3x02, The Glass Ballerina

Whoa... I'd been wondering since the very beginning what Sun's archetypical character was since everyone else seemed to have one. Turns out she's a version of the Trickster. But while Sawyer is certainly a Trickster, too, he seems to be sorry that he can't help it, while Sun is an unapoligetic and habitual LIAR. And as this episode shows every lie of hers has a direct negative effect on the people around her... and she doesn't seem to care as long as it preserves her desired way of life. The one big lie she keeps perpetrating, that she never slept with Jae Lee and that her baby is most definitely Jin's, is sure to have HUGE implications down the road. I think it was all hinted at when Pickett kissed Colleen, the woman Sun later shot in the stomach Darth Michael style. Pickett's going to be PISSED and seeking revenge and Sun's lies may finally come back around on her own head.

*Michael Emmerson... Geebus what a great actor. He keeps nailing this Mr. Rogers meets Hannibal Lecter thing with each epi. Someone at The Fuselage referred me to this Variety article on Emmerson where he describes his acting technique:

Michael Emerson calls it stillness, a trait he's developed as an actor that audiences are instinctively drawn to.
Whether on Broadway or broadcast television -- where Emerson can be seen on ABC's "Lost" as the creepiest of the Others -- he has the ability to create tension with only the slightest head movement or, sometimes, just by blinking.

"Audiences react to something. Maybe it's those intense eyeball-to-eyeball scenes, which have a lot of nuance," Emerson says from Hawaii, just a few days after shooting the final episode of the cult-followed series before heading back to his Gotham home. "I continue to play the role instinctively, and that (creepiness) is what people think of me."

*The Glass Ballerina: The meaning of the title has been getting a lot of debate at the 'Lage:
-Is this a comment on the fragility of the Losties amidst their bewildering circumstances... and more specifically the fragiity of Jin and Sun's relationship?
-A reference to "The Glass Managerie"?
-Putting The Others manipulation of Jack, Kate and Sawyer (J/K/S) into the context of making them go through an elaborate dance for still unknown reasons?
-Or, the one I agree with, that the Ballerina was a symbol for the effects of Sun's lying and foreshadowed Jae Lee's own fall?

*So is the baby still Jin's? For all intents and purposes Sun will treat it as such because the Island gives everyone the chance at a new life. But what the Island giveth, the Island can take away. A price will be paid for her actions.

*The Others didn't know about Desmond's boat?! Do they even know Desmond was/is on the Island at all? It's funny, there's some complaint about this since the Others seem to know everything else. Of course, as the US government has proven again and again, even with eyes and ears everywhere, even the biggest dangers can still be overlooked and missed.

*Did Jae leap or was he thrown off the balcony by the dude who always shadowed Jin? Hmmm... I'm gong to say he jumped. He was still clutching the pearl necklace, a symbol of his love for Sun. What's ironic is by sparing his life and telling him to leave Korea and never return, Jin was telling Jae to follow Sun's own advice to him. Except the effect on Jae was devastating not liberating -- he would be condemed to a life without Sun, weighed down by the shame that Jin knew what he and Sun had done. What's even more ironic is Jin DIDN'T know and was just doing this to please Sun's father, which he thnks would strngthen his marriage to Sun. Amazing, multi-layered writing going on there.

*RED SOX WIN! RED SOX WIN! One of the greatest scenes in the history of LOST and not just because I hate the Yankees and LUB the Sox. Remember, Jack is a Sox fan, as his father apparently was. Christian even said to his son at one point something to the effect of "Life is suffering... that's why the Sox will never win the Series." Showing that scene killed Jack. Even setting aside the stuff it brings up between Jack and his father, it was the ultimate reminder of the kind of wonderful, miraculous moments Jack is missing in the "real world"... as opposed to the kind of moments he has to deal with on the Island: deadly polar bears, monsters and Others. It was basically showing him a glimpse of Heaven, while trapped in Hell.