3.02 - The Glass Ballerina

Title’s significance: The title of this episode refers to a statuette, which belonged to her father, that Sun broke when she was a child (which she blamed on the maid).

Recap: Flashbacks further explore Sun and Jin’s relationship, especially as it pertains to Jae Lee’s involvement in the love triangle; when Mr. Paik found out about the affair, he ordered Jin to kill Jae Lee, but Jin couldn’t do it and his target committed suicide (confirmed by Damon & Carlton, though the episode makes it fairly obvious). When The Others learn that the survivors have a sailboat, Ben moves to capture it, while Pickett puts Kate and Sawyer to work in a quarry. The sailboaters find the dock that The Others use as Sun begins to suspect that Sayid is trying to lure The Others in; Sayid tells her to stay on the boat, but The Others launch a water attack and Sun accidentally shoots Colleen. Sawyer promises Kate that he will turn the tables on The Others. Ben tells Jack that he wants him to “change his perspective” and introduces himself as Benjamin Linus, claiming to have lived on the island all his life; he asks for Jack’s trust and cooperation in exchange for returning Jack home.

Thoughts: Sun and Jin episodes are always hit or miss, and this one was really darned close to being a miss. “The Glass Ballerina” was saved by Sawyer and (of course) Ben Linus, who made the episode both edge-of-your-seat interesting and alternatingly hilarious. Mysteries about The Others deepen and become more fascinating with each episode, and my rewatch efforts are really paying off now that I can look back on Ben’s plans and assess both their honesty and their successfulness.

Favorite moment: The look that Sawyer gives Kate when Pickett suggests she work in the nude – followed by Sawyer’s penitent “How dare you.” That, or Sawyer defiantly pouring out the canteen that Juliet offers him.

Characters introduced (in order):

• COLLEEN, a menacing Other romantically involved with Pickett

What we learned:

• Ben is watching almost everything on a wall of monitors.
• Sun was indeed having an affair with Jae Lee.
• Jae Lee killed himself after Mr. Paik found out about the affair.
• Ben claims he lived on the island all his life.
• The survivors have been on the island for 69 days so far.

Questions:

• What’s the point of having Sawyer and Kate break rocks?
• Who built the dock?
• What’s Alex’s connection to Karl?
• How much of what Ben Linus says can we believe?
• Why stay on this island if The Other can leave all along?
• How did Ben get a recording of the Red Sox winning the World Series?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of mythological significance in this episode, unless the rock-breaking thing turns out to be big-time important (which I doubt).