1.17 ...In Translation

When Jin sees Sun going for a swim in a revealing two-piece bikini, he yells at her and covers her up. When they continue to argue, Michael intervenes. Just as Jin and Michael are about to fight, Sun steps in, slaps Michael, and averts a major fight. Michael is shocked.

Jin confronts Sun with the suspicion that something is going on between her and Michael, and she denies it.

Sun sneaks off to apologize to Michael, saying that she slapped him to protect him from what her husband would have done to him. Michael is cold now, saying that it is not his problem.

Jin is at the golf course, whacking rock after rock as hard as he can. Hurley arrives with two fishing poles and the notion that some relaxing angling would cure Jin’s angst, but Jin keeps whacking the rocks.

Shannon is helping tie knots for the raft, and she and Sayid flirt about knots, ropes, and Saturday nights.

Michael tries to get Walt interested in seeing New York’s great architecture, but Walt wants to go throw the ball with Vincent.

Jack comes by to tell Michael that people are talking about who is going to go on the raft. Michael says the raft can carry four people and one spot is still available – Sawyer traded needed goods for a spot.

Kate asks Sun how long she is going to let Jin treat her this way. They are interrupted by a commotion and news that the raft is on fire. Typically, Michael assumes that Jin is the culprit, and confronts Sun. When Michael gets distracted by Walt, Sun gets away. Sun finds Jin, who is injured, and asks why he destroyed Michael’s raft. Jin is incensed by Sun using Michael’s name, and storms away.

Sayid pays a courtesy call to Boone to let him know that he and Shannon are going to be more than friends. Boone is cold and badmouths Shannon, saying the she likes older men that can protect her, and that she will initially make Sayid feel great while he provides whatever it is she desires – the she’ll move on.

Jin has escaped into the jungle to meditate and heal his wounds. While he is leaning down in a creek to wash his hands, Sawyer kicks him to the ground for burning the raft.

Sayid expresses misgivings to Shannon about being friends with her, and Shannon immediately suspects Boone. She goes off to confront him and instead finds Locke and unloads on him. Locke tells her if she likes Sayid, then Boone has nothing to do with it and she should ignore him and get on with her life.

Sawyer is roughly bringing Jin back to camp, taking time out to knock him to the ground and threaten him with a knife. When they arrive at the beach, Sawyer yells for Michael. As Michael rushes over, others also are arriving to try to avert violence. It is decided to let Michael and Jin fight, but Jin is not fighting back, and Michael is pummeling him. Finally, unable to take any more, Sun cries out in English for them to stop, pleading that Jin did not burn the raft. Michael and Sawyer are not so easily convinced, but Locke eases the tensions somewhat by saying that there was no reason for Jin to destroy their best chance to get off the island. The raft, Locke reasons, was sabotaged by the other people who are sharing the island.

Michael gets over his frustration and tells Walt that he will build a new and better raft. Walt volunteers to help.

Jin is packing, apparently leaving for the beach. Sun pleads with him to start all over together, but Jin says it is too late.

Shannon and Sayid kiss in front of the fire.

Locke stops by to play backgammon with Walt, and asks him why he burned the raft. Walt says it is because he likes it on the island and doesn’t want to move again, after moving all of his life.

Jin arrives at Michael’s place with strips of bamboo, ready to help rebuild the raft.

A music video montage shows Sayid and Shannon sitting together; Sun, standing on the beach, releasing her cloak to reveal her bathing suit underneath. She enters the surf, smiling. Charlie brings Claire a treat, and Hurley sits alone. His walkman has just run out of batteries and he looks depressed.

Jin’s backstory flashback:

We see the meeting Jin had with Sun’s father to ask for her hand in marriage. At the meeting, Jin agrees to work for the man. He does not know yet what this will entail.

Sun is dressing for her wedding ceremony when Jin asks to speak to her. Sun is happy to be getting married, but is disappointed that Jin will not honeymoon for six months, in order to show Sun’s father that he is committed to his work.

Jin is promoted to doing strong arm work for Sun’s father, Mr Paik. It starts innocently, as he visits a government official to express that Paik is ‘displeased’ with him.

Sun makes a special dinner for Jin, obviously because he has been working all the time. When his mobile phone rings, he ignores it, which pleases Sun. But soon after, the house phone rings, and Jin is summoned before Paik. Paik is angry that Jin did not deliver his message of displeasure in the way he wanted. He tells Jin to drive Paik’s associate back to the house to learn how to deliver the message properly. As they drive to the house, the associate is checking a gun with silencer and telling Jin that he will only be inside the house for 3 minutes, and they will ditch the car afterward. When they arrive, Jin jumps out and beats the official brutally, whispering to him that he saved his life.

In a scene first aired in House of the Rising Sun, Jin arrives home covered with blood. When Sun confronts him and asks what he does, he will not say, and she slaps him when he is rough with her. His look is mean as he says he does whatever her father tells him to do.

Jin has been lying about his father being dead. He visits him on a fishing boat. His father is overjoyed to see him. Jin apologized to his father for being ashamed of him. When Jin says that he is locked into doing bad things and that his marriage is failing, his father tells him to walk away.

Comments

This is a highly charged, emotional episode that, despite it’s lack of a cliffhanger ending, is a notch above the others. We get the dual reveals of Sun’s ability to speak English, and Walt’s admission that he burned the boat.

How did Locke become so sure that Walt burned the boat?

When Jin visit’s Han’s house for the first time, the daughter is watching television, and one of the images on TV is a shot of Hurley getting into a car!

I am impressed by the detail used in even the briefest scenes, such as the scene between Jin and his father. The traditional fishing boat is strung with tens of drying fish, and the scenery does look like they did a location shot in Asia somewhere.

It seems that Locke is able to hypnotize people on the island. At least, he has had a major influence on Boone and Shannon so far.

At the end of the episode, there’s a funny parallel drawn between the sitting shapes of Claire, in the distance, and Hurley, in the foreground. The very pregnant Claire and the obese Hurley share the exact same body shape, and are facing in the same direction.

Nits

It’s a little unbelievable (but not impossible) that Jin could have gotten away with what he did – beating a guy up to keep the guy from getting killed. You would think that Paik would want things done the way he specified the second time, and that involved a killing, not a beating.

Memorable Moments

• All the shots of Sun in a bikini, with the big surf in the background

• The ‘shock and irony’ music riff when Sun cries out in English

• The closing music video segment ends abruptly when Hurley’s walkman runs out of batteries (this was set up a few episodes earlier, when Hurley’s walkman music was used to end the episode uneventfully)

Quotable Quotes

"Maybe we should get some rope, spend a Saturday night alone together…and see what happens."
- Shannon to Sayid

"Everyone gets a new life on this island, Shannon. Maybe it’s time you start yours."
- Locke

Sun: What were you doing? What happened?
Jin: I was working.
Sun: Doing what? What do you do for my father? Look at me. Answer me. Look at me!
Jin: I do whatever your father tells me. I do it for us.

"Stop it! Leave him alone! He didn’t burn your raft."
- Sun

Jin: (about Sun) In a good world... she would hate her father, not me.
Jin's father: It is a good world.

(Shannon kisses Sayid)
Sayid: What was that for?
Shannon: Everyone gets a new life on this island. I’d like to start now.