"...And Found"

OCTOBER 29, 2010

FOCUS: JIN, SUN
EPISODE: 2.5
AIRED: OCTOBER 19, 2005

As promised in yesterday's review, "...And Found" is an episode that hit home for me, albeit a few days later. The episode has a few plots, but one of them is about Sun losing her wedding ring, with a big part of the problem being that it's something she's just so used to having on she became unaware of it. I didn't think much of it at the time, but 4 days after it aired, I was in an insane panic, because I myself lost my ring.

At that point I had been married for 4 months (almost to the day) and thus had started getting used to having it on. And I remember the date because I was packing up my car in order to leave for Los Angeles the next morning*. While taking the final bag out to my car, I noticed my ring was gone. So I ran back into my room and looked on the desk where I kept it at night (I don't sleep with jewelry), in my pockets, around the floor, etc. Then I became convinced that it was packed, so I tore apart every bag in the car (luckily, my wife wasn't home at the time, so I didn't have to pretend I was looking for something else to keep her from killing me). Then the worst thought came - I had taken a bag of trash out to the dumpster... it might be in there! Into the damn thing I went, taking every single bag out (and, let's face it, a lot of stuff was not in bags) and disassembling my own, used snot rags, not-totally-empty microwave meal plastic trays, fruit peels... the works. Flash-forward a disgusting half hour or so later: still no ring. I was devastated, and began debating whether to tell my wife or do like Jack did and get a replica. As I went to start typing an email (or something), my keyboard wobbled, as one of the little stands on the back had become closed. I picked it up to fix it... and there was my ring. Somehow it had slid under the board, and in my panic, despite it being an obvious place to look, I skipped over it.

Long story short - upon repeat viewings, I felt myself sympathizing with Sun more than any other single event/character in the show ever. Glad she found hers too!

Even without the personal connection, this is a damn fine episode, because a lot of it is built around the relationships these folks have formed over the last 50 days. You got Jin risking his life to find Michael on one side of the island, and Kate, Hurley, Locke, and Jack (separately) each having a nice moment with Sun about her ring (Hurley's story about "A buck thirty-five in nickels" is a particular highlight), each offering their own brand of comfort. And then in the flashbacks, we have the story of how Jin and Sun met. It could have been a mess to essentially have two episodes' worth of flashbacks in one, but the writers make it work without short changing anyone.

Basically, they're both simple but important stories - we learn about the pressure Sun was getting to find a mate, and we also learn that Jin has his pride but also does not forget where he came from and will stick up for someone in need. And of course, had he not quit his job after his boss berated him for helping a poor man not unlike himself, he might not have met Sun, so that's a damn good/lucky quality to have. And we know Sun will end up nailing that bald dude eventually, so I guess she got to have her cake and eat it too.

Jin's English is starting to improve as well - he can convey simple ideas ("Walt." "Go." "Fish.") and seemingly understand the other folks in general terms. The scene where he fishes is pretty awesome, not just because it proved he was smarter than the others, but he also got to upstage Ana Lucia in the process. Our hero!

The episode also contains one of the show's most memorably unsettling moments, when Jin and Eko (whose name we finally learn in this one) hide as the Others pass. First of all, none of them have shoes, which is weird, but the shot of that teddy bear being dragged along with them is mega spooky. We also get a glimpse at (dead) Goodwin, who we'll learn all about in two episodes, and will provide the final link to prove that Lost is a show after my own heart, albeit in a Kevin Bacon-y way.

Where are we?

*I chose this particular week partially because Lost wouldn't be on and thus I wouldn't have to worry about missing it while on the road. Keep that in mind for my review of tomorrow's episode!