The Other Woman - Reception

Reception

"The Other Woman" was watched live or recorded and watched within five hours of broadcast by 13.008 million viewers in the United States, ranking seventh for the week in television programs with the most viewers and achieving a 5.4/13 in the coveted adults aged eighteen to forty-nine demographic. Including those who watched within seven days of broadcast, the episode was watched by a total of 14.933 million American viewers; this number went toward the season's average. 1.439 million Canadians watched it, making Lost the eighth highest-rated show of the week. In the United Kingdom, 1.1 million people viewed the episode. The episode brought in 691,000 viewers in Australia, placing it as the twenty-second most watched show of the night.

A common claim by critics of Entertainment Weekly, IGN, SyFy Portal, AOL's TV Squad and BuddyTV was that more was learned about supporting player Ben, instead of Juliet who was centered on in flashbacks. Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly praised Emerson's acting and stated that "in the end, this was really a story about Ben and the lengths he will go to protect himself and the Island from his enemies." SyFy Portal's Dan Compora said that "The more I hate Ben, the more I realize that Michael Emerson is just a very fine actor doing his job." Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV called Emerson an acting "god" and said that "The Other Woman" was "ostensibly a Juliet episode, Ben's presence made a far bigger impression on me". Despite Emerson's shadow, Elizabeth Mitchell received the award for "Best Supporting Actress on Television" at the 34th Saturn Awards in a tie with Summer Glau, who plays Cameron Phillips in FOX's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

"The Other Woman" has been cited as the weakest episode of Lost's fourth season. Despite his claim, Patrick Day of the Los Angeles Times pointed out that "even this so-so episode of Lost stood far above anything else being shown on network TV this season". He noted that the "most heartbreaking scene" was Claire Littleton's (Emilie de Ravin) appearance because it reminded him of how little the character had done to advance the season's plot. BuddyTV's John Kubicek dubbed "The Other Woman" "the worst episode of Lost season four so far" because it "followed the soap opera that is the romantic entanglements of the major players, which is not the reason most people love Lost." Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly graded the episode as a "C–" and called it "the only true dud of the season". He thought that its "story was kinda all over the place" and that "the whole thing felt forced". Jensen was not fond of Andrea Roth's guest performance because he felt that "she came off as too arch and unreal." In contrast, TV Guide's Bruce Fretts praised Roth's "suitably creepy" appearance. Other critics also reviewed the episode as poor. Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune said that "The Other Woman" "seemed somewhat pallid and predictable … several elements … felt like they'd been recycled from previous seasons and story arcs." The Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall considered the episode to be the second weakest of the fourth season after "Eggtown". He criticized the Tempest storyline due to a lack of explanation for the station's original purpose and thought that Juliet's flashbacks were redundant.

"The Other Woman" was also the subject of mixed reviews. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "I really liked this episode, but I liked it less than the … it seems that someone took their foot off the gas just a fraction and the reduction in speed was notable. Time's James Poniewozik had mixed feelings for the flashbacks, but enjoyed Ben's character development. Nikki Stafford of Wizard "enjoyed" the "interesting" episode, although "not nearly as much" as the previous episode. She rejoiced at the return of her "favorite Other" Tom (M.C. Gainey) and wrote that "Locke used to be one of favorite characters, but now he's a tool". Digital Spy's Ben Rawson-Jones stated that "the episode came together nicely in the end, with an expected twist and a snog, although for a great part it bordered on tedium. Juliet is a character who simply isn't interesting enough to fully sustain one's attention over a flashback. She's been so peripheral and irrelevant over this season, and it felt like a token gesture to foreground her at last. There was a nice pay off though, with a long awaited smooch between her and Jack." Daniel of TMZ graded the episode as a "C+"; however, he wrote that "the Ben/Locke scenes were great and Juliet in a bikini did not disappoint." TV Squad's Erin Martell was "not impressed with Jack and Juliet's chemistry" and found their kiss "unconvincing". Martell commended Emerson's acting, Ben's one-liners and his "too funny for words" casual greeting to Hurley and Sawyer at the end of the episode after he is released from captivity. The Huffington Post's Jay Glatfelter thought that "this was another great episode could have lived up to last week's episode, but there was still a lot of solid character development."

Verne Gay of Newsday referred to the episode as "yet another brilliant outing by TV's best drama keeps getting better"; she was not the only critic to give a positive review. E!'s Kristin Dos Santos thought that the fight scene between Juliet and Charlotte in the Tempest was "awesome" and suggested that Alan Dale receive a "lifetime achievement award for his parade of marvelously malicious patriarchs", such as Widmore. Chris Carabott of IGN gave the episode a score of eight out of ten and described it as "a good episode of Lost that has all the action, suspense and excitement that this show consistently delivers". Carabott wrote that "seeing how twisted 'relationship' really is was fascinating". SyFy Portal's Dan Compora wrote that "this week's episode contributed to what is shaping up to be a pretty solid fourth season. … Fine acting carried the episode despite a few potholes in the plot." Compora also enjoyed the title and the "nice cat fight" in the Tempest between Juliet and Charlotte.