LOST: In Translation

It appears that my post last year about what the lives of the Oceanic 815 survivors would have been had the plane never crashed was even more pointless than if the writers had decided not to do flash-sideways. Each week, the differences between the universe we've watched for 5 years and the alternaverse seem to get bigger and bigger. In "The Package," we are led to believe that Sun never learned English. Oh yeah, and she and Jin never got married.(!) Also, they're happy in this universe (also, Mikhail never lost his eye). At first, I thought the show was telling us that the two of them were not meant to be, but we soon learned that they're having a steamy affair (sexy buttons!) that Mr. Paik would be very angry about if he knew about it. After all, you don't screw the bosses daughter. Unfortunately for the star-crossed lovers, he does in fact know about Jin, Sun, and their forbidden unbuttoning. Turns out, Keamy had Jin locked up because Paik hired Keamy to kill Jin. Fortunately for Jin, the money that got tied up in customs was Keamy's fee. Jin was eventually able to escape, but in doing so, Sun ended up getting shot by a ricocheting bullet, and as Jin carried her away, she announced she was pregnant.

So let's transition to the other universe on that note. Widmore's people kidnapped Jin so that he could explain his mapping system from his days in DHARMA to them, and to convince him to help, Widmore showed him photographs of Ji Yeon, the daughter he is aware of but has never seen. The reminder of her existence led many people to believe that SHE is the Kwon referred to on Jacob's lighthouse and Titus' wall, rather than Jin or Sun. For the past few weeks, I've been thinking that the Kwon is Jin, and that he will end up being the candidate, finally cementing the fact that Jin and Sun aren't meant to be together. Now, this would make me sad, because I like seeing them together (and would want them to get at least a goodbye before Sun is forced to leave Jin behind), but it would make for a good sacrifice story. But what if Jin and Sun had to give up their daughter, knowing that they likely would never have another one? After all, off the Island, Jin is sterile.

Speaking of reuniting Jin and Sun (they haven't been together in the present time of the original universe since the end of Season 4), Titus tried to get Sun to go with him by telling her that Jin was with him. She declined, and ran away from him, and in doing so, hit her head hard against a tree. When she woke up, she could still understand English, but was no longer able to speak it. Jack concluded that she struck the language center of her brain, and that he ability to speak would likely return soon. Miles and Lapidus made a joke about how crazy this development was, as did many in the fan community, but I've heard a story (don't remember how reliable the source was) that an American man who had been unconscious from a car accident woke up speaking in a French accent, so this definitely isn't the craziest thing to happen on this show. In addition, this development will make for an interesting turn on events WHEN (not IF) Jin and Sun are reunited, because, for most of the series, Sun had to be Jin's interpreter. By the way, did Jack and Hurley tell Sun that Jin now knows English?

This was very much a relationship episode rather than a plot episode. We looked at how far Jin and Sun are willing to go to see each other again, even if that means not doing everything possible to stop Titus, who both Widmore and Richard assure us is bad news. But we got a big twist at the end with the return of Desmond Hume to the Island.

Up next: The Island's not done with you yet...