Preview: The Other Other Woman

Tonight. LOST. "The Other Woman."
9/8c. ABC.

In a soap operatic twist of episode titling, LOST brings us the 6th installment of Season 4. Tonight’s episode will feature Juliet, the exiled Other whose allegiance some still question. Today we’ll discuss what we know about Dr. Burke, what may be in store for her tonight and the continuing battle between The Man of Science, The Man of Faith and the Man of Bug Eyes. We’ll also explore the title of tonight’s episode and what it may mean.


I’m Not an Experimental Fertility Doctor, But I Play One On TV
A Brief History of Juliet Burke
Juliet Burke: doctor, sister, kind of an Other. Juliet was once a humble, shy fertility doctor who used extreme, unconventional methods to give her sister, Rachel, the baby she always wanted but thought she could never conceive because of her cancer. That miracle caught the attention of the baby-deprived Island’s powers-that-be, and they sent for her via a team of creepy recruiters with questionable tactics. Once on the Island, Juliet was baffled and frustrated by the fertility and labor mysteries. She wanted to go home. Ben got her to stay by promising to keep Rachel and her child (aptly named “Julian” to give a little extra tug to Juliet’s heart strings) alive and well. Thus, Juliet was enslaved on the Island by Benjamin Linus, exchanging her freedom for the safety of the sister she had fought so valiantly for.

But that humble, shy Juliet who arrived to the Island groggy and wide-eyed in the submarine would soon be replaced by the ass-kicking, manipulative, seducer of Jack we’ve come to know and love. Once she knew her sister and nephew were okay, she started looking for her ticket off the Island. Enter Oceanic 815. Its passengers – especially Jack – have renewed her drive to leave the Island. She has engaged in manipulations of Ben, physical force and deception with soul purpose of getting back to the only family she knows.

Still loyal to Jack, she opted not to bite on Locke’s “Come with me if you want to live” promise. And like Jack, her constantly scrunched up countenance expresses her doubt in the freighter folk. But she’s plugging along, placating eccentric physicists and pithy archaeologists while she bides her time and ponders her next move. Which brings us to tonight.

Let’s Make a Deal
Tonight’s Tivo-ready preview:

"Juliet receives an unwelcome visit from someone from her past and is given orders to track down Charlotte and Faraday in order to stop them from completing their mission – by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Ben offers Locke an enticing deal."

Let's break that down.

“An unwelcome visit from someone from her past.”
Huh? Who do we know (that’s still alive) that could be both unwelcome to Juliet and on the Island? Honestly, I’m a little stumped. But my guess is it’s someone we don’t know yet, and we’ll get the background (and perhaps the encounter itself) of that person in Juliet’s flashback. Oh, and yes, I think tonight we get a flashback, mostly because it would be a little early (and entirely too generous) of the LOST writers to give us the final piece of the Oceanic Six puzzle already. If it’s not an unknown entity from her past, it may be the resurrection of a deceased entity from her past (perhaps her old boyfriend Goodwin, who fell victim to the ole’ stake-in-the-ground-pointy-end-up maneuver courtesy of Ana Lucia). We’ll pay attention to that tonight. My .0000001% probability guess: Charles Widmore. I have little reason for that, other than the fact that my Theory of Total Widmore Domination was partially resuscitated by last week’s auction scene.

“Given orders to track down Charlotte and Faraday in order to stop them from completing their mission – by any means necessary” (cue melodramatic ‘duh duh duh’ music)
So whoever this skeleton in Juliet’s closet may be, they have some interest in stopping The Fantastic Freighter Four from info-mining the Island. And they’re going to offer her something (Rachel? Julian? Me?) that prompts her to use “any means necessary” to stop Charlotte and Danny boy. Forgive my pessimism, but how many times is Juliet going to embark on a wild goose chase to get off the Island, only to be denied? There comes a point when every woman has to say, “Damn it, I can’t solve the fertility problems of this mystery Island, I fear my boss has imprisoned me, people keep dying, I’m a wreck and I want to see my sister and the child I artificially impregnated her with.” Come on ladies, you’ve all been there. My point is, whatever Juliet gets promised tonight, it better be pretty good, because the dear doctor has to be getting tired of running.

“Ben offers Locke an enticing deal.”
Whoa, curveball! Excuse me while I lift my jaw off the floor in the wake of this bombshell. In fairness, they’re required by law to say this every week as it occurs that often. It looks like Ben’s gradual wearing down of Locke is about to pay off. The mind games will convince John that he does not have as much control over destiny as he thought, and he’ll turn to the one person who can promise that to him. It does remain to be seen what exactly that “deal” will include, but count on Island knowledge, access to Jacob or freighter folk info as the likely suspects. My hope is Ben will fess up a little more about who the freighter people are and who they’re really working for.

Other Wise
Once again, let us invoke my history minor and take some lessons from the past regarding the title of this episode.

Good and Evil
So much of LOST focuses on the complexity of determining “good vs. evil.” In the Season 2 finale, Ben said ominously, “We’re the good guys.” Before she lowered the boom on him, Ana Lucia was told by Goodwin that she wasn’t taken by his people because she wasn’t “good.” The creepy vision of John Locke in Season 1 showed him with one white eye and one black eye to foreshadow the duality of good and evil that the show would soon explore.

The Battle For Good
And nowhere was that duality more clearly played out than in the battle between the Oceanic 815 survivors and the “Others.” As viewers, we are to believe that the people we’ve followed are the good guys. They are the protagonists in this narrative. Anybody who is new, scary, creepy or strange automatically falls on the other side of that coin. Hence, The Others. Not “The Evils.” The Others. But the more we learn about our protagonists, the more cracks and flaws appear in their once-pristine foundation. Jack drove his dad to drink. Sawyer killed and conned, as did Kate. Sun contemplated leaving Jin. Hurley ate way too much chicken and had an imaginary friend. Suddenly, our perspective of the people who are supposed to be “good” seems a little warped. But that’s kept in check by the fact that, no matter how flawed our survivors may be, they are in constant opposition with people who kidnap, kill and lie. So our guys have to be the good guys, right?

Not necessarily. Imagine that the pilot of LOST took place in Othersville, where a peace-loving people had their existence shattered by a plane crash, which brought with it felons and liars who killed, kidnapped and lied. As viewers following Ben Linus’ people, we learn how awful some of the people on the plane are and we cheer as our heroes separate the good and the evil, deeming certain people worthy to experience what the glorious Island has to offer. And whatever it is that the Island is offering, we admire the extreme precautions Ben takes to protect it, much in the way that we currently hold a soft spot for crazy ole’ John Locke.

Am I saying the Others are the real good guys? No, not really. But maybe. And that’s one of the many motifs that LOST writers have woven into this story: that our notions of good and evil are formed by our perspective and our past experiences. And therefore, some people are not purely “bad,” but perhaps misunderstood or just taken out of context.

The Constants of Good and Evil
That concept has been illustrated beautifully by the use of two characters, who travel between the two sides of our narrative. First is Ethan Rom, the Other who infiltrated the 815 camp shortly after the crash. Anagram fans take note, “Ethan Rom” can be rearranged to spell “Other man.” Second is tonight’s start, Juliet Burke. If Ethan was an Other thrust into a normal person’s world, Juliet is his antithesis – that is, a normal person thrust into the Others’ world. These two serve as, to borrow from last week’s episode, “a constant.” They are common elements to each camp that act and react differently based on whom they’re surrounded by. In Othersville, Ethan is the skilled surgeon, resident handyman, and loyal follower of Ben while Juliet is the troublemaking, whining, nonbeliever who is seen as arrogant because she doesn’t want to be part of Ben’s master plan. Contrast that with the beach environment, where Ethan is the creepy, murderous, lurking kidnapper and Juliet – though not trusted at first – becomes a valuable insider and ally to Jack. So who’s to say who’s right or wrong? Most people will tell you Ethan is the bad guy, but they would do that with the perspective of someone who believes the survivors to be the “good guys.” You could make the argument either way.

The Good, The Bad and Juliet Burke
But, interestingly, Juliet is neither an “Other” nor a plane crash survivor. She doesn’t fall in either camp. So each time Juliet does something, many viewers (and characters) are confused and suspect her of ulterior motives. If one side is good and the other evil – which is how Locke oversimplified this idea with his backgammon analogy in Season 1 – then Juliet is neither.

That’s why she’s a bit of a wild card, and that’s why she’s an interesting character. Because through Juliet, we are forced to reevaluate our own notions of what is good and what is not. In other words, if an “Other” is a bad guy (as we’ve long believed), what exactly qualifies somebody to be an Other?

Also, if Ethan Rom is "Other Man" and Juliet is his bad twin (if you will, and I will, a-thank you) then is Juliet "The Other Woman?" Muah ha ha ha.

Other "Otherly"-Titled Titles
Back to tonight’s episode, “The Other Woman.” Two other episodes have directly used the word “other” in the title: Raised By Another (Season 1) and The Other 48 Days (Season 2).

Raised By Another featured Claire’s psychic, Richard Malkin, warning her sternly about letting anyone else raise her baby. He said:

“It can't be another. You mustn't allow another to raise your baby.”
On its face, that statement makes sense. But, oh, the beauty of subtle copy editing:
“It can’t be an Other. You mustn’t allow an Other to raise your baby”.

The Other 48 Days, on its surface, refers to the time spent by the “other” survivors of the crash (the tailies). But the episode went beyond that to focus on a group of tormentors we would soon come to know as, simply, The Others.

So forgive me for being suspicious about tonight’s title: The Other Woman. On the surface, it seems melodramatic. But knowing that “Other” is defined a little differently – and taking into account the confusion that LOST creates about what constitutes an “Other” – I think we’re in for more than a love triangle. It’s not something you’ll need to think about while you watch. But when the episode’s over, do some thinking about what The Other Woman really means and come back tomorrow with your thoughts. Then again, maybe it’ll be completely obvious.

Your Thoughts?
What do you think? Who is the person from Juliet's past? What does Ben offer Locke? Could the Others really be the good guys, or am I off my rocker? How the hell did Hillary win Ohio and Texas? Okay, don't answer that last one. But do answer the other ones in the comment section. And.... go!

Garth, That Was a Haiku
A deal with Ben
A mission for Juliet
And someone might die

Quick note, about the ominous last line of that haiku. I'm sorry, but I think it's coming. An important person hasn't died in 5 whole episodes, which is an eternity. Maggie, this is where you start fearing for Claire's life. And I, for Desmond's. I'll see ya in another life, brutha.

Namaste.
.charlie