Previously on Lost: Jack, Kate and Hurley set up shop as the newest members of the DHARMA Initiative while Sayid was arrested under suspicion of being a Hostile. A young Ben brought Sayid a mustard-less sandwich.
This episode of Lost is brought to you by pronouns: why use just one when three can make your episode title thrice as confusing. It starts in Iraq as a young boy is ordered by his father to kill a chicken. He can’t do it, but the boy’s younger brother walks over and chokes the chicken without a second thought. As you might have guessed, the boy who killed the chicken is Sayid.
Back in 1977, which is actually around the same year as the “flashback,” Young Ben shows up with another sandwich for Sayid. When he gives it to him, he asks if Richard sent him, suggesting that he might be able to help Sayid escape. At least now we know how long Ben has been creepy.
If you thought the time jumps were over, think again. Sayid is in Moscow tracking down some Russian to assassinate him. We’re back to the time when he was a contract killer on Ben’s payroll, and when the hit is done, Ben tells him that this was the last person on his list, so Sayid is free to do whatever he wants.
An ironic edit takes us from that “free” Sayid to the one in prison on the Island. Horace and Radzinsky try to interrogate him, but Sayid doesn’t say anything. Maybe that’s because Horace Goodspeed is a pudgy hippie with long red hair. I’ve seen My Little Ponies that are scarier than him.
Juliet burns her bacon as she worries that the arrival of their friends from the future will spell the end of their happy life in DHARMA-Ville. It’s amusing how three years have passed and everyone seems to be resigned to the fact that they will finish up their lives in the 1970s.
Sawyer promises to fix it, so he goes to Sayid with a solution. Sawyer asks Sayid to go along with the lie that he’s a Hostile who wants to defect so that they can keep living their lives in DHARMA-Ville, but Sayid wants no part in it.
Chef Hurley prepares some delicious food for Kate and Jack, who discuss the fact that Juliet and Sawyer are now an item, a fact that went over Kate’s head. I’m not sure what Hurley’s preparing, but it involves waffles, ham and dipping sauces. Now I’m just really hungry.
So is Sayid, as Young Ben brings him another sandwich. But this time there’s a janitor mopping up the cell, a janitor by the name of Roger Linus. Ben’s dad is furious that his son is bringing the Hostile sandwiches and starts roughing him up. I’m torn between by hatred of child abuse and my happiness at seeing Ben get knocked around.
Another flashback or flash forward (depending on how you view time) takes us to the Dominican Republic where Sayid is building homes for charity. Ben shows up to tell him John Locke is dead, and that Hurley is in trouble. He wants Sayid to kill someone else because he thinks that Sayid is a natural born killer. It’s surreal to think that Ben has actually known Sayid for almost his entire life at this point.
Horace, Sawyer and Radzinsky take Sayid to see Oldham, a mysterious old man living in a teepee in the woods. Sawyer tells Sayid that “he’s our you.” Cool, another torturer. The best thing about Oldham is that he’s played by William Sanderson, who played the wonderfully quirky Mayor E.B. Farnum on HBO’s Deadwood. He has Sayid tied to a tree and then feeds him some type of truth serum.
Next we flash back/forward to Sayid on the pier with the rest of the Oceanic 6 and Ben the night they all gathered. Sayid takes off and goes to a bar to get drunk. A sexy woman flirts with him, and she’s none other than Ilana.
They go back to a hotel room to have sex, but it’s interrupted when she kicks him and knocks him out. It turns out Ilana isn’t a U.S. marshal, but a bounty hunter hired by the family of the man Sayid killed on the golf course last season. For some reason, they want Sayid taken to Guam.
Once the truth serum takes control, Sayid starts blabbing about how he came from Ajira 316 and he used to be on the Island for 100 days, but luckily Radzinsky cuts him off before he can implicate Sawyer. It’s amusing, but also way too convenient for the writers to just have them ask the right questions to avoid learning anything of value about Sayid’s connection to Sawyer.
Radzinsky asks about the DHARMA hatches, and Sayid describes them all, freaking Radzinsky out. That dude is seriously obsessed with his hatches. Unfortunately the “I’m from the future” comment makes everyone doubt everything Sayid is saying.
They take him back to DHARMA-Ville where Radzinsky wants to kill him, and if he doesn’t get his way, he threatens to call Ann Arbor. I’m sure that’s important, but my initial reaction is that Ann Arbor is such a ridiculous sounding name for a town. Horace puts it to a vote, and after some cajoling, everyone votes to kill him, including a reluctant Sawyer so he can keep up appearances.
Sawyer tries to warn Sayid and help him escape, but he refuses because this is his purpose. Sawyer rushes off to see Kate and ask why she came back. Before she can answer, a flaming DHARMA van crashes through the town and into a building. Sawyer takes control of the situation and orders everyone around, getting everyone to help put the fire out.
This includes Phil, who was keeping watch on Sayid. As he leaves, we see that Young Ben is there to bust Sayid out. That is one resourceful kid. His glasses are busted by his father, and Young Ben begs Sayid to take him back to the Hostiles. Sayid plays a mind game of his own, saying that he was sent there to bring Young Ben back with him.
One more flashback/forward takes us to the day of Ajira 316. When Sayid sees all of his Oceanic 6 friends, he begs Ilana to let them go on a different flight. On the plane, Sayid asks Ilana if she’s working for Ben Linus, telling her that he’s a genocidal monster who let his own daughter be killed for his own nefarious purposes.
Back in 1977, Sayid and the genocidal monster escape from the prison and run away. They run into Jin, but Sayid uses his military training to subdue him. Young Ben wants to run away, but Sayid tells him “You were right,” referring to future Ben’s claims that he’s a killer. So Sayid takes Jin’s gun and shoots Young Ben. Young Ben falls to the ground as Sayid runs away.
Wait, is Young Ben dead? Since that would make absolutely no sense on any time travel level, I have to assume he’s not. Still, shooting a little kid is hardcore, even if he does grow up to become the evil Ben Linus.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
