Well, here it is, my personal favorite Jin/Sun-centric. Just when I thought I had Kitsis & Horowitz pegged as a comedic team they deliver an absolute tear-jerker.
For perhaps the first time ever in a Jin/Sun centric the island storyline actually advances along with their storyline. Ben's "man on the freighter" is revealed as Michael (alias: Kevin Johnson), Captain Gault makes his debut, and Juliet reveals Sun's affair to Jin. This wasn't just another episode centered around a marital spat, the writers were determined to keep things humming right along.
The flash-forwards (FFs) are where things get really interesting. A very pregnant Sun feels some sharp pains and is rushed to the hospital, where she's prepped for labor. She calls out for Jin but he's somewhere on the other side of town purchasing a giant stuffed panda. His mission: get to the hospital ASAP.
After hitting a few snags Jin finally makes it to the hospital room. Hooray! He delivers the panda on behalf of Mr. Paik to a Chinese ambassador. Wait... what?
Tangent: some people don't like to be blatantly misdirected or tricked while watching a TV show. I personally love it as long it's done in the name of good storytelling. My jaw hit the floor the first time I realized I wasn't watching Jin in a flash-forward. It soon dawned on me that the episode was a split narrative, one half as flashbacks (Jin) and the other as flash-forwards (Sun).
I was still reeling from that revelation when they hit me with an even bigger hammer. Hurley arrives at Sun's apartment and together they decide to visit Jin — specifically, Jin's grave. Sun shares some beautiful sentiments with her new daughter, Ji Yeon, nestled in her arms. The LOST title appears, mind officially blown.
Even though "The Whole Truth" was probably the best collective acting between the two Kims (mostly because of the emotional difficulty), Ji Yeon ranks right up there as well.
Yunjin Kim was a trooper in the hospital scenes, screaming and grinding her teeth while pushing out a fictional baby, then crying in elation once she held Ji Yeon for the first time.
Daniel Dae Kim really shined in the island storyline, particularly after he learned of Sun's affair. His fishing scene with Bernard was just so tastefully done, a real man-to-man moment that was poignant for reasons I don't need to summarize.
Speaking of Bernard, Sam Anderson gets a special acknowledgement for his guest appearance. Even before the fishing scene I loved the way he awkwardly stepped into the proverbial hornet's nest between Sun and Jin. He tried to back away but Jin politely invited him to tag along. That very moment was also big for DDK, showing a slightly more interdependent shade of Jin we hadn't really seen before.
Elizabeth Mitchell was very good as a pseudo-antagonist, which is difficult for me to admit because I was very frustrated with her (the character) this time around. More on that in a bit.
This was Stephen Semel's first time directing a LOST episode after being a film editor for much of the series. After seeing his on-screen cameo in Tale of Two Cities I'll say this: definitely stick with the directing path, Stephen!
In all seriousness, this was a nice debut for him and the episode flowed very smoothly (which I'm starting to realize is a trademark of Season 4). I suspect all that time in film editing gave Semel a good sense of directorial techniques, i.e. how to frame scenes, when to go close versus wide, and so on.
It's especially impressive when you consider certain scenes were filmed over multiple days/sessions. The final scene with Sun at Jin's grave was shot in two different sessions, each one pointing the camera in a different direction. It all comes together and feels like one smooth scene, which is an impressive achievement on everyone's parts.
It's true that once you've seen Ji Yeon the first time you lose the shock of the split narrative. What you don't lose are the moments that have no dependency on shock value. One such moment is the fishing scene with Jin and Bernard, which I really wish had been extended to include mutual dialogue. Jin did a whole lot of listening.
The Kevin Johnson and Captain Gault reveals are surprisingly significant for a Jin/Sun-centric. It seems the writers caught onto the fact that fans assumed their centrics essentially translated to a one-week stall in the mythology. That's not the case here.
It's a little ridiculous but even on the Redux rewatch, roughly my fifth time watching this episode, I still shed a few tears at the final scene. I'm not sure how or why considering I KNOW Jin's alive at that point, but it's executed so beautifully by Yunjin that it might as well be a funeral scene. Come to think of it, I wish the island funerals in the first few seasons were anywhere near as emotional as Ji Yeon's final moments were.
The other emotion pertains to Juliet — you didn't think I was going to ignore her big tattle-tale moment, did you? The thing is, even my emotions sway on this topic depending on which day you ask me. Sometimes I think Sun deserved to be outed after all those days of deceiving Jin; and after all, Juliet was ultimately trying to save her life.
But other times I grit my teeth and ask, "Who the hell does Juliet think she is?" It wasn't just the tattle-tale moment, it was also the scene where Sun requests another bottle of vitamins. Juliet practically interrogates her on the spot with her trademark slow-blinking eyes and near-smirk. I was rooting for Sun to give her a roundhouse kick.
Stephen Semel indicated on the commentary that LOST fans were livid at Juliet following Ji Yeon, and I can definitely understand that sentiment. However, I can understand both sides of the equation and I think it's a testament to good writing when it can evoke that sort of passionate reaction.
