"The Story of Juliet" [Part 2/2]
Part 1: Mind Games || Part 2: Matters of the Heart
10 picspams in total w/ commentary
For the Big Bang challenge @ lost_land
Part 2 - Matters of the Heart
"It doesn't matter who we were. It only matters who we are."
Locke: Juliet is a mole.
Sawyer: What?
Locke: She's working for Ben. He sent her back to find out which of our women were pregnant. Three days from now, there's gonna be a raid on the beach and they're gonna take them. They say they don't want anyone to get hurt.
Sawyer: Why are you telling me this?
Locke: So you can warn the camp.
*****
Juliet: We should tell her.
Jack: No.
Kate: Tell me what?
Juliet: We should tell her.
Jack: (Whispers) Not yet.
*****
Juliet: You wanna burn me at the stake, here I am, but first, turn the tape over, press play. (To Sun) The night I saw your baby on the ultrasound, I told Jack what they were making me do.
And in the greatest twist of all - Juliet chose to be a double-double agent ♥ I loved that in the end, she was essentially with the survivors. Just when I thought that with twist after twist the writers had decided to make her a permanent Other - BAM! In a final "gotcha!" moment, they turned it all around yet again ;) Even better, I love that it all sort of happened on her terms - that she wasn't forced to pick a side - she clearly chose where she wanted to stand. She had been caught in the middle for so long, adapting to her environments in order to survive - doing things she never thought she was capable of doing. And though she had clear orders from Ben, even though she had all of the survivors, especially Jack, wrapped around her finger - she chose who she wanted to be.
I love that, yet again, she was somehow steps ahead of everyone. Just when the survivors think they've got the advantage, she does the unexpected. Even more amazing: she told Jack on the night she gave Sun her ultrasound. That's who Juliet is at heart - that same woman who cared & loved her sister with all her heart, that woman who loved the gift of life. She wasn't found out (as I feared she would be), she willingly told the truth. And this time, I was sure this wasn't part of any plan. This was Juliet writing her own destiny, her own path - for the first time in years ♥
Faraday: All right, first group in the raft. We can fit six.
Juliet: Okay, okay, hold on. Sun is pregnant. You should go first.
*****
Juliet: Did you get them all to the boat?
Faraday: Yeah, everybody's safe. (...) Let me guess. You're not coming.
Juliet: I promised I wouldn't leave until I got everyone here safely off this island. Relax. I'll still be here when you get back.
Faraday: Right, right... when I get back. Okay. Everybody ready? Let's get started. Off we go.
*****
Sawyer: Whatcha celebratin'?
Juliet: I'm not celebrating.
Sawyer: Is that our boat?
Juliet: It was.
Oh, Juliet... There are many qualities embodied by the character of Juliet Burke - kindness, intelligence, patience, understanding, perseverance - but I don't think there is any more admirable that her incredible capacity for selflessness. In everything she did, it was always others before herself. Every single choice she made, it was for the best of others. I have a feeling that's how she ended up marrying Edmund... it certainly was the case in her loving care of her sister. And without a doubt, it is how she found herself on the island and how she continued to adapt & survive amongst the Others. She always gave of herself, never expecting anything in return.
And here, she finally has her chance to leave the island - of all of them, she's the one who has been trapped the longest. Three freakin' years. Yet what does she do? She gives up her seat - absolutely amazing and heartbreaking all at once. She refuses to leave until everyone is safely off the island. I literally cannot even. I'd very much like to believe that I am even slightly capable of making such a sacrifice in a similar situation...
but honestly, I do not know if I would...
It's that sacrifice that absolutely breaks my heart when I see her on the beach, once again, alone. And I love the contrast - the rum, Juliet getting drunk - in that moment, it's the completely selfish act of wanting to escape, to feel anything but the reality of things. And she deserves every bit of that moment. It's hilarious that not only does she have absolutely no reaction to a shirtless Sawyer, but she doesn't even react to the fact that he's alive. She doesn't even really care that she could have died by being on the freighter - just the fact that she wasn't is reason enough to try to drink her sorrows away.
Sawyer: Thanks for getting my back for that whole beach issue.
Juliet: You should thank me. It was a stupid idea.
Sawyer: Well, what does that say about you agreeing with me?
Juliet: Any plan is better than no plan. Besides, if I hadn't agreed with you, we'd still be arguing about where to go next. I just hope you figure out something better before we get there.
Sawyer: Well, I'm open to suggestions.
*****
Sawyer: You still got my back?
Juliet: Absolutely.
*****
Juliet: I'm going to leave.
Sawyer: You do realize it's 1974, that whatever it is you think you're going back to... it don't exist yet.
Juliet: (Wiping her face) It's not a reason not to go.
Sawyer: Well, what about me? You really gonna leave me here with the mad scientist and Mr. "I Speak to Dead People"?
Juliet: (Smiling) You'll be fine.
Sawyer: Maybe... but who's gonna get my back? Come on. Just give me two weeks, that's all I'm asking. Two weeks.
Juliet: All right. Two weeks.
Oh gosh, this all just reinforces her incredible selfless nature. Once again, she had her chance to get off the darn rock, 1974 or not.
It just makes my heart ache thinking how many times she could've actually escaped her eventual... fate. :'( But she stayed ♥
I love, love, love the fact that there's this underlying contrast between rationality and emotion - Juliet, always the steady and rational one (as partly demonstrated from that earlier conversation with Sawyer during their walk) truly can't find a rational reason to leave. I kind of love that Sawyer first appeals to that side of her - and how it's kind of surprising that at first she ignores his reasoning, haha. I mean really - it is 1974. Then he gives himself as a reason. And I love how she tries to explain even that away - "You'll be fine." But then he turns on that charm :') And I'm sure there are many other reasons as to why she finally decided to stay - but I'd like to believe she truly stayed for him. That the final reason for her staying wasn't really a rational one at all ♥
It's no surprise that Juliet would choose to be where she was needed; that had been the case for her along. And for once, someone actually needed her to simply be there for them - it wasn't about her talents as a doctor, it wasn't about money or research, it wasn't about blood ties or obligation - it was all simply because he needed her there. For who she was. And the truth of that notion just makes this entire scene so, SO beautiful.
And I know the scene's not here, but it shatters my heart that Sawyer shoulders such guilt... that scene with Kate on THIS dock in Season 6. I tear up every time ...
Sawyer: It's not your fault she's dead. It's mine. (eyes welling with tears)
She was sittin' right there, right where you are now, tryin' to leave this place. And I convinced her to stay.
I made her stay on this island... 'cause I didn't want to be alone. You understand that, right?
Juliet: What's up?
Sawyer: Amy's having her baby. She's in trouble. Doc says she needs a Caesarean.
Juliet: We had an agreement.
Sawyer: Screw our agreement. He ain't never done one. I'm guessing you have.
Juliet: Don't you understand that every time I try to help a woman on this island give birth, it hasn't worked?
Sawyer: Well, maybe whatever made that happen hasn't happened yet. You gotta try. You gotta help her. You're the only one that can.
*****
Sawyer: Listen... you're gonna do great. I know you are.
*****
Sawyer: What happened?
Juliet: It's a boy.
Sawyer: He's okay? She's okay?
Juliet: (Sobbing) Everyone's okay.
*****
Juliet: Is that for me?
Sawyer: You were amazing today.
Juliet: Thank you for believing in me.
"LaFleur" was such a powerfully emotional episode. Forget what I said about "One of Us" - this here might be the episode I would choose to save from the apocalypse :') I know this is very much becoming a Sawyer & Juliet picspam - but only because Sawyer was such an integral part to who Juliet truly was, as her own person. All her life, it was never about her or her own identity - it was always about who she was to others. Who others wanted her to be. She was an ex-wife, a sister, a doctor, an interrogator - time and time again she formed her identity around the expectations others had of her. That was, until she met Sawyer.
Not once did Sawyer ever tell Juliet who she needed to be - he always pushed her to be who she was at heart, to be true to herself and her remarkable abilities.
Sawyer asked nothing of her but to be his equal ♥
The first scene - it always stood out for me. Not once in my entire time knowing Juliet on the island had I seen her this fearful, this unwilling to help. She's so darn scared - her usual disposition of composure and calm threatening to break. And she has every right to be - in this ideal past, it would be absolutely devastating to not only ruin the happiness within this perfect commune, but the life she, Sawyer, Miles, and Jin had built for themselves. But Sawyer believed in her - here was someone who knew her, even better than she knew herself.
And it makes my heart soar and ache all at once. These two ♥ ♥ Such an unlikely pairing - but when they were together, it couldn't be any more right and perfect. I was excited that in the process of this Big Bang, I had a chance to see how their relationship developed - they both grew so much as characters, both independently and together. I had previously shipped Sawyer/Kate and Jack/Juliet - as I would think a good half of us did - but another quality I love about LOST is the fact that it shows you can have many memorable loves throughout your life, but there's always just that one person who makes you better than you ever thought you could be. Who truly completes you.
It's for that reason that I can never understand the arguments or disappointment some viewers have in Season 3 Juliet vs. Season 5, or Sawyer vs. James - how others somehow viewed all of this as a digression. It was anything but. Yes, relationships should involve the acceptance of one another's flaws, but the truly great loves are the ones that make you want to be more than what you are. And James did for Juliet what nobody else ever could: he helped her to finally find herself in her own inherent strength and remarkable self-worth.
And I love that they had one another for 3 years. For Juliet, it was never so much about escaping from anything as it was about finding meaning in something.
And she found it here, in this time and on this island. And so she stayed - weeks became years. ♥
Sawyer: Stop! We gotta talk about this!
Juliet: There's nothing to talk about, James. We have to let Jack do what he came here to do.
Sawyer: Well, maybe you shoulda told me you had a change of heart before I brought him out in the jungle to kick his ass. (...) Hey, hey! I need you to tell me where all this is coming from. I mean, one minute, you're leading the great sub escape, and now you're on board with blowing up the damn Island? I got a right to know why you changed your mind.
Juliet: I changed my mind when I saw you look at her. (Sawyer begins to object) Don't. Don't. (Whispers) Don't. Don't.
Sawyer: I don't care who I looked at. I'm with you.
Juliet: And you would stay with me forever if I let you, and that is why I will always love you. What we had, it was just for a little while, and just because we love each other, it doesn't mean that we're meant to be together. I mean, maybe we were never supposed to be together. So if Jack can make it that--that none of you ever come here, then he should.
Sawyer: Why you doing this, Juliet?
Juliet: (Voice breaking) I... if I never meet you, then I never have to lose you.
*****
Juliet: Help!
Sawyer: Juliet!
(She loses grip of the bar but Sawyer grabs her hand just in time.)
Sawyer: Where do you think you're going, Blondie? Kate! Help me get those chains off! Hold on! You hold on!
Juliet: (Crying) I can't. I can't get it off.
Sawyer: I got you.
(Metal creaks.)
Sawyer: Don't you leave me.
Juliet: It's okay.
Sawyer: Don't you leave me! You hold on!
Juliet: (Sobbing) I love you.
Sawyer: No, you don't let go!
Juliet: I love you, James.
Sawyer: Don't let go.
Juliet:: I love you so much.
(Juliet releases her grip, screaming as she falls down the shaft, disappearing from Sawyer's view)
I have so many FEELINGS about all of this, I don't think any amount of words will do any good. Where, or how, do you even begin? The entire scene, the dialogue - it plays like music. The contrasts play out so beautifully, in the most painful way. The fact that, at first, their understanding of each other is guarded and cryptic - and suddenly it's this open, raw, intense honesty and truth about who they are to each other. Her cold, distant, steady voice directly opposing his loud, confused anger - already, she's trying to distant herself... and when he reaches out, she physically pulls away. The look on his face - all of it, it's all so emotionally shattering.
And then she tells him the reason. And I know some view it as being out of character, and at first, I did too. But after watching it a couple more times, it is completely inline with who Juliet used to be - the insecurity, the self-doubt. And I love that he asks her twice - and her second answer is the real, raw truth - the heart of the matter. That their love is so real, to the point that it hurts her -- and her decision, I can never make up in my mind if it's the most selfless or most selfish act she's ever done. And I love that tension - it's both all at once. It's an endeavor to protect both herself and Sawyer, to protect their hearts - if the plan worked, she was willing to sacrifice these past three years, having him in her life., and yet at the same time it is all so she doesn't have to bear the thought of losing him.
It's all these underlying emotions that make the final scene of "The Incident" all the more painful and heartbreaking. I literally can't .... I cannot begin to imagine how so many of you watched this live. I unfortunately (or fortunately?) was spoiled, being a late-comer to the LOST fandom - but as to how it all played out was still a mystery for me. I just knew that it was coming... but even that knowledge didn't help. And how some of you make graphics for these scenes -- I was emotional just putting this together.
It brought me to tears that in the end, after all that was said and done, SHE was the one willing to lose him. That she was the one who let go. That she was the one who told him to let her go. That it would be okay... That she grabbed a rock and hit a bomb, just so Sawyer and the others would never have come to this place.
The rest of this is indescribable - it was the most painful and beautiful sacrifice, and everything we had come to love about Juliet Burke.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥