“See you in a week.” Indeed. A spectacular episode, most definitely beginning the sprint to the season finale. And for all the clues and answers we get in “One Of Us,” what kept Jen and I dazzled was the performances, the writing, the pacing. Some episodes feel a little off, but tonight, “LOST” was in top form.
I’ll say it again, Elizabeth Mitchell deserves an Emmy. Or two. Even though she and Michael Emerson are late additions to the cast, they are hands down the strongest actors on the show. And while our old friends have been around too long to be consistent, tonight I’d say almost everyone was spot on. Jack and Sayid at loggerheads. Sawyer and Kate all a’tingle. (I’m no “shipper,” but Sawyer’s expression upon spotting Kate melted my cold, cold heart.) Claire and Charlie, Sun and Jin… Altogether, quite possibly the most perfect episode in a while.
Juliet’s confrontation with Ben in the kitchen stands out in my mind. Emerson does creepy well, but he does “rattled” pretty good, too. Jen went back to watch Rachel and little Julian in the park twice… and got weepy both times. And Juliet and Goodwin in bed? It’s official. Juliet is crazy cool, and smokin’ hot.
But oh yes, the clues. The clues! Through a handful of familiar scenes from seasons past — including a surprisingly effective return to the eye-popping season premiere — many blanks are filled in. Seeing The Flame in action was great, and the news coverage of Oceanic Flight 815’s disappearance helps shut down a few of the more elaborate theories. At least until “the sky turned purple,” Ben and friends have clearly not lacked for access to information.
It was also a relief to have much of the emphasis on pregnancy and children spelled out. From why Juliet was recruited to why Ethan kidnapped Claire to why dear Sun is apparently in danger, there’s something about the island that’s unfriendly to offspring. Even more intriguing, Ben’s assertion that cancer is non-existant on the Island, and Juliet’s very good question: “If you can cure cancer Ben, then why do you have it?â€
We also get another hint at Jacob’s endless talents. He can cure cancer. And the way Ben questioned Juliet’s faith in him sounded like a little more than being a good employee.
And the twist at the end, revealing the “left behind” Juliet to be the intensely talented manipulator we always knew her to be? Incredible.
Notes and notions:
- So does the pregnancy problem happen at conception or not? That was Juliet’s theory before finding out about Claire. But if Claire, who conceived before arriving on the island, developed symptoms, then Sun will too (which was strongly hinted at). What changed? And now I’m wondering… did Danielle give birth to Alex on the island, or before getting shipwrecked? (Presuming you believe her story at all.)
- It’s interesting to track how Juliet deals, or doesn’t deal, with death. She specifically told Jack she’s not comfortable with it. And Goodwin had to comfort her when Sabine died. Then again, she didn’t seem too conflicted about killing Pickett. Or, perhaps, even losing Goodwin.
- What is so special about the “last leg” of the journey to the island? If it requires a submarine, sedation, and restraints, it can’t just be deep sea currents. A submarine is a wonderful vessel for all kinds of sci-fi theories, and having finally watched “Donnie Darko” (after many fans linked it to “LOST” in Season 1), some of them actually make sense.
- The mark on the tree by Ethan’s old drop point looks like the same symbol Juliet was branded with. What does it mean? Someone at The Fuselage suggests it may be a variant of Pisces, or http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/11/1110.html “>sal ammoniacus. Whatever it is, its use on the tree seemed pretty innocuous compared to being “marked.”
- Location notes: The mysterious private airport in Miami was the Gannett printing facility in Kapolei, where The Honolulu Advertiser is printed. The Herarat Aviation (Herarat = Earhart?) lobby looked like the main branch of First Hawaiian Bank on Bishop Street. The submarine and pier are in the private ponds at Kualoa (where Jin visited his father in Season 2). Not sure where Rachel and Julian’s playground was, but I suspect it was Palolo again (where Jack stalked Sarah).
- Links: “One Of Us” discussion on TheFuselage.com, Lost-Forum.com, and USA Today’s Pop Candy
i wonder if any baby on the island automatically gets the disease, and claire caugh it from aron? maybe alex had i and her team go sick, because her team didnt die, they joined the others. that would be an awesome twist. i mean, why would she kill her family and friends? i guess once we find out what kind of disease it is we’ll understand a lot more
Babies, Are the Key to immunity on the Island.
They are born with whatever disease is. and a Natural immunity.
————————————————————-
Not sure exactly what Ethan was doing injecting Claire’s Belly, or drawing out, but that is odd treatment for, a virus or Communicable disease. Even Children may have Blank Slate kinda immune systems.
But the give and Take of this Island , has some bizzare, effects on folks, Giving Health to Locke, Rose and Sun/Jin
It make me think they are all in a state of Grace Like “Matrix” People…Fully believing that they are living full lives …but they are Doped up and in a stasis bed hooked up to a Big Brother Brain Machine…… That would account for all the
Kate Horse, Jack and his Dad, Walt Appering to Shannon and Sayid… Hurley and Dave…Locke and his Papa….Smokey.. Lockes Vision Quest..ect.
…There are so many events that COULD be explained by a BrainProjectionRoom…
Especially since All the Losties were on A Plane/All in the Same area and Easily controlled/Easily Doped and Convinced that their reality is what they want it to be.
Giving Health to Locke, Rose and Sun/Jin
You know, I thought that for a long time a ploy like that would give the writers a “realistic” escape. Using the imagination in a coma-dream state front, nothing would be impossible- it could all be explained by a realistic grounding.
But, scenes like from the end of season 2 make me think otherwise. Why include a scene from the outside world if this is all a dream? I doubt the theory for that reason.
But, anything Is possible to Coma-dream State even Group Imagry. (Outside world) It would be a cop out like
St. ElseWhere snow Globe Autistic Boy rip-off.
I would hope our writters, would go with SciFi TimeLoop or even Purgatory and the afterlife as a Bit more Palatable explanation.
WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very good..it answered a few questions with out…closing the doors on anything. This is what I expect….and just as Jack and others have said..they’ll do “anything” to get off the island….
All I can say is “MENSCH!” Tonite’s episode was fantastisch!!!!! Juliet is evil as hell!
One thing really stuck out to me in that scene at the Flame- the disappearance of Oceanic 815 was on the news and Mikhail was watching it. So it’s cool to know that the ‘outside world’ took notice of the missing flight; I guess the question now would be: are they still looking? The last 5 minutes were so twisted, but I’m hoping that Juliet is just ‘doing whatever she can to get off the island.’ Even if that means to infiltrate the 815’ers by the command of Ben. Elizabeth Mitchell, please stay on Lost forever.
oh yes Juliet is evil…and then some…see ya in a week. I have money that all the others were back at the compound before Jack and the rest hit the perimeter. Along with Juliet…Ben is an evil mother also.
Juliet, you trifling bitch!
wow, those last 5 minutes were pretty devastating. i got taken by the “goodness” of juliet. i can’t believe it! obviously everyone is in mortal danger, especially sun. everyone should listen to sayiid and sawyer, at least they can detect the b.s., she is dishing. i think these last five espisodes of season three will be great.
Once again, an awesome episode.
I do not know what to think of how we saw Juliet in hte last scenes of the show. Usually, the writers have kept this kind of evil hidden for a while; but now we all know for sure that Juliet is just pretending, infiltrating the 815’ers under the command of Ben. This opens a big question: why? what is her real mission at the beach camp?
However, I got to see some sort of “good” side to the Others’ behavior and motivations. Ethan “improvised” when he kidnapped Claire (Jack should have asked why Ethan almost killed Charlie back then, just to see what kind of answer Juliet would give). But all the Others wanted (again, according to Juliet) was to save both Aaron and Claire. I don’t know, but that shows to me a “good” side of them, even if we still do not fully understand the motivation behind that, or behind the research Juliet “HAS BEEN” conducting –notice I do not want to use past tense because I am guessing she is still working on the fertility issue on the island.
But we gather so far that this community of people living on the island just can’t procreate in the island. I would guess it has something to do with time. We know for sure (the producers have said it) that “time on the island may be different to time off the island”; so, given that human gestation requires 36 or so weeks in normal circumstances, the mysterious island powers affecting time prevents women from giving birth.
And I wonder how long it will take Kate to speak up about Sun’s alledged (miraculous) pregnancy. this show keeps getting better and better.
Peace.
Just a couple of Questions for anyone who can answer them:
The preview for next week says something about the final FIVE episodes for this season. Does that mean that this season will end on May 16 (not May 23rd as I had thought)? Does it mean that we only get 21 episodes this season instead of 23 (the last episode is usually a two hour show) like in the past two seasons? Please HELP!
I fell for it
I hated her then i liked her now i am completely mystified by her…juliet you have completely f’d with my head…..
wow what an episode
the way she handled sawyer and sayid was was the most emasculating scene ever put on tv…bravo to the writers and Elizabeth Mitchell!!!!
Did anyone else think they saw micheal on the sub. I think he was one of the guys sitting in the sub when juliet woke up.
What the heck!!! That episode answered so many questions! I also tend to think Juliet is evil, but she may be planning a switcheroo on Ben…we don’t know what transpired between the time he took her to the Flame station and the time when they were planning her fake “left behind” scenario. Also, I don’t see any of Ethan’s or the Others’ actions as altrustic at all. The Losties were just fresh meat for them to do more experiments on like rats in a lab and that is their only value to the Others. It was important to keep Claire alive not because she is a fellow human being, but because she could help them to solve their population problem. Such a good episode! My husband thinks I’m a Lost-obsessed nut! He may be right!
Did Juliet tell Jack that Ethan kept medicine in the cage where he was being kept? Because how is she to explain how fast she got to the 815 camp or did any1 notice?
Fernando – I believe the preview stated that it was the last five episodes BEFORE the season finale.
Losr in Lost – I think she said ‘near the caves’.
Two observations about what I thought was an outstanding episode. 1) Mikhail was able to gather info at the Flame because it appeared he was monitoring TV news stations etc…. but how did they know about the man Sawyer killed the night before he got on the plane? That wasn’t on any newscast and certainly wasn’t public knowledge. 2) Juliet, I think, is clearly not a diehard “other” like Ben and Richard and Ethan, she wants away from those people as badly as anything. I compare her to Michael, she’s willing to do just about anything Ben suggests to her if there is even the slightest chance it’ll get her off the island (including selling out the 815’ers). By the way, what do you think happens in a week? Will Juliet go back to the others or will the others come to the beach?
I knew Julia was a plant. What I don’t know is if she will turn on Ben again.
I’m slapping myself for not realizing sooner about the “infertility” issue on the island. It came to me just a few minutes before they revealed it on the show, but I should have seen it before. Julia is an infertility researcher. Excluding Ben most of the “Others” were not born on the island, and that makes Ben special in some way. The focus on the children, etc, it all makes sense now.
Brian, I had a similar question. How would they have known about Sawyer killing the fellow? I guess it is conceivable that the police could have come up with him as a suspect and it could have become a news event. Just not liking that explanation too much.
Does anyone have any ideas about Jacob? I suspect he lives in our world rather than on the island, but I don’t have much of a concept of him outside of that.
This sounds out of left field, but I think Hurley is more of a sinister character than we know yet….
Daniel Pennant-
please advertise somewhere else.
Does anyone know why Ben’s tumour is referred to as being in his fourth lumbar vertebra (in this episode and previous ones) yet the xrays clearly show the abnormality to be in the second lumbar vertebra? This is something even the most ignorant medical adviser could not get wrong so it must be deliberate.
Great fulfilling episode — the script, direction and acting was superb! Juliet is a player; she’s learned from the best. She’s capable of ANYTHING! One thing I’ve learned about this show — don’t believe ANYTHING unless it’s a flashback, and then I’m not too sure about Desmond’s flashbacks. I thought it interesting when Ben volunteered the word “cancer” and Juliet said, ” No, I didn’t say cancer, I said tumor” Did Ben go to the wishing box and develop operable cancer to exploit a weakness in someone? Hm-m-mm ?
This is bit..out of this episode..but how often are there suppose to be food drops?
Oh yeah, when Juliet was requested to drink the orange juice laced with tranquilizer, that sent up a flare. They were NOT at a private airport as she was led to believe. She may have made the final leg of the trip in the submarine, but before that, who knows what the travel vehicle was. And where is Rose and Bernard? I’m thinking the final episode of the season will have Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, along with a committe from Affirmative Action demanding to know what happened to Michael, Walt, Walt’s mother, Rose, Ms. Klugh and Mr. Eko.
not funny Bill ;-l
Yes, that distinction between ‘cancer’ and ‘tumor’ was puzzling!
I was thinking… What if Juliet has been sent out to get Sun? But how do they know she’s pregnant? Well… Kate knows. And what happened when she was taken to Ben at the beginning of this season? Maybe they somehow “made” her tell them about Sun’s pregnancy?
I’d LOVE to have a Donnie Darko reference on the show. The vessel theory definitely makes sense to some extent, but how does that relate to the “incident” Desmond provoked? Could it have opened a wormhole?
Punjabi – it wasn’t really meant to be funny — I think it’s an important issue.
Claire didn’t HAVE symptoms! The Others implanted something in her to trigger her illness. We know that because of what Juliet and Ben said in the last scene.
It’s been getting clearer for a couple weeks that Locke has his own mission on this island, but do you think he knew how important the flame station was to the others when he blew it up? I’m coming around to the idea that Locke’s knowledge of the Island’s ways is more than just instinct.
As far as affirmative action goes… Mr. Eko was a drug lord, who did not repent for his “sins’, so he was jack-ed up by Smokey. Michael and Walt I am sure will be back! They were not let go so easily methinks… and Mrs. Klugh seemed to be just put in for effect. I mean, anyone could have been there with Mikhail to take a bullet…Rose and Bernard were just not integral to the rest of the story. Look at all the not-so-ethnic deaths thus far… The Others…(woman and Asian man the first night in the Tailies camp),Boone,Shannon,Libby,Colleen,Pickett,Goodwin,Ethan,The Asian ‘Other’ on Michael’s traitorous trek to get our heroes to the Others’ Camp,Nikki,Paolo,Anna-Lucia,Arszt, (also the idea brought up earlier that Arszt is still alive… it’s kinda hard to fake your brains on someone’s t-shirt after an explosion!)
I think death on this show is fairly come-one-come-all! I think it spreads the wealth so-to-speak rather well…
BTW – awesome episode- Juliet has now surpassed all but Hurley as my favorite character on LOST!
When will our Losties realize that Jack IS NOT a good leader? A good doctor, but not a good leader. And when they do realize that, what will they do?
I’m with you Mel! I love Jack but he is to trusting or brain washed?. Sayid is the man he knows when peeps are hiding stuff Jack should at least listen to him. The only reason I can think Jack is allowing Juliet to be there is he has his own motives for keeping her close. Also did anyone notice during the exchange between Hurley and Juliet that when Hurley brought up killing Ethan and looking up to where the survivors buried him Juliet had a knowing look on her face? Wonder if Ethan is really dead? Great episode!!
One thing that I find intriguing is the fact that the writers have been quite up-front this time about what the Others are doing. I mean, it’s probably the first time we get such a prompt confirmation that the Others are planning something and that they’re trying to deceive the Losties. Usually we have to wait for a few episodes until the story evolves to a point where the confirmation arrives because the story itself demands it. But now? Maybe they’re trying to decieve us? Should we be suspicious?
Jack is not a good Leader. Period.
Sayid and James were Programmed to Back off when Juliet used the “Blood on Their Hands “Comment.
Juliet has learned from the best and is a challange to Ben/Jacob
I think Juliet’s sister video was a fake, It was What Juliet wanted/Needed to see to CONTROL her actions.. Notice sister video is grainy and Kid could be any kid. Too short and directed-dubbed- Voiced over by Ben-.It is what Ben Does. Give you what you want, or manipulate you with what is most important to you. see may be the Ultimate “Manchurian Canadate,” or trapped in a “Parrallax Veiw “Scenerio
Mr Science Arntz, COULD have Faked his Death Easily, ..Explosion..(No Body Plenty of Pig Brains and Guts from a pre Loaded Rig..Notice or Remember he made Everyone Back way off and set up Scene perfectly.
“Him Alone,Safe and He contrlled the Whole TNT moving thing”
Nope Mr Science Arnst is Mr. Big , and an ecentric Genius.
Rember his Crash Scene , LOOK at ME Notice ME, am I OK?!”
To think that far ahead to Put an implant in Claire to simulate a Dread Illness that can be remote triggered. Evil and confirms that Juliet “Poisoned” Claire, Sun is on the Hot seat as PregoPerson.
But,I still think The Dharma Initiative folks have a unique Island Test Tube thta has Healing powers, and some link to time travel.
They are protective of their Utopia that is why limited People know about it and when Oceanic crashed they were forced to deal with Random elements to the “Sterile” environment, “One of them may be a mother”. They Know who all the Oceanic People are. And they can Slip into the past and revise,circumstances to ‘Herd them onto plane , to prepare them for the Island by programing them for Arrival.
Because of the ability to tavel in Time they Are controlling future outcomes.
Oh and just another ‘random thought’ how were they able to Trigger Claire’s implant ,since all communications had been disrupted by Pulse
Artz could have faked his death like a David Copperfield trick. One thing that I always thought was quite odd was that he was a Ph.D “high school” teacher. I’ve never heard of a high school teacher being a Ph.D. It’s uncommon for rank and file community college instructors to be doctors, let alone high school teachers.
Great call on video MontaukJ! That makes so much sense! Ben is so evil. Wonder why Juliet didn’t question it? Guess she’d believe anything for her sister to be alive. With Claire’s implant mabey they just lost communication with outside world but they still have it on island. Did Sawyer check to see if that walkie talkie worked that they found on Paulo??
“Middle School” none the less.
Didn’t Rouseau show them the Ship in the Jungle?
convienent?
and Arntz, was all over the Explosive Pursuit/extraction
Too Planned and staged not to have been . a Siefried and Roy Moment'””Po o f”!
I might be all alone here, but I’m more convinced than ever that Jack is neither dumb nor hopelessly naive. Instead, he is the most consistently written character on the show. I don’t think he’s never considered the possibility that Juliet is a plant, or that there’s a lot he doesn’t know about her, or that she could have her own motivations. But, true to Jack form, he’s determined to “save” her. And saving her means keeping her close by and extracting her from the others; one way to do that is to put faith in her in spite of what he knows – and knows he doesn’t know – about her background. He did the same thing with Kate (he knew she’d murdered and was wanted, but didn’t need the whole story to start trusting her). His willingness to put faith in people – i.e. to trust that they do have free choice and if they have someone who believes in them, might just make the “right” choice – is actually what makes him a *great* leader, in my mind. A leader doesn’t have to have all the answers, but he has to motivate people.
Similarly, I thought the whole thing with Sawyer as leader was a set up last week to make him more accepting of Jack in the role – he learned just how hard it must have been for Jack to take the role when he didn’t want it. On Sawyer and Sayid – I thought they came off badly, and I cheered Juliet. Yes, they saw through her. She sees through them. And she has a really valid point – if they get a blank slate for their past crimes, why shouldn’t she? Why do they get to judge her?
I thought Juliet’s point that she is truly alone means that her loyalties are not yet decided (so she’s not yet undeniably “evil”). She could still come through for Jack, or she could betray all the 815 people to the others… what happens in the next week (island time) may well determine it.
did anyone notice on the paper with the ekg or whatever it was that ben gave to juliet to show her that her sisters cancer came back–that on the page it said the patient was male and 5’11” tall and 187 lbs.
i think the flame allows the others to see the losties time loops–that is how they would know sawyor killed someone the night before taking off–or what sayyid did in basra—they can see the loop through the eyes of the lostie.–maybe even the video of the sister was a viewing of a time loop where the sister was okay–
The marks on the sub belong to part of the Bagua, which is the Dharma logo. This particular part of the symbol is called a trigram. There are eight altogether, each representing an aspect of life. This Trigram represents the ‘front door’ , the beginning or your life path, and career.
The mysterious mark on the tree is a letter from the Cyrillic alphabet. The symbol is also prominent in UFO folklore:
“some ufologists claim it is a symbol for a planet in another sun system, called Ummo, some of whose inhabitants they say have been in contact with humans on our planet.”
Juliet is self serving ,but she may be being convinced she is in more control than she is.
Ben knows she is bright and may see through him, and he is using that against her..letting her believe that she is getting away with something when she is not, He is making her appear to be part of Management when she is in fact just another Pawn albeit a Super pawn ,but still ,basically powerless.
One more minor Point that may be HUGE, as Juliet ties the final knot on her leanToo, she pulls that knot tight as if garroting someone. a very aggressive motion……Will she hang /strangle someone?
Will she Hang herself (Fake of course).As much as I hated it I noticed that someone was hung from a tree in Next weeks previews
Real or not Hype or not there it is.
I really just enjoy the show, and all the questions it brings to mind. I love the surprise of watching it every week. Although I read the forums and have some input now and then, I refuse to overthink things the way some others do, as if it were of monumental importance, to the point of obsession, where all I do all day is go over and over the previous night’s show, critiquing every word and nuance. It would be exhausting, and quite honestly would ruin the show for me! Rock on Losties! Explore your theories for our entertainment! Save the rest of us the trouble and give us more to read! LOL
I want to show my support for Bill’s Affirmative Action initiative. And several of us here have mentioned it before: they have gotten rid of all black characters. What is going on here? (I am aware that other non-black characters have been killed off as well and blacks are not hte only ones dying).
As for other issues, I have a theory about how Ben conned Juliet using her sister’s cancer. Simply: the test results he showed Juliet were fake. The sister was never in remission, and she lived happily ever-after. That explains why it was “so easy” for Richard to find her at the park. And even if the video-feed looks grainy, Juliet did recognize her own sister; so we know for sure it was her.
Also, I can see in the near future Jack, Sayid, Sawyer, Kate, and Locke having implants as well. All of them have been in handcuffs under the control of the Others. So it is possible.
Aitor, you expressed with better words what I had said earlier: Something is up, when the show’s writers and producers are letting us now this soon what the Others are up to. I see it as some sort of teasing or warning for the audience that says: you better watch out, what comes next is even more amazing.
And I am waiting…
One simple question: Why are the Others (Ben and CO) hostile towards the plane crash survivors? Still, based on what we learned last night, I cannot understand why they couldn’t have just been friendly with them from the start. Their must be a reason… any theories?
My mind is going with the coffee I’ve had this morning. OK, the fake air service company that Juliet was to travel on was HERARAT Aviation — that’s also EARHART as in Amelia. A. Earhart disappeared in the vicinty of the LOST island (Gardner Island) in 1937 and was flying a Lockheed L-10E Electra — same as the African drug smugglers’ plane. The symbol carved in drug-drop tree looked like the symbol branded on Juliet’s back following her “traitor trial”. Hm-m-m-m?
I wonder if Jack didn’t have his own sit down with Ben before the gas attack. Perhaps it was his job to insinuate Juliette into the Losties’ group in order to “save” Claire.
Ben could have told him that a) the transmitter has already been turned on, so Claire will die if you don’t do this, or b) he just said there was something on the island that afflicts pregnant women, like the story that Juliette told Jack. Jack believes that being getting Juliette into camp he will earn his ticket home, again.
They are not of the Island,
the are Test Subjects.
and as such you don’t wanna get too close when you may have to . Cancel them at any time.
Or the Island Folks in Village are such elitiists that they want NO Outsiders in their little Utopia.
And a theory
Those “On the List’ are the ones they (Dharma) specifically
manipulated and researched completely before the great “Reset” button was pushed.
Rose was maybe just a side effect healing, or
she maybe more connected than earlier believed.
The Black people will return to story line ,they are obvious in their absence.
I also feel Mrs. Klugh is not dead, agin ,no Body
House Blew up ,no follow-up burial.
that was staged as well.
her and Pathcy are in another monitoring station .
While sensitive to racial issue , let’s not go all Sharpton, more “Look at Me”I am more indignant”,
stuff, My family can not tolerate, and before anyone over reacts we are a mixed Marriage Japanese /Okinawan Wife Irish/Seminole/White Husband and one son,Combo of above blend.