[US/IRL] 3X07 - "Not In Portland" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]

Basq · 08-02-2007 12:08AM #1

- WARNING: THIS THREAD WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET SEEN "NOT IN PORTLAND" -

Episode Title: "Not In Portland"
Airdate: February 7th 2007

Synopsis (from TV.Com):

Jack has the Others in a desperate situation as he holds Ben's life in his hands. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer try to escape from their captors. Back at the beach, Charlie and Hurley search through Sawyer's belongings and discover his hidden possessions. Flashbacks reveal Juliet's past.

Next New Episode: 3X08 - "

Flashes Before Your Eyes

" - February 14th 2007

SPOILER WARNING:

From now on, this thread shall reveal details of the episode mentioned above. If you have not yet seen this episode, please do not move any further down the thread.

This episode shall air on:

ABC (US) - February 7th 2007
Sky One (UK/IRL) - February 11th 2007
RTÉ2 (UK/IRL) - February 12th 2007

If you are sure you have seen the episode as mentioned above (on the channels on those original airdates), you can move down further in order to discuss the episode.

Otherwise, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED - there shall be major plot details of the episode revealed and discussed below with no spoiler tags used!

Giblet · 08-02-2007 05:00AM

Not really a strong episode, hinting at some kind of shady "mishaps" with the others killing juliets ex husband or psychic ability from juliet. A bit all over the place though, didn't really enjoy it, but I'm glad sawyer and kate are back on thei real island.

kaimera · 08-02-2007 12:53PM

7

Actually enjoyed that ep tho it could have been the lack of 'Lost' over the past number of weeks

Did think Jules' story was good, nice to see how the others got her to the island I'm assuming. Wonder what role her medical research background plays tho.

Back at the beach, Charlie and Hurley search through Sawyer's belongings and discover his hidden possessions

That didn't happen?

stevejazzx · 08-02-2007 01:06PM

6

Ok ep...

The plotlines are getting messy, all that business bargaining for bens life with letting them go and then not letting them go and shooting at them only to let them go again...

Juliets backsotory was very good I thought but it seems to me that the 'bus' story is either very contrived to keep some elemnent of mystery in lost or else Dharma have some very odd ability to make things just happen.

The most significant part of the episode is the room we find Carl in. Clearly some knid of indoctrination into an odd cult. The losties really need to start asking questions, this element of the show can't be ignored any longer!

cooker3 · 08-02-2007 07:44PM

Episode was decent enough. It was good to have a back story for a new person and first one from 1 of the others. Rather like episode 6 it was much more action packed then a normal lost episode. I have to say I jumped when that guy got hit by the bus. It seems Julie is a prisoner as much as the losties.

Hopefully next episode will feature the other losties and more about Desmond etc

anotherlostie · 08-02-2007 07:49PM

8

Really enjoyed this episode! Again, I'm sure part of that is suffering withdrawal symptoms, but it was nice to have a backstory about someone we didn't know a whole lot about. The death of Juliet's ex husband showed a very strong lean towards Final Destination! This flashback certainly reaffirms my belief that not having a Libby backstory last season was a shame, since new characters are always most interesting.

So we learned that Juliet is a prisoner on the island, and that Ben is pulling the strings. Will the Nestor Carbonnell character turn out to be Jacob? I presume we'll see him again. And Ethan was obviously involved in recruitment; I wonder why Juliet was so pally with him in Episode 1 of Season 3 if he was involved in manipulating her into being on the island.

The brainwashing stuff with Karl was creepy; were they trying to knock the rebellion out of him? And will he now be a loose cannon, a bit like Mike Donovan's son in V?

I'm glad that Danny is dead, but Tom survives (and he was really trying to be Mr Friendly to Jack, who wasn't having any of it!).

I gave it a 9, because I never noticed the time going, it had a level of suspense throughout, and certainly answered a few questions about the Others and their being on the island against their will.

Hope next week keeps it up. And I said I was going to wait to watch these on RTE!!!:rolleyes:

Faith · 08-02-2007 09:25PM

6

I really was planning on watching it on Sky... I thought it was being shown tonight though, and Friday is Grey's Anatomy day, so I didn't want to watch Lost then too. So when I found out it was shown last night, I gave in.

I did enjoy it. I found myself watching the clock, thinking "No, it can't be 40 minutes already!". I admit it wasn't the strongest of episodes though.

It seems the Others are clueless about the sky turning purple at the end of last season. And Alex is supposedly Ben's daughter... That's interesting. I wonder who she thinks her mother is? Unless Danielle Rousseau is her mother, and Ben's her father. It implies Ben's been on the island for at least 15 years, but Juliet's only been there for 3. Hmm...

I enjoyed it overall. I'm glad to have Lost back!

Narcissus · 08-02-2007 11:26PM

7

Faith wrote:

I really was planning on watching it on Sky... I thought it was being shown tonight though, and Friday is Grey's Anatomy day, so I didn't want to watch Lost then too. So when I found out it was shown last night, I gave in.

I did enjoy it. I found myself watching the clock, thinking "No, it can't be 40 minutes already!". I admit it wasn't the strongest of episodes though.

It seems the Others are clueless about the sky turning purple at the end of last season. And Alex is supposedly Ben's daughter... That's interesting. I wonder who she thinks her mother is? Unless Danielle Rousseau is her mother, and Ben's her father. It implies Ben's been on the island for at least 15 years, but Juliet's only been there for 3. Hmm...

I enjoyed it overall. I'm glad to have Lost back!

Ben said he has been on the island his whole life. He might have been lying though.

Very good episode. First flashback episodes are normally good. That bus moment was quite a shocker!

Can't wait for the next episode! I think

it's desmond centric!

wba88 · 08-02-2007 11:33PM

im not easily shocked but that bus.....OMG!

ok ep, looking forward to next week, i love having prison break and lost back

Hyzepher · 08-02-2007 11:39PM

I am assuming that Alex thinks Ben is her father as she was taken from Danielle just after birth and he is passing her as his own - I am sure all the other Others assume she is his as well.

Ethan is obviously a fertility doctor of some sort. Probably knows Juliets sister some way as he was coming out of her room when we see him first. I take it that he was part of Juliet's team and that's why they were so friendly.

Hyzepher

tvnutz · 08-02-2007 11:41PM

5

It was alright,but they need to start answering a lot more and a lot quicker. I actually saw the bus thing coming,when she was talking to the husband just before he got hit you could see the bus in the background and I knew it would hit him.

some good action scenes etc,but still not feeling what i felt when watching season 1. at least there are no more breaks from now until the end of the season,that should help a lot.

Narcissus · 09-02-2007 12:01AM

7

tvnutz wrote:

I actually saw the bus thing coming,when she was talking to the husband just before he got hit you could see the bus in the background and I knew it would hit him.

It happened so quickly my jaw dropped!

some good action scenes etc,but still not feeling what i felt when watching season 1.

That's to be expected I guess because in season one it was new and mysterious. The fact that Juliet has only been there 3 years means that people can come and go easily, which makes it lose some of the mystery.

Still lovin it though

Basq · 09-02-2007 12:05AM

6

Actually really enjoyed that episode... the time flew, backstory didn't bore me too much and we actually got a fair bit of progression.

Revelation of a new backstory, escape of Sawyer and Kate, an Other being shot (by another Other), the "Clockwork Orange" style room Carl was kept in .. probably more happened in that episode that in the previous 6!

The bus moment i actually somewhat saw coming because i saw an episode of 'Felicity' last night where one of the characters gets hit by a bus in the exact same way.. maybe it was a JJ Abrams nod!

EDIT: Someone else obviously thought the same thing... as i noticed this on YouTube when looking for the promo. This is the moment in Felicity i was on about with the caption "Watching Lost's "Not In Portland", I noticed a rather odd similarity to another J.J. Abrams show."

Anyways.. very good episode. I'm giving it a 7!

lukin · 09-02-2007 12:24AM

I thought it was pretty good. I though there might be some kind of last-minute hitch that stopped Kate and Sawyer escaping and dragging it on for another episode but there wasn't thankfully.
I was a bit disappointed that Sawyer and "Broken-nose man" (can't think of his name) didn't go toe-to-toe in a fight to the death. It was a bit of an anti-climax when Juliet shot him. At least Sawyer got to beat the crap out of him.
The operation stuff was gruesome;why did they have to show so much blood and gore?

ixoy · 09-02-2007 12:42AM

It was okay. They really need to answer some questions, instead of piling more or else they're adding further weight to the argument that they're not being answered because the answers aren't known by the writers (yet).

Juliette's back story was pretty decent, as it does tie in with Ethan Rom's ability as a fertility doctor (I'm wondering if we'll see him in the Sun/Jin backstory too) and the biological arm of Dharama.
Little gripe: Why was the presentation to Juliette down as a slide show rather than a typical PP show? It made it seem old fashioned when the backstory is only about 3.5 years old.

Oh and anyone else laugh when they saw who was guarding Alex's Clockwork Orange cell? It may always be sunny in Philadelphia but it's even more likely to be raining in Lost...

Basq · 09-02-2007 12:49AM

6

ixoy wrote:

Oh and anyone else laugh when they saw who was guarding Alex's Clockwork Orange cell? It may always be sunny in Philadelphia but it's even more likely to be raining in Lost...

It just dawned on me that it was Mac from 'Its Always Sunny' after i read that. I knew i recognised Aldo when i saw him but couldn't place from where!

abelard · 09-02-2007 01:17AM

6

That Clockwork Orange scene was particularly good alright, just becaue of its inherent weirdness. Of most interst I thought was that one of the phrases on the screen was "God loves you as He loved Jacob". There's the obvious connexion with Jacob who was mentioned before, and then there's the Christian undertone which is unusual enough in what seems to be a generally buddhist-like mythos. There was an image of Buddha too though, and other odd things like a drawing compass, a piano, bugs, dead fish, coins, something that may have been a camera obscura, cd's, a waxing moon, fireworks, a speedometer, gears, what seemed to be tagliatelle pasta (!), "that" image of Alvar Hanso, and the clip of Gerald DeGroot in the lab from the orientation video.

Thought the episode was pretty decent on the whole, a fair bit of action as was mentioned, and a flashback for a new character is always welcome. Strange (though hardly coincidental) that she came across Ethan in the first flashback when going to see her sister. Could her sister have been somehow connected to Dharma before? Dharma being complicit in Dr. Burke's death is certainly possible too (the bus was in the background, stationary, and I would have thought it shouldn't have acceleated to the speed it hit him at, though it's just nit-picking to be honest, it could well have been coincidence).

The following is a spoiler for anyone who hasn't watched all of the "lost moments" series of preview clips, so beware;

Juliette's sister is the woman who reads Jack's tattoo's right? So she's on the island too?

Star Lord · 09-02-2007 01:20AM

7

An 8 from me!

Really kept me tense the whole way through with the twin dramas of Ben on the surgical table and Kate and Sawyer making a run for it. As a few of you said, I really didn't notice the time passing!

I really don't think we'll see Ethan in the Sun/Jin backstory, as they'd have recognized him!It was great, and quite a surprize seeing him in it!

I expect that we will actually see Libby return in a similar way to we've just seen Ethan again! I also really really hope thats the case, as she's obviously tied in pretty deeply...

Star Lord · 09-02-2007 01:22AM

7

abelard wrote:

"that" image of Alvar Hanso, and the clip of Gerald DeGroot in the lab from the orientation video.

I saw the clip of Gerald DeGroot alright but never noticed Hanso in it!

abelard · 09-02-2007 01:38AM

6

It's very quick, near the end, after some scenes of what looks like some sort of heavy industry building, and there's a white "snaky" thing flying about the screen!

Geff · 09-02-2007 02:08AM

5

Average episode. The end was interesting apart from that it was all over the place. Lost is still going down a slippery slippery slope and is pretty close to jumping the shark. Remember how good Season 1 and to a lesser extent Season 2 was? Season 3 has been a disaster. They need to start answering old questions instead of constantly adding new ones.

monkeyfudge · 09-02-2007 03:29AM

6

Stealing from well known films is a bit on the lame side isn't it?

The bus thing was somewhat shocking when I first saw it in Final Destination, but it wasn't in the least bit shocking the second time around here.

But it does look like Dharma has some control over causality if they were able to make it happen, which would tie in with how the numbers won on the lotto

But sill I did enjoy the episode even though I find juliet to be a deeply unappealing character.

Star Lord · 09-02-2007 09:02AM

7

monkeyfudge wrote:

...even though I find juliet to be a deeply unappealing character.

I did, but after her back story, and her shooting the other... other... and the whole thing with her and her sister, has made me look at Juliet in a new light. Before I was mildly interested, in that there seemed to be a dynamic between her and Ben that seemed to be as if she wanted to take over... when we now know she just wanted to get free...

MarkR · 09-02-2007 10:17AM

Everyone seems to be hit by buses recently, happened in Stargate the other day too. Must have been a sale on in the CG section. Was expecting it when I saw the bus in the background.

Interesting episode, like the bit about the other introducing himself to Jack as if they could be buds.

monkeyfudge · 09-02-2007 11:59AM

6

What's the significance of the episode title, by the way? I didn't pick up on that.

cooker3 · 09-02-2007 12:11PM

monkeyfudge wrote:

What's the significance of the episode title, by the way? I didn't pick up on that.

Hmmmn, you didn't! Remember when the guy was making the pitch to Julie about coming to work with them in Portland oregon but in the end he actually meant the island hence not in portland

Also, the bus scene made me jump right out of my bed.

Mr E · 09-02-2007 12:19PM

5

It was only OK, to be honest. After reading early reviews of the episode on AICN (some raving about good it was!), I expected alot better.

Splendid · 09-02-2007 12:35PM

As soon as she said "If the got hit by a bus" i expected him to go that way, especially when they start talking by the edge of the road.

I wonder if Ben saying he's been on the Island all his life, relates to some sort of rebirth, Cult style. That he only counts his life after he came to the island and was brain washed?

Wasn't Ethan the person looking after Claire when they captured her and she was pregnant?

I also haven't seen any reference to this group of others taking the vaccine.

stevejazzx · 09-02-2007 01:02PM

6

Monkeyfudge - I don't think they're stealing from Clockwork Orange, in clockwork orange it was a kind of punishment whereas in here it's kinda an indoctrination althoough the two are very close I think the writers are just very big into referencing their inspirations, like the very contrived reference later in the same episode -ALDO - it seems after Aldous Huxley who wrote a Novel called thew Island which featuered the 'Pala ferry'.
The clip Carl was wathching seems to of been about Idols and time should be interesting....

Also about the writers not giving out many answers, they admitted recently that were intently concentrating on character development instead of Island mythology..it seems they are just strecting out the mysteries as long as possible but I have no doubt they know the answers. Carlton gave away the plane crash mystery recently in an interview, it's big news on the fuselage.

User45701 · 09-02-2007 01:08PM

4

that was a terrible episode, i gave it a 5 for plot advancement but relay it held no interest for me which is kinda sad sometimes i think it would be better not to watch lost and only watch it after an entire season has been released and then watch ever single episode back to back, thats what i did with season one.

monkeyfudge · 09-02-2007 01:14PM

6

Well Clockwork Orange was about conditioning. In it they conditioned Alex so that he'd feel ill whenever he had violent thoughts.

A lot of what is going on on the Island also references conditioning and behavioral psychology, such as whatever experiment was going on in the hatch and the references to BF Skinner.

[US/IRL] 3X07 - "Not In Portland" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]

What did you think of "Not In Portland"? 115 votes

Comments

[US/IRL] 3X07 - "Not In Portland" [** SPOILERS WITHIN **]

What did you think of "Not In Portland"? 115 votes

Comments

[US/IRL] 3X07 - "Not In Portland" [ SPOILERS WITHIN ]