I totally got that Jin's story was a flashback. The ending wasn't so much of a twist for me as it was a very emotionally charged send off for the episode.

I really enjoyed "Ji Yeon" couldn't disagree with you more.

That said, more power to you and keep up the well thought out - if very wrong, in my opinion - editorials.

Jin is still alive.

I'm not saying this because I'm going through the denial stage of remorse, but because despite the episode's trickery with the flash-backs/forwards there are deliberate clues to suggest Jin is still alive, specifically the date on the tombstone and the careful scripting of Sun's words to Jin. And anyone that says "but why would Sun go to Jin's "fake" gravestone and cry?" should remember that Sun would have no way of communicating to Jin if he was still on the island, and can't even tell anyone that he's still alive (because of the apparent cover-up), so going to his grave would be a logical emotional focal-point for her.
Jin's still alive, trust me. I just wish I could say the same for Hicks and Newt.

You are totally wrong! I just had to say. This episode was great!

Ji Yeon was an amazing episode in my opinion. The flashbacks served really well in contrasting the Island Jin and pre-Island Jin. That backstory was necessary in terms of fully explaining him forgiving Sun for cheating on him. Although I loved reading your article and found it interesting, I too couldn't disagree more :D

I was waiting to say something like this. I totally agree: the flashback had no purpose other than being a red herring, therefore BAD. :)

I have to agree: I don't think Jin is dead.

Because of the elaborate cover up involving the fake plane, every passenger would have a burial. Therefore there's no proof that he is in fact dead. The ONLY thing that would lead me to believe he is in fact dead is when Hurley says 'should we go see him?'

That being said, it is customary that husband and wife and buried together therefore her D.O.D would say the day of the crash too but it does not which leads me to believe that they told the outside world that he died on the day of the crash, which still leaves the question as to whether he is actually dead or not.

wow, and here i thought this episode was great. it took me a while for me to get it all right in my mind. but i thought it was touching. lost is two things. a story about the island and all the sci fi that goes with it. and second a really good drama about characters with lots of well written characterizations. lets face it, there is more emotional ties with the characters of lost (who may have had a total of 4 episodes written about them) then with the characters of friends. and this episode is one of those emotional character episodes.

Why do people think the Jin flashback is a red herring? Is it possible that when Jin said he was bringing a gift for the baby from Mr. Paik, that maybe it was a cover story? What if Jin was actually the father of the baby boy that was born? He seemed to want to catch a peek at the mother & child but could not. Maybe he forgave Sun for her affair because he has his own secret affair he's covering.

I can't agree that Jin's flashback was pointless. I have a feeling that they were reminding us of the power, wealth and ways of Mr. Paik. I think he is going to play a major rule in future episodes and is inherently important to the story line.

You have some really good points about red herrings.
However, IMHO, the only thing that we should be concerned with is whether or not they will reveal the red herrings by the end of the episode.

Even the red herring reveals an aspect of Jin's life -> the lengths he was willing to go to impress his boss, Mr. Paik, before he started to do dirty work. I mean, really, what did Jin do for his boss? People don't know much, all what was known was beating people up. He had to represent Mr. Paik's company by giving a great gift to a government official. Giving a gift for the Ambassador's grandson showed he was trying to make great lengths to make a connection between an official and Mr. Paik.

Anyone who fails to see the character-driven purpose of the split flash forward/flash back needs to get out of their parents' basement once in a while. This was Jin's story. The flash back showed the man that he was and the flash forward showed the lasting effects of the man which he became. Not every episode needs to be full of time travel and quantum physics to be valuable. Sometimes, watching a character's arc develop in a story about PEOPLE is more rewarding than all the smoke monster attacks in the world.

This was among the finest episodes this season.

bullshit! this was an awesome episode, please dont bore us with those bullshits you wrote!

I have to add my voice to the others disagreeing with you. I was fooled, but I loved the episode, and it is probably my new favorite of the season. The moments of cognitive dissonance when Jin was delivering the panda were absolutely wild. Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching to see the clues the writers dropped, but I wasn't quite alert enough to catch.
I hope anyone from the production who might see this ill-considered article of yours takes the time to read the comments. I believe you're in the minority in your opinion.

I'm sorry to disagree with you, but I don't believe that Jin's flashback served no purpose. The entire setup of the episode's flashes, as you say, was to have us believe that we would see Sun's baby born, and Jin being the good husband and father that he has become over the course of the show.

You are right that we were led to believe that this would be an uplifting episode, but I don't accept that the entire point of Jin's flashback was to "fool" the audience. By having us expect to see Jin arriving at the hospital at the end, it underlined the way in which we now see the character, in almost exclusively positive terms. When it was then revealed that he was on a job for Mr. Paik, suddenly realising that this was old, pre-island Jin forced us to think about how much the character had grown, and how different the character on-screen at that time was to the character we were expecting to see arriving at Sun's bedside.

That whole setup then paid off when Sun and Hurley went to the graveyard and we realise that Jin is dead. The character was once a cold-blooded henchman for a crime boss, but grew into a loving, caring man who would no doubt have been a good father. We are shown how far he has come, and then have to deal with the shock of his life being over.

In my opinion, "Ji Yeon" was one of the better episodes of Season 4, and far from saying "why [it] must not happen again" (something you completely failed to do, by the way), I hope to see more storytelling of this quality on the show. If Jin does indeed turn out to be dead, I think it was a fitting episode for the end of his story to be told.

I agree with this article. The flashback served no purpose for the story or the character, but served to intentionally misdirect the audience toward a "hollow twist". Well written.

I have been hearing this same debate amongst my weekly Lost group. We have around 10 people who gather for the show and we are evenly split between thinking this episode was great and thinking it was a cheap trick.

Of all the arguments I have heard against this episode I think Giovanni's is by far the most eloquent. I understand why he feels that way and I agree that it is, to an extent, a cheap trick. I also appreciate the polite, thoughtful tone of the critique. If all you have to say is that something is bullshit, why waste the page space?

Even though I agree that the story dynamics play a bit of dirty pool, I strongly disagree about the emotional resonance. I did not think the twist was hollow at all...I thought it made everything more tragic. I thought the intent of the writers with this flashback was to show us Jin's level of devotion. If he was willing to try that hard just to please Mr. Paik...imagine how hard he would have tried for Sun. The flashbacks weren't just about tricking us, they were showing us exactly what Sun was missing.

Jin is one of my favorite characters...but somehow I always knew that he and Sun would never be happy together. I don't want him to be dead...but it was such a punch to the gut that I would feel cheated if they go back on it. I agree that room was left for him to still be alive, but I doubt it. I'm pretty sure he will sacrifice himself in some way that will help Sun get off the Island. I'm sure the date on the tombstone is just another part of the lie they told the world.

What I am in awe of is how the writers have reversed my expectations. I thought I would spend the rest of the show worrying over whether or not Sun would have the baby safely...now I will worry over when and how Jin will die.

I have to agree that I felt a little cheated by this episode. Which isn't to say I hated it - I enjoyed quite a lot of it, including Juliet's reveal of Sun's affair (because she cares!), the fishing trip with Bernard (so that's why they didn't go with Locke), and of course the tense introduction of Kevin Johnson.

But whether you liked this episode or not, you have to agree: this must never happen again. I can take a trick like this once, and I respect the inherent cleverness of it, but if this were to happen more frequently the show could become unwatchable.

(What's left me thinking: What's up with that black box? When I saw the preview clip I thought for sure we were getting a reveal that the sunken plane was a hoax perpetrated by Widmore. In the episode, though, we see that the captain blames Ben. So it's still up in the air whether the plane is real or fake.)

what r u smoking ji yeon was great best sun/jin episode ever

A+ submission.

The beauty of Lost is they have crammed informative scenes into almost every show to further the mystery of the show. This episode as pointed out, had lots of throw away Jin scenes with the sole intent of shocking us. If you take out the Jin scenes the episode would not lose anything therefore they weren't necessary. The writers have been able to make all the scenes count while leaving us shocked in the past, hopefully they got lazy on this episode and won't do another whole episode set-up for a cheap pay off at the end again. They set the standard, forgive me for holding them to the excellence I know they are capable of writing. That being said, whether the writers intend for Paik's foray into Chinese markets to be part of the show or not, they now are forced to make him relevant to the end of the Lost saga just to justify that cheap Jin flashbacks otherwise they will remain a throw away.

You people are nuts this episode is the 2nd best of the season so far and probably in the top 15 episodes so far. They gave 3 clues that Jin's scenes were flashbacks if you missed it that's your problem for not being observant enough. It was great story telling sometimes I wonder why most of you watch the show.

Here's my question - anyone know Morris Code? What's the tapping going on with the pipes on the ship - gotta be a message.

JIN MIGHT DIE SUMTIME AFYER ''JI YEON'' SO THERE FOR THE PEOPLE WOULD PUT THE DATE THEY CRASHED ON HIS HEADSTONE????(still a cover-up) but thats just my thories if he is dead

but i do and hope that jin is still alviw PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jenny,

PLEASE do not put spoilers in a non-spoiler thread. "Poor Sayid"? What's the matter with you?

I agree about the Morse code thing, can anyone figure out if there was morse code hidden within the pipe clanking? Or was it being clanked because they are rebuilding the engines???

.nick

if anyone want to find out the morse code then check out youtube under the name of lost season 4 episode 7 secrets and recaps it might not be on youtube yet but there is a guy called sean olesuik who posts secrets and recaps of the previous episode in this case it would be ji yuen ( bad spelling ) but as i said keep checking it it might be on youtube between monday and wednesday he might not mention the morse code theory but he certainly touches up on the things we might have missed. also the theory that jin is alive and sun is covering up jins death because hes still alive on the island dpoes sound really good and the fact that michael appeared again wasnt so good, i mean yeah it was good to see him but it was a little too predictable for LOST

man its so infuriating when people put spoilers in these comment sections. Don't people understand that some people want to be surprised about plot details regarding future episodes!!!!!!!! why are you spoiling it for the rest of us

How did this article make the "Your Voice" cut, is it because there were not grammatical errors? Because god knows (as does jacob) that this article is Crap and written by a casual fan that wants all the answers right now because they don't like following a story-line! I usually like the "Your voice" section because it usually deals with Theories not criticism, If I wanted that, I would read ALL THE OTHER CASUAL FAN POSTINGS ON ABC.COM!!!!

Thankfully, I am not the only person who thinks this article is a totally off-based and an obvious CASUAL FAN article!! IF you were a TRUE lost fan and watched the show form the start, you would have seen that, the flash-back of JIN was essential to the story line of how much he has changed and how Pre-island JIN would not have been so forgiving in dealing with a cheating wife.....but then again your writing an article on a blog site and referring to Aliens when talking about LOST!! Do us all a favor, wait until the show is over.....only watch the last episode then comment on the Series as a whole, as if you knew what you were talking about!!!

And to indulge some real fans that actually watch and enjoy the show and realize there is more going than trying to compare LOST WITH ALIENS!!! I too, believe Jin is still alive. The date on the tomb stone all but confirms this since his death date is the same date the plane crashed....and since we have been watching LOST all along and not ALIENS....we know that Jin did not die in the plane crash, Thus a conspiracy is introduced, as it was in Kate's trial (assuming you watch the show and saw that episode!) Jack mentions while on trial, that 8 survived the crash and only 6 make it back, but this is a lie, for whatever reason, Sun had to get off the island and Leave Jin behind and his death is the only way to get the public to believe there are not survivors somewhere.....Im not sure how this all works, but it is definitely a Conspiracy...probably put into motion by Ben!

WOW....imagine that, a scene introduced in one episode that is not resolved RIGHT AWAY and actually requires you to tune in to the next episode to find out what Happened .....Genius! Its as if they are telling a Story in one hour segments as opposed to saying....this is what happens to everyone RIGHT NOW!

Man, this is the stupidiest post ever.... "I felt cheated by the writers!" ???????? What the f***, what are you, dating them, married?? "Hollow twist" is what you have for brains, and please GOD never post anything so lame again.
Now I don't care much for Alien, because I've always though it was a stupid "ladder death" horror-scifi movie (ladder death are those movies that pick off one by one of the 10 people in the movie and go killing them by order of importance from least to most, leaving the good guy and the hot girl to make out int end, alhtough the end part may vary a little..., getting back to my point). but Ji Yeon's flashback's purpose is just that, to leave you stupified until the last moments. He's not cheating your mental power defying if you could work out the joke or just be blown away by it, and you're the most pathetic little person I have seen if you did feel cheated that they put up some off-throwing elements in the episode. LOST or any other TV series is about the movie, and how the story and the story-telling will make you feel when you finish watching, not about you and your "feelings" of how you felt stupid by not getting the jist before the end. Guess what, flash forward for you: wanna watch a series and not know everything before the end? Don't watch LOST!

I completely disagree with your post, and completely agree with the likes of Dave B who point out the relevance of telling JIn's story this way. The writers chose that scene with Jin because the whole episode was designed to demonstrate to the audience that Jin really HAS genuinely made a change for the better -- he's been transformed and "reborn" on the island. So, in a way, Ji Yeon wasn't the only birth of the episode. Jin facing Sun's terrible lie and then FORGIVING her was the moment JIn was reborn on the island. I think I'd mark that moment as one of the greatest achievements of the entire Lost series -- showing the story of a character's rebirth is not easy, and I think Lost writers achieved something truly great here.
In this episode's flashbacks, we are seeing the "old ways" of Jin -- it's the only way Jin's moment of redemption through forgiveness could have worked as a story -- we had to see the old ways and realize that he's had many false rebirths (moments off and on island when he felt bad about what he did, maybe, and felt true remorse and guilt and love) but the only true eternally transforming one was when he is faced with the opportunity to forgive Sun and takes that opportunity. From then on, JIn is eternally transformed and reborn. So, forgiveness = redemption.
I just fell in love with this episode even more.
ALSO I agree with those commentators who point out that this moment of Paik's affiliation with the Chinese ambassador may very well become a plot point in Paik's rise to power and search for the island -- who knows? We shouldn't dismiss the flashback as merely manipulation at all.
That said, even if those ten minutes aren't important to the larger lost story, they were VITAL to understanding that Jin NEEDED to have the opportunity to forgive Sun's infidelity in order for him to be redeemed, reborn -- in order for him to understand love -- the moment when he forgives Sun is Jin's true moment of transendance. We couldn't have gotten that without the flash back of Jin's temper and old ways.

My hat's off to Giovanni for a well-articulated submission. The guy has a right to his opinion and interpretation of this chapter (episode if you like) of the Lost epic novel. I am an avid Lost junkie :-) and, so far, Darlton has not let me down with a chapter that I don't like (I even liked "Stranger in a Strange Land" - although it is one of my least favorite stories). So cut Giovanni a little slack. The critique was not a bash of Lost in general (like what I would expect from casual viewers tuning in from time to time), but rather a statement about a writing technique that the writers wanted to try out.

Having said that... sorry Giovanni, I'm in the camp that disagrees with your assessment. The thing I loved most about the story telling technique used in Ji Yeon reminded me of one of my all-time favorite TV shows: The Twilight Zone. The producers and writers have constantly given out a wink-and-a-nod to the pop culture and literary influences that shaped who they are today. And they seem to do this openly without any perceivable pretense that they are selling Lost as a totally original idea never before seen (IMHO by definition there really aren't many original ideas left, thematically, for story telling, song writing, etc.)

I will agree with your statement that I hope the writers don't use this technique too often, or as a perceived "crutch" just to fill in the blanks with fluff. The use the Flashback and Flashforward was, to me, a brilliant way of telling the story.

I'm also a big fan of the chapter "Expose" - despite that story did not pertain to the overall mythology canon of Lost, it was still a well written chapter on several levels. On one level it was a tip of the cap to the viewing audience that we the fans were not pleased with the introduction of Nikki and Paulo (God rest their souls). On another level it further reinforced the heart of Jack's speech in "Live Together, Die Alone". Ironically, Jin and Sun could have followed, metaphorically speaking, in Nikki and Paulo's footsteps and isolated themselves from the rest of the survivors; maybe even receiving a similar fate?!?!?

I hope the Lost writers continue to explore different ways of telling the story while at the same time keeping us attached and interested in the myriad of characters (both the "core" and ancillary characters). I've always been a fan of TV shows that can support a large cast ensemble (ST:TNG, BSG and M*A*S*H are some of the shows that come to mind right now). That right there is the true power of what Lost means to me.

Peace all,

Z

These spoilers on none spoiler boards are getting ridiculous. Second week in a row that has happened and it feels like the admins do nothing to remove them. Guess I get to remove this site from my bookmarks too.

Jin's flashback had three purposes

1) The obvious reason to mess with the audience

2) To remind us of Mr. Paik's business dealings and how big and powerful and international he is. I have no doubt he'll become some kind of big player like Widmore

3) To show us how far Jin's character has come. He used to be somewhat abusive, always telling Sun what to do, and doing bad things for Mr. Paik. They showed him totally lose his temper in the flashback claiming he would rip someone's head off! That's the old Jin. The man he used to be...and then you see when he forgives Sun that he has chosen not to be that man anymore.

It had plenty of dramatic impact all around.

Nice work on the well-written editorial.

While I really did enjoy this episode, I do generally agree with your editorial. I also felt that Jin's flashbacks were a bit empty; used purely for the setup for the twist. I feel the episode would have been stronger if his flashbacks had setup for the twist and also been substantive.

Some have commented that Jin's flashbacks were used to contrast with the new Jin we see on island this episode. I agree that this is probably what the writers intended. However, I feel that was poorly executed. The flashbacks could have been more effective if we had seen Jin doing darker work for Mr. Paik. We would have assumed that Jin was still working for Sun's dad in the future (remember when he was told that he would never be free from Mr. Paik), but then we would have seen that this is a very different old-Jin and felt the emotional graveyard twist. Instead, we just see him stumbling around finding a panda. Only a little different from new-Jin.

Again, kudos. Also, boo spoilers.

So the date of Jin's tombstone was the day the plane crashed. Wouldn't anyone question how Sun got pregnant on the island if her husband wasn't alive?

here is the problem with the show: they think they can make everyone happy by just throwing in some wild twist at the end. The show is lacking in its great dialogue. The episodes with the fun and games of Hurley, Jin, and Sawyer were classic. The mind games between Locke and Ben were classic. Many characters like Sawyer, Locke, and Ben have barely been seen this season. The writers think they can keep people watching by throwing information at viewers and throwing in some twist. Well that apparently is not working as the show has lost 5 million viewers from the the season opener up to Ji yeon. I am a die hard lost fan but i've found this season dissappointing

3) To show us how far Jin's character has come. He used to be somewhat abusive, always telling Sun what to do, and doing bad things for Mr. Paik. They showed him totally lose his temper in the flashback claiming he would rip someone's head off! That's the old Jin. The man he used to be...and then you see when he forgives Sun that he has chosen not to be that man anymore.

It had plenty of dramatic impact all around.

Posted By Dav

ji Yeon did not remind us of the bad things Jin used to do.....unless you consider buying a stuffed animal bad

How did this article make the "Your Voice" cut, is it because there were not grammatical errors? Because god knows (as does jacob) that this article is Crap and written by a casual fan that wants all the answers right now because they don't like following a story-line! I usually like the "Your voice" section because it usually deals with Theories not criticism, If I wanted that, I would read ALL THE OTHER CASUAL FAN POSTINGS ON ABC.COM!!!!

Thankfully, I am not the only person who thinks this article is a totally off-based and an obvious CASUAL FAN article!! IF you were a TRUE lost fan and watched the show form the start, you would have seen that, the flash-back of JIN was essential to the story line of how much he has changed and how Pre-island JIN would not have been so forgiving in dealing with a cheating wife.....but then again your writing an article on a blog site and referring to Aliens when talking about LOST!! Do us all a favor, wait until the show is over.....only watch the last episode then comment on the Series as a whole, as if you knew what you were talking about!!!

Posted By jazzmsngr

It's kind of ironic that you would call him one of the fans who just wants answers. Season 4 has been great for all the people who just want answers. However season 4 has been by far the absolute worst with character development.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BY THE WAY BETWEEN ONLY WANTING ANSWERS AND WANTING THE WRITERS TO EXPLORE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SHOW. FOR EXAMPLE, THE SHOW DOES NOT HAVE TO ANSWER WHO JACOB IS OR EVERYTHING ABOUT DHARMA, HOWEVER THEY COULD AT LEAST EXPLORE THOSE ASPECTS OF THE SHOW INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THE OCEANIC 6 ALL DAMN SEASON.

The argument that Jin's scenes in this episode served a purpose to contrast how he used to be is weak at best. It was wasted time that would not have changed either the episode's content or the big picture content of all the Lost episodes. For followers of the series, his scenes were complete throw-aways in 4.7. If you have been watching this series and didn't know that Jin had to kill people and had a temper from previous episodes I feel sorry for you. Let's not forget Jin started to turn the corner on his angry ways prior to arriving on the island. Remember how he was supposed to kill Sun's lover, but decided to flee the country instead because he wanted to dedicate himself to his wife? Do we need to see 5 minutes of John Locke wheeling himself through town in a wheelchair with nothing substantive happening just so we can be reminded he used to be paralyzed?

I think your article presents a very thorough description of what I'm sure some could see as a mis-step. I disagree however and found that while watching the episode I saw a final guiding through the good side, the comedic chops of Daniel Dae Kim's Jin. While I agree that the action, in the end, was self serving to get himself ahead in Mr. Paik's company, Jin searching for the panda, having cell phone troubles, getting his cab stolen, pointing out the other Panda behind the counter angrily and finally getting the job done was just plain funny. While I agree it was "cheapened" by the gift not being for Sun, if you take the scenes for what they were, it was a nice send off to Jin's will to finish what he starts. And a foreshadowing to the flashforward which shows that even though Jin died trying, he got Sun off that island. He finished what he started when he sailed on that raft 3 seasons ago. Rescue happened. And that's why this episode, though sad, was not as hopeless as Alien 3.

I can't believe that so many people are complaining about the episode because it had both flashbacks and flashforwards. I mean come on. Did any of you really not expect that to happen at one point or another? It was blatantly obvious from the second we saw our first flashforward that this type of episode was coming. If you didn't realize it, then you've never even seen an episode of Lost. This episode was not a let down. It was in fact the best Jin/Sun episode yet. If you feel bad because you got tricked, well, boo-hoo. At least it wasn't a "dream season on dallas" type of thing. Now that would be something to complain about.

What spoilers are you people crying about?

Well Tom Forbes, if you do actually work on lost, then you're kinda in a breach of contract by sayin that hu? potentially open to legal problems if they find who you really are hu?

for every fucktard who thinks it's cool to spoil the story, then you can eat shit and die.

Finally a constructive article on Lost not just another piece of pandering fluff from an obsessed fan. Very well done.

Hi all, Im the UK's biggest biggest lost fan! I watched the last episode last night and I thought it was one of the best ones of the season so far, in particular the ending and the mystery as to whether one of my favourite charecters (Jin) is going to die?

BUT, can someone please clarify for me - is there now a mid season break or is the show going to continously run through (or stop at some point then continue)???

Cheers

Truely, it was the most terrible episode from the season if you ask me... However, this is still my favorite show.

Wow! Every Lost fan I've talked to absolutely loved that episode. It was another in a long line of great Jin and Sun episodes. Those ones have always been different, telling about their often tragic love story. I think it would be great to just watch the Jin and Sun stories sometime in a mini marathon.

And yes, Jin is obviously still alive.

The purpose of the FB was to mislead us, yes, but it was also to show the man the Jin used to be. When Jin said that he forgave Sun, he said he understood that she cheated on him because of the man he used to be. So it showed a contrast leading up to the moment of birth when she called out for him to show she truly loved him. So it's not merely a cheap attempt at mis-direction.

I totally agree, I am glad to see someone else say it. I immediately said to my wife after the show, "That was blatant manipulation, and its beneath them." I am worried that the writers feel that there must be a big 'reveal' at the end of each episode, and are reverting to such manipulations to make the last five minutes more shocking. I do not want this show to turn into a daytime soap opera, with each episode having to be more dramatic than the last. They are usually more subtle - look at the genius of the vw van episode with Hurley. At the time, it just seemed like a break in the action, a harmless, goofy episode. Later, the van pops up again with hurley saving the day. We find it also is a part of Ben's betrayal of the Dharma's, and it was his father's corpse in the van all along. That was subtle, brilliant writing. Ji Yeon was like being hit in the head with a hammer, saying "Look! Feel shocked! We messed with your head! See!" Let's hope it was an abberation.

G-

Just have to agree with some of the supportive posters here (TheZman, for example)who appreciate what you have written even though we disagree. It is far too easy to just call "BS" on this episode if you don't like it. In fact, if you look on message boards across "the internets," you will find just that sort of thing. What you don't find is an articulate view (with references, no less) of WHY the episode didn't resonate with a particular individual. For that, I salute you.

For those who are screaming about this post, I encourage you to take a gander at the "AVClub" messageboard for this episode (an excellent example) - everyone is debating this topic! TTS is encouraging the discussion, and that can only be good for LOST and its fans.

One last thing - I think you are wrong Giovanni. As someone who doesn't own the series on DVD, the flashback had immense value to me. As Jin was deciding what to do about Sun's infidelity, he was thinking about the kind of person he had been pre-island. I needed those flashbacks as a reminder (it's been 3 years!). When he came to the decision to stay with Sun, the flashbacks helped me understand why - he was a different person then.

So far - everyone i've spoken to about this episode who DIDN'T get it have told me they've hated it, while smart people who understood what was going on thought it was cleverly written and great.

so what if it was misleading. i guess some people hate to feel stupid?
i couldn't picture a better way to depict how emotional and heart-breaking it was for Sun to lose Jin, or even for Jin to never be able to see his child.

also - about that comment before:
"blatent manipulation"?
the writers have been manipulating all of us since the very beginning. if you're tired of it stop whining, and watch gay's anatomy

I must disagree. This was probably the second best episode of the season, right behind The Constant. The only let down this season was "The Other Woman."

I disagree. The flashback was NOT pointless. The Jin flashback was there to remind everyone the type of man Jin was before the crash. The type of man who would go to crazy lengths to perform even the most miniscule tasks for his boss, Mr. Paik. This underscored how much of a change he went through on the island, and in the final moments, you discover that his transformation will ultimately end in his death.

It was a great twist for a show that pulls no punches. It sounds to me that Giovanni felt duped (and is perhaps a bit bitter) about the twist, but if you were paying attention you knew something wasn't right the whole time. Be it the phone calls coming before Sun asks for him to be called, or his insistence on getting a bear rather than being with his wife while she delivers... There were alot of clues that suggest that something more was happening, and I thought it was great. Manipulative, sure, but that's what writing is.

I love that Lost has the guts to kill off a main character.

And he IS dead, people. Or at least he's going to die. Time to accept it and begin the healing process.

One the biggest thing people are missing is the fact that writers want the audience to first-hand feel the effects of time-travel, the likes of which Desmond and Minkowski were feeling. The idea is that the mind (in the case of this episode's its the audience) is jumping from one time to another without being able to tell when is when.

I believe the writers were able to deliver that impact completely in a very well written and a layered episode, which on the surface may look like a cheap trick but when seen in the context of story and characters of the show is just about perfect. Many of the above posters have pointed out other below the surface meanings of Jin's flashback.

I wish people would reserve their assessments till they are better able to comprehend the layering employed in the episodes.

Thanks

im gonna be honest and your all gonna disagree with me
but i like the slower episodes of lost, they remind me im not watching something similar to an adaptation of an idea submitted by 8 year where every paragraph starts with the word "suddenly".
fuck you all, watch something else you arrogant cunts
if you post another angry message i will rape your children

Wow, angry, you added so much and really elevated the conversation - thanks! Where can I subscribe to your newsletter?

To all of you idiots who feel angry or cheated by the Jin flashback misdirection: I feel bad for you nerds. I watched with my wife who I usually have to coach or clue through each episode( remind her of past relevant events, make connections for her, etc. ). just before the episode was coming to the reveal, she looks at me and says "Jin's is a flahback". For once she got the drop on me. I was completely fooled. I looked at her and said simply "and THAT is why I love this show".

So F*** off you bitter basement dwellers. The proof is in the fact that it has evoked such emotion, one way or another out of everyone who saw it, or any episode of this show. It's just a t.v. show. But look at the power it has over you, all of us. That is the magic. You take it personally.

By the way, try to get outside once in awhile. You could probably use it. Oh, and try to converse with some humans.

Hmmn...although i personally thought this episode was very moving, i have to agree with the points you've made. it was trickery for the sake of shock and awe rather than real story progression, which was what we should really be expecting at this point in the story, especialy as there are now a finite amount of episodes left to reveal the true story and as such we should be in "answer mode"- clearing up what has already been revealed rather than adding more-dare i say it, minor mysteries to the story. of couse, we should really be at a point where we are trusting the admittedly excellent, but forever changing rota of writers but it has already been said that not everything will be explained so lets have the meat and potatoes expained properly -before anything else-PLEASE!! i feel sufficienly worried about this to suggest that we start a petition to the fuselage( the lost writers website) to demand a list of things which HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED BEFORE THE SEASON ENDS!! who is with me?

Wow... You have just written what i've been saying to everyone for the past week. I'm absolutely obsessed with LOST! i think it's one of the most well written shows ever. But i really thought the flashback of jin was just a slap to the face to everyone. i honestly felt betrayed and hope that this is only temporary and part of the writers' plan... i was very relieved to read this post. Well done.

wow... sad to see so many lost fans saying how much they don't like an episode, to be honest I've yet to see a bad episode, I've seen less entertaining episodes, episodes like Stranger in a Strange Land weren't in my top 10 but it was still an overall good episode (in my opinion), lets just enjoy the show while it's here and be happy were not in a 8 month hiatus...

Thank you E-Z-E, Z, and a few others of you who have been mature and respectful even though you've disagree with me. It was for you whom I wrote this article--I knew it would garner mixed reactions, but reading your responses has been thought-provoking and interesting.

For a lesson to a handful of others out there as far as how to engage in constructive, stimulating discussion, ad hominem attacks (i.e. the net-favorite "basement dweller" line) don't serve to elevate the discourse whatsoever. If ever one should find themselves becoming emotionally disquieted enough because of another's opinion on the matter of the writing techniques of a television series as to sling the term "basement dweller", I recommend one takes a good look in the mirror first.

Peace out/see you soon,

Giovanni

Who's disquieted by an opinion now?

My thoughts exactly Don, couldn't agree more. Actually the writers of Ji-Yeon (Kitsis and Howard) have written some of the weakest LOST episodes ever (in my humble opinion). Besides "Every Man for Himself" all the episodes they wrote have been only decent at best, and kind of sub-par for the rest of the LOST series. (you can see the full list of their episodes on Lostpedia)

There were so many hints in this episode that the stuff that we saw with Jin buying the Panda, that you would have to be an absolute moron not to realise it was a flashback. Firstly, the man shop makes reference to it being the Year of The Dragon, something that not everything would have picked up on, but if you did, then the giveaway was right there. Jin screaming at the man who stole his cab and threatening to rip his head off, something that a post-island Jin probably wouldn't do. The purpose of doing this wasn't simply to mess with the audience, I mean hell, the writers do that every episode, that's what makes it such an addictive yet brilliant show. This was a Jin episode and it's purpose was to illustrate the difference between his character before and after the crash, to see how far he has come as a human being, while at the same time still keeping the mystery of his character alive. Remember, the date on the tombstome was the date of the crash, so he may not be dead. We don't know this, because the show has not finished. Giovanni, or whatever yer name is, you really should think about these things more deeply and not jump to conclusions.

I also don't believe that Jin is dead. My theory may be naive, but it makes sense to me. Remember the episode when he and Sun were in the airport and he spilled something on his tie? He went into the restroom to clean up and encountered one of the "overlords" of his company. The man said in a nutshell that he knew who Jin was and would always be able to find him. I think he stayed on the island to protect Sun and the baby as well as to keep himself alive. The tombstone was just a memorial.