SPOILER WARNING
* One of my favorite Lost-fandom running gags is whenever anyone talks about what a badass Sayid is, I give a quick rundown of every time this supposed badass has gotten his ass handed to him. Locke brained him when it looked like he’d fixed the radio, he got captured by Rousseau, the Others snuck past him and attacked the boat, he got captured by the Iraqi expat married to the woman he tortured in one of his flashbacks, he got captured by the Others in New Otherton, he got captured by the Others on the beach, he got captured by Locke in New Otherton, he got shot by his girlfriend who was Widmore’s double agent, he got shot by the mystery thugs who were chasing him and Sayid, he got captured by Jin and Radzinsky, and now, finally, he got captured by the bounty hunter lady with the big hair. So when an entire episode centers on the notion that being a ruthlessly efficient killing machine is the only thing Sayid is good at, I’m just like, “compared to what?”
* That said, I thought it was a fairly meaty episode, giving Sayid some explicit worldweariness that we haven’t seen from him in a while. It actually makes his relative profligacy with the ladies make a bit more sense. (For someone obsessed with the love of his life for years, he’s sure gotten a lotta tail before and since; in sheer numerical terms he’s slept with as many women on the show as Sawyer has.) It also makes perfect sense that he’d take this opportunity to kill young Ben, and that he’d feel both justified and totally disgusted about it.
* I assume “the Island isn’t done with Ben yet” and he’ll pull a Locke/Wolverine in short order. Otherwise we’ll have some Marty McFly-style fading out of existence to do for some of the character.s
* Yo, the promo for this week’s episode totally doctored Juliet’s line to Kate so it made it sound like she was telling Kate to stay away instead of making fun of the idea that she’d tell Kate to stay away! Dirty pool! And a much less interesting exchange than what we actually saw. Yay for the show, boo for the network promo people.
* I liked the idea that Ann Arbor, of all places, is the seat of a sinister conspiracy. When do you suppose is the last time a person namedropped “Ann Arbor” in order to intimidate someone?
* And when was the last time E.B. Farnum intimidated someone? Other than Richardson, I mean.
* So, I was entertained, but there were also some pretty rote bits. The bait-and-switch with the two Iraqi kids was something you could see coming a mile away (and something they already did with Eko and Yemi, but more powerfully and disturbingly and convincingly since they had to kill a person, not a chicken). So was the bit with Horace and the wirecutters and the handcuffs, which I’m pretty sure this show has done before but which you could also trace to the creepy Nazi’s clothes hanger in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Meanwhile, the source of Ben and Sayid’s falling-out was that Ben ran out of people for Sayid to kill? That was the big betrayal that made Sayid realize Ben was evil and manipulative all along? Also, some random bounty hunter from Guam can keep Sayid under wraps long enough to get him through airport security and on a plane? Pretty undercooked.
* The thing I appreciated the most was when Sawyer really did risk Sayid’s life, or at the very least his comfort and freedom, in order to preserve his own life with Juliet and the Dharma Bums. That’s precisely the right balance for his “100 days with the castaways/three years with Horace” life story to lead him to, and good for the show for acknowledging that in this way.
Yes! Thank you! Sometimes I feel like the only one willing to acknowledge that Sayid is spectacularly incompetent as a supposed bad ass.
I was indifferent towards this episode. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, mostly enjoyed it.
I was actually amused by the cheat the promo folks pulled with Kate/Juliet. And yes, I agree the way it actually went down was superior.
Did you feel somewhat vindicated when Sayid declared he had a purpose given our discussion last week of the characters being directionless beyond day-to-day living? I strangely did.
I enjoy Hurley’s role as meta commentary one-liner guy. “Had to see that coming” indeed.
My number one outstanding question (at least in terms of the 70’s era) right now: Where’s Faraday?
I personally always think of Ann Arbor as the seat of some sinister conspiracy, but I went to Michigan State so I might not be the best person to ask.
Also, I think Faraday won’t be popping up until the very end of the season, paying of his lurking at the very beginning of the season opener. That feels like something they’d do.
I think you’re probably right, Kiel (about Faraday; I can’t speak to the Ann Arbor thing).
At this point in the show, what with the time travel goodness and all, I’m super excited by every episode, even though this one was a little whatever. But I think that’s because Sayid has always been one of my least favorite characters, and I think it has to do with what you’re saying Sean. His role on the show is supposed to be this bad-ass murderous rogue, but he always comes off whiny and/or gets caught. There are other people on this show far more bad-ass (Locke, Ben, Sawyer) so it kinda puts him to shame. But I must say that the scene where he’s high on truth serum is one of my favorites from him.
And I’m trying to not think about Ben’s death (assuming he doesn’t come back) cause then my brain starts hurting and I want to pass out…
Also, my Faraday theory is that at this point he’s gone (either dead or time-traveled away) and I think that it has to do with what we saw of him from the beginning of the season. I think he was down there with the wheel and did some of his tinkering and either broke it (died) or fixed it (got the hell out).
To be fair to Sayid, he has proven to be pretty effective at killing unarmed men on golf courses and out-of-shape Russians holding grocery bags.
I definitely agree that Sayid’s overrated, but give the man SOME credit where it’s due. He kicked the shit out of Keamy in last year’s finale and you can’t discount his one-on-one with Mikhail in the Flame Station. Mikhail was ex-KGB and Sayid whooped him but good just minutes after a bullet wound to the shoulder. That said, Mikhail only had one eye, so… yeah, Sayid’s a little lame.
Actually, iirc, Keamy had the upper hand but then someone (Kate?) shot him. Another mark in the L column for Sayid.
Sayid IS a ruthlessly efficient killing machine. Only, you know, you kind of have to stand still for it. He also happens to be a terribly inefficent escaping machine.
I haven’t looked anywhere but here for post-episode theories, BUT this immediately occurred to me:
IF the “New Otherton” of last week’s episode (where Sun and Lapidus are chitty-chatting with Jesus-Christian) is indeed some weird alternate future where all the Dharma signs are still half-hanging, and things are boarded up but not blown up… could this alternate future have been brought about by the killing of child-Ben? Remember that Ben is also in the same future as Sun and Lapidus.
Also: Sayid is maybe the best and worst actor on the show–he’s great EXCEPT for when he’s acting badass, don’t you think? The badassery always takes me out of the story, anyway–I’m more interested in an accidental badass like Sawyer than a trained badass like Sayid, carrying around a boatload of pathos with him everywhere he goes on the show.
Ann Arbor is the HQ of Borders Books and Music. Of course, the way that company’s going I doubt that fact has intimidated anyone.
And when was the last time E.B. Farnum intimidated someone? Other than Richardson, I mean.
I always found him pretty creepy as Larry . . .
Dustin: I like that theory! But the reason I have a hard time accepting it is that the show has gone so far out of its way to have trustworthy characters say that the timestream is immutable. Unless you’re Desmond, perhaps. So if Dez had assassinated Li’l Ben, I’d buy it.