Welcome to the Parenting Roundabout podcast. I'm Terry Morrow and I'm Catherine Jileco. As parents and parenting writers, we can't help but see everything through a parenting lens. But as our kids have become adults, we find ourselves more interested in getting caught up on movies and streaming than I'm going over the same parenting topics over and over.
So since we're pretty sure we can find parenting wisdom anywhere, we're going to talk about what we're watching, what we thought about it, and maybe what we can learn from it, if only what not to do. Watch and listen along, and let's all make like we're doing something important for our families.
Each Tuesday, we bring you a watch or rewatch of an older entertainment property, And for this week of July twenty eighth, we're continuing with Lost season three, episode nine, Stranger in a Strange Land. And just to kick off our discussion, I would like to read a paragraph from Lost Peace about this episode says this was one of
the series' most poorly received episodes. The native fan reaction even prompted ABC to let the producers set the shows and date, And holy cow, is that an accurate description. I actually thought that the end date had come after the Nicky and Pallo episode a few further on here expose. But no, apparently it was the one about Jack's tattoos. They'd gotten to the point where, oh frak, we need another flashback. He's got tattoos? What up with his tattoos?
That's a flashback? Well, I low, my goodness, you guys.
The discussions with the creators and uh huh, there's one part it said, where is it the fact there was a bad casting decision made, there was a bad pre misdecision made, there was a bad flashbackstory. Just everything that could go wrong did. But I don't think it was because the script was terrible. Else here it is we used Matthew Fox's real tattoos. That's how desperate we were for flashbackstories.
You think, oh, oh my goodness, really, you guys. And it's like coming after what I think was a really strong episode with Desmond, where they showed sort of the creativity they can do and the excitement that they could put into these storylines and the dread and the creepiness and the feeling of something larger going on here, and then we have this episode, which could not have been more kurthunk.
I mean starting with the title like stranger in a strange land, like guys, I mean, I mean people live there. It's not it's not strange like the island. It's just a different country that you're not familiar with, you know, Like, oh.
But he is he is not one of them?
What was the thing that he's he's he walks about, but he is not one of us?
Yes, that is it?
That is it? Gross?
Just then Yeah, and once again we have the whole is this thing that they're setting up Jack for really Juliette going against orders or is it made to look that way so that they can get Jack to do what they want? It seems entirely credible that it's all an act. Yeah, because it's worked before, and so why would.
Yeah, manipulation being a strong suit of he's not been company. And we get another new evil person Isabelle.
That's right, boy, they they turned up the evil dial way up on her. I don't remember her, but she doesn't seem like a lot of fun.
Well, and she also reminds me a lot.
That she doesn't bake muffins.
No, but she reminded me of finla Flann again from last week. Yeah, Like, I was really wondering if it was supposed to be her at a different.
Time, but I don't think the name was different.
I know it was different, and also the timing wouldn't.
Yeah, but the one is eloise. Yeah, well, don't worry about timing.
It's not as silent and you can count on it anyway.
They can, they can pressto change oh the time with oh you know there was a time job seriously, but yeah, I don't remember her at all. I meant to look her up on Lost p D after I watched it, but I didn't. But she yeah, they her direction was very clear to be somebody that you don't want to marry, whereas Tom friendly was actually kind of friendly in this one.
Yes, and then there was the whole like listing of the others crimes that happened. Yeah, he wasn't wrong about that. I mean, Jack can be dense and has done some bad things, but also.
So yeah right, well but then he sees some of the people they kidnapped and is sort of rude to them. Yes, yes, although the little girl would have to say, well, well dead honey. Yeah, yeah, well that didn't go so well.
I mean, I guess he can he can see or he believes that they've been thoroughly brainwashed, which seems to be the case.
Maybe so, but lots of weirdness going on there.
They were in that room with the just with Carl where their eyes were.
Forced to Carl. Girl's been laying in his backyard with Alex looking at the stars, just like it, you know, Mayberry RFD here.
I don't know what happened downstairs, but there's been some.
Activity apparently, so, yes, some others breached the perimeter.
Maybe they're just trying to warn us. Yeah, asking once again, we are asking where's Vincent?
Yes, yes, absolutely, if they could have just had him wander up with all the other people who were kidnapped, Vincent could just be with them. You know, I'm gonna swam across that. It's not that he's had a lot of time on his hands.
Sure, But we did get a little bit of Kate and Sawyer in this episode. It seemed like, maybe, you know, I already knew that it was going to be a Jack episode, but like you know, you start out with them in the in the boat, and right, well, it is about Jack. Because Kate's like, well.
We have to go back, we have to go back.
So there's like litter away those words. Listen, girlfriend, we are not going yea, there no way.
But he does encourage Carl to go back, which is probably do we think Carl has it in him? I don't know. I think I think Carl is maybe made of the same stuff as Billy.
What's his left?
Ye the Gilded Age who you know.
Takes one look at George and is like, you're not worth it, Gladys.
Sorry, it's right, that's right. Carl's got the potential of being murdered, which I don't think Billy had risk. But it's still at the same time, you know, daughter of a powerful dad. Do you really want to go? You really want to go? There are there other girls around? Surely there are other girls around. Yes, wait a little while, that blondle from the plane will grow up and you can can go from Hi. But Alex seems quite ticked off by the whole thing, so took her boyfriend.
Yep, yep.
Whether it's on an island or in the Gilded Age, girls, you know you have to find find guys made a sterner stuff if you want to go up against the go up against your dad. Although maybe Carl's going back, so we'll see if he can make it back by himself, if he can take the boat, I guess I'll take the boat.
But then it turns out they they're gonna they all leave that island anyway.
So that's right to the place that they call. So there's a place on the main island that they usually are. They were just for this endeavor on prison Island. Where's the place with all the little houses and the muffins in the book that where they're going back to where they're going I guess so this was the place with the cages in the yeah.
In the underwater operating theater, right, sure.
Alrighty then sure sure.
Don't ask this show to make sense, Terry.
How much did they spend on sets for this thing? Man? And you know they did the the switcheroo where you see Jack walking on the beach but it's in Thailand. Gotcha made you light?
And that little boy who's selling him soda.
Yes, and then runs from him later on, but he's marked.
He's marked well.
And parenting tip. You know, I'm not going to say tell your kid never to get a tattoo, but find a reputable dealer and make sure you know what that individual is putting on you, and make sure it won't get you beaten up on the.
Bench, Like maybe don't do have them do it? Force them to Yes, maybe not that tattoo to your body, Like.
Just because you hate yourself that much. Just get me in as much trouble as possible, will you please? I feel like.
Getting pad beaten up.
Yep, that's about where he is at that point. But do we know did he ever mention going there in a previous episode, like I'm done with this, I'm going to Thailand, Or are we just supposed to think he had some vacation time at the hospital, or that we're supposed to think this is him hitting bottom, or just yeah, don't ask questions, Terry, it's lost.
That's a question. I don't recall this being addressed before in the Jack timeline.
I mean, did he hear that his ex wife was going on a honeymoon to Thailand and so he followed her? There is his dad there someplace? Or is he just I'm going to go to the ends of the earth. And I put my finger down on a globe and here I am.
I don't know.
He's still very messed up individual then and now and always probably. You know, one thing we learn here parenting tip wise is teach your child how to fly a kite. Teach them young, help them to know how to do it so that they're not on a beach and some trouble young woman who will be trouble comes up and helps him. And you know what, just it's a shouldn't be too hard. You know, Jack's dad didn't teach him. Add that to the list of things you know, you
you say. Charles Woodmore got another check in the evil column last week. That's another check in the Jack's dad evil column. Didn't teach his son to fly a kite. Too busy with his doctor and stuff, Too busy saving people's lives to teach his child to fly a kit No wonder Jack is such a mess. I bet you a sawyer never had his dad teach him to fly akite. Probably locks dad definitely didn't teach him. Maybe out a window,
but not Charlie's. Yes See, that's the problem. If all the people on this island had had their dad teach them how to fly a kite, how much happier being here, wouldn't be here. Nope, nope, nope. I bet every time we meet somebody's dad, we're going to have to ask ourselves. Did he teach his son how to fly a kite or his daughter how to fly a kite? I bet it's no all around so lost doing a service demonstrating the essential activity teaching your kid. Have you ever flew
Have you ever flew a kite gathered? You know, not a fly kite?
I mean, I don't feel like it's that hard. Yes, he also was having trouble just assembling the kite in the first that's true, and he needed help from high heels on the beach girl.
Yeah, to do it right there. You know.
Yeah. I was like, oh, still feels like a scam. The minute she showed up, I was like, he no, yeah, yeah.
Oh well yeah, my husband could not understand why he had anything to do with her, and you know, basically the entire episode, but that in specific, so just because the script says right here in the script, yeah, yeah, So I think I've flown a kite, but I don't. I think I think the flight the kites I have flown did not require assembly. I think you just kind of held them up and or your dad did. No, my dad was not a running with a kite kind of guy. He was older than that. But somebody must
have done it, yeah, because it would you know. I'm not on an island someplace. My life is not a tragic, tragic mess. So somewhere someone in my past must have flown a kite with me. Yeah. And another parenting tip,
be careful with who gives your kids pep talks. You know, if you're gonna, if you're gonna send uncle Sawyer to go talk to the kid, go over a few points ahead of time to make sure that they're gonna tell your kid to do the right thing and not give bad advice and not make fun of them and give them nickboks. So maybe maybe not.
Although it's it's kind of, you know, a rite of passage to get a nickname from Sawyer.
So that is true. I think you had gotten several, probably in the canoe, though I think it called him many things. Oh my, So we had another round of the Ben is gonna die again unless we get Jack to work on him again. What are we gonna do again? So Ethan was their surgeon? Is that what Ben said? Yes, we had an excellent surgeon. His name was Ethan. That guy was a surgeon. Would you let that guy cut into you? I don't think so. Thanks, I'm sorry, you're
just too creepy. Do you have any other doctors? Maybe I could just die and'd be okay. But if you only have one surgeon, why are you sending him out on stupid miss?
Right? Yeah, they sent him.
Why would you not keep him close to home?
That's a very good point.
Well fed and happy. I guess he was capturing Claire. But still you have the thugs for that, You have Tom and the other.
You had Danny, who you don't have anymore.
Right, right, you had a variety of expendable persons to go out and do that. Why are you sending each good question? Keep him, keep him close to home, give him a cage, you know, don't let him go. These people aren't thinking things through and oh so much so much storytelling going all over the place, never to be seen again. So what somebody said to Jack that he is a great leader, which makes him lonely, frightened and angry. Well, yeah, he's all those.
I know? Does that mean, like you know, as a parent, you're supposed to be a leader. So yeah, I mean, if we're a good parent, we're lonely and agree.
Or is that just Jet?
I hope it's just Jack.
I hope it's just although you know, when you're a leader and you have to make the decisions, can be kind of lonely frightened. I think parents are frightened the fair amount of the time. What if this thing I've done doesn't work? What if this thing I'd done worse? Yes, too well or not in the way I expected to? And why want everybody just do what I say? So there's lonely frightened to day. Yeah, it's the mark of a leader. But I ain't going to get a tattooed
on my arm. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, especially not some weird tattoo that.
Yeah, it was like a brand and yeah it's like a you know, a hot thing on a stick.
And what the heck did they do to Juliette's back? Yeah, yeah, it looks it seemed to me she wouldn't have been able to crouch down.
Like she did, yeah, to get the aloe.
Yeah if they had if because it looked like a burn or something.
Yeah, it looked like a brand also, so.
That made me wonder if it was fake. But at any rate, she's just has a high tolerance for pain. She's as a strong girl. And I can't remember, honestly what the deal is with her, but I just feel like every time she's in peril and they use that to get Jack to do something, it's a setup, right, and the way that he falls for it absolutely every time without fail, you know, must bring them a great deal of pleasure. Juliette anyway, Yeah, they'll do it to save me. It'll be fine. I bunch of messed up
people here, for sure, that's not in this case. Kind of boring people do. But the issue with the setting an ending date for this series was that as long as they didn't know how many more or less how many episodes they had to tell their story with, they had to keep vamping, and season three was heavy on that. And so once they had a end date, then they could plan their story out on the number of episodes
that they had and theoretically make it tighter. Not that they didn't go on plot safari from time to time, but you know, and I think that there were probably if when this one aired they said, oh yeah, stop doing this stuff. There were still some things in the pipeline that hadn't been shown yet see xpas coming in a few episodes. But yeah, this one, they did not cover themselves with more Jack's tattoos. Yeah, nothing else to talk about. We're down to the tattoos. We're sure you've
all seen the tattoos and wondered. I have seen the tattoos, but I wonder what we get next week. See next Tuesday, we will continue with a season three episode ten of Lost, Tricia Tanaka is Dead, which is a Hurly episode that I remember being kind of a hoot. I hope I remembering correct, Okay, but you know Hurly early. It's a good time.
So yeah, except they don't like hope.
Yeah, I just remember this being maybe it's just because it came after Strange Land and was like, oh, thank goodness, is better. It does not have to do with Jack's tattoos. Yeah who, but yeah, I remember it's being kind of fun. So we will see you next week to watch that, and we'll see you back here tomorrow to discuss the
Gilded Age where nobody is getting weird tattoos. But I would like to tie down Aurora's husband and maybe mark him as a weasome way, maybe with weasels branded across his forehead will.
Be okay, I think Agnes will join you.
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