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Did that just happen? Can it? I mean, really. Where's Daniel with the playbook? We need rules -- borders -- an end zone. What am I talking about? Well hop aboard, I'll give you the starter tour.
The network description of this episode reads: "A survivor goes rogue, endangering the lives of everyone on the island." But by rogue, it seems they mean something far more interesting than Sarah Palin using campaign funds to buy some snazzy duds. We open on a scene in Tikrit, Iraq. A father berates his son into killing a chicken. The kid doesn't have the heart to do it, so once his father storms back into the house, his younger brother puts his hand on his shoulder, and shows the older boy his palm full of chicken feed. He then enters the coop, lures a chicken over, picks it up and snaps its neck. After he hands the carcass to big brother, the father comes out to congratulate him. The older child is a truthful child, and admits to his father that he didn't off the bird. As the old man scoffs at the older boy and looks fondly at the younger, the subtitles tell us he says, "At least one of you will be a man. Well done, Sayid." So, he's a natural born killer? Tell us something we don't know, Show.
Sayid has lots of visitors in his Dharmaville cell. Young Ben Linus brings him a chicken salad sandwich, and a book -- A Separate Reality, by Carlos Castenada, which I suspect is a clue and I hope to hit that in the full recap. He wants to know if Richard sent Sayid, and tells him how he wanted to join the others, but that he's had to be patient. He tells Sayid that if he, too, is patient, he thinks he can help him. Horace also visits, frees Sayid from his cuffs, and give him one hour to decide whether he will talk to them and explain whether he's a spy, or just a hostile who's on the outs with the Others. If Sayid doesn't talk, they'll take it to the "level."
In later conversations involving Sawyer, we learn from Horace that someone named Oldham is the level. And per Sawyer, Oldham is a maniac, so he asks for time with the prisoner. Alone with Sayid, Sawyer tries to convince him to fake up a defection, so that he can join their little party in Dharmaville. He warns him about Oldham, and really, Sayid should have been convinced to "defect" once Sawyer described Oldham by saying, "He's our you." But Sayid's all, Are you kidding me? I just got fed chicken salad by Benjamin Linus. This place is whack, yo, and besides, I've found my special purpose. So, Sawyer gives him the old cattle-prod-to-the-nuts treatment. No, really. I mean, I know Sawyer kind of owes Sayid one, but to the 'nads? Yeeeouch!
The Dharma Initiative turns Sayid over to Oldham, whom I wish had said, "I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl; this is my other brother Darryl." Oldham, who lives in a tipi, drugs Sayid via a sugar cube laced with something I like to think of as LSD, but who knows? He then tries to get Sayid to confess how he's come to be there, but can't recognize the truth when he hears it. That is, when he tells all about Oceanic 815, Ajira 316, and that he's not a hostile, Oldham assumes he's given Sayid too much juice, but a tripping Sayid assures him it was the perfect amount. Du-huh-hude.
Later, the D.I. types have a meeting and Stu "Quick Draw" Radzinsky convinces everyone that Sayid is in need of killing. Horace persuades Sawyer to make the vote unanimous, so he does, but later, he tries to get Sayid to "overcome" him and escape. Sayid won't play along.
Ben, or possibly Harry Potter, sets a VW Bus afire, and rigs it to drive into the Dharmaville quad, where it crashes into a building. While Sawyer, Juliet, Kate, Jack and all the D.I. people try to extinguish the flames, young Ben lets Sayid out.
There are some Sayid-centric flashbacks along the way, including one that shows how current-day Ben cut him loose after a hit in Russia, and another that shows how Sayid met Ilana, who isn't a marshal, it seems, but rather -- a bounty hunter. We see her seduce Sayid and then capture him to bring him back to Guam to be charged for the murder of Peter Avillino -- Sayid's golf-course victim. Somewhere in there, Kate finds out from Hurley and Jack that Sawyer and Juliet are shacking up. There's then a scene between Juliet and Kate, who try to make nice, and a scene between Sawyer and Kate, who try not to make out.
Sayid and Ben escape the compound on foot. They run into Jin, so Sayid gives him a line about how Sawyer let him escape. When Jin says he just has to check with Sawyer about what to do, Sayid knocks him out. He then picks up Jin's gun, and looks at his unconscious form way too long for comfort, takes aim, fires and SHOOTS WEE BEN! And so I'm back to where I started. Did that just happen? Can it? I mean, really. Where's Daniel with the playbook? We need rules -- borders -- an end zone. This show is crazy sauce, I tell you what. I'll catch you on the flipside, with the full recap.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see who beats Sayid in our list of the Best Lost Backstories! And check back soon for the full recap!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Did that just happen? Can it? I mean, really. Where's Daniel with the playbook? We need rules - borders - an end zone. What am I talking about? Well, hop aboard. We're going off the rails on a crazy train.
Previously, on Lost: Baby Ben meets Richard in the jungle. Ben wants to go with Guyliner, who tells him he'll have to think about it and be patient. Adult Ben asks Sayid whether or not he wants to protect his friends. On a golf course, Sayid tells Peter Avellino, "I am Sayid Jarrah. [You did something that probably has nothing to do with killing my father.] Prepare to die." Then he shoots him. Jack sees bounty hunter Ilana leads a cuffed Sayid through the Ajira Air terminal. There's a FLASH! Jin finds Sayid wandering in Grid 325. Once Radzinsky catches up, Jin plays it all hard-ass. While languishing in a Dharma Initiative cell, wee Benjamin Linus brings Sayid a sandwich and a question. "Are you a hostile?" Sayid asks what the boy thinks. The boy asks his name. Sayid obliges and asks the same question. The boy says, "I'm Ben." Sayid says, "It's...nice to meet you, Ben."
Tikrit, Iraq; A Chicken Coop: No. Really. A big, mean father drags a pretty, soft-faced boy outside of a house and yells at him in what I presume to be Arabic, but I swear I heard a "sonnovabitchin" in there, so who knows? I can see it now. The producers were all, "They want how much for an Arabic speaking day player, and translator for our writers? Oh get out!" They grab the tan extra they see. "We're making it for an American audience; they'll never know the difference, anyhow. Daddy issues are the universal language. If you believe what you're 'saying' they'll buy it." It seems the dad wants his son to act like a man and... choke the chicken. Boundaries, hello? Since the old guy has a big-ass meat cleaver in his hands, if I were the boy and in possession of boy-parts, I would be inclined to listen. But I'm getting unfairly transfer-y.
The father hands the boy the cleaver, and tells him he can't come back in the house until he's slain dinner, then stomps back inside, slamming the door behind him. Once the father's inside, the boy's younger brother approaches. He's smaller, slighter, and even prettier. He puts his hand on big brother's shoulder, and then shows him what he's got in his palm -- a handful of chicken feed. He enters the coop, lures an unsuspecting bird to him, picks it up like you would a kitten, and SNAPS ITS NECK. Like you would a kitten! As soon as he hands the carcass to his big brother, the father comes back outside and congratulates the older boy. The older child is a truthful child, and admits to his father that he didn't off the bird. As the old man scoffs at the older boy and looks fondly at the younger, the subtitles tell us he says, "At least one of you will be a man. Well done, Sayid." And we cut to...
The Island; 1977: Sayid sits in his lonely cell staring at the surveillance camera. Wee Ben enters the Dharma Station, and tells Phil he's got another sandwich for the prisoner, "Chicken salad, this time." Because chicken is fraught with meaning in the life of Sayid Jarrah. Phil says Sayid isn't eating, so wee Ben shouldn't waste his time. Ben really wants to talk to a "hostile" again though, so he says, "But Horace told me to." Phil finally waves him on in. He gives Sayid the sandwich and a book, A Separate Reality, by Carlos Castenada. Could that be a... clue? Ben wants to know if Richard sent him. When Sayid doesn't talk, Ben acknowledges the presence of the camera, but notes that there's no audio. He then tells Sayid that four years ago, he ran away into the jungle and Richard found him. When Ben wanted to leave and join the others, Richard told him he must be patient. Looking at Sayid, he adds, "And if you're patient too, I think I can help you." Dun!
Moscow; After the Escape-Aways Escaped Away: A man enters an apartment, throws down his bag of groceries, locks the door behind him. He enters a room, closes the door behind him, then another, then another. He locks the last door too, but it's just a chain lock. He opens a wardrobe, but doesn't go to Narnia. Instead, he opens a safe, and I think he's going to live to regret that choice, because Sayid comes in behind him, dressed in black leather and carrying a really big gun. His hair is all straight again, and does that bug anyone else? I can buy that Naveen Andrews might iron his hair from time to time, but not Sayid Jarrah. Oh well, at least he's pretty... deadly. He shoots the poor Russian, even as the guy is throwing stacks of money at him. Okay so I was wrong about him living to regret it, at least for very long. Sayid then exits the building and walks down the street like he's a tourist, simply taking in everything. He meets up with Benjamin Linus, behind a big, ornate iron gate, because the iron curtain is no more. Ben must be confused by all the time jumps that happen on Craphole, because he's wearing a fedora, like he's appearing in vintage film noir, rather than a cracktastic TV drama. Sayid gives Ben the status of his mission -- the victim tried to bribe him, but it didn't work. He wants to know where they're headed , but Ben tells him he's done. Sayid doesn't understand, but Ben says the threat to his friends is now past, and it's been a pleasure working with, and here's your hat, what's your hurry. There's no one else left in Widmore's organization they need to get. "Andropov was the last one." Sayid protests that he killed all "those people" for Ben, and now Ben's just walking away, but Ben says Sayid didn't do it for him. I had a cat like that, once. She'd bring home the hind end of a squirrel and be like, "I brought the squirrel for you. Enjoy!" Ben says, "You're the one who asked for their names." Sayid looks like a lost, wounded puppy, and it's surprising to me how sickening I find that. I like Action!Sayid. To turn me off even more, he asks Ben, "What do I do, now?" Ben advises him to go live his life. "You're free, Sayid!" And we cut to...
The Island; 1977: Horace enters the cell, holds up some nasty looking tool -- wire cutters, I guess. He cuts off Sayid's handcuffs, which doesn't seem possible, but it happens. Sayid thanks him, and then Horace introduces himself and asks Sayid what his name is, and what he was doing out in the jungle. Radzinksy's there, still freaking out about Sayid seeing the model of the Swan, but Horace is all chill, dude. Horace wants to know if Sayid's in disagreement with the hostiles, or if he's a spy, trying to infiltrate Dharma, but he says infiltrate really weirdly. Sayid's not talking. He doesn't even share his name. Horace gives him an hour to start talking, and if that doesn't happen, he's going to have to take this to the "level."
Juliet looks out the window of the love nest she shares with Sawyer. He points out that her bacon is sizzling (not a euphemism), and wonders what's caught her attention. When he joins her at the window, they watch as Jack and Kate leave Kate's cabin. Really? Huh. Juliet wants to know if their time "playing house" is up -- if one of the Returnees will blow things for them (not innuendo). Horace comes for a visit and tells Sawyer that they have a Sayid shaped problem. Since he won't fess up as to why he violated the truce and trespassed on their territory, Horace plans to set Oldham on him. Sawyer says, "That psychopath? No way!" Horace doesn't think there's another choice, since Sayid won't talk, but Sawyer insists the prisoner will talk to him.
Sawyer hustles over to the security station and sends Phil out on lunch, then confronts Sayid. When he asks how he's doing. Sayid's all A 12-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich and you know my issues with chicken, dude. "How do you think I am doing?" Sawyer smirks. "Sweet kid, ain't he?" Sayid doesn't understand how Sawyer can bear to live there with him. I'd say bedding down with Juliet probably helps. Sayid won't accept Sawyer's excuse that he doesn't have a choice. "Let's see how you feel after three years of living in the '70s. Lucky for you, I spent that time getting myself in a position to save your ass." He opens the cell, enters, and leaves the door ajar, then head-butts Sayid, without first explaining that he's just trying to make it look like he roughed Sayid up in order to extract a confession. Sheesh, and I thought last week's distinct lack of winking was bad. He wants Sayid to say he was trying to defect, and offer some information on the hostiles, in exchange for a chance to stay at Dharma. Sayid demurs. He'd rather be on his own, thanks. Right now, I can't say as I blame him, but what exactly does he think he's going to be able to do?
We find Hurley at his new place of employ -- the mess hall. He serves up some waffles and ham to Kate and Jack and advises them to trying the "dipping sauces" which doesn't ring true as a '70s expression, but I digress. Hurley wants to know what's up with Sayid, so Jack tells him that he tried to find out from Sawyer the night before, who only told him to leave him alone and let him do his job. Hurley says, "And you're going to?" Jack just nods and blithely continues eating his breakfast. Oh sure, he's probably waiting for Sawyer to fall spectacularly on his ass, because by not sharing information, he's clearly violating the whole live together; die alone principle, but Jack stopped preaching that sermon after Rose threatened his life. Oh dear, I still miss her and Bernard. I'm going to pretend they don't have anything to learn -- that they just ended up on Craphole so Rose's cancer could be cured, and that they're currently lounging around in some unidentified era, feeding each other mangoes and laughing about Frogurt's death.
Kate says she'll talk to Juliet and see what she'll tell her about Sayid. Hurley then steps in it, by pointing out that Juliet and Sawyer are living-together living together and if Sawyer didn't tell Jack his plan for Sayid, Juliet's probably not going to tell Kate. When Kate suddenly develops a deep interest in the patterns on her waffles, Hurley steps in it even deeper. "You know, together like you guys were?" Jack too becomes enthralled with his breakfast. Hurley though is not only lacking food, he can't find his off-button. "I thought it was kind of obvious.... I mean, who couldn't see that coming?" Jack finally finds the off-button for him, so they can all sit around in awkward silence. Finally Hurley excuses himself and returns to make more waffles. Kate tries to keep her voice light as she asks Jack, "Did you know?" but it is so not convincing anyone, not even Jack, who probably wants to be convinced. He just nods, smiles an empty smile, and says, "Yeah." Kate returns his empty smile and says, "Hmm," but what she really means is "Harumph!"
Sayid's lying in his cell, when someone enters the...what would you call that? An antechamber? I'm not sure that's right, but it sounds cool, so let's. That someone is Linus. Rotten Roger Linus, a.k.a. "Roger Workman," the skeleton Hurley found in the Dharma van, and of course, sire to devil spawn Ben Linus. Right now, he's still got his skin on though, and he's just there to mop up, but while he's going about his business, he can't help but ask Sayid how he could be so dumb as to get caught by "these idiots." He laughs at his own "joke" because no one else is going to. Sayid stares at him. "And yet you're the one who mops up after them." Meow. Roger can't wait until Oldham gets done with Sayid. Just then, wee Ben walks in with yet another sandwich. I've had my full, just watching this episode, thanks. Do they have no donuts? Muffins? Heck, a banana would be a welcome change. Roger is furious that Ben would be bringing a sandwich to a prisoner, so Ben lies that he was bringing it to him (i.e. Roger). Roger's not as stupid as he looks. "You haven't made me a sandwich in your life." At 12, Ben hasn't quite yet perfected the art of lying (too many stammers), so Roger doesn't buy his lame excuses, and grabs the boy, so violently that Sayid rises to his feet, despite himself. Roger then slams Ben into the cell door, and gets Ben to admit that he made the sandwich for Sayid on his own, without being told by anyone. Roger tosses Ben of the antechamber, glares at Sayid, throws his sandwich across the floor he's just mopped (so maybe he is as dumb as he looks), and storms off, leaving the mop and bucket behind. Sayid can probably MacGyver that shit into a wrecking ball and smash door-sized hole in the side of his cell. But he doesn't. He just closes his eyes, and thinks of chickens. And we cut to...
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; 2007: Sayid's got his hair in the pigtail of penitence, as he works for the Habitat for Humanity-like organization. As he bends to pick up some lumber, he feels his Spidey-senses tingling, turns around, and there's Benjamin Linus. Ben tells him Locke is dead. "I think he was murdered." Really? Talk about jumping to conclusions! Sayid wonders why anyone would murder Locke. Ben repLIES: "I'd say it was retribution for the work you and I have been doing." But of course, I'm a professional liar, so you might not want to take that as gospel. Ben tells Sayid he's in danger. If Ben can find him, so can the "people" who killed Locke. And you're looking right at "them"! He also tells him the same people have been watching Hurley at the institution, all week. Sayid doesn't want to play along and wonders why Ben thinks he would. Ben tells him, "You're capable of things that most other men aren't." Truer words, Ben...truer words.... He goes on about all the murdering and torturing Sayid's done and suggests it was less choice and more nature. "You're a killer, Sayid." Sayid says he's not what Ben thinks he is, and that he doesn't like killing. Ben "apologizes" for being "mistaken" about him, and we jump to...
The Island; 1977: Sawyer enters Sayid's cell, while Phil, Radzinsky and a couple of other guys wait in the darkened antechamber. Sawyer tells Sayid it's his last chance to talk, and when Sayid refuses, he zaps him in the nuts with what seems to be a pocket-sized cattle prod. Yow! Sayid crumples to the ground and Sawyer gives the order to the guards to take Sayid to Oldham.
Horace drives Radzinsky, Phil, Sawyer and Sayid out to Oldham's tipi, in a Dharma blue VW bus. Sayid's now cuffed, conscious and singing soprano. Oh wait, that's Oldham's... um... it can't be a radio on Craphole. Perhaps it's a battery operated 8-track. Oh wow, it's a hand-cranked gramophone. When Horace beckons him, Oldham exits the tipi and Sayid asks Sawyer who he is. Sawyer gets to say the title line. "He's our you." Oldham introduces himself: "I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl; this is my other brother Darryl." Okay, he doesn't, but let's pretend he did. He gets up in Sayid's face, holds up a dropper and a little cup that contains... a sugar cube. He doses the cube with the clear liquid in the dropper and tells the guys to put Sayid in restraints. They strap him to a tree, and Oldham calmly informs Sayid the restraints are to protect Sayid from the side-effects of what he's going to give him. Phil and Radzinsky force Sayid's mouth open and Oldham force feeds him the sugar cube then tells him not to be afraid -- just to turn his mind off, because there's no sense fighting it. "One thing's for sure, friend. You will tell us the truth." Is that a side-effect of LSD? Well, per a letter I got from a reader named Gary, "Yes, that was indeed LSD that Farnum, I mean Oldham, used to make Sayid talk. The CIA experimented with using LSD as an interrogation tool back in the '60s." So there.
Marina; 2007: You know how a few scenes have been reused this season, but when they are the second time, they're slightly different. This is another one of those. We see Ben tell Sun that there's someone who's going to get them back to the island. Kate leaves in a snit. It's all the same, if a bit shorter. What's different is that when Sayid leaves, he says to Ben (rather than Jack), "If I see you again, it will be extremely unpleasant for us both." Now, maybe this is just a new technique the writers/directors/editors are using this season, but maybe when wee Ben handed Sayid a copy of Castaneda's A Separate Reality, it had multiple meanings. Now sure, it could just refer to the LSD trip on which Sayid is embarking, but maybe there are multiple timelines -- multiple realities -- now. Just stew on that for a while. I know I am. Anyhow, we jump to...
A bar; 2007: Ilana takes a seat to Sayid, who orders another MacCutcheon. Ilana tries to make small talk with him about the price of the Scotch ($120.00 a shot), but Sayid is grumpy and she really has to work it. Finally, he asks her if she's a "professional." Yo girl, he just called you a 'ho. She doesn't take offense at this, which should be his first clue that she's clearly someone coming to kill or arrest him, but as Ilana notes, Sayid looks sad, and he finally decides to welcome her company. As they talk, he confesses that he's between jobs. He quit his last one, because he's trying to change. Er...wasn't your last job saving the world by building one house at a time? The conversation turns to temptation, because we don't have all night, and Ilana gets Sayid to buy her a shot of MacCutcheon. We then jump to...
The Island; 1977: Oldham interrogates a now giddily tripping Sayid, who gives way more than name, rank and serial number. He says he was in handcuffs because he's "a bad man." And when Oldham wants to know if he was running away from his people, Sayid says, "What people?" Oh, poor chicken. Er... I should find another endearment, shouldn't I? When questioned, Sayid says he's not a hostile. "I came on a plane -- Ajira flight 316, and that's how I returned to the island." He explains that the first time, he was on Oceanic 815 which crashed on the island, and he was there for 100 days. He then adds, "Ask Sawyer." Sawyer shits a brick, when Oldham asks who "Sawyer" is, and he's then saved by the unlikeliest person of all -- Radzinsky, who butts into the interrogation process, because he's still all hung up finding out what Sayid saw when he was at the Flame Station -- you know -- into which he dragged Sayid, in the first place. I'm just sayin'... Sayid confesses that the he knows that the Flame is a communications station, the Pearl was to observe other stations and that the Swan was to study electro-magnetism. "But of course, that was before the incident..." Radzinsky cuts Sayid off with another freak out. Horace orders him to "cool it." Then out of the blue, Sayid tells them they're all going to die. "They're going to kill you." When Oldham asks how he knows this, Sayid says, "Because I am from the future." While Sawyer's eyeballs roll right out of his head, and across the jungle, Oldham allows that maybe he should have only given Sayid half a dropper of goofy juice. When he says, "Ooops," Sayid cracks up. "You used exactly enough." And we cut to...
Dharmaville Auto: Juliet is showing Kate the ropes. Kate knows nothing about mechanics and they laugh for a moment, then get all awkward. Juliet finds out that Kate now knows about her and Sawyer. Juliet's relieved Kate already knows. She couldn't figure out a way to tell her without sounding like she was trying to get her to stay away. Kate pretends that's fine, but Sayid's return saves her from having to make a long, drawn out pretence. As the women watch the men lead Sayid back to his cell, Sawyer realizes his women are swapping stories and dies a little inside. I laugh as hard as Sayid did back at the tipi, and I'm not even drugged (unless caffeine counts). We then cut to...
Nighttime; Sawyer and Juliet's Love Shack: What appears to be the hippie dippy version of a Council of Elders has convened in Sawyer's living room. They are trying to decide what to do about Sayid. Radzinsky advocates killing him. Sawyer reminds them that they're civilized, and it seems Radzinsky and Sawyer are battling for Horace's soul. Horace needs more time to consider, but Radzinsky threatens to call "Ann Arbor" until Horace makes a decision. Amy jumps into the fray. She's all pretty and sweet so you think she's going to be, "Give peace a chance," but no siree-bob. She's a mother lioness, and can't bear the thought of a hostile living among them, and her wee, innocent babe, who to her is just Ethan, not ETHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so she advocates for killing our good friend Sayid. For the children. They take a vote on the Radzinsky Solution, and after some pressure from Horace, "LaFleur" makes it unanimous, which to me, was the second biggest shocker of the night. Did you yell at your TV, too?
Hotel; 2007: Sayid and Ilana enter kissing and spinning. He throws her on the bed and when Ilana encourages him to remove her knee-high boots, Sayid starts to oblige. Oh Sayid, you are so much smarter than this! Can't you see that kick in the face coming a mile away? Apparently not. Ilana lands it but good, and then knocks him to the ground. They struggle and Ilana comes out on top. She takes a gun from who knows where and tells him that if he so much as flinches, he's dead. She's a professional all right. She says she was hired by the family of Peter Avellino, the man Sayid offed on the golf course, the year prior. She will neither confirm nor deny that she's a bounty hunter, but that's what I'm going to call her 'til we learn otherwise. She makes it clear to Sayid he's going to pay for what he's done. And we jump to...
Sayid's Cell; 1977: Sawyer enters and asks Sayid to hit him in the face. He says he owes him one anyhow, but um Sawyer, you shot electricity through his bits and pieces, so I'm thinking he owes you a little more than that. That is, if we don't count the time Sayid tortured you. But that hasn't happened yet, has it. Except that it has. In another reality. Oh no, I'm getting dizzy again. I have to lie down until it goes away... I'm back! Didja miss me? The short of it is, Sawyer wants Sayid to make it look like he managed to overcome him, stole the keys, and let himself out. Sawyer's pretty sure Phil is no match for Sayid, and so he tells him to get his gun on his way out. Sayid says he appreciates the offer, but he's good where he is. Sawyer warns that they're going to kill him and that he has to escape, but Sayid doesn't care. When he first landed back on the island, he couldn't make rhyme or reason of it, but he's now found his special purpose. Sawyer can't really believe Sayid's special purpose is to get shot, and tells him he's out of his mind. Maybe Oldham really should have used a half a dropper, eh James? Sayid looks at him serenely, and finally, Sawyer leaves in a huff.
He walks back to the Love Shack, but before he enters, he glances over at Kate's cabin. And can no longer resist. Angry with himself, he marches over, and knocks. Kate tries to hide her I've still got it smile with a how do you, old casual acquaintance smile. When she says hi, Sawyer has no time for pleasantries. He demands to know why they came back, because Sayid just filled his ear with his special purpose. Wait, that's not... you know what I mean. Perverts. Kate's ignoring you. She only has eyes for Sawyer and says she doesn't know why everyone else came back. She only knows why she did. Now, you know, I think that's supposed to make us think she came back for Sawyer, but I still think her reason has something to do with Aaron. I wish I knew where he was? Right now, my guess is that he's with Claire's mom, or Sawyer's Baby Mama. Before Sawyer can get any details out of Kate, they hear a vehicle speeding through the compound. Sawyer turns to see a Dharma VW Bus, AFIRE, screaming across the quad. Wow, Juliet must really have issues if Sawyer can't even talk to Kate on her porch. The bus mows down a white picket fence and finally crashes into a cabin. Sawyer says, "What the hell?" rather than "Son of a bitch," and rushes over toward the flames. The cabin ignites just as he gets near, so he runs off to their little water tower. Kate, who was right behind him, gets closer to the cabin and helps its occupants escape. The scene is dark, but they seem to be random females we don't know. All of Dharmaville turns out to battle the inferno, including new recruit, Jack, who asks Sawyer what happened. Sawyer acts like it's Jack's fault. "Three years, no burning buses, you all are back for one day... Get on that hose." That's what he said. Sorry. Sawyer gets on his radio and summons all security to the scene. That includes Phil, who is never off work, it seems.
Once Phil is gone, a cloaked figure enters the antechamber of Sayid's cell. Yeah, it's wee Ben, but the hood is doing nothing to keep me from thinking of him as Harry Potter, and I don't think that's how the show wants me thinking of him, since he seems to have way more in common with He Who Shall Not Be Named. Sayid's standing at the cell door when he enters. He asks Ben what happened to his glasses (they're now broken and have been taped back together, as if the kid isn't having a hard enough time with his adolescence). Ben just says, "My dad." Sayid's voice is smooth like honey, or MacCutcheon's. "For bringing me the sandwich. I know. My father was a hard man, as well." Ben looks at Sayid and tries to smile at his kindness, but his eyes fill with tears. Choked up, he admits, "I really hate it here. If I let you out, will you take me with you... to your people?" Sayid says, "Yes Ben, I will. That's why I'm here." Huh.
Airport; Ajira Air Terminal; 2007: Sayid and Ilana enter and he spots Hurley at the desk. Sayid asks his captor, "Are you sure we're going to Guam?" Ilana says, "Where else would we be going?" in a way that leaves me undecided as to how much she knows. I mean, I'm sure Ben arranged for her to capture Sayid, but I don't know what she knows about that, or if she has an inkling of what she's in for. Maybe she's one of his people now living on the mainland. Maybe she's a pawn. Sayid then sees Jack approach Hurley. he sees Kate seated in the waiting area. He stops dead in his tracks. He asks Ilana if they can get the plane. Ilana refuses, so he adds, "I'm very suspicious when it comes to flying." If only he'd tell/remind her that he's one of the Oceanic 6, he might have a good chance of talking her into a slow boat, instead. As it is, Ilana's unsympathetic. "We'll buy you a rabbit's foot in the gift shop." How 'bout a chicken's foot, instead? No? Okay. We get a good long glimpse of the plane outside and then cut to...
Ajira Flight 316: Sayid peers through the space between his seat and Ilana's to get a look at Sun, then rights himself in his chair. Worry written all over his face. Ilana apologizes for the handcuffs, then adds, "But at least we're in business." Oh yes, he must be so relieved to be even closer to whatever awaits him in "Guam." Ben makes his last minute, breathy entry onto the flight, with his sling, and his cuts, which he SO DIDN'T GET WHILE KILLING PENNY, DO YOU HEAR ME! He and Sayid have a slo-motion stare-down as Ben passes his row. We hear Hurley freak out that Ben's on the plane, and then Sayid gets right in Ilana's face and asks her if she's working for "Benjamin Linus." Her, "What?" seems sincere enough, but Sayid's hyper-vigilant, now and growls, "Are you working for him?" She asks, "Who's Benjamin Linus," but there's no way Sayid can give an answer to that with only a minute or two left in this episode, right. Sayid snarls at her. "He's a liar. A manipulator. A man who allowed his own daughter to be murdered to save himself. A monster responsible for nothing short of genocide." Oh, I guess he did answer it, with time to spare, even. Ilana asks why she'd work for someone like that. Oh, snap! Sayid looks away from her and says, "I did." And we jump to...
The Island; Sayid's Cell; 1977: Ben lets Sayid out of his cell and they take off through the jungle while the rest of the Dharma Initiative is preoccupied with the big fire, which is just how wee Ben must have planned. What he lacks in lying, he more than makes up for in strategy. As they run through the verge, Ben falls. As Sayid stops to help him, a Dharma VW Bus comes cruising down the road. Why were they running so close to the road? I know it is night and all, but still. The bus stops and Sayid freezes and shushes Ben. It's Jin! Sayid is so relieved; he walks to the road and calls to him. Jin asks how Sayid got out of his cell and what he's doing there. Sayid says that Sawyer let him out (lie) because they were going to kill him (truth). Just then, a call comes in over Jin's radio, announcing that the prisoner/hostile has escaped. Sayid tells Jin that they don't know Sawyer released him. "Please, Jin. I have to keep moving." Jin says, "Okay, let me talk to him, first." When he calls "LaFleur" on his radio, Sayid flips Jin over and knocks him out. Ben is impressed. "Whoa! Where'd you learn to do that?" As Ben reminds Sayid that they'd better go, Sayid takes Jin's gun. Ben walks off while Sayid continues to crouch over an unconscious Jin. When Ben tries to get Sayid back on task, Sayid says, "You were right about me." Ben's all "What?" because that hasn't happened yet. Sayid adds, "I am a killer." He looks up from Jin, takes aim and fires. At Ben, who takes his sweet time falling to his knees and then flat on his face. Sayid cries into his sleeve, then rises and walks right past Ben's corpse (or you know, on this show "corpse") and the breaks off into a run, into the night, into the darkness. Chicken! DUN!
Okay, so I wasn't really surprised that Sayid "killed" Ben. But it was still a shocking thing to witness a "good guy" murder a child. And what's really shocking to me is how I feel about it. This is a classic case of would you kill Hitler before he rose to power, except Hitler's currently a 12-year-old abused, scared, lonely, motherless child, who looks too much like Harry Potter, so suddenly, I'm all for rehabilitating young Hitler before he becomes, you know, HITLER! And? I'm trying to figure out what happens . Back in 2007, will Ben's body disappear from the Hydra Island sick bay? Or will he die there? Or will we have two timelines? Or more? Back in 1977, has Sayid actually kicked off the purge? I mean it seems likely Dharma would retaliate for the murder of a little boy, and if and when they do, then it's likely that the Others will strike back. Or will wee Ben even stay dead? Locke didn't, when Ben shot him and tossed in the pit with the rotting purge corpses. How many strings do we have to follow now? Are all these things true at once? While Daniel seemed to mean that changing the past wasn't possible, perhaps Chang meant it wasn't advisable. And I'm back to where I started. Did that just happen? Can it? I mean, really. Where's Daniel with the playbook? We need rules -- borders -- an end zone. Right now, all I know is my head hurts and my nose is bleeding, even though I haven't see a FLASH in ages.
Cindy McLennan is sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth, muttering such that she sounds a little too much like Daniel Faraday. Her family is concerned. Maybe you can help. If you think you've got if figured out, feel free to email her at CynthiaMcLennan[at]gmail.com. They read to her once a day, hoping it will snap her out of it.