The Characters: Juliet (as Ben's bitch)

Rewatching the series offered a chance not only to see departed characters again, but to see central characters in early incarnations. It was almost charming to see Sawyer’s self hate at the level he actively encourages his own torture. And man crush on Jack was sagging before I watched him in full hero mode right after the rash. However, one character really suffered: Juliet

I used to defend Juliet from fans who had never come around on her. Maybe it’s my soft spot for Hitchcockian blondes. She is definitely icy. But I had forgotten how much of Ben’s bitch she really was.

When Sawyer wrestles a gun away from Pickett, it is Juliet who makes him put it down by holding a gun on Kate.[1] Yes, of course she asks Jack to kill Ben while operating on him.[2] I don’t think I’ll ever understand her plan on that. But when Jack executes his escape plan by threatening to let Ben bleed out, Juliet tries to sabotage it by telling the Others that Jack is bluffing.[3] Jack’s getting Sawyer and Kate released is one of his best moments as a leader: his plan is bold and unexpected, still very risky to himself and Sawyer and Kate, and works because of his share strength of will. And Juliet calls him a pussy in the middle of it?

In Juliet’s defense, I understand what she’s doing. Unlike Jack or Sawyer, she knows the Others’ camp is on the Hydra island, not the main island, so Sawyer and Kate do not have anywhere to escape to. In that sense, I think she is protecting them. She thinks escape is impossible so it’s better to just give up, like she has. As tells Jack during Ben’s pre-op, she’s good at following orders.[4]

She later largely redeems herself, but it is a slow crawl towards freedom. Sawyer encourages Karl to return to the Others’ camp for Alex, the woman he loves, despite the danger.[5] But Juliet won’t let Alex go with Karl because it would make Ben mad.[6] It’s annoying because Juliet has bought into Ben as a god. She has been stuck on the island for three years with Ben dangling promises of going home only to pull them away.[7] Physically she could kick the ass of most people on the island, but she’s also wrapped up in being the sad realist. It’s why she’s still works for Ben even after joining the castaways’ camp.[8]

She eventually does the right thing but she never abandons her view of Ben as a master of evil.[9] He’s really just a bully. Jack stands up to bullies.[10] It would be nice she’d stop telling him he just doesn’t have what it takes to beat Ben.

[1] “The Glass Ballerina”
[2] “The Cost of Living”
[3] “Not in Portland”
[4] “I Do”
[5] “Stranger in a Strange Land”
[6] “Not in Portland”
[7] Id
[8] “One of Us”
[9] See “The Other Woman”
[10] “White Rabbit”