He's Our You - Lost
Sayid, Sayid, more Sayid and Little Ben.
"He's Our You" was an action-packed hour. And who better to bring the action than the master of the bad-ass, the king of the bullet, the head honcho of the hit. Mr. Sayid Jarrah. Season 5 has been a little lacking in Sayid (we've seen far more of Sawyer, Kate, Jack and Locke), but "He's Our You" gave us a closer look at our favorite torturer and kicked the plot into high gear.
The episode opened with a flashback (remember those?). We see Little Sayid break a chicken's neck (and you thought killing animals and shooting children was a television no-no; leave it to Lost to do away with those niceties, but more on that kid capping later). The bird attack helped establish the "Sayid is a killer" theme, which would come up throughout the episode.
We follow killer Sayid to Moscow, where he takes out the last of the men on Ben's hit list. We learn that these targets were Widmore's men (surprise, surprise) from Ben, who meets Sayid in a dark Russian alley to tell him - with sadistic coolness - that he's done. Sayid seemed like a sad, scared little boy (one who doesn't kill small animals) when he asked Ben "What do I do now?"
No real help or guidance from Ben and so Sayid was off to build homes for the homeless. Which is where Ben caught up with him to tell him that Locke had been murdered - conveniently leaving out that it was he who had done the murdering. He also told Sayid that Hurley was being hunted, which was enough to get Sayid back to LA, which, of course, was what Ben wanted all along.
I think we can also assume that Illana, the bounty hunter who sips scotch with Sayid and then smacks him in the face and cuffs him, was hired by Ben. She claimed to be working for the family of the man that Sayid killed on the golf course, but the only person that could reasonably connect Sayid to that crime (hello, this guy's a professional assassin) is Ben. So we come to find out how Sayid ended up on Ajira Airways Flight 316.
From that point, though, things get a little bit more helter skelter. Or do they? Sayid refuses to play by Sawyer/LaFleur's rules, putting the Dharma Head of Security in a difficult position - save him and risk sabotaging his new life or save himself and screw his sense of morality. Ultimately, Sawyer went with a little of both. But it was Little Ben who sprung Sayid from his cell.
Since Sayid had been brought to the island against his will, he wasn't quite sure what the purpose of his return was. Until he laid eyes on Little Ben, that is. And then he knew. He knew he had to shoot Little Ben. Because he's a killer, and that's what killers do. At least according to Ben.
But is Little Ben dead? I don't think so. Some other thoughts...
- My favorite moment of the episode, hands down, was Sayid's response to Sawyer, who asked him how he was doing: "A twelve-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I'm doing?" Awesome.
- Speaking of Sawyer, it's interesting the moral complexities he's now taken on in his newfound leadership role. He has a hard time acting on the gut-instincts he once relied so heavily on and seems willing to make moral compromises to further his own goals - something we've seen with all of the individuals who've been put in positions of power on Lost. On the other hand, Jack, who - at least for the time being - has been stripped of his title of boss and is just a Workman, seems totally at peace.
- You probably noticed - if you pay attention to the insane minutiae of Lost (which you probably do because you're reading this) that the book that Little Ben handed Sayid was Carlos Castaneda's A Separate Reality. You can read more about the controversial book on this wiki page, but the main focus of the book centered on a master trying to get his apprentice to See, which is described as "perceiving energy directly as it flows through the universe." To that end, the master gives the apprentice psychotropic drugs to further his perceptive abilities. Sounds an awful lot like what that Oldham dude gave Sayid so he'd tell the Dharma peeps the truth.
- The question of master and apprentice is an interesting one, especially thinking about the Ben/Sayid dynamic. While I'm not sure they have an apprentice/master relationship (that seems more like the relationship Ben has with Jacob), it does seem like Ben has controlled Sayid for a long time. Did he tell Sayid he was a killer because he knew what events (time travel, returning to the island during Dharma time) were about to unfold? The prepared landing strip, murdering John Locke and having those people stalk Hurley, Illana bringing Sayid on the Ajira flight seem to suggest that he did know what was going to happen. So does that mean he intended for Sayid to shoot him?
- What affect will Sayid shooting Little Ben have on Little Ben. My guess is that Little Ben doesn't die, but that his actions (his alliance with The Others and with the Dharma Initiative) will be altered by being shot by Sayid - who he believes to be a Hostile. Will this set off a chain of events that will impact the war between The Others and The Dharma Initiative? I think yes.
- Oh, and one final thought. I'm no fan of Kate, but I can't believe she would be so dumb as not to realize what was cookin' over at Sawyer's house. (And, no, I'm not talking about the bacon.) Obviously he and Juliet are a couple. Was she shocked that they were shackin' up or shocked because it put a kink in her purpose for returning to the island? We never got to hear what that purpose was because she was interrupted by the flaming van decoy. My guess is that it has something to do with Sawyer and the thing she promised him three years before.
Next week's episode is titled "Whatever Happened, Happened". The tagline of the entire season. Hold on to your constants, people. It's gettin' good.
