It's taken me far too long to catch on to this, but each episode of Lost this season is nicely dovetailing with its counterpart in the first season. That's a nice way of saying we're watching characters grapple with the same flaws they've been suffering since season one, but it also provides a nice sense of continuity-- despite all the madness that's gone down, these are still the same flawed, human people we've known all along.
This week it's Sayid's turn to rehash some of the same angst, namely wondering whether he really is the torturer that everyone still thinks he is. It's a credit to pretty much everyone-- Naveen Andrews, the writers, Sayid himself-- that this is still an interesting debate, but the best stuff, as usual, was in the background. Old-school smoke monster attacks, surprise Jin appearances and totally batshit Claire were just some of the highlights of an episode that hooked me in despite itself. Yes, in many ways we're exactly where we were back in season one. But given all the digressions we've endured in the meantime, that's mostly a good thing.
Questions Answered
Does Sayid finally make it to Nadia in the alternative timeline? Yes, but it's not what you think. Somehow in this version of a world where Oceanic 815 never crashed, Nadia is married to Sayid's brother, raising two kids who call the man she once loved "Uncle Sayid." And in this world, Sayid's brother is a bit of a financial screwup, having borrowed some money from some unseemly gangsters who are threatening him repeatedly. Which brings us to the episode's Big Question…
Is Sayid a killer? We've been through it over and over-- sometimes Sayid will torture Sawyer just because he thinks he has Shannon's inhaler, sometimes Sayid can't even bring himself to hit the woman who killed his true love (remember that whole subplot?) In the alternate timeline, Sayid is a killer once again, dispatching all the gangsters threatening his brother-- including that old villain Keamy, always welcome in any timeline-- and somehow coming across Jin tied up in a freezer. And back on the island, in the temple under siege from the Smoke Monster, Sayid is a killer too. But it gets a lot more complicated from there.
Has Sayid been inhabited by something evil? Well, Dogen definitely still thinks so, and Miles tells Sayid himself that whatever brought him back to life, it wasn't the healing waters of the temple. Dogen continues his complicated efforts to kill Sayid by sending him on a suicide mission to SmokeLocke, and either SmokeLocke recognizes a kindred evil spirit, or knows that Sayid is a sad, broken man who can be talked into pretty much anything-- kinda like Sawyer two weeks ago. When it comes time for SmokeLocke and his minion Claire to lay siege to the temple, they have a willing accomplice in Sayid… and the man who struggled so long to get away from his dark past is right back where he started. Way to punch us in the stomach, Lost.
Is the ring of ash a guard against the Smoke Monster? Yes, but with Jacob gone and then Dogen stabbed in the bubbling magic pool by Sayid, it doesn't seem to do much good. The actual mechanics of the ash line aren't explicitly explained, and who knows what it was doing around that shack we thought Jacob was living in, but we know SmokeLocke can't move past it until Dogen is dead. Once our favorite mysterious Japanese man is dead at Sayid's hand, though, all bets are off-- and the Smoke Monster goes medieval on a bunch of redshirts for the second time this season. Awesome.
New Questions
Where the hell is Jin? When Sun, Lapidus and Ben show up at the temple and run into Miles, Miles tells Sun he just saw her husband. Which makes me wonder, wait, where'd he go? Last we saw he was being held captive by Claire, but now she's off following SmokeLocke and his new band of Others into the forest. And for that matter, where's Sawyer? Are they just being tied up somewhere for SmokeLocke to use when he gets the urge?
What does Kate want now? Her entire goal since she got back to the island has been to find Claire, and now that she's done that, she's following her into SmokeLocke's pack, with seemingly no idea of what she's gotten into. Will Kate go all Jack and huff and puff against the evil ways of her new friends? Or, more interestingly, will she be lured to the dark side the same way Sayid was? There's always the option of Claire straight-up killing her, but I don't think we could be that lucky.
Is Sayid really evil, or just an opportunist? He only truly went over to the SmokeLocke side when SmokeLocke offered, obliquely, to bring Nadia back to life, But then after hearing a heartbreaking story from Dogen, about how Jacob lured him to the island with a similar promise, Sayid straight-up murdered the guy. Even Ben, when he came across Sayid holding a knife by the pool, knew not to mess with him. It's likely that Sayid isn't being possessed by the Smoke Monster, since he can actually pass in and out of the temple… so what is he now?
Jacob makes deals with people… so does Smokey. Coincidence? Dogen points out that Jacob lured him to the island with the same deal that Smokey offered, but doesn't explain why that connection might be interesting. Think there's something there besides the fact that they may be brothers?
What does SmokeLocke want, anyway? Dogen says he wants to destroy everything on the island. SmokeLocke says he just wants to escape. There's a great ambiguity about exactly how evil his side of the coin is, and Dogen's conviction that he's "evil incarnate" just adds a new, fascinating wrinkle.
How does Ilana know her way around the temple? She's been a mysterious figure ever since she kicked Sayid in the face on their first date, and it looks like the time may have finally come to figure out who the hell she is and why she knows so much about the island. I was happier to see Lapidus, Ben and Sun show up in the Temple, but Ilana is clearly a good woman to have around in a tough spot.
Where We Go From Here
SmokeLocke has his army. Now give Jacob one. By the end of the episode it was clearer than ever that the lines have been drawn for a fantastic battle, in which SmokeLocke has some of our guys and Jacob, presumably has the rest. While I can't totally count on Jack and Ben to join sides, I'd like to see Jack and Hurley meet back up with everyone else, so that Team Jacob, so to speak, can get moving as well. The sooner we have the teams divvied up the more interesting things can get.
Work with Claire's dark side. Everyone else on Team SmokeLocke-- Kate, Sawyer, Sayid-- has dark pasts that have been well explored by now. Then there's Claire, the picture of innocence and optimism turned into a crazy loon. I like that Claire is a little unhinged, but let her be self-aware enough to know she's on the dark side, and enjoy it. She doesn't have to kill Kate for this to play out well-- but hey, it wouldn't hurt.
Bring back OG Locke! This is just an idea I got from the next week promo, which showed Ben in the graveyard digging someone up. Does he somehow have the power to restore life to the dead, and the ability to bring back the Man of Faith we know and love? Could the final battle be Locke vs. Locke! I shouldn't even let myself get so excited about this idea.
Unite the timelines… but keep what you're doing, too. This was the first episode in which I realized the power of the alternative timeline to serve the same function as the season one flashbacks-- shed light on our characters' actions in the "present" timeline while providing hints toward the future. While the alternative timeline still feels a little like treading water, especially since these are all character notes we've hit before, they seem to have more potential now. Still, I'd much rather they get on with the plot than keep lingering in Los Angeles like this.
