4 stars from me! Our first Other flashback!
Man, I really didn't like Juliet at this point. Her flashback made me feel for her but when she just stands there and casually tells one of the men to go get Sawyer and Kate and to just kill them if there's any problems, well, she didn't earn any points with me.
So crazy and awesome to see Ethan again in her flashback! We also meet Richard Alpert. I really like Richard and remember him well so it's hard to believe this was his first appearance. Little spoilerish but he's one of my favorite characters.
There are a lot of fun little easter eggs in this episode. The pregnancy test Juliet's sister used was from Widmore Labs. When Juliet opens the curtains and makes a comment to her sister about them being in Miami, we see a plane landing. If you look closely, it's an Oceanic Airlines plane. Also, the bus that hits Edmund has an ad on it for Apollo Bars. The bus goes so fast you can't see it but if you pause or put it on slow motion, you can see it.
Also, Richard Alpert says he's with Mittlelos Bioscience. Mittlelos is an anagram for "Lost Time" which fits with what has happened to Juliet. She was told she would be going with them on this project for 6 months but she tells Jack she's been there for 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days. That's a lot of lost time. She definitely missed being there for her sister giving birth and so much more.
Juliet's ex is such an asshole. He was so happy to rub it in her face that he was with some other woman, even asking her to turn off the lights on her way out with a suggestive leer.
Despite her flippant disregard for killing our Losties, I felt bad for the fact that she's been under someone else's control for as long as we can see. First, her ex-husband was controlling her via her work and right as he's gone, Ben's men swoop in and take her into their control. This time it's worse though. She's trapped, basically imprisoned on that island with no way of leaving.
Speaking of her being free from her ex's control, holy crap, that bus nailed him but good. So creepy how she jokingly says she'd only be able to join that research team if her ex is hit by a bus then BAM, Ben's people make it happen. Kind of scary. They'll go to great lengths to get what they want. Richard did a great job of playing off not even remembering her say that but you know that they just had to have a hand in it. It's just too much of a coincidence. Especially when they appear again right after the accident to talk her into going.
I can't believe Ben woke up during surgery. Even half under, he's scary as hell.
And that Room 23 that Karl was in, wtf were they doing to that poor kid? That room was insanely crazy. We see some Jacob mentioned again. One of the things that flashed on the screen was that "God loves you as he loved Jacob". The Others made a comment about "Jacob's List" and how Jack hadn't been on it. Is there some type of connection or just a coincidence? Could just be a coincidence since I believe that line is from the bible. But still, why choose that particular line for the crazy video?
If Juliet wasn't lying when she said that Ben promised to finally let her go home if Jack finishes the surgery, then that means she's there against her will. Based on her flashback, I don't think she's lying. We heard Richard tell her it would only be a 6-month job. Makes you wonder who else is there against their will. You can tell some people aren't happy to be there, like Alex and Karl, but Alex believes she's Ben's daughter and I don't think she knows Danielle exists at all, so why would she leave? The Others also took all those Tailies and I'm sure are holding them against their will but where? We haven't seen or heard anything about them.
Looking forward to learning more about these Others and seeing Jack and Kate make it back to the other survivors safely! Oh man, poor Jack is stuck with them. Another prisoner of Ben's.
Favorite scenes/quotes:Edmund Burke getting hit by the bus.
Kate talking to Jack over the walkie talkie and repeating the story we heard in the pilot ep and Jack making her promise not to come back for him.
There weren't any quotes that stood out to me on this one. The ep was pretty serious and more on the informational side.