Throughout this season of Lost, we’ve seen the flash-sideways lives of several characters and, even though they differ from the first stories we were told, they still make sense. No, Sawyer isn’t a con man, but he still had a painful childhood marred by death and abandonment. Kate’s still a wanted woman, and a scared and pregnant Claire tries to decide what to do with her unborn child.
But Sun and Jin are a different story. In this version of their lives, Sun doesn’t speak English, she and Jin aren’t married (although they’re lovers) and she’s pregnant (but wasn’t Jin infertile?). Nothing adds up.
Meanwhile on the island, it looks like war is on the horizon as Widmore and his crew kidnap Jin, who they believe has answers to their questions. And in the flash-sideways Jin is also held captive (poor guy!) in “the restaurant’s” refrigerator in L.A. In keeping with this season’s theme, familiar Dharma/”Other” faces keep cropping up. This time we’re reintroduced to the multi-lingual Mikhail Bakunin, whom we last saw at The Looking Glass station where Charlie died. But Mikhail has both his eyes. Didn’t he wear a patch over his right eye on the island? Late in the episode, Jin shoots Mikhail in—you guessed it—his right eye. Does this mean we’re in the past?
Once again, we see the Man in Black’s mind games at work—with Sun—but she doesn’t take the bait as easily as Sayid. Instead, she remains distrusting of “Locke,” even though he promises to reunite her with the thing she wants the most: Jin. As a result of her skepticism, she bumps her head on a tree in an attempt to flee from “Locke,” losing her ability to speak English. (Remember, she doesn’t speak English in the flash sideways either.) However, she can still both understand and write in English. (Jack, ever the realist, supposes she’s suffering from a temporary injury to the language area of the brain.)
Moving back to Jin on the island, he and Widmore bond over the fact that they have daughters (they’re the only characters who do, in fact). It’s obvious that both sides need all the candidates, and since no one knows which Kwan is the “right” Kwan, it’s going to be a tug-of-war for both Jin and Sun.
It’s such a relief to finally get a glimpse of Desmond (now, apparently, “The Package”) at the end—but we’re scared because Sayid saw him too.