3x09, "Stranger in a Strange Land"

It's Creative Writing 101: Show. Don't tell. And unfortunately this episode was more about telling us what a hero Jack is rather than showing it.

The flashback lacked a narrative arc. It felt almost like the first two segments were for the sole purpose of showing off Bai Ling. The revelation that she's a tatoo artist instead of a prostitute isn't much of a payoff for the flashback... really it didn't pay off much of anything. And what she sees in Jack: that's pretty much what everyone's already gotten from just watching the show for two and half seasons. Yes, Jack is a Leader. Yes, he is a hero. If that indeed means, "He walks among us, but he walks alone," then SHOW it in scene. Getting beat up on a Thailand beach doesn't count. Really, the arc would've worked better if he was rejected by people who should've welcomed him, like family or other doctors back home or the Losties back at the beach. Instead the tension between the loneliness of being a hero and strength that drives one to charting his own course was merely brought up in the last bit of dialogue exchanged between Jack and "The Sheriff".

It's funny though that this came up... several months ago I was talking with JBS about LOST and we got to Jack and she pointed out that Kate can not possibly choose he because as the hero he must walk alone. Now that's been steadily established through the course of the series. This could've been the capstone for it, but instead it felt like a wasted opportunity.

Overall, the most disappointed and outright bored I've ever been watching an episode. Shame, too, especially after last week's, one of my very favorite of the entire series.