Ji Yeon

Lost gave us our first episode with a flashforward and flashback in the same show with last night's Ji Yeon. There were a couple of big reveals toward the end and overall it was a solid episode.

Oceanic 6...fooled ya
Our flashback starts off with a pregnant Sun experiencing labor pains and calling for help. She feels that something is wrong with the baby, and it's later confirmed that the baby is in distress. We learn that Sun is indeed part of the Oceanic 6 when she is admitted and the nurses discuss her celebrity status. The doctor visits her, and throughout labor, her only request is to get her husband there. The doctor says that they are trying to reach him and even after the child is born, Sun thinks she sees Jin in the hallway.

These flashbacks are intertwined with Jin running an errand to pick up a giant stuffed panda for what we assume is his baby on the way. Right away, I felt something wasn't right with these sequences. If Sun is in labor and there a chance something is wrong with the baby, why would Jin even bother to get a gift? All along, Jin's cell keeps ringing, and we assume he's speaking with the hospital about Sun. The twist is thrown in when he finally delivers the panda. Jin is told that the baby was born and it was a boy (Sun had a girl). Then we learn that he is on an errand for Sun's dad to congratulate the Ambassador for becoming a grandfather. Then a nurse talks to Jin about having a baby one day, and he says that he's only been married for two months.

I knew something was different with the Jin storyline here. Lost has been throwing twists at us all season, so I figured there would be one here. It was a fun twist, and makes the show even harder to figure out because not only do we have flashforwards and flashbacks, but we get both in one episode.

So, who's call is it?
Sun confronted Daniel about their mission and if they were there to rescue them. We know now that they are there for Ben, but Daniel and Charlotte seem to have other missions too. Last week, they deposed of the killer gas at The Tempest, but there seems to be more to them. They are on the island for a reason and it has to do with their pasts and their research. Daniel tells Sun that rescuing them is not his call. So who makes that call? The Captain? Charles Widmore? This information makes Sun want to leave Jack's group and head for Locke's camp. She doesn't trust the freighter crew, nor does she trust that Juliette is being truthful about pregnant women dying on the island.

Jin's English
On the island, Jin is picking up English rather quickly. He goes from not understanding anything to making complete sentences in the span of a few episodes. It feels rushed to me, but I like that his character has evolved so much.

The ending was touching when he brought Sun dinner. After Juliette had spilled the beans about Sun's affair to keep the Kwon's from going to Locke's camp, it looked like their marriage was over. Jin realized that he was the reason that Sun cheated. He was a bad person and didn't show his affection for her. He has changed so much since being on the island. He loves Sun so much and isn't afraid to show it. His fishing trip with Bernard helped solidify that Jin was a changed man. Karma was on his side and despite all the bad stuff he'd done in the past, he was a good person.

The Freighter Crew & The Captain
Something has been going on with the freighter crew. We knew there was a saboteur on board (Ben's spy) who had already knocked out the communications system. Now someone has disabled the engines. The spy left a note for Desmond and Sayid saying not to trust the captain. When they ask to meet with the captain, they are repeatedly told they don't want to do that. But once we meet him, he doesn't seem so bad.

We are introduced to the captain just after witnessing Regina, wrapped in chains, jumping overboard. Desmond and Sayid try to help, but no one else jumps into action. The captain appears on deck and puts his men back to work. Desmond and Sayid can't believe that no one helped, but the captain simply shrugs it off, saying the crew has been getting cabin fever from being couped up in this location. The captain wants to move the ship to safer waters but can't do so with the engines out.

The captain brings Sayid and Desmond to his room and shows them the black box from their flight. He explains that the wreckage of 815 was staged (another confirmation of something that everyone knew) and said this is the reason they are after Benjamin Linus. So did Ben really stage the wrecked 815, along with 300+ bodies, or is Widmore really behind that too? Where would Ben get a plane and the dead bodies to pull this off? We don't know that much about Ben's off island life, so if he could pull together $3.2 million in a week, he's probably capable of this too.

Back to Regina. What's up with her and the rest of the crew? Early in the episode, she is guarding Desmond/Sayid's room. She seems out of it and is even holding her book upside down. Then she jumps overboard with no explanation other than experiencing cabin fever. Lastly, Desmond and Sayid are brought to their room, and we see that someone committed suicide in there with blood spattered on the wall. What is up with this freighter?

Kevin Johnson
Lost's worst kept secret was finally revealed when Ben's man on the boat stepped forward as Kevin Johnson. Oh, you don't recognize that name? Well, you probably know him as Michael Dawson, aka Walt's dad. Sayid and Desmond playing it cool and don't let on that they recognize Michael, but it had to come as a shock to them to see him again. Next week, we should get more story on how Michael come to be part of the freighter crew, but it was cool to see him again.

Not Jin!?!
The big reveal/twist of the episode is that Sun is part of the Oceanic 6, and Jin is not. After Ji Yeon was born, Hurley came to see Sun and the baby. Hurley's dressed in his best suit, and they set off to go see Jin. You knew this meant that something had happened to Jin. They arrive at a cemetery, and we see Jin's headstone. Sun talks to him and tells him that she wishes he would have been there. She named the baby Ji Yeon, just as he wanted. The moment is somber and both she and Hurley are mournful with their body language. So the question now becomes, is Jin really dead?

The thought never crossed my mind while watching the show that he might still be alive. Just the way they acted and the language they used (Hurley saying they should go see Jin) made it feel like that really was his grave sight. People online has examined the tombstone and the date of death is listed as 9/22/2004, the date of the plane crash. We all know Jin didn't die that day, so did they have to say that he died in the crash and couldn't give details of his real death? Is he still on the island and they are just using the grave as a front to show that he is dead? If he isn't in that grave, then why did Hurley and Sun go there to mourn him? Couldn't they have just talked in Sun's apartment? I just think they would have acted differently at the cemetary if the tombstone was just a symbol or a cover up for people being left on the island.

With this in mind, I think that Jin did die and despite the date being the day of the plane crash, he is in that grave. I think sometimes fans of Lost looked into and analyze everything too much. As the producers said in a recent podcast, sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet. I think we are meant to question if Jin really died, and with the tease next week that someone will die, could Jin's life be on the line?

Not to end on such a somber note, I'll leave you with a fun Easter Egg that I did not catch in Ji Yeon, but lots of people online did. Check out who was on Sun's TV in her flashforward. Yep, Sun was watching Expose, featuring Flight 815's own Niki.

Next on Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson


*Photos from Lost-Media.com