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A Tale of Two Cities (Lost)
Encyclopedia
"A Tale of Two Cities" is the third season premiere
, and 50th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company
's serial
drama
television series
Lost
. The episode was written by co-creators/executive producers J. J. Abrams
and Damon Lindelof
, based on a story by Lindelof and directed by executive producer Jack Bender
. The episode begins with the introduction of Juliet Burke
(Elizabeth Mitchell
) and The Barracks. The character of Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
When the episode first aired on October 4, 2006 in the United States
, it was watched by an average of 19 million American viewers, making it the fourth most watched episode of the week. It premiered to generally positive reviews, with many praising Mitchell's new character.
(Elizabeth Mitchell
) prepares for a book club meeting in a modern suburban home. The club is in a heated discussion of Stephen King
's Carrie
, when they are interrupted by what sounds like an earthquake. 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.
Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) wakes up on the floor of a locker room. 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. She asks him why he is doing this, and he tells her that he wanted to give her something pleasant to remember, as the next two weeks will be "very unpleasant." James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
) wakes up in a cage in the jungle near the Hydra station. A teenager, Karl (Blake Bashoff
), in a nearby cage initially ignores Sawyer but then later expresses interest in Sawyer's camp and unlocks his cage then Sawyer's. However, they are both caught and Tom makes Karl, who is now beaten and bloody, apologize to Sawyer before taking the teen away. Sawyer figures out the mechanical puzzle in his cage, though Tom says it "only took the bears two hours." Kate is then put in Karl's (now empty) cage.
Jack wakes up in a cell in the Hydra Station, where Juliet gently interrogates him. At one point Jack attacks her and attempts to escape, holding an improvised weapon at her throat. He orders her to open a door, but she refuses to comply, claiming that doing so would kill them both. Ben appears and agrees that opening the door will kill them all. Jack throws Juliet away, and then opens the door. As Ben dashes back through the door he came in, water starts rushing into the hallway. Juliet helps Jack struggle into an adjoining room, tells him to push a button which she had previously mentioned was for emergencies. He does so and she knocks him unconscious. When he awakes, she shows Jack a file which she says contains documents about his entire life. Juliet asks Jack if he has any questions about Sarah. After a pause, he asks, "Is she happy?" Juliet replies yes, and walks outside, and Ben congratulates her on a job well done.
). He demands to know who she has been dating, but she refuses to tell him, so he spies on her and steals her cell phone. He proceeds to call every number in her phone, and his father Christian Shephard
's (John Terry
) cell phone rings. After following Christian to an Alcoholics Anonymous
meeting, Jack accuses him of sleeping with his wife and physically attacks him. After Jack is arrested, Sarah pays his bail, and tells him Christian is no longer sober. She then leaves with an unidentified man, after telling Jack that "now [he has] something to fix."
, was cast in late July 2006 as a new series regular, who was meant to be a possible love interest for Jack. Mitchell has commented her first or second day of shooting was the opening sequence, when the Others watched Oceanic 815 fall out of the sky. When she first met actor Matthew Fox
they briefly introduced themselves, but most of their initial conversation was in regard to the script and their characters. Mitchell found this helpful while shooting the premiere's scenes, since then they knew the other as their characters, and not as Matthew and Elizabeth. The scene in which Jack yells at Juliet, and she responds "No Jack, I think you're stubborn", was used as her audition scene. One of the Others, Amelia, was played by the elderly Julie Adams
, who was the protagonist in Creature from the Black Lagoon
. Previous guest actors William Mapother
, Julie Bowen
, M.C. Gainey, Brett Cullen
, and John Terry
made brief appearances in the episode. The premiere marked the first appearances of recurring guest actors Blake Bashoff
and Stephen Semel
. In addition to Mitchell's new billing, only four other characters of star billing appeared in the episode: Michael Emerson
, depicting Ben Linus, was promoted to a main character for the third season; the other three were Matthew Fox playing Jack Shephard
, Evangeline Lilly
as Kate Austen
and Josh Holloway
as Sawyer. Henry Ian Cusick
was also promoted to a main character as Desmond Hume
, along with new characters Nikki and Paulo
, played by Kiele Sanchez
and Rodrigo Santoro
respectively. Malcolm David Kelley
(Walt Lloyd
), Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson
), Michelle Rodriguez
(Ana Lucia Cortez
), and Cynthia Watros
(Libby
) were no longer credited as main characters after each of their characters were written out at the end of the previous season.
and J.J. Abrams wrote the premiere's teleplay
based upon a story by Lindelof. The episode was Abrams' first Lost writing credit since the pilot
. They laid out the third season with the idea of "us versus them"; Carlton Cuse
, a showrunner, explained, "And who is us? And who is them? I mean I think we all tend to objectify people who we don't know much about and I think that's the audience's view of The Others right now -- they are bad, they are the malevolent force on the island. But over the course of the stories we're going to be telling this season on the show we expect the audience's view of The Others to change a lot."
The opening sequence of the episode was meant to replicate the same idea of season 2's premiere "Man of Science, Man of Faith
", where what seems to be a flashback is instead set on a new part of the island. Director Jack Bender
questioned what Jack's goal was when he pulled on the chain, but Lindelof told him not to worry, because "Fox will sell it, and he did". 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". The scene with Kate in a dress was inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark
, where Belloq gives a dress for Marion Ravenwood
to wear, and was intended to make "tom-boyish" Kate feel vulnerable. 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. The episode has only three characters of the second season's main cast, Jack, Kate and Sawyer. 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.
In the episode, Tom tells Kate that she is not his type. This comment resulted in online discussion in regard to Tom's sexual orientation, and Lindelof and Cuse hinted that a Lost character would later be outed. Gainey joked, "if [Kate's] not your type, you're gay", and began playing the character as such. After the broadcast of "Meet Kevin Johnson
", Lindelof and Cuse confirmed that the line from the third season premiere is an allusion to Tom's sexuality, but felt that it needed to be explicitly confirmed in the show, although Lindelof noted that the confirmation scene in "Meet Kevin Johnson" "was not subtle, to say the least". The beginning of the episode featured a scene where Juliet and Amelia discuss Ben's feelings for Juliet, which was shot but deleted. This scene was later made into the twelfth "Lost: Missing Pieces
" mobisode, "The Envelope".
's "Downtown"
, a song that would later be used in another third season episode
featuring Juliet. Another song heard in the premiere, "Moonlight Serenade
by Glenn Miller
, was first used in the season two episode "The Long Con". Lindelof has stated the songs they choose for Lost were often inspired from his childhood, when his mother would vacuum to music on Sundays.
, the premiere was watched by an estimated 18.82 million viewers, making it the most watched episode of the night and the fourth most watched of the week. "A Tale of Two Cities" had four million less viewers than the previous season premiere
. In Canada, the episode was watched by 1.972 million viewers on CTV
, easily winning its timeslot.
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". Carabott also praised Jack's flashbacks, writing "Previously, Jack has been written as the white knight and reluctant hero who everyone looked to in their time of need. The more chinks they show in Jack's armor, the better - the more human he becomes." He called "Juliet... a promising new character who will hopefully add a new dimension to The Others this season" and concluded his review by calling the episode "a solid season opener". Robert Bianco from USA Today
praised the opening scene and called the episode "a fine start for a great series" but with reservations. 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". On a list of Lost episodes, the Los Angeles Times
ranked "A Tale of Two Cities" number 66 out of 113 episodes, explaining it was "Not bad. The introduction of Juliet is a killer, and Jack raging against the Others is fun. But many of the big revelations -- Ben's name, for example -- aren't very well handled." 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".
Matthew Fox
submitted this episode for consideration on his behalf in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
" at the 2007 Emmy Awards
.
Season premiere
In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:...
, and 50th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
drama
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
. The episode was written by co-creators/executive producers J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
and Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
, based on a story by Lindelof and directed by executive producer Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
. The episode begins with the introduction of Juliet Burke
Juliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
(Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
) and The Barracks. The character of Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
When the episode first aired on October 4, 2006 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was watched by an average of 19 million American viewers, making it the fourth most watched episode of the week. It premiered to generally positive reviews, with many praising Mitchell's new character.
On the Island
New character Juliet BurkeJuliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
(Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
) prepares for a book club meeting in a modern suburban home. The club is in a heated discussion of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's Carrie
Carrie (novel)
Carrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...
, when they are interrupted by what sounds like an earthquake. The group leaves Juliet's house and Ben Linus (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
), previously known as "Henry Gale" to the survivors, appears along with Ethan Rom (William Mapother
William Mapother
William Reibert Mapother, Jr. is an American actor and former teacher, perhaps best known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost.-Personal life:...
), looking up to watch Oceanic Flight 815 break apart in mid-air. Ben quickly orders Goodwin (Brett Cullen
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
) 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.
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) wakes up on the floor of a locker room. Tom
Tom (Lost)
Tom Friendly, often referred to as Tom or Mr. Friendly, is a recurring fictional character portrayed by M. C. Gainey on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost. The series follows the lives of around forty survivors from the crash of Oceanic Flight 815...
(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. She asks him why he is doing this, and he tells her that he wanted to give her something pleasant to remember, as the next two weeks will be "very unpleasant." James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
) wakes up in a cage in the jungle near the Hydra station. A teenager, Karl (Blake Bashoff
Blake Bashoff
Blake Warren Bashoff is an American television and motion picture actor, known for his role as Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening. He has also appeared in a number of guest roles on television series, including the ABC series Lost as Karl Martin.- Life and career :Bashoff was born in Philadelphia,...
), in a nearby cage initially ignores Sawyer but then later expresses interest in Sawyer's camp and unlocks his cage then Sawyer's. However, they are both caught and Tom makes Karl, who is now beaten and bloody, apologize to Sawyer before taking the teen away. Sawyer figures out the mechanical puzzle in his cage, though Tom says it "only took the bears two hours." Kate is then put in Karl's (now empty) cage.
Jack wakes up in a cell in the Hydra Station, where Juliet gently interrogates him. At one point Jack attacks her and attempts to escape, holding an improvised weapon at her throat. He orders her to open a door, but she refuses to comply, claiming that doing so would kill them both. Ben appears and agrees that opening the door will kill them all. Jack throws Juliet away, and then opens the door. As Ben dashes back through the door he came in, water starts rushing into the hallway. Juliet helps Jack struggle into an adjoining room, tells him to push a button which she had previously mentioned was for emergencies. He does so and she knocks him unconscious. When he awakes, she shows Jack a file which she says contains documents about his entire life. Juliet asks Jack if he has any questions about Sarah. After a pause, he asks, "Is she happy?" Juliet replies yes, and walks outside, and Ben congratulates her on a job well done.
Flashbacks
In Jack's flashbacks, Jack is going through a divorce from his wife Sarah (Julie BowenJulie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
). He demands to know who she has been dating, but she refuses to tell him, so he spies on her and steals her cell phone. He proceeds to call every number in her phone, and his father Christian Shephard
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
's (John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
) cell phone rings. After following Christian to an Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
meeting, Jack accuses him of sleeping with his wife and physically attacks him. After Jack is arrested, Sarah pays his bail, and tells him Christian is no longer sober. She then leaves with an unidentified man, after telling Jack that "now [he has] something to fix."
Casting
"A Tale of Two Cities" was the first episode to introduce the character of Juliet. The actress who plays her, Elizabeth MitchellElizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
, was cast in late July 2006 as a new series regular, who was meant to be a possible love interest for Jack. Mitchell has commented her first or second day of shooting was the opening sequence, when the Others watched Oceanic 815 fall out of the sky. When she first met actor Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
they briefly introduced themselves, but most of their initial conversation was in regard to the script and their characters. Mitchell found this helpful while shooting the premiere's scenes, since then they knew the other as their characters, and not as Matthew and Elizabeth. The scene in which Jack yells at Juliet, and she responds "No Jack, I think you're stubborn", was used as her audition scene. One of the Others, Amelia, was played by the elderly Julie Adams
Julie Adams
Julie Adams is an American film and television actress, sometimes credited as Julia Adams or Betty Adams.-Life and career:...
, who was the protagonist in Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes...
. Previous guest actors William Mapother
William Mapother
William Reibert Mapother, Jr. is an American actor and former teacher, perhaps best known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost.-Personal life:...
, Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
, M.C. Gainey, Brett Cullen
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
, and John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
made brief appearances in the episode. The premiere marked the first appearances of recurring guest actors Blake Bashoff
Blake Bashoff
Blake Warren Bashoff is an American television and motion picture actor, known for his role as Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening. He has also appeared in a number of guest roles on television series, including the ABC series Lost as Karl Martin.- Life and career :Bashoff was born in Philadelphia,...
and Stephen Semel
Stephen Semel
Stephen Semel is an American Emmy-nominated film and television editor, producer, production manager, and actor...
. In addition to Mitchell's new billing, only four other characters of star billing appeared in the episode: Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
, depicting Ben Linus, was promoted to a main character for the third season; the other three were Matthew Fox playing Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
, Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
as Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
and Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
as Sawyer. Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
was also promoted to a main character as Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
, along with new characters Nikki and Paulo
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
, played by Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
and Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
respectively. Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley is an American teen actor. He starred in the 2004 film You Got Served as "Li'l Saint". He also appears in the television series Lost as the character Walt Lloyd. A regular cast member in the show's first season , he has appeared only occasionally since due to a dramatic...
(Walt Lloyd
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
), Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
), Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
(Ana Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Michelle Rodriguez. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section...
), and Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
(Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
) were no longer credited as main characters after each of their characters were written out at the end of the previous season.
Writing
Co-creators and executive producers Damon LindelofDamon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and J.J. Abrams wrote the premiere's teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
based upon a story by Lindelof. The episode was Abrams' first Lost writing credit since the pilot
Pilot (Lost)
"Pilot" constitutes the first and second episodes of the first season of ABC television series Lost, with "Part 1" premiering on September 22, 2004 and Part 2 on September 29, 2004. The episodes were directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by him along with Damon Lindelof, based on a story by them and...
. They laid out the third season with the idea of "us versus them"; Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, a showrunner, explained, "And who is us? And who is them? I mean I think we all tend to objectify people who we don't know much about and I think that's the audience's view of The Others right now -- they are bad, they are the malevolent force on the island. But over the course of the stories we're going to be telling this season on the show we expect the audience's view of The Others to change a lot."
The opening sequence of the episode was meant to replicate the same idea of season 2's premiere "Man of Science, Man of Faith
Man of Science, Man of Faith
"Man of Science, Man of Faith" is the first episode of the second season of Lost and the 26th episode overall. The episode was directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof. It first aired on September 21, 2005 on ABC. The flashbacks focus on Jack Shephard's struggle to heal Sarah, who...
", where what seems to be a flashback is instead set on a new part of the island. Director Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
questioned what Jack's goal was when he pulled on the chain, but Lindelof told him not to worry, because "Fox will sell it, and he did". 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". The scene with Kate in a dress was inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, where Belloq gives a dress for Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood
Marion Ravenwood Jones is a fictional character that first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Played by Karen Allen, she enters the story when Indiana Jones visits her in Nepal, needing her help — specifically, he needs an artifact in her possession, originally obtained by her...
to wear, and was intended to make "tom-boyish" Kate feel vulnerable. The title, inspired by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' eponymous novel
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
, refers to the reveal of another "city" on the island with the place where the Others live, in addition to the castaways' beach camp. The episode has only three characters of the second season's main cast, Jack, Kate and Sawyer. 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.
In the episode, Tom tells Kate that she is not his type. This comment resulted in online discussion in regard to Tom's sexual orientation, and Lindelof and Cuse hinted that a Lost character would later be outed. Gainey joked, "if [Kate's] not your type, you're gay", and began playing the character as such. After the broadcast of "Meet Kevin Johnson
Meet Kevin Johnson
"Meet Kevin Johnson" is the 80th television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and the eighth episode of the fourth season. It was written in October and November 2007 by supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff and co-producer Brian K. Vaughan, and directed in November by...
", Lindelof and Cuse confirmed that the line from the third season premiere is an allusion to Tom's sexuality, but felt that it needed to be explicitly confirmed in the show, although Lindelof noted that the confirmation scene in "Meet Kevin Johnson" "was not subtle, to say the least". The beginning of the episode featured a scene where Juliet and Amelia discuss Ben's feelings for Juliet, which was shot but deleted. This scene was later made into the twelfth "Lost: Missing Pieces
Lost: Missing Pieces
Lost: Missing Pieces is a series of thirteen video clips ranging in length from one to four minutes that aired during the hiatus between the 3rd and 4th seasons of the television show Lost, from which the series is spun off...
" mobisode, "The Envelope".
Filming
The exterior of the Hydra was shot in an abandoned theme park, which art director Andrew Murdock thought it fit as a location for the "kind of blocky, 80's-style architecture", where everything was "aged, industrial, and a little bit larger, and a little bit unusual". The opening sequence features Petula ClarkPetula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
's "Downtown"
Downtown (Petula Clark song)
"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark, became an international hit – No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK – at the end of 1964.-Original recording:...
, a song that would later be used in another third season episode
One of Us (Lost)
"One of Us" is the 16th episode of the third season of Lost. It aired on April 11, 2007, making it the 65th episode of the series. The episode was written by Carlton Cuse and Drew Goddard and directed by Jack Bender...
featuring Juliet. Another song heard in the premiere, "Moonlight Serenade
Moonlight Serenade
Moonlight Serenade is an album by the American singer-songwriter Carly Simon. It is her 22nd studio album , and her fourth album of pop standards....
by Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, was first used in the season two episode "The Long Con". Lindelof has stated the songs they choose for Lost were often inspired from his childhood, when his mother would vacuum to music on Sundays.
Reception
On its original broadcast in the United States on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, the premiere was watched by an estimated 18.82 million viewers, making it the most watched episode of the night and the fourth most watched of the week. "A Tale of Two Cities" had four million less viewers than the previous season premiere
Man of Science, Man of Faith
"Man of Science, Man of Faith" is the first episode of the second season of Lost and the 26th episode overall. The episode was directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof. It first aired on September 21, 2005 on ABC. The flashbacks focus on Jack Shephard's struggle to heal Sarah, who...
. In Canada, the episode was watched by 1.972 million viewers on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, easily winning its timeslot.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
'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". Carabott also praised Jack's flashbacks, writing "Previously, Jack has been written as the white knight and reluctant hero who everyone looked to in their time of need. The more chinks they show in Jack's armor, the better - the more human he becomes." He called "Juliet... a promising new character who will hopefully add a new dimension to The Others this season" and concluded his review by calling the episode "a solid season opener". Robert Bianco from USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
praised the opening scene and called the episode "a fine start for a great series" but with reservations. Bianco wished Jack would "win one again for the team", and was fearful that Lost could eventually become like Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
, "a series that became so entranced by its puzzle and its villains that it let the main characters vanish behind them". On a list of Lost episodes, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
ranked "A Tale of Two Cities" number 66 out of 113 episodes, explaining it was "Not bad. The introduction of Juliet is a killer, and Jack raging against the Others is fun. But many of the big revelations -- Ben's name, for example -- aren't very well handled." On a similar list, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
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".
Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
submitted this episode for consideration on his behalf in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winners.-1950s:*1956: Robert Young as Jim Anderson - Father Knows Best*1957: Robert Young as Jim Anderson - Father Knows Best...
" at the 2007 Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
.