Here we have another episode that draws scorn from a large percentage of the LOST fan base, but I'm not entirely sure why.
Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim bring us back to basics, that is they construct a strong parallel between flashbacks and island storylines. Jack is indeed a stranger in a strange land in both cases, the difference is he's ultimately accepted in one and rejected in another.
The biggest complaints LOST fans have with SIASL are generally related to the flashbacks. Very few seem to be able to stomach Achara, and those who can still don't see the point in devoting an episode to Jack's tattoos.
Well, luckily I'm not rating based on other people's opinions. I didn't see SIASL as an episode about tattoos; I saw it as a story about the isolation that's often associated with being a leader, how loneliness and rejection often finds those who stay true to their principles.
Example #1: Jack essentially ends his own father's career, something many people might see as an unforgivable betrayal. I personally found it to be very courageous and honorable, but the point remains: Jack stuck to his principles and was isolated from family because of it.
Example #2: Jack worked tirelessly to restore people to health, to save lives at the hospital. Sarah eventually leaves him for another man and divorces him. Jack's biggest sin? He always wanted something to fix. Once again, Jack's insatiable desire to help people ends up isolating him.
Is it any wonder he was on a trip to "find himself" in Phuket? It takes a lot of courage to pick up and go somewhere new to feel alive again, to see if it helps you define yourself. I can completely relate to that, and I wonder if SIASL's biggest critics have simply never had that moment where they needed to do a bit of soul-searching.
Juliet's story begins to align with Jack's in SIASL, for her betrayal of Ben ends up getting her "marked". She's cast out of her group much like Jack was banished from Phuket. By episode's end, they both stood on a boat heading back to the mainland, both emotionally exhausted, both leaders in their own right.
Ironically, Juliet told Richard in "Not In Portland" that she wasn't a leader. This episode raises the question of whether it's even a choice, whether it's something that's part of you whether you like it or not.
I won't lie and say this was Matthew Fox's best work on the series, or even Season 3 for that matter. It's not a bad performance, don't get me wrong. It's just that the difficulty level was considerably tame compared to episodes later on in the season/series. For the most part he just needed to play the curious, slightly insecure man thrust into new surroundings.
The only moment that I found a little perplexing was when Cindy approached him at the Hydra cages. I'm not sure if Fox screaming his head off was part of the script or Fox using dramatic license, but either way I thought it was too extreme.
Speaking of extremes, Bai Ling (Achara) seems to elicit extreme reactions from the LOST fans, most of them negative. Me? I thought she was just alright. Bizarre and maybe a little one-dimensional, but alright nonetheless. I can't pounce on her for being trashy, she was following the script.
Diana Scarwid (Isabel) was awful. Talk about robotic, Isabel was like a cyborg that smoked three packs a day. Her line of "What's going on, Alex?" was so apathetically delivered I nearly laughed out loud.
Holloway, Lilly, Emerson, and Mitchell all gave typically solid performances.
It's interesting that this was Paris Barclay's sole directorial effort on LOST. Completely forgetting about the storyline for a moment, I didn't think SIASL looked or felt any different than your standard LOST episode, so in that regard I'd say his effort was a success.
Once again we see a Hawaiian location completely transformed into a foreign land, in this case Phuket, Thailand. Other than the scenes on the Phuket shoreline I thought it completely felt like another world we hadn't seen yet, heavy on the shades of brown, orange, red, and yellow. Then again, I've never been to Thailand so I have no baseline to compare its accuracy. All I know is that it felt much different than usual, which was the point.
The one part I really disliked: the closing mini-montage. From Alex/Karl looking at the stars to Jack and Juliet side profiles on the boat, I thought the whole thing was poorly choreographed and cheesy. The Giacchino score was beautiful on its own merits, however it didn't belong in this episode, or at least not at that moment. There was hardly any build-up or justification for such dramatic music, so it all felt like a cheap play for emotions tacked on at the very end. If that wasn't bad enough the music is abruptly cut off and the closing title flashes on the screen. Yuck.
This isn't an episode I'd enjoy watching on a continuous loop but I haven't dreaded the episode on any of my rewatches. I think it's much more enjoyable if you can relate to Jack in some way, if you've ever grappled with the struggles that invariably come with leadership.
Jack's agreement to join the Others is about the extent of the episode's long-term significance. Kate and Sawyer didn't really advance much beyond arriving at the mainland, making camp, bickering, and setting Karl loose.
The atmosphere rating ties back to the set design, which I thought was very effective given the goal of transporting us to a strange place.
Emotional impact is a bit tough to rate here, because even though I wasn't necessarily moved by the storylines I could still relate to Jack. That evoked certain emotions within me for sure, but most of that stemmed from my own experiences and not necessarily what I was witnessing on the screen.
Karl and Alex's mini-storyline certainly didn't sway me in the slightest, not even with the sappy closing montage. Cold but true.
