Spoiler alert: Sayid Jarah does not die in this episode. But Lord knows I was worried he would. Between rumors there would be a major character death this season-- isn't there one every season?-- and Sayid's generally tragic character arc, I was nearly convinced this would be it for our favorite Iraqi, which lent this episode all kinds of dramatic tension. Luckily, Sayid will live to see another day, but that doesn't mean this episode didn't have its share of amazing moments-- plus a complete "What the....?" at the end that might be the best loop Lost has thrown in a good long while. They've still got it!
"It's in your nature. It's what you are. You're a killer, Sayid."
That's the theme of tonight's episode, as very clearly expressed in a prologue set during Sayid's childhood, when he's the little kid who can slaughter a chicken when his friend doesn't have the guts. Later in life, after he's done all sorts of contract killing on behalf of Ben Linus, Ben sets him free to live him life. But of course, that can't last, as Ben turns up to bother Sayid when he's building houses in the Dominican Republic, and tells Sayid that Widmore's people murdered Locke. That lying rat! Sayid either sees through Ben's lies or can't be bothered, as he keeps hammering those nails, but we know he can't stay away for long. But in the meantime...
"A twelve-year-old Benjamin Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich, how do you think I'm doing?
Sayid remains in Dharma custody, and even though Sawyer wants to stop by and check on him, all he can really say is "Say you want to be Dharma, and I can help you. Otherwise, go find Richard and figure something else out." For some reason Sayid won't defect to Dharma, which leaves him with just one friend... Lil' Ben Linus, who keeps bringing him sandwiches and asking about Richard, since at this point he already knows about the Others and just how damn special he is. Sayid suggests to Lil' Ben that he can help the kid escape Dharma, especially after encountering nasty dad Roger, but in the meantime there are some gentle Dharma hippies who really want some answers out of Sayid, and they've got Oldham, who is so skilled in answer-getting and torture that Sawyer explains to Sayid, "He's our you." And in the meantime Kate has figured out that Sawyer and Juliet are shacking up, but thus far that doesn't really matter. Oh, but we've still got a flashback to deal with, so....
"I just thought you looked sad. I like sad men."
After he walks away from Ben at the marina, promising he doesn't want to be involved in whatever return trip to the island he has planned, Sayid winds up at a bar and flirting with none other than Ilana, whom he initially assumes is a prostitute but he takes her home anyway. Just when he's removing her killer boots and getting ready to show her some serious Iraqi love, Ilana kicks him in the face and tells him she'll kill his ass if he makes another move. Because she's a bounty hunter! And I am now officially ready to see Ilana become a major character, even if she's still stuck on the beach with stupid Cesar and an unconscious Ben in the present. Anyway, Ilana is bringing Sayid to justice in Guam for the dude he killed on the golf course at Ben's behalf, and when Sayid realizes he's getting on a plane with the rest the Oceanic Six, he begs to get on another plane. But Ilana, no nonsense, refuses. And that's how we wind up with Sayid tied to a tree, being questioned by some hippie dude named Oldham and Horace Goodspeed in 1977...
"Because i am from the future."
Oldham, being the hippie torture expert that he is, gives Sayid a truth serum, and Sayid, kinda like Doc Brown in Back to the Future III, starts spouting all kinds of truths that no one is really ready to hear. But we also get to see Sayid laughing, which I don't think he's gotten to do during the entire course of the show-- poor tortured soul. Still, he talks enough about all the Dharma hatches to make everyone suspicious about him, and all of Dharmaville gets together for a big town vote about whether they should let the poor guy live. Sawyer is the only one who wants to spare him, while even new mom Amy (trying to protect her innocent little boy Ethan) wants to kill the guy. Sawyer tries to go down and let Sayid escape, and Sayid refuses, saying he knows what he's there for. Sawyer tries to go to Kate and figure out what the hell he's talking about, but in the meantime, someone has clearly learned a defensive measure from Hurley, because a flaming Dharma bus has come rolling through the village.
"You were right about me. I am a killer."
The flaming bus is enough distraction for Lil' Ben to come down to Sayid's cell and free him (Did Lil' Ben set the bus on fire? Probably!) Sayid tells Ben he'll take him to his leaders, in fact, that's why Sayid is there to begin with. Sayid, who does not really know Richard Alpert from Adam, is totally making this up! So Lil' Ben and Sayid go traipsing off into the jungle, getting ready to do God knows what, when a Dharma van spots them from the road. Luckily Jin is the driver, and Sayid calmly explains the situation to Jin, and it's all going to be OK, when Sayid knocks Jin out! And then he grabs Jin's gun, explains to Lil' Ben that he really is a natural born killer, and shoots the kid right in the chest! And thus Lost has somehow managed to kill a child, and both convince us that the kid will never actually die, and make us totally root for the kid's death. Die, nerd, die!
Ummm... so Ben is dead? And Sayid is an Other? Whatever just happened, it happened really fast, and I seriously have no clue what will happen next. Except that we'll probably still be treated by plenty of nonsense from the Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet love quadrangle, when I'd really much rather learn what Hurley's Dharma job is, and about a million other questions. But hey, it's Lost. We all know I'll just accept whatever they're willing to give me.
