Once More Around The Sun

So only four episodes left! Tonight we got a Sun episode, and what an episode it was! We got Jin kicking a little ass with some karate, a hidden room in the Staff, and an ending that suggested even further that there's some kind of time-travel shenanigans happening on our favorite mysterious island. More importantly, though, April 24th was Damon Lindelof's 34th birthday, so this one's for him. Thanks, dude! I would never have gotten to GoogleMap Teaneck, New Jersey otherwise. Lucky me. Anyway, let's strap on our thinking caps and get a bit more Lost after the jump...

So we open with a shot of some lovely palm trees, (man, I miss palm trees) and from there we pan down to the lovely Sun, working n her garden. The creepy Lost music kicks in, and it's from that we assume that she might not be alone out there. Uh-oh. We know what went on the last time that happened. It's just Jack this time, though, and he's looking very Star Trek as he stands there in his red shirt. Hmm. He offers Sun a bit of help in her garden, and what's more, he poses a few questions to her about how her pregnancy is treating her. She's suspicious, and she calls him on it. Why all the questions, Jack? He insists he's just doing his doctorly duties, but I dunno. Hiding intent isn't really his strong suit. Could it be that he really IS researching for the Others, unbeknownst to Juliet?

Jack leaves then, and we jump right into Sun's flashback. She's in a lovely park area in Korea, and her phone rings. It's Jin. Hello, Mrs. Kwon, he says, and she girly-gushes all over him while talking about all the stuff she's gotten for their apartment. She tells him she loves him madly before hanging up, and she sits down on a bench in the park next to some other woman. This other woman is reading a newspaper, and she points to a picture in it of Sun and Jin in their wedding photo. Is this you? she asks. Yes, Sun replies. Isn't my husband teh hawt? LOL, replies the woman. He sure is. Your father is Mr. Paik of Paik Industries, isn't he? asks the woman, and Sun's about to cut a bitch. Uh, yes, he is. Anything else you'd like to know? The woman goes on to talk about how powerful her family is, and how much cash they probably have, and how much she hates Sun's shoes, and...

Sun's about to go all Colleen on this trick when the mystery woman finally drops the bomb - not only was Jin the son of a fisherman, but he was also the son of a prostitute. Whoa. She'll be back here in three days, she says, and when she does, she wants $100K in hush money so that her beloved Jin never finds out the truth about who his baby mama was. Beat her ass, Sun! She doesn't, though, and mystery woman disappears off into the park.

Back in the jungle with Des, Hurley, Jin, and Charlie, and also our newest guest, Chicken Little who fell from the sky last week. Yeah, she's lying in a big pile in the middle of the jungle, but being that she's on Lost, she's also really, really beautiful. I need to work as a casting agent for this show. Damn. Anyway, Chicken Little's recovering from her crash on the jungle floor, and everyone's asking Des who the hell she is. No idea, he says. Never seen her before. She seems to know you, dude, says Hurley. She's got your picture and she just said your name. I really don't know, says Des, and with that, she starts to wake up. She even says something, but it's in Spanish or Italian or something, and only Hurley seems to be able to understand it. She says she's dying, dude, he says. She's dying.

They try moving her, but when they do, they see that she's got a pretty bad injury - a tree branch stuck really deep in her side. Ow. Get Jack, suggests Jin, but Des says they can't - it will only get worse if we try and move her. Jack's gotta come here, then, they decide, and Des is arguing to Charlie that he'll make the 8-hour trek back to camp. You'll never make it in time, says Charlie. Look, Dead Boy, says Des, what choice do we have? No one knows we're here! With that, BAM! A flare shoots up into the sky from right beside them, and it explodes a hundred feet over their heads. I guess Hurley's found the flare gun in Chicken Little's bag then, right? Right.

Back in Sun and Jin's apartment in Korea now, and Sun's going through some old photographs in a box. Jin comes in with a box full of take-out, and I wonder what it must be like to eat take-out Asian food in an Asian country. Hmm. Anyway, being that her meeting today with Mystery Woman peaked her interest, she starts asking Jin a lot of questions about his family. Why don't you have any photographs of them? she asks. We were too poor to have a camera, he answers, and my father died when I was in the army. Wait, Jin was in the Army? Wow.

But you told me he died when you were sixteen, Jin, says Sun. No, you must've misunderstood, replies Jin. He's getting a little angry with all of Sun's grilling, and he calls her on it. What's this about? he asks. She apologizes and says it's nothing. Let's eat, she says.

We're back on the beach now, and hurray! More random futzing with tarps! It's from Sun and Kate this time, and they're in Kate's shelter. Sun starts asking about Jack and his weirdness earlier that day, and she's got a suspicion that maybe he's working with the Others, who she thinks want her baby. What is this, a Lifetime movie? Anyway, Kate denies it, and when Sun asks her if she knows something, Kate's forced to come clean about the one thing she does know about since Jack came back - Juliet. She's a fertility doctor, she explains to Sun, and the reason that the Others wanted Big Fat Aaron was for research. Sun about pops her eyes out of her head at this news, and she goes over to Juliet on the beach to give her the third degree.

Kate tries to stop her from going over and beating her ass, but Sun's determined. She rushes Juliet head-on, and yet again, we get the question that we'd all love to ask on this show - I Want Answers. Juliet, who we all know to be a lying rat, looks genuinely interested in giving them to her, and she spills it when Sun asks what happens to pregnant women on this island. They die, she says. They all die. Kate comes up and takes Sun away from Juliet before she breaks out the Meteor hammer and gets all GoGo Yubari on her ass.

Back out in the jungle now, and here's Chicken Little, flat on her back, eyes closed. She's got a tree branch stuck in her guts, so you can hardly blame her. She's saying something else now, but Jin points out that it's in Chinese and not Korean, so he's no help. Charlie suggests just pulling the branch out, but Desmond poo-poos that idea. He's about to set off on his original plan of going to get Jack when there's a rustling in the bushes. Uh-oh - who is it now? The group prepare themselves for the worst, and uh, they pretty much get it.

Is that MIKAIL that pops up out of the bushes just then? It sure is, and we know it's the same dude because he's still got all the blood and gook all over his face that he got from his tussles with Locke and crew. Um, okay. Isn't he supposed to be dead, though? I know we were promised that the zombies wouldn't show up until the seventh season, but come on!

I get the feeling that Mikail got a little more than he bargained for here, (could it be that he was responding to the flare that Hurley accidentally set off?) because he takes one look at the four guys staring back at him and takes off into the jungle. Jin's in hot pursuit of Boris Badenov, and before long, he's tackled him. The two men mix it up with each other for a while, and then BLAMMO! Jin pulls a bad-ass karate kick out of his ass and knocks Mikail cold. Awesome!

Desmond picks him up and pins him against a tree. Who are you? he asks, the flare gun pressed against Mikail's chest.  He's not talking, but it hardly matters - Charlie tells him that he's the guy that shot Sayid, and Hurley chimes in with how he had heard he'd been killed by the electro-fence thingy. Hurley also tells a story about how one time in high school, he hid a flare gun in his locker and had plans to kill himself with it when the elephant lamp he made in woodshop didn't work. Regardless, Des tells him he's got five seconds to talk before he fires a flare into his chest. Mikail scoffs at this and says he's already died once this week.

Chicken Little starts talking again right here, and this time it's Mikail who understand her. She's speaking Italian, he says, and she's saying she's dying. Mikail offers to help her, being that he was a Soviet army field medic. Wait, I thought he was a communications expert? Des pushes him over to her side, and he tells them that the branch in her side has punctured her lung. I can fix her, he says, but in exchange, you let me go. Deal? Deal, says Des. The other three standing there don't look happy about it, but given that Chicken Little is probably going to look pretty damn good in a bikini once she gets that branch-in-her-side thing sorted out, they agree.

Here's a beautiful Sun on the beach now, and she's staring out to sea. Claire's nearby with Big Fat Aaron, and it's Sun's ruminations on the fact that she may never live long enough to experience such motherly joy that sets off her flashback again. She's in some sort of fishing village or something, and she's walking down a long pier towards a boat at the end of it. There's an old man in the boat, and it's when Sun asks him if he's Mr. Kwon that we figure out who he is. It's Jin's father, and I'll bet anyone here a cookie that Jin has no idea that she's here. Naughty Sun.

You must be Sun, he says, and with that, he takes her back to his house for tea. There is a lot of Jin in this room - karate trophies, school pictures and diplomas, all sorts Easter egg-y goodness. He asks about their wedding, and Sun answers with another question - why weren't you there? What did he tell you? responds Mr. Kwon. Sun tells him that he told her he was dead, and his face falls. Why would he say that? asks Sun, and Mr. Kwon answers, To hide from the shame. Is that also why you told him his mother died when he was a baby? asks Sun. Wow. There's a lot more to Jin than we thought. Karate, the army, and now this.

His mother was with many men, says Mr. Kwon. She left him with me, so I took care of him. I'm not even sure I was the father, but who else would've been if I hadn't? he adds. Mr. Kwon pours the two of them a shot of sake to wash the conversation down with. He wipes his hand on his shirt and gently touches Sun on her chin. You are so beautiful, Sun, he says. It pleases me greatly to meet you. However, you must never tell Jin that you met me, and you must never tell him that his mother is still alive, he says. Don't make him suffer that shame. With tears in her eyes, Sun agrees.

Back on the beach now, and Sun is asleep in her tent. A shadowy figure is making its way across the beach towards her, however, and it's not long before the figure's hand is pressed across her mouth. It's Juliet. Come with me, Sun. I have the answers you're looking for, she says. But if what you told me before was true, answers Sun, I'm already dead. There still might be hope for me yet, replies Juliet. Sun stands to go with her, and they're off.

Where are we going? asks Sun as the two women make their way through the dark jungle. They each have a lit torch in their hands. There's a medical station nearby, says Juliet, and if you promise not to cry, I'll give you a lollipop when you're done. But Kate and Claire already found that place and told me there's nothing there! says Sun. Juliet just looks at her. Kate and Claire couldn't find their asses with both hands, she replies. They just didn't know where to look. Juliet tells her that there's an ultrasound machine in the station, and it should be able to tell me the exact date of your conception. If your child was conceived here on the island, says Juliet, well, it's curtains for ya. However, if you got knocked up before you got on the island, she adds, then I think Eddie is a fantastic name. Eddie or Hortense. Either or. 

Juliet pervs out just then and asks when the last time she and Jin had sex. Uh, what? asks Sun. If I know, says Juliet, then I might be able to... Isn't that what the machine will do, too? asks Sun. Yeah, replies Juliet. Then let's keep walking, you lying rat. Juliet does just that.

We're in a big building now, and Sun is walking up some equally big stairs. An enormous sign on the wall behind her says PAIK, so it's obviously her father's office building. She makes her way up the stairs, and she ends up in her father's office. Daddy Paik is here bitching out some of his peons when Sun arrives, and after many bows, she's left alone with her father. After a little hesitation, she asks her father for a favor. One hundred thousand favors, to be exact. When Mr. Paik gets up off the floor, he asks her why. Because, says Sun, all my life I've watched and known what you really do. I've pretended not to know what and who you are, and I've let you control my life and myself no matter what. I'll keep pretending like I have been if you give me the money I ask for.

I'm using the money to spare someone I care for deep shame, she adds. Because Mr. Paik is kind of a dick, he immediately thinks that it's Jin. Hey, he's right, but he's still kind of a dick. Sun says nothing to this, but her fallen face says it for her. Mr. Paik turns to his office safe behind him, (anyone catch the numbers in the combination?) and takes out a stack of bills and puts them in an envelope for her. If I find out that this money is being used on Jin's behalf, he says, then he no longer works for my company. He works for Me. Uh-oh. Guess that's how Jin got turned into Ichi the Killer.

Back out in the jungle now, and Mikail is still working on Chicken Little. Did she have anything else on her besides the flare gun? Hurley tells him about the satellite phone despite Charlie's disapproving glare. He asks Hurley if it works, but Hurley decides that he should probably shut his mouth after all. Mikail tells them to clear some space for him so he can pull the branch from Chicken Little's lung, and they do. Desmond offers to help, and just in time, too - Chicken Little's freaking out and having trouble breathing with all the blood accumulating in her lung. Mikail works quick - no sooner than he's jammed a tube in her chest, a great geyser of red goo spews up and out of it. Rad. He yanks the branch out of her chest, and covers the wound with some gauze and tape. Chicken Little is freaking OUT, just like you would be.

Despite her freaking, Chicken Little manages to speak again. No one except Mikail seems to know what she says, though, so he tells them that she said 'Thank you'. Yeah, I think not. Why? Well, first, the music got all creepy right there, second, Mikail's a shady bastard, and third, the peeps over at Lost-Forum.com translated what she said to be "I'm not alone". Um... whoa. Who was she telling this to? And who is with her? People looking for 815? Dharma? More ridiculously hot high-altitude pilots looking for a place to crash for a few days until their check goes through? Who, dammit, who?

Sun and Juliet out in the jungle again, and they've arrived at the Staff. I'm not sure why, but the Staff is the only station on the island that has ever really freaked me out. The Swan? Hell, I want to live there. The Pearl? It's got TV and a bathroom, for chrissakes. The Hydra? They should rip out Tom Sawyer's Island at Disneyland and put the whole damn thing right there when the show's over. The Staff, though? I dunno. Creepy. I think it's all those flickering lights. Anyway, the two ladies walk down into it, and Juliet hits the lights. Why are you helping me? asks Sun, and Juliet tells her it's because she used to get joy out of telling women they were pregnant. Now, not so much. She's lost nine people in the last three years simply because they were pregnant, and she's damn sick of it. I want to give some good news again, she says.

I slept with another man, says Sun. It was a mistake. We all make those, says Juliet, and something in her eyes makes me want to believe her. Yes, she's a lying rat, but to who? Could she be hornswaggling Ben this whole time?

After sharing a tender kiss to celebrate their new friendship, Juliet takes them into the locker room. OMG - the locker room! There's the locker that Kate found Tom's fake-ass beard and clothes in! Cool. Juliet has no interest in beards, though, (at least while Tom's not around, that is) and she goes to a different locker and opens it. Wait, what's she doing? Is that a big lever in the wall? OMG. This room knows not the boundaries of cool, does it? OMG.

Juliet pulls the lever down, and a big chunk of the wall behind the locker slides back. Wow - just like in the movies! The two ladies push the lockers out of the way, and then the wall leading to the secret room. I love those words - 'secret room'. Anyway, here's all the crap that was in the nursery the first time Claire visited it. All the wall decorations, the cribs, the stuffed toys, everything. It's all here. Lots of other stuff in here, too, including the ultrasound that Juliet's been pimping.

What is this place? asks Sun, but Juliet tells her not to worry about it. She's not that much of a pushover, though, and what's more, she's got our back. She wants to know, and she wants to know now. What is this place? It's where we brought all the pregnant women to die, says Juliet.

Ouch.

She'll be fine, says Mikail, back out in the jungle with Chicken Little. Keep her wounds clean, and she'll be fine in a day. A day? asks Charlie. Her lung was punctured. Injuries react differently on the island, replies Mikail. She'll be fine in a day. Good. That means we won't have to wait until next season to find out what her story is. Mikail says he's lived up to his part of the deal, so he'll be going now. Charlie object, but Des tells him they won't be able to carry Chicken Little and a prisoner at the same time. Mikail starts to walk off into the jungle, but as he's doing so, Jin notices something and takes off after him. Oh boy! I hope he uses the crane kick this time. Jin's got him again before long, and from his pocket he pulls the satellite phone.

You stole this? asks Charlie. How could you respect me if I didn't try? replies Mikail. Sneaky little borscht-eating bastard. Charlie and Mikail swing their dicks at each other for a minute, but Des says they have to let him go. Mikail slithers off.

The baby isn't Jin's, says Sun as Juliet is readying the ultrasound. He doesn't have any buckshot in his shells, if you know what I mean. Doesn't matter, says Juliet. Here on the island, the average male sperm count is 5 times what it usually is back on the mainland. See, that's irony for ya - fill an island with some of the most beautiful women anyone's ever seen anywhere, and it becomes almost an imperative for all the guys to keep it in their pants. Probably even while peeing. Anyway, Sun sits down on the ultrasound table, and Juliet spreads some cold, nasty goo on her stomach so they can get down to business. I almost feel for Juliet here, even though she's a lying rat. She's clearly enjoying her work, and it's obvious that she meant what she said about just wanting to spread some good news for a change.

I lose either way, says Sun. If I survive, then it's not Jin's. If it is Jin's, well... I think I might be able to get a role on 24 or something. Don't worry, says Juliet. I'll do whatever I can. You still want to do this? she asks. Yes, says Sun.

Back in Sun and Jin's apartment now, and Jin's just gotten home from a long day of extorting. He'd heard she'd been in the office today, but all he really wants now is the mail. Sun tells him the key's in her purse, but when he goes to get it, he gets something else. The envelope with her father's money in it, that is. When he asks her about it, she tells him she got it for furniture and an apartment. I want to pay for all that, says Jin. I know it will take longer, but I want to do it. Give the money back, Sun, he says. I'm your husband, and I will always take care of you. Aww.

Sweetness aside, that gets Sun off the hook about the money - she can now give it to Jin's useless slag of a mother and save him the shame of admitting that he's got anything to do with her. Perfect.

Sun and Juliet are enjoying their little slumber party in the Staff, though, and they share a giggly little girl moment when they see Sun's baby on the ultrasound monitor. It's very healthy, says Juliet. Now let's see if you'll be. She traces the date of conception, and it turns out that the baby was conceived about 8 weeks ago. Being that she crashed here about 3 months ago... yeah. She got pregnant on the island.

Sun breaks out into tears, but it might not be why you'd think. It's Jin's, she says with a smile, and that might just be enough for her. Fine by me.

Sun's back in the park in Korea now, en route to meet up with Jin's useless slag of a mother. I thought you wouldn't come, she says. Sun says nothing and pulls the envelope with the money in it from her purse. As she hands it to her, she asks why she didn't tell her that she was Jin's mother. I gave birth to him, she says, but it doesn't mean I'm his mother. Besides, no one likes partying with a pregnant chick, right? Ew. Sun lays the smackdown on Mamasan by telling her that she knows how powerful her family is, and if she doesn't want to wind up being as dead as Jin thinks, she'd best stay out of her way. FIERCE! Sun walks away with a sexy little swagger, leaving Two-Dollar Tina in her wake.

How long do I have? asks Sun as she and Juliet emerge from the Staff. Most of the women made it into their second trimester, says Juliet. Never their third. So about two months then, says Sun. I'm very happy that it's Jin's, adds Sun. Thank you for the good news. Juliet smiles. I need to go back inside to make sure we didn't miss anything, she adds. Do you want to wait here? Sure, says Sun. Juliet heads back into the Staff station, and Sun just stares off into space for a while.

Juliet makes her way downstairs and into the locker room again. She opens a locker, and hey! What's this? It's a tape recorder, and Juliet picks it up and begins speaking into it.

"Ben, it's six a.m. Saturday morning," she says. "Kwon is pregnant, and the child was conceived on the island with her husband. He was sterile before they got here. Also, I'm working on getting samples from the other women, and I should have Austen's soon. I'll report back when I know more. Seacrest out."

Juliet hits Stop on the recorder, but she's still got one more thing to say to it. Or, at least to the person its message is meant for, anyway.

"I hate you," she says.

Back in the jungle with Desmond and company now, and they're building a stretcher for Chicken Little. Should've killed Mikail, says Charlie. Desmond replies by telling him that they've killed more of them than they of you, but Charlie ain't having it. They started it, he says, and what's more, just because one of them comes back with Kate and Jack doesn't mean we can trust them now. Such tension between these two! I wish they'd just break down and kiss already. OMG - Chesmond!

About twenty feet away is Hurley, and he's sitting with Chicken Little so she doesn't go falling out of anything again. He's talking to Woody and Buzz on the satellite phone when Chicken Little pipes up. Where am I? she asks. You're on an island, answers Hurley. My name is Hugo Reyes, and I crashed here on Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. A bunch of us survived, and I built a golf course, and I have a car if you wanna go for a drive later, and, and...

Flight 815? asks Chicken Little. That's impossible.

What? asks Hurley. Why?

Because they found Flight 815. There were no survivors. They were all dead, she says.  

Whoo! Let's do the time warp again! I don't know what you think, but my money says this whole thing has something to do with the copy of A Wrinkle In Time that Sawyer was reading a while back. Remember that? Remember that book? Multiple realities, cross-dimensional love stories, the whole shebang. 

Next week - Locke's kidnapped Ben?! And he wants Sawyer to kill him? And Jimmy fell down the well? What else, girl? What else? 

Until then!

Namaste,

-littlebigmouth.