# Lost 2.11:  "The Hunting Party"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 18, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518 "2006-01-18T16:25:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/141 "2006-01-19T23:42:10Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Does anything think (or is it obvious) that more happened between Jack and Gabriella than that one kiss?
> 
> When Jack was confessing in the kitchen, it sure sounded like more happened, but a kiss was all we saw.
> 
> I realize Jack loves his guilt, but he was acting way guiltier than he needed to, if the kiss was all that happened.

It wasn’t just the kiss. It was his realization that he had been completely removed from his own marriage because of his ambition. His father told him to “go home” and, as much as it bothered him, he realized his father was right. And he wanted to confess his sins, so to speak, and make it right again.

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/142 "2006-01-19T23:49:11Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Does anything think (or is it obvious) that more happened between Jack and Gabriella than that one kiss?
> 
> When Jack was confessing in the kitchen, it sure sounded like more happened, but a kiss was all we saw.
> 
> I realize Jack loves his guilt, but he was acting way guiltier than he needed to, if the kiss was all that happened.

He said that he “kissed her back.” That’s a big deal.

Still, I think the joke is that as torn up about it as Jack was, and as determined as he was to “fix” things, it was actually totally trivial. Sarah’s bags were already packed. It was a non-issue. I wasn’t his tiny infidelity that wrecked his marriage – it was already broken, due to his saviour complex. Sarah didn’t need saving any more, she just needed someone to share her life with.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/143 "2006-01-19T23:54:11Z")

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> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#):
>
> I’ve heard of a Sci-Fi author named Robert J. Sawer

I’ve read pretty much everything Sawyer’s written, and I think it’s a reach to suggest a connection. In general, he’s preoccupied with questions about the nature of consciousness, not so much the structure and interaction of societies (though the Neanderthal books do get into this). I’m inclined to go with Mr. **Mudd** ’s “Tom Sawyer” angle.

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**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/144 "2006-01-20T00:03:29Z")

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Was I the only one who heard the gunshots and immediately pictured Jack, Locke and Sawyer stumbling upon a field of broken mayonnaise jars?

Eh, probably. 😃

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/145 "2006-01-20T01:39:22Z")

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> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Does anything think (or is it obvious) that more happened between Jack and Gabriella than that one kiss?
> 
> When Jack was confessing in the kitchen, it sure sounded like more happened, but a kiss was all we saw.
> 
> I realize Jack loves his guilt, but he was acting way guiltier than he needed to, if the kiss was all that happened.

What Sarah said was true, Jack always needs to be fixing something. The old man was dead, so Jack needed something. Wham, bump out a confession and he can spend the next few months fixing his marriage.

That scene was extraordinarily well done. You watch it the first time and you think about what a noble and stand up guy Jack is and you wonder why Sarah is reacting so stragely. Watch it the second time after the revelation and the dynamics completely change.

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/146 "2006-01-20T01:40:36Z")

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> [@ladybug](#):
>
> Was I the only one who heard the gunshots and immediately pictured Jack, Locke and Sawyer stumbling upon a field of broken mayonnaise jars?
> 
> Eh, probably. 😃

Ranch Dressing Ogdammit! Some people need to be paying closer attention ;).

PS: Where did the Jack/Kate kiss at the end of the starting summary come from? I can’t place that.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/147 "2006-01-20T01:42:20Z")

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> [@silenus](#):
>
> What I want to know is how the Others got those torches to all light and extinguish on cue? Have you ever tried that? It’s impossible, unless they were all gas fueled. In that case, where are the Others getting the natural gas?

Dharma Initiative Pork ‘n’ Beans with Jalapeno.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/148 "2006-01-20T02:08:54Z")

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> [@Shalmanese](#):
>
> Ranch Dressing Ogdammit! Some people need to be paying closer attention ;).

Ranch Dressing deserves to die.

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/149 "2006-01-20T02:09:22Z")

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> [@Shalmanese](#):
>
> Where did the Jack/Kate kiss at the end of the starting summary come from?

That was from the most recent Kate backstory episode.

When Kate was nursing Sawyer (who was still delerious from his infection) he opened his eyes and asked “Why did you kill me?” which freaked Kate out (thinking of her relationship with her father) and she ran off. Jack went looking for her, and when he caught up to her, she says something like “I’m sorry I’m not perfect, like you. I’m sorry that I’m not as good.” She starts to run but Jack catches her and she kissed him, puzzled over it a bit, and then ran away.

My sense of it was that she felt weird guilt for being attracted to the “bad” guy and thought it would be better if she could like the “good” guy, took a taste, and decided there was nothing there for her.

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**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/150 "2006-01-20T02:28:20Z")

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A cool entry from the Lost Blog:

Spoiler because it references something from the show’s Hanso website.

The “Other” whom Jack, Locke, and Sawyer spoke with said “From the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity.” — which is a direct quote from Alvar Hanso, according to the Hanso Foundation’s website.

Was he Alvar? Or simply quoting “the Gospel”?

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**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/151 "2006-01-20T02:50:18Z")

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> [@middleman](#):
>
> Spoiler because it references something from the show’s Hanso website.

[This is Alvar Hanso in the late sixties](http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~jonkjeti/Lost/Alvar.jpg). I think the other fella is just familiar with his work, especially since, according to the Hanso website…Hanso was already in business during WWII. If he’s still alive, he’s around eighty years old. I know, I know, “Life Extension Project!” – but he doesn’t look anything like him, either.

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**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/152 "2006-01-20T05:27:22Z")

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> [@middleman](#):
>
> A cool entry from the Lost Blog:
> 
> Spoiler because it references something from the show’s Hanso website.
> 
> The “Other” whom Jack, Locke, and Sawyer spoke with said “From the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity.” — which is a direct quote from Alvar Hanso, according to the Hanso Foundation’s website.
> 
> Was he Alvar? Or simply quoting “the Gospel”?

“Lost Blog”? Got link?

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**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/153 "2006-01-20T06:47:14Z")

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[QUOTE=middleman\* Wasn’t it weird seeing Locke as the agent of restraint and Jack as the agent of aggression? I thought when that fissure opened, it would be the other way around. I hope it gets Locke back to center stage in the show. He has been underused this season. The first season, he was driving the show. Now it seems like he is only reacting to the comments and decisions of other characters.[/QUOTE]

Well, he was driving the show because he was still trying to get what he wanted (i.e. into the hatch). He’s got that now.

Guess now it’s Jack driving things… probably because he’s still trying to get what he wants. (i.e. Kate… who’s busy making gooogly-eyes at Sawyer ;))

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**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/154 "2006-01-20T07:13:56Z")

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> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> It just felt contrived. Her dad has been dead for only a matter of hours, and she’s suddenly all hot for the doctor? I don’t buy it. Just more poor writing.

Well, she wasn’t _suddenly_ hot for the doctor. I thought it was pretty clear that she was hot for him way before the surgery was attempted – when they were running the tests and she was keeping him there working to 4 in the morning. She was already in to him.

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**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/155 "2006-01-20T08:32:10Z")

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> [@Sam Stone](#):
>
> Unfortunately, I didn’t find that scene all that believable either. It just felt contrived. Her dad has been dead for only a matter of hours, and she’s suddenly all hot for the doctor? I don’t buy it. Just more poor writing.
> 
> I hate bagging on this show, because it’s still one of my favorites. I just wish the quality of the writing would improve a little.

People reactly strongly and sometimes oddly to grief. I took it as her reaching out for comfort.

Something not mentioned in this particular thread: Charlie sure is a dick.

Sure, he seems like a nice guy at first glance, but man is he self absorbed. Hurley, his best friend more or less, was talking about a subject that was important to himself (Libby) and Charlie didn’t even answer him, but instead asked him “Do you think Claire misses me?”

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**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/156 "2006-01-20T10:01:55Z")

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You want my far-out theory?

Although we do know that Desmond was with a blonde woman at some point, it wasn’t Sarah. Perhaps it was Sarah’s lover…

Kate should just pick one and sleep with him, doesn’t she realise what stringing Jack and Sawyer along is doing to them? Obviously she should pick Sawyer, Jack’s got even more issues and besides, he’s into ANaL.

I’m thinkingg one of the female Lostaways should be pregnant by now… the contraceptives probably ran out a long time ago.

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**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/157 "2006-01-20T10:52:33Z")

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> [@Larry Mudd](#):
>
> Still, I think the joke is that as torn up about it as Jack was, and as determined as he was to “fix” things, it was actually totally trivial. Sarah’s bags were already packed.

**Sarah:** I’m leaving you. I’ve been seeing someone else.  
**Me:** Well, Jack, I guess you should’ve banged Gabriela.

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**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/158 "2006-01-20T12:23:41Z")

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Not my favorite episode. The entire BB meeting was pointless and stinks of sloppy writing to me:

The Losties were looking for Michael, not for BB & co., so why did the pirates see fit to show themselves?

BB had ample opportunity to take Michael out of the water, so I have to assume he and his party are simply avoiding Michael (“He’ll never find us”)

Why not just avoid Jack, Sawyer and Locke as well? Why the big build up to a fireside chat which never materializes? Clearly, the pirates are holding all the cards (that’s pronounced ‘Kate’) and had no reason to pow-wow with the Losties.

What’s with the line in the sand bit? The pirates seem to be willing to kill people. Why not just pick off these curious Losties while they’re stumping around in the jungle?

The only motivation I can find for BB to show himself and do the song and dance with our boys is to reveal the Others for the audience, which is very sloppy writing, indeed.

I hope a motivation will be revealed (they need these folks alive for some Other purpose) but even then it would smack of storyline airbrushing to me, since no hints were dropped while the inexplicable events were unfolding. As it was written, BB may as well have been saying, “We could kill you, or we could evade you, but instead, we’re going to show ourselves, then let you go back to your arsenal in the hatch and build an army against us.”

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**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/159 "2006-01-20T13:07:57Z")

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> [@irishgirl](#):
>
> Kate should just pick one and sleep with him, doesn’t she realise what stringing Jack and Sawyer along is doing to them? Obviously she should pick Sawyer, Jack’s got even more issues and besides, he’s into ANaL.

Jack might be into AnaL now, but I don’t think he has the intestinal fortitude to deal with her long-term (although, this is your “classic desert-island scenario”), and she is far too self-reliant to tolerate being fixed. Plus, I hate her.

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**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-2-11-the-hunting-party/340518/160 "2006-01-20T13:15:03Z")

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> [@Farmwoman](#):
>
> Not my favorite episode. The entire BB meeting was pointless and stinks of sloppy writing to me:
> 
> The Losties were looking for Michael, not for BB & co., so why did the pirates see fit to show themselves?
> 
> BB had ample opportunity to take Michael out of the water, so I have to assume he and his party are simply avoiding Michael (“He’ll never find us”)
> 
> Why not just avoid Jack, Sawyer and Locke as well? Why the big build up to a fireside chat which never materializes? Clearly, the pirates are holding all the cards (that’s pronounced ‘Kate’) and had no reason to pow-wow with the Losties.
> 
> What’s with the line in the sand bit? The pirates seem to be willing to kill people. Why not just pick off these curious Losties while they’re stumping around in the jungle?
> 
> The only motivation I can find for BB to show himself and do the song and dance with our boys is to reveal the Others for the audience, which is very sloppy writing, indeed.
> 
> I hope a motivation will be revealed (they need these folks alive for some Other purpose) but even then it would smack of storyline airbrushing to me, since no hints were dropped while the inexplicable events were unfolding. As it was written, BB may as well have been saying, “We could kill you, or we could evade you, but instead, we’re going to show ourselves, then let you go back to your arsenal in the hatch and build an army against us.”

I think the whole point of luring Michael was to lure more people out with guns which now increase their arsenal and decrease the arsenal of the crash survivors. The Others are certainly acting from a position of weakness (as the Doctor correctly, I think, guessed). Getting Michael was just a bonus. Maybe so he can control Walt?

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