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LOST, Season 3: "Stranger in a Strange Land" [recap]


Nice episode, let me just get that off my chest first. I had been waiting for the producers to give their origin of Jack's tatoo for a while (ever since I heard them mention it on a podcast last year some time), and I wasn't disappointed. He always seemed like a character in search of something, and him going to Thailand and boning some fly chick for months or so doesn't seem that far off. Plus, it reminded me of one of my favorite Tales From The Crypt episodes, which featured Heavy D without his glasses, working in some tatoo parlor where the tatoo artist just puts whatever your skin is telling them on your body. In reading up on this episode, though, I realized something: homegirl was doing a lot of namaste in that episode. Remember when she received the gift from that man when her and Jack were eating lunch? I didn't hear it at the time, but she made the 'namaste' symbol with her hands and said it. Plus, in reading up on LostPedia, her name, Achara, is actually synonymous with the word dharma. So, who else is thinking homegirl is more than just a tatoo artist? I mean, those references can't just be chance, right?

I am just puzzled as to why her brother beat Jack up... is it not right for him to have even gotten that tatoo, or did they see what she wrote and got freaked out, thinking he might bring bad karma or something to their island in Thailand? I am puzzled over that...

...as I am puzzled over the LOST commercial for this episode, saying that "3 Questions Will Be Answered"... the more that I think of it, the more I have more questions as to WHAT WAS ANSWERED. Follow me here, and see if any of these might be what they eluded to:

  • Karl revealing to Kate & Sawyer that "The Others" don't live on the island where the Hydra is located. This makes sense though, as this island seems to be smaller than the others, and there's no way they could have their backyards and homes and such out there. The question is, WHY? He says they conduct "projects", but how does breaking up rocks fit into that? And what is this "better life" that he figures his people give the children? His speaking that "God loves you like he loved Jacob", which was taken directly from Room 23, was creepy...
  • Cindy, the stewardess of Oceanic 815, making her return with what seem to be like a whole other set of Others, on their way "to watch" (I assume they meant watch Juliet die for her murdering Pickett), which is both eerie and I guess telling of how rigid their group dynamic is. We also saw that Zack & Emma, the kids from the tailsection, were straight. I'm guessing this is their way of answering "what happened to Cindy and the kids?"...
  • Ben is still the leader. Duh. I mean, he calls the shots, he has been since towards the end of Season 2. That Isabel lady was a cold bitch though, right? Even she couldn't shake his ruling. Jack's decision to stick with the Others is going to be a true test... it also makes me wonder how many of the Others ended up with them based off of some similar situation...
  • Jack helping Ben because he said he would. That's no real surprise or answer, I don't think. Jack's a pretty stand up guy, and has been one of the only members of the cast to stick to his word, thick and thin. His brewing romance with Juliet is going to be an interesting situation, if it happens... and what's up with the marking they gave Juliet?
In any case, it was a tight episode that makes the real fans out there go "Hmmmm?!?!" with all of the innuendo, and others be like "eh, filler"... the fact that a show like LOST is so vast that you can think that gaining more info on the characters is "filler" is beyond me... And that preview of next week looks like it will be a big one. Don't be surprised if someone gets killed in this one... just a hunch I have over here.

Until then... namaste.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The "namaste" gesture is also called "wai" in Thai culture where they put their hands together in front of them. It's a greeting and also can be used as sign of respect and thanks.

khal said...

word? very interesting... i just think there are too many suspicious things going on with Achara to dismiss her possible link to the DHARMA Initiative...