Season 3, Episode 9: "Stranger in a Strange Land"

We didn't learn very much in this episode. I was actually very disappointed, I thought the episode was pretty weak, compared to the past few we have gotten. Here are a few of the new things that we did learn, though...

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
Through a series of Jack's flashbacks, we learn that he went to Phuket, Thailand at some point, most likely as an escape. I'm guessing he probably went there right after his wife left him. He met a girl there who had a "gift" of being able to read people. She tells him she is not a tattoo artist, that she doesn't decorate people, but rather she defines them. She told him that he is a leader, a great man, but that he is lonely and angry. She refuses to give him a tattoo at first, because she says there would be consequences. However he demands that she "mark" him. Back on the island, when Isabella (the "sheriff") reads it, she tells him it means "You walk among us, but are not one of us." She tells him it is ironic. He says he knows what it SAYS, but that's not what it MEANS.

There is a connection between Jack's presence on the island in Thailand, as well as Jack's presence on the Other's island. (hence the title of this episode, "Stranger in a Strange Land.") In both places, he is an outsider. (He walks among them, but is not one of them.) In Thailand, he is an outsider after being "marked" with the tattoo. And on the island, he is an outsider amongst the Others.

WHERE IS HOME?
Ben promised both Jack and Juliette that if they helped him, he would let them go home. However, we learned that the place they are going, according to Juliette, is "the place that Ben calls home." So he was most likely misleading them about sending them "home." Is there yet another island they are going to, or is this the housing community that we have already seen where they live? I am also wondering if this is where Walt and Michael are. Ben made the same promise to Michael, that he would get them off the island and send them "home," but he could have sent them to the same "home" that he is referring to here? When Michael and Walt left in the boat, he gave him compass points to follow and said he would find "refuge." So I don't think they made it very far away from the main survivors' island. Hopefully we will see them again soon. Especially because I am very curious to what they actually did with Walt that whole time and the real reason for taking him. We still don't know very much about what happened while he was in the Others' care. Also, it appeared that the boat he sent them off in when he let them go, is the same boat that they left on last night (with Ben, Jack and Juliette).

WE'RE HERE TO WATCH
For the first time since they were taken, we see that Cindy, as well as the kids, are all okay. (Well, maybe not "okay" but atleast they are alive.) They seem to have morphed into a part of the Others though - for example, Cindy has learned to do what they tell her, and she comments that "it's not all that simple" as to why they are there watching him. Unlike the other survivors (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc.), Cindy and the other taken ones have just succumbed to what the Others tell them to do, instead of fighting back. It almost appeared that she had been brainwashed. Last time we saw her, she was trying to escape, along with Ana Lucia, Eko and the other tailies. But now here she is, "watching."

BEN IS THE MAN
One thing we did learn is that Ben truly is the highest power amongst the Others. I think it's interesting that even as he lays there possibly dying, he is still the man in charge and they will listen to whatever he says. How did he get to have so much control over them? Why are they so willing to do whatever he says, even in the case with Juliette when they clearly believe in their "eye for an eye" system. We see that along with having their own homes, backyards, hospitals, etc., they also have their own "court" system, complete with a "sheriff." They really do have their own community on the island. Juliette almost got "executed" for killing one of her own. Turns out they are very serious about killing one of their own. However, when Ben said to let her off the hook, they listened to him. He still however, had her "marked." This is to show the Others that she is officially excommunicated from their group. I think now that we have also seen her flashbacks to show that she was never really one of the Others (she came there reluctantly) - it shows that she is more like Jack and that's why they are helping each other out. Just like Jack, she is also an outsider in their group. She never wanted to be there, and she has always been an outsider amongst them (a stranger in a strange land.) She, too, just wants to go home.

DR. ETHAN ROM
We learned that Ethan was a surgeon. He was killed by Charlie. Ben comments that he used to have a good surgeon, but Jack is his only hope now that Ethan is gone. I found that interesting to learn that Ethan was actually a surgeon. Especially since Ben specifically sent him into the survivors camp to infiltrate them. Why would he send his only surgeon off amongst them?

WHAT'S THE BRADY BUNCH?
Evidently, Carl has been on this island his whole life. He has never even heard of the Brady Bunch. This suggests that he has never been a part of the "mainstream" world. Ben also has said that he has lived his whole life on the island, but he may have gone back and forth into the "real world." We already know that Ethan has been in the real world (he recruited Juliette). However, Carl, and it appears that Alex, too, have never been off the island. Carl also seemed to be "brainwashed" when he was in the boat that Sawyer and Kate were escaping with...he was repeating phrases that were shown to him in the experiment room ("God loves you as he loved Jacob.") It was interesting that he kept saying that they would kill him if he ever went back, but yet he also seemed to be defending them when Sawyer and Kate were questioning him about the Others. For example, when asked why "his people" took the children, he answers that they are going to give them a better life...a better life than yours. What does that mean? And why is he so quick to defend taking the kids, especially when we have seen what they have done to him?

This episode gets a big thumbs down from me. Hopefully next week will be better. We need some more answers!!