(S03E02) Someone want to tell me why they had to call this episode "The Glass Ballerina?" It referred to one tiny thing at the very beginning! I don't know, I guess I just like my episode titles to actually tell me what's going on and not give me some vague reference to something that's ultimately not all that important. Alias used to be notorious for this. But in the end, what did we learn from the glass ballerina? We learned that Sun is a big ol' cheating liar.
Seriously though. Why not call this episode something significant like, "I Want That Boat?" Because that's pretty much all this episode was about. Ben (The Artist Formerly Known as Henry Gale) and the rest of his merry islanders found out that Sun, Jin, and Sayid were sailing around the island. So naturally Ben wants the boat and so far, Ben gets what he wants. Maybe it's just me, but is anyone else having a hard time buying Ben as the leader? Granted, there were probably about half a dozen big, husky men with shotguns and tazers waiting in case anything should happen, but why didn't Jack go all ninja on Ben's ass at the end of the ep? He could take him. I just don't find the guy all that intimidating. Whatever. I'll get back to that.
This was a Jin/Sun flashback episode (and those are generally my least favorite ones), but this one wasn't so bad. As I said, Sun is a big ol' cheater. Who was she sleeping with? We all remember Jae, the hotelier's son? Baldie? It was him. Poses an interesting question with a likely answer though. Her little fling with Jae couldn't have happened too soon before Australia, right? So it seems likely that Jae is the father of Sun's baby then.
To understand the next line I want to talk about, we have to touch on Sayid first. He rightly suspected that The Others have Jack, Kate, and Sawyer and he planned to ambush them by building a giant fire to lure them out. But he kept telling Sun and Jin that the fire and smoke was a signal for Jack. Sun figured out he was lying but she kept her mouth shut. Jin caught on too and he called Sun on it. He said something along the lines of "I know you betrayed me" and it seems two-fold. I think he knew Sun slept with Jae but he just doesn't care enough. Jae did, after all, jump off his balcony after Jin put the hurt on him in the flashback. But does Jin realize the baby likely isn't his?
Moving on... Sawyer and Kate were stuck doing manual labor for The Others. They were breaking up rocks and moving them. Seems like kind of a pointless exercise when you're on an island covered in them. Kate did have a conversation with that brunette, the rebel. She's the one who helped Claire escape last season right? Not sure why they've re-introduced her. Regardless, after that it got interesting. Sawyer said screw it and kissed Kate. She kissed back. Oooohhhh! But his motives only became clear after he talked to Kate later. He kissed her because he wanted to but also to test his captors abilities. He got his ass kicked after the smooch but now he knows what Zeke's buddies are capable of. Too bad Ben hears all of Sawyer's plans over a closed-circuit TV security feed.
Speaking of Zeke (did we learn his real name?), he was part of the group sent out to get the boat. Sun was on it and she shot one of The Others. Colleen? I think that was her name but it's the actress that plays Trixie on Deadwood. After she fired, Sun got off the boat safely... but The Others have it now. Not good.
Then there was Jack. Ben went to see him at the end of the ep. Introduced himself properly. "Hi. My name is Benjamin Linus and I've lived on this island all my life." This was the part I was talking about earlier. Why no brawling Jack?
I was disappointed with the ending though. It's now November 29, 2004 in the world of Lost and Ben proves to Jack that he has contact with the rest of the world. That makes sense though right? Penelope was able to find the island in the finale last spring. So it should work both ways. To back himself up, Ben plays footage from the '04 World Series and Jack can't believe that the Red Sox won after being down 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS. But he's got proof now. Ben claims he can get Jack home but only if Jack cooperates. The question is cooperate with what?
So that was it. A so-so episode. We didn't really find out too much about the island and what we did get was very stretched out to accommodate an hour. Knowing what we now know about Sun and Jin, was all that information that important? I suppose it is but as I said earlier, Sun's and Jin's flashbacks are generally lousy in my opinion. Next week deals with Locke. Now his stories I like.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
10-11-2006 @ 11:08PM
Sean Juan said...
The girl Kate was talking to was Alex, the crazy French lady's (Danielle) daughter
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10-11-2006 @ 11:09PM
RK Bentley said...
The brunette talking to Kate is Alex, Danielle's daughter.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:17PM
Albus Dumbledore said...
Have you ever watched 'Lost' before? Yes, we know that the real name of 'Zeke' is 'Tom'. We learned that last season. The 'Rebel Girl'? Uh, yeah she's important. She is 'Alex', Danielle's daughter. If you don't know, Danielle is 'The French Chick'.
And yes, the glass ballerina set up the rest of the episode that Sun is a big liar. It's called creative writing.
I swear, some people just complain way too much about this show. If you don't like it, stop watching it. Who cares how many questions get answered? (and if you think about it, several were tonight) Just watch it and have fun.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:17PM
beanspants1 said...
I know the losties aren't very bright, but jeez was sayid's plan terrible. he must have been a member of the vaunted iraq republican guard.
kate got captured again (of course), but overall, her & sawyer's part was really good. sun & jin's part was not bad, though i'm not a huge fan of the flashbacks overall.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:18PM
Tucker said...
I thought it was a great episode - if they can make me actually be interested in a jin/sun episode, that's big stuff.
Jonathan, I'm disappointed - that "brunette" is Alex, presumed (and likely) to be Danielle (French woman)'s daughter. She's been one of the more featured Others all along, so it's good to see her back. There's obviously some story there as to her upbringing and why she's not going with the flow.
Next week looks awesome as well, looks like this season is moving right along.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:28PM
Toby OB said...
Tom is the name for "Zeke" aka "Mr. Friendly".
I think the "Glass Ballerina" ended up being a symbol for Sun, maybe for Jin as well? Both of them dancing around the truth which could easily shatter the lives they have? It's a possibility.
It was weird to see that footage of the Red Sox game and remembering where I was when I saw it. But I wonder why Jack didn't stick fast to his stubborn disbelief and just accuse Ben of manipulating the footage and audio tracks for the effect.
But I liked the slightly panicked look on Ben's face when Jack at first refused to believe him about the Red Sox winning.
Odd to think that as that footage was playing out on the screen, Jack would have been able to see Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore mixing in with the team as they filmed a scene for "Fever Pitch".
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10-11-2006 @ 11:28PM
Jamie said...
It was a great episode. I'm not usually of fan of Jin/Sun outings, but they are finally developing her character beyond th meek housewife suppressing her independent urges while making her not the sweet,, innocent woman she previously appeared to be. Daddy is a crime lord, after all.
The only drawback I saw is why didn't Sayid figure the Others might come on board the boat? As a military startegist, he should have had that in mind. Otherwise, I liked the whole shebang.
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10-11-2006 @ 11:28PM
stephen said...
watch trailer for next episode:
http://www.dharmasecrets.com/forum/index.php/topic,8514.0.html
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10-12-2006 @ 8:44AM
Del said...
I thought he meant, by "take you home", he meant, "I'll let you watch TV in here all you want"..he said something about home being "on the other side of the glass", I believe.
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10-12-2006 @ 8:44AM
Carly said...
I agree that the episode name was after Sun, as she was breakable and vulnerable, not just a liar. It seems everyone in lost has a background they regret and the island is a getaway, maybe even a new beginning that is unrealized. Perhaps that is why Jack must be taken, because he refuses to realize how he needs to grow. A site I like with a clues blog is at http://www.LostExposed.com/ . It may be that in the end, the "glass" will be a clue to something else.
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10-12-2006 @ 8:44AM
adhonus said...
This was much better then the season opener, most likely because the pressure was off. But mostly because we got to see more then three Lostaways.
My wife and I keep debating if the Others are evil or not. She's teetering, but I'm convinced that they are acting out of self-protection. But even then, I wonder... Are they "the good guys?"
What does Benjamin Linus want Jack to do? When we know the answer to that, then we'll know.
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10-12-2006 @ 8:44AM
Cee Rubin said...
this was a much better episode. I was very happy with it. You Tv Squaders have collectivly become way to critical of the shows your covering. Lighten up ... this isn't a Ny Times arts section review. It's a good show ...stop being so hard on it.
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10-12-2006 @ 8:45AM
Charles said...
Although the "Others" seem to dissasociate themselves from the defunk Dharma Initiative, they seem to have continued the conditioning that B.F. Skinner and the ficitonal DeGroots heralded. They seem to be using Jack, Kate and Sawyer for some kind of scientific experiment.
For Sawyer and Kate, I think they're the independant variable, where many things happen to them, while for Jack, nothing happens to them. And Ben seems to be monitoring all of it, to see everyone's responses. But as to WHAT they're testing, I don't know. And is it related to whatever shots they were given?
For all the talk of season 3 being more "action-packed" and "romantic", it actually seems to be more intellictual. (Which is fine by me... Television analysis comes easier to me than literary analysis. ^_^)
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10-12-2006 @ 8:45AM
Matt said...
I am a huge LOST fan, and after the first 5 minutes of the season premiere last week, I felt I needed more. I really felt we got more this episode and I thought it was very well done. I too think the Jin/Sun episode flashbacks were boring in the past, but this one "had" me more than any other. I too think people are whey too critical after 2 episodes, at least were not stuck in the hatch for a whole episode..this had adventure and some questions answered in my opinion. The ending was whey better than last week...cannot wait for Locke to return!!
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10-12-2006 @ 8:45AM
Allen said...
WTF???? I love this show, but, seriously, the credit roll wasn't even done until the SECOND commercial break. Oh, geez, what the fuck are abrams and crew doing???????
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10-12-2006 @ 8:46AM
Ryan said...
Well unlike the rest of you, I *love* the Sun/Jin flashbacks so this was totally my cup of tea. Maybe it's due to my undying love for Yunjin Kim. Who knows?
Anyways, the way I see Jack's behavior is that he's mentally and emotionally broken. That would explain his unwilling to really fight back. But then again do I buy that Jack can get broken this easily? Not really. But if so, then wow he's more pathetic than I thought.
Can't wait to see the other castaways next week.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:56AM
Melochord said...
I think that Jin's accusation of Sun's betrayal was in reference to the fact that she had learned English and didn't tell him - she kept him in the dark for quite a while. If he really knew that she'd cheated on him, I don't think that he would have been as happy about the pregnancy.
Also, we didn't see her lover jump - might have had some motivation...
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10-12-2006 @ 1:01AM
kel said...
I think they need to take a break with the flashbacks. Yes, there was some decent info in there (Sun's a liar and a cheat!), but there's just way too much story to tell on the island to pad each episode with flashbacks. The only flashback I'd like to see is Ben's, or maybe a whole "48 Days"-like episode with the Others.
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10-12-2006 @ 1:01AM
Dayton said...
Sayid's first plan led to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer being imprisoned. Sayid's second plan lost them the boat and nearly killed Sun...
... No wonder the vaunted Republican Gaurd has lost its last two wars.
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10-12-2006 @ 8:46AM
Tim said...
All in all, a fair episode. I'm fairly sentimental so I got all weepy when Sun & Jin reunited at the end. Anyways, what was the deal with the ending? I expected that the offer that Ben was gonna give Jack was going to be some unbelievable payoff. But then it wasn't. And I thought the tape Ben had was going to be some cliffhanger. How did he know Jack wasn't going to believe the Sox won?
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