So how long is one week?
The curious thing about time on this island is that the rate at which it goes by is not a constant per episode. In the three years that the show has been on, time on the island has passed approximately a month. But that could change. My guess is that one week comes at approximately the end of this season’s cliffhanger.
But what’s so important about one week? That’s when Ben told Juliet they would meet back up on the beach – the Others are coming to Oceanic camp.
This week’s episode was about Juliet, my favorite of Jack’s many love interests. And, because she at one point was on this island by choice, we got to see her progression from baby doctor to hatch-dwelling captive and supposed Other-rejectee.
Juliet came to the island on a submarine after she left her newly preggers (they actually used it on the show!!!) cancer surviving sister in Portland. She was drugged before getting on the submarine by Batmanuel and Ethan. When she woke up, she had been violated countless times and her shoes had been removed. Surprise! You’re on a mysterious island!
Turns out the biotech company recruited Juliet to help them out with a little problem. No one on the island has cancer, but no one on the island can pop a bun out of the oven either. It seems everyone who gets pregnant dies a pretty gruesome death. Until Juliet arrives and all the pregnant ladies die a pretty gruesome death after being subjected to needle torture. Except Claire.
When the plane falls out of the sky, Juliet had just confronted Ben about letting her off the island, about Ben’s tumor, and about Ben’s promise to cure her sister. Ben sees the crash as an opportunity to harvest a few more ladies with a glow about them, so he sends Juliet’s snogging buddy Goodwin and Ethan to infiltrate and find out. Then Ben shows Juliet a live-feed video of Juliet’s sister and her healthy baby boy. It’s a miracle!!!
Well, things have a way of spiraling downhill in Othersville. Ethan goes AWAL and kidnaps Claire. Charlie shoots him. The Oceanic survivors start causing trouble on the island. And then the Ben comes up with a plot. He tells Juliet to gain the trust of Kate – she already has the trust of Jack – and infiltrate the beach camp once again. The Others have already implanted Claire with some sort of bleeding device, so Juliet can show up to save her just in time and gain a little more trust. But it’s all a scam.
The Others aren’t gone – they’ll be back in one week. And who knows what happens then.
Along with this story, we got a bunch of pretty cool character moments:
+ Kate and Jack’s stunted woodland conversation.
+ Sawyer’s almost tearful reaction on seeing Kate (and his evident disappointment in the fact he’s no longer a leader – a role I think he truly enjoyed).
+ Sayid’s demand for the exact same answers every viewer of the show wants – and his threat to use force if necessary.
+ Juliet’s response of showing that she knows a lot more about each of the castaways than they want the rest to find out.
+ Charlie’s loving care of Claire.
+ And Hurley being sent to guard Juliet. (Worst. Guard. Ever.)
Even though we didn’t get all the answers that everyone has been hoping for, we certainly got a lot of meat to chew on, and the rest of the season promises to be a pretty action-packed adventure (hooray for “Lord of the Flies”-style social devolution!). But I do have some questions:
1. What happens in a week?
2. Am I the only one who thinks that Jack should end up with Juliet and Kate should end up with Sawyer?
3. How come no one on the island gets cancer, but then all of a sudden Ben's got a tumor? (He lost his faith in the island - the same faith that cured Locke's legs. That's my guess, anyway.)
4. Where did the other Others go?
5. Where is Batmanuel now?
1. Ben said he was born on the island. Is that true? Can that be trusted anymore? Is that why he may have cancer? Is it like the planet Krypton?
2. I think most people would be in your camp, except I would like Kate to get a shovel in the face and Juliet to get Hurley. Plus, Hurley seems to be like a pseudo nerd narrator or tool that the writers use to introduce things... like the VW van, or making Sawyer be a leader.
The question is where do Juliet's loyalties lie? She wants to get off the island, that's something we can rely on. Is she like Michael or like Jack?
Posted by: Sam at April 12, 2007 11:32 AMDidn't the island cure Rose's cancer? I think in some way that must be important. Speaking of Rose, where the hell is she?
I also think Kate should end up with Sawyer (who can hit her in the face with a shovel every night) but personally I think Jack and Hurley make a better couple than Juliet and Hurley.
Finally, if women on the island can't have babies what's going to happen to Sun?
Posted by: Natasha at April 12, 2007 5:12 PM