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Lost
Stranger
in a Strange Land
Airdate: 02.21.2007
Cast a stone
into the vast intertubes and you’re bound to come
up with either harsh criticism or admitted disappointment
in response to “Stranger in a Strange Land,”
and this is most likely due to the build up surrounding
Jack’s mysterious shoulder ink.
From the very
beginning of the series, Jack’s body art slapped us
right in the face and dared viewers to interpret its meaning.
Many a fan has taken a stab, but for the most part the only
thing known about the fearless leader’s tat is that
it comprises of a few very familiar numbers.
Poof! That’s
the extent of our knowledge in this arena, so one can imagine
the anticipation that sparked when writers/producers Carlton
Cuse and Damon Lindelof announced that fans will be learning
more about the significance behind Jack’s tattoo in
Season 3.
Over the course
of a viewing hour, fan anticipation quickly turned into
disappointment, and the verdict was in – “Stranger
in a Strange Land” was quickly deemed as a filler
episode with little to offer in regards to advancing the
macrocosmic story arc along.
Fair enough.
This episode is hardly the stuff of canonical legend, but
it isn’t devoid of clues altogether. My take on the
episode, and this still stands, is that there is much more
at play here than we are ready to fully comprehend. In fact,
I’m fairly certain that this episode will become one
of those coveted “ah ha!” situations in the
near future, as some key will surface that will allow us
to unlock some of the oddities from this episode.
Case
in point, Jack’s dalliances with a Thai tattoo artist
named Achara (Bai Ling) pave the way for several double
entendres of the pronoun variety.
Chiefly,
Achara makes several references to the ways of “her
people,” and although it’s easy enough to assume
that she means the good people of Thailand, it isn’t
entirely impossible to believe that should could mean some
other type of tribe (say, a tribe chock full of Others,
perhaps?).
And since every
character name on Lost comes symbolically loaded,
what are we supposed to make of the name Achara? By definition,
the mark of Dharma is Achara, or more clearly stated good
conduct. An individual can only access Dharma through Achara.
In this episode
we learn that Achara’s gift allows her to see what
people are, and she then marks them accordingly. When prodded,
Achara tells Jack that she senses that he is “a leader,
a great man,” but this makes him lonely and angry.
Jack forces her to mark him, and so she does despite warning
him of repercussions. We assume she means the beating he
takes on the beach at the close of the episode, but could
she have meant more? Isabel later translates the tattoo
as reading, “He walks amongst us, but he is not one
of us.” It seems that Achara served as Jack’s
gateway to Dharma after all, but despite being a leader,
he’s also been branded as an outsider.
So the question
remains, will we see Achara turn up on the island somewhere?
Or will she and Jack cross paths again somewhere off the
island?
Next
time: We dive into Hurley’s “Cheech-is-my-Daddy”
issue-laden past with “Tricia Tanaka is Dead”
and uncover the secrets behind the big man’s girth.
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