Lost - "Not in Portland"

Lost is my second favorite show (since you all know I LOVE Battlestar and it's my absolute favorite show) and I have a love/hate relationship with it. Season 1 was excellent, starting with the fantastic pilot. Season 2 I started to get kind of angry with the show. What was the point of the tailies since all of them ended up dying except for Bernard whom we never see? I felt like I got emotionally invested for no reason. Plus the back stories were not quite as interesting as season 1, especially Jack's.

The start of Season 3 seemed to be putting a nail in the coffin for my second favorite show. The first six episodes were slow and did not seem to be advancing the plot. They also focused on Jack, Sawyer, and Kate as they were being held prisoner by "The Others". Since I think Jack and Kate are two of the least interesting characters on the show, it really did not do much for me. Where was John Locke, Charlie, Sayhid, Hurley, Claire, etc.? I LOVE them and they never seem to do many back stories on them or even show them at all. Jack's back stories were very boring and did not seem to be integral to the plot as the season 1 back stories were. Plus they killed Mr. Ecko who was one of my favorite characters for apparently no reason. Luckily at the end of the six episode arc, they actually had an exciting finale where Jack is operating on Ben (the leader of the evil others) and has made a cut in Ben's kidney that will kill him in one hour unless "The Others" release Kate and Sawyer.

After a long hiatus, Lost was back last night with an episode entitled "Not in Portland." It was a great episode and it gives me hope that the show is back on track. The back story was on Juliet (one of the Others) and actually helped to advance the plot and answer some questions, more in the tradition of some of the great Season 1 back stories.

If you haven't watched it yet, do not read the following!

In this episode, there was much action and we learned a lot. Sawyer and Kate escaped with the help of Juliet, who was coerced into helping them by a concious Ben. In Juliet's back story we learn that she is a gifted fertility doctor who was easily cowed by her ex-husband. She is woed by who we think is the Hanso Foundation to move to Portland. She says she can't go unless her ex is hit by a bus . . . and then he surprisingly is later in the episode. Ethan and the other Hanso person come to get Juliet when she is in the morgue with her dead husband. They also tell her that it's not in Portland. . . which was a funny line. Juliet is also able to get her sick sister pregnant using stolen goods from a lab and asks if she can bring her sister with her. They say no.

Ben is able to get Juliet to help, but we can't hear what they are saying. At the end of the episode, Juliet tells Jack that Ben promised to let her go home . . . so we discover she is a captive too! Alex also helps Sawyer and Kate with their escape and we discover that she calls Ben "Dad." I'm assuming she just thinks Ben is her Dad as I thought she was the crazy French woman's daughter. Sawyer and Kate help Alex free her boyfriend in return for use of her boat. Her boyfriend is being held in some sort of mind altering room, my husband Ben said reminded him of A Clockwork Orange.

So what did we learn in this episode:

1. The Hanso Corporation recruited Juliet because she is a gifted fertility doctor and may have had something to do with Juliet's ex-husband's death.

2. Juliet is being held against her will on the "Others" Island.

3. Alex calls Ben Dad.

4. The Others have Mind altering techniques to brain wash people.

5. Mr. Friendly's name is Tom.

Did I miss anything? If so let me know. Also let me know if you think I'm wrong and Lost is not back on track!