Wow -- I think this is going to be one series that will bear a second viewing in its entirety, if this is the way it's going. I almost thought it was a rerun at certain points, because of the replaying of scenes. However, now seeing it from a different perspective, it kind of gives it a "Rashomon" feeling to it.

(If you have not seen Rashomon by Director Akira Kurosawa, go now. Buy it, rent it, download it if you have to. SO many movies and good TV shows reference it that you will wonder why you hadn't seen it before. I have even had some personal incidents that reminded me of that movie.)

A hilarious, if only slightly overdone, echo of Claire's pregnancy and Hurley's girth in the last shot. I got it on the first shot of that sequence.

Even though I watched a tape of it, I refused to rewind it to check it out, but I'd swear that was Hurley on TV in a commercial that the little Korean girl was watching the first time that Jin went over to the man's house. A little fodder for a future episode?

Argh! The subtitles when Sun first confronted jin in the cave were overwritten by an Amber Alert (I know these Alerts are Important!!! And how rare subtitles are on an American TV program. Just a weird coincidence.) I was just wondering what they said, even though I found out the truth at the end of the show. I know a little Korean, but not enough to decipher what they were saying.

I was waiting for Jin to kick Michael's ass, only due to superior ability. Perhaps they were playing against stereotype, but as I understand it, all Korean students learn Taekwondo up until at least 6th grade, as it is the National sport of Korea. I just thought Jin was holding back for some reason. I know this due to having practiced Taekwondo for more than 22 years. I've spent some time in Korea for various reasons, one of which was a Taekwondo tour -- amazing. I am currently a 4th Dan Black Belt. If you are interested I can send a link to some of the stuff I've done...

Anyway, this show is still just as compelling as it was originally. And to all those who say "it takes til the third season to get the character dynamic (re: ST:TNG, Voyager, Enterprise, et. al.), I say, BOLLOCKS!! This one has been compelling from the very beginning. (as was TOS!!!)

I was cracking up when the batteries on the CD player died out. I thought it was gonna be a fairly lame end to a good episode, redoing the whole Hurley listens to the CD player and that's the end music as we watch the castaways sit around, and I also was thinking, "dude, those batteries aren't dead yet?", then click! LOL!

These creators sure know how to make a great show!

PLEASE someone tell me that they have this episode on tape, or know when it's going to repeat. Somehow, even though I swore I left my cable box on channel 7 (ABC) when setting my VCR, it appears I left in on E! instead, and ended up taping that awful show Love is in the Heir.

HELP!!!

I thought the whole notion of building a raft was ridiculous. They're on an island with plenty of food and water. Why would they risk starvation and running out of water on the open ocean? Even a schlocker like Madonna's "Swept Away" raised those issues. That raft, with all the bamboo stalks tied together, reminded me of the 'self-built' structures (huts and a Taxi!) on Gilligan's Island. It just seemed to be stretching credibility that Michael built that himself with no tools (saws, etc).

I also thought the image on the Korean family's television was Hurley. I thought they were trying to set up another 'coincidence' such as Sawyer meeting Jack's father. In an earlier ep, I wondered how the Korean wife got such an expensive dog for a "gift". Now, I know.

It seemed that once again, Locke showed up at the end to offer an explanation (that there are other people on the island that burned the raft). With that, it did come as a genuine surprise that Walt burned the raft. But this raises a serious ethical question. Michael could have seriously wounded Jin. Shouldn't someone tell Michael. He owes an apology big time.

It was also interesting to see the reason Jin was ashamed of his father (he told his in-laws he was dead). Was it a class issue? Was he embarrassed because his father was a peasant fisherman?

It was also cute to make what appeared to be part of the soundtrack was just a CD Hurley was playing. But CDs use up batteries fast. I would have thought he would have run out of batteries earlier. The writers are also probably tempted to give Hurley a sinister background (maybe tying in with his appearance on that Korean television), but most fans would probably prefer if he remained a nice guy.

But CDs use up batteries fast. I would have thought he would have run out of batteries earlier.

It depends on the player. My old one (about 10 years old) took 4 AA's and lasted maybe a week with moderate use. My more recent one (about 3-4 years old so it's not even super recent) uses 2 AA's and has lasted me several months. Now, granted, I probably don't listen as much as Hurley would trapped on an island with little entertainment, but I don't find a month or so (that's about how much time they said had passed recently) to be completely out of the realm of possibility. That said, I am glad the batteries did die, as obviously they don't last forever.

I had the episode on tape (sorry Luigi, but I taped over it already...) so I checked the scene with the Korean girl watching TV, and it does indeed appear to be Hurley on the TV, getting into a car. Maybe he won a car (and a trip to Australia!) on a game show? Just a guess, I haven't read any spoilers, don't worry!

Maybe he's on Cops. ;)

Later in the same scene it shows some Korean words on the bottom of the screen. It may be a part of the same commercial or whatever it was. I can read Korean phonetically, but can only translate very little. If someone could do that, we might get another clue.

Unless it just says something like "BIG SALE!!"

Ok my thoughts on this.

That definately looked like Hurley getting into a car on the tv in the familie's apartment. I didn't tape the show so I couldn't tell you otherwise for sure.

I was very surprised at the kid's attitude to the whole thing. Here is his dad (which i guess it shows how not attached he is to michael yet) trying to build a way off the island (which in case you hadn't noticed Rona, Michael is not content to just sit back and wait for rescue/live the robinson carousoe lifestyle he wants back to the big city of NY) and he sets fire to it. Why? Just so he doesnt have to move anymore. Yeah from his point of view this is close to a perfect life. No school, interesting people, excitement and pretty much little or no pressures.

Michael on the other hand wants desperately to get off the island. So he takes and builds a raft. With just looking at it I coldn't tell you how well it would work but probably not too bad. Bamboo floats quite well, and if he choose properly from the plane wreckage it would help the flotation ability.

As for not having tools. Why do you think he doesnt have tools? A sharp piece of metal from the wreckage becomes a knife, a big enough one and its a machete. Stones can be used for an axe. Our forefathes and the natives in those islands didnt have a problem improvising tools from what they had at hand, so i don't see why the survivor's couldn't either.

But yeah it seemed to me that Jin was ashamed of his father being a peasant fisherman while he was trying to get in with the big time and woo the boss's daughter. Too bad about becoming an enforcer part of the job though.

And what is it with Locke is he a Jedi or something? he always manages to show up at the right time with the right words to get things calmed down or motivated or whatever. And he "knows" way too much about what goes on around there.

The ending was good to see how Jin is reachign out to micael to build the boat again. Of course it might just be he wants off the island to either get away from his wife or to get back to his father in law. Who knows. As well as michael's son askign to help rebuild the boat.

Hurley's cd running out of batteries was a funny blip at the end I liked. And I did say about time on that too. But then again maybe he only listened to them once in awhile and otherwise didn't play them. Who knows. Or he had the extra heavy duty or had several packages/found some.

Oh one bad joke. Maybe the korean lettering under Hurley is saying "Actual Cause of Sunami found!"

Anyone? Anyone?

I think I still have it. I watched it right after and didn't label it so I'll have to hunt around.

Luigi, give me about three days, and I can mail you a burnt DVD of the episode if you'd like...

... actually, now that I think of it, I can also tape it off my computer onto VHS if you'd prefer.

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!Whichever format you think is best will do. In fact, if you want to transfer it to me over Aol Instant Messenger, let me know, and we'll talk. My handle is nightscreamnovi.

I just realized, the reason Jin knows about catching the sea urchins or whatever it is he catches is from his father the fisherman teaching him! He was ashamed, but now it's helping keep him alive.

---

Quote:

I thought the whole notion of building a raft was ridiculous. They're on an island with plenty of food and water. Why would they risk starvation and running out of water on the open ocean?

---

I had copied my own onto the computer. An hour takes 2gb -- seems like that's about impossible to transfer over the net. I don't know if any conversion programs would make that smaller, but it would still be pretty big.

One thing I did do was look closely at the "Hurley on TV" sequence. In the last frames he is putting up his hand in an apparent attempt to block the camera from filming. I tried to capture the Han Gul subtitle on the screen but it's too fuzzy to decipher.

Well, if Dan needs to mail to me, I'll send him my address over email, and either mail it back to him or send another tape in exchange for his trouble.

I don't know if any conversion programs would make that smaller, but it would still be pretty big. Influx

With DivX you can squeeze one minute of small video (368x208 pixels for Enterprise) into just two megabytes and it's still watchable.

Yeah Luigi, it looks as though I'll have to mail you the disk, as the file itself is on my other computer about 5 hrs drive away from me right now... Just send me your address to dan_gunther@hotmail.com, and I'll mail you the dvd ASAP. The disk is DVD+R format, and should play in just about any dvd player. (My parents' player is about 5 years old now, and actually says that it won't play burnt disks, but it plays it fine...)

Thanks, Dan. I've emailed you. Let me know if you got it.

Got it Luigi, it will be mailed out today. Oh, and don't worry about any sort of re-payment, those dvds are a dime a dozen. My friend gets them for me at cost

Thanks, buddy.

People at some other board managed to capture and read the text, as well as what was being said in Korean on the TV.

Highlight to read
It says something about how he won a huge amount of money in the lottery
end highlight

In addition, some of the untranslated conversation between Jin and Sun reveals
highlight
Jin actually saw Walt start the fire, but they didn't want Walt to get into trouble so they didn't say this to anyone else, making people wonder if maybe Locke understands Korean and that's how he knew
end

I don't know if those are real spoilers, since the ep did air and those are just based on translating what's there, but just to be safe, I've tried to avoid unintentionally spoiling anyone by using white text. Apologies in advance if I've done anything wrong or spoiled anyone or anything.

Thanks Anonymous, that's great! And kudos for respecting those who don't want to know. (I certainly wanted to, but didn't want to hunt on other boards for fear of "real" spoilers -- I don't even watch the previews.)

You're welcome!

Welp Luigi, you *must* have gotten the disk by now... if not, then there's a problem...

Not yet.

Hrm... that's really strange, I was told it would take about a week...

Maybe it'll be here by Monday (today)?

Great episode. Just when you thought that you had a certain character like Jin figured out, the creators go and add a EYKIW story. (That’s Everything You Know is Wrong, for those non-comic book fans of you out there). Even Jin’s answer to Sun after we see his reunion with his father was a surprise. I thought he would tell her that yeah, they could start over, since he was able to do so with his dad, so when he said, “It’s too late,” it was a real shocker.

Thanks again Dan!

Given that raft was the one means by which Jin could’ve gotten rid of Michael, and that Walt had apparently grown accustomed to life on the island, was there anyone here who had any doubt that Walt was the one who set the fire?

Am I the only one for whom it was obvious that Jin was lying to Mr. Paik when he said his father was dead? Did anyone else think that after Sun started talking in English, that Jin would end up doing so too, perhaps when he gave her his answer about starting over? No? Er……….me neither.

I thought it odd that Hurley was not only wasting batteries on a CD player, but that they lasted over a month. Two Duracel AA batteries will power my walkman for just a bit over two weeks. Or did Hurley abstain from using the player up until now, reward himself because he thought he deserved it, and just found out now that they were at the end of their life?

In Act 1, when we first see Walt helping Michael building the raft, Michael tells him that the Flatiron building in New York is flat. Well, actually, it’s triangular. Its two longer sides come to a point, like a triangular prism, rather than running parallel to a fourth side.

Influx: Even though I watched a tape of it, I refused to rewind it to check it out, but I'd swear that was Hurley on TV in a commercial that the little Korean girl was watching the first time that Jin went over to the man's house.
Luigi Novi: Holy cow! You’re right!

Influx: If you are interested I can send a link to some of the stuff I've done...
Luigi Novi: Let’s see it.

Rona: It just seemed to be stretching credibility that Michael built that himself with no tools (saws, etc).

R: A sharp piece of metal from the wreckage becomes a knife, a big enough one and its a machete. Stones can be used for an axe.
Luigi Novi: Also, they’ve salvaged quite a bit from the wreckage.

Rona: But this raises a serious ethical question. Michael could have seriously wounded Jin. Shouldn't someone tell Michael. He owes an apology big time.
Luigi Novi: And Jin almost murdered Michael when he thought that Michael stole Sun’s watch. I’d say they’re about even.

Anonymous: Jin actually saw Walt start the fire, but they didn't want Walt to get into trouble so they didn't say this to anyone else, making people wonder if maybe Locke understands Korean and that's how he knew
Luigi Novi: He knew for the same reason I knew. It was obvious.

Luigi Novi: I thought it odd that Hurley was not only wasting batteries on a CD player, but that they lasted over a month. Two Duracel AA batteries will power my walkman for just a bit over two weeks. Or did Hurley abstain from using the player up until now, reward himself because he thought he deserved it, and just found out now that they were at the end of their life?

Dan Gunther: I was thinking that perhaps he had brought a few batteries with him. When I'm going on a long trip, I usually throw a pack of batteries into my bag. As you'll see in the next episode, it's quite possible that Hurley didn't know how long he'd be gone, so it makes sense that he would have packed extras.

Anonymous: Jin actually saw Walt start the fire, but they didn't want Walt to get into trouble so they didn't say this to anyone else, making people wonder if maybe Locke understands Korean and that's how he knew
Luigi Novi: He knew for the same reason I knew. It was obvious.
As obvious as it was, I didn't realize that it was Walt until Locked brought it up. I did know that it wasn't Jin though.

Luigi, are you saying that batteries will power the walkman for two weeks of constant use? If that's the case, I don't think that it's too much of a stretch. They've been on the island for about a month at this point, and I doubt that Hurley is always listening to that player.

Two weeks, given the amount of use to which I put them, which is that I turn it on every time I go out to run an errand.

Anonymous (February 23, 2005 - 11:25 pm):

I just caught this ep the other night, and I thought the closing bit was hilarious as well. You've got this soulful music playing, showing all these scenes of the various castaways, and then Hurley's CD dies. That was great.

So Influx, where are those links?

In regards to an earlier post of mine (on House of the Rising Sun) commenting on Jin and Sun having more Korean-American names than actual Korean ones, in the scene where Jin goes to see his father, the father calls him (at least twice) 'Jin-soo' although you'd only know it if you can understand Korean. So my comment's nullified.

The scenes in Korea showed more Buddhist statues than I've seen in six years here.

Sorry my wife and I are so behind or else we could've answered all the questions regarding translation.

You know, I didn't get the title's humour until I saw my post above on the Last Day's posts page. It's 'Lost: In Translation.' Duh!

I like this series very much, but if the wobbly camera work continues as badly as it did in this episode, I might have to give it up. I don't usually get queasy with hand-held cameras but this was ridiculously over-the-top. During the scene where Sawyer was bringing Jin back to the beach, they couldn't even get the camera on Sawyer's face properly, just showing the lower half of his face. It wobbled about way too much when Locke arrived at the beach, too. Was the cameraman drunk?!