Lost Recap: Six Ways From Sun

Last night’s episode—”The Package”—focused on Sun and Jin. It’s been assumed that since their surname appears on the candidates list, one of them is up for the job. But perhaps the married couple is a package deal.

Initially, “The Package” seemed to be one of those episodes that approaches the emotional, rather than mystical, aspects of the show. But just like the subtitles during its Korean-heavy dialogue, there’s much more to read into.

The opening scene showed Widmore’s crew spying on Mocke’s camp, through a night-vision lens.

Night vision provides the ability to see in dark environments, and technology that enables humans to do so creates a sort of negative image, wherein things that are dark look light and vice versa. So could this be a clue that perhaps Smokey, as pictured above, contains a light that isn’t visible to the human eye? Does this change the whole black vs. white game that has been going on thus far? I don’t really know. Anything is doggone possible. Speaking of dogs…The reason that humans have poor night vision—biologically—is because we lack a tapetum lucidum, which is that shiny film that can be seen in the eyes of many types of animals, including dogs. I’m beginning to think that perhaps Vincent will make a triumphant—and really important—return, having the ability to see Smokey for what he really is.

Additionally, night-vision technology allows humans to enhance our spectral range by enabling us to see non-visible sources of electromagnetic radiation. As we know, something is totally up with the Island and electromagnetism (“the incident,” the hatch, time travel, etc.). Widmore and Debbie Country are particularly interested in the different electromagnetic pockets of the Island, which are marked on one of Jin’s old Dharma maps.

Having lived in the Swan Station for three years, pushing the button every 108 minutes, Desmond also has a special relationship with electromagnetism, his exposure to which may have contributed to his gift of time flashes. This “gift” might be exactly why Widmore brought Des back to the Island.

Moving on, Sun was in a mood in the original timeline.

Which she eventually apologized for later, emoticon and all.

Mostly, she was just fed up with all of the Island bullshit, like destiny, fate, saving the world, monsters, murder, candidates, and Richard Alpert’s personal dramz. All she cared about was her purpose for this second trip to the Island—finding her husband. Like metal to an electromagnetic pocket, Sun is drawn to Jin, and nothing will stop her from trying to connect with him, because she just knows that they’re supposed to be together.

However, going on her instincts alone, Sun didn’t fall for Mocke’s speech when he approached her in her garden. He’s been approaching the Losties, one at a time—when they’re alone and feeling lonely—and tempting them (with dubious promises of whatever it is they want most) to make the choice to join him (Richard, Sawyer, Sayid, Sun, Claire, and Ben, thus far).

Richard and Ben have clearly chosen to not give in to Mocke’s temptations. So far, Sayid is the only one who definitely has. Sawyer, we know, isn’t taking anyone’s side but his own, and Claire, while initially part of Team Mocke, is beyond confused at this point.

Sun, it seems, was the first one that forces of dark and light overtly fought over. She didn’t accept when Mocke reached out to her.

But she did take Jack’s hand.

I’m thinking—with his new, unflappable faith and penchant for telling parables (more on that in a second)—that Jack, as number 23, is the prime candidate in the running for Jacob’s job.

So about Jack’s parables—the one about a patient at his hospital and more importantly, the tomato:

At first, I thought that his comment about how, “Nobody told it it was supposed to die,” was a metaphor for stubborn hope. Or maybe it foreshadows why Desmond has been brought to the Island (to tell them all that they’re supposed to die, since he loves to do that to people). But I think it has even more significance than that.

Anyone who’s ever requested ketchup in a macrobiotic restaurant knows that tomatoes are nightshades. That generic term is somewhat ironic, because the botanical term for this genus is Solanum, Latin for “sun.” The etymology has something to do with the fact that these types of flowering plants have “perceived resemblance to the sun and its rays.” (The fact that “nightshades” are seen as sun rays makes the whole night vision thing even more interesting.)

Additionally, nightshades are somewhat toxic plants—particularly to non-human mammals—but are also known for their “soothing” pharmacological properties. Basically, just like with Jacob and MIB’s white vs. black thing, tomatoes symbolize ambiguity on whether they’re good or bad.

Oh, also, the breeding and fertility of tomatoes is pretty interesting. They cannot self-pollinate, but nightshades are known for their “superior ovaries.” Just like Sun!

I thought it was pretty interesting that in the original timeline, Jin was often emasculated by Sun’s dad, and did whatever he said, at the cost of his happiness with Sun. Coincidentally (or not!) he was sterile in that timeline. In the sideways world, he doesn’t follow Mr. Paik’s laws so much, and carries on an affair with Sun. In the sideways world, he’s not emasculated, and his semen works.

It’s unclear how that gunshot will play out, though.

OK, so some more interesting tidbits on last night’s episode…It seems like Mocke needs all the candidates to leave the Island with him, as half-explained to Claire. (P.S. What do you think wig smells like?)

I guess if one of the candidates stays, then that person will automatically take Jacob’s place and make Mocke’s mission pointless.

And what’s Widmore’s deal with trying to take Mocke down a peg or two by telling him he only thinks of him as myth and a ghost story?

As Mocke said in this convo, the placement of the sonar fence (which is kind of like Smokey’s kryptonite) suggests that Widmore knows more about the nature of the beast than he’s letting on.

Most importantly about last night’s episode, though, was that I got the sense that Sun and Jin, together, are the Kwon candidate. My theory is based on the following:

Mirrors.

So far this season, we’ve seen that which ever characters an episode is based on shows how their sideways lives is sort of a mirror image of their lives in the original timeline. Things are similar, but not the same. However, last night’s episode didn’t exactly show how Jin’s sideways life reflects that of his original life, and the same with Sun. Instead we saw how the lives of Jin and Sun are a reflection of one another. For example, in the original timeline, Sun bumps her head, and temporarily can only speak Korean, losing her ability to communicate with anyone.

In the sideways timeline, Jin bumps his head…

…And then his mouth is taped shut, making him temporarily unable to communicate with anyone.

Later, Sayid pulls off his tape and frees him. And later, for Sun, Jack gives her a pen and paper, somewhat freeing her. Remember?

So even though “the package” refers to that watch for Keamy in the sideways timeline, and Desmond in the original timeline, I think overall, it refers to the Kwons—the package deal. After all, Jacob touched them together at their wedding. And his magic lighthouse mirror pointed at the building where they got married.

Weddings are supposed to symbolize the union of two people, coming together as one unit. A package deal!

My final thought is about Sun’s camera that Widmore found and gave to Jin, in order to show him his daughter as a means to convince him to save her, and the world at large.

First of all, Sun is mega-rich and Asian. Shouldn’t those two characteristics mean that she had the best and newest digital cameras available to her? Seriously, everyone in Asia gets all of the coolest A/V technology and gadgets first. That thing had shitty resolution and was way too big, even for 2007.

Secondly, I think that Jin is being played, or eventually will be. I’m not really sure of the particulars yet, but so far this season, all of the parlor games that Miles has played on each episode has been something of a clue. This week:

They were playing gin.

What could that mean? I don’t know. But what we do know from Room 23 (where Jin was held by Widmore’s people) is this: