| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not in Portland was the seventh episode in Season 3 of Lost. It was the first episode that follows the season's opening "miniseason" and subsequent 12-week broadcasting hiatus. The broadcast of "Not in Portland" was preceded by a new recap episode titled "Lost Survivor Guide".
While Jack is in command as the fate of Ben's life rests in his hands, Kate and Sawyer help Alex in return for a boat, and Juliet makes a shocking decision that could endanger her standing with her people.
Synopsis
Flashback
The Miami skyline
Juliet sits on the beach crying as the sun sets over the water. Heading inside a bleakly lit corridor, she passes Ethan, who gives her a "hello". Inside a candle lit room, Juliet finds a woman sleeping. Using a zippered kit, she removes a syringe and fills it with a substance marked A4993-E3. The woman then awakes, and Juliet discusses treating her, not because she is her doctor, but she is her sister. After injecting her sister whom she calls "Rachel", Juliet draws back the curtains, to reveal not the Island, but Miami.
Juliet later sneaks into the Miami Central University Medical Research Laboratory after hours. She gets a call from Diana, a secretary at Mittelos, and "Dr. Burke" as she is called confirms her appointment to see Dr. Alpert the following day. Inside the lab room, Juliet pockets several bottles of the medicine she previously used on her sister, but is interrupted by a man and woman entering the room, flirting and caressing each other. Juliet hides, but her cell phone once more rings, giving herself away instantly. The man moves over, and after Juliet makes up a story as to why she is there, he introduces Sherry to Juliet Burke, his ex-wife. He asks Juliet to leave, and to shut the lights off.
Juliet watching the slide of a womb CT sequence.
Some time later, returning to work, Juliet studies genetic data on her computer, but is interrupted by Sherry, who besides being involved with her ex is also an employee, and is asked to see Dr. Edmund Burke immediately. In his office, Edmund reveals that he is fully aware of what she has been doing and suspects that the patient is her sister. He wants to collaborate as her findings could change the face of medical science, making both of them rich. Juliet is given little option with the threat from Edmund that refusal could mean ethical and even legal scrutiny.
Juliet attends her meeting with Dr. Alpert from Mittelos Bioscience, who is presenting a slide show about their facilities in Portland, Oregon, in the hope of recruiting her as a head of department. His pitch of independent funding and research freedom intrigues Juliet, who asks why they are interested in her. Alpert talks about Juliet's research, managing to impregnate a male field mouse, clearly impressed with her work.
Rachel's positive pregnancy test.
He asks her to examine a slide of a womb CT sequence. Juliet assesses that it is a human womb, and judging by the scan, most likely of a barren patient in her 70s. However, she is told that the woman is in fact just 26 years old, and that she could find out why if she worked with them. However, Juliet begins to cry, stating that her ex-husband would never let her go, jokingly saying that short of getting hit by a bus, she was bound to him. Apologizing, she leaves, adding that she is no leader.
Back at home, Juliet tells her sister about the interview and her feelings of failure, but is shocked to learn that she has not failed, and that Rachel is pregnant. With the resolve that all she must do now is get healthy again, Rachel and Juliet embrace, and talk about confronting Edmund.
Juliet finds Edmund talking on his cell phone to his mother outside the lab. She tells him that Rachel is pregnant, but refuses to allow collaboration and testing on her own sibling. As Edmund argues, he steps out onto the street and is hit by a bus.
Juliet goes to the morgue to identify Edmund's body and sign paperwork. The doctor leaves her alone and she starts to cry. She is interrupted by the appearance of Ethan and Dr. Alpert. She half recognizes Ethan, and then begins to think back to her interview where she had spoken about Edmund getting hit by a bus. Alpert brushes off the comment, saying he doesn't recall, and that Juliet must still be in shock. He reveals knowing about her sister because of their "very thorough recruitment process" and asks once more for Juliet to come to Portland, just for six months. Juliet asks whether she can bring her sister, but Alpert admits it may be difficult for her to get her treatment at such a remote facility, as it is in fact "not quite in Portland".
On the Hydra Island
In the Hydra surgery room, Jack uses the walkie to tell Kate to leave the island with Sawyer and contact him when she's safe with the story he told her when they first met. With the Others' attention drawn for the moment, they attack and knock out Danny and Jason, and escape the cages, locking the Others themselves inside. Back in surgery, Juliet calls Jack's bluff and instructs Ivan to get Danny and recapture "Austen" and "Ford", authorizing them to kill if necessary. Juliet tells Jack that they can't escape because they are on a separate island. This only angers Jack, who reveals how Juliet had asked him to kill Ben. Though she denies it, Tom Friendly orders Juliet to leave the room.
While Ivan releases Danny and Jason, Kate and Sawyer make it to the beach and call Jack to ask for help in getting a boat. Danny and the two Others catch up, however, chasing them into the woods and destroying the walkie in the crossfire. Sawyer runs out of ammo and Kate is about to get shot by Jason when Alex sling-shots him and motions for Kate and Sawyer to follow her. She brings them to a hideout hole covered by a grass facade.
Ben wakes up and overhears Tom confronting Jack about Juliet's betrayal. He asks that Juliet be brought to him, and Tom fetches her.
Kate, Sawyer and Alex leave their hiding place. Alex says there is no tunnel to the main island but that she will take them to a boat if they help her rescue her boyfriend, Karl, who is being held prisoner somewhere on the island.
Ben congratulates Jack on his ploy and then asks to speak to Juliet alone. Jack and Tom watch from the observation room but cannot hear what Ben and Juliet discuss. Tom says that Ben and Juliet "have history". Juliet comes out, tears in her eyes, and asks Jack to finish the surgery. In return, Juliet will help his friends escape.
Alex brings Sawyer and Kate to another Hydra building in the jungle. Aldo is sitting guard outside, and Alex approaches claiming to have captured Kate and Sawyer. As they argue about "her dad" not wanting her to be there, Sawyer knocks him over and mocks him for falling for the "ol' Wookiee prisoner gag".
Kate threatens to shoot Aldo in the knee (she tells Sawyer later that she wasn't bluffing), so he reveals that Karl is at the end of the hall in Room 23. Kate knocks him out and they break into the room, where Karl is strapped to a chair with an IV in his arm and LED glasses on his face. He is being forced to watch a video with strange flashing images, text, and sounds. Sawyer is momentarily entranced by the video but Kate snaps him out of it. They remove Karl from his chair, and Sawyer carries him out over his shoulder.
Danny and company find Aldo, just as Juliet catches up with them after monitoring Kate and Sawyer's location from the Hydra video feeds. She tells Danny about her new orders to let them leave, but Danny counters that Ben would rather die than let them go.
Jack continues the surgery. He asks Tom why they didn't take Ben off the island for surgery. Tom starts to say something about when the "sky turned purple" but is interrupted when Jack accidentally snags an artery.
The fugitives load Karl onto Alex's small canoe. Sawyer comments on Alex being the "boss' daughter", and she acknowledges this. Danny arrives, ready to kill Sawyer, but before he can do so, Juliet appears, shooting him several times in the chest. Juliet tells them to leave on the boat, but that Alex must stay behind because "you know that's the only way [your father will] let Karl live". Alex agrees, saying goodbye to Karl. Juliet gives Kate her walkie-talkie.
Kate, Sawyer and Karl leave the Hydra Island.
The surgery is interrupted by Kate on the walkie-talkie informing Jack that they have a boat and are being let go by Juliet. Jack makes her tell him the story he told her when they first met, about how he conquered his fear when first surgery was in jeopardy, by counting to five. The story focuses Jack and he is able to stabilize Ben. He makes Kate promise never to come back for him, and Sawyer, Kate, and Karl reluctantly sail back to the main island in the canoe as Alex and Juliet watch on.
Juliet returns to the station, and meets Jack in the observation room. He asks what will happen now that he has removed the tumor for Ben, and Juliet says he'll go back to his cell until they figure out what to do with him. Jack demands to know what Ben said to make Juliet want to save his life, and she reveals that she has been on the island for 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days, and that Ben told her if she co-operated and he lived, he would let her go home. Juliet becomes emotional and leaves the room.
Trivia
- When Juliet opens the curtains in Miami, a plane with the Oceanic logo flies by.
- The medicine Juliet tests on her sister is labeled "TEST SAMPLE A4993-E3".
- Rachel's pregnancy test is from Widmore.
- The bus that hits Edmund has an ad for Apollo candy bars.
- Juliet says she has been on the island for 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days, which would make her arrival time September 5th, 2001. This date is within a few months of Desmond's arrival.
- Sawyer calls Alex "Sheena", "Lollipop", and "Underdog". (see also: Nicknames)
- Edmund Burke is yet another philosopher's name thrown in the universe of Lost.
- In Edmund Burke's office a sailing trophy can be clearly seen.
- In the Room 23 video, a picture of Alvar Hanso can be seen.
- In the Room 23 video, Gerald DeGroot can be seen, just as Sawyer and Kate are leaving.
- In Three Minutes, Ms. Klugh said she will put Walt back in "the room". Can be a Room similar to Room23
Cultural references
| Cultural references (direct references only) |
|---|
| Art • Automobiles • Games • History • Literary works • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science |
- Aldo was reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. (Books)
- Sawyer tells Aldo that he's the victim of the "Wookiee Prisoner Gag", which is a reference to Star Wars. (Movies and TV)
- The Room 23 set up is reminiscent of the Ludovico technique in the film A Clockwork Orange. (Movies and TV)
- Rachel (Juliet's sister) who is being treated for fertility problems shares her name with the Biblical character Rachel who also initially had fertility problems (Genesis 30:1). Rachel was also the favored wife of Jacob. (Religion)
- One of the video clips in Room 23 showed a slide with the words "God loves you just as He loved Jacob". Even if it's a clearly religious reference, this "He" could refer to the character known only as "Him". When these Jacob's frames are on the screen, the background shows a staircase - a clear reference to the biblic story of Jacob's Stairway To Heaven. (Religion)
- A yin-yang symbol appears in Juliet and Rachel's apartment. (Religion)
- One frame in the room 23 slides shows a black and white Buddha. (Religion)
- A Room 23 video frame has the phrase "Plant a good seed and you will joyfully gather fruit", which is from the Buddhist text Dhammapada. Some of other sayings also appear to resemble Buddhist precepts such as the Four Noble Truths. (Religion)
- The way in which Juliet's ex-husband dies -- and she is swayed into taking the job offer -- is very similar to the plot in Sidney Sheldon's Windmills of the Gods.(Books) Additionally, on the first season of Felicity, another J.J. Abrams show, a pivotal character was struck in exactly the same manner, from the same direction, though he miraculously survived.
- Carrie, the Stephen King novel that Juliet and the book club was reading in "A Tale of Two Cities", appears again on Rachel's bedside table.
- One or two frames in the room 23 slide show that has text in it uses a type font very similar to the font used in signs from "The Prisoner", the 1960's sci-fi show starring Patrick McGoohan. Some of the themes of Lost are very similar to those explored in The Prisoner and as such, The Prisoner must have been an influence to Lost
Recurring themes
| Recurring themes |
|---|
| Animals • Black and white • Character connections • Children • Coincidence • Death • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Economics • Electromagnetism • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Games • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Leadership • Life and death • Literary works • Mirrors • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Pairings • Parapsychology • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Psychology • Rain • Redemption • Relationships • Religion • Revenge • Salvation • Secrets |
- Juliet works in "Research Lab A-4" which requires an access card with "Security level 5". (The Numbers)
- Karl was held in Room 23. (The Numbers)
- Ben asks Jack for "3 minutes" since he has only "27 minutes to live". (Time)
- The book, A Brief History of Time. (Time)
- Dr. Alpert asks Juliet to work for him for six months. (Time)
- Karl is being held captive. (Imprisonment)
- Karl is being subjected to some kind of psychological conditioning in room 23. (Psychology)
- Alex and Karl are forcibly separated. (Pairings)
- Many slides in room 23 show close-ups of dolls, fish and women's eyes. (Eyes)
- Alex, Kate and Sawyer use a mock capture to find Karl. (Deceptions and cons)
- Juliet gives the exact length of her stay on the island. (Time)
- Juliet impulsively says she wishes Edmund to be hit by a bus, and he actually dies that way soon after she says it. (Fate versus free will)
- Mittelos is an anagram for "lost time". (Time)
- Pickett is killed by Juliet. (Life and death)
- Edmund Burke is hit and killed by a bus. (Life and death)
- Both Juliet's sister and the 26-year old woman are pregnant. (Pregnancy)
- The main object of Juliet's research involves promoting pregnancy in adverse conditions and the study of pre-natal abnormalities. (Life and death)
- Alex must stay behind, or her father (purportedly Ben) will have Karl killed. (Parent issues)
Storyline analysis
| Storyline analysis |
|---|
| A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries • S-Missions |
- The rivalry between Pickett and Sawyer is resolved with Pickett's death. (Rivalries#Pickett vs. Sawyer)
- Juliet is offered a position to lead a group of scientists, but she says she "isn't a leader". (Leadership#Juliet)
- The A-Mission to escape Hydra Island has been accomplished. (A-Missions#Escaping Hydra Island)
- Alex is willing to let Sawyer and Kate use her boat if they help her find Karl. (Economics#Capitalism (Sawyer))
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
|
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Not in Portland/Theories
- Why does Tom start to mention the discharge in reply to Jack's question as to why they didn't take Ben off the island for the operation when Jack was captured before the discharge?
- How did Juliet get to the island?
- Why had Ben not allowed Juliet to leave the island for three years? What is it that kept her from trying to forcibly leave the island?
- Is there any kind of a relation between Mittelos Bioscience and DHARMA? If so, what is it?
- Whose pelvic imaging scans were shown to Juliet?
- What was being done to Karl in room 23?
- Is Alex really Ben's daughter? What is the nature of their "parental" relationship?
- Is there any connection between the drug Juliet was giving to Rachel and the one Ethan was giving to Claire?
- Was Edmund Burke's death caused by Mittelos Bioscience?