"House Of The Rising Sun" was our deeper introduction to the female side of the Korean couple of Sun and Jin; "In Translation" looks at things from the male perspective. Aside from the advantage of giving us new information, Jin's flashbacks here are interesting for one more reason: they show another character, much like Sayid, who is forced by circumstances to do violent things that contrast with his basically good nature. On the island, Jin gets suspected for setting Michael's raft on fire, and finally learns (along with everyone else) that his wife can speak English. There is one clever bit where everyone's arguing in English, and in Jin's ears the words get jumbled and begin sounding Korean. Like they usually do when they're trusted to carry episodes, Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim offer very good, emotional performances - and as a bonus, we get 2 rare views of Yunjin in a bikini (she has a rock-hard body). Locke is also awesome in this episode, from his Jack-like "We're not the only people on this island and we all know it!" speech to his revelation of the real person responsible for the burning of the raft (I never would have suspected him/her in a million years!), and, strangely, Michael and Walt are also more interesting here than they were in their "own" episode, "Special". About the only thing that doesn't quite work is the Sayid-Shannon romance - the actors try hard, but they just don't click as a couple. *** out of 4.
Review of ...In Translation
A very good episode, and not just because it has Yunjin Kim in a bikini!
7 May 2009
Warning: Spoilers