Lost Recap - Stranger In A Strange Land

The title of this episode kind of describes me in viewing this episode. I felt lost (no pun) and somewhat out of place during this episode. It seemed very disconnected; with Jack's odd flashback that had him swimming in the sheets with Bai Ling (gross) who can "read people" and who "marked" him with the tattoo....was this really one of the "3 big mystery's revealed" like all the promos said? Please. This was not the Jack that the viewers know; if this was post-breakup with his wife then the random sex would maybe make sense, but it's a stretch. They're asking a lot with this whole marking deal - Juliet also got marked by episodes end - all I'm saying is that it better mean something and they better explain it fast or else it's gonna get lost in the mix; I just hope it makes sense somehow.

Then there's Sawyer and Kate; this part of the episode felt the most true to form. I feel bad for the both of them; Sawyer kind of put it all out there for Kate back when they got crazy in the cage, and that was big for him. Kate of course acted on raw emotions, but now that she knows Jack's ok and that her and Sawyer left him alone, she's feeling mixed emotions. Plus they've got lost-in-love Carl on their hands as well, who embodies all that these two will never be: honest with their feelings. Even though this kids storyline was a little cheese with the naming constellations together, I still kind of liked it. The guy playing this character is good, and he was a great juxtaposition to Sawyer's man's man.

We also got introduced to Isabelle, another creepy Other who's visiting the island to do some house-cleaning, and reintroduced to Cindy and the kids, then at the very end we see Jack and Juliet along with Ben on a boat to "home". Questions: who is Isabelle really and where did she come from? Why are Cindy and the kids "watching"? And most importantly, where is Ben taking Jack and Juliet?

Next week brings more promises of craziness from the promo department of abc, but I've learned to know better. I'm going in not expecting much, then maybe I'll truly be blown away.