It's Been A Long Time . . .

Well, LOST has been off the air for over 1 week -- only approximately 32 weeks to go. :-p

And I've been "away" even longer than that. I was out of town the week of the finale, and as a result, I'm waaaaayyyyy behind on reading and listening to all the goodies I usually read and listen to post LOST episodes. Of course, with the hiatus staring us in the face, I've got time.

My plan for the off season is to keep posting some fun polls and discussion questions. It probably won't be a question a day, but we'll see how many things we can come up with. I'm also reading LOST books and books that remind me of LOST, so I'll have some of those posts as well starting with Book 4 of the Dark Tower series which I finished back in April, but have not posted about yet. And hopefully, we will indeed get a new ARG to kill some time judging from the Octagon Global Recruiting ad.

And now, with no further delay, here's my first question about the finale:



And be sure to add your comments (spoiler-free please) as to what you think about whether or not we'll see Jin dead or alive in the future.

Peace and Namaste!

Where's The Elizabeth Now?













I guess it could show up in S4, or it may just disappear.

And while we're on the subject of questions from The Glass Ballerina, do you think Jin will ever find out about Sun and Jae. I hope not for his sake.

And were the Others really building a runway? That's what Pickett says in a S3 deleted scene. Why a runway? Aliens? Doubt it. So is there a plane on the Hydra Island or will one land? Or will this go the way of Vincent on the dock in Season 2's DVD extras?

Oh Dear!



I've reached that part in Season 2 where the LOST writing team
felt the need to start making like these penguins, tap dancing
to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the story. The Whole Truth is one
of those episodes (along with SOS, Two For the Road and
arguably others) where the first 38 minutes sort of drug by only
to get a great whammy in the last 5 minutes.













Ben's musings in the breakfast nook of the Swan certainly
qualifies as one of those endings that saved an otherwise
less than scintillating episode. "Now if I were one of
them . . ." You know the rest. And he finishes it all
up with "You got any milk?"

I guess Ben was trying to bolster his Henry Gale story
with this game of "what if." Knowing that there was no
trap at the balloon that should have boosted "Henry's"
credibility upon Sayid's return. It also helps to build
the tension heading into the next episode as we were left
to worry about Charlie and Sayid (while rooting that the
Others would get Ana Lucia. You know you did.)

But The Whole Truth was not totally without merit
other than this scene. Re-watching the episode after
Season 3 gives it whole new meaning when it comes to Jin
and that lying liar he married. And this is why I love
LOST and love re-watching LOST. Each time there's something
different and something has changed. What's more the
thing that has changed is ME and how I now view the
situation and characters. BRAVO LOST!

. . . And Themes














. . . And Found, Episode 2.5 is loaded with many a LOST theme.
Here's just a few.

The flashback opens with Sun's mom despairing that her
daughter will ever find a husband. Sun tells her mom:

I'll find a husband when the time is right.

Mrs. Paik replies:

Your father says the time is now.

There has been speculation that Mr. Paik may be a Mrs. Hawking
type time guardian. I wonder if this was driving Mr. Paik's desire
for Sun to marry. And if so, did the universe course correct on
him and bring Jin to Sun? Or was that just the Destiny book that Jin's
friend used that said this was Jin's year to find love?

And speaking of that possible course correction, it was necessitated
by another LOST theme. Jae and his courting of Sun was an attempt
by Jae to pull a con on his parents and Sun's. Is there anyone on
this show that isn't a con artist of some degree?

There's a big thematic discussion that occurs between Sun
and Locke. Now that's an odd couple if ever there was one. Sun is
looking for her lost ring and pulls up her garden in frustration. Locke
witnesses this and the following discussion takes place:

Locke: Oh, I used to get angry all the time. Frustrated too.
Sun: You are not frustrated anymore?
Locke: I'm not lost anymore.
Sun: How did you do that?
Locke: Same way anything lost gets found. I stopped looking.

Huh? What about all that trying to get into the Swan? What about
sacrificing Boone and pounding on the Hatch? What about lighting
dynamite while Hurley ran at you and yelled at you to stop? What
about the fact that it took Sayid to fix the computer? What about
the fact Jack doesn't want to push the button?

This goes back to my recent post about the Swan's effect on Locke.
Outside the Swan, Locke sees clearly what he's gained, how far
he's come, but inside the Swan, that frustration and fear and anger
returns over and over. So again I ask was the Swan Locke's destiny
or a diversion?

Finally, Jin is told in his flashback by the Destiny book that love
will be orange. Ironically, while there is a lot of orange in
the episode, Sun isn't the one wearing it. Granted Jin ogling a
woman in orange leads him to bump into and meet Sun, but
the most interesting use of orange to me is Michael's shirt.

Here we have the theme of sacrificing ourselves and our goals
and desires for the sake of others out of a brotherly love.
Jin actually does this in his flashback as well when he permits
the scruffy Koreans to use the fancy shmancy toilet at the hotel.
But it plays out most clearly in Jin's determination to find
Michael and help Michael find Walt even at the expense of
delaying his return to Sun. In this case orange equalled Jin's
love for Michael bringing their story that started out with
bitterness and even hatred half circle to a place of friendship
that will sacrifice for the other.

In Hindsight, I Should Have
Figured Out Here That Sun
Could Not Be Trusted














Jin learns that Sun can speak English and so decides to
give her the silent treatment. Sun's response: Some weak
pleading in Korean, then a full confession of her desire to
leave Jin delivered in English. To Jin it must have sounded
like Charlie Brown's teacher. Not much of a confession, eh?

There's not really a question associated with this, but it is
interesting to rewatch the old Sun and Jin episodes given
the Season 3 flashbacks. And of course, there's also the
huge irony that but for Jin and his fishing skills which he
was ashamed of in Korea, these people would have
starved way before the Others got involved.

The timing in Sun and Jin's flashbacks comes into focus
in Season 3. We learn that Jin becomes a "message
deliverer" for Mr. Paik shortly after their wedding, and
he comes home with blood on his hands shortly after that.
Sun says in The Hunting Party that they've been married
4 years. That means the two of them were cold and distant
for most of those four years.

I'm surprised it took Sun that long to devise her escape
plan. I guess Jae's death was the final straw that sent her
looking for a new life. All in all a very sad marriage especially
given that unless Sun is one of the people who gets off the
Island, she's going to die in about a month.