Okay... there must be something about that big fluffy Panda bear Jin was on a mission to give his child. Even though he seemed to do it incognito there has to be something about the Panda. What the devil is it?

Come on Panda bear experts... let's hear it! :)

He wasn't giving it to his child, he was giving it to some sort of business man, at that point it was a flashback so Sun wasn't pregnant. I can't remember what he said, but he did say to the bouncer guy why the Panda was important.

The panda bear was not for his child but the grandson of the ambassador. Those events took place on the past, before the island. I don't think there is any significance other than to show the side of Jin that used to be, before he softened into the Jin we all know and love on the island.

Hmm I'm confused... I thought for sure he was at the hospital giving the Panda to the newborn Ji Yeon but he didn't want to be recognized.

Shew all this are we flashing backwards or forward is begging to really becoming a chore to follow.

Nice black/white reference though.

I wonder if the clerk telling him that the last one was reserved for someone was important at all?

I figured that it /had/ to be a panda because the panda is a national treasure of China. Hence the baby being a "treasure."

Good thoughts on the black/white reference...

I kept waiting for the thing to blow up or something - knowing Paik... :-(

totally missed the flashback.. I feel so stupid... Year of the Dragon.. duh.. was 8 years ago, not due again for four more years... was there a "whoosh" - cause I missed that too...

Nice Black/White reference...

I too, thought the panda would explode. :( I am so glad it didn't.

yea i figured it when they said year of the dragon (my year lol)

I have 4 more to go.. so it had to be a Fb not a FF

I figured that it /had/ to be a panda because the panda is a national treasure of China. Hence the baby being a "treasure."

Good thoughts on the black/white reference...

Yeah, that's what I thought, the Ambassador was from China right? So the Panda being important as a gift would make sense. But I thought FOR SURE there would be a POLAR BEAR mixed in with all those stuffed animals at the store! Didn't see one though.:frown: :biggrin:

Hmm I'm confused... I thought for sure he was at the hospital giving the Panda to the newborn Ji Yeon but he didn't want to be recognized.

Shew all this are we flashing backwards or forward is begging to really becoming a chore to follow.

I thought it was quite obvious when we 1. found out the baby was a boy 2. saw the shorthaired woman (who was not Sun) holding a newborn.
I don't see these "twists" as a chore. I love it. It's good to keep the ol' noggin guessing/thinking.

I believe the panda was used merely because it was given to the Chinese Ambassasor, and China is fairly well known for Panda's -- and that it fits in nicely with the black and white theme....nothing more...unless of course the Ambassador is involved!!!!!

I figured that it /had/ to be a panda because the panda is a national treasure of China. Hence the baby being a "treasure."

Good thoughts on the black/white reference...

This is what I thought too. Just a lame attempt at breaking into the Chinese trade market by giving a token that his boss felt would have meaning to the Amassador. Did you see the look on the Ambassador's face? I'm thinking it didn't have the intended effect.

I also thought it was a China ref. I was thinking how cool it was with the set up of him asking earnestly about the gender, which really kept you thinking it was his but was really so he could put the right bow on it. I thought it was constructed perfectly and didn't cheat, and even if it didn't move the mythology forward, it was fun to watch and made the emotional suckerpunch at the end that much more powerful.

But my crackpot theory is that Paik had him send a panda in particular because on the surface it seemed like an appropriate gift for a chinese ambassador but is really some sort of code for something threatening, like the watch.

I was also expecting an explosion (even though Jin said "I have only been married two months"), I still expected a Kahhhh-Booommmm, and then Jin going to see Ben for another target, lol.




"Do I get one?"

RE: Panda Bear/Toy Store Scene...
First... call me crazy, but as soon as the scene started with Jin getting out of the car in front of the toy store, I felt I had already seen this entire "storyline". Was it in an earlier episode? I remembered every bit of this, all the way from him scaring me half to death when he crosed the street without looking up to and including the part where he pulled the blue bow off a floral arrangement at the hopsital to tie around the neck of the bear upon learning the Ambassador had had a son. Whoa. If I am right, then I can't be the only one who recognized it from an earlier episode in which Jin ran various "errands" for Paik. Or was it in some "missing pieces" or other "extra" DVD material?

Second... When Jin enters the store, he begins searching frantically for a panda, before asking the salesman for assistance, and they locate one beneath a pile of other toys. However, on the return trip to the store, an equally large bear of the same type is hanging behind the cashier when Jin enters the store again and asks him if he has another one. How did he manage to miss this huge-@$$ panda bear within seconds, the first time he walked in the door?
I have only watched the episode once, live, so I may have missed something here... for example... what WAS behind the cashier when Jin puchased the FIRST bear?

I believe the panda was used merely because it was given to the Chinese Ambassasor, and China is fairly well known for Panda's -- and that it fits in nicely with the black and white theme....nothing more...unless of course the Ambassador is involved!!!!!

I thought the same thing. Panda's are ambassadors for China. As someone who follows panda's, legend has it that they are "good luck". :biggrin:

RE: Panda Bear/Toy Store Scene...
First... call me crazy, but as soon as the scene started with Jin getting out of the car in front of the toy store, I felt I had already seen this entire "storyline". Was it in an earlier episode? I remembered every bit of this, all the way from him scaring me half to death when he crosed the street without looking up to and including the part where he pulled the blue bow off a floral arrangement at the hopsital to tie around the neck of the bear upon learning the Ambassador had had a son. Whoa. If I am right, then I can't be the only one who recognized it from an earlier episode in which Jin ran various "errands" for Paik. Or was it in some "missing pieces" or other "extra" DVD material?

Second... When Jin enters the store, he begins searching frantically for a panda, before asking the salesman for assistance, and they locate one beneath a pile of other toys. However, on the return trip to the store, an equally large bear of the same type is hanging behind the cashier when Jin enters the store again and asks him if he has another one. How did he manage to miss this huge-@$$ panda bear within seconds, the first time he walked in the door?
I have only watched the episode once, live, so I may have missed something here... for example... what WAS behind the cashier when Jin puchased the FIRST bear?


To address the second question... the 2nd Panda was behind the cashier on the first visit. We can see a glimpse for just a second. Also, when Jin goes into the toystore the first time, You can see what looks like a Panda from the outside shot just to the left of the door. That makes 3 Pandas.

For the "South Park" fans: maybe it's the "sexual harassment...PANDA!"

RE: Panda Bear/Toy Store Scene...
First... call me crazy, but as soon as the scene started with Jin getting out of the car in front of the toy store, I felt I had already seen this entire "storyline". Was it in an earlier episode? I remembered every bit of this, all the way from him scaring me half to death when he crosed the street without looking up to and including the part where he pulled the blue bow off a floral arrangement at the hopsital to tie around the neck of the bear upon learning the Ambassador had had a son. Whoa. If I am right, then I can't be the only one who recognized it from an earlier episode in which Jin ran various "errands" for Paik. Or was it in some "missing pieces" or other "extra" DVD material?

Second... When Jin enters the store, he begins searching frantically for a panda, before asking the salesman for assistance, and they locate one beneath a pile of other toys. However, on the return trip to the store, an equally large bear of the same type is hanging behind the cashier when Jin enters the store again and asks him if he has another one. How did he manage to miss this huge-@$$ panda bear within seconds, the first time he walked in the door?
I have only watched the episode once, live, so I may have missed something here... for example... what WAS behind the cashier when Jin puchased the FIRST bear?

Have you recently been exposed to any electromagnetism or radiation?

For the "South Park" fans: maybe it's the "sexual harassment...PANDA!"

Nice SP reference!!!! :biggrin: I'm a long time fan of SP.

Have you recently been exposed to any electromagnetism or radiation?
:D


Good one!

I kept waiting for the thing to blow up or something - knowing Paik...

I had this thought too!! "Mr. Paik would like you to have this".... Jin walks out of the hospital...kaboom.

But that means Jin would have had to put the bomb inside the bear and sew it back up...he doesn't strike me as a guy who could pull that off in the back of a taxi...and the bear would have been heavier than expected and Jin was in an awful hurry to get to the hospital...to be the first emmisary to congratulate the ambassador (giving Paik kudos for his quick thinking, the ambassador says he will call Paik)..

I would like to thank all the posters here for your thoughts and for not bringing up my misdirected reasoning for starting the thread. I must say one should not have a few drinks before watching lost and then post a topic. ;) I was totally and completely fooled by what went on last night. I could have sworn I saw Jin in the operating room during the birth and I wondered "where's the Panda?" hmmm... need to watch again.

Carry on with the Panda discussion. :)

I would like to thank all the posters here for your thoughts and for not bringing up my misdirected reasoning for starting the thread. I must say one should not have a few drinks before watching lost and then post a topic. ;) I was totally and completely fooled by what went on last night. I could have sworn I saw Jin in the operating room during the birth and I wondered "where's the Panda?" hmmm... need to watch again.

Carry on with the Panda discussion. :)

Wow. I'm glad you caught on. I was really shocked that someone out there really didnt get it. The really interesting part is....where DID that second panda come from, and do you think it meant anything that it was on hold and paid for?
EDIT: I'm watching it again right now, and when Jin buys the first panda, all that is behind the salesman is the dragon. Jin then answers his phone, and you can see another panda right behind the salesman. Guess it was just being held there.When Jin goes back into the store the second time, the panda is more prominently displayed behind the clerk.
I also could swear that right after Ji Yeon was born, Jin held her and smiled, then the next shot it was back to the doctor, handing the baby to Sun.

Okay so I might be having a deja vu moment too, but I thought, while watching this ep, that the guy who knocked into Jin on the street, causing him to drop his phone, in the FB looked like the same guy who walked by (rather conspicuously, in my opinion) Sun's delivery room and was mistaken for Jin.

Also, does anyone else think Hurley in the FF was totally creepy?
"Is anyone else coming?"
"No"
"Good...."

According to this site: http://avenefica.wordpress.com/category/chinese-symbols/

Pandas AND Polar bears are symbols of survival. Perhaps a clue that Jin is not really dead?

Pandas also symbolize diplomacy, so perhaps Jin is some type of harmonizer or neutral in the "war"

According to this site: http://avenefica.wordpress.com/category/chinese-symbols/

Pandas AND Polar bears are symbols of survival. Perhaps a clue that Jin is not really dead?

Pandas also symbolize diplomacy, so perhaps Jin is some type of harmonizer or neutral in the "war"

Good one. I too believe Jin is alive. The diplomacy angle is also interesting. Perhaps Jin's "death" is a ruse & he's alive on the island in somehow stayed in order to keep his wife & daughter alive.

RE: Panda Bear/Toy Store Scene...
First... call me crazy, but as soon as the scene started with Jin getting out of the car in front of the toy store, I felt I had already seen this entire "storyline". Was it in an earlier episode? I remembered every bit of this, all the way from him scaring me half to death when he crosed the street without looking up to and including the part where he pulled the blue bow off a floral arrangement at the hopsital to tie around the neck of the bear upon learning the Ambassador had had a son. Whoa. If I am right, then I can't be the only one who recognized it from an earlier episode in which Jin ran various "errands" for Paik. Or was it in some "missing pieces" or other "extra" DVD material?



I kind of thought the same thing while watching this (however, I had a fever) but now I realize that waaaaaay back in season one we saw something similar.
I'm thinking it was flashbacks from Michael getting a toy polar or panda bear for Walt, and getting hit by a car that gave me the sense of deja-vu. I don't even know if the sequence was the same, but those events fit pretty well with what we saw with Jin this week.

was there a "whoosh" - cause I missed that too...
I could've sworn that there was a "whoosh" sound when it first showed the flash forward of Sun. So now I'm confused, cause I thought that sound was only supposed to be used for flashbacks?

I kind of thought the same thing while watching this (however, I had a fever) but now I realize that waaaaaay back in season one we saw something similar.
I'm thinking it was flashbacks from Michael getting a toy polar or panda bear for Walt, and getting hit by a car that gave me the sense of deja-vu. I don't even know if the sequence was the same, but those events fit pretty well with what we saw with Jin this week.

That would make sense... I came in partway through Season One (near the end, actually) and "caught up" later when I got the DVDs, so I'd be sort of "fuzzy" on that season. And it would definitely explain that "feeling of dread" when I expected Jin to be hit by a car as he crossed.

Electromagnetism... radiation... funny...

I believe the panda was used merely because it was given to the Chinese Ambassasor, and China is fairly well known for Panda's -- and that it fits in nicely with the black and white theme....nothing more...unless of course the Ambassador is involved!!!!!

It was another missed clue. Sun and JIn are KOREAN...yet the Panda is a CHINESE good luck symbol. Jin was evidently visiting a Chinese ambassador and expressing hope of a business relationship with Mr. Paik. That all makes sense now...but all along I fell for the notion that Jin wanted to give Sun and the baby a Panda for good luck. Excellent writing...

Woohoo!! Go AOPi. Our mascot is the Panda. I get excited anytime I see a panda anywhere.

Pandas eat Butterflies (phi sigma sigma)

When i was watching i instantly thought of Panda Bear Diplomacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_diplomacy

Can hardly believe that some didn't get that it was a flashback, even at the end!

Anyway, I think that the allusion is, it had to be a panda because it was meant to be a symbolic gesture of the union between the two countries - ie. Paik wanted to do some deal with a Chinese ambassador.

I was so confused after that flashback...:(

totally missed the flashback.. I feel so stupid... Year of the Dragon.. duh.. was 8 years ago, not due again for four more years... was there a "whoosh" - cause I missed that too...

You didn't miss anything. The clerk said "In the year of the Dragon, it will bring good luck." He never said it was the year of the dragon. It is a FF look at the threads pointing out the prop "goofs"

Prop goofs??? There is an american made STOP sign at the end of the road in the taxi scene...

OMG! They're not even in Korea!!!! Do they even have parking meters in Korea?

Year of the Dragon
Old Cell Phone
Working for Paik
Sun names baby Ji Yeon, just like Jin wanted.
Hurley and Sun go to his GRAVE
The date on the grave.

What? DO you need a personal email from Carlton et al???

The "old" cell phone has been confirmed to be a model released in 2004-2005.

All the O6 return to a life they do not want to lead. Seeing that Jin wanted to quit before crashing on the island, it would make sense that it is a life he does not want to live.

The naming of the baby is irrelevant.

Jin faked his death in order to get off the island, with the help of Paik might I add, and that is why he is working for Paik and said he has only been married one month. He likely would not have contact with Sun and that is why she misses him.

The "old" cell phone has been confirmed to be a model released in 2004-2005.

All the O6 return to a life they do not want to lead. Seeing that Jin wanted to quit before crashing on the island, it would make sense that it is a life he does not want to live.

The naming of the baby is irrelevant.

Jin faked his death in order to get off the island, with the help of Paik might I add, and that is why he is working for Paik and said he has only been married one month. He likely would not have contact with Sun and that is why she misses him.
Everyone and there dog disagrees with you!! You think maybe you could be wrong?

We will see, couldn't you?

What if when the original O6 boarded the rescue vessel, they planned for a return visit to get some others, Jin included, but they couldn't make it back for more survivors. So they make the cover story and Sun goes to her father about Jin being on the island. Paik, being the wealthy man he is and likely being connected to the island somehow, sends a team to go get Jin and only Jin. They return with him and as repayment he must work for Paik and obviously take on a new identity to keep the cover story true. He also likely would not see Sun very much, if at all.

How does that sound?
100%
Though he would not be an O6, it would have been a FF.

We will see, couldn't you?

What if when the original O6 boarded the rescue vessel, they planned for a return visit to get some others, Jin included, but they couldn't make it back for more survivors. So they make the cover story and Sun goes to her father about Jin being on the island. Paik, being the wealthy man he is and likely being connected to the island somehow, sends a team to go get Jin and only Jin. They return with him and as repayment he must work for Paik and obviously take on a new identity to keep the cover story true. He also likely would not see Sun very much, if at all.

How does that sound?
100%
Though he would not be an O6, it would have been a FF.

Like the exact same post in the Jin faked his death thread.

We will see, couldn't you?

What if when the original O6 boarded the rescue vessel, they planned for a return visit to get some others, Jin included, but they couldn't make it back for more survivors. So they make the cover story and Sun goes to her father about Jin being on the island. Paik, being the wealthy man he is and likely being connected to the island somehow, sends a team to go get Jin and only Jin. They return with him and as repayment he must work for Paik and obviously take on a new identity to keep the cover story true. He also likely would not see Sun very much, if at all.

How does that sound?
100%
Though he would not be an O6, it would have been a FF.
WOW!!! Dude you need like a team of shrinks monitoring you brain activity to determine exactly whats going on up there! Really, thats the craziest idea i've ever heard!

The most pressing question...

How often does Ajax get to post in the "I Told You So" thread??

WOW!!! Dude you need like a team of shrinks monitoring you brain activity to determine exactly whats going on up there! Really, thats the craziest idea i've ever heard!

Crazier than finding out Jack and Claire are siblings? That Walt can teleport and is helping John Locke? That Ben takes orders from an invisible telepathic being named Jacob? This is Lost, it is supposed to be crazy.
100%
Like the exact same post in the Jin faked his death thread.

The post can apply to both, why re-type it? Duh...