March 2, 2010

After watching "Sundown", this week's new episode of Lost, my brain is spinning. I can't imagine that this post is going to be very organized, since I can't really comprehend fully what I just saw. I re-watched the last 10 minutes right after the episode ended, and I'm still in a tizzy.

I'll work chronologically, just to attempt some semblance of order.

The opening scene the Flash-Sideways world had Sayid in a cab, clearly on his way to see Nadia, as we had seen him looking at her picture on the plane in the season premiere. I immediately noticed the wedding band on Nadia's finger as she hugged him at the door, and when I heard the kids yell "Uncle Sayid", I knew that the Black Tank Top Of Death's love story was not all unicorns and rainbows. (By the way, did you see the unibrow on that kid? Jesus!) Now there's talk of letters, and pictures...and an incredible amount of tension? What is going on?

Back at the temple, Sayid confronts Dogen about his failed poison pill plan (say that five times fast), and Dogen explains about the scale of good and evil. Interesting metaphor considering the overall tone of the show, and the scale we saw in the cave two episodes ago. Then, as Sayid attacks him, Dogen goes all Mr. Miyagi on his ass, while Sayid is relegated to a lame-duck bowl-chucker. As Amy, one of my commenters, said last week, "When did Sayid become such a pussy?" (paraphrased)

And just when Dogen had the upper hand, and the knife at Sayid's throat, he spotted the baseball dropping, and let Sayid go, telling him to never come back.

Outside the temple, Flocke and Claire-sseau hatch the details of their plan, with Flocke declaring that he would only kill "the ones who didn't listen."

Another great cold opening, and my giddiness was peaking before the opening credits even began.

From Republican Guard torturer to Oil Company flunky (on his way to Toronto!?)...oh how the mighty have fallen. It's obvious from this scene where his brother asks him to do something, that the core tenet of this episode is Sayid's struggle between 'good man' and 'bad man'.

As Dogen explained to Sayid about Flocke, we learned a lot. We learned that he will come to you as someone you know, someone you care about, and someone who is dead. This explains so much about what we've seen for the first 5 seasons...Christian Shepherd, Yemi, Alex. And if you allow him to speak to you, it will be too late.

A fleeting look at Jack walking by in the hospital? Jack wouldn't have recognized him after Sayid helped him to save Charlie on the plane? I understand they're trying to give us overlaps in the Flash-Sideways stories, but come on.

Didn't Kate just say last episode that she wasn't going back to the Temple? Now she has decided to just do an about-face? Miles' line to her was pretty funny, "Sawyer sent you packing, huh?"

When Sayid went out into the jungle to face Flocke, the effects with the spinning camera and clicking were very tension-filled, and I didn't think that Sayid would actually stab Flocke with the magic dagger. But stab him he did, and the look on Flocke's face was priceless, but not nearly as priceless as when he pulled the dagger out and said "Now why'd you go and do that?"
And just when you think it can't get any better..."You want this back?" Dogen explained that Flocke is 'evil incarnate', but as I explained two weeks ago, his seductiveness is what traps people, and you saw it again in this scene with Sayid. Could you have said no to that deal if you were him?

I expected a big emotional analysis scene with Nadia and Sayid explaining the reason why they couldn't be together, but "I don't deserve you?" LAME!

How dramatic was that moment when Sayid delivered Flocke's message to the Others in the temple? As much as Lennon kept yelling that it was a bluff, it was hard not to believe what was being said. But at the core, remember that everyone still had a choice whether to leave or not. Free Will.

We got the return (prominently) of "Catch a Falling Star", the song that has surrounded Claire, Aaron, and Kate in at least 3 ways previously on Lost. The version at the end of the episode was haunting indeed.

Claire (to Kate) - "He's coming now. You can't stop him." Just as Jacob told Hurley last week.

Back in the Flash-Sideways, the thug that accosted Sayid and told him to get in the car, I immediately recognized as Omar, the mercenary thug from the Freighter. So I was stunned that I was still completely shocked to see Keamy! Seriously...if I recognize Omar, how do I not see that coming?

Is Keamy not the best scumbag on this show? Damn he was good in this episode. I'm not a bloodthirsty individual, but right before Sayid shot him, I was thinking "Do it!" Nice to see one of the show's ultimate villains get a second comeuppance after that horrific scene where he killed Alex in front of Ben.

I'm wondering how many other great past characters will pop up in one-off roles like this throughout the Flash-Sideways season? I would seriously LOVE to see Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown) at some point.

Dogen telling that story about his son was heart-wrenching, and then to see Sayid apparently come over to his side...and then attack him...was totally shocking. I guess Sayid really didn't like that Miyagi-like ass-kicking he got at the beginning of the episode and now was looking for his revenge.

Isn't it symbolic that Dogen died in the same pool that was used to bring people back to life? The ultimate irony. And Lennon met a nasty end as he had his throat slit heartlessly by Sayid. (Hey Amy, he's not such a pussy now, huh?)

The last scene(s) with the Smoke Monster in the temple happened so fast, that even with a second viewing, I can't fully gather my thoughts, so I'll just make a couple of final points:

- Flocke wasn't lying when he said he would kill the ones that didn't listen?
- Where the hell did Ilana, Frank, Sun, and Ben come from?
- Ben disappeared to the pool and never rejoined the others as they hid in the wall. With everyone else in the temple apparently dead...where the hell is Ben?

Looks like we'll find out next week in an episode entitled "Dr. Linus." (trailer below, along with two interesting scenes from the episode.)