LOST ...in Translation

Lost Episode Title: "…in Translation"

Character Involved: Jin (the super jealous Korean man). Fun fact: this actor used to be on both 24 and Angel! Talk about picking good TV shows to work on!

TV Guide Description: When the raft the survivors have been building mysteriously burns down, Michael is convinced that Jin is responsible for the sabotage, which only further escalates their rivalry. Meanwhile, Sun stuns her fellow survivors with a surprising revelation, and Boone gives Sayid a warning about Shannon.

Brian's Deeper Meaning Guess: Two fold this week. First "…in Translation". Lost in Translation. A clever take on the Oscar nominated movie from 2003. Second, and more importantly is that it refers to the fact that Sun can speak English and knows what is going on, but no one other than Jack knows this. Not even Jin. Here’s something else I’ve thought of - what if Jin can also speak English? Sun is hiding it from Jin, Jin is hiding it from Sun - both are "lost in translation"? The reason I say this, is that Jin seems to smile when he hears different things like Hurley making comments like "Dude, your wife is hot" or the whole scene where he is trying to fish. Jin seems to know more than he lets on. Of course, the other option is that Jin finds out Sun can speak English this episode, and it causes serious drama in their relationship. There’s also the super-obvious part where Jin is "lost" on the island since he cannot understand everyone else speaking English. He’s "lost" in the "translation". Witty.

TV Guide Description Breakdown: Remember the raft that Michael talked about building two episodes back? There was a brief shot of him working on it last episode, and it looked to be a pretty sizeable raft, capable of saving more than just Michael. Who would burn it down? Someone who doesn’t want them leaving the island. Good candidates: Locke, CFL, or The Others. The fact that Michael is going to blame Jin is clearly a red herring, used to fuel the tension between the two of them started by the fact that Michael clearly has the hots for Sun. Remember when he saw her all nekkid in the woods? Oh yeah, he has a thing for her. And there’s the whole deal where Jin ATTACKED Michael with an axe on the beach. Jin is in the mafia, remember? If Michael goes after him, I think Michael will be the one who gets messed up.

Sun’s surprising revelation will definitely be her speaking English. I think she’ll have to use her English speaking skills in defense of Jin. Everyone will now see her in a different light, and she’ll become more accepted in the group - also furthering herself from Jin…

Boone warning Sayid about Shannon? Saying "Stay Away"? "She’s mine"? Is his warning out of concern for Sayid, since Shannon pretty much uses and abuses guys? Or is he warning him to stay away because he still has feelings for her and is jealous of the time the two spend together? I want to think that Boone is 100% a Locke-y (my term for a follower of Locke, and a clever play on the word "lackey") and no longer cares about Shannon. Plus, remember when Locke made some comment about "We’ll want Sayid on our side"? Maybe Boone’s warning is to prevent Sayid from getting messed up with Shannon’s mind games, so that he’s good to go when Locke calls on him to join his side, whatever that means.

Last Week’s Episode Discussion Points:
I thought last week was a really good episode. However, I still feel like we’re just spinning tires at this point in terms of moving the overall storyline of the island further. Yes, it was great to learn more about Sawyer and what drives him, but I think the show is at its best when the back story helps us learn more about the island and what’s going on there. (See: the Locke episode, the Claire episode, etc.) I’ll again hypothesize that the writers of the show made an overall story arc for the season, planning on a typical 22 episode season. When ABC requested they expand it to 24 episodes, they had to make some filler. Rather than mess with the overall arc or the suspense of the conclusion of the season, they used episodes like this one as a way to tell a good story, but not get into the main story of the island mystery. In a way, they’re holding all their best cards until the end of the season. Which I think starts next week! But I digress…

1. We still didn’t learn why Sawyer was in jail during the Boone episode. Did he get caught for killing the Sweet Shrimp guy? I don’t think so, since he was saying something about "I didn’t kill him" when getting carried in the police station. Also, how in the world was he on the plane leaving Australia if he committed murder there? I think he got away with the murder of Sweet Shrimp, but got falsely accused of killing someone else (like Jack’s father!). Once they cleared him, he was on Flight 815 to head home.

2. How long will Sawyer wait before telling Jack about his dad? Will he ever tell him? I could see him holding something like this, using it as leverage, similar to how he hoards all the goods he finds on the island. I predict that Jack has some crisis of faith / breakdown and Sawyer tells him to get him to snap out of it / pull himself together. It will be very poetic. Girls will cry.

3. The Sawyer and Kate scene was fantastic. Holding true to every time anyone ever played "Never Have I Ever" in college, it takes about two rounds or two drinks before the questions turn sexual. My only question is, how did the two of them not hook up?! I’m willing to accept that a paralyzed man can now walk, a kid has magic powers, and there’s a monster running around on this island eating people, but this? I don’t know if I can willingly suspend my belief this far. Plus there was alcohol involved! Writers, you disappoint…

LOCKE. Okay, Locke shows up out of nowhere to tell a story about when he was a kid and his sister died, a dog appeared that his mom thought was "the spirit" of his sister. What a coincidence that Sawyer is currently being tormented by a boar that could be the spirit of the Sweet Shrimp guy he killed! In a way, telling this story could mean that Locke has won Sawyer over / helped him overcome his demons (which would bring his count to like 5 people on the island).

SAWYER. So we still don’t know who the "real" Sawyer was who destroyed this Sawyer’s life. At this point, I don’t think we ever will. I definitely see Sawyer as somewhat of a redeemed individual. Much like Kate, who seems to have real remorse for her past, Sawyer has now learned that revenge is not the way. Sawyer now becomes a "tragic hero".

ANIMALS. So - the boar was Sweet Shrimp? Could Vincent (the dog) represent someone else who has died? My initial thought was "Walt’s mom" - but Vincent was around before Walt’s mom died. But this theory of animals as spirits of those who died is very interesting.

KATE. Her talks with Sawyer confirmed that she has indeed killed someone. From her episode it was "someone she loved". She also confirmed that she has been married before. Was this to the man she killed? What combination of events could cause Kate to fall in love, get married, and then kill her husband in a short period of time? It has to be tied to that little toy plane! Where is Kate Back Story Part 3! Arg!

SIDES. By my count, people who I see "in Locke’s corner" are Boone, Charlie, Jack, Walt, Michael, and maybe now Sawyer. Really the only other main character he needs to win over is Sayid, and he’ll have all the strong players on his side.

JIN. Hopefully this episode sheds some more light on this character. Sun’s backstory helped a little, but this has been a vastly underused character so far on the show. Remember in the first episode when he caught the fish and gave it to Claire, which made her baby seemingly "come back to life"? Did he know that would happen? He was seemingly forcing her to eat it…

VOICES. In last episode, the voices Sawyer heard were seemingly saying "It’ll come back to you" or something along those lines - which makes sense if you think about the Boar getting his "revenge" on Sawyer for the death of Sweet Shrimp. But thinking back to the other characters who have heard voices (CFL, Jack, Sayid) - all have had someone they know die / killed someone. Are these voices simply inside their heads? Their conscience? Or are they the spirits of the those who have died? Or are they The Others playing tricks on them? It’s just very interesting that no one else has heard these voices.

KATE. AGAIN. Speaking of which - why is this girl getting off so scott free? She murdered someone, but has not heard voices / had to deal with seeing images of the person she killed walking around / etc. She seems to have a very tortured past, but the island and the events on the island have been easy on her so far. Is it because she’s smoking hot? Or is her "redemption" still coming up? Maybe Locke will have to help her work through it, and win her over to his side as well.

TITLE CHANGE. Remember last week when I gave you a run down of upcoming episodes? Well, they changed the title for Episode 21..

21 - "The Greater Good" - Sayid Episode II - It used to be called "Sides"? So that’s obviously a theme. The fact that it says "The Greater Good" makes me think of one thing - someone sacrificing themselves for the greater good of the group. Since it’s a Sayid episode, I worry it might be him.

We all know everyone is not going to survive. I’d be very sad to see Sayid go, as he’s awesome and has clearly improved Iraqi-American relations in this modern day and age. No work on the last three episodes… yet.

ANSWERS. The most exciting part of this week’s Email! Per the Internet, there was a radio interview with Lost creator JJ Abrams last week where he said the following questions WOULD BE ANSWERED before the season ends:

1. How Locke can now walk. (Hooray!)
2. The importance of the little plane Kate has. (YES!)
3. What is up with CFL (I guess also exciting!)

My two thoughts are:

4. Immense excitement. Sometimes you wonder if we’re ever going to get any answers - this shows that we’ll definitely get some!

5. Wonderment. Does this mean we’re not going to get any other answers? I doubt it. Most likely, there are big secrets to reveal, and there’s no way JJ would reveal them to a radio show. See every season finale of Alias ever (JJ’s other show). They always end BIG and SHOCKING. Hopefully this won’t be an exception!

Okay, so let it be written, so let it be done. Let me know if you actually receive this Email this week since there was some issue last week with sending them from my work account. All are welcome at the Delta House tonight for Lost!