Photos
Video
'Lost': The Glass Ballerina
Lost wants you to know that Sun is a very bad person. She cheats on her husband. She gets maids fired for no reason. She paid a lot for this muffler, dammit! She's a horrible, horrible person, and if this all sounds out of character and out of left field, well, then, my point's been made. The final scene might make you think this is a better episode than it is, but trust me: taken as a whole, it's a sub-par episode in a season that took a little while in finding its footing.
(If you want to see what I thought of this ep the night it aired, go check it out.)
The Glass Ballerina
4) In Short
"Um, l-look, if we built this large wooden badger...."
8) On the Island
Sun is suffering from morning sickness in the bathroom of the boat. After washing up, she translates for her husband: it's been a day with no sign of Jack and company, and it's time to move. Sayid wants to sail north and light another fire, in case the mountains are blocking the current one. (Couldn't have thought of that earlier, Sayid?) Sun takes advantage of Jin's lack of English, and says she will help Sayid against her husband's wishes.
In Jack's cell, the fight has gone out of the good doctor: he sits idly against the wall as Juliet brings soup onto the examining table. After leaving the room, she knocks on a nearby door. Ben opens it up, and behind him we get a glimpse of a wall of television monitors, not unlike the one in the Pearl. Ben wryly notes that she never made soup for him, as Colleen climbs down a ladder nearby. She says there's a problem: the Losties have a boat! "Oh noes!" says Ben. (I'm paraphrasing.) After a few seconds thought, Ben orders Colleen to assemble a team and obtain the boat.
In Cagetown, Sawyer starts the day off with a balanced breakfast: in this case, half a fish biscuit. Pickett and a few others walk Kate and Sawyer down towards the beach, when they run into Colleen's crew. Pickett steps aside to talk to her, and the two reveal themselves to be a couple. They deserve each other, what with the equally massive stick up their respective butts.
On the boat, Jin is still stinging from Sun's disagreement earlier. He wonders why she even bothered to come in the first place. She replies she didn't want to be without him again.
Oh right, the whole quarry stuff. Forgot all about this, mostly because the show did. Kate and Sawyer are asked to break down large rocks and haul them off the premise. Pickett then lists approximately 634 situations that would result in one of them getting shocked. Kate states she won't work until she sees Jack, prompting Pickett to, you guessed it, shock Sawyer. Unreal.
Back on the boat: someone should tell Jin that fish is already dead, and there's no need to chop it like that. He gets called up top to see the view: Sun and Sayid have come across the Pala Ferry. Sayid notes that the decay indicates it hasn't been used for some time. If be "some time" you mean "yesterday," then yes, you're right Sayid.
At the quarry: Sawyer admires the view of Kate's butt in that dress. Sigh. Lame. Someone throws a rock near Kate: it's Alex! She wants to know if she's seen Karl. She then notes that Kate's wearing her dress. That's not weird or nuttin'.
Sayid sets up a signal fire at the base of the Pala Ferry. Sun, being terribly smart, realizes that Sayid is building a fire not for Jack, but for the Others. She threatens to tell Jin, until Sayid confesses: he's known for a while that Jack and company were kidnapped, and wants to lure a scouting party in for both leverage and information. She asks her to lie to her husband until the fire is lit.
Soon after, Jin asks Sayid for a gun. Through Jin, we learn he knew all along that it was a trap, and that his wife betrayed him. Harsh. Sayid suggests Sun return to the boat, a plan I would be angry about were she not pregnant. So, Sayid gets a pass here. He also makes sure she knows about the extra gun on the boat, should the Others get past Sayid and Jin. Wonder if that gun will come in handy?
Well, we're living here in Quarrytown...and they're closing all the factories down. Juliet throws Sawyer an extra canteen of water, only to watch him dump it out before her eyes. He then catches sight of Kate, working in her sun dress, and it's Smooch City. Smooch City turns into Beatdown City as Sawyer tries to beat up every Other he can find. The struggle ends when he sees Juliet holding Kate at gunpoint. And, you guessed it, Pickett then shocks Sawyer.
That night on the boat, Sun hears strange noises: yup, the Others are going for the boat, not the beach. Colleen sneaks down into the deck, and Sun gets the drop on her. Colleen says she knows all about Sun, and that she's not a killer. Colleen states that her people are not the enemy, but should Sun kill her, that's exactly what will happen. Sun then kills Colleen by accident, pretty much disproving Colleen's theory instantly.
Sayid and Jin run after the boat along the dock, dodging fire the whole way. Sun manages to get off the boat as it takes off, and she reunites with her husband in the water. On the beach, Sayid apologizes to them both, stating he will listen to Jin in the future. He then states they have a long walk ahead of them.
After a nice hard day's work hauling rock and getting tazed, Kate and Sawyer are returned to their cages. She wants to know why Sawyer put on such dramatics that day. After some sarcastic replies, he notes that he was essentially doing recon work on their fighting ability. He's only scared of one of them: Juliet. Sawyer states they simply wait until the Others make a mistake in order to escape, unaware that Ben's listening in via the control room.
Jack apparently hasn't moved all episode, still sitting in the corner of his cell. Ben walks in and sits on a folding chair. Ben notes the irony of their role reversal. Ben wants Jack to change his "perspective," and introduces himself "honestly". His honest answer, however, has a few holes in it. (More on that later.) When Jack refuses to shake Ben's hand, he asks for a television to be brought in.
Ben tries to make a deal with Jack: if Jack cooperates when the time is right, Ben will send Jack home. Jack doesn't believe Ben can actually get home, and that the Others are as stuck as the Lostaways. After all, why would they stay? "Yes, Jack: why would we be here?" Ben then rattles off a host of facts meant to show they know what has happened since the crash of Oceanic 815, including the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series. (Woohoo!) Jack laughs in Ben's face about this fact, until Ben turns on the television to show him a tape of the final out. "That's home, Jack," Ben tells him. "And if you listen to me -- if you trust me -- if you do what I tell you when the time comes -- I'll take you there. I will take you home."
15) Off the Island
A young Sun drops a glass ballerina on the floor. Later, during piano practice, her father enters the room, asking if she was the one responsible for the accident. Sun denies it, blaming the maid. Her father says that saying so means the maid will be fired, and asks Sun once again who broke the ballerina. Once again, Sun lies. And kittens nearby die.
Much later, Sun is lying again...lying down in a bed of sin, that is. Looks like she got herself a whole hunk o' Jae on the side whilst married to Jin. She's feeling guilty, but he's got something to make her feel all better: a pearl necklace. He doesn't want to share her anymore: he wants her to come to America with him. At that moment, who should walk in but Sun's father. Oh no, it's on like Donkey Kong now.
Papa Paik invits Jin into his office. There's a problem, and that problem's name is Jae. Jae's been caught stealing (once, when he was five) from Paik, and he wants Jin to deal with it. Jin senses the meaning behind "deal with it," and refuses to do anything more than deliver a message. This sends Paik into a rage, especially when Jin tries to quit. "This man shamed me," Paik says, "My shame is your shame. I need you to restore my family's honor." Well, when you put it that way...
Another day, another beatdown: Jin comes home from work. The relationship has devolved into silence and mistrust. Goooooo marriage! Jin notes that her father called him "son" for the first time today. Sun tries to convince Jin to leave her father's clutches (though mostly so Jae doesn't get hurt versus looking out for Jin). We get Round 45 of "You, Alright! I Do This For You!" between them, ending in Jin leaving to deliver the message.
Jin waits outside Jae's hotel. Upon seeing his prey, Jin unloads a flurry of offense against Jae, but rather than finish the job, he tells Jae to leave the country, never to return. "Oh sweet, was gonna do that anyway," Jae says through the mouthful of blood. Jae walks outside to his car, but has a little trouble moving on account of Jae suddenly landing on it from the room above. In Jae's hands? The pearl necklace from before.
Papa Paik finds Sun at Jae's funeral. She wants to know if he'll ever tell Jin about her affair. Her father says it's not his place to do so.
16) The Mythology
Between the Red Sox video in this episode, and the Jack Shephard dossier in the last one, the seemingly supernatural knowledge of the Others comes down to earth a bit. But the demystification does not diminish so much as clarify the awesome reach of the Others into the real world. Last season they were hillbillies: now they are freakin' Big Brother.
In addition, the Red Sox footage served two important points. Firstly, it showed that the Others had a way to get things to and from the Island in a way that Desmond couldn't figure out. The 325 bearing given to Michael at the end of Season 2 hinted at this, but the tape yielded more information. And the second important point: THE SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES IN 2004! YEEEHAWWWW! OK, I'm better now, I promise.
As for the quarry: I guess the less said the better. Until the show actually revisits this plot point by having the Oceanic 6 land on the airstrip created by this project come Season 5, I'm not going to worry too much about this.
23) The Moment
How can it not be the Red Sox video? Just a mind-blowing payoff to the long-gestating references to the team. Maybe Christian Shephard drank because he knew he'd never live to see them win the Series?
42) In Retrospect
- This episode marks the first time Ben lies about having lived on the Island his entire life, which shows that in many respects shows how he's lying to both the Lostaways and his own people at the same time. I wonder if he's ever said that while Richard Alpert is around?
- If the episode was designed to make me straight up hate Sun, well, mission accomplished, guys. There's a fine line between "shares some of her father's less savory qualities" and "straight-up b#tch." Sun's far more interesting in the former (as evidenced by her interactions in London come Season 4) but wholly despicable in the latter. I think my real loathing is just how far from left field her actions come here, born not out of natural character progression but narrative necessity.
- Did Jae truly commit suicide or did one of Paik's associates finish the job? The pearl necklace suggests suicide, but I'm curious what you think.
108) In Summary
A brilliant final scene does not save a semi-let down of an episode. It's better this time around: at the time, people were ready to storm the ABC gates and demand why we hadn't seen Locke, Eko, or Desmond yet. Now, we know they are around the corner, but it doesn't make the actual quality of the episode any better.
As mentioned before, Sun's actions border on the irrational. I'm fine with taking the halo off of her character, as Season 2 had already started to do this. But good golly they made her downright hateful in this episode, for no apparently reason that to give an established character a major twist.
But that's the glory of the We Have to Go Back project: there's always another ep right around the corner!
Leave your thoughts about this episode below!
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to leave questions for the producers and cast of Lost here.
YunJin Kim makes Sun likeable even when she shouldn't be...
Adds depth to the retaliation come season 4.
Was this an installment of We Have to Go Back or a promotional essay for the Red Sox? I know it's your blog, Ryan, but I actually found Sun's character shading to be far more compelling than the inclusion of the Red Sox winning the Series. Sure, the The whole beginning part of Season 3 for me was intriguing because of the new shadings the flashbacks brought to the established characters, and the way they still were able to give us new facts and keep the show fresh. (Sawyer's a dad! Jack pushed his father off the wagon! Kate married a cop! Locke was a pot farmer!)
I felt that Sun's character here was in keeping with the Sun we know. She was never presented as a saint; we knew all along she was planning on leaving Jin at one point. Just because we now know that Jin didn't deserve it doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Everyone else on this show has done horrible things, and you vilify only Sun? Come back later on this season when Locke goes on his Let's Blow Up Everything tour, and tell me again how eeeeeeeeeeeeevil you think Sun is.
Jesse | Oct 22, 2008 6:48:10 AM | #Jae = definitely murder, not suicide. Paik knew that Jin would not be able to kill him...
There was a scene when Sun found out she was pregnant in season 2 where she hugged Jin and basically promised him she hadn't slept with anyone else. Then we could see the lie in her eyes as they hugged. I say this to point out that the writers set this up last season, so this didn't come out of left field to me. Just because she is sweet on the island doesn't mean she was lost (morally) back in the real world. Sun needed her redemption on the island just like everyone else. Actually, it looks like she never got it since the Island hasn't let her die yet...
Finally, I do believe they will revisit the airstrip in the last 2 seasons so they can "get back" safely without crashing this time. (please, oh please let this happen...)
The Man from Tennessee | Oct 22, 2008 7:35:39 AM | #Does this boat ever show up again?...I can't remember.
Tim | Oct 22, 2008 9:53:36 AM | #If you think about this episode in the context of the London scene-to-come, or what we assume about Sun in Season 5, then it makes it FAR more relevant. What I mean is, let's pretend Darlton were planning ahead and knew they wanted Sun to "turn to the dark side" down the road, motivated by some grief or anger (like Jin gettin blowed up). If they knew they were going to do this, then this episode served to show that Sun always had the potential to be insidious. Given her father, this is not a stretch.
However, if Darlton wrote this before they knew what they wanted to do, then this episode is extremely off-kilter and far out of character for Sun, and confusing for the audience.
Sean | Oct 22, 2008 10:13:02 AM | #Bah, forgot my moniker. ^ is me.
Other Sean | Oct 22, 2008 10:15:02 AM | #The first time around I thought Jae dying was suicide because he was holding the pearls. I thought after Jin beat him up that he thought that he would never be with Sun again and that was enough for him to jump out the window. But after the 2nd viewing, I'm thinking he could have just been holding onto the pearls as a way to be close to Sun when one of Paik's men finished the job that Jin couldn't.
Patti | Oct 22, 2008 10:21:49 AM | #Well, apples don't fall too far from trees, and though Sun is not quite as heavy handed as her father, it is clear that mere mortals will not get in the way of getting what she wants. She is very complex and I think the writers have been brilliant in letting that slow burn build and build with her.Like- was there ever a mention afterwards, of her killing Colleen? A crumb of remorse for taking another human life? I do think that her love for Jin is the one great thing in her life that has given her a shot at redemption and she is, in essence, a better person than her father- but that cold ruthlessness is there, ready, waiting, always looking out for number one. I love how they ended things with her in S4. I don't know where she stands with her loyalty with everybody, but I'll bet she may be one of the last few standing in the end...
sarahbree | Oct 22, 2008 11:25:29 AM | #You know for the longest time, I thought that mayhap Sun had pushed Mr. Korean-Clean out of the window. For some reason the visual of the glass ballerina falling, juxtaposed with Jae's pirouette out of a high-rise, fit nicely. Coincidence? Maybe. But I also think that Sun (like Kate) is a sociopath (or close to it) who has no qualms about killing in order to get what she wants. Or mayhap the pearls, upon inspection, were found to be of the faux variety. Nothing gets a girl more riled up than fake jewelry!
Brian of the North | Oct 22, 2008 12:24:57 PM | #Sun is not evil but she's probably tired of being in a rigid society that still sees women as baby factories and nothing else. I'd get pissed all the time too if men kept treating me like some servant and not very smart. So I can understand her anger, but I can't figure out why she hasn't brained Jin yet. :)
Kara Mel Apples | Oct 22, 2008 12:46:34 PM | #I didn't think Sun having an affair was that much of a stretch, but the rest of it...yeah it was a little out of charcter, even with us already knowing that Sun was no angel. That being said, I hate the affair storyline too.
I think Jae was murdered. The pearls would maybe suggest suicide, but then why would Jae have begged for his life? I'm sure Paik sent someone after Jin to finish the job.
Ryan, I thought the same thing about the runway. Maybe the Oceanic 6 could use it to land on the island. Of course, they never finished it so...?
I really hated Pickett. I know, shocker. (See what I did there? Not funny...?)
The Red Sox game was a nice touch. Especially having the actual footage. I can't believe ABC got that.
I didn't really care for this episode, and I definitely didn't like that this was all we saw of Sun and Jin for the first six episodes. That's not right!
Natalie | Oct 22, 2008 1:07:11 PM | #I actually thought this was worse the second time than it was the first. I think Sayid's decision making was horid in this episode (of course Jin was right about going back). The lostaways lost their only boat because of poor planning and decision making.
But I also feel like things starting turning against the others in this episode. Sun killing ole what's her name gave the other's a vulnerability they had yet to experience before it.
And the gall of those child kidnapping, people snatching, slave driving, brainwashing, manipulative others who, after doing all of this, were angered by having one of their own shot (because after all, they are the good guys).
Jeff M | Oct 22, 2008 8:12:59 PM | #Do we not remember in Season 1 when Sun accidently poisioned Micheal!? It shows that shes capable of being decietful and dark. I think all of things we learn about her other side pay off when she embraces is come season 5. Do we remember how she slaps Juliet and Sawyer you dont want to mess around with this chick. Someone already said this but in "The Whole Truth" it did show that she may have been lying. I dont think it was out of character.
Tyson. | Oct 23, 2008 9:24:42 AM | #
Zap2it Twitter Talk
