Kwontum Leap

PREVIEW: LOST Season Six, Episode Ten: The Package

If Work Permits

“I think we both know the guy I’m talking about (writing this post) isn’t Locke (Maggie).”
- James Ford

Two weeks ago, the prophet Sawyer foretold what you see before you. While this is a preview post, the author has been inhabited by a darker, more sinister spirit: me (Charlie). Okay, Maggie and I are switching roles – but not bodies – this week, as work demands have destined me to preview duties and Maggie to a late-night review tonight. I must say, writing a Dharma Blog article in the daylight is refreshing. Hey! Maggie writes in the light of day, I write in the dark of night. Metaphor!

Anyway, tonight we tackle the 10th chapter of LOST’s whirlwind finale tour de force. It’s a Sun & Jin episode titled, “The Package,” and it also marks the first “That’s What She Said” episode title since last season’s “Jughead.” (sorry, mom.)

Dharma Blog regulars know that my love for Sun has dwindled in the past year. While (almost) every other actor on the show has improved over the course of the series, Yunjin Kim has regressed markedly. Daniel Dae Kim plays her doggedly loyal, battle-ready husband Jin brilliantly, but Sun’s presence has bordered on obnoxious as of late. However, her primary drawback for two seasons has been that her dialogue has been relegated to “I need to find my husband,” and variations thereof. No actor can make that interesting 20 different times. So in the spirit of resolution that has marked this final season of LOST, perhaps tonight’s episode will mercifully treat us to their reunion. Let’s see what we know.

Jin Cahouts
Last we saw Jin, he was tenuously bunking with Kate, Sawyer, crazyClaire, crazySayid and Not-John-Locke at Camp Poop Baby. Jin was captured/saved by Claire, who subjected him as a witness to the murder of innocuously-named Other, Justin. Then, he and fellow Flockester Sawyer awaited the return of their bald eagle and his band of Temple converts. We didn’t see much of Jin during “Recon,” while Flocke was playing Michael Walton to his bickering charges (Sawyer, Kate and Claire).


But Jin’s presence on Team Flocke is an interesting one. For now, he appears to be playing possum, waiting to see just what Flocke, Claire, Sayid and Sawyer have planned. You get the sense that – understandably –Jin isn’t a track-suit-wearing, card-carrying member of this team. And why should he be? He hasn’t even given Flocke something to exploit – and Flocke hasn’t given him something to hate. Yet.

Here Comes the Sun
Alright Yunjin Kim, change my mind about your acting skills. Or die already.

Sun – like her husband – has taken on a role as team player since last season. When Ajira 316 crashed, she and unlikely cohort Frank Lapidus hijacked a boat to the main Island, where they met up with creeper Christian Shephard (Man in Black?) in the former Dharma Welcome Room. That room, as we saw it in 2007, had been ransacked and deserted long ago. Broken pictures and tattered welcome banners adorned the facility, but Christian led Frank and Sun through the wreckage and showed them a picture of the Dharma Initiative’s Class of 1977, of which Jin was a member. That was the moment Sun knew that Ben hadn’t lied to her off the Island when he told her he could reunite her with her husband. It was also the moment that Sun was reduced to a single dimension and a single mission: Find Jin, even if it means sacrificing acting skills (Okay, I’ll stop harping on her now).

After her close encounter of the Christian kind, Sun joined up with Flocke, Richard, Ben Linus and the Others as they headed to the Temple to confront Jacob. Initially, she joined up with Flocke because he said he could deliver her to Jin. When it became clear that Flocke had a different mission, Sun fell in with the remnants of Team Jacob – Ilana, Ben, Miles, Lapidus and (eventually) Richard, Jack and Hurley. This realignment presumably coincided with the Jughead detonation, or whatever it was that “merged” the two timelines. That’s where we sit now, with Sun making camp on the beach amidst yet another group of people she hopes can lead her to Jin.

Interestingly enough, Sun and Jin are in really similar positions right now: biding their time within a group of people they don’t necessarily trust, tracking the carrot on a stick that is their shared reunion. The question becomes, what will be the catalyst that finally allows them to meet up?

Smoke(y) and Mirrors
My guess at the answer: John Locke. More specifically, the Man-in-Black/Smoke Monster as John Locke. We’ve seen that this entity’s modus operandi is to find people who have something he needs, then offer them something that exploits a weakness or longing they have.

In this case, Flocke has two malleable subjects – Sun and Jin – with the same weakness/longing: each other. Sun and Jin are very vulnerable right now. We’ve seen them both take uncharacteristic paths in the hopes of finding each other. Sun is aligned with a man she doesn’t really know (Frank), a woman who gives me nightmares (Ilana) and the shell of a man that she’s never fully trusted (Jack – remember, in their Oceanic Six stint, she was very distrusting of the good doctor). Jin, in the same vein, is making camp with self-destructive Sawyer, two “claimed” souls (Sayid and Claire) and the man who claimed them (Flocke). Clearly, the Kwons have pushed in all their chips, betting the farm on this chance to reunite.

That’s where Flocke comes in. He likes ‘em good and vulnerable. A man who just lost the love of his life (Sawyer), a woman whose child was taken away from her (Claire) and a tortured torturer (Sayid) are just his recent recruits. But as we saw last week with his recruitment of Richard, the Man in Black/Flocke has a keen eye for souls in need of a purpose.

My guess, tonight we’ll see the last temptation of Kwon. I’m just not sure which one. Flocke has easy access to Jin, but I imagine he’s a little more suspicious of the entire situation. Sun, however, would follow Jeffrey Dahmer to a Cannibal Convention. I think Flocke will swing for the low-hanging fruit here, and go after Sun. Remember, when we last saw Flocke, he was eavesdropping on Hurley and Richard’s heart-breaking, Isabella-motivated test of faith. It’s a hop, skip and a smoke over to the beach where Sun is just waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

Prime Candidates
Among the many mysteries surrounding the concept of “candidacy” is the identity of #42: Kwon. Jin? Sun? Baby Ji Yeon? (Settle down Maggie, you baby-loving LOST addict.) I kind of think it’s both. Ilana said six candidates were left. I don’t think John Locke is legitimately one of them anymore. Which would leave Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid and two, two, two Kwons!

But to me, the Kwondidate mystery is second to the “What are they candidates for?” mystery. I can’t get past the cave that Flocke showed Sawyer, and its narrative juxtaposition with Jacob’s lighthouse. Two structures, each with numbers and candidates. But one is dark (cave) and one is light (house). I get the sneaking suspicion that the cave is actually a list of the Man in Black’s candidates. He said that the candidates were those who could possibly take over for Jacob. I wonder if that was a lie to Sawyer, and if, actually, the cave candidates were people whom Man in Black thought he might be able to exploit in order to uncork his prison and leave the Island. Interestingly, the cave and the lighthouse have (mostly) the same candidates and numbers. Maybe the cave is where Man in Black is keeping his own records, trying to match Jacob, soul-for-soul, in his bid for escape.

Hey, also, did you like how I used the word Kwondidate in that last paragraph? God, that was great.

But where do Sun and Jin enter into this? I think tonight we’ll find out. Perhaps their natural “goodness” will be tested against their capacity for corruptibility. They’re interesting character studies in that way. In their back stories, we’ve seen both sides of the Kwon Koins (another play on words! I’m on fire when I’m not writing at midnight).

First, look at Sun. Sweet, good-natured, loyal Sun. Who cheated on her husband and learned English behind her husband’s back with the intention of leaving him at the airport.

Then, look at Jin. Hard-working, equally loyal Jin who will do anything to win the favor of his wife’s very judgmental father. Anything, including murder. Also, he subjugated his wife, deeming her a second class citizen. And he told her to button up that blouse in Season One, thus denying all the Oceanic 815 men some much-needed cleavage.

In a sense, the Kwons are each other’s ever-evolving yin and yang. And no, I’m not just saying that because they’re Asian. I’m 1/14 Asian, due to the presence of my Chiniece (Chinese niece), so I can say things like that. But really, when one goes bad (Sun learning English and wanting to leave her husband), the other goes good (Jin brings her a flower, tells her she looks beautiful and promises to take her away from their horrible life). And when one goes good (Sun making peace with the other survivors, planting a garden and assimilating herself into the makeshift culture) the other goes bad (Jin deriding other survivors, being obstinate and kicking the shit out of Michael for wearing his watch).

The Kwons represent the dichotomy of good and evil, while simultaneously showcasing the moral ambiguity of mankind. On multiple occasions, they’ve eluded cookie-cutter “good” or “evil” characterizations. They’ve shown their heart, and they’ve shown their dark sides.

So tonight, perhaps, the true nature of the Kwons will be revealed. Will they prove themselves good-hearted souls, capable of taking over for Jacob as the Island’s protector? Or will they prove themselves susceptible to evil, and thus become pawns in Flocke’s great escape?

Not That Kwon, The Other Kwon
So many puns today. I’m Kwon a roll. Sorry.

We also must prepare for the alternate-reality Kwon storyline. Last we saw Sun, she was watching with fear as Jin was dragged into a TSA holding cell. Last we saw Jin, he was being rescued from a freezer, where Keamy and Omar were holding him captive. I assumed, after that, that Keamy and Omar were still working for Widmore in the alternate reality. Perhaps, thought I, Jin’s “delivery” was for Widmore, and Keamy and Omar were upset with him for getting held up at the airport.


Keamy and Omar were killed by Sayid, who was on the warpath looking for answers to his brother’s assault. And when we departed, Sayid found Jin in the deep freeze, and we were left to wonder where they went. Perhaps out for coffee, with Juliet.

Stop Reading This
Personally, I hate spoilers, but I generally allow myself to read the episode title and description. I don’t always like to read the guest list, but I’ve done it this week to fulfill my previewer duties (ha, I said, “duties”) and I’ll break it down for you (there’s not much to it).

So, if you’re a spoiler purist, stop reading this and we’ll see you in the morning. Those who want a cryptic-but-doesn’t-actually-tell-us-much tease, read on.

Such a Tease
The official episode description for tonight:
“Sun and Jin desperately continue their search for one another, and Locke confronts his enemy.”

Whoa. Okay, we tackled the first 2/3 of that tease, but I wasn’t aware of the final 1/3. “Locke confronts his enemy.” That has to mean Jacob, right? Will Flocke channel the postmortem abilities of his Man in Black core to speak with recently-deceased Jacob? Things could get awkward. “Hey, how’s it going.” “Oh not bad, except the whole thing where you manipulated my most loyal follower into killing me.” “Eee. Right. Have some wine.”

We haven’t seen MIB-as-Locke talk to Jacob since right before he murdered him and kicked him into the fire. It’ll be interesting to see them talk about what has transpired since then. And I’d wager, we’ll get a little insight as to the nature of the candidates, and their respective statuses. MIB has Sayid, Sawyer and Kwon 1. Jacob has Jack, Hurley and Kwon 2. I’d say the pieces are on the board, and maybe tonight we’ll see one of the combatants make the first move. THE WAR. IS. ON.

Alternative possibility: the “enemy” is Widmore, and Flocke heads over to Hydra to survey the scene. I don’t think so, though. I think Widmore is far from an “enemy” of the Man in Black.

Please, Not In Front of the Guests
Of note on tonight’s guest list, we’ve got Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Kevin Durand as Keamy, Anthony Azizi as Omar, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Fred Koehler as Seamus and a few people whose characters are unknown to us at this point. That makes sense. We’ve got Widmore, his off-Island henchmen (Keamy and Omar) and his on-Island henchman and woman (Seamus and Zoe). I, for one, am pumped for some Keamy. I mean, the guy makes good eggs.

Wait a second though. As I mentioned earlier, Keamy and Omar were offed by Sayid as they held Jin captive. Does that mean their appearance tonight will be of the on-Island variety? I don’t think so. My guess is, tonight’s story will fill in the blanks of how, exactly, Jin came to be held captive by Keamy and Omar in that freezer.

There is one very curious little nugget on the guest list: Andrew Divoff as Mikhail Bakunin. Huh. Here I thought he died 8 times already. I wonder if he’ll surface in the alternate reality, perhaps as an accomplice to Keamy and Omar. We’ve already seen Others Dogen and Ben Linus relegated to alternate reality normalcy, so maybe that’s where Mikhail ends up, too. I hope he likes eggs.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow. We Love You. Tomorrow.
Maggie will be back in the a.m. with a review of The Package (again, that just sounds dirty). Until then, enjoy Sun, Jin and the rest of the gang.

Namaste.
Charlie