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Lost: Ji Yeon

Sun: "It's bad luck to talk about baby names now."

A combination flashback and flash forward. You crafty writers, you.

I was totally taken in. It was near the end of the episode before I realized that it was out of character for Jin to be away from Sun's side while she was in labor, even to buy something for the baby. I could feel some awful twist coming; I was almost expecting Jin to get hit by a car on the way to the hospital, because hey, everyone's been hit by a car on this show. But then I finally got it. When Sun and Hurley took baby Ji Yeon to the cemetery, I said "Oh, no!" out loud and actually started to tear up. But after I got all upset and the episode was over, I thought, wait a minute. Jin isn't dead, Billie, you idiot. You crafty writers, you.

According to my voluminous sources :), Jin's headstone gave his death date as September 22, 2004. Gee, that date sounds familiar. I'm going to assume that Jin didn't get off the Island, and that he was never one of the Oceanic Six. But is future Jin dead or alive? It was utterly weird. The nurse or orderly, the one who took Sun's jewelry, knew that Sun was one of the Oceanic Six. Dr. Bae called flash forward Sun "Mrs. Kwon" and asked her if he should call her husband or her parents. Since the Oceanic Six are famous, wouldn't the doctor know that Jin was dead? Does Sun have another husband? If so, why would he call her "Mrs. Kwon"? And if Jin were still alive on the Island, why did Sun and Hurley take the baby to the cemetery? Were they being watched?



Jin was such a sweetie in the Island segments, which just made his possible death more traumatic. There's no denying that his experiences on the Island have changed Jin, a lot. He's finally learning English, too. (Daniel Dae Kim was probably thrilled to have some lines in English, for a change.) And I loved his little "married guys" scene with Bernard. Although I kept thinking "evil lawyers," not "married guys." (If you don't know what I mean, see my bits and pieces section below.)

More bears. We've had polar bears, teddy bears, polar bears as teddy bears, and all Jin did in his flashbacks was quest for pandas. There was a bear graphic on the front door of the toy store, too. Why are bears a continuing theme? Is it just for fun, or does it mean something? More info, too. The power station isn't a power station; it's a poison gas factory. I have so many questions about that fact that I almost don't know where to start. What was Ben going to do with it? Take out Australia? Who is Ben, anyway? Lex Luthor?

Michael is indeed on the boat, and he must be Ben's inside guy. (Sayid was so cool when he saw Michael; he didn't even blink.) This would have been a much better surprise if Harold Perrineau hadn't been in the cast all season. According to the nasty Captain Golden, Ben managed to stage that huge cover-up of 815, which included placing plane wreckage in the Sunda Trench and procuring 324 recently dead bodies. How on earth did Ben do that? And why? I can only assume it was to keep people from continuing to search for the plane.

And finally, who is the sixth member of the Oceanic Six? We still don't know. (And no, I won't believe it's Aaron until Damon Lindelof says so. Aaron wasn't technically one of the passengers.)

Character bits:

Sun was so calm and rational on the Island. I particularly liked the way she confronted Faraday about rescue. (I also liked that Faraday couldn't lie to Sun.)

In the flashback, Jin and Sun had only been married for two months. Thanks to many, many letters, I now know that the flashback took place in the Year of the Dragon, February 2000 to January 2001.

If Juliet was sincere, and we were just reminded that Juliet lies extremely well, Sun has only six weeks to live, three of them very ill.

Flashforward Hurley appeared to be okay. Would this have been before his return to the mental institution, or after?

The television show that Sun turned off at the beginning of the first flash forward showed Nicki and a guy with a suitcase full of money. So I'm assuming that was a rerun of Exposé?

We finally saw Regina, whose voice we've heard several times. And she's gone already; she wrapped herself in chains and jumped over the side. (The captain was really broken up about that. What a prince.) George Minkowski only lasted one episode, too.

When we got Dr. Bae instead of Dr. Park, and the woman took Sun's jewelry, I thought they were agents of either Widmore evil, or Ben evil. Guess not.

I was shocked when Juliet told Jin that Sun had been unfaithful. What was she thinking? I know she was just trying to get Sun off the Island, but how could that have helped? All it did was keep the two of them from leaving right away. Maybe I just answered my own question.

We met Captain Gault, whom Michael advised them not to trust. How many people has Gault lost to "cabin fever" if he's gotten to the point where he didn't blink an eye when Regina jumped over the side?

Bits and pieces:

— Sun began and ended the flash forwards by putting on lipstick. I have no idea what that meant, if it meant anything.

— Desmond and Sayid now know who owns the freighter. The name of the freighter is "Kahana." We saw the name right after Bernard mentioned karma. Kahana. Karma.

— I think I'd rather starve than eat nothing but canned lima beans. Bleah.


— Daniel Dae Kim and Sam Anderson (Jin and Bernard) both worked for the same demonic law firm, Wolfram & Hart, on the series Angel. I don't usually think of that when I see them in a scene together, but this time I did.

— Jin paid fifty thousand won for the bear. That's about $50 in American money. I visited Seoul a couple of years ago.

— The book Regina was reading was Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne. (Thanks to everyone who wrote to me about this.) It was about the castaways of a grounded ship who go mad and start killing themselves. It probably gave Regina the idea.

Quotes:

Kate: "Juliet told Jack that it was a power station."
Sun: "Why would Juliet lie about that?"
Kate: "Force of habit?"

Jack: "Has Sun been teaching you, or are you just picking it up?"
Jin: "Sun teach me. Sawyer, too. Sun is... better."

Jin: "Where Sun go, I go."
Maybe future Jin is dead. I can't think of any circumstance in which Jin would stay behind voluntarily.

Four out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

6 comments:

  1. There was twice during Jin's flashbacks that I caught that something was wrong. The first was that the cellphone looked old, but I put it down to bad props. The second was when he said he worked for Sun's father. I couldn't understand why he would go back to work for that man. But, I still didn't understand what was going on until the end. Fantastic writing!

    I cried and cried during that last scene. The way that Sun was saying "I miss you" leads me to believe that she knows Jin is still alive somewhere, which only breaks my heart all the more. And, how wonderful that the lovely Hurley went all the way to Korea to support her. I guess he still has access to funds.

    As for our current baddies, I do believe that Ben was behind the gas stuff. Why else would Harper try to get Charlotte and Daniel killed? Although, I'm not sure if she's alive or dead. If she's alive, how did Ben get the information to her?

    I don't believe Ben was behind the staging of the plane crash. I can't believe he would have those kind of resources. But, Mr. Widmore certainly would. The man can spend $380,000 on a book without blinking; he must have almost unlimited funds.

    I really like Juliet, but I was less than pleased when she betrayed Sun like that, no matter what the reason. I'm not a doctor, but if Juliet is so concerned about her patient, isn't there that whole doctor/patient confidentiality thing?

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  2. This episode was really moving. I quickly separated Jin and Sun's flashforwards/flashbacks, though. I knew Jin wouldn't waste time on a bear when he should have been with Sun. Even more than that, he wouldn't have gone for a second one. It felt like a business decision. I also didn't believe that Jin and Sun were the final two of Oceanic Six. It just didn't feel right.

    I found it strange when it was suggested that Ben staged the crash. I was convinced it was Widmore. But then again, Michael said not to trust the Captain, eh? If it really was Widmore, the captain wouldn't have made the staging seem so bad to Sayid and Desmond ("put 324 families through unnecessary grief", etc); he works for Widmore. Also, Chris, 380K pounds is almost $600K. Even more outrageous.

    I was also shocked when Juliet told Jin about the affair. And Juliet wonders why Sun doesn't trust her? I found it kind of hard to believe that Jin would just let it all go, but then I realized that it's kind of in character for him. He's really a good and understanding guy. And now, with the English, he's even more understanding. (Har, har.)

    I've only teared up a couple of times while watching this show, and I'd only cried once before this episode (during Charlie's death). That last scene at the cemetery was just heart-wrenching. But I was so happy that Hurley had the resources to go to Korea for Sun. She really needed a friend, and Hurley's the perfect guy for the job.

    Libby

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  3. Sun began and ended the flash forwards by putting on lipstick. I have no idea what that meant, if it meant anything (Billie's review).

    I think, it if means anything, it's about the brave face Sun is putting on for the rest of the world, and how that contrasts with her honest emotions speaking to the gravestone, and to Hurley.

    As for our current baddies, I do believe that Ben was behind the gas stuff. Why else would Harper try to get Charlotte and Daniel killed? Although, I'm not sure if she's alive or dead. If she's alive, how did Ben get the information to her? (ChrisB's comment).

    I totally can't answer that last question, but I think that Ben thought Charlotte and Daniel were going to release the gas. He seems convinced that they want to hurt the people on the Island. So Ben actually made a mistake.

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  4. Brilliant idea overlap the Jin's flashback with Sun's fashforward.
    I appreciate Sun's temper:she's the strongest woman in the show.
    So moving the ending
    Great score of Giacchino as always.

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  5. first of all -- AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! frustration!! more questions, very little answers. i'm tired of my brain being twisted around, these characters lying -- who is telling the truth?!? do we trust the captain or not?!? did ben crash the fake plane in the trench or was it widmore? alright, i've had my moment....

    first thing i thought when juliet told jin about sun's affair was, you B*****. do we trust juliet or not? again with questions....

    lima beans -- my uncle calls them little bags of dirt. he doesn't like them.

    flashforwards and flashbacks -- very clever writers, very clever. they got me fooled until the very end. who is the 6th survivor then? who was it that died and jack went to the funeral home to see? are the 6 people who left the island getting bad karma? i mean, jin stayed but he was a good guy who deserved good karma -- he forgave his cheating wife pretty quick and easy. do people who get to stay on the island -- is that like their reward for leading a redeemed life? kate hasn't redeemed herself yet and she got off. jack -- i think he has major unredeemed issues -- and look at how wrecked his life seems in the flashforwards. sayaid still murdering away -- not redeemed. i think staying on the island is a reward.

    i had no idea jin and benard were on angel -- thanks for pointing that out. i loved angel too.

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  6. So odd thought but it would have been pretty damn poetic and even more indicative of Jin's growth if the baby was not his, it would have furthered the parallels between him and his father that have only been growing stronger and stronger as the show goes on and Jins character continues to grow. Side not as Sun becomes more and more assertive I'm worried we are gonna see parallels with her father too and not in a good heartwarming way like with Jin and his.

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