:
Tom: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Missing Jack response: Exactly how does that apply? What did we ever do to you to deserve what you've done to us?
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Kate: Better life than what?
Karl: Better than yours.
Missing Kate Response: So rather than help people who crash landed on an island you just randomly kidnap whomever you deem worthy of a better life?
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Cindy: She wants to know how is Ana Lucia?
Jack: Are you kidding?...
Missing Jack Rant: Ana Lucia is dead because of these people!
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See there, one extra line and we've actually got some tension and some pointed questions that may actually give us answers. I feel however, that sometimes, the writers dumb down the charactes in order to keep up
certain mysteries. That's not good writing, that's poor execution."
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Certainly this is arguable, but right now it seems that keeping the mysteries hidden is the higher priority.

3) The turnaround — Okay, so, I DO trust that the writers know what they are doing and that they are giving us all of this for a reason. I believe it was a transitional episode (hopefully) to set us up for some
big info on the Others. I think we will begin to see the Others in a different light once we learn about what they were doing before our LOSTies showed up. I'm really starting to entertain the thought of Jack
becoming...one of them...the new Ethan. This would be a great direction to head in — the LOSTies spend lots of time and energy to rescue Jack and when they find him, he does not want to return with them. Or better
yet, during their search for him, they meet a creepy Ethan-esque Jack in the jungle who attacks them and yells, "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO COME BACK!!!!" Hahaha, yeah, I know, I'm way ahead of myself but with LOST, even the most ridiculous ideas are possible.

One of the more interesting aspects of this episode was Isabel (the sheriff) and the structure of the disciplinary system that Others have set up. A trial for Juliet, eh? One in which all the captives (except Jack) and invited to watch? Hmmm, sounds a little fishy... Possibly a mock-trial to fool Jack and push him closer to Juliet? Why would they want that? Is Juliet aware? All I know is Isabel was creeping me out and I would have told her anything she wanted to know....apparently, she would've known if I was lying anyway.

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Well I guess I had more to say than I originally thought. Still no new revelations. I have to admit that it's a little fun to take a turn "bashing" the show I have come to love so much. It was a little disappointing, mainly because the flow of the season feels inconsistent, but we have a lot of season left and I'm pretty sure they will use it to satisfy their fans. I think Damon Lindelof recently said something like (completely paraphrasing here), "We understand if fans get frustrated and upset after watching one episode — if they feel that way after the season ends, then that's a whole different story."

I truly hope you are enjoying the season, even if we get a couple of dud episodes. There are bound to be a few in a series like this, especially with so many mysteries and the fans picking them apart like crazy.

I still LOVE the show and have a great deal of respect for all those involved. I just hope we can start that momentum again and keep it rolling this time!

Namaste.

SFO