"The Package"

Hour 10-of-18 of the season is history. We are officially careening towards the end now as we have passed the halfway point. Where will it go from here?

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

The long awaited Sun and Jin episode finally happened and I was foolishly expecting them to actually be reunited on the Island. Now I just hope it happens before the final episode. I like them and their being separated for so long is really getting boring. So it was nice to see them "together" in the flash-sideways. As was noticed by sharp eyed viewers of "LA X," they were not wearing wedding rings and Sun was addressed as Ms. Paik by airport security. It was nice to see that they are a secret couple in the flash-sideways world even if fate has not brought them together as husband and wife. It was not surprising to find out that Mr. Paik knew their secret and wasn't happy, but it was sad to learn that he ordered Jin's murder at the hands of a very creepy Martin Keamy. The whole thing was an obvious set-up from the beginning because even gangsters know that if you want to legally bring over $10,000 through customs, it must be declared. So not only did Mr. Paik want Jin dead, he was going to screw over the hitman!

It was very funny so see that Keamy's interpreter was none of than a two-eyed Mikhail. It was even funnier to see him lose his eye when shot during Jin's escape. On the subject of Jin's escape from the freezer, I was actually very nervous when Sayid hesitated to help him. In fact, I really thought Sayid might kill him since he effectively witnessed Keamy et al's murders. But in the end, Sayid did just enough to help Jin escape. My intuition told me that we were not out of the woods though so I was not surprised to see that Sun was shot during Jin's skirmish with Mikhail. And she was pregnant! But that's were the flash-sideways ended making me again wonder if and when a grand payoff will come. Will all of our characters eventually end up in the same place at the same time soon? Or are these stories simply the lives of the characters if Jacob had never gotten involved? Or is it what their lives will be if the Man in Black successfully escapes the Island?

Speaking of the Island, that was a very strange scene at the beginning of the episode with the night vision POV of Widmore's army. It seemed unnecessary. But we did learn that Locke's plan (or at least what he is telling everyone) is that he intends to fly the Ajira plane away from the Island but he can only do it if he has all the remaining candidates with him. That means he has to get Sun just in case she's the "Kwon" on Jacob's list. But that would be easier said than done. Locke also tells Claire that Kate is not a candidate but she will be useful in getting the other candidates on his side (i.e. Jack) but after he's done with her, Claire can do what ever she likes (i.e. kill Kate).

Okay, now here's my big quibble with this episode and I think that LOST should be better than this. After being knocked unconscious while running from Locke, Sun wakes up and has lost the ability to speak English. LAME!!!!! This is a legitimate shark jumping moment, unless....the Man in Black may have powers we don't yet know about including the power to take things from people, like Sun's ability to communicate. There are so many biblical references in this show, Locke might as well have the ability to confound people à la the Tower of Babel. He undoubtedly caught up with her after she was knocked unconscious and had ample time to work his magic, cast his spell or whatever he does before Ben found her. I hope this is the reason for her aphasia and not just a horribly cliched plot device.

While Locke was chasing Sun around, his beach camp was attacked in order for Widmore to kidnap Jin. Seriously, will Sun and Jin ever be together again? When he woke up I was trying to figure out where Jin was and enjoyed learning that it he was in fact in Room 23. Riddle me this: we have been led to believe that Dharma was exploiting the unique properties of the Island but the video in Room 23 mentions Jacob by name so were they also brought to the Island as part of the contest between Jacaob and the Man in Black? If so, why were they purged by the Others who are presumably disciples of Jacob? Why would Jacob's people kill, especially after what we learned about Richard last week and his feelings about murder?

Widmore had a couple of interesting conversations tonight. First, he talked with Locke on the beach of Hydra Island. Nice to see that the temporary sonic fence actually kept Locke out...or at least that's what he'd have Widmore believe. Curious that Widmore doesn't know what Locke is but says he is a "combination of myth, ghost stories and jungle noises in the night." So how much does Widmore really know about the Man in Black and Jacob for that matter? One thing is for sure, Widmore is definitely not on Locke's side. The second important Widmore conversation was with Jin who got to see pictures of Ji Yeon for the first time. Very good acting by Daniel Dae Kim in this scene. Apparently, if the Man in Black get's off the Island, all of the Losties and their loved ones will cease to exist. Very interesting.

So who is "The Package?" Why it's our old long lost fan-favorite Desmond Hume. So what's the story with that? Eloise Hawking told him last season that the Island wasn't done with him yet and I've certainly felt that he would become important to the Jacob/Man in Black rivalry if for no other reason than that "the rules don't apply to him." But how did he end up on Widmore's sub? Last we saw him, Desmond was in the hospital recovering from being shot by Ben at the marina. Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking were seen talking outside of the hospital. So did Widmore abduct Desmond then or did he keep an eye on him for a later kidnapping? Perhaps we will find out next week.

That's about it other than a note to ABC: don't put a stupid countdown clock over the lower right corner of the screen! If Jack didn't reiterate all of Sun's notes to him, I wouldn't have known what the hell was going on! "V" is an okay show but there have only been four episodes...it definitely doesn't deserve a countdown clock!