I was really hoping there'd be some change to the status quo here, but not a lot is going on. I was glad to see Sawyer slug those two Others (I was wondering the tide would actually turn here), and to see Sun kill that blonde b***h, but not much else happened. I'm wondering if Peter David and some of the posters on his blog are right when they say that not much happened after the opening teaser of the premiere, and that that flashbacks aren't providing as much insight into the characters as they had been. With this episode, with the exception of the brief Sawyer/Other brawl and Sun's escapade on the boat, the most interesting stuff happened in the final scene (whereas in the previous ep, it was the opening one):

We now know (assuming he was being truthful) that Ben's full name is Benjamin Linus, that he’s lived on the island his entire life, and as alluded to in the previous ep, the Others have contact with the outside world.

The most unexpected and interesting plot point were the references to George W. Bush’s reelection, Christopher Reeve’s death, and the Boston Red Sox’s World Series victory, served to ground the series a bit, I think. The World Series bit in particular, and Jack’s initial reaction to it, were nice. However, he seems to be convinced just by seeing the last minute or so of the last game. Why is this? From his point of view, someone could be showing footage of an old game, and the “announcer” in the video could be on the of the Others having dubbed his voice onto it.

This episode is set on November 29, 2004, and is the 69th day for the Lostaways on the island.

I really liked Sawyer's assesment of the Others' fighting abilities and experience. He really seemed to know what he was talking about, and I wonder if he kissed Kate not only to fulfil his attraction to her, but to deliberately provoke a fight in order to assess his captors' abilities. It might show that he really has a sharp head on his shoulders, and while they didn't escape in this episode, I hope this is foreshadowing of such some such shakeup soon.

Oh, and Kate now knows Sawyer's real name. I missed that on first viewing.

Did anyone else feel the back story with Sun and Jin this week didn't gel with the story we've been given in past episodes? From this episode we find out that Sun knows Jin has basically been forced into her father's mob in order to be with her. And, more importantly, she knows he wants out and that he wants to run away with her. That seems to change everything, and all most seems to contradict the past flashbacks.

First we learn that Sun was a little rich girl who marries this cool bell-hop guy who only wants to take care of her. It's all very romantic, but then he turns into a really mean, controlling "person" (I don't think you can say "jerk" in here...). Their relationship degenerates, and eventually she feels so trapped that she has to learn English and plot to escape to America. We are supposed to feel all bad for her.

Then, later, we learn that Jin really isn't a bad guy, he's just mixed up with Sun's really mean dad. He hates what he's doing, but would hate leaving Sun more. So now we feel all bad for both of them and yell at our TV sets at Sun for being so blind and not seeing what is going on. It's like of their problems are just a misunderstanding. If only Jin would just talk to her!

Then, last night, we sort of find out that Jin did talk to her. Sun knows everything that is going on, but still doesn't offer to help and runs off to sleep with bald guy. This really seems like a disjoint with the other back stories. Am I missing something?

Well, we found out about Jin's being forced into criminal jobs from the very first Jin/Sun eps back in the first season. But good point about her knowing that he wants out. This was the problem with the continuing flashbacks that I perceived, and in that linked post, I even used Jin and Sun as an example. From the start, it seemed that Sun was afraid that Jin was a hitman (which we were led to believe too), and we only found out later that he could not kill that first target when we were actually shown that encounter. So it seemed that Sun, who didn't know that he just beat the man, was trying to escape Jin in Australia. Now we find out that Jin let her know that he didn't want to do these things either.

I dunno, maybe her knowing that didn't change the fact that she still thought he killed people, and maybe she decided to escape by herself because she brought it up and he refused?

Or it could be that she finds out that Jin very nearly killed her boyfriend, and was ultimately responsible for it, anyway.

Luigi Novi: I wonder if he kissed Kate not only to fulfil his attraction to her, but to deliberately provoke a fight in order to assess his captors' abilities.
Knowing Sawyer, I'd bet it's a little bit of both.

jason555:
Then, later, we learn that Jin really isn't a bad guy, he's just mixed up with Sun's really mean dad. He hates what he's doing, but would hate leaving Sun more. So now we feel all bad for both of them and yell at our TV sets at Sun for being so blind and not seeing what is going on. It's like of their problems are just a misunderstanding. If only Jin would just talk to her!
I think one of the big problems is that he ends up taking his anger at her father out on her. She sees that, thinks that Jin isn't strong enough to run away with her or stand up to her father, so she decides to run away herself.

Like Luigi points out, she doesn't see what Jin knows. She doesn't know that Jin beats the guy in ...in Translation to save his life, and she doesn't know that he didn't kill Jae. For all she knows, Jin did kill Jae. Her father probably thinks so, too.

Does anyone else think that Jin seeing the pearls clutched in dead bald-guy's hand connected the dots for him? I felt like the camera focused on him for a beat after we saw the pearls. It short of made the "he knows I betrayed him" line seem more poignant. Part of me thought it was just a herring, though.

I like the idea (Luigi, Influx, Josh) that maybe there is another piece to this story we are missing that ultimately makes Sun decide to run away. But still, this episode made me lose a lot of respect for Sun. I guess it could be a cultural or generational difference, but if she knows what's going on, why doesn't she do something? She knows her husband is sell his soul and putting his life on the line on a daily basis for her, and she is too much of a spoiled princess to stand up to daddy? If she can't do that much, then it just makes me think, what is he doing with her? Like I said, maybe it's just a cultural difference, but I can't imagine any woman not telling her father off in that situation--even if it means moving to the shore and scaling fish for the rest of her life.

I'm wondering if Peter David and some of the posters on his blog are right when they say that not much happened after the opening teaser of the premiere, and that that flashbacks aren't providing as much insight into the characters as they had been.

I think that's right. Season three so far has been entertaining but not very revealing. I think having two Others in the main cast was not a great idea. We're now seeing scenes from their point of view and learning things that the Lostaways don't know, which has never happened before (barring the off-Island final scene of last season's finale). I mean, we're seeing Ben and Juliette talking to each other, we know that Ben is monitoring Sawyer, etc. We're not learning any more about them, yet they're being demystified, which is really not a good direction to take the show in.

Furthermore the Hatch is gone and the button with it. That's a major element removed from the story.

Very vague spoiler: However, on the DVD for season two, the writers said they have something in the works for halfway through season three that will shake things up in a big way.

My speculation is that the Dharma Initiative will arrive to investigate what happened to the Swan and the electromagnetic field. Or else it will involve the arrival of Desmond's GF. (Although whenever writers promise major shakeups, I'm always disappointed that they didn't go as far as I expected.)

Like I said, maybe it's just a cultural difference, but I can't imagine any woman not telling her father off in that situation

It is cultural. Here in Korea, you respect your elders. 'Respect' here means 'showing respect,' and has nothing to do with what you actually feel. In addition to being her father, he's also a very powerful man and a very rich one, which accords him even more respect. This is rigidly adhered to.