Lost—Not in Portland

This episode was preceded by an hour-long recap of the entire series. And I'm only now noticing that the guy who arrested Kate and was with her on the plane is the demon guy who took John Winchester's deal in "In My Time of Dying" (Supernatural). I'm pretty sure I'm way behind the curve on that one, but no wonder that damn plane crashed.

Front Story: We start where we left off, with Jack trying to help Kate and Sawyer escape. His attempts are, of course, hampered by the fact that he doesn't know they're on a different island from the rest of the original group. Kate and Sawyer run into Alex, who helps them escape, but she wants them to help her rescue her boyfriend. Ben wakes up on the operating table, which is really creepy. He asks to see Juliet. He's heard that she told Jack to kill him on the operating table. Juliet says she'll help Kate and Sawyer escape if Jack finishes the surgery.

Kate, Sawyer and Alex get ahold of Alex's boyfriend Karl using the "Wookiee prisoner gag." Nice work, Sawyer--Star Wars jokes are always funny. Karl's being tortured--or experimented on--with a slide show with a really loud soundtrack--some kind of sense overload thing. Jack accidentally nicks an artery while he's working on Ben. Oops. The trio make their way to the boat, but are pursued. Juliet shoots their pursuer, and I finally remember where I've seen Alex before--she was on Malcolm in the Middle. Juliet tells Alex she has to stay; otherwise Alex's father will kill Karl. Ben's her father? I don't think we knew this before. That bit confused me. The only way he'll let Karl live is if Alex stays...but Karl goes with Kate and Sawyer... so if she'd gone with him, Ben would hunt them down? Or kill Ben long-distance? Or shake him to death like a bunny? Just not entirely clear on that statement from Juliet.

Jack tries to operate and talk to Kate on the walkie talkie at the same time, to make sure Kate and Sawyer have really been able to escape. Doesn't he know multi-tasking in the operating room is a bad idea? Jack makes Kate promise she won't come back for him. Sawyer seems none too happy about Kate's emotional reaction to talking to Jack. Kate, Sawyer, and Karl leave in the boat.

Jack has finished up with Ben's surgery, having removed the tumor. Jack asks Juliet what Ben said to her to change her mind about killing him. Apparently he told her that if she saved him, and helped Jack, she would be allowed to go home. She's been on the island for three years.

Backstory: Juliet gets the spotlight this time. Her backstory involves using an experimental treatment on her sister, on the sly, and getting busted by her ex-husband, a hospital administrator. Batmanuel Nestor Carbonell shows up in Juliet's flashback as Mr. Alpert. If I were having a flashback, I think he'd be a good addition. Juliet's got some interesting backstory. Aside from meeting Batmanuel, she's also managed to impregnate a male mouse. Her ex, though, has control over her career. In a minor breakdown during the interview, she says the only way she could take the job is if her ex were it by a bus.However, her work is successful, and she's able to help her sister get pregnant. (Another bit I wasn't clear on. Her sister was costumed to make us think she had cancer. Then the treatments turned out to be fertility treatments. But she did say that she needed to "get healthy." However, pregnancy and cancer treatment are generally mutually exclusive things, so again, not quite clear on what was going on here.)

Then Juliet's ex gets hit by a bus. Mr. Alpert comes back to talk to Juliet, and he brings Ethan with him. Juliet points out that she offhandedly said her ex should get hit by a bus during their interview, and gets a little freaked out by the coincidence. Mr. Alpert wants her to work with them. He knows way too much about her. The job is somewhere that's "not quite in Portland." The island, perhaps? Because it's not in Portland. And that must be important because it's, you know, the title of the episode...

Overall, not a bad return episode of this series. It'll be interesting to see how the ratings are affected by the long hiatus.

ADDITIONAL CASTING TRIVIA:
Zeljko Ivanek, who plays Juliet's ex-husband in the flashbacks, was in "The Woman in the Car," a first season episode of Bones.