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This is the way Sun and Jin were: he was an ambitious man determined to leave his fishing village past, and she was a university-educated woman with little time for her parents' traditional matchmaking. They son her up with a hotel magnate's son, and you figure he's going to be a dick and all wrong for Sun, but in a break from that clichéd plot, he turns out to be fairly nice and he and Sun hit it off -- except he reveals that he's only pretending to do the matchmaker thing to please his parents, and that he actually met an American woman in Harvard whom he plans to marry. Meanwhile, Jin becomes a doorman at a prestigious hotel, where the manager tells him that his job is keep people like himself out. So of course what happens is that Jin as a little boy and his father time-travel to the present day in their shabby clothes to ask Adult Jin to use the hotel bathroom, and when the manager gives Jin grief over it, Jin quits. And it's when he's contemplating his likely future as a homeless man that he literally bumps into Sun, much to their delight and the delight of fans of superior cheekbone genes.
On the other side of Craphole Island, Michael heads off into the jungle in search of Walt. Michael goes after his friend, and Otherbisi, whose name turns out to be Mistereko (sounds like: "Mr. Echo") goes to help too. Sawyer doesn't appear to give a shit, preferring to stick with Ana-Lucia, the woman who keeps hitting him with rocks and stomping on his bullet wounds. Jin and Mistereko hide in the brush while the Others go marching by, Mistereko on hand to make dire statements about what the Others are capable of, and how they won't be found if they don't want, that sort of thing (proof is offered in the form of a dead body rotting in the jungle). And the hunt for Walt doesn't even go anywhere, no cliffhanger ending to this episode or anything, just people wandering in the jungle, much like last week.
Sun loses her ring, and then predictably finds it in the ground where she buried the bottle last week. You producers might want to re-edit those scenes for the Season 2 DVDs, because her ring magically appeared after it was gone.
And we don't see the hatch at all this week, so let's hope everything's copacetic there. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Sun and Claire are alone on the beach. It looks like they're doing the washing, so how nice of them to give Rose a day off. Sun's staring at the sea, at the waves crashing against the rocks. "It's been four days," she says, which gives you an idea of how slowly time is moving on this show. This is the fifth episode of the season, and they've moved four days since last year's season finale. Claire picks up on Sun being worried about Jin, and she assures her that "they say it can take up to two weeks to find the current." Who, exactly, is "they" in this case? The blown-up Dr. Arse, I suppose. Claire's in the middle of trying to reassure Sun by saying that "Michael knew what he was doing," but what she is basing that on I have no idea, and Sun takes no notice anyway because she was looking at her hand and has become frantic. She starts looking around, until Claire finally asks what her problem is. "My wedding ring! It's gone!" Run out of ideas? Are they stealing plotlines from Everybody Loves Raymond now?We flashback to a jewelry box overflowing with gems. Sun's hands seek out a ruby hair pin. She checks it in the mirror, then puts it on. She's wrapping a scarf around her neck to go with her, uh, beigey cream dress that she has on, and her mother strolls up, holding another dress, and says, in Korean, "You're not planning on wearing that, are you?" I should point out that Sun looks really nice, far nicer than I ever look whenever I get asked that question. And I get asked that question an awful lot (fortunately, although it took me a while, I learned what the proper answer is). Sun asks what's wrong with what she's wearing, but her mom doesn't answer, as she's now noticed the black high heels Sun was planning to wear. She hauls them away, despite Sun's protests, and brings back a pair of white -- I want to say flats, because they're certainly not heels, and that's what flats are, right? Or are they pumps? Or are pumps and flats the same thing? ["Flats are flat; think ballet slipper. The shoes Sun's mother brought out are low-heeled shoes." -- Sars] The reason Mom's traded the heels for these is, "He might be shorter than you." Sun sits down on the end of her bed, exasperated. She calls this "ridiculous," but what's ridiculous to her mom is that Sun went to college and didn't even come back with a husband, forcing them to use a matchmaker! "I went to college to get a degree," says Sun. "And after four years of college, you're 'silver,'" says her mother, by which she means Sun has…grey hairs now? I don't see them. But the look of horror on her mom's face is generally reserved for more serious ailments, like say an alien bursting from your abdomen. "Don't you want to find a husband before you turn 'bronze'?" she asks, and she's completely lost me by this point.
Sun says she'll find a husband when the time is right, and her mom says Sun's father has decided the time is right now. Sun doesn't appear to think so.
Meanwhile, in a presumably far seedier part of town, Jin is getting dressed while his friend examines some sort of Korean chart thing and tells Jin that this year, love will find him. Jin, tying a necktie, says, "Well, if the destiny book says it, it must be true." He's being sarcastic, so his friend says his grandfather used it to find a wife: "It never fails." All right, says Jin: "What's she look like, so I'll know when I see her?" So his buddy takes a ruler to do whatever with the so-called "destiny book," and says "orange," which makes no sense to Jin (interestingly enough, Korean for "orange" appears to be "orange"). "I can't take care of a woman," says Jin. "I can barely take care of myself." Jin's buddy suggests letting a woman take care of him. "That's not what a man does," says Jin, like he's getting ready to be on the Korean Maury Povich show. "A man needs a goal in life. He works harder than anyone. He gets promoted. Then he'll be respected -- not like the son of a fisherman." He looks absolutely disgusted when he says this last bit. His buddy, clearly worried about hearing yet another diatribe from Jin about being a fisherman's son, tells him it's just a job interview. "A very important job interview," corrects Jin, before coming over to ask his buddy how he looks. It's just for show. Daniel Dae Kim knows he looks good.
Jin's buddy notices Jin forgot to cut the tag off the tie. "Are you kidding? If I cut it off, how can I return it? This tie cost a fortune!" says Jin. He's crafty. But that's nothing. I once wore a new pair of jeans that still had that long sticker down the leg with the waist and inseam measurement on it. And it was a date where I was meeting her friends, too. As Jin puts on his jacket, his buddy asks, "What should I do if love calls?" Courtney? Don't pick up. Jin pauses at the door before smiling and saying, "Tell it to wait," and heads out.
Back on Craphole Island, a scarred, weather-beaten, long-haired Jin sits in the Goofus hatch-hole, lost in thought. Michael looks around, sees the other survivors (there are five of them: Ana-Lucia, Otherbisi, Bernard, Libby, and the other woman whose name we don't know) talking. He scoots over to Jin and says, "Sun? You'll be with her again. Soon." Jin perks up at the sound of Sun's name, but likely doesn't know what Michael's saying. I'm sure the intended reassurance is coming through, though. He nods and smiles as best he can.
, Michael wakes up Sawyer, points to the others, and says it looks like they're trying to decide what to do with our heroes. "I think they're gonna eat us," says Sawyer. Look, just because you suggested that to them...
Ana-Lucia comes over, so Sawyer, you might want to cover your crotchal area. She tells them to get up, as they're moving out. Michael stands up. "Moving out where?" he asks. Ana-Lucia tells them they're going to help get food and water. Jin and Sawyer stand up, with Sawyer asking if they work for Ana-Lucia now. She explains that they're going to help because they have a long walk ahead of them. "A long walk where?" ask Sawyer. "Back to where you came from," says Ana-Lucia. You'd think that they'd be happy about that, but everything Ana-Lucia says sounds like a threat.
So Ana-Lucia leads them out of the Goofus hatch after checking to make sure they're clear. As they file out, Sawyer whispers to Mike that they should "stage a prison break" in what might be a lame inside joke regarding Otherbisi. Michael, however, wants to find out what's going on before he makes any decisions. Ana-Lucia comes back to inform them that when they're gathering food and water they're to travel in pairs, move as fast as they can, and not make any noise. Michael asks her what's going on that they're so on edge. Here's a better question: "Libby told me that there were twenty-three of you. I can't help but notice that there are now five of you. What up with that?" Ana-Lucia snaps that maybe they can swap stories on the road. We get it, you're a tough customer. Otherbisi says he's going to go scout ahead, and Ana-Lucia orders "Cindy" to go with him. Libby's assignment is to gather fruit. "Take him with you," says Ana-Lucia, gesturing to Michael. "His name is Michael," says Libby. She's risking a rock in the head for Michael already? Fortunately, Ana-Lucia says, "Yeah. Right. Michael," and manages not to spit every syllable. Sawyer doesn't want Michael to go, but Michael says it'll be fine. He's basing that on what, now? Ana-Lucia and Bernard are going fishing, the mention of which brightens Jin right up. "Fish," he says, pointing at himself. "The man knows how to fish," says Sawyer, so Ana-Lucia agrees to take Jin with them.
Back on the island, Sun…yawn…searches for her ring. Jack notices her looking and asks if she's okay. "I lost my wedding ring!" she whines. I can't believe they didn't put any scenes of this scintillating plot in the previews last week. Jack thinks for a moment, presumably wondering how he can make this about him, and then strolls over to ask when the last time she saw it was. "I'm so used to it, I don't…I don't know," she says. So Jack sits down and says, "Well, I lost my wedding ring once," so you just know this is going to be a useful story. "It's crazy where you'll look when you want to find something bad enough," he says. Yeah, like looking in the garbage. Crazay! Jack even took apart the pipes in the bathroom. Sun asks what his wife said, and Jack says she never knew. How's that? "I went to a jeweler and had a replica made, that's how," he says, laughing. NICE REASSURING STORY, YOU JACKHOLE. How can you make this worse? Oh, yeah, the ring is now just rattling around your sock drawer because your wife is dead. Hope this helps, Sun! He offers to help her look, and she politely declines, saying she's sure it'll turn up.
Over on the other side of the island, Bernard and Ana-Lucia are flailing around uselessly with a fishing net, while a little ways down Jin has found himself a little spiny sea creature. He's plucking the spines out and throwing them into the water, so you know this is going to be some initially confusing Miyagi-esque technique that produces great results. First, though, Ana-Lucia snaps at him, telling him to help them if he wants to eat. Jin shakes his head, says something in Korean. Ana-Lucia does that loud, over-enunciation thing you do when you're an asshole and you're talking to someone you think is stupid because they don't speak English: "Does it look like I speak Korean?" she yells. No, but you're clearly fluent in Ugly American. Jin casts his net upon the waters and draws it in, filled with some sort of red fish. "Fish," he says pointedly at Ana-Lucia, who is now all smiles. Bernard could stand to look a little more impressed, though. Guess he was hoping for more candy.
Flashback to Jin's interview. His prospective employer examines the resume, notes Jin worked at the Asiana Hotel as a busboy. "I became a waiter, sir," says Jin, and this is a big deal because the prospective employer here knows that this particular hotel doesn't usually promote from within. "I believe I was one of the few exceptions," says Jin, careful not to sound too proud during his interview. The manager changes gears, asks Jin what village he's from. Jin's surprised, but the manager says Jin's obviously not from the city and asks again, not unpleasantly, what village Jin is from. "Namhae. On the South Coast," says Jin. A slight smile from the manager. "No wonder," he says. "I thought I smelled fish on you." This doesn't sound like a job interview so much as a junior-high locker room. The manager's now come out from behind the desk to sit on the front of it, facing Jin, who's still processing that "smelled fish on you" remark when the manager reaches forward quickly and yanks the price tag off Jin's tie. "This was sticking out," he says. Jin's mouth says "thank you" but his eyes say, "Shit, I'm going to be living on Top Ramen for months if I can't return this tie." But he doesn't have to worry, because the manager picks up the phone and tells someone, "Mr. Kwon will be joining us." To Jin he says, "You will start immediately. You work rain or shine. You don't ask for a raise or time off." A flunky comes in with a uniform, which you'd think Ebenezer here would say will be deducted from Jin's first paycheque. Instead, he just lectures Jin on the Seoul Gateway being one of the finest hotels in the country. He leans forward, points a finger at Jin. "Do not open the door for people like you," he says. Again, Jin's unsure how to react, but he finally stammers out a "yes sir" and an "I understand" and promises to do his best. Yeah, this is going to end well.
Back on the other side of the island, Libby and Michael are making their way through the jungle. She apologizes to him for throwing him and his friends into the pit. Michael chuckles, and I assumed that it was because it wasn't like Libby had a whole lot to do with them being thrown in the pit, but he's chuckling at Sawyer and Jin being called his friends, before he allows that one of them is his friend. "I'm guessing not the redneck," says Libby. Check. "I don't think I've ever seen someone so scared in my life," she says. No mirrors in your little hatch-hole? Oh wait, she adds: "And I know about scared." Michael asks if that's why the others threw them in the pit. Well, that and the "trust issues," says Libby. And here we go again, with the conversation just on the verge of TELLING US SOMETHING and Michael instead asks where all the fruit is. Libby suggests trying the ground, as the trees have been picked pretty clean. Michael proposes going inland, as that's where all the fruit is on their side of the island, but Libby says they don't go that way. Michael asks why. "Because that's where they come from," she says. Michael gazes off into the bush. You're so close, Michael. You're almost there! Just keep asking questions! Just…aw, crap.
Back at the hatch-hole entrance, Sawyer is, surprise, sitting on his ass while Bernard, Ana-Lucia, Cindy, and Jin wrap up the food. Suddenly, a huge metallic object stabs into the wood right by his head. It's Otherbisi, offering Sawyer a homemade machete for protection. We have got to get Locke and Otherbisi together. Sawyer asks Otherbisi his name. Otherbisi considers his answer, then says (and I'm going by the closed captionining here), "Mistereko," and Sawyer says, "Mr. Eko?" (again, the closed captioning) and Mistereko looks amused and says yes. "So what's that, like Mr. Ed?" says Sawyer, who really doesn't have to antagonize and alienate everyone he meets.
Libby comes running back into the clearing to announce that Michael took off. Ana-Lucia says they're moving out now, but Sawyer isn't having it. "Your buddy ran off into the jungle," she snaps. Jin starts talking excitedly, so Bernard asks what he's saying. Yeah, because Sawyer is likely to speak Korean, Bernard. Finally, Jin says, "Walt! Walt!" a couple of times. Holy shit! Jin speaks English!
So anyway, they're moving out. Ana-Lucia asks Libby to carry the radio. Sawyer's all, radio? "Does it work? Can you use it?" "Wow, what a great idea," snaps Ana-Lucia, so here we are in another little conversational cul-de-sac because the radio is discussed no further. Ana-Lucia asks Sawyer if he and Jin are going to slow them down. Jin sees what's going on. "Michael!" he says indignantly. "We're leaving before he can tell them where we are," she says. Okay, Jin's not sensing a whole lot of sympathy from Ana-Lucia, so he tries Sawyer instead. "Michael!" he says, lifting his eyebrows as if to say, "You know, your fellow survivor and shipmate?" Sawyer looks pained, but he says, "What are we supposed to do, wait for him? He ain't coming back without his kid." See, there's another issue, Sawyer. Maybe you could help with that? Instead, he tries to make Jin understand that he doesn't believe Michael's even going to find Walt. "In case you haven't noticed, it's every man for himself, Chewie." Mistereko takes this in, not looking super-impressed. Jin either, as Sawyer says, "Mike's gotta worry about Mike. And I gotta worry about me." You know, Sawyer, Michael shot a shark to save your ass, when he might have saved the bullets to look out for himself. I'm just saying. Jin gets the gist of Sawyer's selfishness, and starts to stomp off, but he's stopped by Mistereko, who even says "please"! So Jin hauls off and hits him, and it's about as effective as punching B.A. Baracus, and just like B.A. would, Otherbisi head-butts Jin, knocking him to the ground. Jin's in a lot of pain, but he gets up anyway, all Cool Hand Luke, and glares defiantly at Mistereko. Mistereko's got several inches and probably eighty pounds on him, but he sees something in Jin's determination, so he stands aside. Jin starts to head down the path, but Mistereko tells him he's going the wrong way, and he points in the opposite direction, says that's where Michael's going. Jin starts off again, and Mistereko hands him a hockey-stick-looking club thing, and starts to follow him. Ana-Lucia asks him what he's doing, and Mistereko says that he's going to help him find his friend. "We can't wait for you," she says. "I don't expect you to," he replies. He leaves, Ana-Lucia seething in his general direction.
Oh good, more on the lost ring. Sun's talking to Hurley. I don't want to start a whole thing here, but shouldn't she bring Charlie in on the ring quest? Hurley says she just needs to retrace her steps, and asks what she was doing yesterday. She says she was hanging out with Shannon and that they picked some fruit, and cut it up to give to Vincent. "Whoa, you fed the dog?" Sun nods. "Bingo!" says Hurley. Oh, gross.
Cut to Hurley and Sun sitting on a log, watching Vincent sniffing along the ground. Hurley starts making with the small talk: "So, Seoul. Is that in the good Korea or the bad one?" Sun's "are you kidding me?" expression kills me. After a moment, she says, "The good one." Hurley asks if she went to the Olympics. Presumably so he won't drain his Korea references well dry by asking if she ever watches M*A*S*H, she just says it's ridiculous that they're "waiting here for..." She gestures at Vincent, can't even say what they're waiting for. "The dog did not eat my ring," she says. "Dude, dogs will eat anything," he says, and then he starts talking about the dog he had as a kid, Buster, who apparently went after some Smarties in his change drawer, and he goes on, and I hope to never hear the phrase "craps out $1.35 in nickels" ever again. Although I will say that chocolate is really bad for dogs, so Hurley's kind of lucky even to get his change back.
The other thing here is that I've always been under the impression that Smarties were a Canadian thing. And I wasn't sure that Hurley would have even been able to have them as a kid. And at the very least, way back when he was making small talk with "Ethan Rom" of Ontario, he should have been able to think of something good about Canada. So in checking this out, I've learned this, and had one source of Canadian pride destroyed. Thanks, Lost! ["Not to add insult to injury here, but -- Hurley's probably actually talking about these Smarties. The ones in the U.S. aren't chocolate." -- Sars]
So anyway, Sun's not to sure what to say after another pointless story that doesn't help her whatsoever. Hurley finally asks if she ever had a dog. "Yes. Jin gave me one. A puppy." Hurley asks the puppy's name. "Bpo Bpo," she says. Hurley asks if that means anything. "Yes, it means a kiss," she says, and I think it's safe to assume we're heading into flashback.
Sun's getting out of a car with her mother, who's busy lecturing her on all the ways she's supposed to subjugate herself in order to be more attractive with her potential future husband: "Keep your hands in your lap, okay? In fact, don't speak unless they ask you a direct question." Sun looks understandably unimpressed with this whole thing. The matchmaker's there, and she begins praising Sun and talking up the match: "Isn't she a beauty!" Well, that's true. "You're going to love him! He's handsome, well-educated, and his family owns this hotel and twelve others." They stride past the doorman, who's bowing so we can't see his face, and he greets them and welcomes them to the Seoul Gateway. They pass by, and he straightens up, smiling. Oh, Jin. Will you ever meet your future wife? Well, yes. Yes, you totally will.
Sun sits, looking miserable, at the table with Jae Lee, who's bald, like Harry on Sex and the City bald, while her mother sucks up about what a lovely hotel this is. Jae Lee gives Sun the once-over while his mom says Sun's mom is too kind. She mentions Sun going to Seoul National University (go, Pandas!), and Mrs. Paik says, "Yes, but it's certainly no Harvard!" like, NICE, not that I could really make out what she was saying, what with her lips planted firmly on Mrs. Lee's butt. So the matchmaker suggests that the old hens leave the kiddies alone so they can get to know each other, which they do. Given the destiny book's prediction earlier, it might be worth pointing out the orange juice on the table. After they leave, Jae pleasantly asks who's pressuring Sun more -- her mother or her father. Sun smiles and says, "Definitely my father…via my mother." She asks Jae the same. "My father, via my mother… via my aunt…via my grandmother…" and they share a laugh, and then they start discussing what each other studied in school. Sun: art history. Jae: medieval Russian literature, but somehow he ended up in hotel management. Sun half-smiles. "Yeah, somehow," she says, and Jae has a good laugh. Guess that happens when your family owns thirteen of the damn things. Probably better-paying than dead Russian writers, too. Jae says he usually dreads these setups, but "today is…different." Sun looks at him, with big, dark eyes. "Yes, for me too," she says, and she can't stop smiling. I have to say I assumed, since we know Sun and Jin wind up together, that the setup would be completely wrong for Sun. Unfortunately, by the end of the episode, that's resolved, so the easy way out was still taken, but at least it was a surprise.
Back on Craphole Island, Mistereko and Jin are walking through the jungle while the cinematographer justifies the shooting location, and likely helps boost Hawaii tourism while he's at it, with the majestic tree-covered hills shrouded in fog behind them. They make their way into a clearing, where they stop for a moment. Jin hears rustling off to the left, and takes off into the bush, despite Mistereko's protests. "Michael!" says Jin, urgently, and keeps going.
Then he stops, looks around, hears rustling, sees the bushes moving, and suddenly he's charged by a CGI boar, knocking him to the ground and rolling him down a hill. Stunned, he groggily gets up, before being surprised by a dead body with a stake sticking out of its chest. The sound effect guys throw in the ol' "decay signified by buzzing flies" standby while Jin looks nauseated. Mistereko strolls up. "His name was Goodwin," he says. The screen goes white, and in black lettering it says "Goodwin. 1968-2004." Jin looks like he's going to throw up, but he takes his hand off his mouth long enough to point at the body and quietly say, "Others?" Mistereko nods grimly. Thing about that is, would Mistereko's group attach the same significance to that specific word? Wouldn't it be more likely that Mistereko thinks Jin's asking if there are others like Goodwin? Well, come to think of it, I suppose a grim nod is an appropriate response anyway.
Back from commercial, Mistereko crouches by a plant. Jin thinks maybe he's found a sign of Michael, but he's just breaking off a piece of aloe that he gives Jin for his cut. Then he sits down. Noticing the ring on Jin's hand, Mistereko asks if he's married, making himself understood by indicating the ring. "You have a wife?" "Yes. You?" says Jin, taking Mistereko's proffered water skin and taking a drink. "Worse," says Mistereko. Jin's let off the no-follow-up-questions hook, given that he probably has no idea what Mistereko just said. After a moment, Mistereko asks what Jin's wife's name is, and Jin tells him. "She was with you? On the plane?" Mistereko holds his hand out flat, mimics a plane taking off. Jin nods.
Back in her garden, Sun's searching among the freshly tended plants. Nothing's turning up, so she freaks out and starts ripping out plants and throwing them around, before finally sitting down in a heap, wailing and crying. Here comes Locke, who'll hopefully say something cryptic and not at all helpful.
"Bad day?" he says, and Sun just keeps sobbing. Locke takes off his backpack, pulls a rag from his back pocket, and hands it to her. "It's clean," he says. Sure it's not stained with Boone's blood? She thanks him, and he asks if she minds if he sits down, and she motions for him to do so. "Did you see me?" she asks, calming down. "Rip apart your garden? No," he says, and she bursts out giggling. "Sometimes I wish I had a garden to tear apart," he says, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. Sun says she doesn't think she's ever seen him angry. Locke laughs. "Oh, I used to get angry all the time. Frustrated, too." Oh, not frustrated too! "You are not frustrated anymore?" she asks. "I'm not lost anymore," he says. Sun asks how he did that. "Same way anything lost gets found -- I stopped looking," he says. Hey, that makes no sense! Thanks, Locke!
We flashback to Sun checking her makeup in a compact while a piano tinkles in the background. She looks around, waiting.
Outside, Jin is being the best doorman in the world, opening the door for an exiting businessman. A horn honks, and Jin rushes to the street to open the car door for Jae, pulling up in a silver BMW. "Good afternoon, Mr. Lee," says Jin, and Lee looks at him and gets out of the car without saying anything. So I figured that here was when we see Jae Lee turn out to be a spoiled rich dick who's all wrong for Sun, but then just before going inside, he spots the flower on Jin's lapel and asks if he can borrow it, as he has a date. Jin says "of course," and unpins it and hands it to Jae, who admires the flower, which looks much like the one that's such a big honkin' deal to Sun and Jin's relationship. Jae asks Jin's name, and thanks him, calling him "Mr. Kwon." Jin looks like he likes the sound of that.
Inside, we see that Jae's using the flower as his own boutonniere, so while he might not be a completely spoiled rich dick who's all wrong for Sun, he's certainly not as thoughtful as Jin.
Anyway, he's telling an uproarious story that revolves around being locked out of his hotel room wearing only a towel, and don't you hate it when the maid doesn't believe that you own the hotel, and haven't we all been there? To his credit, he does tell the story like he's not boasting. "I can't believe how…normal you are," she says. "I think you're great too, Sun," he says. Uh, that's NOT what she said, Captain Ego. She laughs bashfully. Then he says he'd like for them to keep seeing each other. "Our parents will be so thrilled. No more matchmakers. No more pressure. We can be free." Sun looks thrilled, so it's time for the bombshell. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asks. Of course, she says, smiling. To be honest, I thought he was going to tell Sun he's gay and that he wanted to keep seeing her as cover. Turns out I was half-right; he wants to date Sun as a cover, but it turns out that he met an American (woman) when he was at Harvard. He hasn't told his father yet, but in six months he's going to move to the U.S. and marry her. Sun does her best to keep the smile plastered on, but it falters a bit. Jae notices: "Wait…you didn't think…" but Sun interrupts him and says, "Of course not," and then, "America. That's wonderful." Jae's confused. "I thought you…" Interrupted by Sun again: "I'm very happy for you."
So then they're interrupted by what appears to be the manager who hired Jin, but we only see him briefly, so I don't want to swear to it. He's obviously a lot more deferential than he was when he was interviewing Jin, but that would be due to knowing who Jae was, which is another reason why I think it is him: he came over to suck up. He asks Jae if there's anything else he needs, and asks Sun if she would care for some coffee or dessert. They're both fine. In fact, Sun's gotta take off, as she has an appointment, and it certainly has nothing to do with Jae's revelation! He clearly thinks it does, but she doesn't really give him a chance to say anything, brightly smiling and thanking him for lunch. She walks out, and with her back to Jae she's free to look as hurt as she feels.
Back on Michael Hunt, Jin's veering off when Mistereko calls him back over, crouching by a footprint: "This is fresh." He looks up, pointing. "These tracks." "Michael," says Jin. He has as many ways of saying that as Hurley has of saying "Dude." "Yes, Michael," says Mistereko. "They don't leave tracks." He gets up and walks off, Jin following.
In the jungle, Mistereko stops for a moment, looking and listening, motioning for Jin to stop as well. Jin says something, and Mistereko ignores him. Jin comes closer, says it again, but Mistereko slaps his hand over Jin's mouth and shushes him, his eyes wide.
The camera slowly pans across the jungle brush, the only sound birds chirping, and eventually comes to rest on Jin and Mistereko, hiding among some plants, crouched, watching and waiting. Presently we see a silent parade of barefoot filthy people -- we only see their legs from the knee down. Some are wearing pants, some aren't. Their footsteps only make the slightest of sounds, almost lost in the jungle cacophony. We appear to see the same pair of legs more than once, but I think that's due more to different perspectives and/or intentional misdirection on the part of the show rather than cheaping out on camera work. What appears to be the last one is carrying a teddy bear hanging on a string, which Mistereko and Jin watch as we go to commercial.
Mistereko and Jin slowly get up from their hiding place. "Michael," says Jin, and starts to follow the parade, but Mistereko stops him. "No, they don't have him." They walk out onto the trail, the better for Mistereko to point in various directions and say things that Jin doesn't understand. "They came from that way. Your friend went that way, crossed ahead of them. Very lucky." Mistereko wipes his mouth. Jin, whose Sun-authored rudimentary English textbook has paid great dividends, says, "You, go back. I go," but Mistereko won't let him. "We go together," he says. Awwww. I like Mistereko. He seems like a nice guy, plus he could pound the living shit out of me if I ever crossed him.
Flashback to the door of the Seoul Gateway, Jin busy opening doors and bowing at the various people passing through, including a pissed-off Sun walking out, passing by Jin as his upper torso is, once again, perfectly horizontal. And then he's accosted by a Symbol Of His Father The Poor Fisherman and Jin As A Young Boy together. Jin's Symbolic Father asks Jin if his son can use the bathroom, and the young man who reminds Jin of himself is accordingly hopping around bladder-burstingly while holding his crotch. Jin tells his Paternal Proxy that the hotel bathroom is for hotel guests only, and that there's a bathroom down the street. Then Jin asks the boy -- or Young Jin, because maybe time travel is possible -- if he can hold it, and the boy shakes his head, because when you are a boy you always know that you cannot possibly hold it, that you are moments away from unleashing a yellow tide on unsuspecting bystanders. Jin's Not Actual Father But For All Intents And Purposes Let's Call Him That pleads with Jin a little more, so Jin finally agrees, presumably worried that if this actually is himself as a young boy, doesn't want to damage the poor boy's plumbing, as that would have a Back to the Future-esque ripple effect and Present-Day Jin's kidneys would probably instantly explode. So he lets them in, telling them to be quick, but his boss is right there to lecture him about the people he's not supposed to let inside. Jin bows his head, apologizes. "Consider this your first warning," says Mr. Kim. Jin tries to plead his case that the little boy was actually him, and that if the kid should die of not being able to go to the bathroom, then Jin himself would have faded from existence, leaving the Seoul Gateway doorman-less, but Mr. Kim isn't interested: "He can piss in the gutter for all I care. You people are used to that." Would Mr. Kim really prefer that the boy had pissed outside the hotel? Kim tells Jin that if he wants to keep his job he should go find them and get them out of here. "Find" them? Psst, Jin: Try the bathroom.
But Jin, fortunately, has had enough, and he takes off his gloves and hat, to Mr. Kim's surprise, and stuffs them in his boss's hands. "Thank you for the opportunity, sir," he says, and walks off. He even quits jobs in disgust politely!
Back on the beach, Sun is sitting alone, probably not wanting to be annoyed by other lostaways' stupid stories about loss and nickel-pooping dogs. So she must be thrilled when Kate strolls up and sits to her. Kate looks at the water. "It's pretty," she says. And speaking of pretty, Hurley told her Sun lost her wedding ring. "I was just sitting here telling myself it's silly to be so upset about it. It is just a thing," she says. Funny, I can't imagine that argument working for me with my wife should I ever lose mine. Kate assumes -- correctly, as it turns out -- that Sun is stressing more about the marriage that the ring represents: "Well, they've only been gone a few days, and…" Sun interrupts her to say that she's sick of everyone saying Jin's all right, because he's not: "Claire found the bottle, the one with the messages inside. The one from the raft." And Kate looks concerned, because she's found something more important to worry about: herself. "Where is it?" she asks. "I buried it," says Sun. Oh, so you do remember that you buried it, Sun? You do remember that you were digging in the dirt with your bare hands? You haven't forgotten that? Just wondering.
Ana-Lucia's leading the trek through the jungle, Sawyer bringing up the rear. He's clearly exhausted, and sits down. Ana-Lucia halts the procession, takes Cindy's water, and brings it to him. "You keep slowing us down, we're going to leave you behind." And this is amazing, but this is the nicest thing she's said on this show yet. "Go ahead, leave me behind," says Sawyer, so Ana-Lucia says, "See ya!" and strolls away, but Sawyer asks how they're going to find the Gallant camp without him, now that her tracker's gone. Quite simple, actually: "Walk across the island, follow the beaches. And Eko's coming back." So then Sawyer asks if she's married, like, of all the questions our heroes should be asking these people, Sawyer wants to find out the marital status of the woman who's been beating on him the last couple of episodes. She says she isn't, and he says, "Too bad, you seem suited for it," and she says it's "funny," even though it isn't really, and when she asks him and he tells her he isn't married, she asks if he's gay, and he laughs and says that's funny. Even though it isn't really. So he gets up and says, "Let's go. What are we waiting for?" And Ana-Lucia smirks in his general direction.
Jin and Eko have found a stream, so they crouch down for some water and personal hygiene attention. Eko looks around, then tells Jin to wait there: "We lost his trail. I'll go back and find it." He leaves, and Jin continues washing his face, (and his hair!), until we see Michael's orange shirt in the foreground. "What are you doing? Go back!" he tells Jin. "Michael!" says Jin, and Michael tells him again, a little more urgently, to go back, and he runs off. Jin runs after him, splashing across the stream.
Michael's running around, yelling Walt's name. Jin's running behind, saying Michael's name. Mike tells him again to go back, saying that he's not leaving with Walt. "Walt! I'm here! Where are you, man?" We've arrived at a waterfall, and Jin tries to quiet the screaming Michael. "What, you worried they're going to hear me? Let them take me! Come! Come take me!" Hey, Michael, there's a little shrubbery in the corner you left unchewed. Mistereko, who didn't need to be a great tracker to follow the sound of Michael's bellowing, comes running up. "Shouting is not a good idea. You need to come back with us now." He approaches Michael, who lifts up his stick. Good stance, bat off the shoulder. Jin watches. Eko speaks calmly: "I know they took your son. But you have no idea what these people are capable of -- and they will not be found if they don't want to be." Michael starts to break down: "They took him right out of my hands. Right out of my hands! I'm not going back without him." Eko says nothing. Jin clasps a hand on Michael's shoulder, and haltingly says, "You find Walt, Michael," meaning, presumably, that Michael will find Walt. Michael seems to accept this, and he lowers his stick, and the three of them leave.
Back on the beach, Sun digs up the bottle, and Kate asks to see it. Sun hands it over, and Kate shakes the messages out, and starts frantically looking through them, to Sun's dismay. "Kate! Those are private! Kate, stop! What are you doing?" Kate stops. "We didn't, uh…I didn't say goodbye." Sun's eyes are wide. "Sawyer?" she says. Oh, great, we're back to the Kate-and-Jack/Kate-and-Sawyer dilemma again. She didn't seem to be missing Sawyer so much when she was giving the good doctor an eyeful in the shower. Kate looks down, and starts to smile. "Sun?" she says, and nods her head towards the ground. Sun follows her gaze, and there, in the sand -- you're never going to believe this -- is her ring. Sun starts to cry -- part happy, part sad -- while Kate laughs. And I know that there's been a lot of discussion about Yunjin Kim acting circles around Evangeline Lilly in this scene, and I know I've made comments about Kate looking perpetually perplexed, but I think an ensemble cast at the level of a network television show is a lot like a hockey team. Non-hockey fans, bear with me. You know how, on any given team, there're the tough guys and enforcers? Those guys are really good hockey players, but to the Forsbergs and the Iginlas and the Lecavaliers, they don't appear to be anything special. And this is what a lot of men don't understand, and why so many of us harbor the fantasy that we could, if we hit the treadmill a little more often, fill the role of that enforcer, that guy on the team who's the worst player. But the guy who's the worst player on any given NHL team probably scored 60 goals a season in junior and would be the Gretzky of any rec league in the country. And I think it goes for acting, too. I think there are a few cast members on this show (relative newcomers to the business) who maybe don't have the range of some of the others -- the O'Quinns, the Kims, the Dae Kims, the Foxes, but are still really good -- and if they were in your local production of The Music Man, you'd be all, "Holy shit! That Evangeline Lilly is amazing!" You know? And it's the work and the experience of a show like this and the acting opposite the O'Quinns that turns the rookies into great actors. Besides, she's from Alberta. So STEP OFF. Anyway.
Quick shot of Jin, Michael, and Mistereko walking through the jungle (mainly a shot of Jin).
Flashback to Jin, changed out of his doorman's uniform, walking along a river embankment. He sees some destitute man being rebuffed in his request for change from a couple sitting by the river. He watches the homeless man, clearly figuring that this is the fate to befall him. And you know Jin is distressed because his shirt is untucked on one side. He strolls along, and is passed by a beautiful woman in an orange dress. He turns to look at her as she passes, and starts to smile. As he turns back, he bumps into Sun, who drops her purse. He helps her gather up the spilled contents, and they straighten up, and their eyes lock. Sun's expression clearly says, "Oh, hel-LO!" Jin starts smiling and can't stop, and Sun starts smiling too.