Ep 9. Stranger in a Strange Land

In the ninth episode of season three of Lost, titled "Stranger in a Strange Land," the plot centers around three separate storylines.

First, we follow Jack, who is being held captive by the Others. He's seen being shaved and bathed before being taken to a room where he's asked to operate on a woman. We learn that the Others are in desperate need of a surgeon, and Jack is their only option. However, Jack refuses to operate on the woman, prompting his captors to threaten to kill her. Through flashbacks, we discover that Jack had previously traveled to Thailand in search of his father, Christian. There, he becomes involved with a woman named Achara, who practices tattooing as part of a tradition that discerns people's true natures. Jack's tattoo reveals that he's a natural leader, which we can see on the island as well.

In another storyline, Kate and Sawyer are also being held captive by the Others. They are seen doing forced labor, digging trenches. Sawyer is shown being beaten by Pickett, the Other who has been holding him captive. Through flashbacks, we see a bit more of Kate's backstory. We learn that she had been living under an assumed identity and was captured by the U.S. Marshals just as she and Sawyer were trying to escape the country. This leads us to believe that she's being held captive for a similar reason on the island.

Finally, in the third storyline, we see that Sayid and Locke are both working on solving the mystery of the island and the Others. They discover a book entitled "The Valenzetti Equation," which is revealed to be the mathematical formula that predicts the end of the world. Sayid realizes that the Others might be trying to use this information to their advantage. Meanwhile, Locke has a vision of Walt, which leads him to believe that Walt is still alive and on the island.

Overall, "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a somewhat disjointed episode that doesn't advance the main plot very much. However, it does provide some interesting insight into the characters and their pasts. It's notable for being one of the most disliked episodes of the series, largely due to its placement in the season and its lack of action.