Day after "Lost" ramblings

I love "Lost" You love "Lost." Let's dive right into the weekly tradition of paying too much attention to things like giant stuffed panda bears and names of former Phoenix Suns point guards.

"Look to the phones!" That was my wife's advice upon realizing early on that Jin was indeed involved in a flashback, not a flashforward, which meant he wouldn't be around for Sun's post-island delivery. I have to admit, I didn't mind the dual flash manipulation, and actually think it's a clever storytelling device (as long as it's not abused). "Lost" fans should have picked up on the little things, much like the constant clue dropping leading to baby Aaron's reveal in "Eggtown." I knew something fishy was up, but not to the extent that Jin would be dead ... or at least "island dead" ... or well ... the dude has a tombstone.

Anyway, seeing as how Jin had an outdated phone, the Year of the Dragon was 2000, and he threatened to kill the man who stole his panda and cab, it should have been fairly obvious that we were looking at Korean underground strongman Jin, not cheerful, soon-to-be-daddy, slowly mastering English Jin. Also, the phone clue dates back to Jack's flashforward at the end of Season Three in which he held a Motorola RAZR (something else my phone-loving wife noticed). I, of course, was focused on his listening to Nirvana's "Scentless Apprentice" as he drove to the Hofs Drawlar funeral home and was convinced it was 1993, so you can tell how my mind chooses to wander ...

Back to the episode: "Lost" has done an incredible job of building the chemistry between Daniel Dae-Kim and Yunjin Kim (no relation), which extends into the happy-unhappy-turned-happy-turned-unhappy-turned-happy marriage of Jin and Sun. I enjoyed the storyline's dramatic, heartfelt pacing, and more importantly, there's built-in sympathy for both characters. Also, Jin learning he was the father had the perfect amount of sentimentality, and even the Bernard boat scene didn't feel too heavy-handed, with Jin coming to realize that "My Name Is Earl" karma is very, very real. The dirty deeds from his past had caught up with him in the form of Sun's infidelity and well, he chose to swallow his pride.

What transpires from the island tent to Sun's hospital bed is anybody's guess, but the BIG question seems to be, "Is Jin really dead?" Sun's mourning seemed to be part of real grieving, not fake "we're all telling a grand Oceanic Six lie and you're on the island" emotion. Can we bank it that the Oceanic Six plus Two (according to Jack's "truthful" testimony at Kate's trial) are Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Aaron PLUS dead Jin and Claire? What happens to the latter pair? Well, I keep going back to Ben's ominous "think with your heart" statement to Sayid -- as does "Lost" commenter Andy Behrendt -- when he's pulling the bullet from his shoulder in "The Economist," but I'm not going to theorize too much because I'll look even more foolish. But overly dramatic voice-over guy told me SOMEONE DIES NEXT WEEK and I've thought since Kate took over as Aaron's mommy that Claire would bite the big one. Maybe not this soon, though.

So what else did we learn?

* Um, so there's that Kevin Johnson guy mopping up blood stains on the boat. What an awesome scene between Michael, er, Kevin, and Sayid. Our favorite island backstabber seemed to be giving him a look of "Don't blow my cover, dude" the whole time. Next week, we'll see some real fireworks, with Sayid apparently throwing Michael against a wall and Ben saying something like, "Some people will do anything for their son." We've long known that Walt was a more important piece to the puzzle than Michael, further proven by Giant Walt appearing to Locke in the skeleton hole. But hey, Michael took the deal to get off the island, sold out his fellow castaways, and now he's working for Big Ben. Again, it would have been nice if we didn't know Harold Perrineau was actually coming back to the show this season. But no one really thought Michael left the island to pull an Andy Dufresne from "Shawshank Redemption," either. His post-"follow these coordinates and don't come back" history is going to be juicy.

*According to Jin's tombstone, he died on Oceanic crash day, Sept. 22, 2004. Was it a tombstone already in place because of the crash wreckage being found? Again, do you, dear "Lost" fan, believe Jin is actually dead?

* Bouncing off that statement, it would appear Jin's redemptive arc is complete. Same goes for Claire, which is why they're prime candidates to die. Like Charlie before him, Jin realizes that his past mistakes have made him the repentant, good-natured, selfless man he is today. Claire didn't want to be a mother, but has since become a nurturing one. As much as I'd hate to see both of them go -- unlike Shannon, Ana Lucia or Nikki and Paolo -- if "Lost" wants to avoid having every other episode be without Ben, Locke, Sawyer and the like, they'll start trimming the fat.

* I have to re-watch the opening scene with Regina and the upside down book, but did she toss herself off the boat because of Naomi's death? Remember the bracelet inscription of R.G.?

* The large bloodstain on the wall seems to echo (not Eko) Radzinski, per Kelvin, blowing his brains out in the original Desmond hatch. Man, they really need cable TV to pass the time. Or at least a Wii.

* Juliet revealing Sun had an affair was a HARSH move. Not as harsh as that slap sounded, though. Ooooooh, catfight!

* Should we read anything into Hurley being glad no one else was showing up to see Sun's baby? In the moment, it struck me as ... odd.

* And finally, the surprisingly forthright Captain Gault tells a floored Sayid about the Oceanic crash wreckage being staged and the bottomless means to get this done. “Can you imagine what kind of resources and manpower go into pulling off a feat of that magnitude? Faking the recovery of a plane crash. Putting 324 families through a grieving process based on a lie. Where exactly does one come across 324 dead bodies?”

If Ben planned to have the Oceanic survivors land all along, well, that potentially changes the whole playbook in terms of his "goodness" (read below post.) Unless he's a time traveler, as well, and knew it HAD to happen to save the island, or just his hide. Regardless, Chaz Widmore clearly believes Ben has all the answers and is the puppet master extraordinaire. But remember, Sayid and Des aren't supposed to "trust the Captain."

Well, that's all I got. I'm off to empty my bucket of bloody mop water.

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com