Lost: Season 1 Episode 6 "House of the Rising Sun" Review

"Oh, you guys have an inside joke.  How absolutely wonderful for you both."
-Charlie Pace



"House of the Rising Sun" focuses on Sun (Yunjin Kim) who witnesses her husband, Jin (Dan Dae Kim), attack Michael (Harold Perrineau) for seemingly no reason.  Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) manage to restrain Jin and handcuff him to the plane wreckage.  When they are unable to figure out why Jin attacked Michael, they decide to leave him handcuffed.  

Sun eventually approaches Michael and reveals she can speak English, but Jin does not know.  The reason Jin attacked Michael was because of the watch Michael was wearing.  Jin was supposed to deliver it to a business contact of Sun's father and Jin thought Michael stole it, but in reality, Michael just found it in the wreckage.  Sun convinces Michael to use the ax to free Jin, but Michael warns him to stay away from him.

Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Charlie (Dominic Monaghan, and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) hike to the caves to collect water for the group.  They end up finding two bodies inside the caves that had been there for decades.  Jack and Kate return to camp with water and on the way, Jack decides to start moving people to the caves as it is safer than living on the beach.  He convinces Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Sun, and Jin to go with, while Kate, Sayid, Sawyer, Michael, Walt (Malcolm David Kelly), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), and Shannon (Maggie Grace) stay at he beach.

When Charlie sneaks off to go do some heroin, Locke confronts him and reveals he knows Charlie was in the band Drive Shaft and about the drugs.  Locke convinces Charlie to give up the heroin in exchange for finding his guitar, which Locke reveals he has already found.

In flashbacks, we see Sun and Jin before they were married.  They are both madly in love.  Sun is very wealthy thanks to her father's business, while Jin is simply a waiter.  Jin convinces her father to allow him to marry Sun, but in return Jin must work for him.  The job takes its toll on their marriage and one night Jin comes home covered in blood.  This leads to a serious argument and ends with Sun slapping Jin.  Sun decides to leave Jin and sets a plan for her to disappear while with Jin on a business trip in Australia.  At the last moment, Sun decides not to go through with her plan when Jin gives her a flower and they both board Oceanic 815.


What Works:

I really like the Sun storyline in this episode.  When I first watched it, I was genuinely blown away that Sun could speak English (in retrospect, it's much more obvious), but at the time it was a great twist.  Sun's flashbacks are solid and just gives us a taste of what is actually going on in their relationship.  I love how despised Jin is at this point in the show, but by the end he ends up being one of the most liked characters.  The last flashback scene at the airport is really well done with a great performance by Yunjin Kim.  This scene is really tragic in by choosing to stay with Jin, Sun sends them both to the island.  It's a powerful moment and one of the best parts of the episode.

Harold Perrineau also does a great job.  Michael is no one's favorite character on this show, but he's really likable here.  His monologue while he threatens Jin with an ax is awesome and one of Michael's best moments.

I also really like the "bee" storyline (I apologize for that pun).  The stuff with the bees is fun, especially knowing that Dominic Monaghan is a big nature lover and actually likes bugs.  Finding the bodies is also interesting even though the payoff for that mystery is underwhelming.

My favorite part of this episode is the scenes between Locke ad Charlie.  I like watching them talk about Charlie's music and missing his guitar.  Charlie giving up his drugs is a great setup for the next episode.  Watching Charlie tear up when he finds his guitar is really powerful and great development for the character.


What Sucks:

Although Michael's attack on Jim is an intriguing mystery for the episode, I don't love the resolution.  Finding out that Jin tried to kill Michael over a watch is a little underwhelming and unbelievable.  I don't think Jin would do something that extreme out the gate.  I think Jin is smarter than that.

The conflict about moving to the caves or staying on the beach is also poorly handled.  I don't know why everyone is getting so uptight about it.  Just leave an away team on the beach to tend the signal fire and maybe catch fish.  Everyone else can move to the caves.  Rotate people out every so often.  It really isn't that big a deal.  Sayid definitely overreacts to Jack's plan and I don't know why Jack has to get it done that day.  He could have easily waited until the next morning.  There's no rush.  This was poorly handled on both sides.


Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear Award goes to the castaway that contributed the most in this episode.  For "House of the Rising Sun" the Award goes to John Locke for getting Charlie to give up his heroin and for finding his guitar.  This is Locke's second Award, which ties him for first with Jack.

Jack: 2
Locke: 2
Sayid: 1
Sawyer: 1


Verdict:

"House of the Rising Sun" is another solid episode that introduces another classic mystery, has some really great emotional moments, and interesting stories.  I don't like the watch revelation or how Jack and Sayid handle the moving to the cave situation, but this episode has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good     

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