Get Ready: Stranger in a Strange Land

Did we get a great new episode or not last night? There seems to be some debate about season 3, episode 9 of LOST, Stranger in a Strange Land. We'll be podcasting this weekend, so send us your comments by posting them here, shooting us an email or calling our automated voicemail at 206-666-2278.

Comments

[Jamie]

it stunk

[Joop]

It wasn't bad.

Another great line by Sawyer, 'There's no crying in the jungle'. Its probably in reference to 'There's no crying in baseball', but at first I thought it was a shout out to LOSTcasts & the running joke about Jack crying in the woods...who knows?

A few questions answered (for me anyway):

- The kids are w/ the others as opposed to the other others.
- Karl has been w/ the others, unless the other others have back yards too (I hope so because I like the Romeo & Juliet/ waring tribes idea).

Next week should be better. I hope the numbers are addressed since Hurley has such a strong connection to them. I'm tired of just seeing them randomly in different flashbacks.

[Scott]

I felt let down after last week's greatest episode ever.... it felt like
1. a lame excuse to tell a story about jack's tatoos

B) an excuse to explain the name "stranger in a strange land" - i think they came up with the name first

Red: a shameless attempt to get people to watch a la "we'll promise to reveal 3 things that mean nothing and play no role in the show's plot whatsoever. so please watch. pretty please"

what a waste of my time... thanks for the 3 seconds of screen time of Cindy & the kids that you already showed me in the preview.

Worst.... episode.... ever

[Carl in the UK]

Dont know if this is right BUT did we get out frist look at the Others Submarine last night?
The part where Alex and Karl are both looking up at the stars
is Alex on the sub? if anyone can get a screen cap..

Thanks again guys for all your hard work.

[Jamie]

overplay on the promos
most of it we've seen before
check this

http://home.comcast.net/~therealvertical/TheBoat_copy.jpg

[Cameron]

This is weird, there is a lot of grumbling about this episode but I thought that this was one of the best episodes in a long time. Normally the ones most people like, I don't like. It's true that you would have a hard time figuring out exactly what 3 mysteries were revealed.

Jack's story seems to have borrowed a lot from the movie 'The Beach', but I really liked it.

Re the children: They looked a bit like zombies, and were all very neat and had clean clothes like they have been integrated into the pastel slacks world that is Othersville. But I thought they would have wiped their brains completely with their brainwashing treatment (and Cindy's too, if she had one in the first place). Yet, the children remember Ana-Lucia and obviously how they came to be on the island. And we know that they all ended up with 'Ben' Others - does this weaken the 'two groups of Others' theory??

@Carl in the UK:
I think this was the same large boat Jack and Juliet were on, not a sub. Alex was just sitting next to its smokestack.

For the podcast: how about some news from Brian? What is he up to and is he still a die-hard lost fan?

[Fun Time Hurley]

You know, EW's article from a few weeks ago really nailed the current vibe of the fans - it really seems like LOST has become the show everyone wants to whine & complain over...

I was a spoiler-hungry, screen-cap viewing, can't-get-anything-done-at-the-office-on-Thursdays FOOL after Season 1... Consequently, Season 2 wound up being disappointing for me overall, I spoiled all the surprises for myself, was pissed about what they weren't telling me... It took the joy out of the show.

I've stayed away from spoilers this year, and have enjoyed S3... You need to enjoy what they ARE telling you, not complain the whole season what they're not telling you - if you don't, it'll be May & S3 will be gone before you can enjoy it. And just remember, you have to assume TPTB didn't want ABC making the preview the way they painted it (with big answers promised, spiling the glimpse of Cindy & the kids, etc.) They groaned about it in the official podcast this week too.

Sorry to the faithful fans I couldn't use this comment for suggesting a theory, or pointing out a cool hidden detail, but this episode is going to feed the negative frenzy that's been everywhere lately...

[Justin]

@scott
"stranger in a strange land" is a famous sci fi novel. the writers of lost didn't "come up" with the title.

[John Smith]

I wish Cindy would've at least took her top off and shown us those little bags of meat she has...then at least that show would've been worthwhile.

[Jon W]

(Hint of sarcasm) I cant wait for Sunday now sounds like a great episode in store, I hope it isant as bad as you guys, and certainaly the Fuselage make it out to be

Jon

[Sonej]

Hey i just thought about how Heros and Lost could be connected.. We all hear the Heros quote. That they would put them on a island in the middle of the ocean if they knew what powers they had.
(http://www.lostblog.net/lost/tv/show/heroes-has-lost-it)
And now in this episode we had Bai Ling saying she got a skill aka power? It will be interesting too see where the producers takes this co-op thing.

[Courtney]

I thought the episode was good. A real throw back to season 1 with the music montage at the end. Not every week can be amazing, and I think we need to remember that it's ABC's promo department that spoils thing with ridiculous preview - not the creaters or writers of LOST. You think we would know by now not to pay so much attention to the promos.
Now, about the episode:
What about the star they marked on Juliet's back? Why on her back where know one would see it - when they said she'd be marked, I was thinking Scarlet Letter where everyone would see.
I also liked the visual exchanges between Juliet and Jack - I still don't trust her.
I also wonder about the subtle comment she made to Jack about Ben refering to Othersville as home - makes you wonder if that's what he meant when he said he would let Juliet/Jack go home?
The two problems that I had with the episode were that Jack didn't question Cindy more and that Kate and Sawyer let Karl go without getting more information from him.
Oh well, still looking forward to next week's episode, dude. :)

[Lorne]

Yay, they brought back the 5 minute musical /no dialogue ending... boy did I hate those last season.
That episode was definitely - meh.
Stop trying to soap opera, and get back to mythology.

[Justin (AKA Locke Junior)]

I really liked this episode - it answered a few of questions and continued with the Hydra story. I like anything that moves the story along and although it wasn't a OMG WTF episode like the last one - it was really interesting with the Juliet and Jack story. The flashback was average to good, but interesting with the tatoos etc. I rate this episode 8/10 or 4/5 or whatever you folks are doing now.

[Justin (AKA Locke Junior)]

@Lorne

Mythology/WTF was predominant last week - this week was a great story!

[Dave]

I thought this was a really good episode. A little light on the mythology, which is a good thing. They can't all be "game changers". The episode did a lot to advance the plot and I think it has planted the seeds for some interesting developments in the next few weeks.

I was getting a little worried with all the hate that was flying around earlier, but it looks like cooler heads have prevailed. This story is far too impressive to gripe over how slowly it's dished out. Season 3 Part II is really getting the job done.

[alex's slingshot]

Does anyone know if there is any significance to the "mark" that was put on Juliet? Does it symbolize something (like the Dharma octagon)?

[Justin (AKA Locke Junior)]

@alex's slingshot

apparently it's the Scientology cross reversed - check here:

http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/

---------------------------------------

whilst watching this episode for the 3rd time I noticed this dialogue:

Jack: What time is it?
Achara: It's late
(Achara kisses Jack)
Jack: You taste salty [J: hmm?]
Achara: I went for a swim in the Ocean [J:really or could it be that your a lady of the night !!???]
Jack: Washing the day off you huh? [J: This line is straight from Tom S3 E1]

most of the way through this episode I was laughing, because the dialogue was great and sometimes unintentionally funny!

[aaron]

karl didn't know about the brady bunch...

a) he was brain washed, memory erased...
b) he spent his whole life on the island

thoughts?

[theandrew]

I'm sick to high heaven of 'planting seeds' for 'interesting developments' this season has not done much me yet...i love lost i spend alot of my time thinking about LOST, i dont want to talk bad on LOST. It pains me to even think a bad lost thought, but for fuck sake. I really want something to chew over....little bits here and there every week is killing me. SORRY FOR THE RANT

[ebonX]

So I was trolling around and found out what Jack's tatoo actually means ...

http://www.ece.neu.edu/~xzhu/lost_tatoo.html

It seems the chinese is an excerpt from a famous Mao poem ... The 4 characters loosely translate to (1) Eagle, (2) Strike (verb), (3) Long, (4) Void ... I do not see how that can be translated into "He walks among us, but is not one of us."

[sam]

@ aaron
not the thing about him being on the island. remember how they had the world series for Jack to watch, and those old cartoons. So they had access to the Brady Bunch. As for your other thing, I don't think that the Others whole "brain washing" thing was just to make sure that Karl forgot everything about pop culture in the 80's.
sorry dude

Stay LOST,
Sam

[sam]

@ ebonX
just because thats litterally what the words say, like Jack said "it's not what it means" Like Isabelle (I think thats her name) said, "Chinese is a very complicated language"

[mauiwauii]

Anyone else catch the band aid that Jules was covering as Jack was applying first aid? I thought she was covering it with her hand so Jack didnt see....any thoughts? I thought Leon Russel's "stranger in a strange land" song in the end would have been cool....

[frankmorris]

One good thing...the massive exodus from 'Alcatraz'.
If that’s not plot development, I don’t know what is.

@ sam
The Brady Bunch would be 70's pop culture.
(not that I ever watched the s**t)

@ muaiwaui
I did notice that. Looks like it was about the same spot she was injecting her sister. Hmmm......

[jamie]

They blew it with the "three things revealed" hype. That was the most disappointed I've felt at an end of an episode.

It feels like the writers dragging their feet, trying to fill the episode requirements for the season.

And they introduce “the Sheriff” – thank god they didn’t cast Louise Fletcher in that roll (I think they found her stunt douple).

They sure have done a good job of painting the uh?thers as people who believe in capital punishment.

I am SO tired of people answering questions about what’s going on with “it’s kinda complicated” – what’s complicated is finding the interest to tune in next week (damn it, now I sound like the other Lost whiners)

Anyway, this was not their best episode by any stretch of the imagination and is right down there with the one from two weeks ago.

I feel like my plane has broken up and I’m going to end up in the tail section.

[ebonX]

@ sam
I am actually thinking in the reverse ... Jack said "it's not what it says (i.e. "He walks among us but is not one of us"), but what it means (i.e. 4 characters standing for eagle, strike, long, void -- which can be loosely associated to what Achara said about Jack being a leader, lonely, etc. etc.) ...

So my problem is that there is no way to translate those 4 characters into a saying "He walks among us but is not one of us" ... I am now thinking that Isabelle's line about the Chinese language being complicated is TPTB's "Get Out of Jail Free" Card. It is TPTB way to say that is how you translate Jack's tatoo in LOST.

Also, what's up with all the Chinese stuff in Thailand?!? Was Achara supposed to be Chinese or Thai?

[Mark B]

I'm clearly going to have to watch that again, I must be missing something, it was a nothing episode, filler, pointless. That was the worst LOST episode of S3 and maybe the entire show. Maybe it's a "character" or "set-up" episode but that's no excuse.

I know the previous two were probably the best episodes of S3 so this will naturally seem worse than it was and the promos gave almost everything away but how could anyone rate that anything above 5/10 ? Even die hard Jack fans could not rate that higher than 6/10 surely.

That said the WORST hour of LOST is better than the BEST hour of anything else on tv.

[Cihan]

1] I never watch the previews for this show or read spoilers, hence I am rarely disappointed like everyone else seems to be.

2] This episode wasnt bad at all, what a bunch of whiners! It sure as hell advanced the plot more than the last episode, and plot is all some of you seem to care about these days.

3] Only ONE group of Others, how many times can the writers stress this to you all!?

4] Heroes is fluffy fun, but please dont let Lost have anything to do with that inferior show...

5] Bai Ling. Goddamn.

[waitingforlost]

@Cihan

You seem to have missed a word off the #5.

5]. Bai Ling. Goddamn awful.

You must have worked really hard to miss the previews for this weeks episode, they were everywhere, straight after the Desmond episode and practically every ad break on abc. I not only saw them on tv at least six times (and I watch about 5 hours of mainstream tv a week) but I also heard them on the radio.

[waitingforlost]

@Cihan

You seem to have missed a word off the #5.

5]. Bai Ling. Goddamn awful.

You must have worked really hard to miss the previews for this weeks episode, they were everywhere, straight after the Desmond episode and practically every ad break on abc. I not only saw them on tv at least six times (and I watch about 5 hours of mainstream tv a week) but I also heard them on the radio.

[waitingforlost]

Ooops sorry double post ... technology gets me again. Or was I tripping on my time line ?

[Joop]

@ Cihan

I thought L&C have said that there are more factions of others?
I could be wrong, this episode would surely lead me to think so.

[Cihan]

Well of course there are factions, Juliet is a faction by herself, but I seriously doubt there is a mysterious barefoot group of Others prowling the jungle and being all cool-like.

As for how I avoid previews, well I dont live in the states, heh. To be honest I rarely watch TV anyway, the actual idiot box and the ads that plague it, that is.

[Cihan]

So anyway, discussion about the (non-lame) episode:

1] Boat. BOAT. You could sail quite a ways with that boat. Jack didnt even seem fazed.

2] Quite a bit of focus on Alex and Karl this season, not exactly the most compelling characters on this ensemble show, I wonder where the writers are leading with all this.

3] That older women is annoying. She needs to get smacked up.

4] Whats the point of branding someone if we cant see the brand? Juliet got off lightly.

5] Am I correct in assuming we only saw how half of Jack's tattoo got on his arm? Bai Ling only tattooed a line of Chinese and not the rest right?

6] Tom's defence of his Mittlelos buddies and then his silence after Jack brought up their despicable behaviour. Any comments on this? Tom realising he's being hypocritical? Or that there's no point in explaining things to Jack until he sees everything for himself...back 'home'.

7] Ah Cindy, Cindy. What is up here? I dont buy brainwashing, its too easy. There's a gigantic revelation heading our way this season, thats for sure.

[Nash]

Jack's kite is apparently authentic:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399290463&size=o
http://www.newtechkites.com/ntk_product_profile.php?PSKU=57613

Kite artist Buteo Huang is a “Son of Formosa” nurtured by the diverse and exuberant culture of the beautiful East Asian island of Taiwan. He has been flying kites and perfecting their creation for three decades.
Huang has obtained a number of patents for his innovative designs, won several international prizes and held exhibits in museums at home and abroad.
The exquisitely produced patterns and ingeniously designed structures characterizing Huang’s creations reveal his artistic nature and innovative spirit, and display a delicate balance between art and science.
This series of kites was inspired by Huang’s interest in transforming the illustrative images of Taiwan into easily manipulated kites for people of all ages. With a thin string in hand, any flyer can have their dreams take flight.

[Cihan]

6a] Just remembered Tom's 'glass house' comment. Yeah, he needs a smack too.

Thinking more about the flashback, I wonder how closely Jack is going to follow his past self. The Thailand trip obviously took place after his divorce, and in the present he's practically lost Kate, so is Juliet ultimately going to tattoo a Dharma logo onto Jack's ass?

Questions questions.

[Dave]

So I'm watching this (badass) episode for the second time and I have a thought:
Cindy and company are on the Alcatraz Island to "watch" Juliet's trial/execution. She didn't get a chance to explain herself before Jack went off the handle about the Ana Lucia comment.

[I_Love_Sayid....and_Lostcasts]

wow... i never complain and i think it was a well written and acted episode with great lines but...

last week i had so many ideas and was having alot of fun and now i'm just stumped and frustrated.

nobody else seems to know what the hell is going on anymore either. on the fuselage, the biggest discussion right now is why carl didn't know about the brady bunch. wtf?

and...(please correct me if i'm wrong here!) but we didn't learn anything this episode really. the abc official podcast was more revealing and interresting.

what did we learn...

1)so cindy and the kids are now others and the others are some kind of scientology cult? wtf. who cares if they're scientologists, what about all the paranormal stuff and time traveling activity, etc. was cindy originally an other, is the airline part of their plan,and are they a world power of sorts or what already?!

2)so the group has a judicial system with corpral punishment and scarlet letter tatooing. ok fine...so what, though. are we to believe juliet's (and jack's) tatoo has some kind of power to affect her destiny or something? will we ever find out..

3)so kate really doesn't love sawyer, huh? well that's depressing - after all those episodes of love plot to just toss it aside? maybe during the breakfast she had with ben, ben told her she had to sleep with sawyer or jack would be killed? are we now to have a jack/kate/juliet love triange and jack has to "make the big choice"? who knows anymore it's a friekn' soap opera now.

4)othersville is on the main island...ummm we knew that already, didn't we? where's matt lafferty? remember the othersville is the question mark map?http://www.geocities.com/colwildr/Lost/map_project_pg1.html
help...i think they may have lost me with this one. i'm in serious need of a pep talk.

[Mike]

I would rather see condensed seasons that cut the filler episodes, especially last nights, instead of longer seasons with empty episodes. The only episode I enjoyed the past three weeks was the Desmond episode, which made me think. I also think that Jack's tatoo is a bit of foreshadowing. I am going to predict that Jack will initially become a part of the others which becomes his "mark". Maybe it's time to kill off Sawyer or Kate; this season they seemed to be one note characters. Also, when Jack woke up in the cell he seemed a little incoherant. Is this a way for the writers to set up their "time traveling" theory, which I am not sure that I am buying. Anyway, Lost is still better than half the crap on ABC, i.e - Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives. If Lost has an "It's A Wonderful Life" show, where a character "dies" and is visited by dead characters from the past, I am tuning out. At least Lost does not have corny, obvious voice overs.

[Nash]

So did I interpret this correctly towards the end of the show?:

We see a rather large ship off shore with the sun still setting:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399333572&context=photostream&size=o
Juliet is waiting her turn on shore:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399333672&context=photostream&size=o
and Jack sets off in a rowboat with Ben practically begging to get pushed overboard (large ship visible in the background):
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399333877&context=photostream&size=o

Jack's rowboat drops everyone off on the ship and makes the necessary ferry rides until all of the Others are safely aboard. When the focus changes to Karl sitting by a campfire, some time has passed and the stars out. The camera pans up to the sky, and then back down to Alex somewhere on the ship's stern:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399334456&context=photostream&size=o

Then we see Juliet on the bow and Jack comes walking up
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399334677&context=photostream&size=o

So am I right in assuming that Alex, Jack, and Juliet are all on the same ship? And could that be the Galaga?

Also, if killing one of their own is such a big deal and punishable by death, what the hell was Juliet thinking? Especially if she is "one of them" and will never care about Jack?

[Joop]

@ I Love Sayid
Hang in there!

@ Cihan
It was unclear to me what you meant by ONE group & yes, faction does imply part of a whole.
It's obvious we wont be seeing any bare foot, kidnapping other others of past speculation, but I wouldn't rule out any other groups out there. Patchy may be part of a larger group.

[Nash]

@Dave,

I think you're right. I think Cindy and co. from 815 are being indoctrinated into the ways of the Others and "came to watch" the court proceedings, which is why they're not that dismayed after getting Jackfaced and seem to go about their business.

There's a fair number of people in the audience when Jack and Alex interrupt:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399326353&context=set-72157594551214146&size=o

[I_Love_Sayid....and_Lostcasts]

All a search on Ursa Theodore turns up is Teddy Roosevelt and Pokemon. Any ideas?

[Dave]

Peptalk: Relax. Think back to season one, "what are the whispers?" "We'll never know what the hatch is". Season 2, "Whats up with the button?" "Who the Hell is Henry Gail?" Answers (to some degree) will come. Enjoy the story.

Also, one last thought. When Tom drops the line about glass houses and throwing stones I think we have to remember that it was the crash survivors that 1)killed Ethan 2)killed Goodwin and 3)captured and tortured Ben.

[Charlie]

Wow... that episode really sucked. Not only was I disappointed by it, but I think it was actually a bad TV episode in general. The writing sucked, so much didn't make sense in the way people were acting (like Jack suddenly getting angry over nothing at the tattoo parlour) and the losties couldn't have been more annoying in their inability to ask questions about what's going on. Karl was right there, obviously willing to talk - ask him some f*cking questions!

Or, if the writers don't want to reveal anything yet, they should avoid that kind of plot situation because it's just frustrating and unbelievable.

Definitely worst episode of Lost ever.

[Mark B]

@Nash -- yes thay are all on the same boat. It's got to be the Galaga.

@I Loe Sayid and Lostcasts -- someone posted an interesting breakdown of the Ursa constellations on the comment section for the Flahes podcast.

I, like others, thoughtthat was a bad episode, probably made worse by the preceeding episode. I wonder if it's on of those episodes that will grow on me over time when I've thought about it some more. Probably not but who knows I'll watch it tomorrow.

[Amanda]

This is an interesting thread on the Fuselage about the Others being good or bad compared to the Losties (titled "The Others: Evil, brutal, manipulative...and self-righteous, too?")

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=70293&page=3

I'd like to hear some discussion about this on the podcast, since the thread on the Fuselage seems very back-and-forth.

[Amanda]

Whoops, that link I posted was for the 3rd page of the thread.

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=70293

[Lucy]

Could Alex and Karl be siblings? Karl could be the French woman's son whom she thought was dead. Alex could be her son with Ben. Ben could want to keep Alex and Karl apart because he is afraid of incest. Hence the brainwashing and guilt.

[Sobaika]

So I loved this epsiode. Last week was mythology driven, this week was character driven. It showed a darker side to Jack and hints of what the Others' political/social structure is. The previews definetely hyperd it up too much, but it was still a well acted and well written episode.

I think everyone who is upset/disappointed/whatever should take a deep breath and calm down. And stop complaining, please! The writers/producers have made mistakes and critiques can be valid but its not the end of the world nor the end of Lost. If its the final episode and they STILL haven't answered or explained everything, then we can complain and scream and shout. For now, enjoy the ride or get off the boat.

[Tahir]

This episode was worth it just for Sawyers nickname lines:-
Captain bunny killer and Sally sling shot.
Made me chuckle.

[Doug]

Great episode, great political twist near the end, etc. However, three mysteries were NOT revealed....viewers who tuned back in just because of these promos would probably feel lied to.

[Cameron]

@Nash:

... Jack sets off in a rowboat with Ben practically begging to get pushed overboard ....

LOL!

Now that would have made the episode a 10/10 for me!

[Nimrod]

How can so many of you guys call this a filler? Seriously?!

1. We had two characters introduced. The old woman is obviously gonna be important later, possibly also Achara (Something tells me we're not done with her yet..)

2. We got deeper into Jack's character.

3. We got to see Tom in doubt and Juliet in trouble. (And we learned that the others believe in Capital Punishment!! For people living in civilized countries, that's a pretty big one!)

4. We saw Cindy and the kids.

And a lot of other things. This is like the Nikki/Paolo discussion. People think we know them well enough to hate them. Well we don't. We don't know anything about them! Why would the best writers in television introduce characters that have no purpose? Not even bad writers do that. Same applies here. Everything we were presented in this episode will eventually go somewhere. We just don't know where yet. If we knew, why the hell would we watch?

It's fair enough that many feel this was a letdown after the two previous ones (cause they were truly amazing), but don't call it a filler!

Looking forward to the podcast, guys.

[Cihan]

If Lost followed BSG's lead and aimed for 13 episodes in the 4th season, that would be...spiffy. Alas, ABC wouldnt like that probably.

[Deviant]

Few quick things from me:

- Wow, thanks a lot for using my comment in the episode 44 podcast!

- I really don't care about Jack at this point. I'm sorry, but does someone have a running tally of how many flashback episodes he's received in contrast to the rest of the cast? Surely he's comfortably in the lead. Maybe rivalled by Kate.

- I think the main reason this episode was "disappointing" was because the ads for it got people's expectations far too high. Even Damon and Carlton cursed the ABC ads in the podcast, and said flat out that the "three big mysteries revealed~!!!!!~!" was way too much. For me, the episode was no better or worse than the first 7 episodes of this season.

And on that note, thank god we're finally off Alcatraz. It was a little weird to have no reveal for the gigantic boat. Why wasn't there a mouth agape "you have a giant f'n boat?" shot of Jack before they all climbed aboard? Whatever. Bottom line is that I believe that NOW we'll get things back on track. The Desmond episode restored some of my faith, but I still didn't expect much from another Jack episode. We got a hot Asain chick with cool hair and a one line definition of Jack's tattoo. Can't say I'm that surprised.

But, from here on in it's Locke and Sayid and Hurley and Claire and Nikki/Paulo. The stories are officially heading back to the beach, back to the main cast we miss dearly and back to the stories and questions we want to see resolved. Plus with the cast surely to integrate and interact at last, I am staying positive and hoping for a solid five weeks of entertaining television.

Capsule review of this week's show: We got through it, we're off of Alcatraz. That's what matters. Now back to the neglected characters I actually WANT to watch.

[Deviant]

Oh, and guys, don't forget that those tattoos are actually Matthew Fox's tattoos. The show has now defined them for JACK. It's not a big deal that the meaning of Matt Fox's tattoos don't directly agree with the definition of Jack's tattoos/life.

[Justin - AKA John Locke Jnr]

I've come to one conclusion:

The only reason Cindy and the kids were there to watch, was because of Julliet's court room, they needed people to watch, judge and possibly teach the kids right and wrong. This is the only possible reason for their appearance.

Of course we are lead to believe that they live in Othersville.

What do you folks think?

[Cihan]

Deviant, as much as people are celebrating the fact that we are focusing back on the beach characters, Losts 'fans' end up whining about 90% of the beach characters all the time anyway, you just cant win.

I personally loved the Alcatraz arc, we saw three popular characters put through the wringer and learned more about the Others, Dharma and Mittlelos, it was essential viewing.

The beach crew arent the most pro-active group of people on the planet, so I'm wondering what device the writers are going to use to get them back into action. Last time I remember it was the French lady catching Ben. Although now they've got Desmond acting erratic so I'm sure he'll kickstart something.

[Brian]

I posted this in the wrong place at first and no one on the Fuselage has acknowledged it. Can we talk about theories and get over the production and writing for a sec?

OK, a quick study at constellations since this ep was about stars to me:

Carl talks about "Ursa Theodoris - The Teddy Bear" when he lands with Sawyer and Kate. In our known constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are the Big and Little Dippers, respectively. AKA - Big Bear and Little Bear. Big Bear points to the North Star, Polaris. Polaris is at the end of the handle of Little Bear. The relationship of these 2 constellations is a constant rotation, or dance, around each other, around the north pole; and is the basis for our way of navigating the earth latitudinally.

Lore states that Little Bear is playing "keep away" with Polaris; keeping it from Big Bear. Neither constellation fully sets on the horizon.

According to Greek mythology, Big Bear was created by Hera, the wife of Zeus, by transforming Callisto, due to her jealously of his love with a mortal woman. Callisto's own son, Arcas, almost killed Big Bear in the woods with an arrow. To save them both, Zeus transformed Arcas into a bear as well and tossed them into the heavens so they could always be together and watch over one another; or so they chase each other endlessly, avoiding death and sorry.

Source: http://hsci.cas.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbgrp=3&exbid=20&exbpg=116

This relationship brings up a number of other themes in the show: bears, father-son, being lost, death & endless suffering.

Finally, "Theodoris" and "Teddy Bear" must be a reference to Theodore Roosevelt, the 25th president of the United States. (Incidentally, Roosevelt served 2 terms as president, or 8 years - one of the "numbers" in LOST.) One of the stories of how Teddy Bears got their name has to do with a hunting excursion where one of Roosevelt's colleagues caught an injured bear and Roosevelt insisted it be set free; killing it would be "unsportsmanlike."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_bear

[Brian]

also, i think it's clearly apparent that Cindy was going to "watch" the proceedings with Juliet. i don't think they would have ever killed Juliet either. i think she was explaining herself to the other villagers and maybe presenting her findings to them on Jack's "progress."

i think they are in the process of healing or converting Jack - separating him from his past.

[I_Love_Sayid....and_Lostcasts]

@ Brian

that was great. :) thanks.
another theme brought up by the relationship could be the brothers/twins theme we see so much about. your explanation of the bears reminded me of jack & locke's relationship in the second season.

[Mark]

I thought it was a good episode. but felt we got screwed by the answers they gave us. Did anyone really care abuot Jacks tats? the Cindy and kids thing wasnt clarified at all. As they didnt show them interact with the Benry others. My theory is that Cindy and the kids are the people whispering and watching.

[Nash]

I asked a friend of mine who speaks Chinese about Matthew Fox's tattoo and it's pretty far from the translation we were given in the show. I attribute that to writer's freedom about what Jack's tattoo says, but it's pretty interesting on it's own.

The first character means "demon" and the second can be "king" or "lord". Together, the first two often refer to "the devil". The third can be "grows" or "long" and the final character can be "in vain" or "empty". So one translation could be "the devil grows in vain".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilagentesegreto/399327011/in/set-72157594551214146/

[Cihan]

Jack's tats are just foreshadowing. Wouldnt be surprised if he ends up leader of Others and Losties combined, to take on a new threat in season 4. If they dont kill him off, that is.

[Matt Jones]

My wife is a dude.

[Nash]

Or not. The photo I showed him wasn't the clearest. I guess two out of four isn't bad :) Apparently, it's part of a couplet taken from a famous poem written in 1925 by the Chinese revolutionary leader Chairman Mao Tse-tung (MAO Zedong). The couplet can be translated into "Eagles high up, cleaving the space" but the poem itself has a much deeper meaning. In the end of the first stanza, the poet asks, "who masters fate's rise and descent?" And then there's a Lebanese Phalangist symbol above the Chinese characters.
http://www.ece.neu.edu/~xzhu/lost_tatoo.html

[Sobaika]

There's a lot of "Who cared about Jack's tatoos anyway?" Well, they were mentioned on the show before, discussed on forums, Lostcasts even had the guest female who translated them a LONG time ago, and it was one of the "mysteries" on the IGN list. Its clearly not as big a question as "What do the numbers mean?" but speculation/curiousity was out there and we got the answer. More importantly, I liked how the episode showed us Jack's darker side. He's in a similar place emotionally now as he was when his wife left him, maybe this FB could explain his upcoming interaction with the Others.

I really liked this episode and these are the ONLY criticisms that I can muster:

A) The commercials promised three big reveals and SHOWED Cindy and the kids. Well, there weren't three reveals (unless I missed two) and since the Cindy part was supposed to be one of the "huh?" moments they SHOULD NOT HAVE REVEALED IT. Showing it beforehand made that measley one minute scene feel like 30 seconds of nothing.

B) If you're going to have Cindy and company on the show, have them on for a bit longer. We've been waiting for this since the beginning of S2 and would like something more than Jack screaming at them. Although that probably says a lot about where he's at right now. It was a cool scene though, and I'm betting they were there to watch Juliet's judgement.

C) I wanted more questions Kate/Sawyer and Jack to Karl and Cindy. I get that we aren't going to get all the answers right away, but a simple "WTF is going on??" would be nice, if only to show their brains haven't turned to mush on this island.

Sorry for the long post, but even with its (few) faults, I liked this episode a lot and it did what all good Lost eps do: leave me waiting anxiously for next week.

Siden note: last weeks episode was amazing and your podcast was... less that exhilarating. Very weak, actually. Put it this way: I had a more thorough discussion of Desmond's episode with my 12 year old cousin. I get that you have lives and jobs and do this for free, but I would prefer a strong podcast a day later and a half-assed one.

[Andrew]

I also don't see the previews thanks to my DVR so I'm not upset by any contrast between marketing and reality. That said I found this episode pretty boring because the prison island scenario has really been worn out. It seemed like a dead end after an episode or two and I don't think stretching it to 6 or 7 episodes has really helped.

The Others have really suffered by exposure. Instead of being a mysterious force on the island they seem annoying and their plotting overly complicated. They also seem self-absorbed and incompetent. The introduction of Isabella seems to sum up the whole problem with the Others lately: another smug, cryptic character who doesn't really add much and seems like a less interesting version of Ben. All their machinations seem pointless: If Ben needed surgery he could have just asked Jack, gotten the surgery and been done with it instead of the elaborate kidnapping .

[ebonX]

@ Nash

Thanks for supporting my earlier comments ... Now I am truly dissapointed in Jack's tattoo backstory. I mean we have been told since S1 that TPTB actually integrated Matthew Fox's tattoo into the LOST mythology, but creating a meaning of the tattoo to fit the storyline is such a cop-out imho.

Just my 2 cents ...

[Philippe M]

Hey
first of all, I ahve to say I loved this episode and the two previous ones. Season 3 is back on track.
I don't get why people are so upset with it ?
I think it's just that everyone expects so much from the show now that a character development episode will not do it for them. No one seems to remember how slow season 2 was, (ex:10 episodes for the tailies to get to our camp and nothing much happening, same for henry gale). But we all loved it back then and still do. Why is it that now it's unacceptable ?

*****************************************************

++++ stop blaming previews. i personally don't watch them and we all know who prepares these. So you can't say the show sucks because ABC is marketing it the wrong way. That's a stupid excuse. The writers probably didn't see this episode as a "revealing" one and it's obviously a transitional one : kate and sawyer back to island, jack heading there, juliet and jack straighten their relationship... etc....

This week's episode was very good in my opinion, and showed us very intriguing stuff, as well as very touching scenes. Apart from a few cheesy moments, this was really the best transitional episode lost ever had (they're usually boring). Juliet's character is growing to be one of the great characters of lost. Also, i didn't know cindy was showing up so I was pretty surprised. We'll see where this takes us.
I'll give it to you: the flashback was kinda lame and we don't really care about what it said.

Stay lost !

[boko]

Did anyone notice that the ring lady and Penny had the exact same intense green eyes? It looked like Penny's eyes actually turned entense green as Desmond was breaking up with her.

Since Desmond saw Charlie die by lighting and by drowning, does that imply that he has looped through time at least twice before? The first time he saw Charlie struck by lighting, the second time he saved him from the lighting only to see him drown, this time would be at least his third loop through.

[mooze]

Does anybody else think the kite looked a bit like the Hurleybird? O_O

[I_Love_Sayid....and_Lostcasts]

I was watching this weeks episode again...I was too hard on it I think...I hope. I was just so afraid Jack's tatoos weren't really that significant afterall or that there was no paranormal connection with Juliet's branding. I may be reaching here so please tell me so if you think that's the case....but, I think there's an easter egg in the tatoo parlor. What do you all think?
http://www.geocities.com/colwildr/Lost/tatoocomparison.html

[static]

I always watch the promos and read the spoilers and it doesn't take away from the experience for me in the least. I was particularly blown away by this episode..probably due to the fact that I never thought a Jack-centric ep could be so.. INTERESTING. I kinda appreciate his character a little more now? It definately showed his darker side, and a whole story we couldn't epect from him. Exotic places are gold, IMO.

Anyway, about Juliet being branded.. just cause it's in a place not easily seen, doesn't mean it's pointless or anything. I think it could possibly be psychological.. the very fact of just having to BE branded and knowing you did something really bad to deserve it. It could be like one of those *GASP* we-can't-speak-of-that type deals. Ya know?

I think a lot of the whiny, complainy LOST fans need a smack..not necassarily the characters. ^.^

And hey, how funny would it have been [and this may just be my twisted humour, but whatevs] if when asked about Ana-Lucia, and he started laughing and yelling, if Jack had said, "ANA-LUCIA'S DEAD!" :P

And I'm glad it was stated that Matthew Fox had those tattoos pre-LOST cause that's obvious and it's kinda dumb to start getting all nitty-gritty on it and pout over the translation differences.

STAY FRIGGEN LOST or just GTFO. Adopt some other television show that'll suit your needs cause LOST doesn't need you. Ahaha.

[static]

OH YEAH, and has anyone seen the LOST parody "LOSTed"?

I laughed when Tom said "We're moving you."

If you've seen it, you'll get it.

God, it's such a funny parody. :)

[Brian]

@ static
That's exactly what Jack SHOULD HAVE said to Cindy.

@ Philippe M
i'm all for character development, but i really don't see how this contributed to Jack's character at all. i mentioned this in another post, but we already KNOW he is short-tempered, hates his father, and has problems letting women get too close. not real shocker there. i think it was all an excuse to get Bai Ling some air time.

[hhog]

I have to agree that this was one of the bad episodes.

My only theory is that Cindy and the others were referring to the brainwashing movie when they said they were there to watch. To them it might be something good and fun to watch. If they are being brainwashed, they would not know what they were watching.

Only other catch was the boy on the beach selling sodas appeared to have a shirt comvered in Dharma logos.

[Dave]

Hey guys,

Love the podcast; look foward to it every week. I just have a comment to make about the whole ratings issue that has yet to be brought up in this comment section or in your podcast.

Back in season 1, when lost was pulling in 20+ million viewers, the reason why they were so high was due to high critical acclaim. People wanted to turn in and see what lost was all about.

When season two came around and their 9pm time slot, the high ratings were still their, ranging from 20 to 18 million per episode. Simple reason for the drop: people in the United States are used to episodes wrapping up in one small hour and people realized that with heavy mythology, you need time and commitment. Perfect reason for the drop off. When American Idol came on, Lost came toe to toe with this giant. Any show going against American Idol is going to suffer. As a result, Lost did, but not as bad, pulling in 16-18 million viewers per episode.

Now, in Season 3 pt.1, Lost had great ratings despite starting late, 17-18 million viewers per episode. Great ratings.

When we get to season 3 pt.2, and the time shift to one hour later, the dip in ratings is something very common. No show on tv will get more than 15 million viewers at the 10pm hour due to having work in the morning. Lost is doing fine with 13-15 million per epsidoe. No worries there. Not to mention, all the alternatives to viewing lost will have a dip in the ratings.

As many people have said before on other forums, Lost is the number 2 most watched tv series in the world, has the number 1 spot in DVD sales, has free online streaming throuhg ABC (which I would like to see numbers on by the way), always in the top ten for episodes downloaded on itunes, and most importantly, is the number one recorded television show. With TIVO and other recording devices, itunes, dvd sales, free online streaming, etc., no need to worry about Lost.

One a side note, I am seeing a lot of complaining about the recent jack centric episode. I thought this was a really great episode. Through three seasons, the backbone of lost has been its characters and their development from crash to now. When do people have to realize that these producers do not create an episode with no meaning. Remember last season with Fire and Water. Everyone hated that episode but it lead to better things, such as the sun kidnapping, Sawyer being sheriff, Chalie going to the graces of Eko, etc. These transitional episodes are key in the whole scheme of things. Not every one of the episodes can be as mind blowing as the Desmond one. Has anyone forgotten that we have yet to see ten episodes of Lost so far...things will get answered, do not worry.

Sorry for this long rant but it was something that I had to get off my chest.

Stay Lost!

[me]

@ Matt Jones -
huh?

[Nash]

@static,
Where can we find LOSTed?

@hhog,
Definitely not Dharma logos on that kids shirt. They look similar but circular. Might have a similar meaning.
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=399290004&context=set-72157594551214146&size=o

[musepsycho]

@ Nash - You didn´t ask me, but LOSTed is here: http://www.youtube.com/results.php?search_query=LOSTed

[musepsycho]

@ Dave - good point!
@ Matt Jones - ? ...but I´m intrigued...

m

[Dave]

@ Dave
Excellent post. Maybe its the name, but preach on brother.

[Jacob Man]

@Dave I definitely support all said there.

Except for the "Sawyer being Sheriff" thing. That wasn't THAT great. At the time it was like "whoa... things are definitely going to change now" and then Sawyer didn't do much. he was just guy who had the guns, it was never made a big issue out of after that point.

[Lilac Moon]

Love the podcasts, guys. My husband (Hi, Jamie :)) records them to a memory card and I listen on my loooong commute.

I've never been to this or any of the other Lost sites because you guys do such a good job rounding up all the info. Consequently, I've never been moved to read or post here or on any other Lost site -- until today, after watching "Stranger."

So, on to my comments:

I have been struggling this season with a growing impatience; I find myself tapping my foot, drumming my fingers and mumbling at the TV set.

But with this episode, I have lost (haha) ALL patience with this series. These people (the survivors of the crash) are not behaving like normal, rational people would under such circumstances. They NEVER ASK ANY QUESTIONS.

Oh wait -- sometimes they ask a question. Like "What are you doing here?" to be told "We're here to watch" and then, "It's complicated."

Is it just me, or have we heard that a lot? "It's complicated."

It's not complicated, it's simple. We are being strung along in hopes that we will stay tuned to find out the fates of people who can't even stand up and say "What the hell is wrong with you people? Why are you kidnapping us, killing us, caging us, strapping your own people into a chair ala Clockwork Orange?"

I mean come the hell on. It's all about being able to suspend disbelief. I have done so for 3 seasons and I just can't do it anymore.

The sad truth is that I can't care about people in whom I no longer believe. :(

Lilac Moon

[theandrew]

Evening folks, I thought somebody might have mentioned this http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?pos=-86491
Maybe the whole 2 groups of others debate is over now, i dont get on here that often as i dont have much time on my hands. I just recall it being mentioned in a LOSTcast not so long along. Sorry if someone has already posted this.

[Nimrod]

@ Dave

Best post I've seen on this forum for a long time. I wholeheartedly agree on every point. You get what this series is all about. I like that. This is also the reason why I like this podcast. The Lostcasts make an effort trying to find out what the writers are trying to say, rather than criticizing them for not giving us the story we expect. That's what makes this the best LOST podcast by far!

[Cihan]

Ok, come on guys, Kate blatantly asked Karl a number of questions, its not her fault he's so bloody vague like everyone else with answers on that damn island. Anyway, Lilac Moon, you're correct when you say they're stringing us along, but thats what a mystery is supposed to do. You cant have characters asking questions and having those questions immediately answered (or answered at all) in a mystery.

Its the 24 episode per season thats really trying everyones patience more than anything. At this rate the questions are left hanging for a longer period than if it was a HBO-like 13 episode season.

Its basically format v content, with the writers tackling ABC's masterplan. And ABC's satanic marketing department.

[Cihan]

I also just want to chime in on that ye olde topic of forums, and say that I wouldnt mind if this site doesnt have forums until after the show finishes (whereby the LostCast crew could possibly select longtime posters who they deem trustworthy as moderators). This talkback method really makes LostCasts stand out from the other sites, and when you post here everyone has to read what you say rather than have your comments lost amid hundreds of threads.

[waitingforlost]

Well I re-watched the "Stranger" episode and it was better the second time around. It still wasn't great just not as bad as I thought the first time. Yeah ok there were some interesting tidbits of info but it's still not a great episode. It's a slow burner not an all action episode.

As for the lack of questions, yes Kate did ask Karl questions and yes she did have a go at Sawyer for letting him go but really come on you'd have got loads more info out of him but what Cihan says is true if they'd grilled Karl for info the plot would have moved too fast for a 24 epi season.

Oh and by the way all you "oh my gosh" types over the Others having capital punishment for what was essentialy cold blooded murder of one of their own (Juliet did not have to shoot-to-kill). What would happen in Texas had she committed the crime on Galveston beach ? Would she have gone to the chair ? Ok she'd not have gotten all the appeals but essentially it'd be the same result.

The Tom to Jack scene about people in glass houses could have been played out the other way around too. The Losties have killed Others, kidnapped them, and tortured them. In fact the Losties are probably worse, the Others have 'only' killed one person and kidnapped a few, the Losties have killed what five or six by now. It's all shades of grey everyone is as bad as everyone else. If this is a moralistic tale about the world today it would be hard to say who were the "good guys".

[Justin]

@waitingforlost

no, I don't buy that.

The others started it all. They came to take people from the tailies. Did they not expect retailiation?
Ethan had already kidnapped claire, hung charlie from a tree, killed scott, threatened to kill them all, and beat the shit out of jack before charlie killed him. Was that not enough?

Don't forget, Goodwin killed Nathan. So the others are responsible for 2 deaths directly that we know of.
There's also the real Henry Gale. I also partially blame them for Shannon. They got this close with Sawyer.

I don't buy that it's a matter of perspective. The losties have been defending themselves. Who could blame them for that?

[Justin]

Oh, and I blame them for Ana-Lucia and Libby, too. If they hadn't kidnapped Walt, that never would have happened.

[Scott]

I miss the good old days when you felt like "oh, now I see how that fits" and then thought "What the F?!?" in the last 3 minutes...

remember the days when LOST could set up for future episodes AND totally blow our minds at the same time (not just one or the other).

remember when we all thought Eko was building a bamboo tank? remember Eko? yeah. Good times.

They never had to string me along back then. They never had to beg me to watch. They never had to turn off the lights when we made love. What happened to us LOST? Why do you keep changing your time slot on me? What did I do to drive you away?? You had me at 'hello,' LOST... you had me at 'hello'... I feel so... used... so... cheap and dirty on the inside.... LOST.... I miss you.

**Dave... great post. not because I read it- but because it was long and drawn out, just like the show I find myself enslaved to like Carl.

**Matt Jones... it's okay man, my wife is a cyborg robot that steals babies and is named Ethan. We've all got problems, brother.

***If the "hearing thoughts" dude from HEROES was the pilot of flight 815, and he was still alive, would we finally get some answers from F'benry?

[Brian]

Speaking of Heroes, can anyone explain why that show has so many LOST references in it?

[Joop]

@ waitingforlost
The others self-riotousness just makes them more mysterious. They are a strange cult who perform heinous acts to advance their 'utopian society' (so it would seem). Whatever their deal is, they are the villains.
The losties are the protagonists. Flawed as they may be, we are supposed to care about them. If you don't...why watch?

Justin is right. The others started it.

I ask for no forgiveness, for I have not sinned. I have only done what I needed to do to survive. (The Cost of Living is still the best this season)

@ Static
lol. I love twisted humor. Jack should have called the kids in close & told them 'Ana Lucia is dead' in a Barney voice.

[Adam]

Another great episode of Lost for us!

Even though it seems that a bunch of you people only watch this show so you can piss & moan about it all over the internet for a week.

FFS, I don't know what you're expecting to see each week, but Lost very rarely disappionts me.

I'm kinda disappionted by the internet reaction to this episode though ... because I *thought* that the internet fans were less fickle than people that just watch every week and take the show at it's face value, without looking into hidden stuff and mythology.

Looks like, for the most part, I was wrong.

Never mind.
Looking forward to the podcast, guys - at least you always look at the show objectively without looking for reasons to be bitchy!

Stay Lost.

[Deviant]

Cihan: "Deviant, as much as people are celebrating the fact that we are focusing back on the beach characters, Losts 'fans' end up whining about 90% of the beach characters all the time anyway, you just cant win."

I don't know about that. I don't mind the concept of the Alcatraz story arc, that's perfectly fine. My problem is with the ratio of Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Others stories to that of the original cast. There will always be whining, sure, but who wouldn't have wanted more of Locke, Hurley and Sayid thus far this season?

This week's episode was another fine example of that. Yes, it was a transitional episode, and no, there's nothing wrong with that. But rather than telling the story of "Kate and Sawyer paddle a boat, Juliet gets put on trial for Pickett's murder", maybe we could have had some sort of development on the Search for Patchy storyline. Couldn't we, over the past few episodes, actually seen Eko's burial, the characters' reactions to Smokey's attack, planning a strategy for searching the island for more hatches, etc?

I hate to be another person to say "Heroes" on a Lost board, but Heroes has a big ensemble cast, and they're telling a lot of different stories, but no character seems to miss more than one episode in a row. That makes a huge difference if you are particularly fond of one character or another. Remember when we were saying "what's with all of those background characters doing nothing?" rather than "hey, why are all of my favourite characters now in the background doing nothing?"

Waitingforlost: "Well I re-watched the "Stranger" episode and it was better the second time around."

I think that's going to be the running theme for the first half of this season. I imagine the episodes we've seen thus far will be much more palatable once we see all the goodness in store for later on. I'm starting to wish I could flash ahead and pick up a season 3 DVD. I think this season will play much better if you watch it marathon style. Waiting week after week to be told nothing much in particular is the main source of annoyance. That and the ads that give away what little would have been big moments.

I just got around to doing that Google image search for Bai Ling. Hot damn... I also knew that she was a familiar face (again, as the podcast said last week), but checking her imdb page reveals a lot of familiar stuff. The major one for me is The Crow. Love that movie, and she's quite cool in it.

Four and a half days until we go back to the beach~!!

[Deviant]

Adam: "I *thought* that the internet fans were less fickle than people that just watch every week and take the show at it's face value, without looking into hidden stuff and mythology."

When did it become a bad thing to watch a TV show as a TV show? I'm interested in the underlying themes, influences and easter eggs, hence why I listen to and love Lostcasts. But why exactly are you an inferior Lost fan if you just watch the show to be entertained and to be told a story?

As I said last week with Desmond's episode, I would much prefer the Lost storylines to just say "we're talking about time and space" rather than "hey, if you freeze frame this, then research the book in the top left hand corner while playing that other scene backwards, you'll find out what we're talking about".

Rewarding die-hard fans is a great thing. Alienating people who just want to be told a story and, you know, get those pesky answers (or act superior to said people), that's just counter-productive. Lost needs to balance out the ratio of what is overtly and what is subtly told to the audience.

But again, I have faith that the next five episodes are going to kick ass, I'm certainly not going to miss them, but I just can't say the Alcatraz story arc and the neglect of the beach cast has appealed to me as much as I'd like the show to.