OK...let's see if more actually happened in this episode than I originally gave it credit for...
- Open with a montage of the history of Ben and Sayid's relationship. Ben is a creep and Sayid is his (sometimes) reluctant killer.
- They seemed to be trying to make the father and little Sayid the bad guys in that opening shot, but it's not like there is a KFC around the corner. Sayid's older brother is going to have to get past his squeamishness if he wants any good eatin'. From the looks of him, SOMEBODY has been making sure he has plenty of nourishment on his plate...his dad just wants to make sure he continues in the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed.
- A little more insight into Young Ben's hospitality...he definitely wants to get in Sayid the Hostile's good graces so that he can join up with whom he really believes to be HIS people, by delivering Sayid to his hero Richard.
Interesting note here...Ben refers to Richard as the Hostile "Leader," and that certainly seems to be the case based on what we've seen so far. So where is Widmore? Pretty sure he's there somewhere (based on his "three decades" remark to Locke when they met in the desert hospital), and he said that he was their leader. Has he not taken the throne yet? Was he lying? Is he the REAL leader, and Richard is his representative?
Seeing this whole thing play out just reiterates the question to me...how/why did Ben take the "leadership" role? I still think that Widmore is the one that Ben pushes out in order to take control, I just can't figure out what Richard's part in that is. Once again...if we can figure out Richard, we're a lot closer to figuring out everything there is to figure out, in my opinion.
- So why is it that only those specific people in Widmore's organization needed to be killed? Ben says that they are the only ones who pose a threat...how about Widmore himself? I don't think that is why Ben "released" Sayid at all. I think that Ben just pointed Sayid at enough people and pulled the trigger to ensure that Sayid could not argue with the fact that he is a killer if Ben ever needed his "services" again.
- Our "Michael Emerson is awesome" moment of the week: "Congratulations! Mission accomplished!"
Hee.
- I totally missed Horace cutting the cuffs off Sayid's wrists the first time I watched...when I saw the clippers and Horace told Sayid to hold out his hands, I immediately closed my eyes, plugged my ears and went to the "Lalalala, I can't hear you!" place.
- I'm kind of torn on the whole love rectangle we have going on right now...I've thought for a while that Sawyer and Kate should end up together, because he obviously really LURVES her, while Jack just wants somebody he can fix. However, now I think Sawyer is really happy with Juliet, and Kate would just make him miserable. In fact...Kate has made pretty much every guy she's been with miserable at some point, while everybody who has been with Juliet always seems really happy about it (Goodwin, Jack, Sawyer...heck, she even had Ben cooking hams!).
Now I'm starting to think that Jack and Kate deserve each other the most...just go make each other miserable and leave everybody else alone.
- Line of the night: "A twelve year old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I'm doing?"
- Also, the follow up: "Yeah, sweet kid, huh?"
- Interesting point about Sawyer...we are all invested in the characters that we have been watching for 5 years now, so of course our sympathies and interests are with them and we assume that Sawyer would be putting their interests and well-being above everything else. However, Sawyer only knew those people for three months, and he hasn't seen them in three years. These D.I. folks have been his friends, neighbors, and responsibility for the last THREE YEARS. Plus, like he told Sayid, he has a good life here...the first "good" life he has ever had, in all likelihood. "But he's living a lie," you say...well, he was a con man. All he has ever done is live lies. At least this one makes him feel happy and useful. If I was in his shoes, I know where my ultimate loyalties would be.
- As for Sayid, I can sort of see where he's coming from in not wanting to go along with Sawyer's plan, and he does give a better explanation later, but my first thoughts were that he was being stubbornly stupid. Sawyer is trying to save him by offering a plan that will keep the D.I. off of him, and he flat out refuses. By the end of the episode, though, it's clear that Sayid just doesn't want to settle back into Island life...he sees no reason to stay here, so he has no plans to assimilate and get comfortable living the Dharma life.
- I wonder if that lunch table is the "cool kids" table or the "outcast" table? Guess it all depends on your perspective.
- Hurley's reaction to Jack telling him that Sawyer told him to mind his own business was pretty much the same one that I had..."And you're GOING to?" Yeah, Hugo, I don't believe that for a second, either.
- Again, it's just nice to see Hurley happy again after a long time of Hurley in despair.
- Ugh, Roger Workman. What a pathetic waste of space this guy is. And he went into a battle of wits unarmed:
"Can't believe you got caught by these IDIOTS"
"Yet, you're the one who mops up after them."
"Yeah, well......."
NICE comeback, Roger!
- That scene with Ben delivering the sandwich was TOO well acted and scripted. It was uncomfortable. There has been a LOT of abuse there, and the actor playing Young Ben portrayed it perfectly.
- This is the first time I remember Ben (at any age) being unconvincing when lying, and it's not just because he's younger...he lied very convincingly to Phil (who is, admittedly, a dimwit). It is obviously because he's scared to death. Of his FATHER. Ugh.
- Emerson again, with perfect delivery: "John Locke is dead. I think he was murdered."
- So we know now why Sayid came back from building houses in the Dominican and started shooting people and impaling them on cutlery....it's because Ben wound him up and pointed him in the right direction. It was almost like watching someone under post-hypnotic suggestion the way Ben knew EXACTLY how to manipulate him.
- Oldham is an interesting (and creepy) dude. Living in a teepee, eschewing technology, kind of a "one with the Island" type guy. Wonder if what he fed to Sayid was made out of similar stuff as what we've seen Locke use in the past to induce Boone's hallucinations and to launch himself on his little "spirit walk" we saw after Eko died.
And there was yet another image of a record player...almost like he's keeping tabs on the Island's progress as it spins through time, to use Faraday's example.
- There have been a lot of instances and happenings on this show that stretched believability, but I don't think we have ever been asked to suspend belief this dramatically: Sayid can be restrained by PHIL and RADZINSKY? Please. We've seen this guy breakdance people to death, and now we're supposed to believe these two eggheads can restrain him with one on each arm? Right.
- They changed Sayid's dialogue in the flashback scene at the dock...originally he tells Jack that if he ever sees him OR Ben again, it will be very unpleasant. This time, he only directs the threat at Ben. May not mean anything, but I wanted to point it out in case it turns out to be some sort of weird time loop/alternate timeline thing.
- Wow...Ilana knows her Scotch, AND she likes her ribeye bloody? A woman after my own heart...no wonder Sayid was fooled. Again.
- So, after all that, Sayid could have just told the truth in the first place since nobody would believe him anyway? Glad Sayid could find the humor in that little bit of irony. I don't think Sawyer found it funny.
And...Horace seemed a bit concerned, as well...I wonder how much he knows about the Island and its "special properties?"
- When that look of recognition flashed on Sayid's face when they pulled him out of the van, I was bracing myself for him to holler out, "Well hey, Kate! Hey, Juliet!" That was some really good stuff Oldham had him on.
- And the look between Sawyer and Juliet said a mouthful: "So you have this all under control, huh?"
- Man, I just want to punch Radzinsky in the face, even if I partly agree with him. They can't just let Sayid stick around and endanger the D.I. But I also agree with Sawyer...it's not enough just to survive, one has to be worthy of survival. Right, Admiral Adama?
For those who didn't catch the reference, Radzinsky threatens Horace that he is going to tattle to Ann Arbor. That is the home of the University of Michigan, which is where the DeGroots were professors. The DeGroots, with the backing of the Hanso Foundation, are the ones who started the Dharma Initiative, and who are apparently still running it in some capacity in 1977.
- Wow...Sayid has TERRIBLE luck with women. He's been with four women on this show...three have wound up dead (one killed by him), and two have pulled guns on him. He's a fighter, not a lover.
- I don't know what Ilana believes or knows....but she does NOT work for the Avileno family, I'm betting. She IS working for Benjamin Linus, whether she knows it or not.
- Sayid's whole "purpose" talk with Sawyer really intensified my concern that he was going to die. The scene in the beginning with him and his brother really reminded me of Eko's farewell episode, and then Ilana told him "You are going to pay for what you did," and he was obviously being eaten alive by shame and guilt, and he could see no future for himself on the Island...it was just all shaping up to be bad news for Sayid.
- Rewatching Sawyer and Kate's scene on her front porch had me re-thinking my original thoughts on what she was saying...she seemed really uncomfortable with what she was about to tell him. Maybe "I know why I came back" was going to be, "I came back because I wanted to be with JACK?" That is what she told Jack, after all.
- "Three years with no burning buses...y'all are back for ONE DAY!"
Hee.
- Further proof that Phil is a dimwit...there is a fire reported. So he grabs his gun on the way out. He's going to SHOOT the fire into submission.
- Loved Sayid's increasingly panicked reaction to seeing the O6 at the airport: "Are you sure we are going to Guam?"
And, one theory that was floating around about Ben's appearance was proven untrue: Ben was obviously not beaten up by Sayid. I'm pretty much convinced now that his injuries have something to do with Desmond and Penny.
- And then, after an episode that was pretty light on content in my opinion, all hell breaks loose in the last two minutes.
So...what does Sayid shooting Ben mean? First of all, I don't think there is any way that Ben is dead. We know that the Island doesn't let people die until it is finished with them. My bet is that sometime next week we see Ben picking himself up and brushing the dirt off.
Darlton sort of addressed this on their podcast...the old cliche about time travel, and one that we have heard on this show, is that we could go back in time and kill Hitler and stop the Holocaust and WWII (my personal feelings on that one have always been this...with no Hitler there is no WWII, and the US remains mired in a Depression, and there is no "Greatest Generation," and maybe the US doesn't develop into a superpower...unintended consequences suck).
Anyway...Damon actually said something like, "What if I TRIED to shoot Hitler as a boy and I MISSED...and that is why he BECAME HITLER?" Interesting.
I believe that the Faraday Rules will hold true, and the universe will course correct...but it should be interesting to see the ramifications.
I mean, if young Ben is dead, what's going to happen to Ben in 2007? Will he just disappear?
But he's not dead.
Right?
Namaste.
- I wonder if that lunch table is the "cool kids" table or the "outcast" table? Guess it all depends on your perspective.
- Hurley's reaction to Jack telling him that Sawyer told him to mind his own business was pretty much the same one that I had..."And you're GOING to?" Yeah, Hugo, I don't believe that for a second, either.
- Again, it's just nice to see Hurley happy again after a long time of Hurley in despair.
- Ugh, Roger Workman. What a pathetic waste of space this guy is. And he went into a battle of wits unarmed:
"Can't believe you got caught by these IDIOTS"
"Yet, you're the one who mops up after them."
"Yeah, well......."
NICE comeback, Roger!
- That scene with Ben delivering the sandwich was TOO well acted and scripted. It was uncomfortable. There has been a LOT of abuse there, and the actor playing Young Ben portrayed it perfectly.
- This is the first time I remember Ben (at any age) being unconvincing when lying, and it's not just because he's younger...he lied very convincingly to Phil (who is, admittedly, a dimwit). It is obviously because he's scared to death. Of his FATHER. Ugh.
- Emerson again, with perfect delivery: "John Locke is dead. I think he was murdered."
- So we know now why Sayid came back from building houses in the Dominican and started shooting people and impaling them on cutlery....it's because Ben wound him up and pointed him in the right direction. It was almost like watching someone under post-hypnotic suggestion the way Ben knew EXACTLY how to manipulate him.
- Oldham is an interesting (and creepy) dude. Living in a teepee, eschewing technology, kind of a "one with the Island" type guy. Wonder if what he fed to Sayid was made out of similar stuff as what we've seen Locke use in the past to induce Boone's hallucinations and to launch himself on his little "spirit walk" we saw after Eko died.
And there was yet another image of a record player...almost like he's keeping tabs on the Island's progress as it spins through time, to use Faraday's example.
- There have been a lot of instances and happenings on this show that stretched believability, but I don't think we have ever been asked to suspend belief this dramatically: Sayid can be restrained by PHIL and RADZINSKY? Please. We've seen this guy breakdance people to death, and now we're supposed to believe these two eggheads can restrain him with one on each arm? Right.
- They changed Sayid's dialogue in the flashback scene at the dock...originally he tells Jack that if he ever sees him OR Ben again, it will be very unpleasant. This time, he only directs the threat at Ben. May not mean anything, but I wanted to point it out in case it turns out to be some sort of weird time loop/alternate timeline thing.
- Wow...Ilana knows her Scotch, AND she likes her ribeye bloody? A woman after my own heart...no wonder Sayid was fooled. Again.
- So, after all that, Sayid could have just told the truth in the first place since nobody would believe him anyway? Glad Sayid could find the humor in that little bit of irony. I don't think Sawyer found it funny.
And...Horace seemed a bit concerned, as well...I wonder how much he knows about the Island and its "special properties?"
- When that look of recognition flashed on Sayid's face when they pulled him out of the van, I was bracing myself for him to holler out, "Well hey, Kate! Hey, Juliet!" That was some really good stuff Oldham had him on.
- And the look between Sawyer and Juliet said a mouthful: "So you have this all under control, huh?"
- Man, I just want to punch Radzinsky in the face, even if I partly agree with him. They can't just let Sayid stick around and endanger the D.I. But I also agree with Sawyer...it's not enough just to survive, one has to be worthy of survival. Right, Admiral Adama?
For those who didn't catch the reference, Radzinsky threatens Horace that he is going to tattle to Ann Arbor. That is the home of the University of Michigan, which is where the DeGroots were professors. The DeGroots, with the backing of the Hanso Foundation, are the ones who started the Dharma Initiative, and who are apparently still running it in some capacity in 1977.
- Wow...Sayid has TERRIBLE luck with women. He's been with four women on this show...three have wound up dead (one killed by him), and two have pulled guns on him. He's a fighter, not a lover.
- I don't know what Ilana believes or knows....but she does NOT work for the Avileno family, I'm betting. She IS working for Benjamin Linus, whether she knows it or not.
- Sayid's whole "purpose" talk with Sawyer really intensified my concern that he was going to die. The scene in the beginning with him and his brother really reminded me of Eko's farewell episode, and then Ilana told him "You are going to pay for what you did," and he was obviously being eaten alive by shame and guilt, and he could see no future for himself on the Island...it was just all shaping up to be bad news for Sayid.
- Rewatching Sawyer and Kate's scene on her front porch had me re-thinking my original thoughts on what she was saying...she seemed really uncomfortable with what she was about to tell him. Maybe "I know why I came back" was going to be, "I came back because I wanted to be with JACK?" That is what she told Jack, after all.
- "Three years with no burning buses...y'all are back for ONE DAY!"
Hee.
- Further proof that Phil is a dimwit...there is a fire reported. So he grabs his gun on the way out. He's going to SHOOT the fire into submission.
- Loved Sayid's increasingly panicked reaction to seeing the O6 at the airport: "Are you sure we are going to Guam?"
And, one theory that was floating around about Ben's appearance was proven untrue: Ben was obviously not beaten up by Sayid. I'm pretty much convinced now that his injuries have something to do with Desmond and Penny.
- And then, after an episode that was pretty light on content in my opinion, all hell breaks loose in the last two minutes.
So...what does Sayid shooting Ben mean? First of all, I don't think there is any way that Ben is dead. We know that the Island doesn't let people die until it is finished with them. My bet is that sometime next week we see Ben picking himself up and brushing the dirt off.
Darlton sort of addressed this on their podcast...the old cliche about time travel, and one that we have heard on this show, is that we could go back in time and kill Hitler and stop the Holocaust and WWII (my personal feelings on that one have always been this...with no Hitler there is no WWII, and the US remains mired in a Depression, and there is no "Greatest Generation," and maybe the US doesn't develop into a superpower...unintended consequences suck).
Anyway...Damon actually said something like, "What if I TRIED to shoot Hitler as a boy and I MISSED...and that is why he BECAME HITLER?" Interesting.
I believe that the Faraday Rules will hold true, and the universe will course correct...but it should be interesting to see the ramifications.
I mean, if young Ben is dead, what's going to happen to Ben in 2007? Will he just disappear?
But he's not dead.
Right?
Namaste.
1 comment:
Random thoughts:
Good thematic point about the record player at EB Farmum's. Love these little details.
I also had to suspend disbelief about the two dorks holding down the Natural Born Iraqi Killer. Perhaps once he realized what was going to go down, he felt he would be unburdened by telling the truth (which was one of the funniest scenes in a while)?
I hope the DeGroots have more success at UM than RichRod. Oh....Wait....Didn't they have "the purge" this past year?
I can empathize with Sayid's taste in women.
Yeah, I think Ilana IS working for Ben, whether she knows it or not.
As for the effect on the future, too bad Jack or Sawyer isn't carrying around a picture of the DI and Ben, like Marty McFly and his parents, so we can gauge the level of impact on the timeline by how much each person disappears.
Good stuff, dude.
Post a Comment