Just when we thought we’d seen the last of our favorite Scotsman, Desmond returned in the denouement of the sixth season’s tenth episode, “The Package.” Eloise Hawking’s works rang true: “The Island isn’t done with you yet.”
But the majority of “The Package” was centered upon Jin and Sun and their relationship both in the flash-sideways timeline and the Island timeline. While the episode’s press release seemed to hint at a reunion between the two, we didn’t get to see that this week, unfortunately enough. However, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t get to see the two together — the flash-sideways timeline was all about their story leading up to – and past – the final flash-sideways in “Sundown.” And boy, was it a good one.
As it turns out, speculating fans were right about the couple in the reset timeline — the lack of wedding ring was definitely significant. The two were not married, and in fact were hiding the relationship from Sun’s father, Mr. Paik. This means that their relationship moved in the exact opposite way that it did in the original timeline — in that one, Jin started working for Mr. Paik because he was in love with Sun. “Some people just aren’t meant to be together,” said a sympathetic Keamy, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. It seems that Jin and Sun weren’t meant to be apart.
Of course, the flash-sideways timeline was very, very dark; it seems that the Island being sunken in that timeline actually has released some sort of darkness into the world, because Sun and Jin were much worse off in this timeline than they were in the original one — and, unlike in Sayid’s flash, that isn’t a debatable fact. Sun’s pregnancy was left in jeopardy when she was wounded in a shootout. And, unlike most flashes, there wasn’t any happy ending. Jin carried a bleeding Sun out of the camera shot, and that was the last of it. It’s chilling to think that we won’t have a resolution to this fact for at least a couple of weeks, because next episode will almost certainly be Desmond-centric.
The flash-sideways wasn’t without its — how can I put this — interesting moments. A scene in which Sun seduced Jin featured some rather blatant camera angles that were very racy for a network series. But the best part of the flash-sideways was the return of Mikhail, whom we hadn’t seen since the season three finale, “Through the Looking Glass.” And while he had both eyes, Jin shot one out at the end of the episode. It was a predictable move, but it was no less awesome to see play out. We still don’t know how he gained his patch in the Island timeline, but I’d like to know (even though that’s not very likely at this stage in the game, is it?).
It was also nice to see Keamy and Omar once more. Though Keamy had been hired for a pretty nasty job (to kill Jin), he seemed like a pretty nice guy. He definitely seemed nicer than he was in the original timeline, though of course we only saw him in a much different situation. I also liked Omar’s double-take when Keamy called Sayid an “Arab.” “I’m an Arab,” he said obstinately. Keamy only smirked. That’s the most character development Omar has gotten yet, and it’s funny to see him be more than the stereotypical silent goon.
The Island timeline contained less meat than the flash-sideways timeline, though neither had many real shockers. While Sun was out fixing up her garden (nice to see that again — very season 1), she was confronted by Locke, who tempted her with a reunion with Jin. She didn’t believe him, though, and fled, eventually knocking herself out on a tree. When she woke up, she was unable to speak English — she could only speak Korean because of her concussion. This made communication difficult, and she couldn’t confirm Ben’s story. Ilana, skeptical that Ben wasn’t the culprit, didn’t believe him on the principle that “he was talking.” That’s Ilana’s most relevant quote ever.
Meanwhile, on the Hydra Island, Claire spoke to Locke (before he went to go chat with Sun) about the list of names on the wall. He confirmed that she wasn’t a candidate, and that Kate wasn’t a candidate “anymore.” So that means Kate’s done something to get taken off the list. My guess on what this was? She took Aaron off the Island.
Anyway, as soon as Locke took off, the people from Widmore’s sub attacked, subduing everyone in the camp with some sort of darts that rendered them quickly unconscious. They had come for Jin, and they carried him without waking anyone else up. It was great to see Jin finally have some relevance — he’s been sitting around for most of the season.
The Subbies took him to Room 23, which we hadn’t seen since “Not in Portland,” back in season three. The brainwashing video inside was apparently DHARMA messing around with subliminal messaging. That’s very interesting — there was something in there that the Others liked, apparently. And why would it mention Jacob all that much if DHARMA did it? Was DHARMA aware of Jacob?
They were using the room as a prison, though — not because they wanted to brainwash him. In fact, they were rather courteous to Jin, even if they did tase him a couple of times. They did agree to take him to Charles Widmore, who showed him the camera which they had found in the wreckage of the Ajira flight. It was Sun’s and it featured pictures of Sun and Ji Yeon, which she had obviously intended to show Jin when she met him. Jin was appreciative, and shed a couple of tears when he saw the photos of Sun and his daughter without him. They weren’t bitter tears, though — they were happy ones. That was when Widmore decided he would show Jin “the Package” that he had kept locked up in that submarine. And, as Sayid found out in the very last minutes of the episode, the Package behind that locked door was good old Desmond, who apparently had returned to the Island against his will, and under heavy sedation.
“The Package” was slower than it should have been, especially as a follow-up to last week’s beautifully done “Ab Aeterno.” There was too much time spent with Sun and Jin talking about how much they wanted to be together and not enough time bringing them back together. However, a unique flash-sideways and an even better ending reveal saved the episode from that dreaded category of “filler.” B
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