Season 1, Episode 17:
... In Translation
"He got the message."
Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Leonard Dick.
Directed by Tucker Gates.
"They've attacked us, sabotaged us, abducted us, murdered us! Maybe it's time we stop blaming us and start worrying about them! We're not the only people on this Island and we all know it!"
— John Locke
In flashbacks, Jin gets a job working for Mr. Paik, Sun's father. Mr. Paik promotes him to "special assistant", and orders him to go to the house of an important Korean government official and tell him that he is displeased with his decision to close one of his factories. Jin does so, but Mr. Paik is furious when the official does not change his mind, and sends Jin back with a hitman who will show Jin how to "deliver a message". To prevent the hitman killing the official, Jin savagely beats him in front of his family. He returns home, dodging Sun's questions about what he has done, and cries in front of the bathroom mirror. He visits his father, who advises him to start a new life with Sun in America after he completes his last job for Mr. Paik in Los Angeles.
On the Island, Sayid and Shannon flirt while working on the raft together. Sayid seeks Boone's approval of their relationship, but Boone tells Sayid that Shannon is using him. Shannon is angered, but Locke convinces her to ignore Boone and do whatever makes her happy, so she stays with Sayid. Michael's raft is burned, and the entire camp believes Jin is responsible. Sun shocks everyone by revealing that she can speak English, and defends Jin. Locke accuses the Others of being behind the arson, and manages to convince the mob of Jin's innocence. Sun asks Jin if they can start over, but he is convinced they cannot reconcile, and moves out of the caves. Locke confronts Walt, who he has deduced was the real culprit, but promises not to tell anyone. Jin helps Michael start work on a new raft.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Aesop Amnesia: Considering his aggressive reaction to Sayid mentioning that he and Shannon may become a couple, it seems the lesson Boone learned about getting over his obsession with her in "Hearts and Minds" didn't take.
- Artistic Licence – Politics: Byung Han is called the "Secretary for Environmental Safety". No such position exists in South Korea, with the closest position being the "Minister of Environment".
- The Atoner:
- Walt volunteers to help Michael rebuild the raft to try and make up for having burned the first one.
- Jin steps up to help Michael build a new raft to make up for their past antagonism.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed; Sun's father is introduced as a stern and intimidating man who, nevertheless, seems to have his daughter's best interests in mind. The longer Jin works for him, however, the more it becomes clear that Mr. Paik is a ruthless criminal who has no qualms about using his daughter's beloved husband as a thug, no matter what damage it does to their marriage.
- Bittersweet Ending: Although the raft project has experienced a major setback and Jin and Sun's relationship seems to have fallen apart, Sun is free from Jin's overprotective attitude, Jin and Michael bury the hatchet and work together on a new raft, and Shannon, deciding to grow up, happily pursues a romance with Sayid.
- Book Ends: The episode starts and ends with Sun walking into the water in a bikini. The first time, Jin rushes to cover her up, while the second, she marches proudly into the ocean, free of his oversight.
- Call-Back: Locke brings up the Others' acts of abduction and murder while blaming them for the burning of the raft.
- Character Development: With some encouragement from Locke, Shannon opts to grow up a bit and stop caring about what Boone thinks of her, leading her to pursue her romance with Sayid.Shannon: Everyone gets a new life on this Island. I'd like to start now.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: It turns out that Walt was the one responsible for burning the raft. It's safe to say nobody except Locke would have seen that coming.
- Dramatic Irony: Sun had intended to leave Jin because of his work for her father; unknown to her, Jin intended for the watch delivering errand to be the last job he did for Mr. Paik and planned to run away with her to America.
- Episode Finishes the Title: Lost in translation.
- Fanservice: Sun in a bikini.
- Foreshadowing: Walt asks Locke if he has a dad, which he deflects by saying "Everyone's got a dad." He also says he's "not cool." Walt, seeing Locke's discomfort, doesn't ask any further.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Hurley appears on the news on the TV in the background during Jin's first visit to Han's house, foreshadowing his backstory as revealed in the next episode.
- Good Parents: Jin's father is the first example of a good father we've seen in any of the main characters' flashbacks so far, warmly embracing his son even after Jin admits to being ashamed of him and giving him some sound advice on how to save his marriage.
- Hidden Depths: Shannon, of all people, knows how to tie a bowline knot that Sayid describes as "perfect", which she justifies by saying she dated guys with sailboats before.
- Internal Reveal: The rest of the survivors find out that Sun speaks English. She also tells Jin that she was going to leave him, but changed her mind.
- Irony: Michael's main motive in building the raft is to get Walt off the Island; Walt burns the first raft because, having moved so much in his life, he feels at home on the Island and doesn't want to leave.
- Kinky Cuffs: Downplayed since it's rope instead of handcuffs, but while Sayid and Shannon are flirting, Shannon tells him that maybe they should find some more rope (ostensibly for the raft), spend a Saturday afternoon together, and see what happens.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Jin starts out as one for Mr. Paik, failing to understand that by "tell an official I'm displeased by his decision to close my factory" he means "give him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown until he changes his mind."
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Seeing Michael's rage when he believes Jin burned the raft, Walt starts trying to put the blaze out himself to make up for having started the fire, and he's clearly feeling guilty for the rest of episode.
- Jin is clearly disgusted with himself after beating Byung Han in front of his family; after getting home and arguing with Sun, he breaks down in front of a mirror.
- Necessarily Evil: Jin beats Byung Han in front of his wife and daughter, but the alternative was to allow an assassin to murder the man, and Jin is sick with himself over the whole thing.Jin: [in Korean] I just saved your life.
- Not Helping Your Case: When Sun, the one person to whom he could actually communicate his innocence, asks if he burned the raft, Jin, rather than (honestly) proclaim his innocence, storms off jealously because she mentioned Michael. He then runs off into the jungle, making himself look even more guilty.
- Not What It Looks Like: After the raft burns, Sun finds Jin nursing a burn on his hand and believes that he did start the fire. As it turns out, Jin got the burn trying to extinguish the blaze.
- Obliviously Evil: Jin is initially totally in the dark about his father-in-law's grim reputation; he's very confused about why Byung Han is so relieved and apologetic to receive a verbal warning instead of a beating. It isn't until Jin realizes that he's driving an assassin to Byung Han's house that he realizes exactly what kind of man he's working for and what is expected of him.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Byung Han, the man Jin is supposed to threaten, is visibly terrified when Jin mentions that he works for Mr. Paik, and remains so until Jin simply delivers a verbal message. The terror returns when Jin comes back to his house, this time to beat him.
- When Jin sees the man in a white suit putting a silencer on a gun, he finally realizes exactly what kind of message Mr. Paik wanted him to deliver.
- Once More, with Clarity:
- The flashback of Jin washing blood off his hands and refusing to answer Sun's questions about the nature of his work for her father from "House of the Rising Sun" is shown again, this time with the context of what Jin had been doing before this and including a brief scene of Jin breaking down after Sun leaves the room, horrified by what he has done.
- The episode also gives new perspective to Jin taking out the flower at the airport, as he was encouraged by his father to run away with Sun to America.
- One Last Job: Jin intended the errand to deliver the watches to be his final job for Mr. Paik, planning to take Sun and run away to America after it was done.
- Personal Hate Before Common Goals: Subverted; Michael believes that Jin burned the raft to spite him for interfering in his and Sun's marital spat, but it later becomes clear that Jin didn't burn the raft; he was, in fact, the first one to notice the blaze and tried to put it out, and while calming things down, Locke points out how unreasonable it is that Jin would take a personal grievance out on the survivors' main chance of getting off the Island. It was actually Walt who burned the raft, not wanting to leave the Island.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his antagonism with Michael, Jin tried to extinguish the burning raft. Him stepping up to help Michael build a new raft marks the end of their animosity and the beginning of their friendship.
- Rewatch Bonus: Walt starts trying to extinguish the fire when he sees how angry Michael is about it; on a rewatch, it becomes clear that guilt over destroying his father's work just hit the kid.
- The Scapegoat: Locke breaks up Michael's attack on Jin by presenting the Others as a much more reasonable guilty party for the raft's destruction, as at least one of them has infiltrated and attacked the survivors before. Locke later makes it clear that he knows Walt burned the raft.
- Scrubbing Off the Trauma: Jin furiously scrubs Byung Han's blood from his hands after beating the man, breaking down over what he has done.
- Shout-Out: Sawyer mentions Lord of the Flies while threatening Jin.
- Speak of the Devil: When Jack asks who took the third of four available seats on Michael's raft, Sawyer turns up as if on cue.
- Stunned Silence: Everyone stops and stares when Sun shouts in English for Michael to stop beating Jin.
- Wham Line: "Why did you burn the raft, Walt?"
