The Glass Ballerina

Infobox Television episode | Title = The Glass Ballerina
Series = Lost


Caption = Jack appears lost for words when Ben shows him the Boston Red Sox win the World Series.
Season = 3
Episode = 2
Airdate = October 11, 2006
Production = 303
Writer = Jeff Pinkner & Drew Goddard
Director = Paul Edwards
Guests = M.C. Gainey
Tania Raymonde
Michael Bowen
Tony Lee
Byron Chung
Paula Malcomson
Joah Buley
Sophie Kim
Tomiko Okhee Lee
Teddy Wells
Episode list = "Lost" (season 3)
List of "Lost" episodes
Prev = A Tale of Two Cities
Next = Further Instructions

"The Glass Ballerina" is the second episode of the third season of the TV series "Lost". The episode was written by Jeff Pinkner and Drew Goddard and directed by Paul Edwards, and premiered on October 11, 2006. The characters of Sun-Hwa Kwon and Jin-Soo Kwon were featured in the episode's flashbacks. It was originally scheduled to air on October 18 2006, but was swapped with the episode "Further Instructions." [http://www.abcmedianet.com/pressrel/dispDNR.html?id=092606_08 ABC Press Release] ] When the episode first aired, it was the seventh most watched episode of the week in the United States, with 16.892 million viewers and a 6.9 rating in the key demographic of adults ages 18–49. [cite press release | title = Ratings: Top 20 in Total Viewers in Viewers | publisher = The Futon Critic | date = October 17, 2006 | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20061019022342/http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings.aspx?id=weekly | accessdate = 2007-12-21]

Plot summary

Centric Character(s): Sun, Jin

"In flashback, Sun, as a child, breaks a glass ballerina and blames it on the maid, who will be fired by her father, Mr. Paik."

"Later, Sun as an adult is shown having an affair with Jae Lee, who attempts to give her a pearl necklace. She refuses, afraid that her husband would see it. Then, to her shame, Mr. Paik barges in and finds them in bed together. Mr. Paik later summons Sun's husband, Jin, telling him to "send a message" to Jae (implying that he is to be killed), saying that Jae has been "stealing." But when Jin ambushes and beats up Jae, he still cannot bring himself to kill, and instead orders Jae to leave the country. However, as Jin gets into his car, Jae's body lands on top, having either jumped or been thrown from the above window. The corpse's hand is seen clutching the pearl necklace. At Jae's funeral, Sun asks Mr. Paik if he told Jin about the affair, but he says that it was not his place to tell Jin."

On the sailboat, Sun, Jin, and Sayid worry that Jack's party has not shown up. They argue about what to do, with Sayid wanting to sail to a new location, and Jin refusing, but Sun goes against her husband to agree with Sayid. They find the Others' dock, where they build a signal fire to try and lure the Others into an ambush.

Meanwhile among the Others, Colleen reports to Ben that Sayid (referred to as "the Iraqi") has a boat, and Ben orders her to put together a team and capture it. Her team avoids Sayid's fire, and instead sneaks aboard the boat, where they encounter Sun below deck. Colleen calls Sun by her full name, telling her that the Others "are not the enemy", and that Sun will not shoot because she is a "good person", but Sun shoots Colleen in the abdomen and then escapes overboard. Kate and Sawyer are forced to work, digging and carrying rocks. Alex Rousseau, hiding in the bushes, asks Kate about Karl. Sawyer creates a distraction by kissing Kate, and steals a rifle, but is forced to relinquish it when Juliet threatens to shoot Kate.

Back in their cages, Sawyer tells Kate what he learned about the fighting abilities of the various Others. He says that Juliet would have shot her without a problem and criticizes the other Others. He admits his real name is James. They start discussing plans to escape, not knowing Ben is monitoring their conversation via security camera.

Ben then visits Jack, telling him his real name, and that he has lived on the island all his life. He offers that if Jack cooperates, he can be sent home. Jack believes the Others are also stranded just as he is, but Ben informs him of the exact time and date of his plane crash and that 69 days have since passed (making the date November 29, 2004) and insists that they are in contact with the outside world. He shows this by citing various current events, such as the re-election of George W. Bush to the American presidency, the sudden death of Christopher Reeve and that the Boston Red Sox have won the 2004 World Series. Once Ben tells him about the Red Sox, Jack starts laughing and says that proves he is lying. Ben then proves it by playing a recording of the final play in the game as Jack watches in shock. He tells Jack that if he cooperates, he will take him home.

Awards

Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim submitted this episode for consideration on their behalves in the categories of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" and "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" respectively at the 2007 Emmy Awards.cite web|title = 2007 Emmys CONFIRMED Episode Submissions|url = http://goldderbyforums.latimes.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1106078764/m/53610293|publisher = The Envelope Forum, Los Angeles Times|accessdate = 2007-06-18]

References