Lost: Season 3, Episode 7 "Not in Portland" Review

 "I'm not a leader, Mr. Alpert.  I'm a mess."

-Juliet Burke

"Not in Portland" starts off with a flashback to Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) living in Miami.  She is performing an experiment on her sister, Rachel (Robin Weigert), to make her pregnant, even though her reproductive system has been ravaged by cancer.  Juliet's ex-husband, Edmund (Željko Ivanek), figures out what Juliet is up to and wants in on her experiment in order to make lots of money.

Juliet is approached by Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who works for Mittelos Bioscience, to recruit her for a position.  Juliet declines because Edmund would not let her unless he were hit by a bus.  After Juliet discovers her experiment worked and Rachel is pregnant, she tells Edmund, who is killed by a bus soon after.  Later, Richard approaches her again.  She asks if Rachel can go with, but she can't because they aren't near any clinics.  They aren't in Portland as Juliet was originally led to believe.

On Hydra Island, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) start their escape attempt, but Juliet sends a group of Others after them.  She does not believe Jack (Matthew Fox) will actually let Ben (Michael Emerson) die.  Jack tells Tom (M.C. Gainey) that Juliet asked him to kill Ben during the operation, but she denies it.  When Ben wakes up, he makes a deal with Juliet: get Jack to finish the operation and save Sawyer and Kate and he will let her off the island.

Kate and Sawyer are rescued by Alex (Tania Raymonde), who has a boat they can use if they help rescue her boyfriend, Karl (Blake Bashoff).  They trick the guard and rescue Karl from brainwashing.  Juliet manages to get all of the Others to stop hunting them, except for Pickett (Michael Bowen).  Pickett catches up to Sawyer and is about to shoot him, but Juliet kills Pickett first.  She lets Kate, Sawyer, and Karl leave Hydra Island, but forces Alex to stay behind, while Jack finishes Ben's surgery after he confirms Kate is safe.

What Works:

"Not in Portland" is one of the best paced episode of Lost.  It's relentless and there is always something interesting happening.  Every storyline is equally interesting and exciting.  It's a blast of an episode and feels like an action movie a lot of the time.

Elizabeth Mitchell is fantastic in her first flashback episode.  She gets to show off a wide range as Juliet is a very different person in the flashbacks as opposed to the island story.  It's fascinating to see how she has transformed from such a downtrodden and broken person to the confident, cold-blooded leader she is now.  

Matthew Fox is also great as he spends a good chunk of the episode yelling at or messing with Tom.  It's fun to see just how much Tom has changed as a character and I loved Jack yelling at him all the time.  Jack can be a huge jerk, but it's always fun to see him be a jerk to the villains.

Room 23 is an absolute trip.  I love this scene so much.  The strange images, the weird messages, and the awesome music...it's such a creepy scene.  It doesn't ever pay off, but it's more of the cultish aspect of the Others I love so much.  It's a scene that has always stuck with me since the episode first aired.

Finally, it was great to see It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney show up as a random Other goon.  The character of Aldo and his scenes aren't anything special, but McElhenney is great and acts like his character, Mac, from Sunny.  It's just too bad we never get Danny DeVito on the island as well.

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Not in Portland", it was a tough choice.  So many characters had different plans going on.  Ultimately, I went with Alex because her plan was the most successful.  She saved Kate and Sawyer, outsmarted Aldo, and rescued Karl.  This is her first time winning the award.

Verdict:

"Not in Portland" is one of my favorite episodes of Lost.  The pace is relentless, Elizabeth Mitchell and Matthew Fox are both great, the Room 23 scene is bizarre, and we get Mac from Always Sunny.  What more could you ask for?  This episode has absolutely got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing