From Lostpedia

Lost Season 4 << S1 • << S2 • << S3 (centric character in parentheses) S5 >> • S6 >> --- "Lost: Past, Present and Future" (recap) #01 "The Beginning of the End" (Hurley) #02 "Confirmed Dead" (Science team) #03 "The Economist" (Sayid) #04 "Eggtown" (Kate) #05 "The Constant" (Desmond) #06 "The Other Woman" (Juliet) #07 "Ji Yeon" (Sun & Jin) #08 "Meet Kevin Johnson" (Michael) #09 "The Shape of Things to Come" (Ben) #10 "Something Nice Back Home" (Jack) #11 "Cabin Fever" (Locke) #12 "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1" (Oceanic 6) #13 "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" (Oceanic 6)

"The Other Woman" is the sixth episode of Season 4 of Lost, and the seventy-eighth produced hour of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on March 6, 2008 in the United States. Juliet receives an unwelcome visit from someone from her past and is given orders to track down Charlotte and Faraday in order to stop them from completing their mission—by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Ben offers Locke an enticing deal.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 Flashback 1.2 At the beach 1.3 At the Barracks 2 Trivia 2.1 General 2.2 Production notes 2.3 Bloopers and continuity errors 2.4 Recurring themes 2.5 Cultural references 2.6 Literary techniques 2.7 Storyline analysis 3 Episode references 4 Unanswered questions 5 External links

Synopsis

Flashback

Juliet is waiting in a nicely decorated room. Harper, a therapist, arrives, and begins discussing with her why Juliet is the center of attention, and why that makes Juliet uncomfortable. Suddenly, Tom appears, and wants to take her to Ben. They leave the therapist's office -- a building in the barracks. Tom talks about his own experience with Harper, saying she made him cry about his father. They arrive at a house with Ben waiting on the porch. Ben shows Juliet her welcoming gift: her own two-bedroom house, fully furnished with an opera music collection. When Juliet says it is unnecessary, as she'll only be there for six months, Ben responds that he wanted her to feel at home.

Months later, Juliet is in her office weeping about the loss of a patient, Henrietta, when Goodwin enters and asks her to treat a burn he says he got from leaning against a transformer at a power station. She makes snide comments about Harper, who turns out to be Goodwin's wife. Juliet says that if Goodwin promises not to tell his wife, she won't tell anyone he lied about his chemical burn.

Juliet is discussing the problem with pregnancy on the Island with Ben when Goodwin barges into the lab, cheerfully calling to Juliet. Seeing Ben, he becomes awkward and asks if either of them would like a sandwich left by Ethan. When they both decline, he leaves. Ben watches, seemingly now aware of a romantic relationship between the two of them. ("One of Us")

Later that day, Harper confronts Juliet during a therapy session about the affair Juliet's been having with Goodwin and asks when they started sleeping together, something Juliet initially denies. Harper reveals that she followed them and watched them having sex, and then adds that if she continues having an affair with Goodwin, there will be "consequences" and she doesn't want Goodwin to get hurt. Juliet replies that she will not hurt him, but Harper says that she is not talking about Juliet, but about what Ben will do if he finds out, as Ben is smitten with Juliet because she "looks just like 'her.'"

Some time after, Goodwin and Juliet are on a private date at a beach far from the barracks. Goodwin says he wants to tell everyone about their relationship, and that it shouldn't matter to his wife (he has been sleeping on the couch for over a year), but Juliet says Ben wouldn't like it. Goodwin asks if it is because Ben has a crush on her, and reveals that everyone recognizes this fact because Ben "follows her around like a puppy". Goodwin says that he has been working with chemicals that could kill every man, woman, and child on the Island if he flips the wrong switch, and that Ben has enough on his plate than to worry about the two of them. Juliet expresses that she is still concerned Ben would be upset, but Goodwin laughs dismissively: what is he going to do? The scene immediately jumps to the previously shown scene of the barracks' perspective of the crash of Flight 815 including Ben telling Goodwin to go undercover. This time we see Juliet and Goodwin exchanging worried glances in front of Harper. Goodwin leaves without looking at Harper.

Three weeks after, Ben invites Juliet to a dinner party, which turns out to be a private date for just the two of them. Ben tricked her into an evening alone with him. They start to talk about Zack and Emma and how good Juliet has been with them. Juliet then says that they have been asking about their mother in Los Angeles, and since they are only children, if they really belong on the Island with them. But Ben replies that they are on the list and who are they to question who is on the list or not. Ben then becomes angered when she mentions Goodwin, as he's been undercover for three weeks now and they already retrieved the people from the list for the tail section survivors. He tells her that Goodwin cannot come back yet, and claims that he is "making a case" for Ana Lucia to join their society, adding that Goodwin seems to have an inappropriate relationship with Ana Lucia, trying to make Juliet jealous. There is no reason for him to hurry back, but his assignment will be over soon.

Ben comes to see Juliet, reading Jack's file just given to her by Mikhail. She tells him about Jack's surgical skills, especially against tumors, but Ben doesn't seem very interested about that news for the moment as he has something else on his mind. Ben then takes Juliet to see Goodwin's body impaled upon a wooden stake. Ben reveals he knows about their affair; Juliet accuses him of deliberately sending Goodwin on a suicide mission. She asks why he would do this. Ben then underlines the fact that the reason why he is keeping her on the Island is because "you're mine." He then gives her as much time as she needs to grieve the loss of her lover.

At the beach

Sun approaches Juliet, who is erecting a new tent on the beach. She asks her why she'd be setting up a tent on the supposed last days on the Island. Jack then approaches, asking if anyone has seen Daniel and Charlotte, who had vanished overnight. No one has seen them, and Jack becomes visibly upset. Jin admits he saw them enter the jungle, but did not mention anything because "[Jack] said they are friends." Jack and Juliet begin searching for them.

Juliet is walking through the jungle and suddenly hears the whispers. She looks around and finds Harper standing behind her, who says that Ben has a message for her: Daniel and Charlotte are heading towards the Tempest, and Juliet has to stop them, using deadly force if necessary. If they figure out how to deploy the gas, everyone is going to die. Juliet asks why Harper doesn't stop them herself, and Harper answers that it is Ben's wish that Juliet does it, and says that although Ben is a prisoner, he is "exactly where he wants to be." Harper says that Juliet must kill Daniel and Charlotte. The conversation is interrupted by Jack, who points his gun at Harper and demands to know who she is. She says she is an old friend of Juliet’s and she was telling her where the people they are looking for are headed and that Jack with his gun should go there too. The whispers are heard again, and Harper suddenly disappears.

After looking around for Harper in vain, Juliet conveys what she has been told to Jack, and that the Tempest is an electrical station. Juliet asks for Jack's assistance without fully revealing everything, and he agrees.

Daniel and Charlotte pause near a stream in the jungle, and look at Daniel's map. He has doubts about whether or not he will be able to achieve their goal, but she says she is convinced that he can do it and that they should get going. Daniel seems convinced. Suddenly, Kate appears. Charlotte draws her pistol, but Daniel assures her that Kate poses no threat. Kate tells them about Miles, that Locke has him but that he is fine. After Kate asks what they are doing in the jungle, Charlotte tells a lie about a sat-phone running out of juice and that they volunteered to get some fresh batteries from the packs they threw out of the chopper. Kate looks up and sees the green light on Daniel's phone and gets suspicious. She asks why Daniel has a large pack if they are looking for the packs they threw out of the helicopter. After discovering it contains gas masks, Kate is knocked unconscious by Charlotte.

Jack and Juliet continue through the jungle, discussing Harper. Juliet reveals to Jack that Harper was her therapist, and he comments that she seemed rather hostile. They trade comments about things that they'd prefer to ignore from their past, and Jack comments Juliet knows all about them because of his file. She replies: "Trust me, Jack, you don't want to see my file." The two of them stumble across Kate, who is just coming around from being knocked out by Charlotte. Juliet, looking a bit upset, offers to go get Kate some water. Kate and Jack discuss what happened, and Kate tells him about the gas masks after Jack tells her that they are looking for a power station. Jack begins to call frantically for Juliet but she doesn't answer.

Jack and Kate follow the trail of Juliet, discovering Daniel and Charlotte's tracks as well. Kate tells Jack about her conversation with Miles; that the people on the Kahana know she is a fugitive. Juliet approaches the Tempest, and, noting the destroyed security system, opens the pulley door and draws her gun.

Walking along the catwalk, Juliet sees Daniel wearing a HAZMAT suit and a gas mask while working on the station's computer, as messages blare over the speakers warning about contamination. Juliet holds the gun on Daniel as he questions what she is doing there. She snatches off his gas mask, telling him that he will die with the rest if he releases the gas, but he counters that he's not trying to release it, but to render it inert, to make it safe. Just then, Charlotte hits Juliet from behind with a metal bar; a struggle ensues, as Daniel continues working on the computer. Juliet then recovers her gun and tells Charlotte to order Daniel to stop what he is doing, but Charlotte confirms that they are trying to prevent Ben from releasing the gas to kill everyone on the Island. Charlotte states, "We know he's used it before". Juliet continues to hold the gun on Daniel, seemingly having an inner struggle, but then lets him complete the task seconds before the "contamination".

As Juliet and Charlotte exit the Tempest, they bump into Jack and Kate. After a brief confrontation where Charlotte tells them that she and Daniel just saved their lives, Kate follows Charlotte inside to see what she is referring to, but Jack says he'll take their word for it. Juliet also remains outside, where she confides in Jack, telling him that "these people came here to wage war against Ben, and Ben's going to win, and when he does, Jack, you don't want to be anywhere near me". Jack asks her why, and she replies that Ben thinks she is his "and he knows how I feel about you". They share a kiss, and Jack tells her that Ben knows where to find him if he wants to. He then comforts her with a kiss as the Tempest's lights flicker.

At the Barracks

Claire approaches Locke as he is cleaning a rabbit, requesting to speak to Miles about who they are and where they came from. She reasons that because they shot one, killed one, and are holding one captive, it's reasonable that they are seen as hostile, but that she might be less intimidating. Locke refuses, asking if she remembers what Charlie said about the boat. Claire reminds him that all Charlie said whose boat it isn't, and asks wouldn't he "like to know whose boat it is".

In the basement at the barracks, Locke brings Ben food and clean clothing. Ben questions whether the rabbit that was served to him had a number on it. Just before Locke leaves, Ben asks, "Has the revolution begun yet?". He tells Locke that if he's not careful, his people will organize an insurrection, and that Locke's people will be very angry when they find out he doesn't have a plan. He then attempts to undermine Locke's confidence by talking about leadership. Locke cuts Ben off by revealing that he knows about the discussion Ben had with Miles concerning the $3.2 million dollars, and Locke sarcastically provides Ben with his first dollar. Ben then attempts to persuade Locke to let him live in one of the houses in exchange for the information he wants. Ben will have to show Locke proof.

Ben and Locke discuss trust issues and reach a deal. Ben says that if his people wanted him back, they would have already stormed the barracks. Ben revels a safe to Locke, which is hidden behind a picture in his house. Locke opens it to find a videotape marked "Red Sox". They play the tape, and Ben explains that Charles Widmore, the man shown in the tape, is the one that owns the freighter and that he has been trying to find the Island. The footage shows a blindfolded man, that Ben says is one of his people who has been captured, getting beaten by Widmore. Ben says he doesn't know how Widmore knows about the Island, and that he thinks Widmore wants to exploit it. Ben gets a file out of his safe, and gives it to Locke. He explains that it contains all the information he has gathered about Widmore, adding that the information is a combination of vague guesswork and concrete facts. Locke demands to know the identity of Ben's man on the boat, and Ben agrees to tell him, but warns that he "might want to sit down."

Hurley and Sawyer play horseshoes. Hurley makes a lucky shot, and when Sawyer is surprised, Hurley says that he's just lucky. Then they see Ben walking freely into his home. Amid their confusion as to why Ben is walking about freely, Ben cheerfully says "See you guys at dinner!"

Trivia

General

• One of Harper's diplomas has a Hanso Foundation logo.
• Valve BC22 is being set using the computer in The Tempest. BC22, when converted from a hexadecimal number to a decimal number, gives 48162.
• The title of this episode references the fact that Juliet is:

1. "The other woman", aside from Harper Stanhope, whom Goodwin is seeing;
2. "The other woman", aside from Kate, whom Jack has feelings for;
3. "The other woman" to Ben, aside from the woman whom Juliet "looks just like"; and
4. A woman who was (or is) one of the Others.

• The safe combination that Ben gives Locke, 36-15-28, was a Season 4 clue from the alternate reality game Find 815.
• This episode takes place on Christmas Day, 2004.

Production notes

• Desmond, Michael, Miles, and Sayid do not appear in this episode.
• This is the fifth episode that takes place completely on the island.
• Ethan, played by William Mapother, is mentioned but not seen, despite the fact that he's present when the Others' witness the plane crash. This scene is edited to include glances between Juliet, Goodwin, and Harper as Ben sends them on missions to seek the survivors.
• The scenes of The Tempest Station were shot at Battery Cooper, WWII-bunkers on the south side of Kualoa Ranch.
  • Just after filming, on October 24th 2007, fans photographed the settings, which included the new wave-like DHARMA-logo and a lot of large prehistoric bones and eggs. This led to various rumors, which later turned out to be utterly false.[1] The logo was 'confirmed' by DarkUFO to be that of The Orchid [2], and the bones were thought to be an introduction of dinosaurs on Lost. They turned out to be just remnants of Jurassic Park, which had been shot there as well.
• A Lost: On Location for this episode is available on the Season 4 DVD.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• When Juliet fights Charlotte, the face of the stuntwoman is visible.
• During Juliet and Ben's conversation over dinner, it is stated that Goodwin had been with the tail section survivors for three weeks and that Ethan had already been killed. According to the timeline, Ethan was killed on day 29, more than four weeks after infiltrating the beach camp. Though this could be chalked up to Juliet simply losing track of time. Also according to the timeline, though he wasn't found until after, Goodwin actually died two days before Ethan.

Recurring themes

Recurring themes in Lost
Black and white • Car accidents • Character connections • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Life and death • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Rain • Rebirth • Redemption • Relationships • Revenge • Sacrifice • Secrets • Time

• Sawyer and Hurley were playing horseshoes. (Games)
• Ben refers to Zack and Emma while talking to Juliet. (Children)
• Locke is seen cutting up a dead rabbit and then giving it to Ben to eat. (Animals)
• Ben knew that Goodwin would be killed when he sent him to the crash site of the tail section. (Secrets)
• Goodwin and Juliet were seeing each other in secret. (Secrets)
• Juliet is seen as "the other woman" coming between two people, first Goodwin and Harper, then Jack and Kate. (Relationships)

• Jack and Juliet are searching for Daniel and Charlotte in the rain. (Rain)
• Ben says Zack and Emma were taken because they were on the list. Juliet says that now they have everyone from the tail section that is on the list. (Lists)
• Ben gives Locke the safe combination: 36-15-28. 36-28=8 (The Numbers)
• Ben taped over a video of the Red Sox winning the World Series. (Games)
• Black and white stones are seen in Harper's office. (Black and white)
• Ben gives up his "last bargaining chip" to be free. (Secrets)  (Deceptions and cons)
• Harper tells Juliet to shoot Daniel and Charlotte, because they supposedly headed to the Tempest to deploy the gas. There's no shooting and no intention of deploying. (Deceptions and cons)
• Daniel and Charlotte lie to Kate about the Tempest, saying they're moving their packs from the chopper. (Deceptions and cons)
• Juliet thinks she's gonna stay on the Island for 6 months. Ben knows it won't be that way, but keeps it to himself. (Deceptions and cons)
• Goodwin's got a chemical burn, but says it's an electrical. (Deceptions and cons)
• Juliet tells Goodwin she won't tell about his chemical burn if he doesn't tell Harper what she said. (Secrets)
• Harper says Juliet looks just like another woman, but changes the subject when asked about it. (Secrets)
• Goodwin and Harper have been sleeping in separate beds for a year; during that time, he and Juliet begin their affair. (Relationships)
• Goodwin was allegedly making a case for Ana Lucia to be brought into the Others' society, but she killed him. (Irony) (Life and death)
• Goodwin says Henrietta died pregnant that morning. (Pregnancies)
• Tom relates how talking with Harper made him cry about his father. (Parent Issues)
• When Juliet comes out of the water she is wearing a black bikini top and white shorts. (Black and white)

Cultural references

Cultural references in Lost (direct references only)
Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

• VALIS: Once again, this Philip K. Dick novel is seen, as Ben is reading it while imprisoned by Locke. (Literary works)
• The Tempest: The name of the DHARMA station comes from the play written by William Shakespeare, which was first published in 1623. It tells the story of the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda, who are stranded on a mysterious desert island that has mystical properties. Prospero raises a storm, or tempest, which causes a passing ship containing his enemies to run aground. Using magic, spirits and a man-beast creature named Caliban, he separates and manipulate the survivors of the wreck for his own purposes. The play ends with Prospero restored to his former glory. (Literary works)
• Un bel di vedremo (One Fine Day). The song Ben plays for Juliet at dinner is from the opera Madama Butterfly (1904) by Giacomo Puccini. In the aria, Madama Butterfly, a young Japanese girl whose American husband left her after only one night of marriage (and who, unbeknown to her, has no intent to return), anticipates the day his boat might someday come back to the harbor. Also, the first lines of the song refer to a plume of smoke ("One fine day, we will see/Arising a strand of smoke/Over the far horizon on the sea"). (Music)
• Telnet: Daniel attempts to use Telnet to connect to and control a machine named "tmpst4", but is denied access. This indicates that the computer he is using may not directly control the engine components. The use of Telnet is typical for the 1970s and 1980s, when the DHARMA Initiative was active. Nowadays, SSH is the most commonly used protocol for accessing remote machines' command lines. Although Telnet is still used in many router controls. Telnet also still has many military applications. (Science)
  • The use of Telnet protocol may be linked to DharmaTel.

Literary techniques

Literary techniques in Lost
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock Characters:  Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character Story:  Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Flash-sideways • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator

• In the opening flashback, Juliet's journey opens with a beautiful house shining in the sun to a collapsing bamboo hut in the rain. (Archetype)
• Harper tells Juliet that Ben is "exactly where he wants to be", echoing Miles' comments to Kate in "Eggtown". (Regularly Spoken Phrases)
• There's supposedly a woman who looked just like Juliet and may be gone from the Island or dead, but only a reference is made. (Unseen character)
• Juliet says she was taken to the Island "to help fix that [the pregnancy problems]". (Regularly Spoken Phrases)
• There was backstory provided to Juliet's time on the Island. (Flashback)
• The prologue begins like a flashforward, with Juliet apparently off the Island and subject of much publicity like the Oceanic 6, only for Tom to walk in and establish it as a flashback to her time with the Others. (Plot twist)
• Ben was about to reveal the identity of his spy on the boat to Locke, but he apparently did so behind closed doors, as Hurley and Sawyer saw him after, carrying linens, saying "see you at dinner". (Cliffhanger)
• Harper says Juliet looks just like her, referring to someone whom Ben cares about. In "The Cost of Living" Ben says he chose Juliet to contact Jack because she had a striking resemblance with Sarah, Jack's wife. (Juxtaposition)
• In the past, Goodwin says he works at the power station. In the scene right after that, placed in present time, Juliet tells Jack about the Tempest, a "kind of power station" he didn't know about. (Juxtaposition)
• In the present, Juliet refers to herself as "an Other" when talking about her therapist; she was also the other woman on said therapist's marriage. (Juxtaposition)
• Jack chooses Juliet in the end, meaning, she is no longer the "other woman" to him. (Irony)
• Locke, who used to call Ben a hypocrite and a pharisee for living in the barracks, is now living there with him. (Irony)
• Green, yellow and red (GYR) shades appear in Juliet's lab, in the beginning of the episode. Then they show up on the computer screen as danger levels (as RYG). Right after that, in an unrelated scene, test tubes in Juliet's lab have these colors again (as RGY). (Juxtaposition)  (Foreshadowing)

Storyline analysis

Storyline analysis in Lost
A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries

• Juliet tells Jack she has feelings for him. In response, Jack kisses her. (Relationships)
• Ben brought Locke's leadership into question. (Leadership)

Episode references

• When Juliet is dining with Ben, her outfit looks almost the same as the one Shannon wore to her father's funeral ("Abandoned")
• Goodwin is found impaled on a stick; Ben deduces that the tail section survivors discovered he wasn't on the plane. ("...And Found")  ("The Other 48 Days")
• The alarm heard in the Tempest is the same as the alarm to indicate a lockdown in the Swan. ("Lockdown") ("Live Together, Die Alone")
• The plane crash is shown for the third time from the Barracks' point of view, each time adding new footage or information. ("A Tale of Two Cities")  ("One of Us")
• The video tape Locke pulls from Ben's safe is labeled "Red Sox", which he explains was taped over. ("The Glass Ballerina")
• Ben asks if the rabbit Locke killed for dinner had a number on it, referring to the rabbits seen in the Orchid Orientation film and the rabbit with the number 8 he used to con Sawyer into thinking he had been implanted with a pacemaker. ("Every Man for Himself").
• Juliet's flashbacks fill in gaps from her previous flashback episode. ("One of Us")
• Ben is listening to the same opera music that Juliet listens to while eating ice cream with Goodwin. ("One of Us")
• Juliet's secret relationship with Goodwin parallels Sun's relationship with Jae Lee. Juliet said to Sun: "We all make mistakes." ("D.O.C.")
• Charlotte refers to Ben having used the gas to kill before in the purge. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• Locke tells Ben that they are running out of chickens. Locke made a chicken for his group at the Barracks and uses the last two eggs to make breakfast for Ben. ("Eggtown")
• Harper says Ben is exactly where he wants to be, just as Miles says he is exactly where he wants to be. ("Eggtown")

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Other Woman/Theories

• Whom does Harper think Juliet looks like?
• How is Harper able to appear and disappear so suddenly?
• Who is Widmore’s victim in the video?
• Is Harper in contact with Ben?

External links

Promotional Photos

Whispers audio

Juliet Burke Portrayed by Elizabeth Mitchell and Rylee Fansler Centric episodes "Not in Portland" • "One of Us" • "The Other Woman" • "The Incident, Parts 1 & 2" Non-centric flashbacks "A Tale of Two Cities" (Jack centric) Mobisodes The Deal" • "Operation: Sleeper" • "Room 23" • "The Envelope" Flashback characters 26-year-old woman • Adam • Airport guard • Richard Alpert • Amelia • Mikhail Bakunin • Edmund Burke • Julian Carlson • Mr. Carlson • Mrs. Carlson • Rachel Carlson • Diana • Tom Friendly • Henrietta • Benjamin Linus • Morgue employee • Ethan Rom • Sabine • Sherry • Goodwin Stanhope • Harper Stanhope Items Tape • Tape recorder • Test Drug • Carrie