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Mania Grade: B-
Episode: Stranger in a Strange Land
Stars: Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Mathew Fox, Michael Emerson, Elizabeth Mitchell
Directed By: Paris Barclay
Created By: JJ Abrams, David Lindelof

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"Lost: Stranger in a Strange Land"

I’ve been complaining lately that the marketing campaign for Heroes over-hyped the episodes to a degree that while the episodes were good, they were underwhelming due to the promises of the promotions.  Well, now Heroes and LOST have another thing in common.  The ads promised that this week we’d get the answers to three of the series’ most intriguing questions.  I knew that it wouldn’t be that easy, but I didn’t expect the almost complete non-answers that were provided.  I’m not even sure what all three of the answers were! 

The most obvious of the answered questions was what the meaning of Jack’s tattoo is.  First of all, I could care less what the tattoo means and second of all we were told the literal translation of the tattoo but not what it means.  The other obvious answer is what happened to the tailies that were taken.  The only answer we now have is that they are still alive and that they “watch”, whatever that means. 

Again, this episode focuses solely on Sawyer, Kate, Jack, and the Others; leaving the rest of the merry band out in the cold.  This episode however isn’t a step back to the nightmare that was the first six episodes though.  Juliette is in trouble because she killed one the Others and the law on the islands is an eye for an eye so she is being investigated by “the Sheriff” Isabelle.  This scenario was intriguing to me because we were able to see more of the inner workings of the Others and their hierarchy.  What’s confusing is that when Juliette first approaches Jack for help and tells him that she is in trouble, he denies her any assistance.  Ben’s recovery from the surgery isn’t going well and she believes that if she can convince Jack to help her that she might be able to get out of trouble.  Later, Jack lies for her and then makes a deal to help Ben recover if Juliette is spared.  The only thing I can figure is that Jack initially didn’t have a grasp on exactly what being in trouble meant and when he found out she was to be executed he decided to help her out.  There’s a definite chemistry between the two of them, plus Jack likes his sandwiches grilled with tooth picks. 

It seems like the Others are working to try and separate Jack from his cast away buddies.  First Jack gets offered a ticket off the island by Ben, then there’s this attraction building between Jack and Juliette, and now even Tom is taunting Jack by discussing the fact that his friends left him without looking back.  Could this whole thing be a mind game to try and get Jack to switch sides?  I don’t know, but I enjoyed Tom in this episode, more so than in previous appearances. 

Meanwhile Freckles, Sawyer, and Karl are rowing away from the prison island and Kate is fighting with Sawyer to turn the boat around.  Sawyer is the man and he says no, so Kate shuts up.  Does this really seem like a typical response from Kate?  Once back at the home island Kate tells Sawyer to row the boat around the island to their home beach.  Sawyer again says no that they don’t have a map and that they should make camp until morning.  Again, Kate shuts up and does as she’s told.  This started to really bug me because she’s typically a lot stronger willed than this.  She finally gets interesting when she takes the initiative with Karl and starts asking questions, good ones.  During this conversation we learn that the Others in fact still live on the home island and just use the prison island for projects.  He says that they abduct people in order to give them a better life.  Just when things start getting interesting they turn in for the night.  The next morning Sawyer finds Karl crying over his lost girlfriend.  Sawyer tells him that he must go after her even if it means his life.  Now this ticked me off because I was hoping Karl would make it back to the home beach where Sayid could work him over for more answers.  The scene did open Sawyer’s feelings up about the love triangle that he is currently tangled in with Kate and Jack.  He knows that Kate’s desire to go back for Jack is built on more than just loyalty or friendship.  This feeling was cemented when Kate hesitated to tell Sawyer he was wrong when he told her to stop feeling guilty over having sex with him because she thought he would soon be dead. 

Along with the island story we get a fairly boring flashback of Jack living it up on a remote beach in Thailand.  He meets an exotic woman (Bai Ling) who helps him fly a kite, and then helps him with a lot more.  During their relationship, Jack becomes aware of a gift that she is keeping secret.  He eventually forces her to reveal her gift, which is to mark people with tattoos that represent who they really are.  He asks her if she can see who he is, and when she says yes he insists that she mark him.  She says he is a leader, but that makes him lonely and angry.  She tells him that if she marks him there will be consequences and he says something like “there always are”.  He gets ‘em the next day when the woman’s brother and some of his buddies beat the crap out of Jack and tell him to leave the country.  Oh, the tattoo reads “He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us.”  The tattoo was something I never thought about and the resounding message of it doesn’t really intrigue me.  The fact that this flashback has connected to Juliette being marked with a primitive tattoo as a murderer does intrigue me a bit though. 

While I didn’t appreciate the flashback the events on the island do seem to be building to something and I really hope the writers make it pay off.  Now Jack is on his way back to the home island with Ben to treat him.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if Kate, Locke, Sayid and some of the others put together a raiding party and found the home of the Others?