Jin's Gonna Be a Daddy!

Okay, maybe it's the bald ex-boyfriend's and not his. And yeah, even if it is his, the way the show's pacing is, it won't be born for like, 4 seasons, if the writers even let it come to term.

Whatever—Jin's gonna be a daddy!

What the fuck are you babbling about, you moron, you ask?

C'mon, you don't watch "Lost"? What kind of Asian American are you?! Heh.

Anyway, as those of you who, like me, watch way more t.v. than the parent of a toddler should (damn you, TiVo!) already know, last night's episode of "Lost" (ABC, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.), "The Whole Truth," centered around everybody's favorite bundle of race, class and gender role problems, I mean, married Korean couple on t.v., Sun and Jin Kwan (played by Korean actress Yunjin Kim and Korean American actor Daniel Dae Kim, respectively).

To bring non-viewers up to speed: rich-girl Sun was gonna leave son-of-a-fisherman-turned-dad-in-law's-goon Jin, learning English from her rich (and bald) ex-boyfriend (well, he's not really...but this is just less complicated, trust me) in preparation for a dash to America. She got cold feet and they both ended up in the crash on the island. Jin's got gender-role and class-insecurity issues a-plenty. After some rough patches, including attacking the black single-father (now his friend) for "stealing" his father-in-law's watch, being accused of setting a raft on fire, finding out his wife secretly knew English, setting off on the rebuilt raft and then getting captured by other survivors, Jin's back with his wife, trying to work through all his macho controlling crap. It's resurfaced a bit though, with last night's freak-out over Sun being out in the jungle alone (she was recently the victim of a fake kidnapping, again, if you don't watch, never mind, it's too complicated...) and the flash-back revelation that, when told Sun was unable to have children, he freaked out and accused her of knowing about it before the wedding. Turns out that the doc lied, though—it's Jin with the infertility problem, he just doesn't want the known tough-guy to burn his office down. So, finally, Sun tells Jin the truth (well, that part anyway), and promises that she was never unfaithful. Happy dad-to-be chalks it up to an island miracle. With all the facial expressions that Sun throws around, you really can't tell if she's lying or not—Did she sleep with baldy and thus could it be his? Or is it really a "miracle" and is she as surprised as Jin?

This shows throws so many curveballs that it could be anything (and fans have filled up bulletin boards registering their opinions on all sides already). I'm hoping it's Jin's, and I'm hoping the character continues to shed all the insecurity-induced macho tendencies. It'd be nice to see an functional Asian/Asian American family, and an Asian/Asian American dad, on t.v. (not on a cartoon!), even if it takes a few seasons. Besides all the crazy storylines and stuff, I love this show for all the little things it sticks in. The cast of characters' diversity is just a given, with black single dads and sociopathic Latina cops and fat Latino mental patients and Iraqi commandos played by South Asians and Nigerian crimelords turned priests.... And don't you just love that the only married couples are the Koreans and the middle-aged interracial couple (white guy/black woman)? And what other primetime American dramas have entire episodes with over half of it in Korean (or Arabic), with English subtitles? And his shirtless scenes have already landed Daniel Dae Kim a spot as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive. Heh. Who woulda thunk it?

So anyway... Jin's gonna be a daddy!