s2e05: ...and Found

Kind of a wimpy title. I guess one of the plots is about Sun losing her wedding ring, but nothing else of any significance is really "found," is it?

In what I guess is the main plot, the supremely bossy Ana Lucia decides that Michael, Jin, and Sawyer are going to head across the island to find our heroes' camp. Michael, however, just takes off to find Walt. Jin and Shaft (whose name is apparently "Mr. Echo," however much sense that makes) take off after him. Ana Lucia, Sawyer, Bernard and a couple women whose names I don't remember keep going the other way. In the end, Jin and Mr. Echo catch up to Michael after seeing the feet of the "others." They manage to convince him that he will find Walt, but that the others won't be found if they don't want to be, and everyone just sort of walks away.

In the other plot, Sun loses her wedding ring and flips out a little. We see in the backstory how they met - Jin's friend reads his fortune and tells him love will be colored "orange" for him. He gets a job at a ritzy hotel as the doorman, under strict orders not to let in anyone common like himself. He does anyway and decides to quit. Meanwhile, Sun thinks she's starting to date the heir to the hotel chain, but he really just wants to be friends; he's using her to get his parents off his back before he moves to America and marries someone else. Walking along after quitting, Jin sees a woman in a skimpy orange dress pass him. He turns to watch her go, and when he turns back runs straight into Sun. It's apparently love at first sight.

Finally, as Drew mentioned, it is confirmed that Kate likes Sawyer. Whoopty-freakin-doo. You do have to wonder why she would, but let's bear in mind a couple things: 1) Kate is something of a dangerous character herself; 2) Sawyer does reveal a heart of gold from time to time. He really feigns aloof but comes through when things are actually on the line (just as he did by stomping out of the house when he saw the kid back in S1).

Did I forget anything? Probably not, but even if I did, there wasn't much worth mentioning in the whole episode. I know that in 22 episodes or so they can't all be loaded with plot, and I like a lot of the character-driven episodes, but this one was nothing special - Sun and Jin's backstory is like a condensation of a schmaltzy romantic comedy, and aside from the fact that they don't wear shoes and there is apparently a kid among them (Alex, perhaps? It didn't seem to be Walt), we really didn't learn anything about the "others." If there's more than about fifteen seconds from this episode used in, cumulatively, every single "previously on Lost" for the rest of the season, I'll be shocked.

ABC appears to be justifying the three-week hiatus with the promise that someone will be killed off in the next episode. The teaser wants you to think it's Sawyer, which means it is almost certainly not. A few other people were flashed as possible candidates. I heard a rumor from a loud guy at work (who was talking to someone else, but loudly!) that it was...

DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHO IT MIGHT BE! SPOILERS!!








...Shannon.

And I mean, good riddance. Boy, do I hope it's her. Talk about the worst character of the entire first season (though if you ask me, Ana Lucia will need some deepening to avoid challenging her for worst in the show's run), for several reasons. First, she almost never does anything useful - aside from the French in the pilot. (After that, she really only assists in the French translation as a means to get into Sayid's pants.) She's a totally self-absorbed bitch, and this never actually changes. If that weren't enough, we see in the finale that she sent the airport security after "this Arab guy" - aka Sayid - basically just to prove to Boone that she could be a total bitch and get away with it, or something. It's just a shame he doesn't manage to remember that she's the one he asked to watch his bag. But yeah - useless, whiny, annoying, self-centered, and just plain uninteresting. (As far as backstories go, Shannon and Boone's has to have been the worst.) Boone at least got some depth before he died, but Shannon hasn't yet and I doubt she will. I'm not going to miss the character, if indeed it's her. If not... well, I guess it will just be a big surprise, then.