Summary: Flashbacks show that Sun did sleep with Jae. However, her father finds them together and is displeased. He sends Jin to deliver "a message" to Jae. Jin beats up Jae and decides to let him go, but Jae ultimately jumps off a balcony and kills himself. Mr. Paik goes to Sun and tells her that it's her place to tell Jin about her affair. On the island, Sayid realizes that Jack and co. have likely been captured and plans to lure the others and ambush them, despite Jin not wanting to go through with it. Sun keeps it secret from Jin, who is unhappy about it. They go through with the plan and Sun stays on the boat. However, the others arrive on the boat and steal it, and Sun shoots one of them to escape. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer are put to work by the others. Sawyer attempts an escape to gauge their enemies. He discusses his findings with Kate, not knowing that Ben is watching and listening to them. Ben goes to Jack and proves that they have contact with the outside world. He offers Jack a way off the island if Jack cooperates.
The Good: This was pretty solid television. Sun took center stage here and she got a decent storyline exploring how she has a tendency to lie to people, showing that she prioritizes self-preservation more than anything else, a trait that she more than likely developed from her father. This episode opens up with a big reveal that Sun did actually sleep with Jae and she was lying to Jin back in "The Whole Truth". This sets the tone for the rest of the episode which sees Sun once again keeping secrets from Jin, showing that she's yet to overcome her biggest character hurdle. It would have been more satisfying to see her overcome this flaw in this episode, but it works fine as a set-up for pay-off down the line. A nice touch is how Sun shoots Colleen at the end of the episode. We've learned how much Sun values self-preservation, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that she's willing to shoot to kill in order to save herself. I found the flashback storyline to be pretty compelling. Mr. Paik in particular was a joy to watch. "Lost" has consistently had terrific side characters (Rousseau, Christian, Desmond and Tom to name a few), and he is no exception. I really appreciated the way that the writers showed us his reaction to Sun's infidelity. He doesn't scold her or discipline her. He simply has Jae murdered to show her that her actions are unacceptable. But his actions are primarily driven by his own selfish desires, and we see that clearly in his scene with Jin as he manipulates him by calling him a son in order to remove the stain that Jae has put on his honour. This entire episode is driven by the theme of selfishness over selflessness and I think it handles this pretty well. The on-island story is pretty interesting at points. Sayid's plan predictably falls apart, and the gunfight near the end has some intense moments. I do like that Sayid was both able to determine that something went wrong and was willing to do something in an attempt to get the advantage back from the others. At the Hydra, I thought the scenes continued the slow-burn build-up that the last episode started in an effective way. Sawyer's escape attempt was fun and gave the story some much-needed momentum. Ben continues to be an interesting bad guy as he remains creepy and mysterious. His scene with Jack was the highlight of the episode (see: Best Moment) The Bad: Unfortunately the problems from the previous episode persist. We still haven't checked in with the hatch after two episodes which is pretty frustrating now. "Lost" has a bad habit of leaving us in suspense from cliffhangers for longer than necessary ("Abandoned", "Man of Science, Man of Faith"). The way the others have been presented is pretty disappointing so far. I'm all for the idea that the others are more civilized and human than we would have expected, but do they have to become so nonthreatening? Alex is able to secretly talk to Kate without anybody noticing, and there's a huge panic about Sawyer despite him being only one man. This hugely diminishes the threat of the others which is a big misstep after they were built up so well last season. There was one particularly poor scene I have to point out, and that's Sun and Jin's conversation in the flashbacks. It's strange that Jin would openly talk to Sun about his work, especially since the whole point of Jin's season 1 storyline is that he wasn't able to tell Sun how much of a monster her father was. Worse yet is how Sun suggests to Jin that they escape to America and he declines. The whole tragedy of their story is how they both wanted to escape to America at the same time but never communicated it. It makes no sense that Jin would be so against the idea here, especially since he came up with the same idea later. The Unknown: So is Sun's baby Jin's or Jae's? Both seem to be a possibility now. What are Kate and Sawyer working on? Are the others trying to build something? Why do they need Kate and Sawyer to do the work? Can't they do it themselves? Is it some kind of test? Who is Karl to Alex? A boyfriend? What is Alex doing in the others' organization? Why is she such a loose cannon? How is she able to break the rules like this? What does Ben want from Jack? Will he actually let him go afterwards? Why don't the others just send the other survivors back to the mainland if they can do that? What does Colleen mean when she says that the others are not the enemy? It echoes Ben's statement about them being the good guys back in "Live Together, Die Alone". Best Moment: Ben comes to Jack and offers him a deal to go home, and Jack being Jack, isn't buying it at all. And so Ben teases him with a short clip of a baseball game. The moment is short, but is executed perfectly. Matthew Fox shows the longing in Jack's eyes beautifully, and it's heartbreaking when Ben suddenly shuts off the TV. Then Ben offers Jack an escape, but the catch is that he must do what they say. The mind games for Jack have built up to this proposal, and things are starting to click into place surrounding what the others want. I expect we will get an answer in the next episode. Character of the Episode: Mr. Paik. Conclusion: This was a solid episode with good storytelling. However, the slower pace of the season is getting a little bit frustrating and episodes like these don't work very well when there's still a major cliffhanger that needs to be resolved. Add on the issues I have with the others, and this season is off to a bit of a rocky start. Looking back on this episode may improve it once we get more information, but as of now I find myself yearning for more, and not in a good way. Score: 63
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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