The Glass Ballerina

Plot summary

In flashbacks, a young Sun breaks a glass ballerina and blames the maid, despite her father's warning that the maid would be fired. As an adult, Sun has an affair with Jae Lee; when her father discovers them in bed, he tells Jin that Jae has been stealing and implies Jin should kill him. Jin beats Jae but cannot murder him, instead ordering him to leave the country. As Jin gets into his car, Jae's body lands on his windshield, a pearl necklace clutched in his hand, suggesting he jumped.

At the funeral, Sun asks her father if he will tell Jin about the affair; he replies it is not his place. On the Island, Sun, Jin, and Sayid argue about what to do when Jack's party fails to appear. Sun sides with Sayid to sail to a new location. They reach the Others' dock and build a signal fire to lure them into an ambush.

Ben orders Colleen to capture the boat. Her team sneaks aboard, finding Sun below deck; she accidentally shoots Colleen in the abdomen and escapes overboard. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer are forced to work in a quarry. Alex secretly asks Kate about Karl.

Sawyer creates a distraction by kissing Kate, steals a rifle, but surrenders when Juliet threatens to shoot Kate. Back in their cages, Sawyer tells Kate what he learned about the Others' fighting abilities and that Juliet would have shot her. They discuss escape plans, unaware Ben is watching via security cameras.

Production

Executive producer Jeff Pinkner and supervising producer Drew Goddard co-wrote the episode; cinematographer Paul Edwards directed. Recurring stars included Byron Chung, Tony Lee, Michael Bowen, and Tomiko Okhee Lee, with Paula Malcomson making the first of two guest appearances. Although her character Colleen Pickett is shot in this episode, she does not die until the season's fourth episode, "Every Man for Himself". Before the season premiere, showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof hinted at the adultery storyline; Cuse questioned how truthful Sun had been with Jin about her past, and Lindelof added, "And related to that, is the baby his?"

A season two episode had seemed to confirm Jin's infertility, fueling speculation that Sun was pregnant by Jae Lee. A later third-season episode resolved this by showing Jin was cured and is the father. Sun's deception over the affair was later addressed in the season four episode "Ji Yeon", when Juliet tells Jin about Sun and Jae Lee. Actor Daniel Dae Kim enjoyed the fight scene with Tony Lee, noting that Jin's street-fighting style fits his character and that the episode revealed a different layer to Sun. Actress Yunjin Kim said viewers now know Sun is not what she appeared to be for the first two seasons.

Reception

Originally scheduled for October 18, 2006, the episode was swapped with "Further Instructions" and aired a week earlier. It was the seventh most-watched episode of the week in the U.S., with 16.890 million viewers and a 6.9 rating among adults 18–49. Andrew Dignan of Slant Magazine wrote that like the season premiere, the episode mostly adds uncomfortable wrinkles to a saintly character, making Sun quite unlikable, though he found it more wonderfully twisted than usual.

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly called it a solid B, a disappointment compared to the A+ season premiere. IGN's Chris Carabott rated it 6.8/10, saying that after the premiere's exciting new direction, this episode takes a step back and delivers nothing new or substantial; he found the flashbacks repetitive and filler-like, but praised the final scene between Jack and Ben as the only compelling one. The Los Angeles Times ranked it 80 out of 110 Lost episodes, noting that a good flashback and a terrific last scene cannot make up for a listless on-island plot.

IGN ranked it 106 out of 113 episodes, criticizing the focus on Jack, Sawyer, and Kate with almost no plot momentum, and noting that the Sun and Jin flashback revisited a topic already well familiar to viewers.