Well, I have to say I didn't love this episode. It got better towards the end, but overall a lot of it seemed a bit contrived. Especially deriving all the dramatic tension from clashes between the Losties. The struggle between keeping their new Dharma life or destroying it is less interesting to me than if they would just get along and let us learn more about what Dharma's doing on the island. But it's certainly exciting this way so I can't complain too much. Here's some quick initial thoughts. But first, a complaint:
PACIFIC TIME ZONE SUCKS: So, I watched episode tonight from LA and I have to say it sucks to be so far behind the rest of the country. First, I had to sit through the new "show" Better off Ted and slowly and painfully discover that it's an unfunny mess. It also sucks to have to watch Lost without a commercial-skipping DVR, especially when 4 out of 5 ads are about how depressing the economy is. Hey, heads up fellow ad people, if you want to sell something, don't point out that it's a dangerous time to buy things. Plus it's a total downer. Ok, here goes:
SAYID KILLS CHICKENS: For his brother, I guess, who also looks like he's wearing a dress, so there may be other hurdles for Sayid's angry dad there. It is nice, I guess, to see Sayid's dad, whom I don't think we've seen before. What was this episode's deal with the chicken motif, anyway? Because Young Ben also made Sayid a chicken sandwich. Deep.
SAYID KILLS RUSSIANS: And then, Ben thanks him and basically "lets him go". Oddly, Ben is also dressed in a Huggyface costume. Why? That was the least cool outfit I've ever seen. He looked like he should be strolling with his feet way out in front, swinging a watch on a chain. That hat! Anyway, Ben says Sayid is done and claims that all the people he killed were part of Widmore's organization. I'm guessing this might be true. Although, I don't know if they were really a threat or if Ben just wanted them out of the way.
YOUNG BEN VISITS SAYID, MENTIONS RICHARD: It's clear Young Ben can't wait to leave the all the Dharma hippies piled in an unmarked grave. It's also clear the entire time he's talking that Sayid is just seeing an Iranian Chicken standing in his place, going bock bock bock and begging to be neck-snapped.
BEN GIVES SAYID A BOOK: Entitled A Separate Reality. Hmm. Is this a hint towards what's about to happen, based on the ending of the episode? Or is it just a misleading tease from the LOST writers? Either way, the book seems really weird. Check it out here.
HORACE CUTS OFF THE HANDCUFFS...after creepily saying "Put out your hands". Which mirrors what Sayid said to Ben back in Season 2 when he was torturing Ben to find out whether or not he was lying about not being an Other. Which of course he was. Incidentally, I just re watched that episode the other day ("One of Them"). In it, the flashbacks show that Dharma-Swan-Hatch-guy Kelvin Inman and Kate's actual Dad were the ones who turned Sayid into a torturer. Kelvin even says, "One day you may need to get information from someone and this info will come in handy." Weird.
HURLEY MAKES WAFFLES: Then, he clues Kate in on what's happening between Sawyer and Juliet. I liked how he said "Who couldn't see that coming." Seriously, Kate didn't know? She dumb.
BEN'S DAD IS STILL THE GUY FROM NAPOLEON DYNAMITE: And he is still really mean to Ben. Roger Linus should be careful or Ben will one day grow up to dress like a 70's pimp in public. Also, a chicken sandwich is thrown to the ground. Um, who's going to clean that up, Roger? You are.
BEN TOLD SAYID TO GO TO HURLEY: And told him about the guys watching Hurley. On a separate note, why didn't Ben just have Sayid kill Widmore? Or why didn't Ben just kill Widmore in the first place, when he went to him in his bedroom that night to threaten Penny? There must be something going on with "The Rules" that Ben mentioned after Alex was killed. So, Ben is apparently the reason that Sayid goes to get Hurley from the mental institution. Ironic that when Sayid gets there, he tells Hurley to always do the opposite of what Ben tells you... even though he just did exactly what Ben told him. This felt kind of wrong to me, and I didn't really buy it. I felt like there should have been more of a falling out between Ben and Sayid. In fact, given Sayid's comments earlier in the season, I assumed he had found out that all the people he killed were NOT who Ben said they were, but apparently that's not the case. Apparently he was just mad at Ben for letting him go with out a retirement party or something.
OLDHAM IS THEIR SAYID: Ok, so I was surprised that "He's Our You" referred to a new character being like Sayid. If you're like me, Oldham's face and voice bugged you and you wanted to remember where you had seen the actor before. Well, you've seen him in a TON of stuff, but the one I was thinking of was the Lead Larry on The Bob Newhart show. As in, "This is my brother Larry, and my other brother Larry." Check him out on imdb here. Oh, just so I don't get called out by other nerds, yes, he was also in Bladerunner. So, they give him some truth serum (I can't believe we made in this far in the show WITHOUT a truth serum plot device, to be honest) and Sayid tells them their future and cackles like a scooby doo villianess. I think this may be the only time Sayid has laughed on the entire show. Guy's tense. Then, true to most people's reaction after encountering a fortune teller, they all immediately reconvene and vote to have him put to the death.
A SAYID WALKS INTO A BAR: So, then we flash back/forward/sideways to the scene earlier in the season where Sayid walks away from the other Losties on the pier and says he doesn't want anything to do with going back to the island. Instead, he wants an expensive scotch (the MacCutcheon brand that Widmore used to be cruel to Desmond long ago). Ilana is there and flirts with him. Now, I'm certainly no expert on how to return a flirt, but I'm pretty sure the correct response is not "Are you a professional?" But, Ilana looks past it, mostly because she's got an evil plan that involves smooching and ridiculous boots and she's not about to give it up now. For the record, I do think that Ben hired her, but I don't think she knew about it. I think he ratted Sayid out to the family in Guam and suggested they hire someone to bring him back to Guam, and maybe help set it all up behind the scenes somehow to make sure Sayid got on the plane. Oh, I also wanted to point out it's not sexy to order a bloody Ribeye, Ilana. It's just gross.
JULIET TRIES TO BE NICE TO KATE: I'm sure Kate will return the favor and not be seen kissing Sawyer next episode. Right? 'Cause she's a class act.
RADZINSKY THREATENS TO CALL IN ANN ARBOR: I think we can assume he's referring to the University of Michigan, which has been shown to be connected Dharma in the past. Check out what I'm talking about here.
SAWYER TALKS TO KATE: About Sayid's 'purpose'. She claims to have a purpose of her own. I don't think it's Sawyer. I think she's on an Aaron-related mission. But, a little Sawyer/Juliet home-wrecking for her along the way is just a bonus.
A FLAMING DHARMA VAN: Enters the scene. Well, this has to be from young Ben. We know his Dad drives a Dharma van for janitorial work, so I guess he stole the keys and lit a couple of chicken sandwiches, threw 'em in there and gave the van a good running push.
SAYID'S FOUND HIS SPECIAL PURPOSE: And, unlike Hamlet, he fulfills his purpose in one act and shoots young Ben immediately. This was certainly a surprise. I think what happens next will be very interesting. I'd like to think that he actually killed Ben, doing the "kill Hitler" move referenced way back in the season's opener. But I think it's more likely that someone comes and rescues young Ben. Maybe even Jack. Because if they really wanted us to think that Young Ben was dead, they would have had Sayid pump him full of bullets. Also, a big tip off is the name of the next episode (mild spoilers ahead):
THE NEXT EPISODE IS CALLED 'WHATEVER HAPPENED, HAPPENED': Which refers to Daniel's comment that you can't change the past. I think Sayid attempting to kill Ben will backfire and only make Ben mad. It might even explain why he sent his Others to torment and kill a lot of the Flight 815'ers back in Seasons One and Two. Revenge on Sayid? One other thing I know about next week's episode: The producers said on a recent podcast that we would learn what happened to Aaron off the island in this episode. So, I'm assuming it will be more Kate focused. The commercial for next week seemed to also imply that the Losties were going to start coming under suspect from the Dharma initiative. Maybe because young Ben survives to tell them that Jin and Sayid knew each other? We'll find out next week.
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9 comments:
Wes - I agree that this episode was lame. I hate seeing the Losties with their genitals in a jar on the shelf. And we have to assume Ben is not dead because of stupid time travel. My favorite part of the episode was Jin's english - which is a bad sign of how the show is at this point.
But I like you.
Wes. You are not in Nerd vaccuum. I love reading your posts and have passed along its goodness to many other Lost fans. I am amazed at how quickly you post. You are an inspiration :) Also, I really want a Dharma jeep. Gotta love that blue.
Thanks for posting on last nights episode! I look forward to reading your blog every Thursday morning first thing when I get to work.
I liked this one. I didn't like the obvious "meet a mysterious woman at the bar" thing, or Ben's OTT hat and suit. But I like that Naveen Andrews got to strut his stuff a bit.
I loved Sayid's hair in the first scene. It was totally rolled on hot rollers, or perhaps blown out with a round brush. Not his normal kinky curls. Very nice.
Second, Sayid was slumming. It was probably the scotch + depression, but whew! slumming.
Also, my grandma killed many a chicken on her farm, but it never led to a murderous life of crime. He was just helping out his brother.
Also, just because you are a bounty hunter, can you lawfully transport someone in handcuffs on an international flight?
Erin, I, too, loved Sayid's smoothed out hair. Very nice, indeed.
Wes, this nerd totally thanks you for the Bladerunner reference.
Wes, you and I have had our disagreements in the past, but this FAR SURPASSES THEM ALL!!!
Not only was the show from the 80's called "Newhart" ("The Bob Newhart Show" was in the 70s), but Larry's brothers were both named DARRYL, not Larry!
Other than that I agree.
Yeah, what Davis said. I actually came back to the site to correct you (you are writing for an audience of NERDS, afterall), but thankfully Davis already beat me to it, and thusly, proving that his nerdiness far surpasses mine.
Erin, I agree with you. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I'm sure it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that it was entirely about Sayid.
And another thing...I'm sorry but I had a REALLY hard time believing that Oldham was their Sayid. Larry, for Pete's sakes?!?! Oldham and Sayid are from two different planets. I get the "you guys both torture people" reference, but COME ON!!! Sayid has never had to rely on TRUTH TELLING SERUM to get what he wants. He just uses his bare hands!
Okay, rant over. Buckland out.
Wes... you don't know me, but I got linked in to this from a mutual friend (Matt Stevens). Anyway, I loved the comment about Ben's dad (Uncle Rico) having to clean up after himself when he threw the sandwich on the ground. That's all I could think about when he did that.
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