Wise Delay

Hello again,

continuing in my recent theme of discussing the most recent Lost episode, I am going to discuss the most recent episode of Lost. "Ji Yeon", which, I am informed by Doc Jensen, means delay or flower of wisdom. In a show that knows quite a bit about both, the name is particularly apt. Beware, if you did not watch the episode yet, there are spoilers below, and even if you did watch the show in the past, I have been known to guess at the future.

Let's start with delay and what we know about delays as Lost fans. First off, the entire show is centered on delayed gratification as we wait for one answer after another that will explain the greater and lesser anomalies and oddities that pop up throughout the show. These delays have taken place in many forums, from the audience's outcries over improper scheduling over the first several seasons to our prolonged six season wait for one universal answer.

More thematically, the delay also occurs in the wait for birth, and possibly the wait to reunite these people. But, in this episode, the "delay" was finding out that the flash forwards were not all flash forwards. Now, we have to guess at each flash, whether it is backwards or forwards, not just figure out the time frame once per episode. But, yes, as melanism points out, cell phones provide an excellent clue as to the year, and the larger cell phone that Jin was using could have clued us into the secret had we been on our toes. But, it caught me by surprise. (I thought he was going to die in a car accident, but more on that below.)

I tend to think most popular names in one country have a popular name equivalent in other countries. It's easier in European countries, e.g. Johann = Ivan = John. But, it still holds some credence in non-westernized countries as well, Ji Yeon, may well be the equivalent of Jo Anne. But, I feel it is particularly noteworthy because the name is homonym with the name "John". Now, it could be coincidence, but in this show, I don't proscribe to that view very often. Instead, after being on the Island for 3 months, is Jin essentially saying, I'm naming my daughter after notable killer, island leader, John Locke? Is there some other reason that he has always liked this name? It's food for thought.

Onto the Oceanic 6. Resolved? Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Aaron? Done? I hope not, but let's assume that is correct. Who are the two that "survive" the plane crash, but don't make it off the island according to Jack's testimony? We still don't know, but I have to guess Claire was one of those people because of Desmond's chopper vision. Jin is probably not one of those two people, otherwise, they would have adjusted the date on his grave accordingly. And, we are still not much closer to figuring out the person in the coffin at the end of Season 3, though the Ben and Michael (under his assumed name, Kevin Johnson (who we are meeting next week)) guesses are looking pretty good, right about now, particularly because Michael is separated from Walt and under an assumed name, no one but the islanders would know who he was and possibly visit him. Doc Jensen enjoyed entertaining a theory that Kevin was not Michael, but actually Walt, a theory which does not suit my fancy because even I have my limits for the sci-fi fantasy stuff.

Which brings us to Jin's grave. Is it filled or empty? Did he actually die on the island or is he still on the island? Sun's tears looked genuine, which based on her displaying quality acting throughout the show and particularly in this episode, I take to mean she is genuinely sad. But, is she grieving or is she just sad that she is separated from her love? Lost is great.

The Jin-Sun dynamic continues to fascinate me, as his relatively long-standing overbearing dominance over Sun prior to the island, has given way, not to a mutual trust and respect, of the "optimal" relationship, but rather Sun has assumed the dominance and makes the decisions without regard for Jin's opinion. Yes, she did take the name for her baby that Jin intended, but that is after a prolonged separation. But, had Jin made the same decision about where they are going to live and told Sun to trust him (i.e. decided that they would live in the caves as opposed to the beach), she would be furious. Sun also has yet to tell Jin about the baby mama dying syndrome. She still has issues to resolve. Jin, on the other hand, has not evolved from the stereotypical angry husband to the perfect husband. The shift was much more nuanced than that, and much more poignant. He went from the courting lover who won Sun's affections with his romance to the stereotypical jealous overbearing husband, and now returned to the innocent, trusting, romantic love that Sun initially fell for. His transition and return to innocence marks the end of his journey on the show. He might stay in the fold, but other than the viewer's determining his ultimate destiny, his psychological issues and idiosyncrasies are just about resolved, and thus the show need not deal with him much any more. The same rang true for most of the other dead castaways on the show before they bought the big one. Once their emotional and mental issues are resolved, they no longer belong in this purgatory.

I wonder if Mr. Paik still has a role to play in how the Widmore-Ben war plays out. I seem to remember a few power players, and now that Hurley has amassed quite a fortune, I imagine he can play some Island games as well (once he's off the island and certifiably sane). Speaking of fathers and father figures, how about Bernard's role as surrogate father to Jin? He was very talkative, but he otherwise lived up the role of advising (by example and by analogy) Jin on Jin's marital problems. He even went so far as to take Jin out fishing, which is what Jin's father actually does for a living. Surrogate father of the day award goes to Bernard.

It was nice seeing Michael again, though I am not sure how both Desmond and Sayid would be able to contain their anger at a man that had killed Libby and Ana Lucia (if I remember correctly they knew that it was him and not Ben) and sent Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley on a path of doom into the hands of Ben. They might understand Michael's actions on behalf of Walt and they might be coy about the whole thing, but really? No reaction? It's just not that plausible. For weeks, we have collectively suspected that Michael was Ben's man on the boat, but now we know for sure(ish). Walt was not with him, so we can only suspect Walt is still on the island, perhaps with the other children harbored by the hostiles.

But, more importantly, what a crappy boat that is. The captain, who has surreptitiously avoided these two strandees for 2-3 days, is very chatty all of a sudden, and he weaves a few tales about Widmore and Ben masterminding the Oceanic wreckage discovery. The captain sounds very plausible, despite the note received by the two bearded Islanders. Obviously, Michael might have sent the note, and Michael may be Ben's mole and Michael might have left the door open, but ultimately they will have to decide who to believe. Would you believe a captain who hasn't helped you yet but seems extremely forthcoming or Ben, who might yet prove to be the lesser of two evils, but who withholds everything he knows and still lies with every other word? Yep, me too.

But, what is up with that boat? Regina is reading some book by Jules Verne, which I am informed is totally relevant, but then, she grabs a chain and walks off the boat to sink 20,000 leagues under the sea. Jensen also believes that Regina and Naomi were more than just friends and the "RG" on Naomi's bracelet was given to her by Regina. (Very possible... and apparently the bracelet is not related to the bracelet found on the corpse of the German girl, killed by Sayid.) But watching Regina plunge off the deck was my biggest shock of the episode. It was like watching a David Lynch movie, even though this might actually make sense. And the nonchalance of the rest of the crew to her suicide was something truly special. Utter anarchic chaos.

Of course, the bloody un-cleaned walls and the bugs in the quiet part of the ship went unexplained, but another legitimate question is whether the captain wanted Desmond and Sayid to see these things. It's possible that Michael would be too busy sabotaging things to have time to clean the room (or it could have been a warning from him). It's also possible that the Captain was threatening the Islanders by showing them blood and death (and bugs) and didn't tell Michael to clean the room (who would want to go unnoticed, so would be doing his job as much as anyone else, which on a boat, is often.)

The semi-death of a prominent castaway has been foretold (in spoilers) for weeks, and coming into this week, it seemed pretty clear that it was going to happen off the island in the future and likely that it would happen to Jin or Sun.
Does that mean I wasn't shocked? Actually, I wasn't shocked about the death, I was shocked by the flashback/flashforward switcheroo that left me feeling more helpless and lost in time then I'd been for more than 2 weeks (since the Desmond episode). I was also shocked that we didn't get to see it. But, it would make sense that he actually died because his issues were resolved (see above) and like Charlie's death, we are merely given a heads up that it's going to happen, and then we subsequently slowly watch the death unravel. Come to think of it, I could see Jin dying in some dramatic fashion, saving Sun in a Jin-Sun-centric episode next year.

Anyone know what it said on Jin's grave (other than the date)?

But, now back to the feature film, and the ongoing quest for control of the island. Captain Gault said he worked for Widmore (little reason to doubt that) and that he was after Ben (some reason to believe that is true). We also know that Michael is lying to him (but Michael has lied before). The Captain has a high tolerance for death/ low value for life, as he didn't seem to care deeply about the loss of his crewmen as he casually explained Island fever. Speaking of Island fever, doesn't this clearly resemble whatever Danielle was talking about when she explained what happened to her and her team when they first got on the island... some sort of viral madness? It's not clear that there was any actual virus, despite Ethan's menacing threats. But something affected the French research crew, and it might as well have been the same thing happening to this frigate's crew.

Where do you get 300 bodies is a good question, regardless of whether it was Ben or Widmore. The purge only killed 40 people, (I think,) so that's not it. The Black Rock probably has totally decayed bodies, so that's not it. Ben works in a veterinary hospital off island, not a morgue, so that's not it. We'll figure it out. But, again, I point to the dichotomy between the show's portrayal of Widmore and Ben over the last two weeks. Widmore is shown beating up 1 person. Ben is alleged to have produced 300 corpses to stage a massive subterfuge. Hmmm. Ben certainly seems more evil from just this comparison, but I guess our file is still relatively empty on Mr. Widmore.

By the way, Sun is a better English teacher than Sawyer. Sun's flip-flopping is not going to get her elected to any prominent political posts on the island. Oh, and Juliet will do anything/say anything to get what she wants, even though what she wants is not as bad as what Ben wants (presumably).

I've got more, but in my flowery wisdom, I will delay your gratification... until next week.

I am Jack's hearty breakfast,
-ME PB