Episode 610 - Jin Shows Sun "The Package"

The return of a dead villain! The return of a missing hero!! Light shed on Widmore's plans!!! All this, plus some acute aphasia, in "The Package."

Sideways - Jin2 and Sun2

The sideways storyline bridges the gap between where we left Jin2 and Sun2 in "LA X," and where we later found Jin2 in "Sundown."

Sun2 waits for Jin2 outside customs. He is discharged, but the big packet of money is still being held until he formally declares it. He is upset to have missed the meeting at the restaurant. As he and Sun2 turn to leave, he tells her he has no idea what the money was for, but he doesn’t ask Mr. Paik2 questions.

They arrive at the hotel, and learn (as many suspected given their lack of jewelry in "LA X") that Jin2 and Sun2 are not married! Which is not to say they're not together. Indeed, Jin2 visits Sun2 in her room at 11:30 pm (his room, incidentally, is 842, which is cool, especially because 42 is the number assigned to Kwon in the cave...)

Jin2, still worried about his missed meeting, reminds Sun2, "your father sent me halfway around the world to deliver a watch, so I’m going to."

Sun2 invites him in, and insists nobody will be at the restaurant so late. She says the man Jin2 was meeting works for her father, and everything will be fine. Sun2 unbuttons her top button, and playfully brings up Jin2's telling her on the plane to close it up. The flirtation continues until her sweater is off, as Jin2 slowly approaches her. Finally, they embrace.

Aside #1 - so by now we know that these 2 found each other in Sideways world, but here they concealed their relationship from Daddy. Nevertheless, Jin2 managed to course correct himself into Paik2's employ, and, indeed, the lack of an openly acknowledged relationship seems to leave these two in a more tender time with each other than their island counterparts enjoyed.

Jin2 is already awake when Sun2 wakes up, and he looks guilty... until she smiles at him. She suggests they run away together, and says she has an account set aside. He asks if that was her plan all along. He’s not angry, but it’s "forbidden." Sun2's revelations continue, or, that is, they almost do: "There’s something you need to know…" she begins, but then there’s a knock at the door. Jin2 hides, and says to tell whoever it was that she was sleeping. As she examines herself in the mirror (obligatory mirror shot!)…the knock comes up again. Keamy2 is at the door. He says he’s a friend of her father’s, then invites himself in. "I believe you’ve got something for me."

Aside #2 - in "Sundown," I thought the sideways Keamy was an unnecessary indulgence. His clarified role in this episode, however - to the extent anything about the Sideways stories has been "clarified," makes cleary why Kevin Durand's deliciously eeeevil villain portrayal was worth revisiting.

Sun2 tries to hide Jin2’s shoes. She gives Keamy2 the watch box, but he wants the money (curse you, Customs agent!), and asks about Jin2. “No English,” she responds.

Aside #3 - I believe her. On the island, Sun tried to hide her English, but it came out in a time of crisis. This is pretty clearly a crisis situation, but she still can't communicate. But then again, why would she? Island Sun learned English to get away from her husband, Jin. But Sun2, at the same point in her life, was not married to Jin2, and in fact was planning to run away with him. Together, presumably, she concluded they wouldn't need English the same way she would if she were running away alone.

Omar2 arrives, and reports Jin2 is not in his room. Keamy2 spots two champagne glasses, then tells Omar2 to check the bathroom (brilliant hiding place, Mr. Kwon). Since neither Paik2 nor Kwon2 speaks English, and Keamy2 wants his money, they need a translator. So they rely on "Danny's friend," the Russian guy. Which brings us...Mikhail Bakunin2(!), who translates. Mikhail2 has both eyes (for now). Keamy2 is unmoved by the Customs story. He sends Mikail2 with Sun2 to get the money from her secret account, and says he’ll take Jin2 to the restaurant (explaining how he got there, sans Sun2, in "Sundown." Jin2 gets Keamy2 to promise not to tell Paik2 (as if a promise from a gangster means anything).

The bank worker says the account is closed, and the balance is zero. Apparently, Mr. Paik2 had access to the account, and, not happy about his daughter's rebellion, transferred the funds back to Seoul. Sun2 naively asks Mikhail2 why he would do that.

Meanwhile, Omar2 roughly sticks Jin2 in the storage area, and tapes him up. Keamy2 sends Omar2 to go "get the Arab guy." Keamy2 tells Jin2 how unhappy Paik2 was to find out about him and Sun2 (ruh-roh!). The $25k was to pay Keamy2 to kill Jin2 for breaking the cardinal rule - messing with the boss's daughter. Of course, Jin2 doesn't understand any of this, which makes Keamy2's confession really just some mean-spirited torture. "But the heart wants what the heart wants," Keamy2 says, mock understandingly. Jin2, thinking he has an ally based on the accompanying (lying) body language, actually says "thank you" as Keamy2 tapes over his mouth. "I’m sorry," Keamy2 says, with no hint of actual apology. "Some people just weren’t meant to be together."

Aside #3 - Ah, but Martin2, if the Sideways stories have taught us anything, it's that some things actually are meant to be. And a Jin-Sun pairing seems to be one of them. In island world, Jin worked for Paik because he was marrying the old man's daughter. In sideways world, it's reversed, but the end result is the same - Jin2 is a guilt-ridden thug for the old man, and Sun2 loves him.

Jin2 struggles in the storage room as he hears Sayid2’s conversation, and the shooting of Keamy2 and Omar2. Jin2 kicks the door until Sayid2 opens. He begs Sayid2 to let him go, but the Korean doesn't get him very far. Sayid2 says he doesn’t care why Jin2’s there. He turns to leave, but Jin2 asks him, in broken English, to free him. Sayid2 places a box cutter in Jin2’s hand, and wishes him luck.

Aside #4 - I was a bit troubled by Sayid2's initial refusal to help Jin2. Sayid2 was, supposedly, a guy capable of violence but ultimately choosing to do right. He then finds someone held prisoner by the same thugs he just took out in self-defense, and initially assumes he shouldn't help? At least he did the right thing, or at least the bare minimum right thing, in the end.

Mikhail2 brings Sun2 to the restaurant, but senses it’s too quiet. He pulls his gun, and finds the bodies. Keamy2 is still alive. "Who did this to you," Mikhael2 asks, but Keamy's non-responsive answer is, "look behind you you idiot." Jin2 has a gun to Mikhail2’s head. Jin2 tells him to drop his gun, and has Sun2 move away. Mikhail2 wisely surmises that, if Jin2 were capable of the carnage in that room, he would have shot Mikhail2 instead of telling him to back away, so he goes on the offensive. They struggle, and Jin2 shoots Mikhail2 in the eye, but Sun2 takes a bullet (or 2) in the abomen. As Jin2 helps her up, she confesses that she’s pregnant.

Aside #5 - speaking of meant to be, it seems Mikhail Bakunin in any universe was destined to die with only one eye. He's also destined to get his ass kicked by Jin's superior kung fu.

Un"Paik"ing the Sun pregnancy...I'm going to give Sun2 credit for being truly in love with Jin2, and not just being a bit slutty with Daddy's helpers. Assuming this is true (and with only 8 hours of Lost left, it's a safe assumption), that means off-island Jin2 knocked her up, something which pre-island Jin was physically incapable of doing. This suggest the island not only "healed" Jin's sperm count, but somehow, retroactively, caused it to be too low to conceive in the first place. Was that a result of Jacob's touching the Kwon's at their wedding? Did he create part of the problem in their marriage just to lure them to the island? Not cool, Jacob.

Finally, I do wonder what larger role Mr. Paik, one of the clear villains of the story, plays with respect to the island. We know he's at least acquainted with Widmore, and some of the between-season alternate reality games hinted at connections between Paik and DHARMA. In an island-free world, he seems to be just a plain old jerk. I mean, c'mon, making a guy deliver payment for his own murder to the would-be hitman? That's cold, Paikster. Really cold.

Island

As the episode opens, Flockes’ camp is under some sort of surveillance. Sawyer offers Kate fake cocoa. As the night vision goggle effect gets turned off, Flocke talks to Jin about his injured leg. He suggests airing out the wound, but Jin responds that he tried that, and it only got worse.

Aside #6 - was Flocke, in the guise of helping, trying to speed along Jin's infection?

Jin confirms that Sawyer told him about the cave, and asks which one – he or Sun – is the Kwon on the ceiling. Claire seems to listen in. Flocke, noting Claire but not addressing her, says he doesn’t know, but reveals that his plan hinges on getting all the remaining candidates together, because without them all, there’s no leaving the island. He says he’s working on bringing Sun back.

Flocke tells Sayid he's Leaving for an errand until morning, and asks him to watch over the camp. Sayid says he doesn’t feel anything. "Anger, happiness, pain. I don’t feel it anymore." With a calming smile, Flocke menacingly suggests, "maybe that’s best, Sayid. It’ll help you get through what’s coming."

Aside #7 - I confess to having no idea what's going on with Sayid, but one thing is clear. When it does finally happen, it won't be without set-up.

Flocke leaves, and Jin packs up. Sawyer tries to stop him. “I’m getting out of here before that thing comes back,” says Jin, the one person in this camp who never made any kind of voluntary decision to be there. As Jin and Sawyer argue, the whole camp gets hit with tranquilizer darts. Zoe and one of her companions look around. The man asks, as he examines Jin, is “is this the guy?” And Zoe’s response is, “yeah, that’s Jacob.”

Aside #8 - Whoah! To resolve not only the "which Kwon is a candidate" question, but the actual "which candidate will 'win'" question this early on? But then it occurred to me, especially after the episode played out, that Zoe was just plain lying. Jin may, of course, be the ultimate Jacob replacement (but I think you all know my Jack theory for that one). But it seems Widmore and Zoe are lying to their thugs, who presumably are off-island Others, about their actual plans. And it's much easier to tell the lie that Jin is the grand poobah than it is to drag Jin, Sawyer and Sayid back to Hydra island.

Ilana cleans guns, as Miles and Frank play cards. Despite Ben’s protests, Ilana insists, since Jacob never lied to her, Richard is coming back, and they need to wait for him. Sun is fed up. She chucks some fruit, then goes out to her old garden. Jack follows – "how are the tomatoes," he asks, trying clumsily to get a conversation started. "Dead," she says, in an attempt to short-circuit this unwanted bonding moment. He reminisces, then asks if she thinks Alpert’s coming back. She says doesn’t care. Jack tells her about Jacob’s lighthouse, thinking she'll get the same sense of Locke-ian purpose it apparently gave him. Sun doesn’t care about Alpert or candidacy. She just wants Jack to leave her alone.

Sun cuts herself, then is startled by Flocke’s arrival. "Bad day?" he asks.

Aside # 9 - I wonder if Flocke's customary initial quips are just his checking off the "if I talk first, I can't be killed" protective magic...

He says he found Jin. "I promised you I would reunite you two. It took a little longer than I anticipated, but he’s at my camp, across the island. I can take you to him right now." Sun doesn’t believe him, and accuses him of killing the people at the Temple. Flocke, having to explain yet again, says, "they were confused, lied to. I didn’t want to hurt them. They could have come," he continues, and the implication is clear - you have the same choice now that they made - poorly - at the Temple. "I would never make you do anything against your will," he continues (although we know the penalty for voluntarily choosing otherwise). "I’m asking you to." "Jin is waiting," he says, thinking that should seal the deal…only she runs off into the tall grass! As Flocke chases (on foot? Is his Smokey to Flocke trick starting to fade, or was he just trying to maintain the "it's a voluntary choice" illusion?) alas, Sun, looking back to see if she got away, runs into a tree.

Ben finds her, unconscious. In Korean she asks where he was, but Ben doesn't understand. He asks who did this to her. This, she understands, and says, "Locke" (which, presumably, is the same in Korean as it is in English).

Aside #10 - There must be something in the as-yet unspoken "rules" about joining having to be a voluntary thing, or else why wouldn't Flocke just scoop up Sun and take her away? He is, after all, a telepath, so presumably he could have found her, unless he needs to "point" his brain flashy thing at the target. If this is the case, the inability to see Sun lying in the tall grass would make it hard to find her.

I also love Ben as the caregiver. Even if Ilana quipped this week that she doesn't trust Ben whenever he opens his mouth, Ben's conversion to her cause - whatever that may be - seems complete.

Flocke retursn to his camp and finds his peole knocked out. About this, he is clearly not happy. He pulls the dart out of Sayid, then shakes him awake. Sayid says they were attacked, but he doesn’t know by whom. Flocke’s big concern? “Where is Jin?”

Jin, it turns out, is sitting in Room 23. He tries to open the door, but it’s locked. He flips a switch, and the psychedelic video starts up. He turns it off, and finds Zoe standing behind him. She says DHARMA was doing experiments in subliminal messaging. He says he’s leaving, but she tazes him on the way out. She apologizes, but "we went to a lot of trouble getting you here from the other island." She is somewhat accusatory in pointing out his past in DHARMA. She shows him a map DHARMA he made of a survey of electromagnetism pockets on the main island, and starts to ask him how to find these pockets. He says if she wants answers, he wants to talk to Charles Widmore. "Then you’re in luck," she answers, "because he’d like to talk to you too."

Aside #10 - while it's still a little unclear which reality this Widmore came from, i.e. if anything but Sideways world exists in the outside world, one thing that just now did become clear is that the Losties' time hopping really did put them into the DHARMA past. This suggests that Widmore and anyone else aware of this knew there would be some pretty amazing consequences of these people getting on Flight 815, and also partially eplains why he had to fake the 815 crash site to get the outside world to stop looking for them.

This scene also made clear that Widmore's true purpose is not nearly as simple as just stopping ol' Smokey from leaving the island. Rather, he wants, as he always has, to make some use of the island's unique properties. Doc Jensen surmises he's after Richard-style long life/ eternal youth. I'm not sure we know yet what he really wants, but simply stopping the island evil, if he even intends to do that, is nothing but a means to an end.

Flocke gives Sayid a gun and says they’re taking the outrigger. He then takes Claire aside and asks if something is wrong. She asks about the names on the wall. He tells her her name was not on the wall, but assures her he needs her, "and that there’s plenty of room on the plane for all of them." She laments that Aaron won’t need her, since he's grown up not knowing her. He says Kate is not on the wall either. He explains he needs Kate to help him get the last three people on the plane, "but once she does, then whatever happens, happens."

Aside #11 - Flocke really is a master manipulator. He has fostered Claire's anger and hatred at Kate for taking her child, when in fact it seems he (and Christian, if Christian is a different entity) were responsible for that in the first place. He recognizes Kate as both a valuable tool in manipulating the candidates, and a potential threat that needs to be dealt with. But what Flocke may not know is that, on Jacob's lighthouse wheel, Kate very much remains a candidate.

For that matter, when Jacob told Ilana she needed to protect 6 people, we didn't see which 6 people. Given that Locke would be dead before she went to the island, isn't it just as likely that Jacob gave her Kate's name instead, so that Smokey wouldn't know there's another Skywalker, er, candidate? (If she turns out to be Jack's sister, I'm quitting).

Sawyer asks why Flocke needs a boat, but Flocke says he can’t just turn into smoke and fly over water. He says he’s going over to Hydra island because they took one of his men.

Aside #12 - there seems to be no reason to doubt Flocke about this limitation on his power. After all, if he could fly over water, wouldn't he have left the island a long time ago?

Jack tends to Sun. She understands English, but can only speak Korean. Jack thinks it’s temporary aphasia. Richard then returns, wearing Isabella's cross. He says, "pack your bags, we’re leaving."

Flocke emerges from the outrigger on Hydra beach, and approaches the sonic fence. Gunshots are fired. He assures Widmore's thugs he comes in peace. He walks along the outside of the fence. Widmore greets him. "Do you know who I am?" Flocke asks. "Obviously you’re not John Locke," Charles responds. "Everything else I know is a combination of myth, ghost stories, and island legend." Widmore denies taking Jin. Flocke considers, this, then says, "a wise man once said that war was coming to this island. I think it just got here," and turns to leave.

Aside #13 - It's clear that Widmore really doesn't know what Smokey really is, which is troubling. It seems his fall from Jacob's grace may have been connected to this lack of knowledge, something along the lines of, "so our job is to keep this thing here, but you won't tell me why?" It's also cool to see Flocke channeling the memories he somehow took over from Locke.

Richard asks Ben where Locke said he’d be, and Ben tells him about Hydra island. Richard says they have to destroy the plane, to keep Smokey trapped. Sun is really not happy about this. "I came here to find my husband so I can bring him home," she protests, in Korean. "I didn’t come to save the damn world." She storms off. (Harumph!)

Widmore is mad at Zoe for declaring war on Locke's camp, and said they should have waited and taken Jin in the jungle. She reminds him that, if he wanted better tactics, he should have put a mercenary in charge, and not a geophysicist. (Boo-yah!) He tells her to get the package from the sub and take it to the infirmary.

Aside #14 - Whatever Widmore's plans, they've already changed. Antagonizing the monster was not what he wanted, and he's so eager to get to the island's unique properties, he didn't think to send the right people for the job. It will be interesting to see how this miscalculation costs him down the line, and how, for example, Sawyer will be able to exploit it.

Jin is brought to Widmore, and tells the former Other he knows who he is. Jin pointedly asks, "why did you bring me here?" Widmore gives him Sun’s camera, recovered from the Ajira plane. Jin sees pictures of Ji Yeon, his first ever look at his daughter (and if you didn't tear up just a little at this sight, then you must have been "claimed" by the darkness like Sayid was). Charles says he knows what it’s like to be kept apart from a daughter. He tells Jin their reunion would be short lived if Flocke got off the island, because, if that were to happen, everyone they love would cease to be. He says it’s time for Jin to see the package, only it’s not a what. It’s a who.

Aside #15 - I wonder if the Swan station, in some way, was part of what kept the monster bound to the island. This occurs to me because, the last time we heard such a dire warning, it came from Eloise Hawking, telling Desmond they would all die if he didn't fulfull his button pushing destiny. What's still unclear, though, is whether only those touched by the island would die, or would the whole world cease to exist? What, really, are the consequences of Smokey getting loose? And do those consequences, in some way, explain sideways world?

In the evening. Jack approaches sun. He talks about an aphasic patient he had during his residency. That man could write, even if he couldn't speak. He gives Sun a notebook, and she writes “yes.” Jack says he went back to the garden, and found "one stubborn tomato. I guess noone told it it was supposed to die." Sun writes, "sorry." Jack asks what Locke said. Sun writes, "he said he had Jin." (Interstingly, not "Jin was with him," but "he had Jin.") Why not go with him? "I don’t trust him." Jack considers this, and asks, "do you trust me?" She looks at him, and nods. Jack nods back. "Sun, come with us, and I’ll help you find Jin, and get you both on that plane, and as far away from this island as you can get." He promises, and holds out his hand, and Sun takes it.

Aside #16 - Raise your hand if you think Sun's inability to communicate with her companions faster than she can write and they can read is going to cause a problem sometime soon. Now put your hand down. You look silly gesturing at a computer monitor.

Kate is joined by Sawyer. She wonders why he isn’t worried. He is, but he thinks Widmore must have killed Locke. What if he didn’t? "Then we’re screwed." Sure enough, Flocke comes back. "Aw hell," a disappointed Sawyer says. Sawyer approaches Flocke, and asks where Sayid is. Locke responds, "remember you said about the room on the sub? I don’t like secrets."

At the submarine dock, Sayid emerges from the water, and sees Zoe and her companion leading... Desmond(!!!)... along the dock. He’s been drugged. He falls, and sees Sayid, but makes no sound. Sayid watches as they drag him off.

Aside #17 - so the island wasn't done with Desmond. What is it that makes him "uniquely special?" I trust we'll find out soon, especially since next week's episode, "Happily Ever After," focuses on the long-absent Scot. If Season 6 is to be faulted for anything, other than the confusion of the flash-sideways, it's that it has kept Desmond out of play from between 5 minutes into the first episode until the last scene of the 10th. Now ponder this - is this the Desmond who seemed to disappear from flight 815 in the alternaverse, or the Desmond who stormed out of the "lamppost" station, thinking Jack and Sun were crazy for wanting to go back to the island, only to be shot by Ben? Or how about this - what if they're one and the same, a way to somehow bridge the sideways/ island gap. Desmond episodes are always pretty trippy in terms of time/ space/ and consciousness and memories that a character has, but shouldn't. I'm very hopeful that next week gets us some serious answers, or at least some serious clues. But, alas, since Des already had his happy ending, I'm worried that "happily ever after" may be an ironic title.

In any case, until next time, Namaste!