Initial Reaction to "The Package"

Okay, let's get the dirty jokes out of the way now. The title "The Package" can't help but make me laugh. I can only imagine the euphemisms being thrown out in the writers room as they wrote this episode. Between the title and Sun's undone sweater-buttons, this episode was all sorts of scantily-clad. There was also much more to it than that. There was more Season One nostalgia, lots of Korean (Including an annoying V promotional countdown clock that was subsequently blocking the subtitled translations of said Korean. Grrrrr, ABC!), Sayid Ninja-moves, Room 23, electromagnetism, more Evil-Tina Fey, and most importantly, our beloved Scots-brotha, Desmond David Hume. After the past two episodes, I can feel the momentum truly picking up. I can only hope that the pace continues. Now, let's talk about "The Package" (Giggle).

From Lostpedia

Here are some of my thoughts, questions, and theories on "The Package" (Some of which were written while viewing the episode.):

Questions:

• Why does Charles Widmore need Jin? Why didn't he take anyone else?
• Why does the Man in Black say that both Kate and Claire's names aren't on the wall/Jacob's list?
• Are the two worlds (the island and the flash sideways) bleeding together somehow?
• Why does MIB need all of the candidates to leave the island with him?
• Why will everyone "cease to be" if the Man in Black leaves the island?
• Is John Locke's personality somehow melding into MIB?
• Why did Widmore hire a geophysicist to bring to the island? 
• What interest does Zoe have in maps of the island and electromagnetism?   
• Will Sun die in the flash sideways? Will the baby survive?
• What happens if Sun does die in the flash sideways? Will the other Sun be effected?
• Why did Widmore bring Desmond back to the island?
• Did MIB send Sayid to infiltrate or annihilate?
• What is Desmond's significance to the story?
• Where are Penny and Charlie?
• Is there another storm coming?

From Lostpedia

Notes:

• Thanks, Tom Bergeron, but I don't need an episode synopsis from you. Don't go over your allotted time and just put LOST on, please. 
• I totally thought the night-vision camera in the beginning was the Smoke Monster.
• "Want some cocoa?" Sawyer
• MIB is totally twirling a stick. That's pretty Locke-like.
• "The only way we can leave the island is if all the names that haven't been crossed off go together." MIB
• Come on. Is it Sun or Jin already? I'm getting a little sick of "It says Kwon, but I'm not sure which Kwon it is." This better be important, because they're dragging it the hell out. Just tell us already. Is it Sun, Jin, both, Ji Yeon or all of the above?
• Sun and Jin aren't married. What the hell?
• "I don't feel anything. Anger, happiness, pain. I don't feel it anymore." Sayid "Maybe that's best, Sayid. It'll help you get through what's coming." MIB
• What exactly is coming, MIB?
• Hey, Sawyer? If you have a deal with Charles Widmore, I wouldn't go around broadcasting it to everyone.
• Here come the darts. It's Widmore's nerds.
• They attacked as soon as Locke/MIB left camp.
• Ben is asking a lot of questions for someone who was digging his own grave just a few hours ago. I'd keep my mouth shut around the woman with the gun.
• "Hugo will find him. He will track him down and bring him back." Ilana "Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I'm not sure Hurley can track anything." Miles "Hey! Don't talk about bacon." Frank
• Uh, guys? First of all, you noticed Hurley leave? Second, you didn't bother going after him?
• "Jacob has never lied to me before." Ilana
• I'm not sure if it's just me, but is this starting to feel like "All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again." or what?
• Sun is PISSED.
• Jack talks to Sun about when she began planting her garden in Hearts & Minds.  
• "Feels like a hundred years ago." Jack
• Finally, someone tells Jack to leave them the hell alone.
• "I don't want to hear about how this is our purpose, or destiny. I just want you to go away and leave me alone." Sun
• Although, for as much as I've hated Jack over the entire course of the series, I am kind of enjoying him being the "man of faith" this season. Mostly because that makes John Locke right and Jack wrong this whole time.
• So, Jin was delivering the money to Keamy Walken. Which means, more Keamy. That's cool with me. You can never have enough Martin Keamy doing a Christopher Walken impersonation. Maybe he'll make more eggs.
• Okay, so Jin and Sun are together, but they're not married. Does Mr. Paik not know?
• Sun is a good tease. I was all "No, Sun...don't...button...it." Also, I liked Yunjin Kim's acting in that scene.
• Oh, come on! Why can't Locke/MIB just turn into the Smoke Monster while he's running after Sun in the jungle?! That would have been so awesome. I just want to see it happen once.
• Also, Locke/MIB's encounter with Sun at her garden reminded me of Locke talking with Sun in ...And Found, after finding her there upset, and asking her the same thing, "Bad day?" 
• I've noticed a trend in that MIB keeps offering his hand to people, and no one will take it.
• "I would never make you do anything against your will." MIB
• Note to self: Never look back when you're running away from someone.
• Sun plans to run away, but this time it's not from Jin, but with him, which is what Jin wanted to do in the first place in the other timeline.
• Sun has a secret bank account and was planning to run away with Jin all along.
• Before Keamy knocks on the hotel door, Sun says "There's something you need to know." to Jin, which is presumably that she is pregnant.
• Keamy coming to the hotel door while Sun and Jin are together reminded me of when Mr. Paik came to the hotel when Sun was having an affair with Jae Lee in The Glass Ballerina.
• Sun looks in the mirror, and she seems to recognize something, which is another common theme that's been in every episode of this season so far. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it seems like they are somehow hinting that there is some crossover between the flash sideways and the original timeline.
• Sun wakes from her unconscious state after MIB was chasing her in the jungle only able to speak Korean.
• Uhhh.. Sun hit her head and not she can't remember ENGLISH? That's convenient.
• When MIB gets back to camp, he appears to be worried and concerned when it looks as though everyone might be dead.
• Jin is put in Room 23 at The Hydra station.
• When he turns on the DHARMA video it says "Think about--your life--we are the causes of our own suffering--everything changes."
• "It's called Room 23. The DHARMA Initiative was doing experiments on subliminal messaging in here." Zoe
• Zoe shows Jin a map, she says "These are big maps that the DHARMA people used to identify pockets of electromagnetism."
• Exactly how many pockets of electromagnetism are there? Widmore's interest in them makes me wonder if he is somehow going to use them against MIB or for Desmond. I'm not sure which one it is yet.
• MIB tells Claire that her name isn't on the wall, and neither is Kate's.
• "When we go home, Aaron's not going to know me. I'm a stranger to my own son. He thinks Kate's his mother." Claire
• Yeah, that's right, Claire. That's because YOU LEFT HIM IN THE JUNGLE.
• "I need Kate, because I'm three people shy from getting off this island, and Kate can help me get these people on that plane." MIB
• Those three people must be Sun, Jack and Hurley. But, one question, MIB. How exactly do you plan on turning that plane around and flying it?
• "But, once she does, then whatever happens, happens." MIB
• That line makes me believe that maybe MIB isn't so good, because he's insinuating to Claire that she can just go and kill Kate if she wants to when all of this is over. Although, I still don't understand why Kate hasn't just told Claire that Aaron is with her freaking mother. That might make the situation just a little bit better. You're not exactly helping your cause, Kate. The crazy squirrel lady wants to kill you.
• "What do you need a boat for? Can't you just turn into smoke and fly your ass over the water?" Sawyer "Do you think if I could do that, I would still be on this island?" MIB "No, because that would be ridiculous!" Sawyer
• So, Smokey can't travel across water. That's good to know. We did see Locke/MIB leave The Hydra island last season with Ben on the outrigger canoe.
• Jin was delivering the watch and money to Keamy.
• Umm.. Keamy? I'm pretty sure that speaking to people in a language that they don't understand only LOUDER doesn't make them understand it any better. You and Ana Lucia need to COMPREHEND that.
• "I feel like I'm in a damn Godzilla movie." Keamy
• "What's that guy's name? The Russian guy? Speaks like nine different languages?" Keamy
• Mikhail knows Keamy. That's so awesome.
• Keamy mentions that Mikhail is Danny's friend. Could that be Danny Pickett?
• "Don't worry about that! Your secret is safe with me. Just bring me the money and then we all could live happily ever after." Keamy
• They ask him not to tell Mr. Paik, but the dude already knows.
• Keamy mentions "Happily Ever After." Foreshadowing much?
• "For the fourth time. I was gathering mangoes and she was already unconscious when I found her. Why don't you believe me?" Ben "Because you're speaking." Ilana
• "She hits her head and forget English? We're supposed to buy that?" Miles "Asks the man who communes with the dead." Frank
• Jack says it might be Aphasia--a condition that's caused by trauma and effects the language center of the brain, which is usually temporary. Again, how convenient.
• At least it's not Amnesia.
• MIB approaches the beach on The Hydra island, which is lined with Widmore's pylons. This is one thing that bothers me, and I understand why they do it, but still. The Smoke Monster can't get past the pylons, but we've seen in the past, when Kate, Sayid, Rousseau and Locke used a tree to get OVER the pylons. Why can't the all-powerful freaking Smoke Monster just go over the damn thing? Obviously it doesn't harm you, they aren't that high, and we've seen the Smoke Monster move in all sorts of directions, including underground. So, why can't he go up? Well, that would just be too easy and would defeat the entire purpose of the pylons and the storytelling. I get it. It just bothers me.
• "Obviously you're not John Locke. Everything else I know is a combination of myth, ghost stories, and jungle noises in the night." Widmore "I think you know more than that, judging by these pylons." MIB
• Widmore lies to MIB about having Jin with him.
• "A wise man once said that war was coming to this island. I think it just got here." MIB
• In The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham, Charles Widmore told John Locke (About going back to the island.) "Because there's a war coming, John. And if you're not back on the Island when that happens, the wrong side is going to win." 
• Damn straight, MIB. Widmore is the war that he said was coming to the island.
• Richard says they're going to The Hydra island to destroy the Ajira plane, so MIB can't leave.
• "I understand--you idiot." Sun
• DON'T mess with Sun. Seriously. She's one BAMF.
• "I don't think she wants to come." Hurley
• Mr. Paik closed Sun's "secret" bank account.
• "Hey. I'm an Arab." Omar
• So, now we know why Jin was in the restaurant refrigerator when Sayid was there.
• "I don't think you realize how unhappy Mr. Paik was when he realized that you were doing his little girl. You know the twenty-five grand that you were supposed to deliver? That was my fee for popping you. From what I hear, everyone that works for Paik knows the cardinal rule. Hands off the boss' daughter. But you couldn't resist it, could you? The heart wants what the heart wants." Keamy "Thank you." Jin
• "I'm sorry. Some people just aren't meant to be together." Keamy
• Mr. Paik was going to have Jin killed for screwing his daughter. That dude doesn't fuck around. AT ALL.
• It's kind of messed up that Sun was unknowingly almost going to pay Keamy herself to have him kill Jin. It's also messed up that Mr. Paik sent Jin to deliver the money to Keamy himself. Again, must run in the family.
• Martin Keamy is one twisted dude.
• "Maybe you should put a Mercenary in charge, instead of a geophysicist." Zoe
• Yeah, Widmore. Remember the last time that happened?
• Widmore tells Zoe to get "the package" from the sub and take it to the Infirmary.
• "It's not a what. It's a who." Charles Widmore
• Finally, we're finding out what was locked up on that damn sub. Actually, I shouldn't complain. We found out pretty quickly. I'm glad that they didn't drag it out too long. Although, it will probably be revealed in the last 10 seconds of this episode.
• Widmore shows Jin Sun's camera and photographs of his daughter, Ji Yeon. This is the first time that Jin has ever seen her.
• "I have a daughter too. I know what it's like to be kept apart. I understand, the one thing you want is to be reunited with your wife and daughter, but it would be short lived if that thing masquerading as John Locke ever got off this island. Your wife, your daughter, my daughter, everyone we know and love would simply cease to be. I came her to make sure that doesn't happen." Widmore
• Sayid finds Jin in the restaurant refrigerator. He doesn't really care, but he gives Jin a razor to fee himself.
• Jin hides on the floor of the kitchen with the other bodies when Mikhail comes in with Sun.
• Keamy is still alive. Of course he is.
• Jin shoot Mikhail in the damn eye! That's so awesome.
• Also, of course Mikhail dies again, and Jin shoots him in the eye. He had to. Course correction, brotha.
• Sun gets shot. She tells Jin she's pregnant.
• Jack tells Sun about a patient he had during his residency, that he was in a car crash, banged his head, and when he woke up, he couldn't talk, that one of his nurses said that just because he can't speak, it doesn't mean that he can't write.
• Jack gives Sun some paper and a pen, so she can write in English.
• "That's one stubborn tomato. I guess no one told it that it was supposed to die." Jack
• "You're not the first person to tell me to leave them alone." Jack
• Sun tells Jack that "Locke" said he had Jin and that she didn't go wit him because she doesn't trust him.
• Jack says that he'll help Sun find Jin and he'll get them on the plane and as far away from the island as they can get. He promises.
• Sun takes Jack's hand, unlike MIB's. Somehow this seems symbolic to me. Perhaps, it means that Jack may be the new Jacob.
• I'm enjoying Sun actually having something to do on the show right now. I was getting a little sick of the "My husband!" every two seconds. Although, that's pretty much what she did in this episode, accept in Korean. At least she had more than two lines though, and she got to be angry and yell at Jack and Richard and stomp her feet in the sand. I'm actually surprised she didn't take any casualties. Don't mess with Sun. She doesn't fuck around either. It must run in the family.
• Alright, I got it. V is on next. Come on, ABC. We all know. Between the commercials and the countdown clock, we got the message. Loud and clear.
• "You look like your brain took a little stroll." Sawyer "Why aren't you worried, James?" Kate "I am worried. I'm just really good at pretending I ain't. But, I got a feeling this is almost over, because if Locke rode over there on a boat with Sayid, then Charlie Widmore blew him right out of the water." Sawyer "And what if he didn't?" Kate "Well, then we're screwed six weeks from Sun--aw, hell." Sawyer
• No, Sawyer referring to Charles Widmore as "Charlie" does not mean that Charles Widmore is his own grandfather. They're just poking fun at us now, people. There's been enough incest on this show already.
• "I don't like secrets." MIB
• Desmond sees Sayid. My two buddies reunite.
• Sayid is like a ninja. He just waits. Underwater.
• Of course it's Desmond. I knew it.

Another great episode. I'm really interested to see what they're going to do with Desmond. If they're going to bring him back, and take him away from his family, it better be for a good reason. This dude better be special like they've been saying all along. Desmond was the one character on this show that I really wanted to just have a happy ending, and if they're not going to give him that and say that "the rules don't apply to him," it damn well better be for a good reason. Desmond is perhaps the most beloved and important character of the series and to not give him the resolution in which is character struggled to achieve for years would be not only sad, but it would make me angry. Regardless of my personal feelings about the character though, I am interested in knowing why Desmond is "uniquely and miraculously special," as Daniel Faraday said. I've always thought that, in some way, Desmond would be the key to the whole story. Perhaps, though, Desmond transcends both time and space and his story can end happily after all.