3.09 - Stranger in a Strange Land

Title’s significance: Both in Thailand and among The Others, Jack is the stranger in a strange land, a reference to a passage from Exodus.

Recap: Jack gets flashbacks that cover his time in Thailand and answers the question of his tattoos, which he received from ‘gifted’ tattoo artist Achara. On the Hydra island, Jack and Juliet meet Isabel, “the sheriff,” while Ben recuperates. Juliet’s in trouble for killing Pickett, and Jack refuses to treat Ben’s infection. Sawyer and Kate make it to the main island with Karl while Jack tries to cover for Juliet. As Jack finds that Cindy and the children have joined The Others, Sawyer consoles Karl by telling him to “cowboy up.” Jack learns that Juliet’s “verdict” is going to be read and tells Alex that he saved her father because he promised he would, admitting to Ben that he may never walk again. Ben commutes Juliet’s sentence but orders her to be “marked.” Sawyer turns Karl loose, which angers Kate, who feels guilty about the whole “cage sex” thing.

Thoughts: This is just one of the worst episodes of LOST – maybe flat-out the absolute worst – and I’m glad that the crew of the series agrees with me on that one. Bad flashback, worse acting, and irrelevant tangential plotlines that go nowhere and are never revisited. Thank God this inspired the producers to turn their act around and set an end date for the show before things got too out of hand.

Favorite moment: “You mean like the Steal a Kid Off a Raft project? That was a humdinger.” That, or Sawyer’s “cowboy up” session with Karl in which he calls Alex “Slingshot Sally.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• ISABEL, The Others’ sheriff
• ACHARA, tattoo artist in Thailand and Jack’s romantic interest
• CHET, Achara’s brother

What we learned:

• God loves you as he loved Jacob (repeated from the Room 23 video).
• Jack took up kite flying in Thailand.
• The Others only work on the Hydra island; they live on the mainland – they don’t even like coming to the Hydra island.
• With the abducted children, Cindy has joined The Others.
• Isabel may be the sheriff, but Ben is still in charge.
• Ethan was a surgeon.
• Achara tells Jack that he is “a leader... a great man” but is also “lonely and angry.”
• Jack’s tattoos read, “He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us.”
• The Others have another boat to get them from island to island.

Questions:

• Is Achara’s gift metaphorical or supernatural?
• Why has Cindy joined The Others?
• How does Karl not know about The Brady Bunch?
• What’s the significance of Juliet’s mark?
• What do Jack’s tattoos “mean”?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• I really hope this episode turns out to be an insignificant blip on LOST’s radar.
• Although... the statement that Ben may never walk again instantly calls to mind Locke. Is this another indication that the two are bound together by fate/coincidence/Jacob?