We're not in Kansas anymore. Or Portland, for that matter.

Welcome back, LOST! It's been so long since we've had a truly good episode, one chock full of answers, all the while being all LOST-like and raising so many other questions along the way. Wednesday's show, titled "Not in Portland," was a Juliet-centric episode that gave us some insight into some Other characters. We learn that the strong, ever-complex, whose-side-are-you-on-anyway Juliet was practically a doormat in her past life, psychologically haunted and manipulated by her ex-husband, Edmund Burke (brush up on your 18th century philosophy for some more info on him... while you're at it, you can find out more about John Locke, and French philosophers Rosseau and Hume). We also find out that Juliet is involved in some fertility research that is raising some serious "ethical" questions, and that she is being courted for recruitment by a bio-science research group by the name of Milletos BioScience, a group based in Portland (sort of).

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Jack, the crafty little fellow he thinks himself to be, has purposely botched the surgery on Benry's tumor, and vehemently claims that he "will LET HIM DIE!" if Kate and Sawyer aren't freed. But, as Juliet, now apparently back on the Other side, points out, getting back to Survivorville will prove difficult, as they are on another island. Woops. But, that won't stop our fearless, post-coital duo from trying anyway! No siree! After a brisk jog through the jungle amid a shower of bullets from the pursuing Danny and Co., Skate is aided (and abetted) by Alex, the slingshot-wielding Other who is pissed that she doesn't know where her boyfriend is. Oh, and she has a boat they can use if they help her find him. Which they do. Karl, the aforementioned bf, is being held in room 23 (number alert) of yet another Dharma building, unwilling participating in a freaky brainwashing rave. They grab him, drooling, and head for the shore. They get thisclose to shoving off, when Danny, who will just not let go of the whole "they-killed-my-girlfriend-Colleen" thing, shows up. He and Sawyer glare at each other for a minute before Juliet shows up, now back on our side, and kills Danny. She tells them to get going, but won't permit Alex to go with them, citing that Alex's dad will be upset if she's not there when he wakes up. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Ben is Alex's father, and Ben told Juliet that if she convinces Jack to finish the surgery, he'll let her go home.

Whew. So that's the skinny on the overview. We've got pre-island Juliet, apparently tortured by the Miami humidty, as evidenced by her fro-y, frizzy curls, as well as some present-time operating room shenanigans orchestrated by Jack and Friends. We've got questions, but, more importantly, we got answers. Up, up, and away...

I LOVE that the show picked up right where it left off. I so often am enraged when things aren't resolved, or at the very least addressed when such a huge lead up is involved. (*cough cough, season 2 finale, cough cough*). Granted, we didn't see anyone other than the players in Otherville, but when you've got a cast of 300 million people, I suppose you have to pick and choose. But anyway, here are my thoughts:

• We've never gotten any confirmation that Alex is Rosseau's daugher. We assume that she is, since Rosseau's daughter was named Alex, but if Benry truly is her father, wouldn't Rosseau have kept Benry to herself when she caught him in that net instead of turning him over to the survivors? Unless Rosseau herself doens't know who the father is, which is entirely possible.
• While I was doing some light research on Wednesday's episode, I came across a theory about Juliet that tickles your brain a little bit. Indulge me: this guy claims that Juliet has powers, in much the same way that Walt had powers. Remember how, in season 1, Walt is studying birds when the same bird flies into the glass door? If we apply that same sort of thinking to Juliet, maybe this guys isn't completely nuts. Subconciously, she wants Edmund to get hit by a bus, as she so eloquently blubbers to the interviewer guy. I think it's a bit of a stretch to think that this company would submit to her every wish and actually ensure that Hubby does, in fact, die via collision with public transportation just to get her to work with them. I mean, think about what was happening right before Edmund was hit: Juliet had just shared the fact that her research or whatever worked, and her cancer-ridden, barren sister Rachel was pregnant. Instead of being happy for her, Edmund begins talking about submitting the research, etc. Juliet gets angry, since she doens't want her sister to be subjected to all that. Call me crazy, but maybe Juliet's anger toward Edmund is manifested by him getting killed by the bus. The thought was already in her mind. A stretch, possibly, I know, but unless Ethan was driving that bus, I don't think Milletos is responsible.
• Speaking of Milletos, whose ultrasound was displayed in Juliet's interview? After Juliet guessed (wrongly) that it was a womb belonging to a 70 year old woman, Mr. Alpert said it actually was that of a 26 year old. Claire? Rosseau? Sun? And why does this company need Juliet so badly?
• Finally, back in present day, Juliet reveals that she has been on the island for 3 years, 2 months and 28 days. If we're still of the thought that it is now early December 2004, that would mean that Juliet came to the island right around September 11, 2001. .... yeah.

Good God, I can't take it. What the hell is going on on this show?!!