A Tale of Two Cities (Lost)

"A Tale of Two Cities" is the third season premiere, and 50th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)'s serial drama television series Lost.

A woman (Juliet Burke; Elizabeth Mitchell) prepares for a book club meeting in a modern suburban home.

The group leaves Juliet's house and Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), previously known as "Henry Gale" to the survivors, appears along with Ethan Rom (William Mapother), looking up to watch Oceanic Flight 815 break apart in mid-air.

Ben quickly orders Goodwin (Brett Cullen) and Ethan to join the survivors, stay undercover, and provide "lists in three days."

The camera zooms out to reveal that the suburb is actually on the Island and is inhabited by The Others, while in the background the smoke trail of the midsection and tail section of Flight 815 can be seen.

Tom (M. C. Gainey) allows her to have a shower and afterwards, forces her to change into a dress, after which she is led to an elegant breakfast on the beach with Ben, who tells her to put on handcuffs before she can eat.

Sawyer figures out the mechanical puzzle in his cage required to receive food, though Tom says it "only took the bears two hours."

[6] The actress who plays her, Elizabeth Mitchell, was cast in late July 2006 as a new series regular,[6][7] who was meant to be a possible love interest for Jack.

[6][10] Previous guest actors William Mapother, Julie Bowen, M. C. Gainey, Brett Cullen, and John Terry made brief appearances in the episode.

[6] Lindelof described when Jack attacks his father at the AA meeting as "pot-committed... it basically means you put so much money on the bluff, you can't fold your cards".

[6] The title, inspired by Charles Dickens' eponymous novel, refers to the reveal of another "city" on the island with the place where the Others live, in addition to the castaways' beach camp.

Lindelof later described this limited scope as "a mistake, when the audience is away from the show for that long, they want to see everybody", causing the following season openers to have scenes with most of the main characters.

[24] This comment resulted in online discussion in regard to Tom's sexual orientation,[5][25][26] and Lindelof and Cuse hinted that a Lost character would later be outed.

[40] IGN's Chris Carabott rated the premiere 9/10, calling the "peek into the life of The Others... exceptionally done" and the non-appearance of the other survivors "a smart move".

[12] Robert Bianco from USA Today praised the opening scene and called the episode "a fine start for a great series" but with reservations.

[41] Bianco wished Jack would "win one again for the team", and was fearful that Lost could eventually become like Alias, "a series that became so entranced by its puzzle and its villains that it let the main characters vanish behind them".

"[42] On a similar list, IGN ranked the episode at number 38; they called the opening "one of the show's characteristic fake-outs", and Jack's flashbacks "not nearly as interesting as his first encounters with Juliet".

[7] Matthew Fox submitted this episode for consideration for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.