4x06 The Other Woman

[tohdom]

Lost Rewatch Episode Discussion for "The Other Woman"
(Oct 19 - Oct 25)

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Other_Woman

[Dr. Chameleon]

No one? There's kind of a lot here, even if a lot of it is small (I love the little details). First off: why do the Others need a therapist??? And it's odd the way Harper seems to hate Juliet from the get-go, is it possible she has some foreknowledge of what's to come? It's a little weird that we never actually see Harper and Goodwin interact, and why he didn't just break up with her if the relationship had been on the rocks for a year (awkward when you're stuck on an island together? Others have a no-divorce policy?).

I go crazy trying to parse out the lies and levels of knowledge all the boat people have. Dan and Charlotte clearly know from the outset that they need to go disable the Tempest, so apparently Widmore (via Abaddon) had made this a priority and instructed them to do so. Dan also knows about Keamy's "second protocol," so he knew all along that the entire island inhabitants were in danger of being slaughtered two different ways. Why did he not warn anyone? He certainly seems like a nice guy and he tries to help everyone get off, but there's soooooo much lying, so unecessary, seemingly to pump up the drama. Juliet does the same thing, there's no reason here for her not to tell Jack what's going on.

Harper appears and disappears out of thin air, with whispers (and a creepy, Ethan-esque demeanor). It seems like Juliet would know how this works, but she acts confused here. I've asked this elsewhere, but how was Ben communicating from his cell at the barracks?

While we finally get the story (most of it, anyway, we still don't know who Juliet looks "just like") behind Juliet and Ben's tortured relationship, we still don't know when Juliet recieved her combat training or was indoctrinated into the faith of Jacob. The fact that she was working with kidnapped kids Zach and Emma puts her in a weird place, motivationally speaking.

Does the Tempest exist because Dharma was planning to commit genocide against the Others? Or did the Others convert it for this purpose?

There are some inconsistencies in the whole island pregnancy issue. Here we are told that the mother's immune system turns on the fetus. Why would this cause the mothers to die, though, and what about the 26-year-old-uterus-that-looks-like-a-70-year-old-uterus image that Alpert showed Juliet in "Not In Portland"?

Ben lies about not knowing anything about Widmore. I'm curious why he would have a (presumably) fake dossier about Widmore ready for Locke to look at. Unless there really IS a magic box.

Hurley's awesome luck on display again, this time with horseshoes.

And my big conspiracy theory question is: did Ben somehow cause the pregnancy problem for the sole purpose of creating a reason to bring Juliet to the island? If so (and if it's mainly because she looks like someone), how did he find out about Juliet to begin with, what kind of search did he undertake to pick her out?

[imbeanie]

Hey Doc-- you wrote "parse"--kudos for that! Anyway, to reply to a couple points.... In one of the deleted scenes, Ben jokes about "flushing away" secrets when John lets him use the restroom in one of the barracks; who knows? Also, in regard to why/how Juliet got to the island, I always wondered if Edmund Burke, who seemed to be more interested in the financial gains of Juliet's research, was somehow working with Widmore (after all, Widmore Industries makes pregnancy tests...) and indirectly, this is how Ben found out about Juliet.

[Dr. Chameleon]

Originally Posted by imbeanie

Also, in regard to why/how Juliet got to the island, I always wondered if Edmund Burke, who seemed to be more interested in the financial gains of Juliet's research, was somehow working with Widmore (after all, Widmore Industries makes pregnancy tests...) and indirectly, this is how Ben found out about Juliet.

This isn't too much of a stretch, but in my crazy conspiracy theory Ben went after Juliet only because of the way he looked, then trumped up the pregnancy problems to match her professional skills and give himself (or Alpert, or Jacob) justification for bringing her to the island. If this was true (and based on my past theories, it isn't), then how did he find her based on her looks? Maybe he's got some kind of a Professor X Cerebro machine.

[Nathan182]

Harper confuses me in this one, I'm pretty sure Ben didn't send "her" but then that leads me to speculate as to why "she" was there. (I am quoting her and she because I am pretty sure it was the smoke monster and not an actual person). It could have been Smokey fulfilling its role as protector of the island...

[JulietDetonatesMyHeart]

It definitely wasn't Harper-Harper. It was definitely either Smokey or X (no I don't think they're one and the same). Yeah, I get that Harper kinda seemed to hate Juliet from the start. She was probably just jealous because everyone was all over Juliet because she was "big news right now" and because she was hot.

I love the flashbacks in this episode, though I think they could've revealed a little bit more about Juliet other than 1) she had an affair with her therapist's husband 2) Ben was obsessed with her.

Juliet definitely didn't seem to be aware what the whispers were, but who knows with that chick?

[Simon]

Ben steals the show here when he makes that dinner for Juliet, and talks about Goodwin and Ana Lucia. I love that scene

[MM0602]

Ben's hilarious when Juliet comes over for the dinner XD His creepy little smile and how excited he is.

Charlotte is so randomly badass in this episode. And bitchy too I guess. I'm still confused as to whether Ben actually wanted the gas to be let out or not. I also don't think that was really Harper for some reason, and Ben doesn't seem to be too concerned about gas when we do see him in the episode... so I dunno. And how did Charlotte and Daniel know the gas had been activated? Too many unanswered questions! The flashbacks were alright but definitely my least favourite Juliet episode.

[JulietDetonatesMyHeart]

Originally Posted by MM0602

Charlotte is so randomly badass in this episode. And bitchy too I guess.

She's a total bad ass in this episode! First she knocks out Kate and then she ALMOST wins a fight against Juliet. I mean come on, Juliet could take every woman and most men on that island, so for Charlotte to take Jules the way she did speaks volumes. And Faraday is hilarious when he's like "That....that was a close one."

[Simon]

One thing that put me off the fight scene was the full one-second look at Juliet's body double. I don't know how that made it in.