Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character portrayed by Elizabeth Mitchell on the ABC television series Lost. Created by J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the character was introduced in the third season as a member of the hostile group referred to as "the Others" by the crash survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. Flashbacks reveal Juliet's past as a research specialist recruited to solve the Island's fertility problem causing pregnant women to die after conception. Prevented from leaving the Island and seeing her sister again by Ben Linus until she finds a solution, she quickly betrays Ben and the Others when she is sent as a spy to the survivors' camp. Juliet initially grows close to the castaways' leader, Jack Shephard, but ultimately falls in love and forms a relationship with James "Sawyer" Ford, with whom she moves on to the afterlife in the series finale. The character has also appeared in several spin-off webisodes of Lost: Missing Pieces, with Mitchell reprising her role.
Both the character and Mitchell's performance have received significant praise from critics and fans. Mitchell was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2010.
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Character biography
As a child, Juliet Carlson is devastated to learn her parents (Michael Trisler and Amy Stewart) are getting a divorce; her mother explains that although they love each other, they are not meant to be together. Juliet grows up to become a fertility doctor living in Miami, Florida, with her sister Rachel Carlson (Robin Weigert). Under her married name of Juliet Burke, she works for her ex-husband Edmund Burke (Željko Ivanek) as a researcher at Miami Central University. She performs unauthorised experiments attempting to restore Rachel's fertility, as her reproductive system has been ravaged by chemotherapy and rendered sterile. Juliet even manages to impregnate a male mouse during a test trial, though it does not carry to term.
In 2001, Juliet is approached by Richard Alpert (Néstor Carbonell) of Mittelos Bioscience who offers her a job in Portland, Oregon. Stating that Edmund would never allow her to leave the university, Juliet sarcastically jokes she would only be able to accept the offer "if he were hit by a bus". Juliet learns from Rachel that her experiments worked as she is finally pregnant. As she informs Edmund that she does not want the news published to maintain Rachel's privacy, he is hit and killed by a bus. Richard and Ethan Rom (William Mapother) show up at the morgue to offer Juliet another chance to accept the job to which she agrees, believing it would only last six months somewhere "not quite in Portland." Soon after, Rachel's cancer goes into remission. As Juliet prepares for departure, Richard asks her to drink orange juice mixed with tranquilizer, stating it would be best if she is asleep for the journey. She expresses her reservations but Richard assures her that her miraculous impregnation of Rachel against all odds is just the start of what she can accomplish and promises she will see things beyond her comprehension. Tempted by her curiosity, Juliet drinks the juice and promptly falls unconscious.
Arrival on the Island
Juliet awakens aboard Galaga submarine. Ethan helps her up and she disembarks onto a pier where she is greeted by Benjamin "Ben" Linus (Michael Emerson), the leader of "the Others", who welcomes her to the Island. Juliet is presented with her own newly furnished house at the Others' Barracks, and also begins having therapy sessions with Dr. Harper Stanhope (Andrea Roth). In September 2001, after the six months on the Island that she agreed to passes, Juliet tells Ben the fertility problem causing pregnant women to die occurs during conception. Juliet reasons there is nothing more she can do and asks to go home, but Ben informs her that Rachel's cancer has returned and promises to cure it if she stays on the Island to continue her work.
For the next three years, Juliet's test subjects experience uniformly fatal results. At some point, Juliet begins having an affair with Harper's estranged husband, Goodwin Stanhope (Brett Cullen). Harper discovers this and warns Juliet that should her relationship with Goodwin not come to an end immediately, they will face dire consequences from Ben, alluding to the latter's jealous romantic affections for Juliet. Juliet becomes suspicious of Ben when she notices a spinal tumor on his x-rays; since Ben is diagnosed with cancer, she becomes convinced that he lied about being able to cure Rachel. Enraged, Juliet confronts him over his apparent deception and tearfully asks to leave the Island but Ben refuses, generating hostility. The next day, a distraught Juliet prepares to host a book club at her house when she is visited by Amelia (Julie Adams). Juliet prepares to show her Ben's x-rays but the rest of the club arrives. While discussing the novel Carrie, Juliet and the Others witness Oceanic Flight 815 crashing on the Island on September 22, 2004.
Following the crash
Immediately after the plane crashes, Ben dispatches Goodwin and Ethan to infiltrate the survivors; it soon becomes apparent that Ben sent Goodwin away out of jealousy for Juliet's affections. At the Flame station, Mikhail Bakunin (Andrew Divoff) shows Juliet live footage of a cancer-free Rachel with her two-year-old son, Julian, presumably named after her. Juliet breaks down into tears and unsuccessfully pleads with Ben to let her go home to her family. Weeks later, Juliet is invited to Ben's house for a dinner party only to discover that Ben has arranged a private date. Juliet asks about Goodwin and Ben attempts to sow discord between the two by implying that Goodwin is romantically interested in Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez). After a few days, Juliet is led by Ben to Goodwin's impaled corpse after he was killed by Ana Lucia. Juliet accuses Ben of orchestrating Goodwin's death, causing Ben to reveal his jealous obsession with her by angrily claiming, "You're mine." A distressed Juliet is left mourning over Goodwin's body.
Juliet and Ben later watch footage of the crash survivors from the Pearl station's surveillance monitors. Ben reveals his intention to kidnap and "persuade" them into helping him. Juliet and Ben depart shortly after, inadvertently leaving behind a walkie-talkie which is picked up by Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro). Juliet helps take care of the young crash survivors that are kidnapped by the Others, including Zack (Mickey Graue) and Emma (Kiersten Havelock). After they abduct Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) and keep him in "Room 23", Juliet supervises him and realizes he is "dangerous", noting the pile of dead birds outside his cell. The Others later manage to capture Walt's father, Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau). Juliet visits Michael and informs him that the Others have agreed to give him a boat in exchange for his help in freeing Ben, who has been caught by the survivors. Juliet comments that Walt is "special" and should be taken away from the Island as soon as possible.
Juliet is assigned to watch and interrogate Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), who has been captured by the Others and held in the underwater section of the Hydra station, located on a small island two miles offshore from the main Island. Jack initially refuses to cooperate but Juliet ultimately manages to break through and the two grow closer. She later seeks Jack's help in operating on Colleen Pickett (Paula Malcomson) when she is shot, though the surgery proves unsuccessful. In the operating room, Jack notices Ben's x-rays on the wall and deduces that he was kidnapped to remove his tumor. Juliet is sent to convince Jack to operate on Ben, but she surreptitiously plays a video of herself using cue cards telling Jack to kill Ben during the surgery and to make it look like an accident. Jack agrees to do the surgery but ends up slitting Ben's kidney sac to blackmail the Others into letting James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) go. In an attempt to force Jack to play his role in her scheme to kill Ben, Juliet threatens to have Sawyer and Kate killed, after which Jack reveals Juliet's treachery to the Others. Ben wakes up during the surgery and concedes to Jack's demands, privately asking Juliet to help Sawyer and Kate escape in exchange for her freedom and finally letting her off the Island. She finds Sawyer and Kate held at gunpoint by Danny Pickett (Michael Bowen), whom she shoots and kills on the spot before helping the two escape from Hydra Island back to the main Island.
Development
Elizabeth Mitchell was cast as a new series regular on Lost in late July, 2006. Her character, Dr. Juliet Burke, was conceived by the writers as the bridge between the Others and the survivors as well as the next possible love interest for Jack, though her arc was further developed and expanded upon as the story progressed. Mitchell commented, "They needed a bridge between Ben and everyone else, and they needed someone to come in and be a little salt in the oyster of Jack and Kate."
The third season's premiere, "A Tale of Two Cities", was the first episode of Lost to feature Juliet. Mitchell has commented one of her first days shooting was for the season's opening sequence, during which the Others watch Oceanic Flight 815 fall out of the sky and crash on the Island. 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. While she is initially depicted as a morally ambiguous antiheroine, Juliet is, over the course of the series, shown to be an intelligent and resourceful individual who tries to help others but often feels conflicted over her own needs.
Reception
Both the character and Elizabeth Mitchell's performance have received significant praise from critics and fans. Juliet is widely considered to be the best female character on Lost and is often ranked on lists of the top 10 characters of the series.
Juliet's debut in the third season's premiere "A Tale of Two Cities" received a positive response, with the Los Angeles Times praising her "killer" introduction. IGN found her first encounters with Jack "interesting", and called her "a promising new character who will hopefully add a new dimension to The Others." Juliet's moral ambiguity and initially mysterious true intentions were also met with praise. Entertainment Weekly described "scheming Juliet" as "captivating". Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune opined that Juliet replaced Ben Linus as the "most chilling villain on Lost" and declared her the "Best female villain of the fall of 2006", writing, "Her icy reserve is what makes Juliet so effective as a character; does it mask sorrow or a heart of stone? Not knowing is what gives her scenes such suspense."
The display of the character's "more human side" through flashbacks in "Not in Portland" was lauded by IGN's Chris Carabott, who deemed the episode worthy of getting viewers "back on the Lost hype train." Carabott also deemed Elizabeth Mitchell's performance in the subsequent Juliet-centric episode "One of Us" as "[Mitchell's] best of the season," writing, "She does a wonderful job portraying the character's emotional rollercoaster ride from confident scientist to heartbroken captive of the Others." BuddyTV Senior Writer Jon Lachonis also complimented Mitchell's "sensitive, enigmatic portrayal" of Juliet in "One of Us", which he called "the most perfect episode of Lost ever produced, bar none."
For her performance in the fourth season's Juliet-centric episode, "The Other Woman", Mitchell won the award for "Best Supporting Actress on Television" at the 34th Saturn Awards in 2008.
Mitchell submitted her performance in the episode "One of Us" for consideration on her behalf in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" at the 2007 Emmy Awards, but was not nominated. She did, however, receive an Emmy nomination in 2010 for her performance in the series finale "The End", this time in the guest actress category.