"Sundown"

JANUARY 24, 2011

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 6.6
AIRED: MARCH 2, 2010

I probably should have made this clear when S6 started, but I’ve only seen the season once, as opposed to 3-4 times for the other seasons. Thus, given my poor memory, overload of Lost lore from rewatching S1-5 yet again, and the fact that my brain is constantly being bombarded with horror movie shit, I am having trouble remembering a lot of stuff from this season. Thus, episodes like “Sundown” are just confusing me all over again, because I can remember how Sayid went out (saving his friends), but not how he stopped being the evil bastard we see here.

Granted, he did think Dogen was trying to kill him again, and perhaps he was (Dogen may have figured either way one of his enemies would be dead), but he didn’t follow the guy’s instructions either – Locke/MIB totally spoke before Sayid stabbed him, which was the only condition Dogen told him to follow. It’s not like he said he had to do it at the stroke of midnight while standing on salted earth and wearing a muumuu, he just had to stab the guy before he said anything. So what does Sayid do? Sits there like a moron while Locke walks up to him, then AFTER he says “Hello Sayid”, he stabs. Christ, man, speed up!

So he goes back to Dogen, and after the guy finally starts revealing his human side, Sayid tackles him (in pretty spectacular fashion I must say), kills him, and then kills Lennon for good measure. And while I love the idea of these two being dead and thus not annoying me anymore (albeit without ever explaining who the fuck they were or why they were important), I hate that it comes at the hands of one of the show’s most noble characters. Ben? Sure. Sawyer? Hell, why not? But Sayid killing two guys in cold blood because of some unexplained “darkness” inside him – it’s a decent shock, sure, but it’s such a terrible way to start the final chapter of a great character.

And unlike Nikki and Paulo, this was part of their plan! The season was too “fresh” for this to be the result of fan backlash against these characters (indeed, footage from this episode appeared in the S6 teaser that began airing prior to the season premiere), and according to John Hawkes they only wanted him for 3-4 episodes, so again – there is nothing to suggest that this was some sort of premature conclusion to their storyline that had to occur due to factors beyond their control. Their plan was to introduce two new, mysterious characters and kill them off before they ever got any real development (in Lennon’s case, he was never even identified!). Whatever.

This episode also has my favorite example of why the “waiting room” was such a clumsily implemented story – Sayid KILLS people in it, and finds Jin tied up and beaten. Again, this is some sort of pre-afterlife, why is it so violent!? I understand the need to provide drama and maybe even give them some sort of challenge to overcome before they move on, but it should have played out more like Kate and Jack’s episodes (personal demons being expunged – i.e. Kate’s guilt about taking Aaron away from Claire), not with shootouts and appearances from villains. I mean, I’m happy to see Keamy again (I would have taken the offer for eggs, for the record), but not at the expense of logic.

One thing the episode sort of foreshadowed was that Nadia was not meant to be with Sayid, I guess. In the afterlife, she’s married to his brother, and although he still wants to smash her rotten (he even carries a picture around with him – Jesus Christ dude, TACT), his real soul mate will eventually be revealed to be Shannon. So this episode at least set us up for that horrible outcome. Thanks, “Sundown”.

Oh, I like the completely random team of Ben, Frank, Ilana, Sun, and Miles, by the way. It’s funny how many characters never really met before (I think this is the first time Miles has met Ilana and Sun), or were paired in odd ways – Miles and Kate were running together for a while; the previous episode had Jin and Claire talking for I think the first time since the first season, etc. Season 6 is all about bringing everyone together, on and off the island!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"He's Our You"

JANUARY 12, 2011

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 5.10
AIRED: MARCH 25, 2009

Well, “He’s Our You” is a minor improvement over “Namaste”, but again, I really hate the whole “young Ben” portion of this season, and this is of course the big moment in the plotline, where Sayid shoots him. Now, if the writers had both the balls and the patience to deal with the repercussions, Ben would have died, never existed in the lives of the Oceanic survivors, and dramatically changed the plot of the show. But since we know they don’t, this whole plot is just a giant waste of time, and I hate it even more in retrospect because of the time they spend on it that could have been used elsewhere.

But there is stuff to like here. The flashback at the beginning is interesting, because it shows that Sayid has always had it in him to kill (the young actor also looks remarkably like Naveen Andrews, and while we’re on the subject, the kid playing young Ben is quite good too). Even better, this seems like it could be setting up yet another goddamn torture story, but the rest of the flashbacks primarily deal with a peaceful Sayid. After he kills the last of Ben’s list of folks who present some unexplained danger to our heroes (I believe that they are just random enemies of Ben, but they’re still unexplained), he joins some sort of Habitat for Humanity group and takes up ironic drinking, where he meets a woman that, for once, he doesn’t get killed or kill himself.

He also gets to explore new territory on the island – laughing! According to Lostpedia this is the 3rd time we’ve seen him laugh, but I don’t even remember those other instances (and really, Lostpedia creeps me out with this sort of ‘trivia’ – there was an episode a few back where they claim it was only the 2nd Jack episode ever where no one mentioned “home” – who the hell cares or even notices this shit?). But this is definitely the biggest showcase for such behavior; after Oldham drugs him up, Andrews has a grand old time, crying from laughing so hard as he tells them he’s from the future and what not. It’s a shame Oldham only made this one appearance, by the way – does he torture folks physically as well?

I also enjoyed the scene where Hurley brings Jack and Kate some breakfast. Not only for the hilarious notion that Hurley has settled in quite amiably to his new role in the Dharma Initiative, but I liked Jack’s “defense” of Kate’s feelings, which was unexpected. Hurley’s rambling about Sawyer hooking up with Juliet, which upsets Kate, and rather than let it continue to pour salt in the sound (which I would do, especially concerning someone I had slept with like 3 nights ago), Jack takes the high road, telling Hurley to zip it so Kate wouldn’t have her heart broken any further. Oh, Jack, you old softy.

But what the fuck is up with Sayid having to kick Jin’s ass? It’s another contrived moment – Sayid tells him that Sawyer let him go, but Jin decides to check? It’s your friend, asshole! You shouldn’t be confirming his freedom. Give him a gun and some Dharma cookies and wish him well, at the very least. It’s also kind of ridiculous when Sayid seemingly gets upset at Ben’s dad slapping him around – you’re the one who wants to SHOOT the little bastard. Just some sloppy writing if you ask me; makes for “exciting” moments but really doesn’t make any sense for the characters to behave this way.

It’s also yet another Desmond-less episode. Apparently (a reader pointed this out), the actor got accused of groping a female crewmember (during the 3rd seasons) and was sued, which may have been why his screentime was so limited, but the lawsuit wasn’t filed until late April of 2009 – when S5 would have already finished shooting. And it certainly didn’t diminish his role in the 4th season – he was in it as much as anyone. So it’s a mystery why they didn’t give him anything to do in this season, and the show definitely suffers from his absence.

Oh well, tomorrow’s a Kate episode at least. And I think it’s the one where we see Jack actually going around doing janitor shit, which kills me.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"The Economist"

DECEMBER 18, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 4.3
AIRED: FEBRUARY 14, 2008

Thanks to Lost's constantly shifting timeslot, "The Economist" aired on Valentine's Day, much like last season's "Flashes Before Your Eyes". And while not as successful, it's also another 'romantic' episode, with Sayid wooing a woman in Germany, looking all suave and such. It's all quite lovely until they shoot each other - luckily for Naveed Andrews, Sayid is the better shot.

However, this was one of the cool things about the flashforwards - it allowed for suspense OFF the island for once. Few of the flashbacks ever put our characters in any sort of danger, because what would be the point? You know they live and don't have any major injuries (save Locke). But with the forwards (not to mention a fixed end date), these sort of things could very easily end in a character's death which wouldn't necessarily mean that person would be done with the show.

So now we have the identity of the 4th "Oceanic Six" member, and again we are reminded of their celebrity status and that they were apparently all made rich from it (an avenue not fully explored - did money-hating Hurley get this large settlement? Or was Sayid just lying?). But the episode otherwise plays out like a normal flashback, albeit a non-torture based one for Sayid. Hell, if not for the opening scene, where he talks about being one of the Six, they could have very easily tricked us into thinking this was a flashBACK until the final scene - perhaps Sayid became a spy for the Iraqi government at some point after leaving the torture game.

Speaking of that final scene, while it was fine for the phone calls, I really hated that they "disguised" Ben's voice for a while before finally revealing him. Not only was Michael Emerson's inflection unmistakable, but it's also just stupid - if we are being told the story from Sayid's point of view, why would it be disguised when he was sitting right next to the guy? I'm not a fan of things that only make sense for the audience's sake, and I thought the Lost folks were above this sort of thing. Was it worth making such a big deal out of something that was only 30 seconds away from being revealed? Especially when it wasn't too surprising anyway?

(On rewatching the episode, however, it gives Sayid's earlier line in the show: "The day I trust that man..." some added 'oomph')

The non Sayid stuff is pretty good, mainly because it gives more screen time to Lapidus, kicking off the bond between him and Jack. Jack asking him about the Sox is one of the rare moments in this season where Jack's previous life seemed to be on his mind; the rest of the time he was always in gung ho, "I'm trying to get us rescued!" mode. I also love the little moment with him and Kate, when she asks how it feels being left behind and he replies "That mean I should wait 20 minutes and go anyway?" (as she often does). Good stuff.

We also get one of the all time best Hurley lines, when Myles calls him "tubby" ("Oh good, the ship sent another Sawyer."). It's funny enough to make up for the rather silly subplot of Hurley betraying his friends. I get that he might have been afraid of the freighter folk, but I don't think he'd ever sell out Sayid or Kate (or anyone, really) as easily as he did. It also seems odd that he'd legitimately be afraid of Sayid. Again, Hurley works much better as the carefree guy who just sort of hangs out and keeps everyone relaxed - when they involve him too much into the various "faction" wars it doesn't quite work. Only thing more jarring was crazy Claire in Season 6.

It's also a good episode for composer Michael Giacchino. I quite like Sayid's theme, and the music that plays over the scene where Sawyer and Kate discuss the pros/cons of staying on the island is quite nice as well. Granted, I pay a little more attention to this show than most, but even factoring that in, I still think it has one of the greatest music components of any weekly TV show I've ever seen, and the best pieces ("Life and Death" for example) are better than the stuff I hear in most movies, especially nowadays when everything genre related seems to have that rapid fire "dun dun DUHH DUHH dun dun DUHH DUHH" type of music ripped off from the Bourne movies. Or is techno based. Ugh.

Tomorrow - we spend 42 minutes waiting to get to "The Constant"! It's the rare drawback in rewatching episodes; knowing a great one is coming up but you have to sit through an average one first. At least we get to see Kate all cleaned up.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Enter 77"

NOVEMBER 28, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 3.11
AIRED: MARCH 7, 2007

After yesterday’s largely “light” episode, “Enter 77” goes back to typical Lost territory, with an Island adventure mixed with a tragic backstory for the A story, and a throwaway “fun” B story. And since it’s a Sayid episode, that means the flashbacks are all about him being a torturer, so overall it’s a rather generic hour, but it’s got some merit sprinkled throughout, including the strongest evidence yet that Locke may in fact just be a goddamned moron.

I mean, look how much this guy has fucked up so far – he got Boone killed, he let the hatch implode, he let Ana Lucia get attacked by Ben which set off that whole chain of events... now he literally blows their best chance yet of being saved, after getting so focused on a computer chess game that he didn’t notice Mikhail somehow getting out of being tied up (he also couldn’t be bothered to look under the rug for a secret room – you’d think a HATCH would be his first thing to look for and thus do a good job inspecting the floor). I like Locke, but geesh, what a goon he is.

I also love when Rousseau decides not to bother joining them as they investigate Mikhail’s cabin, pointing out that she has been able to survive for 16 years due to not doing things like this. It’s a funny thing to think about, but really – if the survivors just sat on their beach and made like Tom Hanks, they probably would never have any problems. They really do bring a lot of this stuff on themselves. It’s a sentiment that would later be echoed by Rose and Bernard (to a far more hilarious effect, not to mention adding in the weight of all the harm they’ve brought upon themselves since this particular episode).

And then there’s the ping pong match between Hurley and Sawyer, which once again relies on Sawyer having some random object that no one would have had on the plane (and furthermore, he’d have no reason to think to put it in his stash), but otherwise is a fun diversion for the episode. I just wish we saw more of the game - we really only see one play, which is a bummer. However, Sawyer asking Nikki “Who the hell are you?” more than makes up for it. It seems more like something Hurley (our surrogate) should have asked (especially when she greeted him with a hug at the end of “Stranger In A Strange Land”), but Holloway’s delivery is perfect, so I’ll let it slide.

As for the Sayid stuff – eh. As I’ve said before, I didn’t care for how many of his flashbacks were about him torturing people, and this one’s basically a “mystery” over whether or not he tortured a particular woman. He admits to doing so, but whether he’s just saying it or really did I never quite fully understood – he doesn’t seem to be taken aback when he sees her at the restaurant. And either way – we know he’s tortured a whole bunch of folks, and regrets it, so why does this particular case matter? Her story about the cat is interesting, but the fact that Mikhail also has a cat just to tie the two stories together just seems stupid to me.

Far more interesting are the scenes between him and Mikhail, with the two of them putting on their best poker face and trying to get the upper hand. I love how civil Mikhail is when they finally start to fight – “Why are we continuing to play this little game when we all know it has moved to the next stage?” Great line, and Andrew Divoff plays it perfectly. He’s so good at pretending to be a lonely, innocent guy, I was actually kind of disappointed that he wasn’t. Especially since he’s played so many villains over the years, would have been cool to see him as a Rousseau-esque ally for a while. Oh well.

Tomorrow – one of the stupidest episodes ever! Featuring migratory birds!!!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"One Of Them"

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 2.14
AIRED: FEBRUARY 15, 2006

Hey, did you know Sayid had to torture people while he was with the Republican Guard in Iraq? Of course you do, it’s been the subject of his other two flashback episodes, and it’s the focus of “One Of Them”, different only in that it’s about his FIRST experience with torture (on his commanding officer no less) and that it has a few Lost-centric links – we see him talk to Kate’s dad a couple of times, and he also meets Kelvin, who we will learn is yet another future Island resident.

It’s also, I think, the “oldest” flashback that they had that they were able to use the same actor. The makeup and hair folks on the show do a remarkable job of making Sayid look young (it takes place during the first Gulf War), and the photo of young Kate is a nice touch too. I remember thinking that the show would have more of these “old school” flashbacks that showed them at all different stages in their life, but Locke seems to be the only other one to get that privilege – everyone else’s seemed to be from the past 2-3 years (and even Locke’s don’t extend back to 1991, I don’t think). In fact, I was always pretty impressed by the difference in hairstyles and such when it came to flashbacks – Mr. Eko’s in particular was impressive.

I’m also not a big fan of the Sawyer “B” plot in this episode. Again, why are they going out of their way to make us hate this guy? He’s a scoundrel and a hothead, but there was still some humanity and sympathy there. But now, just after stealing all the guns and having poor Sun beat upside the head, he’s off to kill a damn tree frog. I mean, really, is there any more upsetting moment in the entire show then when he crushes the poor little guy in his bare hand? The look on Hurley’s face is soul crushing. And what purpose does it serve? Were the writers all angry at Josh Holloway this year or what? I do like the brief moment where Hurley stands up to him though, and he makes a good point – no one would care that he was hoarding food. Who could be mad at Hurley? Besides minor annoyances, did anyone EVER get mad at Hurley on this show? Hell even the Others couldn’t bear to hold him captive.

Overall it’s a good episode, a big step up from “The Long Con”. The characters are more consistent, the plot moves forward in an intriguing way, and most importantly we meet Ben. It’s funny, even with the answers in my head, I still found his interrogation scenes riveting, if not more so – his story is perfectly solid (score one for Sayid I guess, I totally would have believed him when he said he ran a mining company that specialized in non-metallic minerals – that’s just too damn boring to make up), so I had a further appreciation for his intelligence. I can’t remember though – do we ever find out if he intentionally got caught or if it was an accident?

The Jack/Locke rivalry comes to a pretty awesome head too, with Jack forcing him to choose between the button and Sayid’s ability to continue beating the piss out of “Henry” sans interruption. Locke, of course, chooses the button, but we were all sort of hoping he’d think Jack was bluffing or something (or he just wouldn’t make it – dude sure as hell took his time debating). I always love when Matthew Fox gets all crazy, he makes goofy faces and starts to resemble a bobblehead.

Tomorrow: Claire finally gets something to do!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"The Greater Good"

OCTOBER 20, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 1.21
AIRED: MAY 4, 2005

Lost returned from another “brief” hiatus with “The Greater Good”, which is annoying even under normal circumstances, but even more so when you consider that the episode takes place later on the same day as “Do No Harm”. It’s been a month for us but they’re just burying Boone now and Claire still hasn’t named her baby? So this is definitely an episode that works better when watching them all back to back.

Because it’s not a particularly good episode, because half of it surrounds on something you know isn’t going to happen (Sayid or Shannon killing Locke – he can’t die til we know why he was in a wheelchair, dammit!), and the other half revolves around cutesy Three Men & A Baby antics. These sort of things are fine, again, in back to back viewings, but they were pretty cruel to come back after a month with this sort of nonsense. I do like that the baby only stays quiet when he hears Sawyer’s voice – I wonder if Kate ever told Jack that when they were fighting in the future. Would have been a good burn.

Sayid’s flashback, as before, is about Nadia, and we learn how he got on Oceanic 815. It’s kind of a bummer moment, because he changed his original, presumably non-crashing on a magic island flight, in order to help bury his friend, thinking it was the least he could do after selling the guy out and causing him to pull a Radzinsky right in front of him. Otherwise the flashbacks aren’t of much use, mostly just telling us stuff we already know. It’s a shame so many of Sayid’s flashbacks revolved around his involvement with the Republican Guard - he seemed like he could be one of the more interesting characters but they always focused on this sort of stuff. And with each character having roughly 7 centric episodes a piece (except for Jack, who got like, I don’t know, 46), in the long run I wish they had opted for a little more variety, knowing how few they’d have for everyone.

My favorite scene of the episode is probably the lone stand-alone bit, with Walt asking Michael about the raft. It’s the sort of scene they wouldn’t bother with after a while, where they give the non-involved characters a bit of business in order to justify their paycheck. But in retrospect, it’s kind of telling – Walt asks about sharks (they encounter one), if they’ll die on the boat (both Michael and Jin DO die on boats, albeit not that one – Sawyer is not actually in the scene), and if it will tip over (well, no, but it will get blown the hell up, and the mini-rafts they make out of it tip over a bunch). Every now and then, they either prove that they did have everything planned, or watched the episodes over and over to build plot elements out of throwaway dialogue. Either way, makes it fun to watch again.

And we have a beach fight! It’s been a while. Doesn’t amount to much, since everyone runs in to break it up, but it’s fun to see Jack go apeshit for once and tackle Locke. It’s not as amazing as his diving punch in the finale, but for a while it was definitely one of the best “Action Jack” moments.

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...

"Solitary"

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

FOCUS: SAYID
EPISODE: 1.9
AIRDATE: NOVEMBER 17, 2004

One of my all time favorite movies is Cast Away, which is actually what drew my attention to Lost in the first place (a “Fall TV Preview” billed it as “Cast Away meets The X-Files”), so I was sort of excited for “Solitary”, because I thought it would be the start of a multi-episode storyline of Sayid living on his own, finding food and shelter without the help of the others, stuff like that. You know, like Cast Away, but without the volleyball.

But the plot lasts roughly 19 seconds. The episode opens with him taking a break, looking at poorly composited in photos of Nadia (I assume they didn’t have her cast at the time they shot the scene?), and then he looks over and sees the cable that leads him to Rousseau. Good spot for a break I guess! Oh wait, everything happens for a reason. Either way, it would have been nice to see him on his own a bit longer – for all we know this is the first time he even stopped (though Kate says he’s been gone two days – which means that this is the first time we’ve skipped over a full day), and it would be a while before we’d learn how far the cable was from the beach (and even longer until we found out what it was for).

Rousseau is of course the first person we see on the island that wasn’t part of the crash (at least, so we think – more on that in a bit), and revealed as the speaker on the recording. Our first big mystery solved! Remember how we thought all mysteries would only take 5-6 episodes to get resolved? We were so young and trusting... Mira Furlan would continue to pop up at random throughout the show’s run, once to hilarious effect (collecting dynamite) but usually just to help along some plot thread. She was always a welcome presence, however – I would have loved an episode devoted to her throughout the years.

The B plot is a rare “light” story about Hurley building a golf course, mainly as a means of allowing everyone to have a little fun so that they didn’t go crazy from all the bad stuff (Jorge Garcia’s delivery of “How?” when Jack says that things could be worse is award-worthy). It’s a rare treat to see everyone having fun, and allows for a nice moment for Sawyer, who makes a bet (against Jack of course) using some of his much-coveted supply of sunscreen, which I always took as him more or less giving it away as a nice gesture. Of course, we never find out who won (I don’t think?). Let’s assume Jack sunk his putt and Sawyer happily gave away 2 tubes of sunscreen to Boone and Kate, while calling them random names.

We also get introduced to Ethan (William Mapother), who like all non original cast members, would be clumsily shoe-horned in as if they were someone that was there all along. It’s something the show never really got good at (Nikki and Paulo being the most clunky), so it sort of spoiled Ethan’s villainy before it even happened, but oh well. They don’t waste too much time trying to get you thinking he’s a good guy though; I think it’s revealed in the next episode. Either way: our first Other! Yay!

I didn’t really mention Sayid’s backstory – it’s a good thing they did it, because it made him a sympathetic character again after last week’s torture sequence. Who doesn’t feel bad for a guy who just wanted to help out a childhood sweetheart? It’s also a good example of how amazing the production design team was on this show – with very rare exceptions, they never left Hawaii to film anything, yet the show depicted (fairly realistically) Iraq, Australia, New York, Los Angeles, Korea... you watch shows like CSI: NY and anyone can tell you that they're actually in Los Angeles, but I was often fooled here. Nice work, folks!

Where are we?

PLEASE, GO ON...