Juliet Burke

Template:Infobox Lost character Dr. Juliet Burke (née Carlson) is a fictional character, one of the main characters on the ABC television series Lost. She is played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere. She is named after the titular character from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

Fictional character biography

Prior to arrival on the island

Before coming to the island, Dr. Juliet Burke lived in Miami near her sister Rachel's apartment. Juliet was working for her ex-husband Edmund Burke as a fertility scientist at Miami Central University. While there, Edmund bullied an acquiescent Juliet and flaunted his sexual conquests. Despite her docile nature, Juliet, alluding to her ends justify the means philosophy, was performing unauthorized experiments on her sister, Rachel. Rachel's reproductive system had been ravaged by chemotherapy, rendering her sterile. Juliet was attempting to restore her fertility.

In 2001 she was approached and offered a job with Mittelos Bioscience. Alleging her ex-husband (Edmund) would never allow her to leave, Juliet jokingly asserted that she would not be able to accept the job offer unless he were hit by a bus. When Juliet returned home, her sister revealed to her that she was pregnant, prompting Juliet to locate and inform Edmund. After receiving the news, Edmund stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street, only to be hit by a bus. Edmund died from the injuries, and the representative from the company who had interviewed her earlier, Richard Alpert, showed up at the morgue with Ethan Rom. They expressed their condolences and again asked her to join their company. Juliet accepted. Soon after this, Rachel's cancer went into remission.

Upon arriving for her new career at Mittelos, Juliet became surprised at the amount of secrecy involved — not even knowing the location of where she would work. Juliet then entered a van and was driven to an airfield, where Richard Alpert gave her orange juice that he admitted was filled with tranquilizer. Sensing reservation on Juliet's part, Richard revealed that her expertise as a fertility specialist — especially her miraculous treatment of her sister — was the reason for her recruitment, promising that there are things on the island that she could only dream about. Persuaded, Juliet drank the juice and quickly fell unconscious.

On the island, prior to the crash

As she awakens aboard the Others' submarine, Juliet's barefeet, waist, and arms are strapped down for safety. She is freed by Ethan and then disembarks on the island and meets Ben. For the next three years, she treats pregnant mothers per Ben's orders, but with uniformly fatal results. Meanwhile, she enters into a relationship with Goodwin. She is discouraged by the lack of results, but is forced to remain on the island "until her work is done." Juliet seeks to return to her sister Rachel, but Ben reveals that her cancer has returned — she'll be dead before Juliet arrives. However, he promises that if Juliet stays, he will cure Rachel's cancer. She accepts this, but becomes suspicious of Ben when she discovers his spinal tumor on an x-ray. She then confronts him, upset over his deception about no one on the island getting cancer. She tearfully asks to go home to her dying sister — whom she believed was never going to be cured — but Ben refuses to let her go, creating hostility.

The next day, a distraught Juliet prepares to host a book club when she is visited by Amelia. Just as she is about to show her the contents of a hidden envelope, the rest of the book club arrive. Whilst discussing Carrie, Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the island; Juliet and the rest of the Others witness the plane breaking up in the air.

Following the crash

After dispatching Ethan and Goodwin to investigate the crash, Ben takes Juliet with him to see Mikhail, who opens a live satellite connection to North America, where her seemingly healthy sister is shown playing with her now two-year-old son, Julien. Juliet breaks down crying and begs Ben to let her return home, but again Ben refuses.

Later, Juliet and Ben enter the Pearl station, where they watch Jack from one of the monitors. Juliet mentions that she thinks Jack is cute. She soon questions Ben's motives for the planned kidnapping of Jack, to which he reveals his methods of persuasion. They leave shortly after, leaving behind a radio, which is picked up by Paulo.

When Michael is in captivity, Juliet visits him and informs him that the Others have granted him a boat to leave the island. She also comments on how Walt is "special." Later, Juliet tells Ben how dangerous Walt is becoming when he does something in "Room 23". Ben tells Juliet that he's only a child, but Juliet then takes Ben to a pile of dead birds and tells him that no child would do that.

Season 3

Juliet is assigned to interrogate a captured Jack in the underwater section of the Hydra station. She is also barefoot many times. At first, Jack refuses to cooperate, almost flooding the room, but Juliet manages to break through to him. She mostly brings him his food, but when she is called in to operate on Colleen, she soon seeks Jack's help. Colleen dies, and Juliet attends the funeral, where Ben asks her why she showed Jack his x-rays. When she is told to convince Jack to operate on Ben, she plays Jack a video of her holding up cue-cards, telling Jack to "accidentally" kill Ben during surgery. When a desperate Jack holds Ben hostage during surgery and angrily reveals Juliet's plan, she claims Jack is bluffing. Ben wakes up during surgery and bargains with her to help Kate and Sawyer escape in exchange for her freedom off the island. She finds them held at gunpoint by Pickett, and kills him on the spot. She is then tried for her crime, her hands and barefeet tied, but via a deal made by Jack, is spared execution by Ben. Instead, she is marked on her lower back and treated by Jack before returning to the barracks.

Since returning, and after the capture of Kate and Sayid, Ben instructs her to infiltrate the survivors' camp in order to gain information on Kate, as well as other potentially pregnant women. She is then handcuffed to Kate and placed in the jungle, where she pretends to have been gassed and abandoned with her. However, after being chased by the "Monster", Juliet unlocks the handcuffs, and shuts out the "Monster" using the sonar panel fence. The two return to camp, where Juliet frees Sayid. She migrates with the survivors soon after, under the protection of Jack. However, en route to retrieving medication for Claire, she narrowly avoids an interrogation from Sayid and Sawyer, and manages to help Claire. Juliet also takes Sun to the Staff station upon learning of her pregnancy, and uses the equipment to perform a scan on her fetus; she confirms that she conceived on the island, and informs her that she has until her second trimester, in roughly two months. Soon after, Juliet confesses to Jack about her purpose for being in the camp.

Later, Kate informs Jack and Juliet of Naomi's arrival, prompting them to leave abruptly. They find Rousseau in the jungle and form a plan. When they return, they discover that Sawyer has played Juliet's dictophone to the camp, revealing the notes she made on Sun's pregnancy. She then reveals that the Others intend on invading the camp and abducting the pregnant women. Juliet and Jack lead the camp into the jungle to demonstrate their plan to defeat the Others. However, when Karl arrives to warn them of their immediate arrival, Juliet discloses information on the Looking Glass station, used for blocking outgoing signals, before heading off to the radio tower with the majority of the camp. After witnessing Sayid's plan backfire, Juliet gives Jack a kiss before parting and joins Sawyer in his rescue effort on the beach. After Hurley runs over one of the surviving Others with the van, Juliet corners Tom while Sawyer unexpectedly shoots him in cold blood.

Season 4

In the season premiere, Juliet along with Sayid, Sawyer, Bernard and Jin, question Desmond about the warning Charlie had given before he died. However Hurley interrupts and questions Desmond of Charlie's whereabouts and Desmond tells them all that Charlie had died leaving the castaways devastated. Juliet is later present when Jack confronts Locke for the killing of Naomi and when the survivors split into two groups. Some survivors such as Sawyer, Hurley and Claire go with Locke to the barracks because they believe that the people arriving at the Island will not rescue them however the majority including Juliet remain with Jack in hopes of getting rescued. Juliet, along with Sayid, disarm Daniel and Miles who had Jack and Kate at gunpoint. Later, Frank figures out Juliet was not on the plane and asks her where Ben is.

When Faraday and Charlotte disappear without note from the camp, Juliet and Jack run into the jungle in search for the newcomers. Juliet is confronted by Harper — her former therapist — and ordered to kill Faraday and Charlotte, accused by Ben of heading to The Tempest chemical station, to kill everyone on the island. Juliet and Jack find Kate on their road to The Tempest, but as Jack treats Kate who was tied up and knocked unconscious by Charlotte, Juliet vanishes and pursues the two freighter people on her own. She finds them executing their mission in the station, and takes Faraday at gun point, just until Charlotte attacks her. When it turns out they are securing the station to prevent Ben from killing everyone on the island, she leaves them alone. Upon reuniting outside — and discussing the threat posed by a possessive Ben — Juliet and Jack share a kiss.