Lost: Season 6, Episode 10 "The Package" Review

 "I don't feel anything."

-Sayid Jarrah

"The Package" picks up with the Man in Black (Terry O'Quinn) leaving his camp on a mission.  While he's gone, Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) decides to leave and go find Sun (Yunjin Kim) on his own.  Before he can, Zoe (Sheila Kelley) and her team attack the camp and knock everyone unconscious before kidnapping Jin.  He is brought to Hydra Island, where Zoe asks him questions about the surveys he did on pockets of electromagnetic energy while with the Dharma Initiative.  Jin asks to see Widmore (Alan Dale), who tells him that if the Man in Black gets off the Island, everyone would simply cease to be and shows him pictures of Ji Yeon to emphasize his point.

The Man in Black goes to visit Sun, who has grown frusterated with Ilana's (Zuleikha Robinson) plan to wait for Richard (Nestor Carbonell) to return.  The Man in Black offers to take Sun to Jin, but she runs from him.  He chases her and she hits her head on a tree and is knocked out.  Ben (Michael Emerson) finds her and gets her back to camp, but she has forgotten how to speak English.  Richard returns with a plan to blow up the Ajira plane to stop the Man in Black from leaving, which angers Sun.  Jack (Matthew Fox) comforts her and she agrees to trust him and go with their group as he promises to help her and Jin escape the Island.

The Man in Black returns to his camp to find the aftermath of the attack.  He and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) paddle over to Hydra Island and the Man in Black confronts Widmore and asks for Jin back.  Widmore denies having him.  The Man in Black returns to his camp, while Sayid stays on Hydra Island and sees Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) being unloaded from the submarine.

In the flash-sideways, it turns out Sun and Jin are not married, but having an affair.  Neither of them speak English.  The money Jin was supposed to deliver is confiscated by Customs, so Jin and Sun have no choice but to go to their hotel.  The buisness associated Jin was supposed to meet turns out to be Martin Keamy (Kevin Durnad), who discovers that they are romantically involved when he arrives at Sun's hotel room.  He brings in an associate, Mikhail (Andrew Divoff), to translate.  Sun offers to replace the money that was supposed to be delivered with money from her own account.

Mikhail and Sun go to the bank to discover Sun's account was shut down by her father.  Jin is brought to a restaurant and tied up, but later he is freed by Sayid.  Mikhail and Sun arrive to find a dying Keamy.  Jin and Mikhail have a confrontation which ends with Mikhail dead and Sun shot.  As Jin takes her to the hospital, she reveals that she is pregnant.  

What Works:

The flash-sideways storyline is my favorite of the episode.  It's a fresh take on Sun and Jin.  We get to see what it would have been like if they had gotten romantically involved later and kept it secret.  It's an interesting and fun layer for the characters, particularly because it's been such a long time since we've had the two of them in a scene together.

It's also a lot fun to have Mikhail and Keamy back.  Mikhail doesn't get a lot to do, but I could listen to Andrew Divoff talk all day long.  Kevin Durand chews up the scenery throughout the episode and is 100 percent the best part of the episode.

While I have serious issues with Sun's storyline on the Island in this episode, Yunjin Kim gives a great performance.  Watching her chew out Richard in Korean is hilarious and I totally empathize with Sun's frustration with the lack of story progress.

Finally, the reveal that Desmond is back on the Island is a solid cliffhanger.  I've been sorely missing Desmond and his return is very exciting.  You just know he's going to be pissed when the drugs wear off and he's not going to be thrilled to see Widmore is responsible.  It doesn't do much to help with this episode, but it got me excited for the next one.

What Sucks:

As I mentioned, Sun's storyline throughout the next couple of episodes is one of my least favorite in all of Lost.  Let's start with the confrontation between her and the Man in Black.  I don't mind that she just runs away, but the fact that he chases her and she somehow hits her head on a tree...dumb.  All of this feels out of character and is incredibly stupid.

Then we have Sun forgetting how to speak English.  What!?  Why!?  This feels like the writers had no idea what to do with Sun, so they pulled something out of their ass.  I hate it and it feels like a complete waste of time.

The Jin stroyline isn't great either.  It doesn't really go anywhere during or after this episode.  Jin's just kinda hanging out on Hydra Island.  On this rewatch, I'm realizing I don't like any of the stuff with Widmore and his team much and that's what all of this is.  This whole episode feels like wheel spinning as we wait for the final confrontation to happen.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "The Package," I guess I'll give this to Jack.  There aren't any great options, but at least Jack did his best to comfort Sun.  This is Jack's 15th time winning this award, which extends his lead.

Verdict:

"The Package" isn't a great episode due to its poor pacing and stupid plot developments.  That said, the acting is good, especailly from Yunjin Kim, the flash-sideways is fun, and the returns of Keamy, Mikhail, and Desmond are awesome.  It's a bottom-tier episode, but I won't say it's a totally bad episode.

 6/10: Okay