(Please note – this was written on Tuesday, March 18, 2008, two days before “Meet Kevin Johnson” aired.)
Here’s my rant for the day: I really wish that the ABC promotions department would get their act together. In their on-air promotions for this episode they promised that the final members of the Oceanic 6 would be revealed. Well… if they were, I’m still confused because the end of this episode (and in the way that it ends) still leaves one position on the “6” ambiguous. We have (in the order revealed) Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun… Who the heck is the 6th? I don’t believe that it is Aaron. There’s a lot of explaining that would have to happen to make Aaron part of the “6”. Kate was not pregnant when the flight went down, that can be proven. Did the survivors lie and say that she got pregnant on the island? Are they passing off Aaron as her biological son? If so, then how much time has passed on the “outside” that would make the story believable? If Kate has told the truth, that Aaron was the child of someone else on the plane, someone that died, how is it that she would have gained custody of him so quickly? The producers have said that they have no control over how ABC promotes the show. I wish, then, that they would come right out and say who the “6” really are.
I’d like to discuss a few points about the rest of the episode’s plot before we get to the episode’s heart, Sun and Jin’s story.
As always, there are a lot of things going on “behind the scenes” in the episode that are not explained right away, and which may (unfortunately) never pay off. At the beginning of the episode one of the freighter crew has a mysterious exchange with Frank. He asks Frank if he is “ready”, then tells him not to be late. Ready for what, late for what? And what is the mysterious mission that Frank has been sent on in the helicopter? Sayid asks where the helicopter has gone. He is told that Frank is running an “errand”. Sayid asks if he’s gone to the island and is answered “Do you know anywhere else that the ‘copter could land?”
And what the heck is up with Regina? She’s obviously not “with it” (she’s distracted, not really reading the book she is holding). Perhaps she is experiencing the “time sickness”. The Captain mentions that several members of the crew are experiencing a heightened case of cabin fever (his words for the sickness) due to their proximity to the island. Did she kill herself because she couldn’t stand the sickness any more? Or was she despondent over the death of Naomi? Remember the bracelet that Naomi was wearing? It was inscribed with the letters “R.G.”; perhaps Regina’s initials?
We have learned that there is a saboteur onboard the freighter… someone working against the purpose of the freighter folk. Someone has destroyed their communications, wrecked their engines, done something to the kitchen to make it unusable. (Frank has to bring Sayid and Desmond cans of lima beans… there is no other food available since there is “something wrong with the kitchen”.) But is the saboteur really Michael (who has been revealed as “Kevin Johnson”, a deck hand on the freighter)? We have no clue yet as to whether or not “Kevin” recognized Sayid, if he was the person that opened the door to the sick bay which allowed Sayid and Desmond to venture to the radio room (we’ve learned that it wasn’t Frank), or if “Kevin” was the person that put the “don’t trust the captain” message under their door.
The captain confirms that the freighter was dispatched by Charles Widmore. Onboard is the (supposed) flight data recorder from Oceanic 815, procured at great cost by Widmore. The captain wonders who would have the resources and manpower to fake a plane crash in the middle of the Pacific, let alone get over 300 bodies to place in the plane. He claims that this hoax has been perpetrated by Ben, and that this is the reason that they have been sent find him. Now we have more evidence of some kind of conflict between Widmore and Ben.
On to Sun and Jin’s story…
(Quick note: Hasn’t Jin been learning English too quickly? Boy, he must be one smart dude. Either that or Sun is an excellent teacher. Or maybe the island is helping with the learning process! LOL)
I was so pleased with the emotional direction of Sun and Jin’s story arc on the island this week.
I totally understood Sun’s growing anxiety over whether or not the survivors will be rescued. She hasn’t been able to fully believe anything that Juliet has told her (Juliet has lied so many times), so she’s not sure of the absolute necessity that she and Jin get off the island. And, admittedly, the freighter folk haven’t seemed too intent on rescuing the survivors (Daniel won’t give her a straight answer when Sun asks him point-blank whether or not the freighter folk are there to rescue them… “it’s not really my call”). So it was understandable that she decides to go the only other route available… join Locke at his camp with its perceived safety.
Juliet stunned me when she told Jin about Sun’s off island affair. But it was obvious that she had to do whatever she could to stop them from joining Locke. Splitting them up would do it. Juliet felt that Jin would not leave camp with Sun and that Sun would not leave without Jin.
The revelation of Sun’s infidelity lead to one of the most poignant scenes this season, Bernard and Jin fishing. I love Rose and Bernard and it’s been sad knowing that in the outside world Rose would probably be dead from her cancer. Jin asks Bernard why they would want to leave the island, knowing that its properties were keeping Rose alive. Bernard says that he knew it was the right thing to do (not joining “murderer” Locke), that life is about making the right choices, all about karma. You make good choices and good things will happen. I loved it when Bernard tells Jin “We must be the good guys.”
Even more poignant was the scene when Jin returns to Sun. He tells her that he is not the same man that she cheated on. Indeed! Jin has made a major evolution since the crash. He’s not the same man that I remember watching, appalled at how domineering he was to his wife. He’s become a caring and considerate husband and partner, and he forgives her and proves it by offering to take her to Locke’s camp if that’s what she wants. But now Sun realizes that she must get off the island, and she does…
Which leads me to the flash backs and forwards…
(Quick note: Sun is watching TV just before she begins to go into labor. The show she is watching: Nikki’s “Expose”!)
I have to admit that I did not pick up on any of the clues that would have indicated that Jin’s scenes were a flashback. I absolutely thought that the scenes were contemporary with Sun’s. I’ll also admit that for a while I felt absolutely duped… misdirected, manipulated and deceived.
However, after a second viewing, I understand what the writers were ultimately trying to do, mixing Jin’s flashback with Sun’s flash-forward. I get that they were trying to contrast the old Jin, the one that would yell at someone that he would kill them just for stealing his cab (“I’ll hunt you down and rip your head off”, he calls), with the man that he has become, the one that loves his wife and who wants to make sure his family survives.
While it was a bit of trickery, and I don’t really think I want them to do that ever again, it was very effective in this instance.
It was nice to see Hurley sane, joining Sun and Ji Yeon as they visted Jin’s grave in Korea. I noticed his emphatic “Good” when Sun told him that no one else would be joining them. Perhaps he does not want to see any of the others because of the guilt he feels at harboring their secret. We’ve seen Jack try to make sure that Hurley keeps quiet.
The date of death on Jin’s tombstone is 9/22/04, the day of the crash. What’s the explanation for that? Was the marker erected by Jin’s family after the announcement that all onboard the plane were dead? It’s doubtful since Sun was listed on the tombstone too as still alive. Why give Jin a death date of 9/22/08? I think it’s because he is really still alive and on the island and that the Oceanic 6 have lied again to cover up what has happened. Sun’s reaction would still be appropriate… she left the island but he didn’t so she does miss him. They are maintaining the façade that Jin is dead. I sure hope he’s not.
