Episode Analysis of 1.06 "House of the Rising Sun"

WARNING: If you have not already seen all of LOST, please DO NOT READ THIS.

My LOST re-watch and episode analysis will include major details from the entirety that is LOST, and will be written with the perspective of having seen everything already. You will be SPOILED if you read any further. It is far better if you learn the story of LOST for yourself, as it is meant to be seen. Trust me on this, and don't say that I didn't warn you first. Seriously. Stop it. Now. Go watch it.

To read my original post on this episode, please refer to House of the Rising Sun.

This episode was written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and directed by Michael Zinberg. It originally aired on October 27th, 2004.

This is a Sun Hwa-Kwon flashback-centric episode.

We begin with the opening of Sun Hwa-Kwon's eye. She's picking flowers from plants on the Island. She smells one of them. On the beach, at the shore-line, her husband, Jin-Soo Kwon, is fishing. Nearby, Jack and Kate do a horrible job at flirting. Charlie makes fun of them, as would I.

3.09 Stranger In A Strange Land

1. Sawyer and Kate are rowing back to the island, Kate says to go back, she doesn't want to leave Jack behind, Sawyer says no, that they'll kill them.
2. Jack is back in his cell, Tom says they're moving him, he thinks they're going to kill him.
3. "Oh, I don't know, Tom--the kind of people that would take a pregnant woman, that would hang Charlie from a tree, would drag our people out of the jungle, would kidnap children. That's the kind of people I think you are." Jack "You see this glass house you're living in, Jack? How about I get you some stones?" Tom
4. The Others have Juliet in handcuffs when they move Jack, they're putting her in his cell, a woman is escorting her.
5. Jack is in Phuket, Thailand, staying on the beach, he buys soda from a kid, a woman helps him with his kite, Achara.
6. They put Jack in Sawyer's cage, Tom brings Jack a cheese sandwich, he asks why they put Juliet in his cell, he says Juliet's in trouble, for him to stay put, but Jack points out the camera that they're watching him on, asks about the woman, the Sheriff.
7. Kate wants to sail around the island, but Sawyer says no, camp for the night.
8. Karl wakes up, he says the other island isn't where they live, just where they work, on projects, that they live on the main land, they gave the kids a better life than theirs, Alex and him made up names for the constellations in his backyard, he points out Ursa Theodorus, the Teddy Bear.
9. Juliet is let out to examine Ben, she wants Jack to help her, to look at Ben, shows him a photograph she just took of Ben's stitches, Jack says they're infected, she says she just killed someone, that it's complicated, but Jacks says no.
10. Jack eats at the restaurant of Achara's brother, she asks Jack why he didn't know how to fly a kite, he says his dad wasn't around, she says she has no interest in his father, asks if he's in Phuket to find himself, a man gives her an envelope filled with money, she tells Jack that she has a gift, Jack says it must be one hell of a gift.
11. The Sheriff reads Jacks tattoos, says the 5 and the stars are cute, but the Chinese is ironic, asks Jack if he knows what it says, says her name is Isabel, wants to talk to him and ask him questions, takes him with her, tells Alex to go check on her father.
12. Isabel takes Jack to a room where Juliet and Tom are waiting, she says they don't live on this island, that they don't even like going there, there was an incident she's investigating, wants to ask him questions, clear up inconsistencies, she asks Tom if Jack made comments about Juliet asking him to kill Ben, Tom says yes, she asks Jack the same thing, but he struggles to answers her, he says that he was lying, turned them against eachother to create chaos, Isabel asks why he's lying for Juliet, he wants to go back to his cage. From Lostpedia
13. Jack is sleeping, Achara shows up, he says it's been a month of her coming and going, she says there are things that happen, that he couldn't understand, he asks about her gift, she has sex with Jack to distract him from her being a gifted tattoo artist. Oops. From Lostpedia
14. Jack wakes up, there are people all around at his cage, Cindy says hi, Jack recognizes her, the Stewardess from the plane, asks if she was captured, she says it's not that simple, that they're there to watch, Emma wants to know how Ana Lucia is, Zack, her brother, is also there. still has his teddy bear, hands it to his sister.
15. "If you've got something to watch, Cindy, go watch it!! Go!!" Jack From Lostpedia
16. Sawyer and Kate wake up, Karl is gone, Sawyer finds him crying, hits him, tells him to go after Alex and find her, Karl says they'll kill him.
17. Alex smashes camera by Jack's cage, says he can tell the truth, asks him why he saved Ben after all they've done to him, that he should hate him, tells Jack they're going to read Juliet's verdict, that they're pretty strict about killing one of their own, she killed the man who was going to murder his friends, Jack asks if Ben is still in charge.
18. Alex takes Jack to Ben, he says he'd be more impressed if they had a capable surgeon, Ben tells Jack they had a surgeon, Ethan, Jack says he has a serious infection, he needs to be closely monitored, might be nerve damage or other complications, Jack wants to make a deal, wants him to let Juliet go too, Ben writes a note to stop the verdict. From Lostpedia
19. Jack stalks Achara, finds out that she's a tattoo artist, she says she sees who people are, her work is not a decoration, but definition, he asks her if she sees who he is, she says he's a leader, a great man, but it makes him lonely, frightened, angry, he says to put it on him, but she says it's against her people, that there will be consequences.
20. Jack and Alex stop Juliet's verdict, Isabel says Ben commuted her sentence, ordered her to be marked.
21. Jack gets beat up by Achara's brother and friends, who found out about the tattoo Achara gave him, Chet tells Jack he has to leave the country. From Lostpedia
22. Juliet brings Jack a grilled cheese the way he likes it, he makes her show him the mark they gave her, she asks why he helped her, he says Ben told them both he'd let them go, that they're going to make sure he keeps his promise together, Juliet tells him the Others will be coming for him, because his friends know where they are, so they have to leave that island to go back to where they live now, home. From Lostpedia
23. Sawyer tells Kate that he let Karl go, she says he could've let them back to where they live, but Sawyer says that he's a target, that Kate's upset about Jack because she feels guilty.
24. The Others are preparing to leave the smaller island, Isabel talks to Jack.
25. "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us. Your tattoos--that's what they say." Isabel "That's what they say. It's not what they mean." Jack From Lostpedia
26. Jack escorts Ben on a smaller boat to their large yacht, Kate and Sawyer walk in the dark with torches, Karl at a campfire, looks at the stars, across the sky, Alex is looking up at the stars as well, Juliet looking out on the boat, Jack joins her, they share a moment. From Lostpedia

Questions:

1. Who can't Jack put a kite together?
2. Did Jack figure out how to get a fish biscuit?
3. Where are the Others keeping the kids and Cindy?
4. Why doesn't Karl know who Bobby from The Brandy Bunch is?
5. Where are Bai Ling's other 5 episodes? I thought she had a big arc?

Favorites:

1. "Show me the way to go home; I'm tired and I want to go to bed; I had a little drink about an hour ago; And it went straight to my head." Sawyer
2. "What do you think Captain Bunny Killer's going to do if he catches us?" Sawyer
3. "Well, sure, like the steal-the-kid-off-the-raft project. That was a humdinger." Sawyer
4. "You have backyards?" Sawyer "Yeah." Karl "Well, ain't that quaint." Sawyer
5. "She wants to know how Ana Lucia's doing." Cindy "Are you serious?" Jack
6. "Ow!! What the hell was that for?!" Karl "So you'd cowboy up. Crying in the jungle. I thought you people were supposed to be tough." Sawyer "I am tough." Karl "Sure you are, Bobby. [Karl looks puzzled] Bobby, the Brady Bunch?" Sawyer "What the hell's the Brady Bunch?" Karl "Okay, anyway look, Karl--I've been with a lot of girls--some of them worth the trouble, some not. Every now and again there's one--one you name dumb stars with. So this girl, Sally Slingshot--" Sawyer "Alex." Karl
7. "Your bedside manner leaves something to be desired." Ben

Notes:

1. Good plan, Kate. You just went through all the trouble to get away, and now you want to go back and get Jack even after he just told you not to. Sorry Kate, I'm on Sawyer and Jack's side on this one.
2. Stranger in a strange land? Ohhhh, I get it!
3. Poor Jack. You have to stay in the cage Sawyer and Kate had sex in.
4. Worst sex scene ever? Yeah, I wasn't interested in this one.
5. Jack really sucks at stalking women.
6. Thai. Not Chinese. Thailand! Not China! Different!
7. Matthew Fox's actual tattoo says "Eagles high, cleaving sky."
8. Apparently Isabel dies off screen in Through the Looking Glass. What crap.
9. Sorry, LOST, but this one time, I just have to say... GAY! Even Exposé I can deal with compared to this, even Fire + Water! Probably the worst episode following best episode combo.

2.17 Lockdown

1. John is packing a picnic, he's going to ask Helen to marry him.
2. Helen reads the obituaries, Anthony Cooper is dead.
3. Henry Gale tells Jack and Locke about the map, that he was just kidding. Jack tells him to draw it again, but Locke says that it's too late. Jack tells Locke to put Henry back in the armory, and Henry asks why he lets Jack talk to him that way, which angers Locke
4. Sayid, Charlie and Ana Lucia search for Jennifer Gale's grave, Charlie finds it, and they find the balloon Henry claims took him to the island in the trees above them, "Proudly Sponsored By" Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack, Nozz-a-La Cola, a Widmore Labs logo, and Minnesota Metallurgy & Mining Co. logo. From Lostpedia
5. Jack checks on Aaron, who is now no longer sick.
6. Locke rides the exercise bike in the hatch, plays music, he hears voices on the loud speaker, 20 minutes to Lockdown, Locke tries to fix the speaker, feedback, 17 minutes to Lockdown, Henry asks what's the matter, what's going on.
7. Anthony Cooper's funeral, John and Helen are the only ones there, two guys watch from a distance, a car also.
8. "I forgive you." John says at Anthony's funeral.
9. In the Hatch, protocol, please proceed, countdown from 10, blast doors come down, but Locke manages to stick a crowbar underneath the door.
10. Locke is a home inspector in California, he inspects Nadia's house, he asks her about her husband, but she says she's not married. From Lostpedia
11. Locke sees the same car from his father's funeral, it's Anthony Cooper, he says he faked his death because the guys from the funeral that were watching were after him, he took them for $700,000, a retirement scam, the money is in a safe deposit box, wants John to get it for him and keep $200,000, says he'll understand if he never sees him again.
12. Locke tells Henry about the blast doors, asks him for help, Henry agrees but makes a deal for Locke to protect him.
13. Jack plays Sawyer in Texas Hold'em for the medicine.
14. Henry and Locke try to pry the blast door up, but it comes down on Locke's leg, traps him underneath, Henry tries to help Locke. From Lostpedia
15. Locke goes to safe deposit box 1516, gets the money.
16. When Locke goes home, there are two guys from the funeral waiting for him, asking about Anthony Cooper, if John knows if he's still alive, if he's seen him, he says no, they look in his bag and there are work papers, no money, Helen asks if he was lying, but Locke says that he was just scared.
17. Locke tells Henry Gale about the button, to go through the vent in the pantry, Henry falls and hits his head, is knocked out.
18. Jack catches Sawyer dealing from the bottom of the deck.
19. Jack wins in poker, takes all of Sawyer's fruit and the medicine, Sawyer asks why he didn't want the guns.
20. "When I need the guns, I'll get the guns." Jack
21. Henry wakes up while the timer is going off, he goes through the vent.
22. John at a hotel, an Oceanic Airlines plane flies overhead, he gives Anthony Cooper his money, and Anthony leaves John his, but Locke says that he didn't do it for the money. Anthony asks about Helen, John tells him that he's going to ask her to marry him that night.
23. When Anthony opens the door to leave, Helen is there, she followed John.
24. "Are you him?" Helen asks Anthony.
25. She leaves, but John follows her, asks her to marry him, but she says no and leaves, there is another Oceanic plane that flies overhead.
26. The alarm for the computer and the button is going off, numbers flipping sound, light out, then there is a black light that goes on, a map on the blast door in front of Locke. From Lostpedia
27. A few moments later, the doors go up, and Henry comes back.
28. Kate wants to go to the hatch for a shower, but Jack tells her the pipes are busted, they see a flashing light in the jungle, a beacon, a parachute, pallet, food drop, they run into Sayid, Charlie and Ana Lucia on their way back from the balloon. From Lostpedia
29. Henry says that he put in the numbers, but nothing happened, the clock flipped back, and then nothing, crawled back into the vent, and then the doors came up, the lights back on.
30. Sayid says that they found the balloon, the grave, but Sayid didn't believe it, so he dug up the grave, found a man's body, named Henry Gale.
31. "We did find your balloon, Henry Gale, exactly how you described it. We also found the grave you described. Your wife's grave. The grave you said you dug with your own bare hands. It was all there. Your whole story, your alibi, it was true. But still, I did not believe it to be true. So I dug up that grave and found that there was not a woman inside. There was a man." Sayid reveals the real Henry Gale's drivers license. From Lost Hatch

Questions:

1. Where are the food drops coming from? Where are they still coming after the purge happened? Does the Dharma Initiative know what happened?
2. Do the blast doors come down so that no one sees where the pallet comes from? How did no one see it?
3. Did Locke take the money from Cooper?
4. Who killed and buried the real Henry Gale? Why?
5. When are we going to have an episode about Jack learning to play poker in Phuket?

Favorites:

1. "Hey, maybe he left you his kidney." Helen
2. "Why don't you put your mangoes where your mouth is?" Sawyer
3. "So, where'd you learn to play cards, doc?" Sawyer "Phuket." Jack "What the hell were you doing in Thailand? What? You don't think I know where Phuket is? Just cause I dropped out in the 9th grade don't make me an idiot. Far East, huh? Wouldn't have taken you for a world traveler. that where you got the art on your shoulder?" Sawyer
4. "You may have been to Phuket, doc, but I've been to Tallahassee. Let's just say something was burning and it wasn't from the sunshine." Sawyer
5. "What's going on?" Libby "Jack and Sawyer are finally gonna beat eachother up." Hurley

Notes:

1. Sawyer's comment about Jack getting the art on his shoulder in Phuket, amongst Kate asking where Jack got his tattoos from earlier in House of the Rising Sun, opened up the vault for the possibly the worst episode ever, Stranger In A Strange Land, where there is an entire episode about Jack going to Phuket and getting a tattoo.
2. On the Blast Door Map, the Monster is called Cerberus.
3. In Solitary, Sayid states that Nadia is dead to Rousseau, but we clearly see that Nadia is alive and well in this episode.
4. Another indication that Anthony Cooper is the real Sawyer.
5. Sayid = one badass mutha fucka.

1.20 Do No Harm

1. Jack is trying to save Boone. His lung collapsed. Jack says he'll fix him.
2. Marc Silverman is Jack's best man. He's nervous about his wedding speech, but says he'll be okay after about 8 beers.
3. Sarah flipped over the divider, was hit head-on by SUV and Jack saved her.
4. "I will dance at our wedding." Sarah
5. Kate finds Claire going into labor in the jungle.
6. Boone's blood type is A negative. Jack is O positive.
7. Kate has to deliver the baby because Jack is giving Boone a blood transfusion.
8. "John said not to tell." Boone tells Jack about the plane, the hatch.
9. "We're here for God knows how long, and so is Boone." Shannon tells Sayid about her relationship with Boone.
10. Jack questions his father on whether he can be the father and the husband he wants to be, if he's marrying Sarah for the wrong reasons.
11. Jack wants Michael to help him amputate Boone's leg with the cargo door from the plane.
12. Claire is afraid to have the baby but Kate reasons with her.
13. "This baby is all of ours." Kate
14. "Don't tell me what I can't do." Jack tells Sun, who doubts he can save Boone.
15. "Because I'm not good at letting go, or maybe I'm afraid of what will happen if I fail. I didn't fix you. You fixed me." Jack steals his wedding vows from his dad.
16. "I know you made a promise, but I'm letting you off the hook. Let me go, Jack." Boone
17. Claire has the baby and Boone dies simultaneously. From Lostpedia
18. Jack tells Shannon about Boone dying.
19. "Boone didn't die. He was murdered." Jack

Questions:

1. Where did Jack's dad fly in from? Where is the wedding?
2. Does Jack love Sarah because he can't let go?
3. Does Sarah love Jack because he fixed her?
4. What was Boone going to say to Shannon?

Favorites:

1. Claire asking about the raft. "She likes me." Sawyer
2. Sayid leading Shannon to the secret beach.
3. "I don't know my bloody blood type!" Charlie
4. "Hopes, not expectations." Sayid
5. Jin and Charlie while Claire is giving birth.

Notes:

1. Jack tells Boone he'll fix him, as he promised Sarah he'd fix her.
2. Not much happens in this episode, but things that do happen are pivotal and have a huge impact on the series as a whole.
3. Maybe I'm mistaken, but if Boone was murdered, he still died, Jack.
4. When did Kate and Sun become Jack's nurses?
5. Marc Silverman is the same guy as Jack's childhood friend that he tried to save in from getting jumped in White Rabbit.
6. Jack setting Boone's leg makes me cringe every time.
7. Boone tells Jack that he's letting him off the hook, just as Rose did in White Rabbit.
8. Boone dying and the baby being born has black and white, yin and yang symbolism.
9. The slow motion, music playing scene where Jack tells Shannon about Boone is incredibly moving.
10. Boone is the first main character death.

1.06 House of the Rising Sun

From Lostpedia

1. "I have an irrational fear of bees. I think I'm allergic to them." Charlie steps on a beehive and is stung by bees several hundred times. From Lost Hatch
2. Adam and Eve, laid to rest, 40 or 50 years ago, with black and white stones in pocket. From Lostpedia
3. Walt's birthday is August 24.
4. "I know who you are, and I know what you're looking for." Locke, to Charlie.
5. Drive Shaft self-titled debut, second album, Oil Change. Locke owns Charlie's albums.
6. It's been 8 days and 11 hours since Charlie played his guitar.
7. "Is there a reason you didn't consult us when you decided to form your own civilization?" Sayid, to Jack about moving to the caves.
8. "Getting my boy rescued is my number one priority." Michael
9. Sun was supposed to leave Jin at 11:15 in the airport. From Lostpedia
10. "Don't talk to me like you know me." Charlie "What I know is this island might give you what you're looking for, but you have to give the island something." Locke
11. "Look up." Locke telling Charlie to look up at his guitar.
12. "I don't want to be Eve." Kate
13. Jack wants to know what Kate did again, but she tells him that he had his chance to know.
14. "Time doesn't matter on a damn island!" Michael
15. "Are you sure that this is where you want to be?" The Willie Nelson song at the end.

Questions:

1. "It's just that you and the tattoos don't add up." Does this point to the more wild side that Jack has in the future, or is it just a stupid storyline? Please tell me there is more significance to the worst episode ever, Stranger In A Strangeland.
2. Charlie says that they made him check his guitar, then why do we see him with it on the plane?
3. Who are Adam and Eve?

Favorites:

1. "Oh, you guys have an inside joke. How perfectly wonderful for you both." Charlie
2. "I would've thought they were C's actually." Charlie, and Jack laughs!
3. "You're not going to ask me to pray are you?" Charlie

Notes:

1. Sun speaks English for the first time when she explains the situation with Jin and the watch to Michael. He's the only one who knows at this point.
2. "If I was checking you out, you'd know it." Yeah, right, Jack, you're not exactly smooth, brotha.