• More than a few people have pointed out that both Sun and Jin get smacked in the head during this episode, and they’ve suggested that this is evidence of the off-Island and the on-Island “universes” beginning to “bleed together.” I’ll talk about this briefly a little further down. 

Keamy: “You go get the Arab guy.”
Omar: “Hey, I’m an Arab guy.”

• That comment underlines again for us the ways in which people turn their fellow human beings into “Others.” Keamy’s friend Omar is an “Arab guy,” but you get the sense that Keamy wouldn’t refer to him that way (at least not to his face). Yet he has no problem doing so when it’s just “some Arab guy” that he’s meant to intimidate.

Keamy: “The heart wants what the heart wants.”

• Most famous as the excuse that Woody Allen uttered upon leaving Mia Farrow for soandso, Keamy’s line here was also featured in a Stephen King novel: “The mind can calculate, but the spirit yearns, and the heart wants what the heart wants.” Allen likely isn’t a huge Stephen King fan, so I suspect he was mangling an Emily Dickinson quote when he gave his excuse: “The Heart wants what it wants – or else it doesn’t care.” However, Lost’s writers ARE big Stephen King fans.

• I enjoyed Keamy’s faux-sympathetic chat with Jin and how it again underlined the theme of communication – in this case, communication that seems to mean one thing visually, but means something else entirely when understood. Note that Jin also receives a “reflective moment” in the episode as his image is captured in the steel of the freezer door. He doesn’t notice, which might be significant, and might not be. It’s worth noting that the only two characters not to take a good long look at themselves in the off-Island “universe” are Sayid and Jin, who cross paths here.

• The realization that all of this has been an elaborate plan on the part of Mr. Paik to kill of Jin for “touching the merchandise” was fun. Paik is a dillweed in every “universe,” or so it seems.

• Jin gets his first look at the daughter he’s never met, and it’s a nicely emotional scene. It helps to remind us that as much as this story is about the hoped-for reunion of Jin and Sun, it’s also about much more than that at this point – their daughter is off-Island, and neither Jin nor Sun is going to accept being stuck, trapped, on the Island unable to ever see her again. And yet, wasn’t that Dogen’s fate? To secure the safety of another by giving up personal happiness?

• Am I the only one who chuckled when Widmore offered to show Jin his “Package”?

• Jin takes out Mikhail Bakunin’s eye, making dead, off-Island Mikhail into the “cyclops” that on-Island Mikhail was. Are we starting to see two different timelines beginning to “bleed together,” as many people (including Drew McWeeny at Hitfix and the crew on Chud’s message boards) have suggested? The jury is still out, but I’m ready for anything at this point. I’ve already proposed my Second Snake theory to you all, and while I really like it as a theory I’m not attached to it. I’d talk more about the possibility of the timelines joining together, but this column is already late. I say bring on the convergence, if that’s where we’re headed. And if that’s where we’re headed, I promise to try and help you folks connect the necessary dots. I’ve got a good idea of where to begin.

• Sayid’s off-Island episode ended on a cliffhanger, with the Iraqi Attacki Machine finding Jin in the freezer of Keamy’s restaurant. “The Package” picks up that thread and continues it, leaving us again with a cliffhanger over the fate of Sun and her unborn child. Has Jin killed the unborn Ji-Yeon? Has he murdered his beloved? We don’t know. What we do know: They’re in L.A., and they need to get to a hospital. Quickly. So, who will operate on Sun? Will it be Jack? Has the bullet hit her spine? If so, all signs point to yes. If not, will it be Ethan (given the involvement of a baby) or even…..Juliet?

• Sun’s little sad-face here is hilarious.

Jack: “Sun, come with us and I’ll help you find Jin. I’ll help you find him and I’ll get you both on the plane and as far away from this island as you can get. I promise.”

• I really like the way that Jack reaches out to Sun. We’ve seen Jack promise things before, but he seems genuinely different here. There’s no teeth-gnashing, wild-eyed desperation/determination – which is what we’re mostly used to when it comes to the Island’s Shephard. Can he keep his promise to her that he’ll get them off of the Island? Realistically, no. It’s a possibility, and I don’t doubt his sincerity, but there’s no guarantees. And I think Jack more-or-less knows this. It wasn’t that long ago that Jack told Dogen that he couldn’t trust himself, but his experience at the Lighthouse has resulted in something profound beginning to stir inside of Jack Shephard. And despite the uncertainty of their future, he seems at peace. Not passive, as he was in Season 5, and not antagonistic. Simply at peace. What Jack is arguably really offering Sun here is a chance at communion and community. He’s offering Sun the opportunity to reunite with Jin on her terms and not on the terms of Anti-Locke. He’s offering a change at “live together,” not “die alone.” That’s my read on things at any rate.

• The episode ends with the revelation that Widmore has been keeping Desmond aboard his submarine – something most of us suspected – and with dead-eyed, P-Zombie Sayid discovering the same. That makes Desmond’s reappearance no less exciting to me. What proposed purpose is Desmond supposed to serve? As a weapon against the Man in Black? As an instrument to be used in concert with finding the Island’s electromagnetic pockets? As a bargaining chip? And here’s the wildest theory of all: Are all of the “candidates” meant to distract Anti-Locke from a final, stealth-candidate? We’ve learned that Desmond is “uniquely and miraculously special.” Just what does that really mean? He’s experienced flashes of possible future outcomes, he’s consciousness-traveled, and he was at ground zero of the Swan Failsafe event. Of all the people on this Island, Desmond is the closest thing to a “magical” Jacob figure.

Just a little food for thought.

• Sayid’s emotionless stare is unnerving. As a spy for the Man in Black, will he betray everyone he’s come to know on the Island? Remember that it was Sayid who was present the last time that Desmond’s consciousness faded out and then returned to him – they were both on the freighter for the events of the Constant. Will those experiences “matter” to him anymore? Or is Desmond now just another Other?

Two quick asides:

• Apropos of nothing in particular, I’d like to direct your attention to Gideon Slife’s flickr site, where he’s been producing a poster for every episode of Lost, based off of an iconic image or moment from each installment. I love the idea, and I think that he’s got a good eye for design. It’s neat, essentially, and I thought that you folks might get a kick out of it. The image above is one of Gideon’s creations, and you can see the rest by clicking this link. Support the creative impulse and your fellow fans!

• Finally: a big thank you to all the people who’ve dropped me an email, expressing their interest in picking up a copy of the book I’ll be self-publishing on the themes, literary references, subtext, and whatnot of Lost. It was a real pleasure to hear from you, and I promise to make it worth your while. If you’d like to add your name to my list, you can drop me a line at WhatIsWater@gmail.com. Doing this will not force you to buy anything or get you kidnapped by Others after a plane crash.*

*Should your plane crash and you be subsequently kidnapped by Others the author assumes no responsibility for either of those said events, and in any event, was kidding. But he wishes you luck and advises you to watch out for bears. 

*****

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