Jacob's Foot: The Package Recap

HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DESMOND HAS RETURNED TO THE ISLAND! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Patience is indeed a virtue, folks. Do I like the fact that Widmore kidnapped him and brought him back to the Island against his will? Hell No I don't. Do I like that the previews hinted that someone would be sacrificed and that it seems like, according to Widmore and the secrecy of Desmond, Desmond will be the one sacrificed to somehow prevent Smokey from leaving the Island and destroying the world? No. But with that second question I posed for myself to answer, I now am thinking about the button, the hatch, saving the world and how Desmond's purpose for three years was saving the world. I promise I'll detail a bit later. Also, do I like Damon Lindelof's cryptic tweet minutes after the episode ended after being, I assume, flooded with DESMOND!!! tweets? No. Anywho, this was Sun and Jin's episode and that is where I shall begin.

"The Package" is an episode that really advanced the plot as we head towards the series finale. We found out why Widmore came to the Island. Richard is now a man with the plan and is ready to launch an assault on the Man in Black. For Jin and Sun though, the fate of the world/saving the world is secondary to them. In the scene between Jin and Widmore, Widmore pretty much sums it up: for Jin AND Sun, it's about Ji-Yeon and being. It's about getting off the Island to be with Ji-Yeon, to finally be a family. In the Sideways, we saw that same theme play out just a little differently.

I gave a chuckle when the first flash sideways ended with the revelation that Sun and Jin are not married in the sideways world. I know that the sideways world have their differences yet I am always surprised when I find out about the differences. I loved it though. Sideways Jin doesn't have the anger of pre-Island non-Sideways narrative Jin. Sideways Jin is the man he was before Mr. Paik caused havoc in his life. He's the man we saw in "...And Found" and "D.O.C." He's not the overbearing, controlling husband we knew from "House of the Rising Sun" etc. He was working for Mr. Paik and Sun had nothing to do with it. Is Jin's father still a fisherman? Perhaps not. I doubt Jin is the son of a whore in the Sideways but I doubt his origins are important with just 8 episodes left to go. Or maybe it's essentially the same. Who knows. The Sideways story filled in the blanks from what we saw at the end of "The Substitute." What happened was a whole lot of fun (for the viewer). Customs confiscated the $25,000 and sent he and Sun on his way. The only problem? Jin had to deliver the 25 grand along with the the watch to good ol Martin Keamy. At the hotel, following the airport, we found out Jin and Sun are not married. Jin asked for separate rooms. What we didn't know is that they were involved in a secret relationship. At around 11:30PM, Jin stopped by Sun's room, preparing to go to the restauraunt. Sun told him to stay because no one would be there. Jin teased her by saying she's only here for shopping and that the watch delivery is of little interest to her. He also told her that he does what her father tells him and does not ask questions. Anywho, in the hotel room, she unbuttoned her top button and asked Jin whether or not he'd tell her to button it. He said no. He explained he only told her to button the shirt on the plane in case someone was watching. Sun continued to unbutton her shirt, asking Jin whether or not she should button each button that become unbuttoned. Jin said no. She eventually removed her shirt, they kissed, and you know...

The following morning, they awoke. Sun told Jin that she wanted to run away with him (which is of course another difference) and Jin wondered whether or not this was her plan all along. She told him she had her own account and that they could run away. Jin reminded her that it was forbidden. Soon, Keamy showed up. Jin hid when they first heard the knock on the door. Keamy came in, got the watch. He asked about the money and Sun said 'no English.' Omar soon arrived after checking Jin's room and finding no one. They looked in the bathroom and found a shirtless Jin. Soon, Sun and Jin were on the bed. They discussed what to do about the money. Sun suggested paying Keamy the 25 grand herself; however, Keamy and Omar couldn't understand a word because they don't speak Korean. Keamy made a Gozilla joke because he's a so and so. The two of them put their brains together (Omar and Keamy) and decided to bring in the Russian dude who speaks a bunch of languages. The russian guy? NONE OTHER THAN MIKHAIL! Mr. I-Killed-Charlie Mikhail returned. He translated for Jin and Sun. Keamy decided to take Jin with him to the restaurant while Sun would go with Keamy to get the $25,000.

At the restaurant, Omar and Keamy put him into the fridge. Omar bumped Jin's head and Keamy told Omar to be more gentle. I took this to be part of Keamy's twisted sense of humor considering his job was to kill Jin. In the fridge, Keamy told him exactly that. Keamy got a kick out of it too. Little did he know that, when Omar returned with Sayid, he'd be laughing no more. He told Jin that Mr. Paik found out about Jin/Sun because Keamy told Paik (Keamy is a bastard). After all of that, Jin simply said thank you for Keamy cleaning up the cut on his forehead. Keamy then put a piece of tape over his mouth. Sayid soon arrived, did his thing we saw in "Sundown," and he gave Jin the tool to set himself free. Once free, Jin met Mikhail where the dead bodies were. They had a brief fight and then Jin shot Mikhail in the eye. Mikhail shall always remain Patchy! But uh-oh. A bullet hit Sun. As Jin carried her off, she told him she was pregnant (yet another difference as Jin was sterile pre-Island). I wonder will Claire and Sun be giving birth at the same time. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, in the Island narrative, Jin was taken by Zoe and Seamus. But before that happened, NotLocke of The Smoke sat down to talk with Jin. He asked Jin about his leg. Jin told him that it still hurts. NotLocke suggested removing the bandage to the wound some air. Jin continued wrapping. He told Jin that about the candidates and admitted that he didn't know whether he or Jin was the candidate but he told Jin that he was working on getting Sun back because he can't leave the Island unless he has all six candidates with him (he did tell Jacob that he'd kill ALL of the candidates so he can leave...don't forge that). After his talk with Jin, Claire sat down with NotLocke. She overheard NotLocke telling Jin about the caves and the names written in the caves. She asked if she was on there. He told her no. I wanted to hug her. I digress. Claire seemed closer to the Claire we knew from seasons one through four. They discussed Kate. NotLocke told Claire that he needs Kate to get three more people but after that "whatever happens, happens." That bastard. Claire also talked about how Aaron wouldn't even recognize her if she got off the Island and how he thinks Kate is her mother. Anywho, when they finished talking, NotLocke went to Sayid. NotLocke told Sayid that he was in charge of the camp while he was gone and that he'd be a gone for a day. Sayid told NotLocke that he doesn't feel anything--not pain, not anger, not happiness. Nothing. Very powerful scene.

NotLocke soon left. Jin mobilized. He wanted to leave while NotLocke was gone. Sawyer tried to stop him. Of course Widmore's people stopped Jin from going. Everyone is hit by darts. When they are all down, Zoe arrives with the team and they take Jin with them.

Meanwhile, at the beach, everyone is pretty much relaxing. Ilana has no plans to move forward until Richard returns with a plan because Jacob said Richard would know what to do next. Sun grows frustrated and walks off. She goes to her garden. Jack follows her there. He tries to assure her that they are on the Island for a reason by telling her about the lighthouse and the names. Sun tells Jack that she doesn't care about destiny or the lighthouse. She just wants to be left alone. When alone, NotLocke shows up and tells her that he can bring her to Jin but she doesn't trust him and she runs away. She eventually runs into a tree and knocks herself out. She awakes with a concerned Ben over her. She tells him that she is allright but in Korean. She is able to tell Ben that she was running from Locke.

Back at the beach, Jack examines her and tells her she might be suffering from aphasia. She still understands English but cannot speak the language. Only Korean. There's a funny exchange between Miles and Frank when Miles wonders if they're supposed to buy this. Frank says "this coming from the guy who communes with the dead." That was great. I wonder when Sun will regain the ability to speak the English language or will Jin be her translator now. That would have a rather circular feel. Anywho, a bit later, Richard and Hurley returned from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Ilana was relieved as was everyone else except for Sun when Richard finally spoke. Ben tells Richard that NotLocke planned to go to Hydra Island and Frank confirms to Richard that the plane is on Hydra Island. Richard plans to destroy it and that's when Sun takes issue because Richard will be destroying their only way off of the Island. After all, Sun only returned to the Island to bring her husband home. Once Ben convinced her of Jin's survival, her only goal has been to find Jin. Not to save the world. She figures that, since she is candidate, she is important and needed and will refuse to go with them.

Later, at night, Sun sits on the beach and stares out at the ocean. Jack approaches her once again and sits down. He tells her about a patient he had who, after surgery, wasn't able to talk and grew frustrated. What Jack did for the patient was provide a notebook and a pen. He does the same for Sun so that she can still have her English voice. He tells her that he went back to the garden to look for Locke but he didn't find him. Jack did find a fresh, healthy tomato even though all of the vines were dead. Jack says to Sun, "No one told the stubborn tomato that it was supposed to die." Sun tells Jack that she didn't go with Locke because she doesn't trust him. Jack asks if Sun trusts him. Sun smiles, tears up a little and writes yes. Jack tells Sun to go with him and the others because he'll do whatever it takes to reunite Sun with her husband and get them on the plane. Jack offers her his hand and she takes it. Recall the scene when Sun did NOT take NotLocke's hand. I thought this scene was lovely. I loved the score. I love the season oneness of it all. I've been thinking about the transformation we've seen of Jack from the pill-popping man we saw at the end of Through The Looking Glass to right now. I've thought about that intense scene when Locke shows his face after throwing a knife into the back of Naomi and Jack pulling the trigger on an empty gun and the look on his face. That man is gone. This might be Jack's best season. More on Jack/NotLocke later.

We must return to Jin now. Jin awoke in Room 23. He made the mistake of accidentally turning on the video we saw poor Karl watching in season three. Zoe told Jin that Dharma used Room 23 to experiment with subliminal messaging. Zoe, the geophysist, had a map with her of the electromagnetic hotspots on the Island. The signature looked like Jin's and Zoe told him that whoever signed it could really help her out. Jin had no interest giving answers to her. He wanted to talk to the Big Cheese: Charles Widmore. Zoe had no problems with that.

Meanwhile, Widmore was a tad busy. On the main Island, NotLocke got Sayid to travel with him to Hydra Island because Widmore took one of NotLocke's people. Sawyer has a great line about The Smokeness and the ability to travel over water. NotLocke says it's not that simple. He and Sayid take the outrigger over to Hydra Island. When they arrive, well when NotLocke arrives, since Sayid's doing his stealth thing that he likes to do, Widmore meets him by the pylons after Seamus and crew go ballistic once they see the Walking Smoke. Widmore tells NotLocke that he knows that he's not John Locke. NotLocke inquires about Widmore having one of his people. Widmore claims he has no idea what NotLocke is talking about. NotLocke responds with: "A wise man once said that war is coming to this Island. I think it just got here." That wise man? Charles Widmore, of course, who told John Locke that war was coming to the Island in "The Life and Death of Jeramy Bentham." He also told Locke that he needed to return to the Island or else the wrong side would win. NotLocke left soon after that conversation. He returned to camp without Sayid. Prior to his arrival at camp, Sawyer and Kate had a nice conversation. Kate asked Sawyer why he's not worried. Sawyer says that he is worried but he's just good at hiding worry. Sawyer hopes that Widmore had gotten NotLocke but one second later NotLocke wanders back into camp. Sawyer asks about Jin. NotLocke tells him that they said they don't have Jin but it's not to be believed. Sawyer asks about Sayid and NotLocke tells him about the locked door in the sub and how Sayid's spying on that because NotLocke is not a fan of secrets.

Back to Jin, he's finally able to talk to Widmore himself. Before their conversation though, Widmore has a very interesting exchange with Zoe about a timetable.Zoe tells Widmore that she should've hired a mercenary. Widmore doesn't respond really. It looks like he's thinking "I DID HIRE ONE AND HE'S DEAD!" But anywho, the great part of Jin/Widmore was the camera Widmore brought for Jin. Jin was finally able to see his daughter Ji-Yeon. He saw pictures of Ji-Yeon on a playground and pictures with her mother at her birthday party. Daniel Dae Kim was great during this scene. Widmore then told Jin about the Man in Black and about the need to stop him. Widmore tried to relate to Jin, explaining that he is not allowed near his daughter or grandson. Widmore told Jin that if the Man in Black leaves the Island then everyone will cease to be. It makes the Man in Black seem like the physical embodiment of the electromagnetic energy bottled up and if the button's not pushed every 108 minutes then the world as we know it will be destroyed. If he leaves the Island, bye bye world. He's a clever bastard though that Man in Black. It seems like anyone going with him will die so all of Jacob's candidates will die. Claire talked about her fear of Aaron not knowing her. Well, he will know her in the Sideways. I believe the Sideways are going to bleed into the original Island timeline. How that happens? I don't know. But I'm thinking this season gets even more intense and I think the Island will become a place of death again. We shall see.

And then, at episode's end, we got the return of Desmond David Hume. One of the greatest characters ever created in all of fiction. Widmore wanted the package put into the infirmary. He told Jin that the package was a who. We soon saw, after the final sideways part and NotLocke returning to camp, Desmond emerge from the sub all drugged up. He fell down on the deck and saw Sayid in the water, looking up at him. And then he was taken away. End of episode.

Time for even MORE thoughts:

--I don't trust Charles Widmore. I never have. I don't even like the dude. He was a bastard to Des in every Desmond flashback. He was a bastard in Desmond's time-traveling fun (Flashes Before Your Eyes and The Constant). He sent a freighter to kill everyone. The last time we saw Desmond and Charles was in "Jughead" when Desmond finally had the upper-hand. He told Charles to stay the hell away from he and his family. Desmond also didn't want to go back to the Island. Ms. Hawking told Desmond that the Island's not done with him though. The last time we saw Desmond was as he recovered from the gunshot wound. He also beat the daylights out of Ben for trying to kill Penny. Between then and now, Widmore kidnapped him and brought him back to the Island. Why? We shall soon find out. Desmond is special though as Faraday told us. Please use him for good, Widmore. It's still great to have Desmond back.

--I really enjoyed the tiny scene between Sayid and NotLocke because it seemed like another tomato moment. Hope for Sayid. Hope for his redemption. Just hope. I really want to see a Jack-like Sayid transformation. HE'S SAYID! He's the same guy who needed to leave camp after he tortured Sawyer, telling Kate "What I did today I swore I'd never do again." Sure he's done those acts quite a few times since that day but it's not too late to shake himself out this...whatever is going on with him...and start on the path to redemption once again. Angel the vampire has been trying to atone for his past for over a century. There is hope for Sayid Jarrah. He's just very, very lost right now. He's been very, very lost since Nadia was killed.

--The Aphasia storyline is something I certainly did not expect. I'm interested in where it goes. I don't have much else to add about it. We also got a mirror scene with Sun as she took a long look at herself.

--There were some terrific lines tonight. I loved the exchange between Ben and Ilana when Ben was pleading his case about NOT being behind Sun's bump on the head. Recall when The Others were blamed for Sun's kidnapping in "The Long Con" when, in fact, it was Charlie doing the kidnapping. Sawyer hatched the idea. Anytime Miles and Frank are together is always a good time. Miles had a good line about Hurley's ability as a tracker, saying that unless Richard was covered in bacon Hurley wouldn't be able to track anyone. Ilana believed in Hurley though.

--There was quite a lot of exposition early in this episode. I wonder why. This is LOST after all. No one's going to suddenly decide, in the middle of season six, to begin watching the show without watching all of the show before. Of course, everyone will watch the finale without seeing the entire series. I digress though. Perhaps Lindelof and Cuse and Room 23 just wanted to point out the most important plot points as we begin the final part of the season and the series.

--I expected to see a Michael cameo just because he was an integral part of the Sun/Jin dynamic in season one and for most of the series except for when he yelled about Walt. Oh well.

--Speaking of Walt, there are some LOST fans on thefuselage.com that refuse to believe Desmond is the package and that Walt is, in fact, the package. WIDMORE AND WALT HAVE NEVER MET IN THEIR LIVES! COME ON!

--Keamy said that Mikhail's friends name is Danny. Is that Danny Pickett? Also one of the top 9 so and sos of LOST (I did a whole top 9 early on in the hiatus. It was fun).

--I do wonder what's up with locating the electromagnetic hotspots on the Island. What is Widmore's gameplan?

--I think Terry O'Quinn knocked it out of the park yet again this week. Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim did a great job as well. This was a different kind of Sun/Jin episode though. We got a heck of alot of Island story

--Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland wrote this one. They also wrote "Sundown." Veteran LOST crew member Paul Edwards directed it. Applause all around.

--Only six episodes left until the series finale. 8 hours in total. I enjoyed "The Package" a lot. I got a kick out of the Sideways story, seeing Mikhail again. It was a fun episode. It had a lot of heart and make it moved things along. Well done, LOST.

TO THE RANKINGS!

THE OFFICIAL LOST RANKINGS

Exciting week for the rankings I dare say. Desmond has returned to the top spot for me. Sayid has also returned to my top 5. Sawyer's no. 10 now. Kate got bumped to 11. Those are the big exciting changes. As for STEVE, his top ten stayed same pretty much. He switched Ben and Miles. But check them out for yourselves:

AFTER EPISODE 10

RANKED: 3/31/2010

CHRIS

1. Desmond

2. Jack

3. Ben

4. Hurley

5. Sayid

6. Jin

7. Claire

8. Locke

9. Miles

10. Sawyer

11. Kate

12. Richard

13. Frank

14. Sun

15. Ilana

16. Jacob

17. Man in Black

18. Widmore

STEVE

1. Desmond

2. Man in Black

3. Jack

4. Richard

5. Kate

6. Ben

7. Miles

8. Sawyer

9. Sayid

10. Jin

11. Frank

12. Ilana

13. Locke

14. Sun

15. Jacob

16. Claire

17. Widmore

18. Hurley