Lost: Season 3, Episode 2: The Glass Ballerina Review

Note: Sorry anybody who has wanted these sooner, I simply didn't have the time the last few months. I have notes on some episodes, so hopefully the reviews will be up in the coming weeks. I have no idea when I'll get to doing 24 reviews for this season, which may take a while since this season was subpar. The Lost reviews are my priority as far as this blog is concerned.

The Glass Ballerina
Original Airdate: October 11, 2006
Writer: Jeff Pinkner and Drew Goddard
Director: Paul Edwards

Like last season, these opening episodes serve to update us on the status of the castaways, who were dispersed more than ever. Considering the cliffhangers, it would make sense that the trio in the hatch would be the focus of the second episode instead of the trio on the Elizabeth. Originally, this episode was produced third, but was shown second. Sun, Jin and Sayid weren’t in any mortal peril like the raft pack last year. It’s interesting that the programmers made that decision. Months later, no reason’s been given to why this was given priority, so we can only speculate.

Last time we saw them, the crew of Elizabeth was planning to ambush The Others before they could take the rescue crew. A few days have passed, so it’s safe for Sayid to presume that something has gone wrong. It’s possible he could tie that to the discharge of The Swan station since he has no idea they weren’t related. This drawback could easily send them back to the beach, but before they do, they find the Pala Ferry pier, and suddenly the game plan changes.

Sayid’s plan, to ambush The Others Elizabeth and kill all but two to interrogate, makes a Sayid episode a possible better fit for this episode’s focus. Sayid has had vengeance on his mind since Shannon died, and planning to get payback would’ve worked well to parallel against a prior time Sayid did something like that in Iraq.

However, they decide to focus on Sun and Jin’s relationship, further showing its dark side. The affair some speculated in “The Whole Truth” has been confirmed with Sun and Jae in bed. This also makes him a candidate for the father of Sun’s baby. Some still hold on to the belief that they didn’t get that far, but that is naïve. Obviously ABC can’t show explicit sex, so some things have to be implied, which can be tough considering “Lost’s” nature.

This nature not to spell everything out leads to some speculation that shouldn’t be bothered. In this episode, it is whether Jae Lee committed suicide or if someone threw him out. Lindelof and Cuse confirmed that Jae’s death was suicide. This piece has to make someone wonder what else is just made into something it isn’t.

Jin implies that he knows more English than the rest are led on to, which is a long running theory fans have had about Jin. Although Jin isn’t fluent, the way the other characters act and inflect their speech can give him the gist of what they’re saying. This kind of theorizing can be tricky because Daniel Dae Kim is fluent in English, so some of his actions may be accidents in his performance (that is not to say Daniel Dae Kim doesn’t do great work on Lost, he does).

Jin implies that he knows of Sun’s affair, and the scene where he confronts Jae could be seen as his confirmation. I’m not sure how that works, considering previously he has no other reason to believe that, especially with the scene in “The Whole Truth”. However, this could be the controlling side of Jin rearing its ugly head again.

One thing worth noting; I believe this is the first time on “Lost” where Sun and Jin’s conversations are subtitled when in presence of a non-Korean speaker. Perhaps this is symbolic of how integrated they have become with the castaways.

The boat showed the trio the four-toed statue and the pier. Any more information they can find can seriously jeopardize The Others’ operation. Therefore, the Others’ operation to usurp Elizabeth makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how easily they did it, without Jin and Sayid noticing. Just where were they looking? The Others were on the pier!

Because of the seizure, Sun shoots Colleen. Unfortunately, Colleen fails to realize that Sun has no reason to trust The Others. Since she’s tight lipped about their operations, she can’t explain to Sun why they behave as they do either. This can certainly be frustrating to viewers, as Colleen could be withholding simply because the story needs her to get shot in the gut. Considering Colleen deemed Sun not the enemy, how would that affect what happened to Ethan? Do they even know what happened? Would The Others only deem those who killed one of their own the enemy? What does Colleen’s shooting mean to the castaways?

As the premiere was the trio’s introduction into The Others’ society, this episode felt like the first ordinary day, in the case of Kate and Sawyer, a day working at a rock quarry. Unless manual labor is meant to break their spirits, is there something underneath this rock that The Others hope to find?

It’s odd that they would have Kate working in the quarry wearing a flimsy sun dress as opposed to work clothes like every one else. They are using the allure of Kate bending over and getting sweaty as a way to bait Sawyer. Obviously there is chemistry there, and this dynamic is pushed to an extreme, possibly on purpose by The Others. This could explain why Pickett is so antagonistic towards them. Is this behavior a part of some experiment to create a stronger bond between Kate and Sawyer?

Considering Ben watches Sawyer as he expresses his plan to turn the table against The Others, the possibility that The Others were pretending to be inexperienced as part of the con is now a possibility. However, considering we know nothing about what The Others are planning to do, anything can be considered part of an elaborate con. In this game, The Others are further ahead than the trio may realize.

Alex’s cameo offers some further insight into the dynamics between The Others. In “Maternity Leave”, Alex broke rank to break Claire out of captivity. She also showed interest in Claire when she asked Michael about her in “Three Minutes”. These moments add to the bond she’s creating with some of the castaways, so it would make sense that she would engage with one of the captives, albeit covertly. The schism between The Others is given some concrete foundation with the reveal that Karl wasn’t a plant.

For Jack, who Juliet broke last episode, Ben is coaxing him into an unknown future project, with the reward being a trip home. There is still some resilience because Jack has no reason to trust Ben or The Others, but Ben tries to rebuild that by showing Jack a tape (which couldn’t be directly shown because it was a Fox broadcast) of The Boston Red Sox’s historic World Series win a few years ago. Being from New England, although I’m apathetic to the team, I did get a kick out of this. It recalls Christian’s expression “That’s why the Red Sox will never win the World Series”, his resignation that fate ultimately decided his life, not free will. The Red Sox “breaking the curse” as many fans call it offers a strong argument for free will. And such an argument would be a great motivator for Jack to get on board with what The Others want him to do.

Recalling “Live Together, Die Alone”, we’re reminded that little time has passed since Ben’s captivity to the present, which is easy to forget with weekly installments and hiatuses, unless there is a constant reminder like on “24”. There are only a few weeks on the island until the terrible tsunami that hit the day after Christmas. That could certainly affect what’s happening on the island, but hopefully they won’t explain that something on the island triggered it, which would be in bad taste.

Considering the events we left off with on the various characters on the island, this didn’t feel like the logical second step. Technically it wasn’t. Of course, the technique of only covering a few people per episode is still a little frustrating the second time around, but it did work out as the second season gelled.

Overall Score: 7/10