Like many Lost fans, I found the earlier episodes from this season to be increasingly tedious. I really enjoy the mythology, but it needs to be balanced with a healthy dose of relatable human drama. So I felt like applauding after this week's installment, which nailed the balance of action, mystery, and meaningful glances.
Although Lost benefited from streamlined storytelling this week, that's not to say it's easy to summarize. When we last saw our castaways, Kate, Jack, and Sawyer were being held by the Others on a separate island. Jack was going to let head honcho Ben die on the operating table unless the Others let Kate and Sawyer escape. Meanwhile, 1500 other subplots are waiting in the wings. Out of a great hour, I chose what I thought were a few of the best moments.
In an excellent (and long-awaited) backstory, we learned that Juliet, a doctor in her past life, was being courted by Mittelos Bioscience, a research group that — as its representative Mr. Alpert, when pressed, admits — is "not quite in Portland." We could suspect that "not quite in Portland" is a handy little euphemism for "nowhere near Portland, the Pacific Northwest, or the continental United States." Another possible clue is the organization's name. In German, "mittellos" means indigent, poor, or literally without means. A biomedical company without means could still run the kind of research lab one might find on a remote island: low on supplies but flush with stranded guinea pigs. That interpretation of the name might be a stretch, but most Lost hypotheses are, in my opinion. Also, for those that followed the Lost Experience last summer, remember Dr. MITTELwork as in MITTELos?
Seeing Juliet's ex-husband — who, like Ben, is a smooth-talking menace — provided a nice insight to her personality. The three years Juliet has spent on the island have changed her from a woman who says tearfully, "I'm not a leader — I'm a mess"' to one who can shoot Pickett and plot to kill Ben with eerie placidity. Speaking of creepy, when Ben woke up on the operating table, I got serious goosebumps. Lost has always been good at the polar-bear- or smoke-monster-generated scare, but this was a truly chilling moment. And the fact that Ben can make Juliet look like she's crying after speaking just a few words while he's lying helpless with his spine exposed is an excellent indication of his manipulative power.
We also got to see more of the ever-resourceful Alex. It turns out she had a boat for Kate and Sawyer but there was a catch: She needed help to free her captive boyfriend, Karl (who had tried to escape along with Sawyer earlier in the season). This provided Kate with an excellent opportunity to get out some of the anger that had been building during her captivity by whacking someone with the butt of a rifle. They find Karl in room 23, which, if it weren't being used as a torture chamber, might be a decent place to hold a rave. It was playing loud music and a creepy video. It kind of makes you wonder what's in rooms 4, 8, 15...yeah, you see where I'm going with that.
I'll leave it to those more fluently versed in Lost mythology to dissect each and every frame of the video, but "We are the causes of our own suffering" did jump out. The phrase could be a Lost-mythology clue, but it's also a great example of the kind of morals that govern the Others. Organized as they may be, however, if one group is going to go all Lord of the Flies on us, my money is on the Others. They have already shown they are ready to betray each other.
When it's all said and done (until next week), many questions still remain. What will Jack and Juliet's fate be now that the other Others know about their plot? What about Juliet's research project made it so attractive to the Others/Mittelos? What do you think Tom was going to say when he began talking about "ever since the sky turned purple" (i.e., when the Hatch blew up in last season's finale)? And what's been happening to the other survivors while all this has been going on?
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