Lost: Season 3 Premiere "A Tale of Two Cities" Review

"Hey, you got yourself a fish biscuit!"
-Tom Friendly



The season 3 premiere opens with Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) hosting a book club meeting at her house.  When the house begins to shake, they go outside to watch Oceanic 815 split apart above them.  We see several familiar Others and it's revealed that the Others have houses on the island.

In flashbacks, Jack (Matthew Fox) has become obsessed with figuring out the identity of his wife's new boyfriend and is holding up the divorce proceedings.  He starts to suspect his father, Christian (John Terry), is sleeping with Sarah (Julie Bowen) and follows him to a hotel.  It turns out just to be an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.  Jack ends up attacking Christian, which lands him in jail.  Sarah bails him out and tells him Christian has fallen off the wagon.

On the island, Jack wakes up in an aquarium at the Hydra Dharma station.  Juliet talks to him, asks him questions, and tries to get him to eat.  Jack refuses to comply and ends up attacking her when she delivers food to him.  Ben (Michael Emerson) blocks his escape and the door Jack opens fills the place with water.  Ben leaves them both to drown, but Juliet saves Jack, starts up the emergency system, and knocks Jack out.  Later, she gives Jack the opportunity to find out who Sarah left him for, but he declines and allows Juliet to deliver him food.

Sawyer (Josh Holloway) wakes up outside in a large cage.  Across the courtyard from him is another prisoner, Karl (Blake Bashoff), who tries to escape and frees Sawyer as well.  Both are recaptured and Karl is taken elsewhere.

Kate (Evangeline Lilly) is forced to put on a dress and has a beach-side breakfast with Ben, who informs her that the next few weeks will be very unpleasant.  She is locked up in what was Karl's cage across from Sawyer.


What Works:

I have always found this episode to be very creepy.  I really like it when the Others act cult-like.  On my first watch of this episode, my mind was racing.  What do the Others want with these people?  Why are they being treated so differently?  Why did Tom (M.C. Gainey) make Karl apologize to Sawyer?  It's all weird and I love it.

The opening sequence, while not as good as the hatch reveal in season 2, is also awesome.  The Others have houses on the island and are far from the savages they pretended to be.  It's a great reveal.

My favorite part of the episode is Juliet.  She's an excellent addition to the cast and Elizabeth Mitchell is funny, charming, and badass.  She takes down both Sawyer and Jack in the same episode!  She has one of the best introductory episodes of any character on Lost.

I really like the scene where Ben and Kate have breakfast.  Michael Emerson manages to be menacing while also being pleasant.  Ben does a great job of making Kate feel vulnerable and breaking her down and it makes more sense once you know the grand design of his plan.

Finally, Matthew Fox is great all around.  This may be Jack at his most stubborn.  He's crazy in the flashbacks and channels that same manic energy into trying to escape.  He may not be the most likable character, but Fox is great and I like seeing Jack in this position.


What Sucks:

My only problem with this episode is Kate's storyline.  It feels like it's missing a scene.  I think one more scene at maybe the breakfast table or on the way back to the Hydra station would have been good.  She disappears from the episode for awhile and it's noticeable.


Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character in a given episode.  For "A Tale of  Two Cities" this award will go to Juliet Burke for breaking down Jack emotionally, knocking him out with one punch, and recapturing Sawyer.  This is her first time winning this award.


Verdict:

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a great premiere and an underrated episode of Lost.  I love how weird and creepy it is, the introduction of Juliet is excellent, and Elizabeth Mitchell, Michael Emerson, and Matthew Fox are all fantastic.  I do think Kate's story is under-cooked, but this episode has still got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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