I love the opposite theory SailAweigh, and if that is a theme I think that it will be telegraphed when Shannon starts to be useful. Her inability to get the better of Sawyer could be an early sign of a change in her.

I could really relate to the speech Jack's dad gave him. My own father gives me similar well intentioned advice, but always manages to say it in the most horrifing way possible.

It seemed to me he was saying that it was Jack's nature to try to be a hero, but that everyone, even heroes, one of which he is himself, fails, and Jack wouldn't be able to deal with that failure mentally or emotionally and it would crush him like the bug he was since he would never be the hero his father is, with the proper emotional detachment. His father is batman, only less likeable. Possibly because he was married to Jack's mother instead of being properly buttled.

Um... I kind of liked that scene. Obviously.

She doesn't seem to be in competition with anyone other than Boone

My prediction: she's a professional beauty queen.

Heh. I wouldn't be surprised, Sail.

Ashtareth, I do think Sun thinks he's showing love to Jin. I also agree that he's treating her like property. I can't wait to see next week's episode. The previews were intriguing.

I also agree that he's treating her like property. I can't wait to see next week's episode.

Ditto. That's been made very plain. There was just something in their last couple of exchanges in the latest epsiode that gave me a feeling. Nothing I can put a finger on. So, I'm also waiting for next weeks episode with bated breath.

I meant, is he still in it the Republican Guard, or is he now a civilian? What's his status?

IIRC, the Republican Guard was disbanded after the overthrow of Saddam, so he's not in them any more. Yep: Republican Guard Wiki.

He could have been part of the POWs after the first Gulf War that never went back, although the RG had fewer desertions/captures than the Iraqi regular army.

He didn't says he was part of the "Special" Republican Guard, so he was unlikely to be high in the organization, just good enough not to be regular army.

One more piece of the puzzle, Daniel. Thanks.

Re. the whole Jin and Sun and English thang...

I was born & educated in Korea (well, up until high school anyway), and in my experience, it is possible to be fairly well-educated in Korea and still speak minimal English. English is taught as the second language throughout the high school, but the emphasis of the teaching is very much in written English, vocabulary and grammar. The teaching on conversational English, aural comprehension and speech? Not so hawt. God knows I understood next to nothing for a good 6 months after my family immigrated to N.A. On the other hand, I was a high schooler there 15+ years ago so things may have changed considerably since then.

However, most people *would* know how to say, "I don't speak English". Or at least, "No understand English" or something, if they were from South Korea. That Jin and Sun wouldn't even say that much is wee bit fishy.

(In fact, I could say "Excuse me, but I don't speak German" with an apparently flawless accent, because people would be startled and think I was joking.)

That reminds me of Family Guy.

Brian: Hola! Um...me, me llamo es Brian. Ahh, uh, um lets see, uh, nosotros queremos ir con ustedes.

Man: Hey, that's pretty good, but when you say, "Me llamo es Brian," you don't need the "es," just, "Me llamo Brian."

Brian: Oh, you speak English.

Man: No, just that speech, and this one explaining it.

Brian: You-- you're kidding, right?

Man: ¿Qué?

The same thing used to happen to me in Spanish all the time. My written Spanish is excellent, the aural comprehension sucks. So, I could ask for all kinds of things fairly fluently, but then when they answered, I'd be stuck repeating, "mas despacio" over and over until they realized I didn't have a clue as to what they were saying. Five semesters of college Spanish didn't do much for me with the spoken form. Part of it is learning it so late in life (my 40's.) The older you are, the harder it is to learn a new language.