[LST] The Glass Ballerina

TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 2
Date I watched this episode: 05/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 day.
Centric for: Sun, Jin

Once again, this episode just introduced one more group of people. Despite the last episode, I was actually surprised yet again that they'd taken this approach. Many of the characters we know and love, such as Locke, Desmond, Hurley, Charlie, Claire and Eko, haven't been seen yet this season. However, for the three who were introduced this episode (Sayid, Jin and Sun) they didn't have to have particularly dramatic entrances; this isn't a season premiere anymore and these characters appear incidentally. However, it must have been hard for such avid Locke fans as myself who were watching it during its initial run, to tune in expecting to see Locke in the premiere, then again in episode 2... we don't even know if he's alive or dead. I'm certain he'll be in the next episode, "Further Instructions", though; it's actually a centric episode for him.

Unlike last season, where episodes 1 and 2 were set at exactly the same time but viewed through the eyes of different people (yet another bold move), this season occurs more linearly; the Jack/Kate/Sawyer story is progressing still while the events near Pala Ferry are going on, and Sun establishes that it has been more than a day since they set the smoke off. This does beg the question though - what has been happening at camp during the time we've missed here? How are Claire, Charlie and co coping? What's going on inside the hatch? By the time "Further Instructions" is set, it'll have been 2 full days at least since the Discharge.

Although Jack, Kate and Sawyer are clearly in the same facility, their stories are really split up. So in this episode we have three largely separate threads: Jack, Kate/Sawyer and Sayid/Jin/Sun. Jack's piece is still composed of several short scenes where nothing happens, interspliced into the rest of the episode. This filming style is unique among anything I've ever watched, and fuels my incredibly high hopes for this season. Jack really shows his resolve in this one by not shaking Ben's hand, the person who's caused the death and suffering of so many of his friends (and incidentally, Michael Emerson's acting in these sequences is outstanding). However, Jack's resolve may very well have been broken with the shocking revelation that The Others have contact with the outside world! This is insane - why on earth do they remain on The Island?

On the Kate/Sawyer side, I'm really unclear on what's going on here. Why would The Others need so many broken rocks? Well I'm guessing it's for something but Sawyer has it figured out that most of this is an act. And I mean an act like Tom's beard from season 2. Most of these guys have never seen any real action. But quite why they need to be so cruel to achieve their mysterious ends, I don't know. Even Alex (good to see her back) mysteriously says "you're not even supposed to be in there". Sawyer is determined to stand strong though and it's the only thing that keeps Kate going, and probably the reason why she kisses him - romance in the face of adversity.

Juliet is a very odd character to work out. Sawyer reckons she really would have killed Kate - and he would know - but she has been kind and sympathetic towards Jack. The Others obviously want them for different reasons, but I can't believe that Juliet's personality with Jack is just an act.

Now onto the separate thread of the episode - Jin and Sun. Once again we saw the next chapter in the Jae Lee story - and he's dead now. This episode reveals a lot about Sun's character and a little about Jin's. We have seen Jin's integrity before and we see it again now with the refusal to murder Jae. When he says he knows Sun betrayed him, it's unclear whether he includes Jae Lee in that, or if he even knows.

Jin has a lot of respect for Sun, despite the fact that she's not allowed to be herself. He doesn't stay angry with her for long, and respects her wishes. He is really just looking out for her and her child. He is almost fulfilling the father role that she never had: Mr Kwon is full of disgust in this episode (and well acted). However, Sun does like to take matters into her own hands, which I think is the meaning of the title. Sun ruthlessly pursued that path of rejecting responsibilty, leading to an innocent maid being fired. She takes matters into her own hands with the sailing too.

When the boat finally does get underway towards Pala Ferry, Sayid's lies really are very convincing, which is necessary for Jin and Sun to go along with it. Sayid does seem over optimistic about the impact he can make, but (un)luckily he doesn't have to find out!

I really enjoyed the episode and am finding the show has reached a new place within this season. If it carries on like this, it will be one of the best seasons of any show that I have ever seen.