S04E07: 'Ji Yeon'

A gimmicky narrative structure will only get you so far, as this mundane episode aptly demonstrated.

Merging Jin's flashbacks with Sun's flashforwards obviously took a great deal of skill in terms of scripting and editing, but it all fell rather flat despite the grand reveal that Jin apparently dies at some not so distant stage in the future. All this time the central plot of Lost, so deliciously invigorated by the previous episode's revelations, was left kicking its heels and grinding to a near halt. The fantastic psychological games between Linus and Locke had given way to the cloying sentimentality between Jin and Sun. Still, at least the toy panda emerged with credit.

Michael Dawson's reappearance also failed to spark much interest, partially a result of actor Harold Perrineau's name having been present in the credits throughout the previous fourth season episodes. For his return to have much impact he'd had to have galloped onto the set on the back of the elusive polar bear while belting out Driveshaft's greatest hits a capella. Now that would be worth grabbing hold of a toy panda for.