5. We get a peek inside ''Room 23.''

Brainwashing? Aversion therapy? The Others' idea of ''a night out at the movies''? We're still puzzling through the creepy-cryptic flick inside Room 23 of the Hydra Station, with its psychedelic imagery, back-masking messages (''Only fools are trapped in time and space''), and oblique reference to the godfather of The Others, Jacob. It was one of many meaty mythic bits in ''Not in Portland,'' which, combined with the season's other Juliet-centric outing, ''One of Us,'' earned our vote for the best episodes of the season.