THAT WAS INSANE! OH MY GOD! I WAS SO ANXIOUS AND NERVOUS DURING THAT FINAL ACT! And then CREEPY VERSION OF 'CATCH A FALLING STAR' KICKS ON! And Smokey's flying around The Temple like God as he killed the Firstborns. You know what happened before that plague? THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS! THIS EPISODE'S TITLE? "SUNDOWN." But dear god almighty! I sound like Jim Ross! I definitely expected The Temple to be over with in the next two episodes but DAMN did that story go out with a bang. But I'll settle down now. I will reel myself in. It's time to dive into Sayid's story.
The episode opened with Sayid arriving to see Nadia and her family. A Randy Wolf curveball was thrown our way when we find out Nadia is married to Sayid's brother and that she's the mother of two. Interesting. Sayid, we learned, was not in Australia to work with the FBI in an effort to thwart his old friend's suicide bomber plans. No, he was in Australia because he translates for an oil company. But he still has the torturer past and he's still tortured by that past. He's still in love with Nadia and carried her picture around with him. Nadia wondered why Sayid pushed her towards his brother. Sayid told her that he doesn't deserve her because of the horrible things he had done for twelve years. I hope the past we saw in "Solitary" actually happened because that episode is awesome. But yes, Sayid is very much doing penance for what he's done.
Of course his brother gets himself into a situation and ends up dragging Sayid into it (which isn't a bad plan at all). His brother has seemingly entered into business with Mr. Paik, that so and so of a man, and did not pay back all of the money he owed though he claimed he did. Jin in the freezer, beaten up, is the only reason I'm assuming this. We haven't seen what happened in the airport after they found a lot of American dollars in Jin's suitcase. Sayid wanted to give money to help his brother out his situation but Nadia declined, telling Sayid his brother must handle it himself. Nadia also kept Sayid away from whoever mugged his brother by telling him to wait for the kids and to make sure they were and felt safe. He did just that. He didn't want relive his past. But then Omar showed up. Yes, Omar Freighter D-Bag. He took Sayid to see good ol' Martin Keamy. Keamy was cooking egg and being the d-bag we knew when we last saw him in "There's No Place Like Home." Sayid sat calmly, listening to Keamy yammer on about paying back money when it needs to be paid back and THEN he threatened Nadia and the kids so Sayid tapped into Republican Guard mode and took care of business. He shot Keamy as Keamy swore the debt's been forgiven and forgotten. Sayid couldn't forget. Those words carry a whole lot of meaning considering Sayid has never been able to forget his past. It spoke volumes about Sayid.
It's sad that Sayid hasn't been able to work out his issues as Locke and Jack have. At least Locke and Jack have made important progress. Sayid is stuck. I thought season five's "He's Our You" was the tipping point in Sayid's journey for redemption but I misinterpreted the tipping point. He tipped to the wrong side. After all, one can't forget he shot kid Ben and announced himself to be a killer. Those events didn't happen too long ago either. But if Sideways Sayid can't forgive himself, Island Sayid is seemingly a lost cause.
I'm completely sold on this infection stuff. Last week, I was pretty much holding onto the hope that cutey-pie Claire was still there and just confused as Claire described her. She's pretty far gone. But I digress.
The Island story opened with Sayid wanting answers from Dogen about why he wants him dead. Dogen gave it to him straight. He told Sayid that, after awaking from death, he leaned on the evil side of the scale. Bad times for Sayid. Dogen and Sayid then had an awesome fight that ended right before Dogen would stab Sayid in the neck. A baseball fell. That changed Dogen and he then told Sayid to leave and never return. But then things changed because Claire walked into The Temple. Dogen told Sayid to go into the jungle and kill NotLocke but warned him that it'd be too late to succeed once NotLocke had spoken to Sayid. Sayid went out into the jungle with the huge knife Dogen gave him. He ran into Kate who asked him what had happened in the Temple. Sayid told her to go there and ask Miles. Once she left, His Smokeness arrived (and boy does he know how to arrive! Wind and Those Gnarly Sounds!). He said hello to Sayid. Sayid stabbed in the chest but nothing happened. NotLocke and Sayid got to talking. NotLocke told him Dogen sent him out here to be killed and then Sayid appeared to make a deal with Smokey concerning Nadia. The next thing we saw was Sayid giving a message to The Others. Either leave and live or stay and die. At sundown, all hell would break loose. And, oh did it break loose but I'll delve into that later (and I sort of already did). Sayid had one last thing to do: kill Dogen so that NotLocke could raise hell. He did kill Dogen but not before Dogen told him about why he came to The Island. Jacob promised to save his son but told Dogen he could never see his son again. It reminded me a whole lot of Juliet not being allowed to see her sister even though Jacob healed her. But, as we saw last week, Dogen is with his son in goody Sideways. I digress.
I wish I knew what exactly being infected meant. I know it involves being badass as hell but what the infection is is not very clear. Sayid has seemingly ceased seeking redemption. But, then again, if there's one man who hates The Others it is Sayid Jarrah. But if Dogen is to believed, his true self went away and all that is left is darkness. The scene between Miles and Sayid stands out because of Miles relationship with the dead. Remember his expression when sitting beside Sayid? Hurley asked him 'what?' and Miles said nothing but he looked like he knew something was up. He told Sayid that The Others did not save him, that he died and was dead for two hours and that something else saved him. If Jacob can heal people, I guess there's no reason why NotLocke can't do the same thing. But I think Sayid is beyond saving now. I hope I eat these words. The scene between him and Hurley was so powerful in "LA X" when Sayid wondered what would happen to him when he dies. But, you know, if I still believe in Claire being saved then SAYID WILL BE SAVED. After all, Ilana has arrived!
NotLocke is walking around The Island thinking his smoke doesn't stink. He just took out The Temple, Jacob's dead, he's winning recruits. But Ilana is still alive. When she showed up at the end, I felt such relief. There is hope for a happy ending because "Sundown" was as unhappy an ending as I've seen so that was needed. The scene between Jacob and Ilana in "The Incident" is very short but one imagines the two have a long history. She knows this Island and I bet she knows how to stop NotLocke. She got Miles, Frank and Sun to safety before Smokey found them. Ben went to get Sayid. It was poignant. Recall, quickly, in your mind their incredibly complex history together. Ben tried to save Sayid and then Ben got freaked the EFF OUT when he realized NotLocke had gotten to Sayid. But he missed the chance to get to safety with Ilana and crew.
Anywho, it's time for some more thoughts:
--Miles saying Claire is still hot rocked. I even pointed to the television and said "hell yeah man!" Miles is the king.
--I literally just wrote this but I was DELIGHTED to see Frank and Sun again. Frank's quick explanation to Miles about why he's here was great. I also enjoyed how Miles told Sun that Jin had left to the Temple to find her. Sometime soon, those two will be back together. More so, I'm really excited that the characters should all be together soon. Sure there's two different groups and Richard is wandering around in the jungle for all we know but MAYBE (please be so) the days of characters not being in episodes for 1-3 weeks will finally be over.
--Poor Kate. All she wants to do is reunite Claire with her son. Now she's found herself with NotLocke and company. I imagine Claire wants to kill her as well. I know Lennon only gave Kate two minutes to speak with Claire but, now that she and Claire are together again, Kate only has to say the words I suggested she say last week. Kate's got the best intentions, Claire. Settle down.
--Dogen's story about his son was very touching. It's a shame Sayid had to kill him because I liked Dogen. It wasn't too long ago I announced Dogen as, perhaps, my favorite Other. Oh well. He is alive and well in the Sideways narrative.
--I got duped by the crafty writers. I totally thought "Sundown" would be a Sun/Jin episode. Nope. This episode blew my mind. I felt like how I felt watching the end of "Two For The Road," "Exodus Part 3," etc. I'm fascinated by where this is going. I think we're heading to an amazing finish. The final 12 episodes are going to be amazing.
--Last week I predicted things would get more intense. Did I call it or DID I CALL IT?!?
--How ominous was that version of "Catch A Falling Star?" I did enjoy Claire's rendition of it while stuck in the hole.
--The shot of Smokey roaring past Kate as she hunt from the ladder was fantastic. Fascinating the way NotLocke looked at Kate when he realized she joined his merry ranks.
--Naveen Andrews was superb. He never disappoints when it's his time to shine in an episode.
--Paul Zbyszewski and Graham Roland wrote the episode. It's a first for Graham. Boy were these two given an insane episode. Bobby Roth directed.
--I'm so pleased with how season six has unfolded thus far. It's insane and it's got a lot of great character stuff thanks to the sideways. Right now we've got one hell of a story and, remember, it's always about the story. And I think the pieces are set for a mindblowing final 12 episodes. Bring on next week!
TO THE RANKINGS!
THE OFFICIAL LOST RANKINGS
AFTER EPISODE 6
RANKED: 3/3/2010
CHRIS
1. Jack
2. Desmond
3. Miles
4. Locke
5. Ben
6. Hurley
7. Jin
8. Claire
9. Sayid
10. Kate
11. Sawyer
12. Dogen
13. Frank
14. Ilana
15. Richard
16. Jacob
17. Sun
18. Man in Black
19. Widmore
20. Lennon
STEVE
1. Desmond
2. Sawyer
3. Dogen
4. Miles
5. Kate
6. Jack
7. Ben
8. Sayid
9. Jin
10. Man in Black
11. Frank
12. Richard
13. Locke
14. Ilana
15. Claire
16. Jacob
17. Sun
18. Widmore
19. Hurley
20. Lennon
AFTER EPISODE 6
RANKED: 3/3/2010
Another wild week of rankings. Hurley's dropped 10 spots in STEVE's. Miles cracked the Top 5 for both me and STEVE. Claire is inching her way to my top 5 while she got demoted in STEVE's. Ilana is slowly climbing the rankings. Man in Black is a top tener for STEVE. Sawyer's moved up for me despite not being seen for two weeks now. Sayid has dropped out of me and STEVE's top 5. This infection stuff messes with my mind! Kate's back in the top 10 for me because she is awesome. Anywho, take a look yourself. Also, this is the final week for Dogen and Lennon in the rankings.
CHRIS
1. Jack
2. Desmond
3. Miles
4. Locke
5. Ben
6. Hurley
7. Jin
8. Claire
9. Sayid
10. Kate
11. Sawyer
12. Dogen
13. Frank
14. Ilana
15. Richard
16. Jacob
17. Sun
18. Man in Black
19. Widmore
20. Lennon
STEVE
1. Desmond
2. Sawyer
3. Dogen
4. Miles
5. Kate
6. Jack
7. Ben
8. Sayid
9. Jin
10. Man in Black
11. Frank
12. Richard
13. Locke
14. Ilana
15. Claire
16. Jacob
17. Sun
18. Widmore
19. Hurley
20. Lennon
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