I really enjoyed tonight's installment of Lost, but I figured out the final twist of the hour during the first Jin flashback. My "writer's brain" was in full gear tonight, and it just seemed to me too perfect an opportunity not to tweak the normal format of Jin and Sun's flashbacks to have one character flashing forward while the other was flashing back. I'd have used that same device, though I do have to say I'm a bit disappointed that to pull off their trick, the writers gave us a completely meaningless flashback for Jin. We learned nothing new about his character, and his adventure in the past in no way reflected on the story happening on the Island in the present.Still, whether or not the audience was "duped," and whether the switch was handled perfectly or not... none of that's really the point. Once again, an episode centered around Sun and Jin proves to be very poignant and emotional. Not only was there the revelation in the present of Sun's affair and Jin's forgiveness of that, but we learn that in the future, Sun has survived while Jin has not. It's a very tragic ending to their story. One has to assume, though, that Jin will at some point sacrifice himself to protect Sun and their unborn child, and I expect that moment, when it comes, will be even more powerful.
For the detail hounds, the date of Jin's death was shown in English on the tombstone, and it was the date of the crash on the Island. This is another affirmation that in the future, all the Oceanic Six (and it seems we know five of them now) have agreed on this lie that everyone else died in the crash. I'm still interested to see how we get there.
Of course, there was one other major reveal in this episode, but sadly, it can't in any way be called a surprise -- the return of Michael to the show. I truly wish this twist in the plot hadn't been ruined, because man, what a shock it would have been to have him turn up there on the boat, had I not known in advance. The trouble is, the network and the producers shouted of the return of Harold Perrineau from the rooftops. They made a big announcement at Comic Con about it, where the actor showed up in person to meet fans. Every web site that covers entertainment news in any measure has commented on it several times.
What's more, after having Harold Perrineau's name out of the credits for all of season three, it returned in this season's premiere, and has been there for every episode we've seen so far. So, to not have known about this in advance, you'd have to have been in a cave and completely oblivious. If that's somehow miraculously what happened to you, I hope you're not insulted by my words, because I'm actually totally jealous of you right now. Your jaw probably hit the floor tonight. But I'm guessing that right now, I'm talking to someone who doesn't actually exist.
At least, even though the surprise moments didn't really deliver for me tonight, other moments did. Hurley as the one to show up from Sun was perfect, and touching. Juliet's scenes with Sun were also great. And the nice moments between Jin and Jack, and Jin and Bernard, were also very real and sweet... and also sad, when you think that Jin's days are numbered.
One more episode to go before a strike-created break of a few weeks. I'm looking forward to it!
4 comments:
While I didn't have the foreknowledge that Michael was coming back, it made me smile, but I can't say I was surprised. I kind of always assumed he'd be back at some point.
Regardless, I'm looking forward to what Michael's deal is. Did Walt somehow make it back to the island? Or did Ben never really let him leave? What will Hurley's reaction be to hearing Michael is back?
I love this show...
I have been in a cave, writing my Ph.D. dissertation. Seeing Michael was a very nice surprise indeed.
Jin may not actually be dead. They offered a few clues to this assumption. Bernard spoke of karma on the boat, followed by Jin easily catching a fish. Sun calling out for Jin during birth struck me as wishing he were not left behind, as though he were actually alive. The tombstone serves two purposes -- maintaining the lie of the Oceanic Six and providing some concrete means of talking to Jin.
A mother in that situation would be sad regardless of whether the father was dead or simply could not be there. I would be shocked if Jin were in fact dead.
I was also disappointed that Jin's flashback offered nothing meaningful, but I think it was simply playfulness on the producers' part. I can't think of any way they could pull off the same stunt and also give us a better flashback.
Michael's back. Yippee. Let's wrap up this "half" of the season and take a rest. Waaaaaaaaaaaaalt!
While I'm sure we're going to find out that many of the survivors remain on the Island and are not dead, my gut tells me Jin really IS dead. Hurley's choice of words seemed to confirm that to me: "let's go see him." I don't think that's the sort of thing you'd say about an empty grave plot, at least not when there's no one around to need to keep up appearances for.
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