Lost - House of the Rising Sun

“Where did they come from?”

“Didn’t you guys shoot a polar bear last week”

“Yes.”

“Where did that come from?”

By the time we get to “House of the Rising Sun”, Lost is slowly starting to reveal itself as that show with a certain kind of personality. It wants to reveal these people trapped on this island in a way that perhaps not just surprises us but conveys to us that we are all not quite what might appear upon first glance. To not only get the chance to look behind the curtain but have full backstage access is vital to this show’s spellcasting ability. Let us gain perspective by getting an outline of who these characters are and then as the details emerge see them with all their lines, wrinkles, imperfections, beauty, and depth. Because aren’t we most of ugly and beautiful? Aren’t we flawed yet can at times prove to be quite extraordinary?

The show has given us just enough of Jin-Soo and Sun-Hwa to adapt a simple profile. I don’t think the most astute of those viewers watching Lost just expected the surface to be it. That Jin-Soo is just some anally controlling husband who calls the shots while Sun-Hwa enables him to tell her what to do. That Sun-Hwa just aches at being under her husband’s thumb. That Jin-Soo goes about his day with the sole purpose of keeping his wife off to the side, excluded from others, and quiet.

Once I was given the chance to see what Jin-Soo did for a living prior to committing to Sun-Hwa’s criminal father a previous scene just came alive to me. When trying to give a tray of fish found in the water to different folks on the island, they were taken aback perhaps by Jin-Soo’s approach. Why was Jin-Soo so persistent in offering the fish he found to others? Why were they so delicately prepared, appropriately displayed, and brought to them by Jin-Soo as if a waiter offering hors-d'oeuvre before a big meal? Because, as we are shown in flashback, Jin-Soo was a waiter! Yes, he is shown taking a plate with foods to different folks as Sun-Hwa kind of looks on with a glass of bubbly at a restaurant. Jin-Soo wants to do things the right way and ask her father for permission to marry Sun-Hwa. But with that comes duties that require Jin-Soo to come home with blood all over him. Sun-Hwa wants none of this life. So she quietly goes about preparing to flee to America, having even learned English! Jin-Soo, though, isn’t about to just let her go that easily. He loves her dearly. If he didn’t why would he commit to a father requiring him to do horrible things he normally wouldn’t? And as a matter of honor to her father, Jin-Soo attacks Michael Dawson because of a watch. A watch that might just be something found on a beach by Michael to replace the one he lost, but to Jin-Soo it was of great significance. Because Jin-Soo sacrifices much for Sun-Hwa, including a trip to America which lands them on an island. I guess my question is “what will the island give them?” I also appreciated the scenes involving Michael showing a classier side to his character. He has an ax and goes right up to Jin-Soo, confronting him over the watch and his error in such a heinous attack. And then he cuts the handcuff holding Jin-Soo to a portion of airplane, freeing him. Michael lost himself a bit after Jin-Soo attacked him, commenting on how Koreans hate black people. He comes to himself, obviously, and addresses this mistake when his son, Walt, confronts him on it. I liked that Michael contemplates such a hasty reaction, brought on by a moment where he is assaulted by another, unprovoked. Immediate reaction to something he later regrets, contemplating it, Michael is willing to take a deep breath and tell his son that it was wrong. Then Michael goes up to Jin-Soo and is the better man. Not before Sun-Hwa comes to him as he chops wood, revealing she can speak in English.

Over the course of the past few episodes, Charlie has been revealed to have a serious addiction. It was first shown when on the plane, as Charlie fled the stewardess and her entourage. And on the island, Charlie would slip away to ease his need for relief, fingering the powder in a baggie, and rubbing the magic in his mouth. John Locke notices this once they are in the woods, following Jack and Kate to the cavern with the natural stream. Locke counters Charlie’s aggressiveness (addict resists someone confronting him over what he already knows) with the question of if he would prefer to have his guitar back or the smack. Because Locke understands that the island has its ways, as it has the means to give…and receive as obvious with the folks now occupying it.

Then there is the introduction of a “split” as Jack considers the cavern as a new home for those on the island while Sayid believes leaving the beach is detrimental as anytime a rescue might fly overhead or pass by water. So that produces a difference in opinion. Choosing sides goes right against what Jack was talking about previously, as it divides not organizes. So you have Locke and a few others joining Jack while Sawyer, Mike, and Kate remain on the beach. And the episode was addressing the obvious chemistry between Jack and Kate, and she even comments about him “checking her out”. There’s flirting and the two clearly realize how they feel about each other. But Lost isn’t about to give that to us so early in its tenure. Sawyer, always “affectionately” calling her Freckles, talks to Kate about her decision to either follow Jack or remain on the beach. He understands all too well what is obvious between Kate and Jack, so Sawyer can’t help himself. He can’t help but gleefully be an asshole sometimes. But it isn’t that Sawyer just talks shit, because most of the time he’s onto something. It’s his presentation that is lacking; yeah, that is what it is.

Two bodies were discovered in the cavern by Jack and company, with Locke mentioning, "Adam and Eve". This ties in to a comment made by Kate regarding her not being Eve. Fifty years old, these bodies spark that thought in Jack's mind about survival and how the cavern is a great means for doing so. Sayid obviously considers such thinking defeatist, not yet willing to give up on a rescue party saving them. Jack, on the other hand, sees the present and possible future where that rescue mission might be a pipedream at this point. 

But as far as the central focus of the episode, I do wonder if Sun-Hwa had wanted her husband to find her. Would she prefer to be on the island without him? Is she actually free considering his obsessive need to shield her from everyone? Was her trying to leave on the plane for America just about getting out from under her father's influence or Jin-Soo's?