Sayid: "Not for me."
I'm sort of in mourning today. I loved Sayid. He was my favorite character. And now he's...um... Lost. That clever Man in Black; he picked the one thing that Sayid would sell his soul for.
Sayid has had such a shitty life. Always stuck with the dirty, morally corrupt jobs in both realities. If he'd been born in a peaceful place, if he'd been loved as a child, he probably would have been a truly good man. He wanted to be a good man, even while he was doing such horrible things. The fact that he did what Dogen told him to do makes me think there was still good in Sayid, right up until he met the Man in Black and got an offer he couldn't refuse.
And doesn't that add an extra possible dimension to the flash-sidewayseses? Jacob apparently promised Island Dogen that Dogen's son would live on, and that's exactly what he's doing in the LAX timeline. Will Nadia live on in the LAX timeline, too? Did Jacob and the Man in Black collude on the creation of an alternate universe intended to satisfy their candidates? How could that be?
I wasn't surprised that Sayid killed Dogen and Lennon. (Can you kill someone in a healing spring, though? Won't they just pop back up?) I thought all through this episode that Dogen had set Sayid up so that Smokey would kill him, and it backfired. Of course, since this is Lost, the whole situation was so ambiguous that we're left wondering what would have happened if Sayid had stabbed Smokey before he spoke. (And will that be the way to take him down in the end? Did they just set something up there?)
The massacre at the Temple was telegraphed way in advance, too, so it didn't surprise me, either. Although I have to say that you don't see a lot of massacres set to the tune of "Catch a Falling Star," so that was new and different. That was the song Christian sang to Claire when she was little. Where is Christian, by the way? He used to hang around in nearly everyone's backstories, and now we haven't seen him in forever. Did John Terry get another gig? How's his driving record?
LAX timeline
I think I'm enjoying the flash sideways more than the Island story; it's the gift that keeps on giving.
Sayid was, like the others, a better person, at least in the sense that he was more self-sacrificing and repentant of his former occupation in the Republican Guard. But he was also punishing Nadia as well as himself by pushing her into marrying his cowardly brother Omar. Sayid and Nadia were so obviously still in love and longing for each other, even though she'd had two children with Omar. And Omar knew it, too. Tragic.
Keamy showing up as the loan shark was just delightful. It was even a bit of foreshadowing, since Keamy's guys were all slaughtered by Smokey. What the hell was Jin doing tied up in the freezer? (Which paralleled Claire keeping him in her shelter. For that matter, Claire was also imprisoned in the Temple. Parallel-a-paloosa.)
The Foot Group and the Temple Group together at last. Mostly.
So we have Claire, Sayid (sob) and possibly Sawyer (no! no!) on Smokey's side. Hurley and possibly Jack are on Jacob's. No news yet on Sun and Jin. I was worried Miles would be killed during the massacre since he doesn't have a number; thankfully, no. Kate, whose name I missed on the big wheel at the Lighthouse in last week's, was also the first one of the Losties that Jacob touched in "The Incident." Her name wasn't on the walls of the cave, was it? I think the cave belonged to the Man in Black. Is Kate going to be Jacob's secret weapon?
I'm also wondering why Kate picked up that gun and followed the Man in Black's merry crew. What was she thinking? What is she planning? And hey, did anyone else want to shake Kate when she told the infected Claire all about taking Aaron off the Island and raising him? But then again, how could she know she was being massively stupid?
What have we learned?
— The Man in Black has some sort of vocal power. I guess.
— The previews said they couldn't show us stuff. I thought we'd get some answers. I don't think we got answers. Maybe I wasn't paying attention.
What I missed last week:
— The sign in front of the conservatory said, "Welcome all candidates."
— Kate's name was also on the big wheel in the Lighthouse, at (I think) number 51.
— According to the enhanced version, Faraday also played Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu, like David did.
— The enhanced version of last week's told us what Dogen said to Hurley in the corridor, and I'm paraphrasing since I wasn't recording it: "You're lucky I have to protect you or I'd remove your head and feed it to the boars."
Character bits:
In the LAX timeline, Sayid was working as a translator for an oil company, and apparently had been for quite awhile.
Massive Sayid/Dogen fight scene. Sayid always gets the best fight scenes, doesn't he?
In the Island timeline, Dogen was once a banker from Osaka and his son died in (yet another) car accident. I thought at first that Dogen's baseball was his "object," like the compass was Locke's, but looking at the baseball appeared to remind Dogen that he had rules to follow and couldn't kill Sayid.
Sayid's brother Omar was taken to St. Sebastian's, and of course, we saw Jack walking down the corridor. He and Sayid didn't acknowledge each other. But didn't they "meet" on the plane when they resuscitated Charlie together? Maybe they had other things on their minds.
Did Cindy and the kids make it? I didn't see their bodies, but I don't think I saw them with the Man in Black's party, either.
Sun and Jin have been apart forever. They're now closer, geographically and chronologically, than they've been in three years. I'm just saying. It's time, people.
Bits and pieces:
— Miles said that Sayid was definitely dead for two whole hours.
— The weirdo torture that they were doing in the Temple reveals where you are on the scale between absolute good and absolute evil. And I'm asking how?
— Keamy broke some eggs. A cliche comes to mind. And hey, Sayid was a cook in a restaurant in Paris in his other life.
— Another parallel. Sayid killed Keamy and his minions, right before the other Sayid killed Dogen and Lennon. Good Sayid killed the bad guys, and bad Sayid killed (possibly, although I've never been sure) the good guys.
Quotes:
Claire: "You're going to hurt them."
Man in Black: "Only the ones who won't listen."
Is that a reference to the MIB's new scary vocal power?
Miles: "She just strolled in here a couple of hours ago acting all weird. Still hot, though."
Sayid: "We had an unfortunate incident involving a boomerang. My apologies."
Another three polar bear episode, and only ten episodes to go,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Billie,
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking.... Is it possible that the "good guys" are bad and visa versa? Even though there is a ton of killings, just a thought.
Barb
Love your reviews Billie, as to where Jacks dad Christian Shepard is: Christian is dead, the christian we have been seeing for the past 5 seasons has been Evil Locke. The Smoke Monster/Evil Locke/Ultimate Bad Dude cannot change form anymore, he can only be Smokey or Locke not anything else, because of that Christian will not be re-appearing. I am almost positive that I am right, it all makes sense. Christian was in Jacob's cabin with the ash disturbed sitting there waiting for Locke. He told Locke to move the Island because he knew that Ben would mess it up since that seems to be what Ben does best-screw up. Thus Locke had to go back and fix things and get sent off the island to die so that when he came back Smokey could finally take his form forsaking all others and finally be in a position to kill Jacob and take over the island. Hope that makes sense.
ReplyDelete["He told Locke to move the Island because he knew that Ben would mess it up since that seems to be what Ben does best-screw up."]
DeleteHow did Ben screw it up? He did a better job in getting some of the Oceanic 6 together, unlike poor Locke who failed miserably.
I'm thinking MIB doesn't have a vocal power. His power is in tempting people--seducing them with words and promises. So if you give him a chance to speak to you, he will offer you something you really want to get you to do his bidding.
ReplyDeletePoor Sayid--no going back now. I have a feeling he is not going to get what he wants in any timeline, as penance for everything he's done.
KAM
Do we know why Ben had Sayid assassinate people, like the guy on the golf course and the woman he met at the cafe?? Will that ever be explained??
ReplyDeleteThey were associated with Charles Widmore and I believe Ben was trying to reduce his number of supporters.
DeleteI loved this episode. I'm such a huge Sayid fan--I feel like sometimes his character is given the same problem too many times, but Naveen Andrews always makes me interested.
ReplyDeleteI was really struck by the Christ parallels here, and I don't know what to make of them. Remember how Sayid struck a Jesus Christ pose when they carried his dead body out of the muddy pool? Remember him being tortured and tied to a tree back in 1977? And now, he's being tempted. I think Not-Locke even offered him riches, power, and the love of his life, which is very Jesus. Although it might be the "Last Temptation of Jesus Christ" more than the actual Bible. (I'm a little rusty on the Gospels.)
What's weird is that Jesus was tempted before he died and was resurrected. Sayid is tempted after his own death and resurrection. It's like Bizarro Bible.
I think Kate's looking out for herself at this point. Ever since Season Four, when she kept moving from the barracks to the beach and back again, she's been the one person who never quite picks a team. Now that she's feeling "berated" by Sawyer, she's got even less loyalty to anyone.
I don't know how this speaks to where my mindset is, but when Kate was talking to Claire when she was in the pit, I kept thinking, "It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told. It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again."
ReplyDeleteI was half expecting Kate to pull a poodle out of her backpack.
We may not be getting answer thick and fast but this season has been amazing so far.
ReplyDeleteJust realised, though, not only are we going to lose Lost this year but also your wonderful reviews, Billie. Simply put, they’re the best Lost reviews out there and one of the reasons I started watching the show in the first place.
Love the show - always! Love the review - I totally count on you, Billie.
ReplyDeleteAnd: "HellBlazerRaiser said...
I don't know how this speaks to where my mindset is, but when Kate was talking to Claire when she was in the pit, I kept thinking, "It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told. It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again."
I was half expecting Kate to pull a poodle out of her backpack."
ROFLMBO! I thought the same thing! What a way to start off my morning!
Jennifer
New to Billie's blog. Thank you BC for leading me here.
ReplyDeleteBillie- this is a great wrap up and helped me wrap my brain around some of these scenarios.
Someone said Kate was looking out for herself. Yes, she is good at that/has done it her whole "Lost Life" and not a surprise that she left with Locke/MIB. However, she often puts herself in the situation to be the savior or rescuer. Remember in Season 2 when she follows Jack, Locke and Sawyer on their mission to bring back Michael and gets caught by the Others (the first glimpse of them after the kidnapping of Walt on the raft) after Jack told her she couldn't come? Kate is good. Has to be.
Yes- so many Christ parallels. Again Season 2 when Charlie is flippin' out. He sees the vision of his mother and Claire on the beach in robes with halos(Mary) and they tell Charlie to "save the baby" and then Hurley comes out in some Jesus robe. Later Claire and Aaron get baptised by Ecko.
Good pick up Josie on the "Jesus Christ pose" Sayid "struck" coming out of the pool. That didn't register at the time for me but should have.
I should take "bloody" notes- as Charlie would say while I am watching. Miss him. We will see him again?
Billie, you left out the fact that one of the biggest questions of Lost was answered: does Keamy make good eggs? The answer is yes, yes he does.
ReplyDeleteBut what about in the main timeline? Perhaps he's a terrible cook!
Billie,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found your reviews recently. I have been watching Lost since the beginning, but I think I am enjoying your reviews even more than the show this season!
Sayid has always been my favorite character, so I, too, am in mourning. However, I am still holding out hope for some sort of last-minute redemption for him, possibly in a similar manner to Spike in BtVS.
The other possibility that I am still holding out hope for is that neither MIB nor Jacob is "good" and that the losties will all realize this. There was some evidence for this in this week's episode when MIB and Sayid discussed the trade-offs. If this is so, I hope to see the losties along with some of the other regular characters, like Miles and Ben, band together and decide to find a different "side" in this fight. Of course, those of you who have watched Babylon 5 and/or BtVS can probably see where my influences on this theory come from.
Welcome to blog, new readers! Happy to have you here. (Barbara, I have to ask -- who is BC?) And thanks so much for all of the kind remarks about my reviews.Picture me looking a bit embarrassed, because I am.
ReplyDeleteA number of people here on the blog and on my Lost discussion list have talked about the possibility that we're not talking about good and evil here. Maybe I've been led astray by all of the white and black stones and the way Terry O'Quinn is acting so squirrelly and killing people, but I still can't see it as anything other than good and evil. I've been wrong before, though. And I'd love to see Sayid come back and become the good man he's always wanted to be.
People have been commenting a lot (since this season began) about it being the End, and how it will never be the same. I felt that way when Buffy ended. But then there was Lost. And there's also Supernatural, my other favorite currently running show. And another really terrific, unique genre show could be right around the corner.
Although everyone is right that there will never be another show like Lost.
That's it. This season is finally Lost for me.
ReplyDeleteLost was always about slow character development, and to see Sayid change sides so quickly (oh the evil look in his eyes, so very Bad Indy in Temple of Doom) is so out of character it hurts. If any lost character can become totally evil by such a flip of the coin, Lost is becoming no more than a Zombie flick. Which it was not supposed to be!
My only hope is that Sayid is faking it, as I hope Sawyer is doing.
Paulo Brabo,
ReplyDeletedid you get confused by Locke becoming evil so quickly too?
They've been setting this change up since the S06 premiere, when Sayid DIED. The implication is that that person is not the Sayid we knew and loved. There's the infection they've talked about since S01E09 (which was Sayid-centric) and insisted on since he ressurected. They've showed innocent Claire turned into a cruel killer because of that infection. And disregarding the infection, isn't dying and ressurecting alone a good reason for a man to change?
Not only that, but Sayid has always fought his dark side, trying to make it his dark past, but being always pushed to do it in the present as well. It's the character's strongest characteristic. He was a torturer. He betrayed old friends. He was a hitman for Ben, who is clearly not a good person, if not evil. He shot an innocent kid who was helping him escape certain death. And you think his turning evil was sudden?
While I agree with Gustavo that the corruption of these characters was foreshadowed in previous seasons, I must admit I felt a bit betrayed when Sayid jumped head-first into the dark side, so I also understand where Paulo is coming from.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why it's so heartbreaking with Sayid in particular is the series has been so good at making us root for him in his struggle to become the good man he's always wanted to be. To see him fail so spectacularly, not just on the island but in the flash-sideways as well, is just plain shocking.
In a good way for some, not so much for others.
I don't think it's unreasonable to have either reaction. In fact, it's sort of why I started reading Billie's reviews in the first place and going through every comment on the message boards: I love getting all these different perspectives and reactions to the same story event.
What gives me hope for Sayid's redemption is his conversation with Nadia in which he explains that he didn't want to be with her because he didn't think he deserved her. What if he wasn't refering to his experience as a torturer but his adventures on the island? What if the flash-sideways are the result of a long-con by some of the "corrupted" (most likely Sawyer, but Sayid might get in on the action) to use the conflict between the two gods and all the weird promises in order to give everyone a happier life in which they were never pestered by Jacob and Not-Locke?
Yes, Gustavo,
ReplyDeleteEven after all that foreshadowing, Sayid turning evil *was* sudden and heavy-handed.
I also understand that the Sayid we used to love is dead, and that's precisely my point. Good/bad, complex character, larger-than-life Sayid is dead, but Sayid is also unDead and evil. In one word, Zombie flick.
Even crazed bad-hair Claire has still some depth and complexity in her. She's not pure evil; Claire still cares for Aaron and she still remembers her previous loyalties, even if she's not sober enough to act accordingly. She may be infected, but that "infection" concept has always implied a possible cure.
There: all this polarizing/black or white tone is what's bothering me so far in this last season. Undead darksided zombified Sayid is supposed to be as close to pure evil as it gets. There are no more gray areas in him, as far as we know, and I like my Lost characters gray, please. That grayness is what made them interesting, everyone knows that.
I'm just hoping that all the polarizing is not as definitive as it looks (Lost writer's, we put our Hope in you!). In this episode Sayid said "[there's no time], not for me", but some episodes ago Jack told Locke "there's always hope". Maybe there's still enough of old Sayid inside new Evil Sayid to make a difference.
We still have 10 episodes. There's still time, maybe even for Sayid.
Well, Paulo
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean. But I don't think Sayid has turned into pure evil. We haven't had time to see if it's what really happened. What we know is that he succumbed to the seduction of a higher power and, for the moment, appears to have aligned himself to Flocke. You have jumped to conclusions from the final 10 minutes of episode. And maybe, to him, what he has done is not necessarily evil. He doesn't know if the Others are good, or if the good one is Flocke, or if any of them is fighting for the general good. Hell, *we* can't tell that yet!
He's always fought this evil side of his. He's always been a very gray character. Losing the woman he loved, killing a lot of people for Ben, coming back to the Island against his will, traveling through time, dying, resurrecting,
being sent to be killed twice, all of this makes a person very confused. I think he had a moment of weakness. We may see him regretting all he did in the next few episodes.
Maybe it's even Flocke's MO: seducing at a moment of extreme fragility. He did it (or tried to, I hope) with Sawyer, and possibly Claire.
(Theory 1: I think this "infection" just makes people more confuse and therefore more susceptible to Flocke's seduction.)
(Theory 2: Smokey killed Eko because he saw he had no doubt in his heart, and thus wouldn't be ultimately seduced, being no use for him)
In a nutshell, what I have to tell you is: if you like the gray area, you know one horrible act doesn't make a character go black. Sayid may not have gone completely evil. Hold on, we don't have enough evidence.
Gustavo,
ReplyDeleteGood points all. I do hope you're right!
***Aside to Billie: Billie, I'm hooked on your reviews as much as I'm hooked on Lost. Thank you for adding value to something I value so much!***
Since I'm nitpicking, let me add this one. What's with Sayid's ressurrection? I thought we had learned along last season that in this universe *dead is dead*, period. I thought we had learned that all the Walking Dead we saw walking dead along the narrative were impersonations from a shapeshifting MIB or maybe Jacob. In fact, the "dead is dead" thing was apparently an important plot point concerning the Locke/Flocke mystery.
I do hope the writers have a big, shiny explanation for that one =)
Note to self: In Lost apparently nothins is *period*.
Period.
Like Barb (first commenter) I'm suspecting the "good guy/bad guy" roles are reversed here. It's way too obvious to have Jacob and the "light side" to be the good guys. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if MIB was the real good guy.
ReplyDeletePaulo, I think I might know the answer to your question (as much as we can "know" anything!). As I see it, there are two possible explanations:
ReplyDelete1. Should we believe that dead really is dead? We were told that in the Lost universe, you can't change the future. But they did--what we were told (and chose to believe) differed from what we later found out. (This revision of previous knowledge was articulated by Faraday in "The Variable," when he showed us how sometimes we have to change our minds.) Similarly, we were told that dead is dead, but little Ben was more or less resurrected. And, of course, Sayid: if he's not dead, then dead isn't dead.
2. Or maybe "dead [was] dead," but Jacob's death means that the rules no longer apply.
And if we think about how the idea of "rules" are treated on the show, we can see that they're usually man-made. Ben tells Widmore that he "changed the rules" when he ordered Alex to be killed. Rules might be more like guidelines ("don't kill children") than laws (in the science sense, like the First Law of Thermodynamics), in which case dead isn't dead, but dead *should stay* dead.
I wonder what special power did Dogen had that he was keeping the Man in Black out of the Temple as long as he was alive.
ReplyDeleteWhat an intense episode! I had to watch it twice, the second time through still in denial that what happened would still happen. In mourning is a very good way of describing how I feel as well, Billie. Although, my favourite character is Sawyer -- where is he, by the way?
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that the writers would choose Claire and Sayid to turn as, in the beginning, Claire was the most innocent and Sayid the most repentant. The looks on their faces at the end of the episode were very, very creepy.
Interesting exchange between Gustavo and Paulo above. I didn't see Sayid's change as sudden, more inevitable, terribly sad and (because this is Lost), not necessarily final.
What happened to Sayid in this episode was not surprising to me, considering he tried to murder a 12 year-old Ben.
ReplyDelete