Lost - The Glass Ballerina
*** / ****
Ben makes quite a promise to Jack at the end of this episode.
Jack’s exasperation when Ben shows him the Boston Red Sox winning the World
Series, it encompasses what has been missed during 69 days on this island. And Ben telling Jack he’ll get him *home*,
that is quite a proclamation. All Jack has to do is *trust* Ben. This is but
the final minutes of the episode! Prior to this, Ben is listening to Sawyer and
Kate plotting their eventual escape…and revenge. Ben tells an Other, named
Colleen, to get some folks together to go nab that sailboat Jin, Sun, and Sayid
occupy. And what happens? Ben gets his boat…but Colleen (Paula Malcomson) is the sacrifice. While
Sun is on the boat—by herself as Sayid and Jin were ashore near a built fire
hoping to trick some of the Others into coming their direction, Colleen (and
Tom, later revealed shooting at Sun)—is shot by her. So there will be repercussions
as Colleen tells Sun, shooting her will bring an enemy, the Others. Ben gets
his sailboat, though. Sayid admits to Sun (after she’s rescued from the drink
by Jin) that he was wrong and should have listened Jin regarding returning to
the boat and leaving. They have a long walk ahead of them.
Sun was told by her doctor that Jin wasn’t able to have
children. She discovered on the island that she was pregnant. Was it the island’s
mystical powers causing this miracle? The Glass
Ballerina addresses that. Not only was Jae (Tony Lee) Sun’s help to
learn English, the two began an affair! Sun’s father finds out, barges in on
them at Jae’s apartment, and Jin is called upon by Sun’s father to execute Jae
for bringing him dishonor! This is certainly quite a soap opera. Last episode
had the disintegration of Jack’s marriage and the divorce mess, along with his
father trying to stay sober and help his son get over his wife leaving him.
Love triangles and daddy issues: Lost
goes Soap! Jin beats the hell out of Jae but just can’t kill him so Sun’s daddy
sends someone else to drop the poor guy out his window and on Jin’s car! And
the island responsible for Sun’s pregnancy…that is Jae’s baby!
The title of the episode refers to Jin accidentally dropping
a glass ballerina and blaming the maid when questioned by her father. A little
later, on the island, Sayid mentions to Sun that lying is something she might
know a little bit about. Sometimes the writing does sort of bang the point home
a bit loudly. Sun lies. But Jin isn’t so naïve that he hadn’t realized her
betrayal or figured out Sayid’s plans to ambush the Others. So often Jin is
presented as a patsy, some puppet on a string. Whether Sun is sleeping with Jae
behind his back and planning to leave for America or Sun’s father is using him
to do dirty deeds, Jin is often a victim of manipulation. On the island, what
affects Jin is the language barrier. Jin deserves a bit more respect. Maybe on
the island Jin can get some respect.
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Meanwhile Sawyer and Kate are tasked with manual labor as
Juliet and Danny keep them on duty (along with others), digging up rock and
wheel barreling the minerals. If either of them get out of line, Danny or his
guards will zap them with their destabilizing weapons. Sawyer, of course, can’t
help himself. He looks over at an exhausted Kate using that pickax and can’t
help but go over and kiss her! Right on the lips, Sawyer plants a big one on
Kate with Danny being an asshole, coming over to hit him with the butt of his
machine gun. Sawyer fighting off three guards, getting the machine gun, and
looking rather superior, it is Juliet with a gun to Kate’s head that stops him!
Juliet, Sawyer observes, would have dropped Kate right there had he decided to
use the machine gun. Sawyer’s defiance in the face of adversity…how could we
not be even remotely impressed with him?! He comes off like a real badass in
this episode. Once again, the Others come off as holding the Aces while the
likes of Kate, Sawyer, Jin, Sun, and Sayid have the loser’s hand. Sure, in the
season three first episode, Ethan and Goodwin were members of Ben’s community
ending up as casualties. Colleen is the victim in this episode. Both sides, as
this show has proven, have lost members of their camp. When will it end?
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Ben having a chat with Jack, pointing out the irony of how
their situations are reversed, telling him of how they have contact with the
outside world (that he has lived on the island all his life) and know what is
happening in the U.S. sure gives the island a realism and actually demystifies
what has been presented as quite extraordinary and otherworldly. This new approach
has fascinated me, especially considering the final scene in the second season
finale. Jack offered the chance to leave the island sure is quite a pleasant
proposition. But what does Ben want? Ben does appear to get what he wants. Jack’s
compliance might just be a feather in Ben’s hat.
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