Summary: Flashsideways show that Jin and Sun aren't married but are still secretly together. Afte rhaving sex at night, Keamy arrives at Sun's hotel room and discovers her with Jin. He reveals that he was hired by Mr. Paik to kill Jin. Jin is taken to the restaurant and tied up, but he's freed after Sayid kills everyone else. Sun arrives with Mikhail later and Jin kills Mikhail, but Sun is shot in the process, and she reveals she is pregnant. On the island, MIB goes to visit Sun and Widmore attacks the camp, taking Jin back to Hydra Island. MIB talks to Sun who runs away from him, but she hits her head and loses the ability to speak English. Richard reveals that he plans to blow up the plane MIB plans to use to escape and Sun is upset and lashes out at him and Jack. Jack later apologizes and promises to get her and Jin off the island. Meanwhile, Widmore meets with Jin and shows him pictures of Ji Yeon. MIB comes to Hydra Island and has a stand off with Widmore. He leaves Sayid there and Sayid discovers that Widmore has brought Desmond back to the island.
The Good: This was an entertaining episode, similar to "Recon". The flashsideways story is a bit inconsequential (see: The Bad), but it is a fun watch and it's interesting to see an alternate world where Jin and Sun aren't married and Mr. Paik attempts to kill Jin. Plus it's always fun to see more of Keamy and Mikhail. Meanwhile, the island storyline has some decent plot development. We get to learn Richard's plan to stop MIB and we also get to see Widmore make some moves against MIB, finally getting their conflict going with their stand-off against each other. It should be interesting to see both of these storylines develop in later episodes. There were some nice character moments throughout the episode. Jack and Sun's relationship is handled really well. It's nice to see that Sun has absolutely no interest in any of the destiny stuff that Jack spews at her, and their conflict feels natural, stemmed by Jack's obsession with finding purpose. It leads to a nice moment towards the episode's end as Sun apologizes for shouting at Jack, and Jack looks past his own personal goals to promise Sun that he will help her return home with Jin. MIB also has a really good episode. This season has done an excellent job of making MIB surprisingly sympathetic in spite of being a villain. He has been caring in a number of ways, and that happens again in this episode with his scene with Claire. He comes off as genuine in stating that he wants the best for Claire even though he evidently doesn't need her (she isn't a candidate). Furthermore he keeps his word to Sun by not taking her with him by force when she gets knocked out. MIB remains really compelling and one of the most interesting aspects of this season. There were several small moments that I enjoyed. Sun resolutely running away from MIB fit very well. Jin seeing pictures of Ji Yeon was the emotional highlight of the episode (see: Best Moment). Ilana suspecting Ben when he conveniently finds Sun knocked out is really funny. Widmore and MIB's confrontation is well written and excited. And of course, the cliffhanger ending with Desmond's return is a very good reveal. And of course, season 6 continues to be loaded with Easter Eggs. There were many callbacks to moments from the past: Sun unbuttoning her shirt, Jack and Locke talking to Sun in her garden, Widmore saying "war is coming" to the island, and Mikhail being shot in the eyes. Furthermore, it was of course a blast to see Keamy, Omar, and Mikhail again. Another surprise was the return of room 23, and getting confirmation that it was made by the Dharma Initiative to experiment on the others. I wish that we had more small moments like this to confirm some answers. The last two seasons could really use more stuff like this to help resolve more mysteries. The Bad: This episode feels flat and I think that it is largely because this is a Jin/Sun episode. Jin and Sun have never been main characters in terms of plot, and their episodes are often more contained character stories. However, I still enjoy most Jin/Sun episodes. But this episode doesn't manage to have that same personal feel of Jin/Sun episodes of the past, and I think that it is because Jin and Sun have faded so far into the background since the end of season 4. Both characters have hardly done anything since the season 4 finale, and the only interesting part of their story right now is wondering if they will find each other. That's not enough to tell a compelling story, and I'm really disappointed that both Jin and Sun failed to have compelling character arcs on their own. Sun's story especially hurts since there was a lot of set-up for her becoming a vengeful independent woman set on bringing hell down on Ben and Widmore. But that storyline never developed and Sun just faded into a background role. With Sun and Jin being glorified background characters now, centering an episode around them does not work. They never feel important and I'm not as invested in their storyline as I should be. I wish that these two characters had been handled better in the last two seasons. The flashsideways story also feels a little flat. Similar to Sawyer's episode, the flashsideways doesn't feel like it is telling a proper story. It feels like a lame fanfiction since there aren't any underlying themes, ideas, or character resolution as we saw in episodes like "Dr. Linus", "Sundown", "Lighthouse", and "The Substitute". This episode has nothing like that, and it only serves to be a fun alternative where Jin and Sun have to fight Mr. Paik's attempts to kill Jin. There is no underlying emotional story arc, and I felt empty by the end of the story. Plus, Jin and Sun have a similar problem to Sawyer: they don't have any closure to close out their character arcs. All Jin and Sun need to do on the island to get closure is to find each other again. And since they start out together in the flashsideways, there is no emotional moment of closure that the episode builds up to. It's another flat flashsideways experience that makes me feel like the flashsideways is more of a dumb gimmick than a necessary storytelling device. Some small things bothered me. Sun getting aphasia is a dumb storyline. With "Lost" coming closer to its conclusion, we do not need a silly storyline of Sun becoming unable to speak English. It feels like such a cliche. Furthermore, the moment of Sun running into the tree is laughably stupid and implausible. Another stupid moment is Zoe acknowledging that she is a geophysicist. She questions why Widmore put her in charge, and it makes me question it too. Keamy was pretty successful, so why would Widmore hire a group of scientists and incompetents to fight a war? Surely he would want somebody like Keamy again! The Unknown: Why doesn't Sayid feel anything? What exactly is happening to him? Is Desmond the package? Why has Widmore brought him back? How will he be important? Will Desmond somehow prevent MIB from leaving? Flashsideways Sun is apparently pregnant? Will she survive getting shot? What is the significance of her being injured? It's difficult to see a purpose for the flashsideways right now. Best Moment: Jin seeing Ji Yeon was a fantastic moment, and Daniel Dae Kim does a magnificent job of being both happy to see her and being sad at how much he has missed over the past three years. This one moment makes you desperate to see Sun and Jin reunited and back with their daughter. Character of the Episode: Jin. Conclusion: This episode was easy entertainment, but it feels even more flat and uninspired than "Recon". This season needs to pick up soon because it has lost a lot of momentum, and I'm really concerned about the significance of the flashsideways now. Score: 56
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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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