This might be my shortest review of any episode, simply because "...And Found" is just a "meh." It's not bad, not memorable, just "meh."
The flashbacks follow the paths of Sun and Jin before Sun and Jin became Sun and Jin. Jin's a humble man from a fishing village trying to score work in the big city, Sun's being dragged to an arranged date with Jae Lee. Sun is crushed when Jae reveals an American romance, Jin gets fed up with his boss' attitude toward people from fishing villages. Jin and Sun bump into each other and the rest is history.
Oh, and on the island Sun loses her wedding ring and then finds it.
The most interesting part is on the other side of the island, where the Tailies are prodding Sawyer, Jin, and Michael to lead them to the beach camp. Michael runs off to find Walt, Eko and Jin track him down, Michael shocks everyone with some dialogue about the Others taking his son. Yes, I'm being facetious about the shock.
Decent performances by Yunjin Kim and DDK, particularly in the flashbacks. The arranged date between Yunjin and Tony Lee (Jae Lee) was probably the highlight in terms of acting. Their nervous mannerisms gradually gave way to "oh, this date's actually going well!"-type body language.
A few extra bonus points for the scene with Yunjin and Jorge, mostly because I don't know how Jorge can say "craps out a buck-thirty-five in nickels" without cracking up every single time.
Two scenes deserve a special mention in terms of directing and visuals:
1. The Others walking by Jin and Eko, who are hiding in the bushes. A perfect choice in perspective, with a nice added touch of a teddy bear bouncing behind a youngster walking by.
2. The waterfall where Jin and Eko catch up with Michael. It's a beautiful scene to behold no matter how tiresome Michael's yelling had become at that point.
Other than that it's really just a matter of Stephen Williams staying out of the way and letting the story tell itself.
This is one of the few "zero sum" episodes where, at the end of the day, neither the characters nor plot were advanced in any significant way.
Sun loses her ring but finds it. Sun goes on an arranged date but it ultimately goes nowhere (although it sets up a significant reveal for her down the road). Michael runs off to find Walt but runs into a waterfall. Jin and Eko see the Others, but it's not the Others as we'd come to know them.
Verdict: "...And Found" is skippable.
On paper this episode should've given me a pretty good emotional jolt. I like Sun, I like Jin, I like Sun and Jin. But the two moments that were supposed to be uplifting — Sun finding her ring and Jin bumping into her in flashbacks — both fell flat.
Perhaps it was because I was already disappointed in Michael's incessant meandering. It seemed to me that the Tailies' journey was already in stall mode and it'd only just begun. By the time the "payoff" scene came around I think I was already determined to move on.
