Lost 3.7: "Not in Portland"

Written by Carlton Cuse and Jeff Pinkner
Directed by Stephen Williams

In which Jack’s gambit to save Kate and Sawyer hits a roadblock when Juliet’s motivations become more and more suspect, as more information emerges about the Others…

Status Report

“Lost” has been off the air for approximately three months. Based on the amount of complaining rampant in the fandom, one would have thought that the show was a victim of the “Sopranos” scheduling nightmare. At least some comfort can be taken from the press releases that have been posted in the interim. A fourth season is a virtual certainty, as such things go, and the producers are discussing an end date for the series with the network. (One gets the feeling that Abrams and Co. wanted to avoid the sad fate that destroyed “Alias” in its final season.)

Whatever the case, the conventional wisdom is that the new schedule, chosen based on fan feedback, was a massive mistake. As usual, many fans conveniently forgot that the schedule was designed for their benefit. Instead, the producers were all but hung from the rafters as responsible for bringing the issue to the attention of the network scheduling department. It wouldn’t be wrong for them to never listen to a fan complaint again, when this is the thanks they get.

In fact, the content of the first six episodes got equally bad reactions out of the fans, despite the fact that it was, as always, an introduction to the situations that would be explored in the season arc. The first 6 episodes of an arc-driven season are always introductory. Granted, the writers chose to focus on isolated characters, but this resistance to change is disturbing. Whatever happened to letting the writers tell the story they want to tell? Like it, don’t like it, but don’t tell them that they screwed up for taking chances.

With that sure-to-be-popular sentiment out of the way, there’s more than enough episode content to cover, despite a relatively narrow focus. The resolution of Jack’s ultimatum was designed to fall into Juliet’s hands, and so naturally, this episode is all about mining her motivations to shed light on her choices. The result is a complex and fascinating look into the recruitment process for the Others.

Juliet is revealed to be a brilliant research scientist with plenty of medical knowledge, even if that doesn’t include surgery (a point still not entirely clarified). In fact, her research prowess has yielded something rather revolutionary: the ability to render a biological entity pregnant without the usual process of exchanging bodily fluids. That means pregnant males and the possibility of pregnancy for women otherwise without the ability. As it turns out, Juliet’s sister is suffering from what appears to be cancer, and Juliet wants to give her a full life again, including motherhood.

As motivations go, it makes sense. Juliet is victimized by those willing to use her talents to their own ends, and she has allowed it to keep her options for helping her sister alive. But within that context, she’s far from weak. If anything, she demonstrates the willingness to set aside conventional ethics when they get in the way of her personal goals. That very quickly establishes Juliet as someone equally as dangerous as Ben, and someone more than willing to screw over potential allies when a better opportunity arises. (Why Juliet’s sister is worthy of this constant sacrifice and ethical relativity remains an open question.)

While it’s been obvious for quite some time, this episode underscores the fact that the Dharma Initiative is still alive and well, even if it has evolved into something else. Juliet visits her sister in a Dharma facility that may or may not be in Miami. Juliet was taken to the island and the Dharma compound run by Ben for the purposes of experimentation related to human reproduction. This connects rather nicely with Claire’s experience and the observation that the Others make acquisition of children a priority. Juliet’s very presence is a confirmation that the Others have a plan and a goal.

If Hanso (and therefore, the Widmore family) is involved in this process, then this episode hints at the scope of their influence and power throughout the world. Juliet’s ex-husband is removed from the picture with almost casual precision. More to the point, the timing of Juliet’s arrival on the island is incredibly disturbing. Recalling that this episode takes place in late fall 2004, her arrival on the island coincides very closely with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That connection is completely indirect, and definitely speculation, but what if the attacks were designed to hide Juliet’s trip to the island? And why would something like that need to happen, if there is a connection?

This makes it very easy to believe that the passengers of Oceanic 815 were chosen and manipulated to be on the flight by a worldwide operation, one of the undercurrents of the first season. It also makes it easy to believe that someone sent Jack to the island to save Ben, and that the plane was off course by 1000 miles due to outside manipulation. And it also supports the idea that Desmond was manipulated into letting the countdown expire at just the right time, since whoever was controlling Kelvin could time that manipulation to a specific 108 minute time period. Ben and the Others may not have known about the plane or Jack’s presence thereof, but that is still relatively unclear.

In essence, Juliet takes each step through this episode towards the goal of advancing her personal agenda. Everyone else is trying the same thing, but the story centers on her because she’s the most successful. Jack is trapped by her choices, Kate, Sawyer, and Karl get away based on her direct intervention, and Alex is forced to bend to her will. All of this is based on her acceptance that Ben will honor his agreement.

Ironically, this might have been a major mistake. As it was, escaping the island was hardly a simple matter before the detonation of the Swan Station. Now it sounds like escape is impossible, if Tom’s comment was accurate. So was Juliet informed of this minor complication, or was Ben promising something that he knew couldn’t happen, just to manipulate Juliet into saving his life? It’s a critical point, because if Juliet finds herself stuck on the island and betrayed, her own considerable talents of manipulation could work to Jack’s favor.

The episode also touched on other interesting details. Alex, it seems, believes that Ben is her father, which is likely a matter of deception on his part. How many children would be brainwashed into believing that they were the progeny of the Others, and how does that play into the overall plan? They certainly have the technology, since they seem to be using it on Karl to “reform” him. That particular scene was so bizarre an example of psychological brainwashing that it brought the classic “Prisoner” to mind.

The end of the episode effectively provides a connection between the JackLocke Tribe and the Others. If they can help Karl recover enough to give them solid intel, and if the brainwashing was halted before he could be returned to loyalty, then he could have enough incentive to help stage a rescue attempt for Jack. This could meld very nicely with the idea of Alex and her potential resistance movement. That would be a logical means of exploring the goals and methods of the Others.

This episode should mark the end of the installments with a narrow focus on the Others, which should end some of the complaints about the third season. That said, this ends a stretch of episodes setting the stage for a complicated conflict between the two groups. Given that the rest of the season should play out with few interruptions, that conflict should evolve quickly. There’s every reason to believe that a lot of the fans unhappy with the beginning of the season will have plenty of time to return to the fold.

Final Analysis

Overall, this episode provided a neat conclusion to the introductory phase of the season arc by bringing many issues to a head through exploration of a single character. More information is revealed about the goals and scope of the Others and the parent organization behind them, which is always welcome. The stage is set for some serious complications in the near future.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10