Mar

14

Lost Episode “Ji Yeon” Review and Comment

Posted by lostfan

March 14, 2008 |

If you have not watched Episode 4.07, please do not read on.  This post will contain spoilers.

I will start off by saying that their appears to be mixed reactions to this episode.  Some people hated it and some loved it.  Let me be clear.  I absolutely thought it was fantastic.  In my humble opinion, from a writing standpoint, it was the best written episode to date.  The subtleties were genuinely subtle, the mysteries were inviting not “hit you over the head (for example - Aaron and Kate).  It was just very well done.  Kudos to the writers for taking some extra time and effort on this episode.

Now, for the details.

Flashback / Flash Forward - I like Lost, I really do, but all too often the characters are stock and 2-dimensional.  They have to be.  If the characters were multi-dimensional and complex, then the complex story line would be torture.  Because of the lack of character depth, I often find it hard to connect to the characters on an emotional level. Yi Jeon was a completely different story.

Sun and Jin made this character driven episode of Lost work.  Jin really came alive and showed a depth of character that was both intriguing and dynamic.  The juxtaposition of Jin’s flashback and Sun’s flashforward worked so well that I was emotionally touched.  This was a first for Lost, and to be honest, I didn’t see it coming - not at all.

Now, to be fair to myself, in my season 4 predictions, I did call for Jin’s death.  It was one of the few things I got right, and after last night’s episode, I am sorry that I was right.

Banging - I had two thoughts about the banging. First, I thought it might be the result of someone trying to communicate with Sayid and Desmond via Morse Code.  I don’t think that is the case however.  Sayid would have known more about what was being communicated if that was the case.

Instead of Morse Code, I think the sound of the banging was the crushing of some one’s skull in the ”master suite“ that is offered to Sayid and Desmond.  The Doctor’s comment about the ”quite side of the ship“ referred, in my opinion, to the fact that the noisy person died.  The blood stain on the wall looked to me like a bashing rather than a splattering.  Things are certainly bad on the boat.

Woman on the boat - Speaking of bad news on the boat, Regina’s death was a spooky moment.  It was bizarre how calmly she walked ”the plank“ to her death.  It was even more twisted when nobody cared.

The effect that the island is having on the crew intrigues me.  I am dying to know why it is happening. If it were as simple as the time shift, then the symptoms would be more consistent.  On the freighter, it seems that everyone is screwed up in their own special way.

It almost is like that freighter folks are suffering from a form of sleep deprivation or lack of REM sleep.  The magnetic forces on the island could be messing with sleep patterns, or Jacob could be reaching out and messing with the crew one by one.

Or, if you saw ABC’s Missing Piece about Walt, it is possible that Walt is driving the crew mad as well.

Captain - Not much to say here.  I want to know who not to trust.  Is Ben and Widmore a case of evil and eviler, or is there truly a bad guy / good guy situation here.  Unfortunately, I think this is a mystery saved for the last season.

I do find the captain’s honesty unnerving. It is my experience that the people who can’t be trusted try to tell the truth as much as possible, they just leave out the important parts.  It would seem to me that is what the captain is doing.  The Captain never said Ben staged the crash, he just said ”imagine the resources.“  He also said that Widmore was spending a great amount of resources on the expedition.

I am not taking the bait that Ben staged the crash.  That bit was too clunky and obvious.

Oceanic 6 -  There is a heated debate going on regarding the Ocianic 6, and whether Ben or Aaron is the 6th.

We know Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and Sun count in the 6.  Jin doesn’t count, because he dies (most likely on the island - according to his gravestone and next week’s trailer). Technically, Aaron was not on the manifest. Ben could have easily ”become“ someone who was listed by not well known.

Personally, I think there is still something big to be revealed in the coffin.  I think Michael is the 6th, and Michael is dead and in the coffin.

Michael - I was right about him being the spy, but I do not know how or why. Whatever Ben has tying Michael down is huge.

I am more sympathetic to Michael then I ought to be, but I happen to think I would understand him if he were real.

Any thoughts on my thoughts?  What did you notice or think about this last episode?


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. “Ji Yeon” Episode Controversy - Who are the Oceanic 6? : Lost on March 17, 2008 8:15 am

    [...] I stated in my episode review, I liked episode 4.07, “Ji Yeon,” and it is currently rated highly by you on this blog. [...]

  2. Who Dies on Lost This Week? : Lost on March 19, 2008 1:20 pm

    [...] dies because of the gravestone in “Ji Yeon.” At the end of last week’s episode, Sun and Hurley visit Jin’s grave. The death date is [...]

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