Episode 09 - Stranger in a Strange Land

What follows is my recap from TVGasm.com verbatim.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to add the pictures from that site.

Lost Ink Translation.

Are Jack's tattoos important enough to focus on for a whole show? Think about that for a second.

The producers and writers of lost focussed on Jack's tattoos for a whole show. Flashbacks are usually dedicated to major character traits and their roots and/or life altering events in the lives of the subject.

So.

Jack's arm art must be pretty damned important.
Now we just have to figure out why.

This episode was supposed to answer a bunch of our questions, and to be fair, there were a lot of questions that we got answers to. Unfortunately, either the answers created more questions or just weren't all that important.

Do Jack's tats have meaning? Well, considering that just about everything in the show has a meaning of some sort, I guessed "yes" a long time ago. I also guessed that the meaning would be something enigmatic. Two for two.

What happened to Cindy and the kids from the tail section. A detail that I hadn't spent a lot of time worrying about and rightly so. They're fine.

A bunch of questions about the Others got answered too. Again, nothing I'd been losing sleep over.

With Season 3 not even at the half way mark, anyone who thought that we were going to get answers to the important questions (Who is responsible for the Lostaways being on the island, What is smoke monster, Why go to all this effort, Where are they, When will the Lostaways figure out that they have all those connections between them, to name a few...) was bound to be disappointed. If you are among those looking for real answers, stay tuned. You should get them sometime in May 2009. Seriously. Don't expect anything earth shattering to be revealed before then. Even with dwindling ratings, Lost is still a heavy hitter for ABC, and while they might juggle timeslot or even what night they air it, they aren't going to let us peek behind the curtain for a good long time yet.

It's the television network version of the dance of the seven veils. Every time they reveal something juicy, it turns out to be just another layer to be peeled off eventually. A good dancer won't let you see any of the goodies until the very end.

If even then.

So, let's check out what they were willing to reveal this week...

This week's episode opens with Sawyer singing "Show me the way to go home," while steering the little boat he and Kate stole last week. After a brief argument, Sawyer lays down the law about going back for Jack. He makes a lot of sense, and even a half conscious Karl knows that going back for Jack is a suicide mission. Of course, Karl also knows that "God loves you as he loved Jacob," so maybe listening to Karl isn't the best idea right now.

Jack's on his own. No subtext there.

"I'm Tom, by the way" comes to move Jack to different quarters. Jack figures that his number is up and that now that "I'm Tom, by the way" and his cronies have manipulated Jack into saving Captain Bunny-Killer's life, they're going to kill him to get him out of the way.

"I'm Tom, by the way" seems surprised that the man they've kidnapped, drugged and kept captive for days thinks that he and his people are the type to kill a man when he's outlived his usefulness. Jack points out some of the other behavior that has led him to this erroneous conclusion, but despite the list of heinous crimes that the Others have visited upon Jack's group, apparently the Others don't feel that their actions are unjustified.

"See this glass house you're livin' in Jack? How 'bout I get you some stones?" Anyone else get the feeling that "I'm Tom, by the way," has been waiting ages to use that line?

As Jack is moved out of his glass enclosure, he passes Juliet, who is being moved in. She gives him an incredibly casual "Hey," as they pass each other and while he looks back to try to catch another glimpse of her, we are introduced to a new player. She doesn't speak at this point, but we get the sense that she's going to be very important in fairly short order.

For the moment though, Dr. Jack has more important things on his mind. He's got soda to drink and a kite to fly. If he can ever figure out how to put the kite together, that is.

Enter Achara and her kite building skills. Achara fits into the Lost mythology as if she were made for it. She's incredibly attractive, very mysterious, appears at precisely the right moment and like many other important things on the show, her bikini top casually defies the laws of physics.

Jack's new accommodations are Sawyer's old ones. Poor Jack, locked in the cage where he saw Kate and Sawyer bear-ing themselves to each other. Sawyer didn't even leave him a fish biscuit to console him.
Tom apparently either likes Jack enough to bring him a cheese sandwich or isn't confident that Dr. Jack will manage to figure out the complicated gizmo that produces fish biscuits.

Jack asks about the mysterious new woman and we learn that she is a kind of Sheriff to the Others. We also learn that Juliet is in rather serious trouble which is why they put her in Jack's old room.

Sawyer's singing about going home was obviously intentionally ironic, as he points out that he never thought he'd be glad to get back to Island 1.0. Kate wants to take the boat and circle the island until they find their camp, but Sawyer wants to put in for the night and make camp. Despite Kate's glare, Sawyer sticks to his plan and brings them ashore where they can get food and water. When they get ashore, their spat continues until Karl points out that they shouldn't fight since they're lucky just to be alive.

Now that he's awake, Kate takes the opportunity to ask a few questions. Karl tells them that he and the Others don't live on the island that Kate and Sawyer just escaped from, they just work on their projects there. They live on the island that Kate and Sawyer have escaped to. At this point, I feel it important to note that we don't know for sure that the three amigos have found their way back to Island 1.0, since we have yet to see any evidence of Locke et al. Theoretically they could be on another island altogether. I'm just sayin'.

Kate also asks about the kids that the Others took. Turns out that the Others give them a "Better life". When asked "Better than what?" Karl answers "Better than yours." Now, with Dr. Jack and James Ford fighting over her, I know a lot of ladies who'd trade lives with Kate in a heartbeat, so I guess "Better" is relative.

Karl gets wistful and relates how he and Alex would lie in his back yard and name constellations on clear, moonless nights.

Sawyer asks tonight's big question. "You have back yards?"

In his cage, Jack is trying to figure out the "Knife-ee, Fork-ee" button's function. After two tries, Jack answers another burning question for us. He is not smarter than your average bear.

Armed guards bring Juliet to talk to Jack. Ben's stitches are infected and she wants Jack to help him. Again.
When Jack refuses, she tries to make it a personal request to help her out of the trouble she's in. She tells Jack about killing someone (but refuses to tell him who, which is just weird) and that her situation is why she wants to save Ben. Jack's not buying this time.

Achara and Jack get to know each other over dinner at a restaurant where her brother works. He seems to like Jack. While they eat, they talk about Jack's lack of kite flying skills. Naturally, Jack blames his shortcoming on his father, but Achara stops him short. "I have no interest in your father." I'm surprised Jack didn't marry her on the spot. Achara wonders if Jack is on the Island of Phuket to find himself, which she figures is why all Americans go there. Just as the conversation is about to turn to Jack's need to discover who he is and what he's meant to do, a man interrupts them to give Achara an envelope, apparently full of money.

"I have a...gift."

"Must be one hell of a gift."
Little does he know.

I did a little research on Phuket, since my knowledge of the area is pretty limited.

The reason I did the research was that when the mystery woman from the hallway finally speaks, she's speaking Chinese. Apparently, Jack's Thailand Tattoo is in Chinese and the mystery woman seems to be able to read Chinese. It struck me as odd that a tattoo from Thailand would be in Chinese, so I did some checking. The main island of Phuket is populated my several different groups, but the three most populous ethnic groups are Thai, Chinese and Chao Le. Chao Le are a group of "Sea Gypsies" who have their own language and religion. Click this link to learn a bit more about them.

One of the important things about Chao Le is that their religion, the Animism, has one very interesting legend associated with it. The legend says that they brought their dead people to so-called "Death Islands" where their souls live forever. "Death Islands"? Why do I get the feeling that the producers were hoping we'd do our homework on this one?
After teasing Jack with her ability to read his tattoo and suggestion that perhaps he doesn't really know what it actually says, she asks him to join her to answer a few questions. In a scene more courtroom than interrogation, she asks him if Juliet had indeed tried to get Jack to kill Ben for her. For some reason, Jack lies for her. Isabel, the Sheriff, seems to know he's lying, but Jack doesn't budge and only the most miniscule of smirks crosses Juliet's face when Jack explains that he was simply trying to create chaos by turning the group against itself.

Achara joins Jack in his bed, beneath the mosquito netting, which she has been doing for a month or so, apparently. Jack, spoiler of all things sexy, starts asking her about herself and her gift. When it seems that he won't take "You could never understand" for an answer, she changes the subject by rolling the two of them out of the bed onto the floor and asking if he's having fun with her. When he says yes, she says those seven little words most men long to hear in this situation.

"Then stop ask questions. Let's have fun."

Since they're on the floor, they won't get caught in the net.

Jack awakens to find a crowd outside of his cage. Among the crowd is Oceanic flight attendant Cindy. Last seen traipsing through the jungle with the tailies, just before they encountered the main group of Lostaways. She looks remarkably well. So too does the little girl who is asking about Ana Lucia, other than a rather desperate need for an orthodontist...

Jack runs the group off with some harsh words. Only the creepy little boy is left behind, eyeing Jack in that creepy way that only teddy bear carrying, brainwashed little boys can.

Kate and Sawyer wake to find that Karl has run off, but only far enough away to have a good cry in peace. Sawyer, ever the student of human nature, wisely keeps Kate from embarrassing the kid and expresses his sympathy with the young man in the way that men understand best. He punches him in the arm.

Can't have a real man cryin' in the jungle.

A complete waste of a Brady Bunch (The Brady Bunch, Ghost Busters, Indiana Jones...Sawyer is a veritable pop culture machine, yet NOT ONE Gilligan's Island bon mot in two and a half seasons of being stuck on a tropical island. It boggles the mind.) reference later, the two men have a heart to heart about women. Sawyer gives Karl the standard man to man advice. Go get her.
Romeo...er, Karl figures that if they catch him, this time they'll kill him.

Juliet...er, Alex (Now that I think about it, with a woman named Juliet actually in the story, it's gonna be tough to use that metaphor...) takes out the surveillance camera on Jack's cage with a rock, so the two of them can talk.

*We saw her break the camera, but there may still be a microphone in play...*

Alex wants to know why Jack saved Ben, even after all that he put Jack and "his people" through. He wants her to answer his question before he'll answer hers.

"Where's Juliet?"

"She's with the rest of 'em. They're gonna read her verdict."

"Her verdict."

"And we all know what it's gonna be. We're pretty strict about killing one of our own. Eye for an eye."

"Who, who did she kill?

"The man who was gonna murder your friends."

That's three questions answered. Truth in advertising.

Jack's answer to Alex's question is that he saved Ben because he said he would.

After confirming that Ben still has the power to make Isabel change the verdict, he convinces Alex to bring him to see Ben. Captain Bunny-Killer is laid up and about to get injected with a nasty looking needle when Jack bursts in. Time for another round of "Deal with the Devil", only this time, the life on the line is Juliet's and we get the sense that Ben is almost relieved to be able to save her from the Sheriff's justice. What puzzles me is why he let things get to this stage in the first place, if he was willing to save her after all. Ben does try to point out to Jack that he can't trust Juliet any more than he can trust the rest of them, but Jack has made his choice.

Speaking of bad choices, Jack is once again on a stake (stalk?) out. He follows Achara to her tattoo studio, which is located in an unmarked doorway, down a dark alley. Like all reputable tattoo parlours.

Despite appearances, Achara asserts that she is not a tattoo artist. Her gift is that she sees people. Her work is not to decorate, but to define. She sees who people really are and then marks them.

Jack wants her to tell him who he is. She can't use her gift for an outsider. He pushes her and she tells him.

"You are a leader. A great man. But this...this makes you lonely. And frightened. And angry."

Despite her protests that it is against her people, Jack makes her mark him.

"There will be consequences."

"There always are."

Alex and Jack interrupt the verdict reading with Ben's note. Isabel doesn't seem happy about Ben commuting Juliet's sentence, but she does note that he has instructed that Juliet is to be marked.

Considering how strongly the soda kid and Achara's brother and his friends react to Jack being marked, it seems that being marked has a much deeper meaning than just a bold statement of one's personality. Unless, of course, that bold statement reads "I like having my ass kicked." Oh, and I might be mistaken, but at least one of Achara's brother's goons looks suspiciously like one of Ben's goons. Gotta check that.
Juliet finally gets Jack a grilled cheese sandwich (I don't think he'll ever figure out the fish biscuits.) and he makes her show him the mark. It's a brand, in the shape of an eight pointed star with the "North" arm extended beyond the rest. What's with these island's and North, anyway?

Jack soothes her scar with some aloe he spots growing across from his cage. She asks why he helped her and he tells her that was so that together the two of them can make sure that Ben keeps his word and lets them both go home.

Speaking of home, now that Jack's compadres know where the Others are, they have to leave and go back to where they live. Their home. And they're taking Jack with them.

Even Karl gets a chance to go home. Sawyer let him go, because he knows that Karl is a target and as long as he's with them, they're in even more danger than they already are. Kate figures that all Ben wants is to keep Romeo as far from his daughter as he can. I'm not sure I buy that. If he can brainwash the kid into thinking that God loves him as he loved Jacob, couldn't he just brainwash him into thinking that pretty little Alex wasn't his lady love? Hmmm...

And since we're on the topic, Sawyer and Kate have it out about there little roll in the bear droppings. Sawyer might be a lot of things, but he's neither blind nor stupid. He knows that Kate's feeling guilty for feeding him his last dessert and leaving Jack behind. He absolves her of both, not kindly, but effectively.

Isabel finally tells us what Jack's tats say. "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us." is the direct translation. It's obvious that she thinks it ironic because Jack is among the Others, yet not one of them.

"That's what they say. That's not what they mean."

It's obvious that Jack doesn't agree with her assessment.

Judging by the closing montage of Ben being rowed out to sea, Sawyer and Kate lighting their way through the jungle, Karl and Alex stargazing together and Juliet smiling that little enigmatic smile at Jack as they sail away from Island 2.0, all to the swelling strains of emotional violin and piano music, this episode was intended to be the end of something.

And the beginning of something else.