Am I the only one who felt strange after “Sundown”? I didn’t feel unsettled exactly. Maybe disappointed is a better word. Or even sad.
The reason: Sayid.
We’ve grown accustomed to seeing our characters experiencing some sort of redemption before they die: Charlie, Shannon, Mr. Eco, and even Michael.
Sayid may not be dead, but didn’t it feel like the door slammed on his opportunity for redemption? I had hoped for a different outcome for Sayid. I guess Dogen was right, it would have been better for all of them if Sayid were dead. (Maybe Jack should have given him that pill.)
In Sideways reality, just before Sayid shot Keamy (I think I could watch Keamy die in every episode and never get sick of it), they had this exchange:
Keamy: Okay, it’s done. The debt’s forgiven. So…just relax and forget about it.
Sayid: I can’t.
This was an ominous scene—especially when viewed along with the dark themes surrounding Sayid’s on-island actions.
We know the Locke Monster has been recruiting. We saw him try to recruit Richard Alpert. And then we saw him successfully enlist the efforts of Sawyer, and even though I didn’t like that, this was much worse. Sawyer’s decision can be rationalized: he might be trying to con Locke Monster, or the Locke Monster might have successfully conned Sawyer. But not Sayid.
Sayid calls the Locke Monster out immediately:
Sayid: What is it that you are trying to talk me into?
Locke: Sorry?
Sayid: You haven’t killed me; clearly there’s something you want.
I enjoyed that scene so much. In fact, I wrote, “I’m glad Sayid didn’t fall for Locke Monster’s manipulations.” But after that, Sayid’s actions were far worse than Sawyer’s. He wasn’t manipulated; he just knowingly made a deal with the devil (or with “evil incarnate,” as Dogen referred to him).
Instead of refusing to deal with Locke, Sayid does his bidding. Sayid goes back to the Temple to deliver Locke Monster’s message, creating a panic among the Temple People. Then he drowns Dogen in the healing spring (ironic, no?). And when Lennon rushed in to say, “Do you realize what you just did? He was the only one keeping it out. You just let it in!” And Sayid says, way too calmly, “I know.” Then he slits Lennon’s throat.
We’ve seen Sayid do a lot of killing, but never as flippantly as this. Never with such evil intentions. He killed when he thought he was protecting Hurley; he killed the men on Ben’s list, convinced that he was protecting his friends. But here he did it…why? Just because Smoke Monster asked him to? Just because the Smoke Monster suggested that he could see Nadia again?
And when Sayid stabbed Locke Monster, I wrote “I’m glad Sayid stabbed him. Good for Sayid. Good that there’s still some good in him.” But no. He got my hopes up only to disappoint me.
And as if to ram the point home, there was this:
Ben: Sayid, come on, I know a way out of here. There’s still time.
Sayid: Not for me…
And have you ever seen Ben look as creeped out as he did when he backed away from Sayid? I think Ben realized that Sayid is no longer the pliable mercenary he could cajole into doing his bidding.
Thinking back on the episode, I think Dogen’s words might ring true for everyone on that island: “We think it would be best if you were dead.”
It might be best for everyone if Sayid were dead. And I fear that the Sayid we knew is dead.
Sideways Sayid
Uncle Sayid was so much like the Sayid we first met on the island, wasn’t he? He was polite, clear-headed, sure of himself (and in love with a woman he couldn’t be with). He was also struggling to reconcile with his past as an Iraqi torturer.
But he was a doting uncle and a good brother (even if he is in love with his brother’s wife).
What was the point of this story? To show that Sayid has always been destined to embrace his special talents? Or maybe to show that it’s Sayid’s destiny to be a killer, even if he refuses to embrace it?
I don’t know. But I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Sideways Sayid. Finding Jin bound in the closet of the restaurant…well, I know the writers will have to leave a lot of things unanswered, but that’s not one of them. We’ll get an explanation for that. Which means we’ll see at least a little more of the Sayid we once knew, and not just the Sayid on the island who is currently serving as Locke Monster’s pawn.
The Temple…so what?
We’ve been thinking this Temple is so important, right? We’ve been thinking that Locke Monster was desperate to get access to it…and then, once Dogen was killed and he was able to go inside (as a furious freight train of deadly smoke), he was ready to leave just minutes later.
So he didn’t have any reason to actually go in the Temple? He just wanted to kill those who wouldn’t come with him? That’s it?
And now they’re on the march somewhere else?
I’m sure we’ll learn more about this, but this certainly isn’t how I expected things to play out at the Temple.
The Reunion that Wasn’t
Oh Sun and Jin, you were so close. Instead, the only reunion we saw was that of the Ajira 316 (those who never time flashed) with Miles—just about the only one of our Losties who Ilana and friends don’t seem to care about.
But that wasn’t the only reunion. For a brief moment we had almost all our characters in the same place and in the same time. Everyone was at the temple (or waiting at the outer wall) except Jack, Hurley, and Richard Alpert (wherever he is).
Oh yeah, and there was also the odd Kate/Claire reunion. But I still don’t know what to think about that storyline.
It was nice, for that brief moment, even as bodies are piling up everywhere, to know that almost everyone was in the same place. We didn’t have to stop and think, “Wait, are they in 1977 or the present?” And we didn’t have to say, “Wait, are these the Others who marched with Richard? Or the Temple People?” They were all together. And now, most of them are dead…
As for Richard, I’m guessing he’s going to meet up with Jack and Hurley. He’ll probably impart a piece of wisdom to Jack about what the Locke Monster is doing (maybe something about why the Locke Monster is recruiting…I hope), and then Jack will do whatever it is that Jacob is waiting for him to do…
Dogen’s Baseball
The Lost writers tricked me twice in this episode. There was that terrible moment when I thought Sayid was going to mistakenly stab Kate with the “samurai”‘s sword. And of course, there was Dogen’s baseball. Please tell me I’m not the only one who thought—while Dogen held Sayid at his mercy, watching his baseball bounce on the floor—that the ball might contain something significant, or that it might be a powerful instrument or a talisman…or something. 
But no, just like Dogen told Jack two episodes ago, “It’s a baseball.”
Of course it’s just a baseball! I mean, yeah, I knew that all along…
What is Locke Monster Doing?
So Locke Monster’s reason for coming to the Temple was to recruit these people (and to kill those who chose not to come with him)? I don’t think he was just interested in recruiting people, or else he would have started recruiting the Others when he left them outside the statue (when he carried Richard Alpert into the jungle).
So what was his other objective? To make sure Dogen was dead? To attempt to remove all those faithful to Jacob…so he will be free to do…what?
Where is he headed now?
The Three Camps
Here’s the current breakdown:
1) Over at the lighthouse we have Jack, Hurley, and the ghost of Jacob Past. Jacob said he had to get them out of the Temple, but now what? What’s next for these two? Jack is just going to realize he needs to do something?
2) Hidden somewhere in the Temple (or heading out of it via a secret passageway), we have the fivesome of Ilana, Frank Lapidus, Benjamin Linus, Miles Straume, and Sun Kwon (and I listed their last names because, if you noticed, that’s the name Ilana uses to address them—and it’s also the way the candidates were listed in Jacob’s lighthouse, by their last names).
Where are they headed next? I don’t know, but I think Ilana has a plan. And Ben might have a secret or two up his sleeve.
3) And marching away from the Temple that had seemed so important to him, we have the Locke Monster and his cronies—and maybe a spy or two. I’m guessing Jin doesn’t want to be there, and we know Kate is only there for Claire. But maybe while she’s there, Kate can also talk some sense into Sawyer.
Dominant Theme:
Destruction
According to Dogen, Locke Monster’s objective is complete destruction:
Dogen: She’s a confused girl, under the influence of an angry man.
Sayid: What man?
Dogen: For years, he has been trapped. But now Jacob is gone; he’s free. This man will not stop until he has destroyed every living thing on this island. He is evil incarnate.
And we saw a lot of that destruction last night. The bodies littering the ground around the Temple are evidence of that.
This episode also felt like the destruction of Sayid. And he brought about his own share of devastation, as the floating bodies of Dogen and Lennon can attest.
I can’t help wondering whether the Temple—along with whatever powers were associated with it—was destroyed along with the people who remained loyal to it (or loyal to Jacob). I think the fact that Locke Monster is willing to march away from it suggests that it has been rendered useless, but I could be wrong.
Do I think this is the last time we’ll see the Temple? No, I don’t. But I wouldn’t be shocked if it is.
Snippets:
Miles: That Australian chick is back.
Kate: Claire?
Miles: She just strolled in here a couple hours ago, acting weird. Still hot, though.
Dogen: For every man there is a scale. On one side, there is good. On the other side is evil. This machine tells us how the scale is balanced. And yours…tipped the wrong way.
Miles: What are you doing?
Sayid: I’m leaving; I’ve been banished.
Miles: For what?
Sayid: Apparently I’m evil. And I’m better off dead…which is ironic since they were the ones who brought me back.
Miles: They tried to save you, but…you were dead, man. For two hours. Trust me, when you sat up, they were just as surprised as the rest of us. So whatever brought you back, it wasn’t them…
Questions:
1) Lennon was trying to reassure the Temple People, screaming, “He can’t come in!” And later he told Sayid that Dogen was the only thing keeping “it” outside the Temple. But how was Dogen keeping “it” out?
2) Locke Monster told Sayid to tell the Temple People that because Jacob is dead, none of them have to stay there any longer. So had they been forced to stay there? Or does Locke Monster just interpret their service to Jacob as a type of imprisonment?
3) Did you notice that Lennon referred to Locke Monster as an “it,” not a “he.” So what exactly is “it”? But didn’t Dogen tell Sayid that he’s “an angry man”? So is Locke Monster a “he” or an “it”? Which is it?
4) Miles tells Sayid he was dead for 2 hours? Does that sound incongruous to anyone else? It certainly didn’t seem that long… but even so, is that significant?
5) Dogen told Sayid, “As soon as you see him, plunge this deep into his chest. If you allow him to speak, it is already too late.” What does his speaking have to do with anything? And did it have to be that sword? Or would any weapon work? Was there any chance that Sayid could kill him? Or was Dogen really hoping, as Locke Monster suggested, that this would lead to Sayid’s death?
Lost Pieces 