The Other Woman

“The Other Woman” gave us an island flashback, and a little more insight into the pre-crash world of the Others. Charles Widmore is officially tied to the freighter, Ben’s creepiness leaps into another dimension, and Hurley is feeling lucky. But we still don’t know who Ben’s man on the boat is, and considering how much the writers are clearly trying to milk that particular mystery, I’m beginning to think we’ll be downright mad if it is Michael. We will allow that “The Constant” was a tough act to follow, but as huge fans of Elizabeth Mitchell, it’s a pity “her” episode reduces her to fretting and catfighting. And for all the jumping around we did, it didn’t feel like we got very far. [Tell us what you thought! Comment or call (808) 356-0127.]

Revealing that Juliet’s romance with Goodwin was an affair? Pretty awesome. Watching Ben go from awkward lovestruck schoolboy to psycho stalker? Even better. And whatever the circumstance, it was great seeing Goodwin and Tom again. We also appreciated the mention of Zach and Emma, and Harper’s comparing Juliet to Ben’s “her” seems to hint at Annie. But the introduction of Harper out of the blue as a major player in the Days of Othersville soap opera seemed a bit forced. And while we love Claire, her token scene was painfully out of place.

The Charles Widmore link is an important one, no doubt. He’s definitely after Ben, who says he wants to protect the island from turning into Gainesville, Florida’s mold museum. (“Go Gators!” says Jen, an escaped Floridian.) Yet Ben seemed perfectly willing to gas everyone to stop Widmore… if we believe what Daniel and Charlotte said.

The major forces at play are still unclear, as is the true value of the island. Juliet says a war is brewing between the freighties and Ben, and that Ben will win. We still don’t know whether Ben is good or bad, but I think Juliet’s right.

“The Other Woman” also made for a tough night for Jaters. First Kate goes running off to snoggle with Sawyer, and now Jack’s giving Juliet a sad surgeon kiss. Though it was pure shipper chow, I enjoyed the scene between Jack and Kate, when Kate said she went to Othersville to find something out. “Are you going to tell me, or are we going to keep walking as if it doesn’t matter,” Jack says, figuring she went to decide between him and Sawyer. Sorry, bub. Kate’s just looking out for number one.

Jen’s particularly annoyed that Kate is continuing racking up bonehead points, tonight again demonstrating poor judgement and looking more and more like a convenient tool for the writers to skip over a few sticky spots of common sense.

Perhaps my favorite moment, however fleeting, was the replay of the plane crash scene, the one that opened Season 3. Insert Harper in the background, and add a couple of meaningful looks, and the writers cleverly recast the significance of Goodwin’s assignment at the tail section.

Notes and Notions:

  • Jen liked Jack’s scene with Jin, where Jack gets mad that nobody reported on Daniel and Charlotte escaping. “You said they were friends,” Jin says. He should have said, “I’m sorry, did we fail to read your friggin mind?”
  • Charlotte seems to have genuine affection for Daniel, though more protective and maternal than romantic. She didn’t come off as particularly likable this week, but she’s someone I expect we’ll come to appreciate over time. If she has time.
  • It was interesting to see Ben stoking the seeds of jealousy in Juliet in mentioning Goodwin’s interest in Ana Lucia. But at Goodwin’s body, Ben does not finger Ana Lucia as his killer. It seemed almost inevitable, considering Juliet ends up pivotal in Michael’s murderous return to the hatch in Season 2.
  • Harper Stanhope’s name, Jen suspects, is a reference to Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Specifically because the story involves first impressions and misunderstood characters.
  • “The Tempest” is obviously a reference to “The Tempest.” It’s about an island, a sorcerer, shipwreck survivors who are split up and manipulated…
  • Favorite Lines: Tom telling Juliet, “She’ll have you weeping about your father.” Juliet telling Jack, “It’s very stressful being an Other.” Ben inquiring about Locke’s rabbit, “It didn’t have a number on it, did it?”
  • Where did Danielle and Alex go? (Probably the same place Rose and Bernard went.)
  • Locations: The Tempest, or at least the exterior, is a bunker on the grounds of Kualoa Ranch. (Thanks, John!) I’m going to guess the interior was the old Foremost milk factory on Dillingham Blvd., where I spotted them filming right around the same time.
  • Music: Anyone know what opera Ben was playing for Juliet? Jen’s a bit of an opera fan.
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59 Responses to The Other Woman

  1. Scott (aka target242) says:

    Just a few thoughts:

    i have not looked up transcripts of the whispers, but to me they sounded alot like numbers or equations. It does seem to suggest some sort of transport, but i don’t really like that idea, since everything is supposed to have a logical reason? (Wormholes, aside.)

    I agree that Kate getting clubbed was just dumb and totally poor for her character….everyone saw that coming.

    I really miss Walkabout/Hunter Locke….the writers really seem to be making him out now to be an enemy of sorts. Could he be the one in the coffin?

    Could Michael be working for Widmore? What construction company did he work for? It definately seems to be Widmore vs. Hanso?

    Love the show! Glad you guys are back! Greetings from snowy Tennessee!

  2. krugpainter1 says:

    I have another Juliet question/theory.

    How does Juliet have such great combat skills? My husband and I are re-watching Season 3. She does a really good job of completely knocking Kate onto the floor even though she was taken by surprise when bringing her a sandwich. She did so with very unfertility doctor-esque skill. She mentions later in the season that when Kate dislocates her shoulder, it’s the fourth time it’s been dislocated. What is she doing that causes her to dislocate her shoulder so often?

    This made me think of her comment that Jack would not want to see Juliet’s file. Despite the fact that we’ve seen a couple of Juliet-centric episodes these past two seasons, I think there is a huge gap in her story. I’m guessing all of these skills must have come from the island, because unassuming Miami Juliet doesn’t seem the type to do a lot of kung fu fighting (Doo-Doo Doo-Doo Doot Doo Doot Doot Doo).

  3. Tori says:

    There’s little to add to this assortment of great analyses, but here are a couple of additional questions/thoughts:

    Given the looks of her new house on the mainland, It seems the returned Kate is either married to someone rich, or that the Losties have been financially compensated for their heroism in the public eye. If it’s the former, I doubt she’s hooked up with Sawyer! Any thoughts?? (It’ll kill me if she is married to, say, Ben!).

    I agree with some folks’ assessment that the writing for Kate has been rather lame lately in terms of the plausibility factor. However, does anyone share my view that on the island (v. her various antics on the mainland), she is courageous, challenging (to both Jack and Sawyer) and even kind, for example, toward Claire and Jin. To me, it seems that the island is sort of redeeming her character–that is, she’s using her time there to be the person she wants to be–versus Sawyer, who in general is not improving a great deal, give or take a few soft moments. I was struck by this when I noticed myself admiring Kate in various ways on the island–then seeing her return to questionable character actions on the mainland, for example, having no compassion toward her dying mother.

    Speaking of mothers, where are the mothers in this show? There is still a huge issue around people’s fathers– for example, Kate’s stepfather, Jin’s father, Ben’s father, John’s father, Jack’s father…Mothers play a minor role– except for women’s difficulty BECOMING mothers on the island. Whazzup with that?

    Mary, I agree that the two gals look much better sans makeup than with it!

    Ryan and Jen– you guys are wonderful. Thank you for steering our particular ship straight (whether 325 or 305 degrees, we don’t know!) And if the writers ever check in on this forum–my humble hat is off to you, for stupendously addictive work! Thank you!

  4. Melissa says:

    Welcome back guys! I used to listen to you guys a couple of years ago, when my daughter was a mere baby. You helped fill those long hours in the middle of the night when I was was nursing her. 🙂

    Now you are back, and even though she’s 2, I still spend a lot of time up in the middle of the night. 🙂 You have come to the rescue again.

    Thanks, too, for being so magnanimous as to send me over to Jay and Jack in your absence. I now have two of the best podcasts to listen to ever! 🙂

    Thanks for the insight, the blog, the podcast, and for keeping the podcast virtually spoiler free. I, like Jen, am living spoiler free to enhance my enjoyment of the show. It makes for a truly enjoyable experience.

  5. NuckinFuts says:

    O.K O.K O.K. – I’ve got it …..thank you so much Dave & -Joe Sheshlie – – – this might be awesome….here goes….

    Now…based on what Ben/Henry said…”We got more than we bargained for when Walt JOINED us….” and Joe S here said about Walt in the woods appearing to certain people it reminded me of when Mrs. Clue asked Michael if Walt had ever appeared somewhere he was not supposed to….hmmm…I am with him now in guessing that Walt never left the island…perhaps his “double” did….to trick Michael. Perhaps either Walt was brainwashed by the Others in the Clockwork Orange room, or decided when the Others inevitably asked him why he would care to stay with Michael when he had just met him and he had never been part of his life….of course we saw that they bonded…or did they??? Perhaps Walt started tricking Michael right away after starting camp w/ the Others. That would mean that like you say Dave, that Ben/Henry would be double crossing Michael by giving him the boat and thinking he would never be back by the time Walt stopped transporting himself to the little boat it would be too late for Michael…but if he’s on the boat it is just coincidence that he found their rescue….very nice….very nice…If this is true. The Whispers could be times that Walt or someone is attempting to appear where they are not….so if they are using Walt’s powers perhaps he does not only have the ability to transport himself somewhere else he can also be used to transport others ( no pun intended )

    AAAAHHHHH – – more evidence ?? – – I think that Walt would never have left Vincent…and would not have let Michael leave on that boat without him…not if it was truly him….but if it was a temporary transport then perhaps it would not matter becuase he will just dissapear when they are lost at sea.

  6. NuckinFuts says:

    Sorry for the confusing paragraphs everyone. It was coming to me so fast I can’t help it.

  7. Jennifer says:

    One thing I haven’t figured out yet is what Miles meant by “I’m not going anywhere, I’m exactly where I want to be”- he said that to Kate when she told him she wasn’t going to let him go. Then Harper said the exact same words about Ben. A clue for sure, but to what?

  8. Reg in WA says:

    I don’t see any posts about the opera bit playing during Ben and Juliet’s “date”, so here goes.

    It is a portion of the aria “Un bel di” from Puccini’s Madame Butterly, which is the story of a young Japanese woman who falls in love with an American naval officer. He leaves, she believes he will return for her, which is what the aria is about–how great it will be on that “one beautiful day” when he returns.

    The particular words she sings in the segment we hear may or may not have anything to do with the show. I think that what is more relevant is the fact that when the officer does finally return, he does so with (surprise, surprise!) his American wife. Definitely an Other Woman moment, complicated by the fact that the Japanese girl has given birth to the naval officer’s child in the interim.

    Here are the words we hear, but I think the significance is in the general story of the opera, not the particular words. She has been saying how great it will be to see his ship come into the harbor when he finally returns.

    “….I don’t go down to meet him, not I.
    I stay upon the edge of the hill
    And I wait a long time
    but I do not grow weary of the long wait.

    And leaving from the crowded city,
    A man, a little speck
    Climbing the hill….”

    She goes on to describe their reunion, how he will refer to her as his wife, how he will fulfill all the promises he made to her. Of course, when he shows up with his American wife, she presents the child to him and then goes off and kills herself. It is Puccini, after all, the sopranos need to sing high notes, make everyone fall in love with them, and then die in the most spectacular and heart-wrenching way possible.

  9. Jerry says:

    Just had a thought…. Is it possible that the fertility problem is all a ruse to justify Juliet’s presence on the island, given Ben’s obsession with her? How creepy, and completely in-character, would it be to find out that Ben was actually poisoning the pregnant women all along?

    Also, regarding the “you might want to sit down” reveal to John, what if Minkowski (crazy time-shift guy) is/was really Ben’s man on the boat — only he’s time-traveling back and providing Ben info in the past?

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