Well, even the best show hits a rough patch, and ABC's Wednesday-night hit 'Lost' has, in the past, hit a few. Last night's episode, a Jack-centric episode that revealed...how he got his tattoos, was the first rough patch of an otherwise very good third season.
The majority of the episode revolved around how Jack, who's now moved from his swanky little glass windowed-room to the cages where Kate and Sawyer were being held in the first six episodes of the season, tried to prevent the execution of Juliet, who looks like his new love interest, if the scene they share late in the episode is any hint. Juliet was meant to die for having killed Pickett two episodes ago, under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff, a new character named Isabel.
Luckily, thanks to the sharp and quick thinking of Jack and Alex, that feisty little slingshooter who helps Jack out of his cage, Ben (who's in the middle of another medical procedure) orders the execution off, but has Juliet marked. Her bloody new marking (on her back) isn't that nice to look at, but it brings her and Jack closer, according to his flashbacks.
Jack's in Thailand in his flashbacks, where he meets a beautiful woman played by Bai Ling. She goes on and on in her various scenes about the "gift" that she has. Unfortunately, the only gift she possesses in the first 45 minutes is that she has lots and lots of sex with the good doctor. Finally, after a little stalking, Jack finds out that Bai Ling is...a tattoo artist! According to her, she's actually able to see who people are and marks them as such--it's her gift. Jack wants to be marked, but she's afraid to, revealing after some pressure that he is a leader, but because of that, he's a lonely man. For whatever reason, this scares her, but Jack forces her to give him the tattoo. It's only one of his many, but it causes a group of young men, lead by one of Bai Ling's friends, who we meet early in the episode, to beat Jack's ever-living butt at the end of the episode.
The episode, which also has a minor subplot where Kate and Sawyer argue about leaving Jack behind once they've arrived at the old, familiar island and Sawyer letting Karl go back to find Alex, his long-lost love, ends with Jack and the rest of the Others moving back to their home--it's also on the original island. Isabel tells Jack that his tattoo says something along the lines of, "He walks among us, but is not one of us." Jack says that the tattoo may say that, but it doesn't mean that. Then, they leave for the old island.
As I said at the top, 'Lost' hits a few rough patches now and again, and this was a major one. First, the promos for the episode were WAY off; as opposed to the three mysteries we were supposed to get, we got the answer (kind of) to one--the tattoos Jack has. Too bad that is not a mystery I'm that worried about. How about who the Others are? How about why they stole Claire? How about so many other things? So, not a great episode.
Next week, it's Hurley at the spotlight, with Cheech Marin as his dad. Maybe that'll be better. Check back next week for another recap of 'Lost.'
