Review: Lost 4.6: The Other Woman

Note: If you want to understand these reviews, I'd direct you to Lostpedia's Season Four portal. All of the images in my Lost reviews have been taken from Lostpedia, and the plot there goes into greater detail.

Juliet and Goodwin in 2004.

After last week's episode, can anything beat it? This week focuses on Doctor Juliet Burke, an ex-Other (island native) that has jumbled up with the Survivors. She exists for really no other reason than to form an irritating Love-Quadrangle between Her, Jack, Kate and Sawyer, one that serves little purpose to the plot in the long run and one that gets on my nerves every time I see it (having already reared its head a few times this season.) Despite that, Juliet's episode turns out to be surprisingly intelligent and a fascinating watch, if still plagued by the mundanities of her character.
     Juliet's present story concerned the exploits of freighter scientists Daniel and Charlotte, who've disappeared off into the forest with a bag full of gas masks. Knowing exactly where they're going, Juliet follows them, with Jack and Kate close behind. Along the way, there's some tedious talking where Juliet refuses to talk about where she's going. When Juliet gets to the destination, known as The Tempest Station (about half-an-hour before the other two) she thinks she's come to stop them releasing the poisonous gas that Other-leader Ben Linus used to kill the island's other inhabitants back in 1989. Shame; turns out they're actually here to stop the gas themselves, which they do after some tense countdown action. That all sorted, Jack and Juliet have a snog. Yawn.

"This should get you started"

     Elsewhere in the present, and questions from other members of the group push Locke to get some answers out of Ben, who seems happy to oblige, as long as he's allowed to sleep in his own bed and eat with utensils. I always love these prisoner scenes between Locke and Ben because while Locke may seem in control, the subtlty in Michael Emerson's acting always carries across his sense of subliminal power. Ben is, in fact, the real star of this episode, as we'll see.
     Our flash timeline is this season's only use of the conventional flashback formula, which makes it a bit of a rarity. It does, however, provide us with some much needed Contunuity Porn, by sending us back to the time when the Others ruled the island. Juliet arrives as a means to try and fix the island's fertility problems (anyone conceived on the island unintentionally kills themselves and their mother from with the wound). While still attending mandatory therapy sessions with the fiesty Harper Stanhope, Juliet strikes up a friendship (and then a relationship) with her husband, Goodwin. Harper confronts Juliet about the affair, but says she's more worried for her husband's safety because of Ben. Ben, you see, has an incredible crush on Juliet and would be mighty pissed if anyone got in the way. Ergo, Ben sets it up so that Goodwin is killed by some of the survivors of 815 (as he was, two seasons ago), and then tells Juliet that she is his. It's a nice contrast between characterisations; while both have that underlying sense of authority, the past Ben is much more desperate and impulsive, while the present Ben has learnt from his mistakes and takes all the time in the world.

Boring.

     Aside from the Quadrangle-stroking, my main pet peeves this episode were two particular characters, Kate and Charlotte, who were competing to see who could be more annoying - Kate, which her redneck attitudes, and Charlotte with her terribly acted voice and general douchebaggery. I know they try, but Charlotte in particular simply has no reason for being so obnoxious. It makes watching Lost painful, which it should never be.
     While the episode should have focused more on Ben than its own central character, The Other Woman was entertaining and intriguing, managing to satiate the fangirls' (or fanboys', I don't know) appetite for the silly Quadrangle while also giving us some excellent acting from Micael Emerson and a fun, continuity-filled backstory for Juliet. It could have been slightly smoother round the edges, but when it did something right, it was very good.

Thanks.