Lost: Season 3, Episode 18 "D.O.C." Review

 "I hate you."

-Dr. Juliet Burke

"D.O.C." kicks off with Sun (Yunjin Kim) being asked questions about her pregnancy by Jack (Matthew Fox), which gets her suspicious that Jack may be working with the Others.  When Kate (Evangeline Lilly) reveals the Others were taking pregnant women for experiments, Sun confronts Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) who tells her that all the women that get pregnant on the Island die.

That night, Juliet approaches Sun and offers answers, if she goes with her into the jungle.  Juliet says she can figure out the date of conception and if she got pregnant before the crash, she has a good chance of surviving.  However, Sun reveals that if the baby was conceived before the crash, it isn't Jin's (Daniel Dae Kim).  They journey to the Staff, to a hidden room where all the equipment is stored.  During the ultrasound, Juliet tells Sun she got pregnant on the island.  She has about two months to live.  Sun is happy that the baby is at least Jin's.  Juliet leaves a message behind for Ben (Michael Emerson) with an update, but isn't happy about still working for him.

Meanwhile, Jin, Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) try to figure out how to save the parachutist, Naomi (Marsha Thomason).  Mikhail (Andrew Divoff) is revealed to be alive when he stumbles upon them.  He tries to flee, but is subdued by Jin.  Mikhail promises to save Naomi if they let him go afterwards.  Desmond agrees, though Charlie isn't happy about it.  Mikhail manages to save Naomi, but as he leaves, he tries to steal her satellite phone, but Jin catches him and gets it back.

In flashbacks, we see that just after her marriage to Jim, Sun was approached by a woman (Alexis Rhee) who threatened to expose that Jin is the son of a prostitute, which would bring shame upon the family.  Sun does some digging and tracks down Jin's father (John Shin), who Jin said was dead.  His father confirms the woman's claim, but makes Sun promise to never tell Jin.  Sun gets the blackmail money from her father (Byron Chung), but in return Jin has to work directly for her father as an enforcer.  Sun pays off the woman, who Sun reveals is Jin's mother and threatens to kill her if she ever shows up again.

What Works:

My favorite part of the episode is the B-story with the group trying to save Naomi.  Like in "Catch-22", this group continues to be awesome as they argue with each other on the best course of action.  Adding in Mikhail to the mix just makes things more interesting.  We also get one of the grossest moments in all of Lost as Mikhail drains the blood from Naomi's lungs.

Jin has an absolutely stellar episode.  Not only does he kick Mikhail's ass in a fight, but he is also the one who notices the missing phone and gets it back from Mikhail.  It's one of Jin's best episodes in the entire show.  

I really like the flashbacks for "D.O.C." and they might be favorite Sun flashbacks overall.  I love that by trying to spare Jin from the blackmail, Sun set up the tragic events that would befall their marriage by Jin becoming an enforcer.  It's tragic and puts all of their previous flashbacks in a new light.  Plus we get Sun being a badass with her threats to both her father and Jin's mother.

The main story has some really great emotional moments between Sun and Juliet.  It's really interesting that Sun is put in such a difficult position; either her baby isn't Jin's or she faces death.  I also love that we get to see Juliet back in her element as a doctor.  It's like she's having a normal ultrasound appointment at times and it's great to see the true Juliet break through her cold exterior.

What Sucks:

I really only have one problem with this episode.  There is one specific scene where Sun and Juliet are in the jungle and Juliet asks Sun when the last time she had sex with Jin was, even though she just said they were on their way to go figure out the D.O.C.  Why does Juliet need to know that?  Sun immediately calls her out for that gap in logic, which is great, but it's weird writing to have Juliet say that in the first place.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "D.O.C.", this award goes to Jin for beating up Mikhail and catching him stealing the phone.  This is Jin's 2nd time winning this award, which ties him for 9th place with Rose, Ana Lucia, Kate, and Juliet.

Verdict:

"D.O.C." was a fun episode to revisit and I liked it a lot more than I remembered.  All three stories worked well with some great emotional moments, an awesome fight scene, and excellent performances from Yunjin Kim and Elizabeth Mitchell.  Besides that one scene I mentioned, this episode has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great