It’s probably a good thing that it took me so long to put my notes together. In the past few days the producers have made some statements that clear up some of my questions about this episode.
Such as: the producers have stated that there is absolutely no relationship or hidden meaning behind the similarities in Naomi’s and Elsa’s bracelets. (What the inscription on Naomi’s bracelet – “N, I’ll always be with you. RG” – means is still a mystery. Does the “R” stand for Regina, the woman on the boat that the freighter people have been talking to?)
Or this: I kept thinking that the first “Flash Forward” sequence in the episode was being shown out of order; that the hit that takes place in the Seychelle Islands actually takes place after the events in Germany and after it is revealed that Sayid is working for Ben. However, the producers have announced this week that within the structure of a LOST episode, all of the events that tie to one timeline or another are always shown in chronological order. However, it seemed to make more sense to me that the reason that the gentleman that Sayid killed was so upset after Sayid said he was part of the Oceanic 6 was that he had heard that someone from the Oceanic 6 was out to kill people on Ben’s “list”. After all, Sayid tells Ben after his incident with Elsa, that the people on the “list” will know he is coming for them.
Another note: I don’t really know where to put Sayid’s “Flash Forward” into the chronology of the “Future of LOST”. There’s nothing to tie him in with events in the outside world, or with other members of the Oceanic 6. So for now Sayid’s future will have to remain a separate item from the chronology. The producers have promised that by the end of the season we should know the story of the future of the Oceanic 6.
Now on to the rest of the episode.
I’m going to keep my comments tied to the various groups of people.
First, the Locke-ites.
There was a very intriguing moment for Locke in this episode! Remember, Locke was trying to find the Jacob’s cabin… he found the ring of ash but the cabin was gone. Is Jacob off somewhere else or is this a sign that Locke has done something to break his connection with the island? If so what did he do?
Leave it to Ben to give Locke a dig… Ben makes sure to raise the other Locke-ite’s suspicions concerning Locke’s leadership since he can no longer find the cabin.
I have to give it to Locke, he recovers from this set-back pretty quickly, although I still hate him for what he is doing to Hurley. Hurley makes a valiant attempt again to bring compromise to the situation, but Locke quickly shoots him down and then uses him in the ruse to capture Sayid, Kate and Miles.
I loved Hurley’s line when he first meets Miles and Miles calls him “Tubby”. “Oh great, the ship’s sent us another Sawyer!” I laughed out loud!
I don’t quite understand why Miles says “not yet” to Hurley when Hurley asks if the freighter people are there to kill them, unless it’s just Miles’ flip answer… he seems to be the kind of person who doesn’t care about anyone else’s interests but his own.
Of course, one of the big reveals in this episode was the contents of Ben’s secret closet. The business suits, suit cases, passports, foreign currency… lead me to only one conclusion. Ben has been coming and going from the island for a long time now, and has been hiding that fact from the other “Others’. What a rat! He won’t allow anyone else to leave the island, but comes and goes as he pleases.
By the way, two of the passports were from New Zealand and Switzerland. Obviously Ben gets around (or at least plans to)! The multitude of identities indicates that Ben has much to hide or much to hide from.
I really liked the scene in New Otherton with Kate and Sawyer having a frank discussion about the pros and cons of staying/leaving the island. Sawyer has really fallen for Kate and although he seems to find it easy to think that he could remain away from civilization, Kate still demonstrates her inability to settle in one place… Sawyer states the compelling reason not to go back (“is there anything waiting for you but handcuffs?”), but Kate just can’t see herself “playing house”. They are at an impass that may never be resolved. Will Sawyer sacrifice himself to get Kate off the island if that’s what she really wants?
I had a “Jonestown” feeling when Locke enters the place where they have Sayid and Ben imprisoned, carrying a pitcher of iced tea. Just about gasped thinking… he won’t do that, will he?
Near the end of the sequence at New Otherton, Sayid makes the supremely ironic statement to Locke that “the day I start trusting him (Ben) is the day I sell my soul”. Which we now know he ultimately does. Whatever happens to the Oceanic 6 really must be horrible. It makes emotional messes of Jack and Hurley and turns Sayid into Ben’s hired killer.
Some notes about the ‘Copter gang:
I still think that Naomi has some part yet to play in this season’s storyline. She is so prominently featured (they make sure to show her body often, and she even gets a ride home to the freighter), that even though she’s “dead”, that I think something is still going on.
It bothers me that Sayid removed Naomi’s bracelet. Isn’t that like grave robbing? Maybe he feels he can use the information contained on the bracelet in whatever he is planning?
Sayid finds the picture of Penny and Desmond on Naomi’s body. Was Naomi working at two purposes here? She was hired to get the four freighter folk to the island, but perhaps she was also secretly working with Penny? I hope we will someday know.
It does seem to me that the freighter people at least know about Penny. They act suspiciously when Desmond asks them if they know her or if she sent them. Perhaps they have only been told that Penny is looking for the island and that they must reach it first.
It’s interesting to know that the four people chosen for this mission (Dan, Miles, Charlotte, Frank) do not know much about each other, and that they also didn’t know much about Naomi. (Is that typical for covert ops?) It’s also made very clear that they only fairly tolerate each other. (One of the group complains that “Miles is a pain in the ass”.) It is a bit surprising to learn that they have not been told why they have been sent to get Ben. It’s also a bit hard to believe that these people would undertake such a mission without having been told why or why specifically they were chosen. I’d sure be wondering why!
It seems a bit shady that the freighter folk are only allowed to use certain channels on the radio at certain times, and that some of them are only allowed to talk to the freighter under certain circumstances and sometimes only to certain people. (Frank warns Dan not to talk to Minkowski, and to only speak to Regina about the “scientific stuff.) It seems that no one we’ve met so far is really aware of the whole picture. Everyone is hiding something.
Another cool reveal during the episode is that the island is indeed out of time synch with the rest of the world (the island seems to be behind the rest of the world). The time gap during Dan’s experiment was 31 minutes. This must be caused by the special properties of the island. However, I found it interesting that Dan wasn’t surprised by this fact. He even had an experiment designed specifically to measure the displacement. So, he knew what to expect. What’s even more interesting is that he said that the gap of 31 minutes wasn’t good! Does that mean that the gap is widening or that it was much more than expected?
It was touching that Jack seemed very hurt that Kate did not come back.
One more comment about the ‘Copter… Miles stresses to Frank that they must stay on a specific heading to leave the island. They must not stray under any circumstances. This is consistent with what Ben told Michael and Walt when he let them go at the end of season 2. I believe that this means that there is only one trajectory that can be taken to get off the island and to avoid the time displacement effects. But it does mean that they CAN get off the island!
There are just a few other things to say about Sayid’s future story.
It’s interesting that some of the Oceanic 6 seem to have a LOT of money… Kate seems to be well off. Sayid is at least being taken care of financially by Ben (he can afford to take a luxury trip to the Seychelle Islands to golf).
Could Elsa be a “shopper” for Alvar Hanso?
I didn’t quite get how Elsa knew that Sayid was one of the Oceanic 6. She mentions that Sayid doesn’t like to talk about the crash. Perhaps Sayid simply said he had been in a plane crash without telling her the details. Interesting that Elsa was working the other side of the spy game all along. I never saw it coming.
Finally the big reveal… and ultimately what it means.
My jaw dropped on the floor when it was revealed that Sayid is now working for Ben! Of course we don’t know much about his motivation, other than that apparently he is doing it in exchange for Ben’s “protection” of his friends. Why do Hurley, Kate and Jack need to be protected? What is the secret that they are all keeping? It must be something to do with Ben… does he get them off the island, and in exchange they have to lie for him?
One more note, and this one’s about Kate (in preparation for tonight’s episode):
Could Kate also be working for Ben now? Maybe Ben is the “he” that Kate was referring to at the end of Jack’s flash-forward! Maybe once they got off the island, Ben helped erase all of Kate’s felonies in exchange for her working for him, just like Sayid is having to work for Ben. Just a little thought to chew on…
