'Lost' - "Not in Portland"

Aha, last night, in addition to American Idol, it was the long awaited return of Lost! Now we're in for sixteen new episodes and no repeats until it vanishes for a while once again.

There was an hour-long review and informative Lost Guide which aired before the show. Alas, I taped that and won't have time to watch the tape until over the weekend. So, I'll have to go guide-less as I did watch the new episode last night.

Remember, when we last left the show, Jack had nicked an artery during Ben's spinal tumor operation. He did that to blackmail the Others so they would let Sawyer and Kate escape.

So they we were... (I remember it as if it was only three darn months ago)...

Juliet was actually the focus of this episode for the most part. Her flashback sequences showed that she was stealing some sort of drug from the hospital (clinic?) run by her ex-husband, Edmond. She was experimenting with her sister, trying to allow a pregnancy (or create one, I'm a bit fuzzy on that).

Her ex caught her, a research facility in Portland tried to hire her, but she turned them down as her ex-husband would "never allow it." In her interview, she broke down and told them that she wished Edmond would get "hit by a bus." And, guess what? He sure 'nuff was! And, it seems that the Portland lab isn't exactly in Portland. Whether it's tied in with DHARMA, I don't know, but it's definitely tied to the Island. Oh... and Ethan was there.

Back to the Island stuff --
Juliet, who once asked Jack to let Ben die on the operating table, told him she'd help Kate and Sawyer escape if he'd fix the nick. Jack accidentally nicked another artery and Ben unexpectedly awakened. Jack told Ben that Juliet had asked that he let him die. Ben talked to Juliet alone for minute, then she was off. When Jack asked Tom (the Other) what was going on, Tom told him that Juliet and Ben "had history."
Meanwhile, Alex (Ben's daughter) had saved Kate and Sawyer from the Others and offered a boat for the escape. Now, all three hostages - Jack, Kate, Sawyer - know they are on a smaller island two miles from their own island.

There was a hitch to her rescue and boat offer, though. She wanted them to go with her to save her boyfriend who was being held captive in the only place she hadn't been able to enter. The boyfriend, Karl, was the kid who escaped from the bear cage when Sawyer was first tossed in one.

He was being held captive and Kate showed she doesn't mess around. She was ready to shoot the guard's knee if he didn't tell them where Karl was. Once they found him (in Room 23), he was in a brainwashing sensory-explosion kind of room which reminded me of the scene in A Clockwork Orange where they propped the main's eyes open and played Beethoven's 9th Symphony over and over again. Messages were going over a screen amidst images and things you'd liken to an LSD trip while Karl was strapped to a chair with bizarre goggles on and forced to watch. The "Everything Changes" image here was one of the ones on the screen as were messages like, "We are the cause of our own suffering."

Sawyer, Alex, and Kate dragged Karl out to the boat where they were met by Danny (Other) with a gun. Just when it looked like they were goners, Juliet showed up and shot him to save them. She told them that Alex had to stay because Karl would die if Alex wasn't on the island when her father's surgery was done. So, Kate and Sawyer took off for their island with Karl slowly coming to his senses. Jack had told Kate not to return to try to save him.

Jack asked Juliet what had changed her mind and what Ben had said to her. She told him that Ben agreed to release her and let her go home if she saved him. She's been on the island(s) for 3 years, 2 months and 28 days.

And, there it was. We have some new numbers to play with and more background on Juliet, too. I have to say, although I enjoyed the show, now that I've gotten hooked on Heroes, I prefer the pace of that show.

What did you think of the episode?