...In Translation

WHY AM I WATCHING ...IN TRANSLATION?

In which Jin learns about the importance of oven mitts.

Long pants at the beach. Our cultures are so different. 

THE ISLAND

The episode starts with Jin, alone on the beach. The shot perfectly framing his isolation from the rest of the group.

THE FLASHBACK

Then we launch right into the flashback. We start our flashing in the office of Sun's father. Jin is asking for Mr. Paik's permission to marry his daughter. He gets it, along with a sweet new job running an automobile factory! Everything's coming up Jin! Well, they've got to put off the honeymoon because Jin needs six months of management training. But after that, it's smooth sailing for the Kwons. Well, there's an accident at the plant. But it's OK because Jin gets a promotion! See? Everything's fine! Well, the hours are much longer now. And there's a creepy dude in a white suit who just stands there looking menacing. But I'm sure this will all work out.

One of Paik's factories is getting shut down by the government, so Jin is sent to the home of the Secretary for Environmental Safety to express Mr. Paik's displeasure. When the Secretary, Byung Han, finds out Jin represents Mr. Paik, he is utterly terrified and invites Jin inside. His daughter is sitting on the couch with her puppy (watching Hurley on the TV, for some reason.) and Byung Han begs Jin to let her leave first. Jin is a bit confused, but he delivers the message. "Mr. Paik is displeased" Jin says, and begins to leave, satisfied with a jorb well done. Byung Han is so overjoyed that he rips the puppy out of his daughter's hands and gives it to Jin. And now, at long last, we know where Sun's dog came from. I love when this show gives you answers.

The next night, Sun has prepared a fancy feast for her husband, and the two sit down for a nice romantic dinner. But work keeps calling, so Jin has to leave. It seems ol' Byung Han didn't understand the message, and so now White Suit is going to deliver it a little more directly. With a bullet. From a gun. Into Byung Han's head. Jin is able to convince White Suit to let him do the talking. Jin redelivers the message with his fists. Buyng Han understands this time. He also understands that Jin just saved his life, and the factory re-opens.

Then we see the scene from House of the Rising Sun, where Jin comes home covered in blood. It makes him much more sympathetic this time around. Here's a guy doing terrible things and selling his soul, but for noble reasons. The problem, of course, is that he doesn't tell Sun, so while he's struggling with his conscience, she's learning English. Their marriage is kind of fucked. But we'll get to that.

Jin needs some advice on how to fix his life, but as he's made clear all episode, his father is dead.... OR IS HE? He's not. He's actually a goofy fisherman. Jin just pretended he was dead because he was ashamed of him. And Appa Kwon is all "Nah, I get it. I'm a goofy fisherman!" I love this guy. They get some father son bonding done while hauling up shrimp traps or whatever. When Jin tells his father about his problems, his dad is all "Well, the solution is obvious. You're taking a big business trip to America, right? When you two get there, just don't come back!" Jin loves this plan. I mean, it's not like his wife is secretly learning English and plans on leaving him at the airport or anything. It's a real Rupert Holmesian situation.

Here is a brave man who hunts monsters that live in the deep.

THE ISLAND, AGAIN

Sun wants to go for a swim, and apparently there were issues of Cosmo on the plane because she is rockin that beach bod. But Jin isn't happy with his wife's immodest behavior and tries to cover her up. Jin, you've got a long way to go if you want me to like you by the end of this episode (as you've read, he did it). The camp just uncomfortably looks away while they fight, but when Jin grabs Sun to drag her away, Michael gets in between them. So then, Michael and Jin start fighting because those dudes just hate each other. Jin thinks Michael and Sun have a thing going on (He's sort of right there) and Michael is still pissed about the watch based beat down from a few weeks ago (He's very right there). But then their fight ends when Sun slaps Michael and tells him to mind his own business. As much as she can anyway, without letting anyone else know she speaks English.

Jin's no dummy though, he knows there's some sort of secret between Sun and Michael. She denies that they're having an affair, but Jin isn't buying it. He goes fishing, and Sun goes to make peace with Michael. She says that she only stepped in because Jin is a jealous man, capable of terrible things. But this only makes the situation worse when that night someone sets Michael's raft on fire. Sun finds Jin rooting through the medical supplies looking for something to soothe his burned hands. Then he gets super offended that Sun thinks he set the raft on fire. Where could she have come up with such a crazy thought?

The next day, Sawyer finds Jin, captures him and brings him down to the beach. Michael tries to interrogate him, but Sun won't translate, so instead Michael just beats the shit out of him. Eventually, Sun yells out in English for him to stop, and the whole camp, especially Jin, is shocked into silence. Sun explains that Jin's hands are burned because he was trying to put out the fire. But Sawyer and Michael aren't buying it, as Sawyer points out, no one, even her husband, knew she spoke English, so why should they trust her? And that's when Locke has had enough. He point out that there are some others on this island. Murdering, kidnapping, baby eating Others. THEY'RE the ones who burned the raft, and everyone knows it. It's time to stop fighting with each other and face the common enemy. Then he drops his mic in the sand and heads back into the jungle.

Everyone just sort of mumbles and shuffles away after that. Jin ends up leaving Sun, moving to the beach where he can help Michael with the raft and get off this stupid island. Michael gives him a grudging respect nod, so they're cool now. Walt agrees to help his father rebuild the raft. That night, thanks to Locke, we find out that Walt actually was the one who set the fire. He doesn't want to leave. He's been moving around his whole life and he's sick of it. Besides, he likes the island. It's a really good bonding moment for Walt and Locke, as well as good character development for the kid.

As good as the main plot was, the B plot....wasn't. Luckily it's only like 2 minutes of screen time. Basically Sayid and Shannon are getting closer. Out of respect, Sayid tells Boone, and Boone gets super racist. So there's that. Sayid second thinks their relationship. That pisses Shannon off, because everything pisses Shannon off. She storms off into the jungle looking for Boone, but finds Locke instead. Locke drops yet another truth bomb down saying that by getting mad, she's only giving Boone what he wants, attention. She's a gown up. Do whatever she wants, don't worry about what Boone thinks. So, she goes and makes out with Sayid. I hate Shmoopy Sayid.

One is the loneliest number you can ever do.

THE RANDOM THOUGHTS

• This one was really good. I barely took any notes, and I went with the beach shots for the screen caps because I was just so engrossed in the story, I couldn't keep an eye out for goofy pictures to make jokes about.
• I completely take back what I said before. I remembered this episode being terrible, and I was so very wrong. This may be my favorite episode so far. 
• It's a lot easier to remember people's names when they're written out in the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.
• I even knew White Suit's name without having to look it up. 
• "Fuck you, yoga enthusiasts!" -Rupert Holmes

I guess neither likes drinking escapes (piña coladas) 

FENWAY PARK

• My boy
• Son of a bitch.