"Stranger in a Strange Land"

The answers to three big questions; that's what last week's promo promised, but they failed to deliver...again.

I know that the network execs are really starting to sweat their decisions to put LOST on a thirteen week hiatus and stretch the story out to milk the show for more money, but promising answers and failing to deliver from week to week only hurts the already disgruntled loyal fan base.

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!

I'm still trying to figure out which three questions last week's promo was referring to, but as I mentioned before, I think that they were supposedly:

1. How did Jack get his tattoos/what do they mean?

2. What happened to the children that were kidnapped by The Others?

3. What happened to Cindy when the Tailies were making their journey across the island?

By the end of the episode, we only really got the answer to number one...and I don't personally know anyone who cared about that. Apparently, it was a big question on message boards, but it was never something that I was concerned with. The producers essentially wrote it into the show because the fans wanted it. You know what else the fans want? MORE ANSWERS!!! So Jack's tattoo says "He Walks Amongst Us But He Is Not One Of Us" which not only summarizes his time in Phuket, but also what appears to be his immediate future in The Others little neighborhood.

Speaking of their quaint little village, it is apparently on the main island. So the Losties really need to explore their island more if they are ever going to get to the bottom of these mysteries. As Sawyer learned from his talks with Karl, The Others "have yards." Speaking of Karl, he sure seemed to be towing The Others' line pretty strong in this episode. When Kate asked him what happened to the kids, Karl said that they were taken so that they could have a better life. And what about the Hydra station on the smaller island? Karl says that they "work" there. So what happened to the kids? Well, we saw them with Cindy outside of the cage in which Jack was being held. Cindy sure seemed to think that everything that that's going on with The Others is fine. The little boy with the teddy bear was there as was the girl who asked Cindy to ask Jack how Ana Lucia was doing. Jack of course being Jack got pissed and ran them all off by yelling at them. So are Karl, Cindy, et al brainwashed or do they really know something that none of us know?

Ben still needs help because his surgical wound is infected. Jack used the opportunity to save Juliet's life seeing as how the creepy "sheriff," Isabel, would have handed her a death sentence for killing Danny Pickett. On thing that really got to me about Jack's conversation with Ben was that Jack said he would respect The Others more if they had a good surgeon. Ben replies that they did and his name was Ethan. So Jack looked shocked whereas I respected The Others even less. If Ethan was their only surgeon and so important to them, WHY THE HELL WAS HE SENT TO DO THEIR DIRTY WORK!?!?! It makes no damn sense! That's the kind of crap really pisses me off about this show. It is extremely illogical. Anyway, Jack saves Juliet but she is "marked" not unlike Jack himself. What does the mark mean? Should she care because I seem to remember her being a prisoner and not a true Other. She's still hiding something. But that pretty much sums up the show. And what was with the "Titanic" ending on the boat as they ride back to the main island? No cliffhanger? At least give me something to be excited about next week.

If you believe the preview for next week, it looks like Kate and Sawyer will return to the Losties camp and Hurley and Charlie will go on an exciting adventure. Will we see The Others village as Jack is taken there? Probably not next week. Will we learn anything new? Probably not.

Next week on LOST: