LOST: the secret life of Juliet

Finally! Someone (Sahid) asks some real questions!

D'oh! Then gets sidetracked with "Who are you?" Frack. At least it leads into a Juliet flashback episode, with more appearances by Calamity Jane as sister Rachel! Oh, I wish they'd let her get drunk and cuss up a storm!

Some fun portentious dialogue...

Rachel: promise me you'll bring her back in one piece.

Dr. Albert: we'll do our best.

How often does "Downtown" get played on this show? Is it all the same time/broadcast when we catch it in flashbacks? Am I falsely imagining it playing in non-Juliet flashbacks? Stupid brain.

Juliet: If I told you who I was, told you everything that I know, you'd kill me...

Have we heard that spoken by other Others? Or other characters in flashback? It's a pretty good dodge.

Jack: She's under my protection.

That's a little corny, but also realistic. I'll buy it. Demonstrates how easily one's lingo can slip right into over-the-top/movie cliches when thrown into wacked situations. "Under my protection." When ever in Jack's life has he had reason to utter such a phrase until now, hrm? Don't tell me that doesn't come from watching TV and movies.

Sweet! A commercial for KY Intrigue, the longest lasting personal lubricant... On the island, it's called Dharma Jelly.

More cheeky Other dialogue...

Dr. Albert (is his first name Richard?): You're gonna be amazed at how time flies when you're there...

Name of the private airline—Herarat Aviation? I first thought of Ararat, as in Mount Ararat, the supposed beaching site of Noah's Ark. Maybe it's an alternate, otherlingual form of the proper name. However, a quick google of the name and all I can pick up is that it may be Armenian for "hairy?" Perhaps also a proper name, tho, eh? I mean, ummm... Hairy Aviation?

Ah, the return of Dr. Jack. Poor mayor Sawyer... He was doing such a bang-up job. Maybe even starting to enjoy it! Nuts. I can't remember, did Sawyer's ex get to tell or otherwise pass along to Kate name of the man who done her wrong? Kate is calling Sawyer "James" now. Or maybe it's only when she's irritated with him?

Sawyer, always cutting to the chase...

Sawyer: What the hell is she doing here?

Hurley as the welcome wagon (Sawyer counts him twice)...

Hurley: so, you're like one of them, huh?... ... Last one of you guys that came over here, Ethan, he kidnapped claire, and charlie got upset. We buried him over there.

Not only can they not have children, but the mothers die? What does this mean for Claire?

A-ha! The book club selection *is* CARRIE!

Ben: I dont know why you picked it, but boy, is it depressing!

Juliet and Goodwin are knockin boots? Well, at least it's not Ethan. Given this hook-up, it's too bad we never got to see Juliet in a scene with Ana Lucia, eh? I thought the news in the envelope was gonna reveal that she was now pregnant (and so, might in "present day" LOST still be pregnant), but alas, apparently not. How does Juliet get to have x-ray film of Ben's back developed in the first place...?

Juliet: If you can cure cancer, Ben, then why do you have it?

Ben: I don't know.

Ben still won't let her go home. Is it because he CAN'T right then? No, his people can still come and go, as we later see him communicating with Richard in Miami and telling him to return to the island soon, as they have guests.

I dig how Juliet dresses Sawyer and Sahid down when they confront her with the case of meds...

Juliet: you know what's interesting? that you two are now this camp's moral police... ... and the last thing that either of you need right now is more blood on your hands.

Pretty ballzy for a mild-mannered research scientist, eh? When the heck did she develop her superspy/psyops skills? Other Village Secret Police Academy?

The visit with Mikhail at the communications station is kind of interesting. They definitely have, and are in touch with, agents "on the outside" in a regular way. Those agents (and investors and such) must be a bit alarmed about the loss of contact with the island, especially with it coinciding with a crazy EM spike. What do you suppose they're up to?

"Richard in Acadia Park." The front page of a Miami newspaper dated September 22, 2004. The day of the crash.

Rachel's baby's name is Julian. So, this Jacob *can* cure cancer. Could it be Jack's dad? Could "Jacob" be an acronym or nickname for Ben's magic box?

Ben: Then we'll find more mothers. Who knows? Maybe there's even one on that plane...

Maybe the plane was like a delivery from Amazon, when you choose to group all items in as few shipments as possible, and each of the survivors of 815 are on Ben's and the Others' wishlists, for whatever reasons, whether they know it or not, y'know? Ben got at least three items from his wishlist: Dr. Jack, a spinal surgeon to keep him alive, Claire, his half-sister, a pregnant woman, vital to Juliet's research, and John, who may be the key to unlocking a secret of the island.

Man. Locke's dad. That is wack.

And here's that conversation between the class president and the nerdy outsider girl he chose over the homecoming queen...

Juliet: You keep talking about them. Why don't i ever have to explain myself to you?

Jack: You were there. You were standing right next to me when that submarine exploded. I saw it in your eyes. You wanted to get off this island more than anything else in the world. That makes you one of us.

So, Juliet's running one of Ben's games on the survivors... There's an implant in Claire. Does that mean she would never have gotten sick? Or is the implant what's kept her healthy so far, and it's just lucky for the Others that it can be modified remotely to allow the symptoms to manifest on cue? Pretty good con. Can Kate or Sawyer sense it?

Ben: See you in a week.

So, how long has she been playing a part? Wanting to let Ben die on the table? Was her trial a sham? Being marked/branded as punishment? I don't want that to be the case, but if she was truly ready to kill Ben, found guilty by her peers, then freed by Ben, permitted to leave the island on the sub, and Rachel and Julian are safe and healthy, what does Ben have on her to keep her under his power?

Could she be a double agent of some kind? Wouldn't an organization like Dharma be considered a threat by first world countries in the know? Or perhaps by a rival, or splinter, organization? If one knew that Dharma's island population could not successfully procreate, wouldn't a rival org keep an eye on fertility specialists and researchers, anticipating that they'd be approached and recruited by Dharma? And wouldn't it be a smart move to enlist and if possible, clandestinely train, one of these researchers as a covert undercover operative?

Eh, knot tying not a great ending shot, especially after that odd look of recognition on her face as she looks off into the distance...

Keep on keepin on~