2.16 The Whole Truth

Follow along! The episode guide for “The Whole Truth” is in Finding Lost, pp. 266-270.

While there was a lot of misdirection in season 2, with cliffhangers that never went anywhere, plotlines that just died instantly, and relationships that were built up and then fizzled, the introduction of Henry Gale’s character lent the season its cohesiveness. Regardless of what was going on over on the beach, what was happening in the armory was infinitely more fascinating to me and many other viewers. Every scene that featured Michael Emerson had me on the edge of my season in season 2, and even moreso now. In this episode, Sun finds out she’s pregnant, and we discover more about their past (while leaving the question about whether or not she’d had an affair hanging for the time being). But more interestingly, Benry plays with Ana Lucia, sending her on a hunt for a map, while toying with the minds of Jack and Locke. They’re easy ones to toy with – AL makes the comment that “Jack and Locke are a little too busy worrying about Locke and Jack,” and that’s been their problem ever since they opened up the hatch. And who better to come in, sense a vulnerability, and crack it wide open than Ben Linus? Oh, how I ♥ you, Benry.

Fun things I noticed:
• Jin’s abs. Mmmmm…
• Note to Jin: When your wife has just gotten herself really dolled up and looks as stunning as Sun does in the doorway, DO NOT ask her what her freakin’ temperature is. Talk about a mood wrecker. Way to go there, Flaccinator.
• A poster named Michelle left a comment recently (thanks, Michelle!) giving us another explanation of the words that Jin and Sun use, for anyone still interested (I know I am). Here’s what she said:
when you're calling someones name in korean, you don't normally just say the person's name like you would in english. Instead, you add -ssi (pronounced shee) at the end of the person's name. But that only applies when you know each other personally and on the same level of class. And actually its abnormal when jin calls sun "sun" or vice versa. They're suppose to say Jin-Su-ssi or Sun-Hwa-ssi. It drives me crazy when that korean fertility doctor calls Jin "Mr. Kwon", cuz they would never do that, its very informal. I think though the reason for the abnormalities is more for the english speaking viewers so they dont get confused. Also, ja-gi-ya or yo-bo (which they occasionally call each other) are just names married couples call each other, like honey or sweetie.
And if you notice, Sun sometimes adds -yo after her sentences and thats just a polite way of speaking, usually when talking to someone of higher class, talking to a stranger (out of general politeness), and sometimes when a wife speaks to her husband (because men are considered head of household). hope all that helps!
and by the way, Daniel Dae Kim's korean isn't that great. Sometimes I have to actually read the subtitles to understand what he's saying cuz of the accent. but still decent! and i love his character!
oh, one more thing, Jin-su and Sun-hwa are full names. Usually korean names have two syllables, while kwon and paik are their last names.
• Watching Locke try to get the upper hand against Jack is SO much fun, but at the same time he’s rising to it because of Benry goading him in the previous episode (where he freaks out and breaks all the plates).
• Charlie tells AL that the last time she held a gun she "Muh-duhed" someone... um, yeah, SO DID YOU!!
• I still love seeing Sawyer reading Judy Blume.
• Ben: “Wow, you guys have some real trust issues.” Ha!
• “You guys got any milk?” ♥♥♥

Things that have new meaning:
• I remember at the time wondering about the poignancy of Jin’s line, “A baby will change everything, a baby will fix everything,” and wondering if it would have any effect on future storylines. Ji Yeon does, in a sense, fix everything that’s wrong in their relationship. Because of Sun’s pregnancy, Juliet tells Jin the truth about Jae Lee, but he forgives her because of the man he used to be. Are there any other parallels? A baby certainly fixes a lot of things that were wrong in Kate’s life, but then she has to go back to the island anyway and throw it all away, potentially. Could the birth of Aaron on the island have fixed something that was wrong with it?
• In Maternity Leave, Eko confesses that he killed someone to Ben, and now Eko is dead. In this episode, Ana Lucia confesses to Ben that she killed someone, too, and now SHE is dead. Is there any connection? Should people stop confessing to Ben??
• Ben says to Ana Lucia, “It doesn’t matter what I do, I’m dead already.” In the context of the scene, he means they’ll kill him no matter what. But in hindsight I like to think it could also refer to the fact that he was almost dead when he was taken to the Temple, and he was reborn there.
• The Widmore pregnancy test! Wow, if there were ONE pregnancy test in the world I wouldn’t rely on, that’s probably it. The only thing worse would be the Benjamin Linus Pregnancy Test.
“Test: You’re pregnant.”
“Woman: That can’t be!”
“Nope, you’re pregnant, trust me.”
“But… I’m 70 years old…”
“Pregnant!”
“…and I’m post-menopausal…”
“Listen, lady, I talk to Jacob and I say YOU ARE PREGNANT.”
“…and I’ve had a hysterectomy!”
“Pregnant.”
• Ana Lucia jokes about how they must be on the right island. Funny at the time, but they don’t know there actually IS a second island.
• Kate says with some sadness that she’s done a pregnancy test before, referring to the one we see her take in Eggtown.
• Sayid tells Ana Lucia that if the map is a lie, he’s pretty much going to kill him here and now. Interesting that he eventually makes good on that promise (or at least tries to) three years later.
• Now that we know Sun really IS lying, that scene is even more shocking when she tells Jin about the miracle. As he’s rejoicing over his Magical Island Sperm, I’m looking at Sun’s face and thinking, “WOW you are a good liar.”
• OK, Benry reading from Brothers Karamazov has got to be one of the most poignant scenes linking us to season 5. Of all the lines to read from, he chooses: “Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain.” Ben will reject AND slay Jacob, his prophet, in “The Incident.” But what I found most interesting here was what I’d written way back in season 2 (obvs having no knowledge of what was to come) and I said that the line shows the hypocrisy that exists where we crucify a man for claiming to be the son of God, and then the moment he’s dead we worship him as our Christ figure. I talked about Locke as the prophet figure, but said there was no way Jack would worship him afterward. While he hasn’t, it’s interesting that now that Locke is dead, Jack begins to look up to him on the island, telling Richard Alpert to give him a chance and listen to him. He still rejected him as the prophet up to the point where they were on the plane, but the moment they returned to the island, Jack began to believe and act like Locke, and no longer berated his memory.