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No more Pop-Up LOST, apparently.

Now that "Dancing with the C-List Plus a Washed-Up Athlete or Two" is back in the 8 p.m. eastern timeslot on ABC, we get short-changed in our efforts to play detective.

Just as well. It'll keep my blogs shorter and not drive us crazy with wondering why they are force-feeding us certain information and being so close-to-the-vest about other tidbits. We are now free to focus only on what's in our hands, which, appropriately enough this week, is a "Package."

Interestingly, most episode titles this year have relevance to both sets of timelines. This one is no different. There is the package Jin was delivering to Keamy in Los Angeles. There is the package Widmore asks Zoe to bring from the sub to the infirmary. And there is even a wounded Sun revealing to Jin in the 2004 timeline that he'd better get her to a hospital quickly, because she's carrying yet another little package.

So my role is clear, then. I must try to wrap this all up in a nice tidy package with a bow on top.

Camp MIB

"It doesn't matter who you have a deal with." - Jin-Soo Kwon, to Sawyer

We open our episode with an eye opening… but not in the traditional LOST sense. Here, it is not us watching as someone else's eye opens. It is, essentially, our eyes opening and looking through night-vision goggles at folks in Flocke's camp. There's Sawyer and Kate having what felt like a Charlie-and-Claire moment involving - instead of peanut butter - hot cocoa. Pretend it's good. Use your imagination, girl.

We come to find out it's Seamus (Zoe's pal, whose name we only know thanks to Pop-Up LOST) wearing the night goggles treating us to this voyeurism. We get a look at Flocke, but… is it just me or do the goggles malfunction while looking at Mr. Black Smoke Thing? He sure seems to have quite a nanobot-electrical-techno side to him for such a supposedly ancient being, doesn't he?

We find out that Jin has been briefed by Sawyer about the cave, the names, the candidates. Flocke says he can reunite Jin with Sun very shortly. What's more, "the only way to leave is if all the names not crossed off go together." Jin's not having any of it. Neither am I. I think the MIB has chosen his words "go together" very carefully here. I think he means these names need to "go," or die. And since I can't kill ‘em, I need to gather them into one place where I might be able to trick a common enemy, mmmm, say, Widmore, into bazooka-ing them all at once, say, like if they were seated on a plane, because he thinks he is stopping me, and that's a sacrifice Widdy would be willing to make…

Hence, Jin tells Sawyer he's leaving "That Thing." He doesn't trust it at all (neither does his wife). As he leaves, he unsettles Sawyer a bit by suggesting that Sawyer's not as in control with his double-crossing long con as he thinks. Doesn't matter who he thinks he has deals with. He better start deciding instead who he really can trust and who he can't.

Before Flocke leaves on his Sun-acquisition mission, he puts Sayid in charge. Sayid mutters something. Flocke comes back strong and a bit menacing with, "Excuse me?" He really doesn't care to be interrupted, detained, or questioned, even though he usually calms down out of necessity to provide the right modicum of control. This is where Sayid explains that he feels nothing. No emotions. Anger, happiness, pain, they're all gone. Contrast that to Claire, who also has "the sickness," but is hyper-emotional, swinging from hand holding to throat knifing to tearful hugging to asking please-oh-please can I kill Kate. Why does the same sickness manifest differently? Is it kind of a reverse spiritual gifts thing? Kinda like a 1 Corinthians 12:4 ("Now there are different kinds of gifts but the same spirit gives them") thing for the dark side? Flocke goes on to suggest that Sayid in his unemotional state is well-suited for the good spy-soldier duties he has forthcoming, especially if they will involve twisting the necks of old friends. Claire, on the other hand, Locke says he still needs her, too, even though her name is not on the wall. Why does he need her? So he can unleash all her fury at the right time?

Before Jin can leave, the camp is darted by Zoe, Seamus, and the rest of Widmore's crew. They obviously came to the island prepared. This was not a mission to acquire Jin, though. Apparently it was just a recon mission, kinda like the one Flocke sent Sawyer to do - go spy out the land for me. But Jin's leaving wasn't something Zoe wanted to risk.

When Flocke returns from having failed (I love it when he fails) to recruit Sun, he's not happy to find his camp was attacked. Thing is, he clearly has no real concern for these people. Walks past all the women (Claire, Kate) first, steps over a few others, finds his general Sayid, bends over him, and… gently makes sure he's okay? Gives him mouth-to-mouth? Heck no! Pulls up his head and barks, "What happened?!" When he learns Jin's gone, we get another glimpse of that evil face he showed Ben back in Jacob's domicile.

Flocke then goes on the offensive. Asks if Sayid's a good swimmer, and hands him a gun. That's when Sawyer does us the favor of asking why the Black Smoke can't just fly over there. Nice sarcasm by Flocke. Now that we know he can't do this, it brings up some big questions which we'll get to at the end of the blog. When Flocke explained this mission as "They took one of our people; I'm going over there to get him back," it was a smack-in-the-face mirror of the first two seasons. Oh how many times we heard that line out of the mouths of Jack, Michael, Ana-Lucia, etc.

Before Flocke leaves, Claire has some questions for him about candidacy. We and she learn:

• No, you're not on the wall, Claire. Sorry
• Oh, I still need you though. Plenty of room on the plane for everyone (in a cartoon, this is where the evil doctor would have had to stifle a "mwuhaahaa…")
• Claire has decided that being a stranger to her own son is no good, not if Kate is around for Aaron to run to, thinking she's his mommy
• Kate's name isn't on the wall, either. "Not anymore." Say what?
• Kate's needed, though, as a pawn to draw in Jack, Hurley, and Sun
• After that… "Whatever happens, happens."

Whoa. Okay, so we get that Flocke just gave Claire permission to do some Kate killing once all his pieces are in place. But did he seriously just channel Faraday… again? I know several people who thought (or wanted to think) that Flocke might be Faraday when he told the story of his crazy mother (that would be Eloise Hawking) whose bad choices that could have been prevented helped make him this way. But that was too far out there. Yet now we have Flocke basically re-stating Faraday's favorite phrase, albeit in the present tense instead of the past?

This is just too crazy a rabbit hole to go down, isn't it? Maybe we'll just poke our heads in…

• MIB insists he was once "a man." Okay, check. So was Daniel
• MIB had a crazy mama. Close enough
• That mama kept Faraday from his loves - music, his lab assistant, Charlotte - and MIB specializes in promising to reunite people with their lost loves
• Jeremy Davis and Titus Welliver might could pass for one another… if you gave Daniel a close-cropped haircut and some anti-twitching pills, and you gave MIB an affinity for skinny ties, maybe?
• Daniel is a time-traveling, science-and-techno dude. And some of Smokey's characteristics, as mentioned above, do seem to fit a bit anachronistically into the island's ancient history…
• We haven't seen Faraday this season, though we've seen all his freighter buddies (Lapidus, Miles, Charlotte, Keamy, Omar) other than Naomi…

Okay, this is where I get off this train. It's just too insane for even my imagination. Even if Faraday was somehow way way WAY back in time (speaking of which, were those just throwaway lines this season when Hurley referenced "dinosaur times" and when Jack in this episode said, "feels like a hundred years ago"?)… AND was really bitter at Eloise… AND one of his experiments went horribly wrong or somehow robbed him of his body… AND he was trapped on the island doing the job of the devil and balancing things out to keep Hell contained… even then… could we still ever see our old friend Daniel Faraday as the bad guy? I just can't.

Consider our heads pulled out.

One final thing we learn in Camp MIB - Kate and Sawyer are both worried. No coincidence, I think, that Sawyer trails off with "then we're screwed six ways from Sun…" before Flocke shows back up. Six ways = six candidates. Trailing off on Sun[day] = trailing off not knowing the fate of Sun.

Camp Jacob

"I came to find my husband not to save the world!" Sun-Hwa Kwon, to Richard

Very noble and not-at-all narcissistic of you, my dear. Gold star for that. But also a bit short-sighted and childish considering how long you've been a part of this story and what you've seen is at stake. No, I grant you probably couldn't handle losing your husband all over again, but there's only so many episodes left. And you just made us spend 5 minutes on having Jack talk you back into being part of the plan. No more of that now, k?

In our opening shot of this group, when we returned from the first commercial, Miles was holding playing cards (again). He's the way the producers always make sure we don't forget there is a game being played here. In Miles' hand are several cards. The one that is completely shown is the 7 of Hearts… with his thumb over the heart in the middle to where it now shows six hearts, as in the six candidates. This episode is heavy on the heart theme. Also in Miles' hand are 2 Queens, 2 Kings (like a chessboard?) and an Ace (-in-the-hole? Like Desmond, maybe?). He tells Frank to "Play your card, Captain." Sounds like it's time for some things to get moving in this war…

Ilana - our voice of faith - gets to show some more of it when she speaks confidently of Richard's return (though Ben says he'd actually bet money against it), and when she reveals that Jacob has never lied to her. It's yet another allusion to their mysterious history which we're all looking forward to seeing. There's obviously enough history there to make his "never" having lied a significant claim. Not having lied, though, doesn't necessarily mean one has never been mistaken. Jacob isn't infallible… is he?

Faith and patience have been shown through the course of our studies to be prime qualities valued by the world of the show. This just happens to be Sun's turn to rebel against them. Most others have already had their turn to learn the hard way that patience trumps headlong rushing, and belief trumps despair (and the rash actions that come with it).

Sun goes off to the spot of her former garden to collect her thoughts. She wants no part of Jack's encouragement, even though Jack is supremely qualified to speak to someone who doesn't want to hear about purpose and destiny and a reason for being on that island. Notice the things Jack starts to tell her… there was a Lighthouse… there were all these Mirrors… there were all these Names written down… and then consider how all of the above are biblical concepts (we covered the Lighthouse metaphor in this recap; check the Mirror references in (especially) 1 Corinthians 13:12 and James 1:23; check the possible relevance of the Names idea in Revelation 13:8).

Then consider where Sun is - a Garden. Jack asks her about the tomatoes. "They're dead," she says. After Jack goes away, "The Serpent" enters, just as Sun gets a cut and begins leaking some of what's in her heart. Remember the time Smokey was stalking Montand, and we got this shot of him snaking along like a sea serpent? I'm feeling that even more now…

Anyway, Flocke offers Sun a deal. And even though she wants nothing more than to be reunited with Jin, she does not take his hand (note that neither did Kate take his extended hand a couple episodes ago. It's instinctive to take someone's hand when offered, like Kate did with Claire. But they don't). Why? She just doesn't trust him (trust also being instinctive), or his answer about why he killed everyone at the Temple. "They were confused, lied to." Ordinarily, wouldn't you take pity on such a people? Show mercy? But the MIB has talked himself into already having been merciful by giving those Temple folks a choice. I was proud of Sun for running here, for a couple reasons…

1)      It's logical. Locke just said he gave those people a choice, and now he's giving her a choice. Sun can deduce, therefore, that saying no to this character - who again cites free will as something so sacred he will not and can not interfere with it ("I would never make you do anything against your will," Eve, er, I mean, Sun) - will result in being squished. So if you don't trust him... but nor do you want to be killed... you run.

2)      It's biblical ("No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it" 1 Cor. 10:13). Basically, when tempted with a choice that results in your destruction either way, run!

(Oh, while we're on the comparison of Sun to Eve, let me briefly cover this: one of you emailed me, "Adam &Eve skeletons = Jin and Sun? Sun maybe dies of gunshot in sideways world, so for them to stay together they have to stay on the island. Maybe?" Interesting thought, but I'm not sure how it would work. Island Jin & Sun are already into late-2007/early-2008. So, I'm not sure how they could become decayed skeletons in 2004 (assuming we're done with time travel now), or what the significance of the black and white stones with them would be).

The only problem with running from the Devil is that everyone knows you aren't supposed to look back. Silly Sun. Look out for that tree. Not like it's a jungle or anything. At this point, Locke leaves her. Probably because she's of no use to him unconscious, since he - as already stated - needs her to consciously choose what her actions will be. From here, Sun loses her ability to speak (but not to understand or write) English. Was this caused by:

a)      something the MIB did to her while she was knocked out? What would he have to gain by hindering (though not completely taking away) her communication?

b)      aphasia, as Jack diagnosed? Simply a result of the bump on the head, and soon enough it will go away?

c)      The Island? Like the time it struck Locke dumb so he could get back on track to remembering who he was and his place in the scheme of things, is this perhaps a way to remind Sun that she is Korean, that her past is in Korea, her daughter is in Korea, and she and her husband should set their minds on returning to Korea?

My first answer was b), but the more I think about it the more I lean towards c) now. Or, maybe a combination of b) and c). Or perhaps you can take the Miles way and ask, "we're to believe that?" But just know that you will only be mocked like Frank so beautifully followed with, "…asked the man who communes with the dead."

Ben finds Sun, brings her back, and apparently protests FOUR times about not having done this to her. Think that may be a bit much, Ben? We know you're innocent. Great line by Ilana about not believing you "because you're speaking." A nice reminder that you were our original father of lies, Ben… before we met the one who puts you to shame. The line should therefore also trigger us to just assume: if the MIB's mouth is moving, he's lying.

Ilana smiles because Richard returns (we already knew Hurley had found him and that bacon grease had nothing to do with it. We think). I like Richard's directness and sense of renewed purpose, but… "pack your bags, we're leaving"? Who wrote that line for him to say? "Pack your bags"? What bags? We got nothing, man. In fact, aren't we going to try to stop a plane trip? You're making it sound like we should be preparing for one, Ricardo. Sure, let me just get my swim trunks, bermuda shorts, madras shirt...

Sun doesn't like what Richard has to say either. She calls him an idiot and storms off down the beach, and nobody dares go near her until nightfall. That's when Jack shows up with a bag of magic beans (oops, wrong story). In Jack's bag is a pen and paper courtesy of a smart nurse he encountered once during his residency, a very red tomato, and a big heapin' helpin' of Trust. Sun does trust Jack, and he nods that he trusts her. She takes his hand. But then he has to go making promises about getting people off the island again, and I just shook my head. Jack, you were doing so well…

Now, about that "one stubborn tomato" - I did a lot of thinking about the symbolism and significance. And here's what I settled on:

• It's a red fruit from a Garden where a snake appeared to a woman. So it could represent choice, free will
• It's not supposed to be there but is clinging to life. So it could represent hope and sheer will
• It's blood red, shaped like a heart, in an episode about kept-apart love, "what the heart wants," and where blood and hearts-on-cards are prevalent images. So it could represent love, desire, the heart
• What's more, tomatoes are sometimes referred to as "love apples," and were once thought poisonous because they are members of the nightshade family. So the ideas of sin, temptation, love, will, death, and life might ALL be suggested from this one little fruit

In LOST, I prefer to go with the all-of-the-above when I can.

Camp Widmore

"I come in peace." - Flocke, to Widmore's lackeys.

Flocke arrives at Hydra Island alone. So my first question became, where is Sayid? And I realized that he was obviously sent to swim to the sub and do some real recon, not the self-serving, don't-really-learn-anything kind Sawyer did earlier.

Flocke and Widmore have a staredown at the sonic fence. They ask if each knows who the other is. I'll admit, that confused me a bit. Widmore lived on that island for how long as the leader of the Others? Shouldn't these two be intimately familiar with each other? All we get from Flocke is that he knows Widmore's name, something he could have gotten from either Locke's memories or all those years they were both on the island. All we get from Widmore is that the man before him is not really Locke, and everything else about him comes from myth, ghost story, and jungle noises in the night.

Flocke seems a bit offended by this possible half-truth, pointing out that Widdy knows a lot more if he's put up all these nice shiny sonic pylons. And again I wonder - the original sonic fence, was it not installed during Widmore's reign over the island? Was he not the one in charge when Dharma came? Did he let them come, or did he resist it? In any case, I think he really does know a lot more about the MIB than he is saying right now. Not only did he want to play things close in this first showdown, but he didn't mind taunting his opponent with words about just being a ghost story. Flocke's parting shot is to pretty much let Widmore know that he's privy to everything Widmore ever told John Locke, such as the quote, "war is coming." And by the way, you just started one, pal.

Flocke asks about Jin's whereabouts, and it's pretty clear to me Widmore does not lie when he says he doesn't know where Jin is. All he knew is that the timetable for taking Jin wasn't supposed to happen for quite a while yet, and he's not happy when he goes and confronts Zoe for already having taken him… especially when she could have just let Jin leave Flocke's camp, taken him in the jungle, and then they wouldn't have an angry Smoke Monster on their doorstep asking why they darted his camp and made off with one of his campers. Zoe says maybe Widmore should have put a mercenary in charge instead of a geophysicist. Well… he's been there, done that. Didn't go too well. Guy was as unstable as that magnetic material you're after. Widmore lets it all go with a "What's done is done." And not only does that seem out of character for him, it's yet another shout out to our man Faraday (son of Widmore) and his "whatever happened, happened!"

Jin was held in Room 23. Last time we were there, Sawyer and Kate helped Alex rescue Karl, who was being punished for wanting to date Alex (Ben's story was that he wouldn't have wanted Alex to get pregnant, not on that island). Interesting, then, that we have another story of kept-apart lovers taking place in this room again. We'll just have to hope that Sun and Jin have better luck than Alex and Karl, who both got shot by Keamy.

When Jin turns on the power to Room 23, we see the old video, including the lines, "Think about your life… we are the causes of our own suffering… everything changes…" And I'm thinking, you know, in another less intrusive, less manipulative format, those messages could actually be seen kinda positively. Introspection and reflection is good. We cause our own suffering? Okay, maybe. At least worth thinking on what the nature of sin and suffering is. Everything changes? Yes, but are we talking growth, transformation, decay, erosion, discovery, evolution, revolution, or all of the above? And is God included in "everything"? Or does he remain immutable and unchanging as in most Christian theology?

Zoe enters the room. She knows all about Room 23, and what Dharma used it for (experiments in subliminal messaging). I suppose she got her education in all things Dharma from Widmore, but what she really wants is Jin to tell her the secrets of his island grid map from the 70s, in particular the places where there appear to be large pockets of the electromagnetic material under the island. Why? Are they looking for the donkey wheel? Do they want to mine some of it? Can it be weaponized? Is it like Smokey Kryptonite? We don't know. And Jin refuses to help her until he talks to Widmore.

Widmore has a gift for Jin (Richard and MIB had gifts for each other last episode, too). They've found Sun's camera in her luggage (plausible enough that I believe it). He sees Ji Yeon for the first time, Sun's face for the first time in three years, and their dog's face, too! That's when Widmore plays the "I'm a hurtin' dad, too, man" card on Jin. But it was quite possibly sincere. I entirely believe that the last thing Charles Widmore wants is for the world to end, for everyone he loves to cease to exist. If there is anything he does want, now that he has returned to the island, it's to keep things as they are. Perhaps even to live forever. I just fear that he is playing right into the MIB's hands somehow. At least (for now) he's got his secret weapon, even though a very crocodilian Sayid looked like he was about to lurch out of the water and snap The Package's neck.

Why did Widmore not just tell Jin, "Remember your old pal Desmond? He's here!" Why bother with calling him "the package"? This is just confusing and unnecessary… unless of course you want to save the package's identity for your really cool reveal that will close the episode. So, fine, we'll stop questioning production. For now. I don't even want to go down the road of how packages usually have something inside them, because I don't want to entertain something being implanted in my main main Des.

Side-Verse

"This was your plan all along?" - Jin, to Sun

"Some people just aren't meant to be together." - Keamy, to Jin

Jin got his luggage and the watch back from Customs. I was certain we'd seen the customs agent before in LOST, but a quick search on IMDB revealed I was mistaken. The money has to stay behind, though.

Jin has missed his scheduled meeting (death sentence) at the restaurant, so once he is checked into room 842 separate from Sun, we get a chance to run down all the details…

Similarities: Sun and Jin are still there to deliver a watch (and for Sun to go shopping); they are in love; there is a plan to run away from that boogeyman Mr. Paik; Jin and Mikhail fight; Mikhail ends up with one eye; Sun's baby is Jin's

Differences: Sun and Jin are not married; Sun got pregnant in Korea, not on the island; it's Sun's plan, not Jin's, for them to run away in America; Sun does not speak English; was Keamy the intended recipient in both timelines?

One big question I have is whether Mr. Paik's reason for sending Jin on this watch-delivery errand was the same in both timelines. We know (from the encounter Jin has in the Sydney airport restroom with another Paik spook) that Paik was on to Jin's plan to run away with Sun and make a new life in America. Jin was warned not to do this - just deliver the watch. Was told he would never be free. Would the same thing have happened if Jin had gotten to the states in our original story? Would he have been murdered the moment he delivered the package, in punishment for his intending to run away?

When Keamy comes to check on his package at the hotel, Sun checks herself in the mirror before answering the door. Again, a character in the Side-Verse has a moment where we see her on in her reflection (Jin seems to have a reflection moment in the shiny door of his pantry cell, too). Sun holds her face there an extra beat. Why? Sure casts suspicion on her earlier statement to Jin, "No one is watching us." Hmmm…

Keamy puts on the watch, and I just want to say I did notice back in Sayid's flashbacks that he was wearing a gold watch in the kitchen. ;-)

Keamy - always the charming ambassador - can't stand to hear the Koreans talk, or to separate their culture from the Japanese, so he calls for a translator, "Danny's friend, Mikhail." Good to see ol' Patchy resurrected yet again. The man who refused to die is alive and well for a few minutes anyway in Los Angeles. And apparently he still hangs with old chum from the Others, Danny Pickett, the jerk who was so intent on blowing Sawyer's head off. I guess the true baddies will always find a way to congregate.

We come to learn that Sun's mean old dad closed her account. We already knew Jin was saved by Sayid, who neither recognized Jin nor cared. He seemed as emotionally detached as he does on the island nowadays, in fact. Jin and Sun come so close to happily-ever-after (next episode's title, by the way), but then Patchy just had to get some shots off in Sun's direction first. Doesn't look good for her, or her baby. But Jin's gonna get them to a hospital. How much you wanna wager it's gonna be St. Sebastian's?

Checking in on Q & A

From now to the end of the series in this space, we'll be taking notes on how the show is doing in answering the questions we posed at the midpoint of Season Six in this blog

Answered

"Where is Desmond?" and "What's locked up under heavy guard on the sub?"

Both answered in the same moment!

"Whose headquarters is the Lighthouse?"

We pretty much already knew, but Jack did us the favor here of calling it "Jacob's Lighthouse."

"Are Sun and Jin married in the Side-Verse? If yes, why isn't she wearing a ring, and why is customs calling her ‘Miss Paik'?" and "How did Jin get from LAX Customs to Keamy's pantry?"

We now know all these things and more, including why Jin was carrying all that extra cash and that Sun - as speculated in my recap of the premiere - does not speak English.

Expanded Upon

What is "the Sickness"?
We now also know it can manifest differently in different people.

"How is Flocke planning to leave the island, and why does he require followers?"

He says he is going to take the Ajira plane, and that he can only leave if he 'has' (kills?) all remaining candidates.

"Why isn't Kate's name included among the candidates when we know she was touched?"

We now know it was, once. But now we have the new question of, why did it get erased when she's not dead? Was it because Jacob, when she was a girl, tasked her to "be good"… and she wasn't? Or is it because it's obvious that her nature is as a runner, not a stayer, and obviously to replace Jacob one has to be a stayer?

"What is 'the War'… has it not already been going on?
Flocke informs Widmore that it has now begun with the kidnapping of Jin.

What is the Monster?
We know also now that he lacks the ability to fly over water as the black smoke. Which then re-begs the question below, which we've actually been asking for some time…

Posed

WHO appeared as Christian Shephard on the freighter to Michael and at the barracks to Lapidus and Sun (while Flocke was still on Hydra with Ben) if Smokey can not travel over water or be in two places at once?
Was Jacob appearing as Christian? Then why did Christian tell Sun and Lapidus to hang tight and wait for "Locke" to show up? Was Christian (has Christian all along perhaps been) appearing as… wait for it… HIMSELF? I mean, after all, we HAVE never found his body. And if Jacob's not him… and if Smokey's not him… then… could it be?

Why did Sun linger so long looking in her mirror before answering the door?
It was like she noticed something, or saw something that wasn't quite right. Reminded me a bit of Jack's reflection in the season premiere where he couldn't seem to figure out how he got that shaving cut on his neck (which is a question I neglected to list in the Q&A blog)…

Why is Widmore's team led by a geophysicist on a mission to find the magnetic pockets of energy?

Ah, Zoe… your name means life, but everyone I know wants you not to exist…