Coming down from one of the most revealing episodes of the series is House of the Rising Sun. It was an entirely different episode. Giving us a break from all of that we saw last time, it shifts from being island mystery focused to being a bit more character focused.
We are six episodes in. We have seen how our Losties got to the island. We have seen that this island isn't just a rock in the ocean. We have seen a bit of character development in Kate, Locke and Jack. But House of the Rising Sun, to me, is where they really dive into the character development. Here we have the most mysterious Losties of all. They can't speak any English. They don't really interact with the others. But we get a look back into their past and we get to see their flaws, their broken marriage.
Jin is doing what he has to so that he can be with Sun. But he is never really there. He has to buy her things to show his love. Sun feels betrayed by his when he comes in with blood on his hands and wants to leave him. Jacob told them to never take each other for granted and this is exactly what they are doing here. These actions lead them to the island. Once they finally stop, it is too late for them.
I could not get through this episode without the tears for Jin and Sun. I really started to tear up when Sun was debating in her head whether or not to leave Jin at the airport. It really reminded me of Jin debating if he should leave Sun in the sub to die. Their death was so sad to me. I know a lot of people who found Jin and Sun boring but I did not. I loved this love story. I thought that their love story was perfectly imperfect. I think it was key for them to introduce the element of love in a Jin and Sun episode.
Lost is a very mysterious story, but it is also a giant love story. It starts in House of the Rising Sun and ends at The End. Love was everywhere this episode. It opens with Jack and Kate flirting over his tattoo. There of course their are all of the other awesome Lost couples, but Jack and Kate, to me, are the super-couple of the series. Their love story is presented here and she is the one who wakes him up in the sideways. The montage at the end really shows all of the love going on. What stuck with me the most is Charlie and his guitar, Walt asking his dad what his birthday was and of course, Jack in the caves and Kate on the beach...both obviously thinking about each other.
I still can't figure out Locke. In this episode, he seems all-knowing and confident when it comes to Charlie's drug problem. We know that Pace was a candidate. Maybe the Monster was sending Locke on this mission (Last week was get Jack to chase his rabbit!) to get Charlie off of the drugs would lead to him unable to take Jacob's place as the new protector. Or maybe Locke is just being a nice guy, helping Charlie out?
"Time doesn't matter on an island" - Michael says something similar to this to Jin with regards to the watch. Again, here is a big fat giant clue here that we never even saw until now. They were always going to introduce the time travel element. Maybe they didn't know how, but time was never going to matter in this story.
Even though this episode will be immortalized for it's reveal of Adam and Eve's skeletons, the characters are the root of this episode and so is love. It wasn't as loaded with hints and clues to the end of the show, but to me it was important because it was out first glimpse into the real themes of the story.
