Sunday, June 8, 2008

3.16 One of Us

Sayid, Jack, Kate, and Juliet head back toward the beach. When they stop to camp for the night, Kate attempts to get some information from Jack about his week with the Others. Jack doesn’t say much – just that he took care of Ben so he could get off the island. Meanwhile, Sayid takes advantage of a moment alone with Juliet to ask her to explain who she is and why the Others are on the island. When she isn’t forthright, he threatens her gently but menacingly. Jack returns and says that Juliet will be left alone until she is ready to answer the questions, and that she comes under his (Jack’s) protection.

On the beach, Charlie is passing Claire’s sleeping shelter and hears Aaron crying. He soothes Aaron and find Claire still asleep – she didn’t even hear the crying. Claire doesn’t feel very well, so she goes back to sleep while Charlie takes care of the baby.

On the trip back, Juliet shares her trepidation about how long it will take her to be accepted by the survivors after all the things ‘her people’ did to them.

Claire is getting sicker and sicker; Jack and the others arrive back. No one is very happy to see Juliet, least of all Sawyer. Juliet sits alone on the beach. Hurley wanders over and gives Juliet a not so subtle warning about what happens to Other infiltrators who enter their camp. There is also a meeting to discuss Juliet, with Sawyer pushing hard for Sayid to pump her for information. Sayid says he does not torture anymore, but he also says he does not trust her. Jack says that the fact that he trusts her should be enough, but Sayid disagrees. The meeting is interrupted by Claire, who stumbles in looking white as a ghost, and promptly passes out, bleeding profusely from the nose. Jack has no idea why. Juliet tells him it is because of drugs that she gave Claire to help her to keep her baby – every other woman who conceived on the island lost their baby and died in the late stages of pregnancy. Juliet tells that Ethan was treating her, but when it was discovered that Ethan was not on the plane, Ethan took it upon himself to kidnap Claire. Juliet says she knows where a serum is that will save Claire. Jack tells her to go get the medicine. But Sawyer and Sayid are not so trusting. They follow her and try to corner her into telling all. But she pulls the history card, reeling off all the bad things they have done in their lives. They back down and let her go.

True to her word, Juliet injects Claire and Claire gets better.

Juliet’s flashback backstory:

Juliet and her sister arrive at the high security entrance to Mittelos airport. Juliet is offered a strong tranquilizer for the trip, both to soothe the journey and, you would think, to zonk her out so she has no memory of how she got to the secret location. She initially balks about taking the tranquilizer, but suddenly chug-a-lugs it.

She awakens inside the submarine, which has stopped moving. She crawls up what will be the first of many hatches, and sees the island – and shakes hands with Ben.

Juliet is in an operating room, disappointed that the woman on the table has just died. Also there are Goodwin and Ethan. Another pregnant woman has died on the island – every woman has. Juliet says she has failed, and asks Ben to go home because her sister is giving birth in three months. But Ben says he knows her sister has cancer again. Ben promises that if Juliet stays, Ben will cure her cancer.

Juliet discovers that Ben has cancer when she views an x-ray of his back, after he complained of back pain.

Ben takes her to Mikhail’s station and shows her live footage of her healthy sister and her healthy two year old son.

Ben and Juliet have a meeting. Ben goes over the plan – Juliet will appear to be dumped out of the Others. She will infiltrate the survivors. A pre-planted bug will be activated in Claire – Juliet will save her, gaining the trust of the people. Ben then hands Juliet a gas mask, and says that he will see her in a week.

Comments

The notion of the ‘infiltrator’ is one that has worked well in past episodes of Lost that featured Henry/Ben. Juliet as infiltrator also causes tension; it’s almost unfortunate that the creators decided to let us know so early that she is evil (or has ulterior motives). Unless of course, she will not follow through on those orders – or perhaps Jack is playing dumb and does not trust her.

In a previous episode, Mikhail claimed that the satellite communications stopped working after the plane crashed. However, in this episode, Ben visits Mikhail the day after the crash, and the satellite is still working.

So it appears that in one week, the Others are going to invade the camp, use gas to knock out everyone, and then…do something.

Nits

Why does Jack insist that Juliet needs time before she can answer the questions about herself and the Others? Why does she need time? Just answer the questions! The only reason she needs time is so she can hatch her evil plan.

When Ben hands Juliet a form that is supposed to be proof that her sister Rachel cancer has returned, it has information on it like, "Sex: Male; Height: 5’11"; Weight: 187. That doesn’t sound like a description of Rachel to me. Unless…that makes the fact that Juliet got this 5 foot 11 male pregnant even more impressive!

Quotable Quotes

Jack: They'll come around. Just give 'em some time.
Juliet: My people kept Sayid chained to a swing-set for three days, then I dragged Kate into the jungle, handcuffed myself to her, and lied about it. How much time do you think they need?
Jack: We'll be back to our beach in a couple hours. So, they'll probably be over it by then.

"I want to know what you people are doing on this island. Why you're terrorizing us, making lists, kidnapping children. I want to know everything. But the first thing I'd like to know is: Who are you?"
- Sayid (to Juliet)

Juliet: What happened to her?
Jin: (speaks in Korean)
Sun: He said, 'What do you care?'

Ben: Let's go over it again. Just to be sure.
Juliet: I drag Austen out in to the jungle, handcuff myself to her, then tell her I was gassed just like she was.
Ben: Then, if she catches you in the lie -
Juliet: I'll admit to it. Tell her it was the only way to earn her trust.
Ben: Good. What then?
Juliet: They'll take me back to the beach. I know you want me to go there, but after everything we've done to them they're going to be a problem.
Ben: We've activate the implant within Claire. She should be symptomatic within the next 48 hours. By the time you get to that camp, you'll have a nice, big crisis to solve.
Juliet: I'll need supplies.
Ben: Pryce is already on his way. He'll hide the case at Ethan's old drop point. Tell Jack that you can save her; he trusts you. Are you alright?
Juliet: I'm fine.
Ben: (Ben puts a gas mask on the table) See you in a week.

Jack: They're good people. They're willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. But, eventually, they're gonna need some answers.
Juliet: Why don't you? 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. In that moment, I saw it in your eyes: you want to get off this island more than anything else in the world. That makes you one of us.

"Mikhail! It's Ben! We're approaching the house! Don't shoot us."
- Ben

Sayid: I don't trust her, Jack. If she's so innocent, why won't she answer my questions?
Jack: Give her some time. She's afraid.
Sayid: How much time?
Jack: Look, the fact that I trust her should be enough.
Sayid: It's not.

Hurley: I don't remember you from the dock, where you put bags on our heads, after you shocked us.
Juliet: I had the day off.


"The last one of you guys that came over here, Ethan, he kidnapped Claire and Charlie got upset. We buried him over there."
- Hurley to Juliet

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