Thursday, September 17, 2009

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.

17 comments:

Batcabbage said...

I'd just like to point out that the word Flaccinator had me choking on my morning coffee. I see the potential here for a hard edged tv series or an action movie franchise, with several sequels denoted by roman numerals. Nik, your propensity for nicknames rivals even Sawyer's! :)

Gillian Whitfield said...

First off, I totally, TOTALLY have the same love of Benry that you do, Nikki. He's awesome.

I also love the fact that Sawyer was reading Are You there? It's Me Margaret. I've never ever read that book, but I think Sawyer's "review" is hysterical.

You guys got any milk?

Marebabe said...

Nikki, I think the time we saw Kate crying over her pregnancy test results was in “I Do”, when she was married to Kevin the cop. Also, I loved your riff on the most NOT-recommended pregnancy tests on the market. I have one to add to your list. I don’t know if you’re a fan of “The Simpsons”, but Krusty the Clown is really into merchandising, with a dizzying array of products. There’s even a Krusty Home Pregnancy Test, which comes complete with a warning on the label: “May cause birth defects”. I’ve always liked that one.

I noticed in the end credits that Dr. Je-Gyu Kim was played by Greg Joung PAIK. A slight moment of confusion as I sorted out real from fictional in my brain.

Susan said...

I liked the brief scene with Bernard and Jin -- it foreshadows the scene they have in season 4 after Jin finds out about Sun's infidelity, and Bernard and Jin go fishing together and discuss marriage.

Seriously, how old is Charlie? When he taunts AL with the gun during their hike, he's acting like a 10-year-old (though that is an insult to most of the 10-year-olds I know). I mean, come on, Sayid has forgiven the woman, and you're acting like you're in grade school.

Ben's "got any milk" scene is some high-quality writing and acting.

The Question Mark said...

Ben's milk monologue should be made into one of those Got Milk? ads.

@Nikki: "Magical Island Sperm" has become my new favourite mantra.

@Susan: yeah, Charlie certainly seems pretty guilt-free at the moment, considered he recently kidnapped both Aaron & Sun (albeit without intent to harm). But he's treating AL like dirt. I suppose he's thankful that there's someone else around to take all of the hatred & suspicion off of himself. Still, you'd think he'd be a bit more respectful.

celandinehaleth said...

I am trying to figure out how Charlie got the gun. Sawyer took the guns but if he gave one to Charlie I've forgotten. Kate has to ask Sawyer for guns in "Maternity Leave", but she didn't give one to Charlie, did she? Shouldn't Sayid be suspicious?

The Shout said...

Can I take this opportunity to thank the Lost Costume Department for Yunjin Kim's wardrobe in the opening flashback. They did wonders with what little material they had to work with!

Rebecca T. said...

Ah Ben.......


Sun and Jin are the cutest thing ever (before Jin shoots the mood, kills it, and dances on its body)

I love how Jack is all, "um, you couldn't wait until I was done in the shower?" to Locke, when just recently he was kinda ogling Kate while she was getting out of the shower.

I love the scene when Sun and Hurley come face to face and they both act so totally guilty. It's so funny.

I actually liked AL in this episode.

I found it odd the way they focused on Charlie slipping on the rock as they crossed the stream. It was like this big dramatic moment, even though he only slipped a little. Sometimes they focus on things like this and then in retrospect I'm always thinking, what was the point of that?

Charlie was a bit of a jerk, but I do like his line about Sayid to AL, "Humor's not his strong suit....... and I'm saying this to you."

Jack is so NOT a good liar.

I love Jin when he realizes why everyone was acting the way they were and the way he says "Sawyer" like, oh brother.

Jin SOOOOOOOO needs to meet Ji Yeon ;-;

I love, love, love Ben's monologue and the quote about milk. Humanebean had mentioned something about it over on my blog a couple weeks ago and he's right. The line is pure genius.

Jazzygirl said...

I too was shocked at the scene when she tells Jin that she's never been with another man. I sort of forgot about that scene. And we were left hanging back then speculating on the sexual tension between her and what's his face. LOL! Anyway, I understand why she does it but knowing what we know now...WOW what a lie!!
You almost can't even put a finger on the way Benry perfectly pushes buttons. He just DOES it. PERFECTLY. I haven't seen the next one yet..that's tonight. :) Can't wait though!

Ash said...

The last scene of this episode is one of the very best scenes of any TV show, I reckon.

I remember how very tense it was seeing the scene for the first time; Henry twisting the knife in with his comment about trust issues. You can tell he's relishing every moment. And the casual way he launches in to his spiel about what he would do if he were one of the Others is quite chilling, and left you worried for the Ana, Sayid & Charlie's safety. You still didn't really know if he was telling the truth or not.

Then, with shocked expressions on both Locke & Jack's face, that last line... "You guys got any milk?" Just perfect. The cherry atop the cake.

I think it was at that point I fell in love with the character completely.

JennM said...

Also curious about how Charlie got a gun? I thought he, um, "wasn't allowed" to have one, according to the Keeper of the Guns and all things important and powerful (Jack and co.). I just remembered that Charlie is always upset because he's left out of all the action and never permitted to carry arms, and yet there he is, holding a gun like it's nothing.

Robbie said...

I might be wrong but I think Charlie held a gun in the season 1 finale when he and Sayid went after Rousseau

Susan said...

Robbie you may be correct, or Charlie could have retained one for himself when he and Sawyer took all the guns.

Gillian Whitfield said...

@ Nikki- "You guys got any milk? ♥ ♥ ♥" is a HUGE understatement for Benry. ;D

Jazzygirl said...

Okay I have to write this because quite honestly, no one else would understand!
I'm out walking my dogs in this wooden area that has fire trails and also has a field near by. I'm walking in an open area and suddenly my dogs get nervous. Suddenly I hear branches cracking in the wooded area bordering my path. Tree sapplings and very tall grasses start swaying like crazy. And I am NOT kidding when I say it's like scene from LOST. Then suddenly (and again I am NOT making this up) what pops out from the brush? yep, a large yellow lab! He stopped and just stared at me. My dogs were scared shitless because he just bounded out and then stopped. I was like "um, Vincent?" Then I heard a voice far off call the dog but I couldn't make out the name. I promptly took my dogs and walked away very fast!! My thoughts? OMG, the death dog...am I about to die? LOL!

Rebecca T. said...

Jazzygirl: that is the funniest/creepiest thing ever.

Ashlie Hawkins said...

The "you guys got any milk" line gets me everytime - hands down my all-time favourite LOST quote! The whole monologue just gets to me, I get the same nervous feeling every time I watch it. It has such an OJ Simpson "If I Did It" feel to it!