The OTHER('s) Woman

Lostaways-

This week's blog might be a shorter one due to the fact that this week's episode was a lamer one. It wasn't a terrible episode, and although finally my Charles Widmore (and soon to be Paik Industries) connection with the island theory was vindicated, I still found myself wanting more out of a Juliet backstory.

I want to begin with a brief re-cap of some important events and noteworthy tidbits from this episode, The Other Woman, and then spend most of the rest of our time going through a theory that involves Juliet's last name (Burke).

The first thing we saw this week was Juliet drawing what appeared to be a wave in the sand of a coffee table miniature sandbox. The symbol for the new station we discovered this week, The Tempest, is also a wave. The tsunami that is presumably about to happen on December 26th, 2004 also will involve waves incidentally. Large waves emote the feeling of helplessness, of being tossed around by forces bigger than you and out of your control. Juliet's whole life, and truly many of the lives of other people on this island, could be described as such. David "Desmond" Hume was a trailblazer in the concept of Fatalism and Determinism.

Juliet is in a psychiatrist's office and that shrink turns out to be Harper Stanhope (anangram = "an other perhaps"). Lostpedia had this to say about the name Harper: "Harper' might be related to the Greek mythological 'Harpy'. A Harpy is a disgusting, vicious monster, with a woman's face and body and the wings and claws of a bird. It acts as a minister of divine vengeance. The word is often used hyperbolically to refer to an strident, demanding woman, especially a wife." Harper is indeed the wife of someone, and that someone is very important to past episodes of the show: Goodwin. As you remember from seasons 2 and 3, Goodwin infiltrated the tail section, was discovered (and killed) by Ana Lucia, and we also knew that Juliet and Goodwin had been an item from Juliet's second back-story last season. That episode was called "One of Us." We eventually learn in The Other Woman that Ben sent Goodwin on purpose to the tail section because, as Juliet claims, he "knew this would happen."

Back in Current Island Time (CIT), Faraday and CS Lewis sneak off in to the jungle and Jack leads a search party after them. I did appreciate the suspense that was built up as to whether or not Faraday and Lewis were actually trying to help or harm the island dwellers. Obviously the jury is still out on the Boat People's ulterior motives, but for now we know they weren't trying to gas the place, but wanted to make things safe (for the time being).

Juliet bumps in to her old pal Harper who relays a message from Ben (who apparently is "exactly where he wants to be") that Juliet is to track the Boat People Duo down and kill them both. The whispering made a comeback this week, and Harper also turns out to be Houdini by disappearing before Jack and Juliet's very eyes. Did anyone else find it strange that Juliet was unphased by Harper's rapid appearance and disappearance? Jack didn't even ask Juliet where the woman standing in front of him in the rain seconds earlier darted off to. Perhaps the way that certain (or maybe all) members of the Others can move so rapidly and stealthily is due to time travel as well??? The whispering thing could be the echo of their time-shifting ways.

Moving on, Ben is obsessed to the highest degree with Ms. Burke, and has been going to extreme lengths to bring her there and keep her there. Harper, before confronting Juliet about the affair she's having with Harper's husband, makes the snide comment "Of course he likes you; you look just like her." The her is, in my estimation, Annie, the old flame of Ben from his childhood (and probably his young adult life). You see (theory about to be dropped like its warm....warm to hot) Ben is obsessed with Juliet for a few different reasons. One is that she is attractive and happens to look similar to his old love, Annie. (You can see Annie's portrait on Ben's wall in the episode when Juliet walks in for the two-person "dinner party" at Ben's house.) The second reason he is keen on Juliet is that she is a fertility doctor who can potentially solve the mystery as to why pregnant women on the island die. If Juliet can fix this, Ben can go back in time and save Annie who he got pregnant at some point earlier in island time, which killed Annie and made Ben even crazier. Perhaps this is even what drove him to partake in the first "Purge" that we witnessed last season.

On the other side of the island, Ben and Locke are locked in a battle of wits and wills yet again. Finally Ben is willing to reveal that Charles Widmore is the man behind the Boat People. The tape he shows Locke (and his pants) is one of Widmore beating up one of Ben's lackey's, but before the tape runs out, Widmore looks up at the camera man (whoever he or she is). Either he was surprised by the fact that someone was filming him, or he was looking at the camera because he knew it was there and was sending a menacing glare Ben's way. But more on Widmore next week.

Like I said, I want to keep this short(er), so let me quickly explain my larger theory about Juliet's name (Burke) and how it applies to the theme of the show and what is going on on the island.

Edmund Burke was a Scottish member of parliament who was a great supporter of the American revolution, even though he was still an English citizen, a high-ranking one at that. Along with the thinking and writings of John Locke, our national forefathers took on the British monarch and defeated them for our independence. It was assumed at the time that King George and the Brits were far too powerful for the colonialists, and men like Burke who voiced their support for the rebels in America were put in a compromising position between the side they belonged to and the side they wished they could be a part of. Edmund Burke, however, never went to America nor moved there after they gained their independence.

Juliet is the go-between on the island. She is sympathetic to the cause of freedom (from the island) that the Lostaways are fighting for. Among the Lostaways there is a tension that exists (i.e The Jack Pack vs. Locke's Litter) similiar to the tensions that existed among our Founding Fathers. Who do we trust? Who do we ally ourselves with (i.e. France = Rosseau)? Juliet wants to be on the Lostaways side, specifically Jack's, but seems to be unable to escape the clutches of her own former people, The Others (specifically Ben). Juliet continues to go on these missions for Ben and even warns Jack of her own fatalistic prediction (Ben will win) of how things will play out on the island in the near future.

This idea of Juliet supporting "revolution" like her namesake (Edmund Burke) did 240 years ago also plays in to the relationship between Harper and Juliet. Stanhope is Harper's last name, and the name Stanhope is almost certainly a reference to Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope a british Statesman and scientist. He wrote a scathing reply to philosopher Edmund Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution. Harper is loyal to, but scared of, Ben. All subjects to a tyrannical monarch usually are.

Juliet is the Other Woman throughout her life. Caught in between Goodwin and his wife Harper. Caught in between Jack and his true love Kate. Caught between Ben and his obsession over a dead chick named Annie. Caught in between her now-dead ex-husband in that scene from last season in her lab where her hubby and some new research assistant are making time on one of the desks before Juliet's cell phone breaks up the hanky-panky. She's got enough issues from in her past that she can accurately warn Jack, "You dont want to see my file."

Thoughts, theories, comments:

-Only one this week: read this synopsis of the Shakespeare play The Tempest and see just how similar it is to the story of LOST.

"Ji Yeon" is the title of this week's new episode, and in it: Juliet is forced to reveal some startling news to Jin when Sun threatens to move to Locke’s camp. Meanwhile, Sayid and Desmond begin to get an idea of the freighter crew’s mission when they meet the ship’s Captain.

It's not easy being an Other...

Love,

Ben's Uncomfortable Stare