Not in Portland

Season 3, Episode 7, Aired
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Episode Summary

While Jack is in command as the fate of Ben's life rests in his hands, Kate and Sawyer help Alex in return for a boat, and Juliet makes a shocking decision that could endanger her standing with her people.
9.1
out of 10
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Fan Episode Reviews (125)

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  • Gimmicky bus accident

    7.0
    "Good"
    By bbagnall, Feb 08, 2011 Report Abuse
    You know in eighties movies where the cat would jump out to scare you? The first time you saw it you said, boy they really got me there. The second time you saw it you said, got me again! The third time you saw it you said, geeze these writers need to learn some originality. In this episode a woman's ex-husband is standing on the street and a bus comes by and hits him. It's supposed to be a big shocking thing. Unfortunately, too many TV shows and movies have been using this same gimmicky scene and it is old and stale by now. Let me tell you what is stupid about this:
    1) Bus drivers have eyes. They are looking forward out the big window in front of them. They are not likely to hit people.
    2) A bus is a huge loud vehicle. It doesn't sneak up on you like a lion sneaking up on a gazelle. You can see it out of your peripheral vision and the thing roars like a beast. Yet in this scene there is no sound, and suddenly whamo.
    3) What is it with people stepping onto the street so they can stop and have a conversation? Like, for goodness sakes, if you want to have a chat stay on the sidewalk! Like I said, it's really stupid. Overall, this show held no interest for me.moreless

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    2 1

  • Awesome.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Sarah_LOST, Oct 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    The teenage "Other" Alex supplies Kate and Sawyer with a canoe to return to their island, but first she convinces them to help her rescue her boyfriend Karl from a room where he is being brainwashed by being forced to watch a video. Juliet kills Pickett, who is in pursuit of Kate and Sawyer. Jack finishes Ben's surgery. Flashbacks reveal that over three years prior to the crash, Juliet is a fertility doctor, and is able to make her sister fertile. Juliet is interviewed by Mittelos Bioscience. We learn about Juliet - she is cool, it's good to know more about her character. I love the scene with Jack, Juliet and Tom - awesome. I love the way Alex saves Sawyer and Kate. I love the fact that they have to then save Alex's boyfriend. I love the Jack scenes! I love the way Juliet shoots Danny. I love the scene where Kate is telling Jack his story, amazing ending!moreless

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    0 1

  • not in portland

    8.0
    "Great"
    By thefanof, May 21, 2010 Report Abuse
    Wow, Rob McElhenney of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Zeljko Ivanek of Damages all in one episode? Now those are some high quality guest stars.

    This episode was pretty interesting, it gave us the backstory on Juliet, and what her problems are. I was not a fan of this character, and I really don't like Elizabeth Mitchell on V either, but the writers thought things needed to be shaken up and they gave this a shot so you can't fault them for that.

    Lost lost its direction a bit in Season 3 (no pun intended) and while every episode was still good, you can't argue this was not the same Lost as the one in Season 1.moreless

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    0 0

  • First look at one of the Others reveals -- a bit

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By DavidB226Morris, Nov 22, 2009 Report Abuse
    Up until the Other we've had the closest examination of is Juliet. Simultaneously cold-blooded and warm and supportive, we've been wondering about her ever since we saw the brief flashback at the beginning of 'Tale of Two Cities'. Now she becomes the first to get a flashback of her own, and the differences are so extreme, it's more than a little jarring.

    Juliet Burke was a fertility expert who worked in Miami (based on the timing of Kate' last flashback, she might even have been there the same time Kate was married to Kevin) She worked for a cruel and sadistic man--- her ex-husband, Edmund Burke. (We've got a John Locke, a Rousseau, and a Hume on this show, now we have Burke; at least one writer knows his eighteenth century philosophy) Edmund was a cruel and vicious man, and the only release that Juliet had was with her sister, Rachel, who Juliet was trying to impregnate even as she suffered from some form of cancer. But somehow her work attracted the attention of Mittelos Bioscience, a research company settled in Portland, led by the mysterious Mr. Alpert, and our old nemesis Ethan. It's not clear yet why they wanted Juliet so urgently, but it may have something to do with the fertility of the Others, and they seem willing to do anything. Edmund Burke seems to be an obstacle, so they seem to arrange to have him hit by a bus freeing her from her prison, and sending her to another.

    Now, on the island (this episode begins seconds after Jack has committed his attacked Ben) Juliet seems to try and take charge. Instead, however, the other master controller in her live, Ben, emerges from unconsciousness and demands to talk to Juliet. (Really need to do some work with the anesthesia, guys) and a few minutes later Juliet is willing to help free Sawyer and Kate.

    Sawyer and Kate have not been idle. They've run to the beach, hotly pursued by a royally pissed off Danny Pickett. They would seem to be doomed, but once again they are save by Alex, who rescues them, and hides them in one of her hiding places in the jungle. (Like mother, like daughter) She then offers to get them off the island, if they can rescue Karl, who is being held prisoner in Room 23. When they find him, Karl seems to be caught in the middle of a scene out of Clockwork Orange. Harsh discordant music is being played, bright images are flashed before his eyes with messages that seem to have no relation to them.. It's like something out of 24, if CTU was run by deranged hippies. We're not sure what Karl is being tortured for but he's around sixteen, Alex is around sixteen.... no, you actually don't have a dirty mind when you're thinking about this. Strange, though one of the bizarre subliminal message we see flashed is 'Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather good fruit,' would seem to be a message suggesting that they want him to have sex. Also, another fact, by far Karl and Alex are the youngest Others around (Some might say that they wouldn't involve children in this, but that doesn't seem particularly viable with this bunch of people) And there's the fact that same seemed extremely interesting in having a top-notch fertility doctor working for them. Could the Others be incapable of having children? Is that why they expressed so much interest in Claire's baby and Walt?' You'd think therefore, they'd be interested in procreation.

    Unless of course, the child is one of their own. For one of the major revelations occurs when we learn that Alex is referred to as Ben's daughter. We now know that this is because Ben has raised her as his daughter, not for any biological reasons. But if he does care for her, torturing her boyfriend the way that he does really is overprotective parenting. Ben never does anything without a reason, though; we'll learn what that reason is soon enough.

    In the end Sawyer and Kate do manage to escape with Karl, albeit with Juliet's help. But there is a cost. Danny refuses to believe that Ben wants them to go free, and ignores her instructions. (Begs the question, why not simply have Tom radio them and tell them that Ben gave the order? However, given the general level of rage that Danny is at for most of the episode, I'm not sure even an order from Ben would stop him.) Again, the question is raised: where in the pecking order is Juliet? It's possible that Tom and Danny have been hear longer, and therefore can give her orders. But again, we don't get a clear answer for this either, and it's ultimately irrelevant, because Juliet kills Danny. Again, you know there will be repercussions for this as well. Jack also gives a warning to Kate never to come back for him. Given how frequently, Kate has ignored Jack before, it's a safe bet she's not going to be giving him much leeway with this either.

    Despite all of this Jack keeps his word, and manages to remove Ben's tumor (in what maybe the quickest spinal surgery on record , given the way things work out. Maybe it's the island.) He then asks Juliet what Ben promised her. She's says that she's been on the island three years, two months and twenty six days (Dr. Alpert told her she'd only be there six months) and that Ben promised her that she could finally go home. But as Juliet will learn almost as well as the survivors of Oceanic 815, leaving the island is a lot harder than you'd think. Despite everything she does in this episode, we end up feeling sympathy for Juliet. Part of that is due to exceptional work of Elizabeth Mitchell, who in just a few episodes has revealed she's nearly as brilliant as Terry O'Quinn and Evangeline Lilly, the heavyweights of this show. But it's also due to the writing. Juliet seems so solid and ice cold in this episode, it's hard to believe what a mess she was under the thumb of her ex-husband (another memorable villain portray by Zeljko Ivanek) It is not until all of the blood shed has passed that we realize that, unlike most of the Others, her icy facade is more of a mask than anything else. Right now, the Others still think she's one of them, but we will realize soon that mask hides more than even they know.
    My score: 9moreless

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    0 0

  • Lost Returns!!!

    7.0
    "Good"
    By Dante_Edy, Jul 10, 2009 Report Abuse
    Logic/Details - Lost return and it was time to close this captive plot that was disappointing. So, the smart move was to create a Juliet Flashback in this episode to keep things fresh when Kate and Sawyer trying to escape with two more character joining the escape crew.

    Juliet was a successful researcher, and she was recruited by Ethan and co to come to the island because of her successes as a fertility doctor. This may hint that Juliet had to do something with Claire's kidnapping and there is something happening with the pregnant women in the island.

    Besides that, the writers managed to buy much time as possible and fill the episode with the escape and the flashback.

    Progress - Sawyer and Kate finally escape? Juliet was a successful researcher and she was recruited for six months but ended up to stay in the island for 3 years. More than that, was just distraction and time management.

    Emotions/Stimulation/Highlights - With so many details this episodes lacks with some kind of mind blowing scenes or something that feels great to know our see. We had little tension on one scenes when Sawyer and Kate were running ,Alex appearance was a small surprise, we had two creepy and strange scene and a emotional but weak final scene when Juliet reveals what Ben told her.

    Ending - More like a closure, with nothing attractive to speculate.

    Overall - A good episode, even with the time management, because finally something happens and like the past season, the introductory phase is over and it is time to work on good material and make great and mind blowing episodes.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Juliet works in "Research Lab A-4". Four is one of the Numbers. Edit
    • Goof: In Juliet's flashback, which takes place several years before 2006, she carries a handbag from the 2006 J. Crew collection. Edit
    • Goof: The bus that runs over Juliet's ex-husband in Miami has the color scheme and unique rainbow decals found only on The Bus, the public bus system in Honolulu where the show is filmed. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • First appearance by Nestor Carbonell. Edit
    • This is the first episode to have an Other - centric flashback. Edit
    • Although they were credited, Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), and Yunjin Kim (Sun) don't appear in this episode. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Rachel: Jules, you didn't say no because of me. Juliet: Well, why would I want to go all the way to Portland for research that doesn't even work? Rachel: Because it does work. I'm pregnant. I'm preg - I'm pregnant. Juliet: What? Rachel: Look, look. I took a blood test, too. I didn't want to tell you until I was sure. Juliet: It worked? Rachel: Yeah. Rachel: My whole life all I ever wanted was to have a baby. And now because of you I can. Oh, God. Now I just need to get healthy. Now I just need to get healthy so I can see the little bugger get into an Ivy League school, you know. Juliet: You will. Of course you will. You will. Rachel: Now you can tell that bastard ex-husband of yours what he can do with his ethics. Edit
    • Jack: You okay? Tom: Yeah, I just don't like blood too much. Jack: (holding a chunk of Ben's tissue in the air) Well, then you probably won't want to be looking at that. Edit
    • Juliet: Shephard won't finish the surgery unless he knows his friends are off the island. Do you want Ben to die? Pickett: I know Ben would rather die than let them go! Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • A Clockwork Orange (1971) The room where Kate, Sawyer and Alex find Alex's boyfriend, is a near reenactment from the movie A Clockwork Orange where the anti-hero Alex de Large played by Malcolm McDowell is 'treated' in a psychiatric facility to abandon his unlawful ways. In the movie, Alex de Large is made to watch propaganda films and fed drugs all day. Edit
    • When climbing out of the hole Sawyer calls Alex "Underdog". This is a reference to the cartoon from the mid-sixties/early seventies The Underdog Show. Underdog, a super-canine who talked in rhyme, was the alter-identity of Shoeshine Boy. He was usually called into action by his girlfriend, ace TV reporter Sweet Polly Purebred. Edit
    • When putting Karl on the raft, Sawyer calls him "Cheech," a reference to his tripped out state. Cheech Marin was a part of the permanently stoned duo, Cheech and Chong. (Cheech also plays Hurley's father in the episode "Tricia Tanaka is Dead".) Edit

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