I thought this episode was great fun. Sayid-centric for one, which is always a good thing (ask and ye shall receive) - pluswhich my man Sayid was looking fiiiiiiiiiine tonight. Also, very little Kate and Jack (also good), and we covered a lot of ground, getting information about Sayid's time in Ben's employ and just who that chick Ilana is. Bonus for the E.B. Farnum cameo!
Tikrit, Iraq. A father shouts at his son, calling him a coward for refusing to kill one of the family chickens. The boy doesn’t want to do it and the father says he must stay outside until he kills one. After the father goes away, a younger boy comes up, entices a chicken with a handful of grain and then wrings its neck. The chicken-killer hands the dead chicken to the older boy. When the father comes back out, he tells the younger boy, “Well done, Sayid.”
1977, Dharma Initiative. The former chicken killer stands calmly in his cell. Young Ben comes back with another sandwich and a book for the prisoner. Ben asks Sayid if Richard sent him here to the Initiative. When Sayid won’t answer, Ben tells him that the surveillance cameras are not wired for sound. He goes on to say that some years ago, he met Richard in the jungle and Richard promised to take him if he was patient. Ben looks gravely at Sayid and says, “If you’re patient too, I think I can help you.”
Moscow. A frightened man locks himself in his apartment. He goes to a safe and almost manages to get the door open before straight-haired Sayid busts down the door. The man offers money but Sayid shoots him anyway. He looks curiously at the man’s empty hand then leaves the apartment, walking down an alleyway to where Ben is waiting. When Sayid asks where the next assignment is, Ben says he’s done – he’s eliminated all the threats to his friends. There’s no one else in Widmore’s organization that they need to go after. Sayid is at a loss, dismayed at having killed all those people, and unsure what to do next. “Go live your life, Sayid,” says Ben.
1977. Horace comes to visit Sayid and cuts his bonds with a pair of pruning shears. Radzhinsky (the paranoid tech from the Flame Station) is there too. Horace wants to know what Sayid was doing out in the jungle. He also wants to know about Sayid’s handcuffs: he’s either in trouble with his people, which is a bonus for Horace, or he’s a spy. He gives Sayid an hour to decide how he’s going to answer – or he’ll “take it to the next level.” Sayid doesn’t look fazed by that at all.
Juliet is distracted by Kate and Jack outside their cottage and lets the breakfast bacon burn. She looks at Sawyer and murmurs that it’s over now, this, the two of them, all they have here at the Initiative - if Sayid tells the truth about who he is, everything will come crashing down. Sawyer tries to reassure her that he’ll take care of it, but they’re interrupted by a knock on their front door. It’s Horace, who reports having spoken to the prisoner. Apparently Sayid ain't saying squat and Horace is concerned enough by this to let “Oldham” have a try at him. Sawyer exclaims, “That psychopath?!” and Juliet just leans resignedly against the wall. Horace thinks he has no choice but Sawyer asks for a go at the prisoner alone first.
Soon afterwards, Sawyer goes to the cells and dismisses Phil. As he unlocks Sayid’s cell, he asks how he’s doing. Sayid replies that he’s a little freaked out by the fact that an adolescent Ben Linus just brought him a chicken salad sandwich (that’s a paraphrase) and asks Sawyer how he can live here with Ben. Because I have to, is the response. Is that so? Sawyer: “Let’s see how you feel after three years of livin’ in the ‘70s.” He tells Sayid that he thinks he’s in a position to save him and apologizes just before he punches Sayid in the nose. Sayid wants to know WTF. Sawyer says that it has to look like he beat Sayid’s confession out of him – to get intel about the Others. Sayid still doesn’t understand what this is all about and Sawyer has to spell it out: they’ve built a nice life for themselves here and if Sayid won’t come on board, he’s on his own. Sayid: Well, I guess I’m on my own then.
At the Dharma commissary, Hurley joins Kate and Jack for waffles. They pool what they know about Sayid: nada. Since Jack didn’t get anything out of Sawyer last night, so Kate says she’ll ask Juliet. Hurley’s like, why would she tell you anything? Kate: why not? Hurley: cuz they’re like together, like you guys used to be. Kate: [grrrr]. Hurley makes his escape and Kate casts an eye at Jack – did he know? Jack says yup and stares at his waffles.
Back down at the cells, a janitor – I think it’s Ben’s dad! – comes in to mop the floor. He smirks at Sayid, saying he must be pretty dumb to have been caught by the Dharmites. Just then, young Ben decides to bring another sandwich to Sayid. His father takes this very much the wrong way, his son never having brought him a sandwich. He shoves Ben out the door roughly, then tosses the food to the floor and leaves. Sayid looks thoughtful.
Flash wherever it was that Sayid was building Habitat for Humanity houses when Locke found him (looks like Hawaii). As he’s working, Sayid notices a disturbance in the force and turns to find Ben standing there. Ben tells him that Locke is dead, probably killed as retribution for the work Ben and Sayid had been doing. In addition, some bad guy has Hurley under surveillance at the mental hospital right now and Sayid should probably go kill him. Sayid’s like, why would I want to do that? Ben gets extra creepy as he says being a killer is in Sayid’s nature – it’s what he does, who he is. Sayid steps close and speaks softly, saying that Ben doesn’t know anything about him. Ben: Hm, guess I was mistaken. And then he leaves.
Flash back to the Dharma cells, 1977. Sayid is still looking pensive – and Damn Hot, I might add – when Sawyer comes back with Horace and some flunkies. When Sayid still won’t speak, Sayid (regretfully, I think) zaps him with a taser and tells the other guys to “take him to Oldham.”
They drive the VW bus out to a campsite in the middle of the jungle. There's a cloth tent, and an old-timey gramophone. Horace calls out and Oldham (William Sanderson – yay!) emerges from the tent. Sayid whispers to Sawyer, “Who is this man?” and Sawyer whispers back, “He’s our you.” Uh-oh. Oldham fills a syringe and steps close to Sayid, and then says placidly, “Better put him in the restraints.” Sayid takes this as his cue to struggle wildly but he can’t get away from the flunkies.
This is pretty intense. They shackle Sayid to a tree and for just a moment, he looks a little bit scared. Oldham says the shackles are for his protection as there are “side effects” to what he’s going to give him. He shoves a pill or something into Sayid’s mouth and makes him crunch down on it, then tells him not to fight it – it’s beyond his control now, and he will tell them the truth. Sayid lunges against his bonds, bringing his face within inches of Oldham’s. Still, he’s not said a word. Sawyer looks abashed. And he should.
Flash back to the scene at the marina when Ben told Jack, Kate, Sayid and Sun about going back to the Island. After Sayid left, threatening dire consequences if he ever saw Ben again, he goes to a bar and drinks very expensive scotch. Ilana – but we don’t know her name yet – strikes up a conversation with him. Her accent is, um, indeterminate and her hairdo is stupid. Sayid finds her interesting enough to continue talking to, however.
Island, 1977. Oldham starts to ask Sayid some questions. He gives up his name; he was in handcuffs because he is a “bad man;” this is his second time on the Island, and his second plane crash to boot. “Ask Sawyer,” he suggests goofily. Hilariously, none of the Dharmites seem very interested in any of this (nor do they know who “Sawyer” is – and Sawyer gives up silent thanks for that), instead asking what he knows about their various Stations. Sayid runs down the list but since he even knows about the ones that aren’t yet built, they get freaked out some. Then Sayid tells them: “You’re all going to die, you know. You’re going to be killed … because I am from the future.” Oldham: “Maybe I should have used half a dropper.” Heh. Sayid also thinks this is funny, cackling wildly that Oldham used “just enough!” Creepy.
Dharma compound. Juliet has gotten Kate a job at the garage where she works. At Kate’s bemused expression, Juliet asks her if it was Jack who told her about Juliet and Sawyer. No, says Kate, actually it was Hurley. Juliet smiles gently and says that this is a relief – since she couldn’t figure out how to bring it up to Kate without it sounding like she was saying stay away. And thus, Juliet, you just said it – nicely done. They are interrupted by the return of the group from the Oldham fieldtrip. Horace and the flunkies take Sayid back to the cells, Sawyer pausing long enough to share a Worried Glance with his ladylove. By which I mean Juliet.
Later that night, Horace has called a meeting of the head Dharmites and to ask them what they should do with Sayid. Paranoid Radzhinsky says they should kill him to which Sawyer protests. Horace says he needs more time to consider: on the one hand, Sayid does seem to be a spy for Richard’s Hostiles; on the other hand, the Initiative does have civilized law to follow. Radzhinsky presses the issue, however, saying that they have to vote, now, or he’ll call Ann Arbor (?!) and they’ll make the decision. Then, Amy speaks up: she’s worried about baby Ethan’s safety and doesn’t want Sayid here. Sighing, Horace puts it to a vote and everyone but Sawyer votes to kill the spy. Horace turns to him and says that he would really like to say it was unanimous. Grimacing guiltily, Sawyer raises his hand too.
Ah: Sayid and Ilana back at his hotel room, smooching, gasping and bouncing on the bed. Sexily, he stands to unzip her high leather boot … and then she kicks him in the head. Several times. Until she pulls a gun on him. Sayid, nursing a bloody lip, would like to know who she is. She is a bounty hunter, hired to bring him to Guam by the family of the man he killed on the golf course last year. Girl’s pretty good at her job too.
Island, 1977. Sawyer comes down to the cells. He hands Sayid the keys and instructs him to punch him in the face – he thinks Sayid can probably get past Phil at the door no problem and escape into the jungle. Sayid won’t do it, though, saying that being here is apparently his purpose back on the Island. “[Your purpose is] To get shot? You’re out of your mind!” says a frustrated Sawyer, and storms out. He goes over to Kate’s cottage and demands to know why she came back, saying that Sayid just spouted all this nonsense about why he was back on the Island, and so he wants to know why they all came back. Kate hems and haws a little, saying that she only knows why she came back, not everyone else. But before she can get to it, the VW bus – fully aflame – comes careening through the compound and crashes into a cottage.
Everyone comes running to put out the fire but soon the bus explodes and the whole cottage is engulfed. Jack comes up and Sawyer immediately bitches about how for three years everything has been peaceful. You know, this is a great diversion. Sure enough, as soon as Phil leaves his post outside the cells, young Ben comes in. His glasses are broken and Sayid asks him what happened. “My father,” says Ben, crying a little. Sayid is sympathetic, saying his own father was a hard man too. Ben says that he really hates it here – if he lets Sayid out, will he take Ben with him back to his people? “Yes, Ben,” replies Sayid with an eerie calm, “That is why I’m here.” I think that tone of voice Sayid just used does not bode well for young Ben in the long term.
Flash back to the L.A. airport, and Ilana escorting Sayid towards the gate. As he catches sight of Hurley and Jack in the waiting room, he asks his captor if she’s sure they’re going to Guam. Yup. He then sees Kate and panics a little, asking if they can take the next flight – he’s a little superstitious about planes. Nope. When they board the plane, he sees Sun and then Ben. He asks Ilana if she’s perchance working for Ben, calling him a monster responsible for genocide (?). She asks why she would ever work for someone like that. “I did,” sighs Sayid.
Island, 1977. Young Ben opens Sayid’s cell. Taking advantage of the roaring house fire, they manage to escape the compound unseen, running into the jungle. When headlights come towards them, they dive into the underbrush. It’s Jin, driving another VW bus. Jin asks how Sayid got out and Sayid says that Sawyer freed him. When he tells Jin that he’s got to keep moving, Jin wants to check with Sawyer first, so Sayid just decks him, knocking him out. As Sayid crouches over his friend’s unconscious body, young Ben creeps out of the bushes, marveling at Sayid’s prowess. Keeping his head down, Sayid says to him, “You were right about me. I am a killer.” Then he lifts his head, aims Jin’s pistol at young Ben and shoots the boy in the chest. A surprised expression crosses Ben’s face and he drops to the ground. Tears fill Sayid’s eyes and he runs past the boy into the jungle.
Wow. Awesome. But I bet the Island isn’t done with young Ben quite yet, despite Sayid’s best efforts.
Previously on Lost / next time on Lost
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