Don’t forget to try the dipping sauces, they really bring out the ham.

Last night on LOST, we went to Tikrit, Moscow, Los Angeles, Santo Domingo and the island... not bad for an hour, minus commercials. Oldham ("I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl") feeds Sayid’s sweet tooth. Juliet thinks it’s time to stop playing house. Little Ben serves Sayid a chicken salad sammich; and Sayid serves Ben up a dish of cold revenge.

Lost 5x10: He’s Our You

Last night’s episode of LOST was a strange one. We’ve come to see Saywer in the last few episodes as in control. That control seemed to be on the verge of falling apart with both his love life and “playing house” with Juliet because Kate is back, and with his control of the island’s security between not getting Sayid to comply, a flaming DHARMA bus and barracks fire. And we saw Sayid go from confident, strategic and suave alpha male to captured (by a woman), imprisoned, emotional and vengeful. It’s an uncomfortable place as a viewer. But LOST is certainly known for challenging our comfort.

Putting the big questions of the episode up front. Comment with your thoughts/answers below.

Questions:

We don’t really believe Little Ben is dead, do we? Seems that would create a paradox which Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have been adamant would not be the case. Faraday’s assertions that the future is the future – how can the future for all those folks move forward without Ben?

So did Ben HAVE to die? In order to lead the Others, even to go to the Others, did Ben have to die, like Locke or perhaps others before him (Christian, Jacob, Richard)? And if so, did Richard tell Ben that he had to die during that initial meeting four years earlier?

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Tikrit, Iraq (early 1970s?):
A father pushes his boy to slaughter a chicken, and his younger brother, Sayid, comes to his brother’s aid and breaks a chicken’s neck. His father praises the act as that of a man. An honest to goodness early character flashback!

Moscow:
Post-Oceanix 6 Sayid pulls off one last kill for Ben. Andropov, the target, offers Sayid cash, but he shoots him. Meeting Ben afterwards, Ben tells him he’s done – they’ve eliminated everyone in Widmore’s organization. Sayid is seemingly distraught and asks Ben what he should do now and Ben tells him he’s free to live his life. (Call backs to when Ben told Walt and Michael they were free, or when he told Juliet she was free to leave the island.)
Geek alert: Russian license plate was E608PC 158.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic:
Sayid’s working for Build Our World after being set “free” by Ben. Ben shows up there and says that Locke’s been killed and they’re in danger. He says that Widmore’s worker has been waiting for Ben or Sayid outside of Hurley’s hospital. Ben entices Sayid to kill the man and says that it’s in his nature to be a killer. Sayid says he’s not a killer, but manipulator Ben knows what buttons to push.

Los Angeles 2007: Sayid is at a bar drinking $120/glass MacCutcheon whiskey. He says he’s trying to change, but she says that when you are good at something, people will always try to convince you to stay the same.

Sayid and Ilana are in a hotel room and she thwacks him and reveals she’s a bounty hunter working for the family of Peter Avalino, the man Sayid shot on the golf course in the Seychelles. She has been hired to bring him back to Guam.

At LAX, Sayid sees Hurley and Kate, and flips out. We see Ben walk onto the plane, and Sayid asks if Ilana works for Ben. She says no, and Sayid’s emotions continue to take over.

Geek alert: A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but does the Ajira logo looks like Eye of Horus? (Thanks, Phil, for this one.)





Island, 1977: Phil of the Eyebrows is cleaning a gun at his security post outside the cell where Sayid is being held. Little Ben shows up with another sandwich. Little Ben asks Sayid if Richard sent him. He tells him that he met Richard four years ago and he promised to help Ben. He offers to help Sayid if he’s patient.

Geek alert: Ben offers Sayid a book by anthropologist Carlos Castaneda called A Separate Reality. The allegedly non-fiction book details Castenada’s apprenticeship under a sorcerer named Don Juan Matus while under the influences of peyote and a smoked form of mushrooms. The purpose of these trips was to allow him to “See”, or “perceive energy directly as it flows through the universe”. Castenada also claimed that Don Juan had identified him as having the aura of a “nagual” who could become a leader of a party of “Seers”. This realm was referred to as nonordinary reality, a reality that was a different state than those of humans going about their everyday lives. (Sounds a lot like what Locke went through in the sweat lodge he built in season three.)

Horace and Radzinsky question Sayid. Sayid, master at interrogation, gives up nothing.

Juliet realizes she and Sawyer aren’t going to be able to play house any more. (A call back to Kate’s conversation with Sawyer before the Oceanic 6 were rescued.) Horace tells Sawyer that he’s going to have to turn Sayid over to Oldham for answers.

Sawyer goes to the jail cell and head butts Sayid hoping that he will pretend to be a hostile defector. Sayid says no, threatening Sawyer’s con. Sawyer’s game of house/house of cards is falling.

At the commissary, Chef Hurley has served up some waffles and ham with delicious dipping sauces. Hurley metaphorically kicks Kate in the gut by clueing her in to the painfully obvious fact that Saywer and Juliet were living together, like not as roommates.

Geek alert: Geronimo Jackson poster in the background of the mess hall. Also, go to iTunes to download a free track from Geronimo Jackson that’s rumored to actually be by a California retro rock band called the Donkeys.

Roger Linus, Ben’s father, is mopping outside Sayid’s cell and taunts him that he wasn’t smart enough to not get caught, not realizing Sayid could shut down that argument by pointing out that he was mopping up the floor. Little Ben walked in with a sammich for Sayid and Roger flipped out.

Saywer zaps Sayid and they take him into the jungle where Oldham - a creepy old dude played by William Sanderson who played Larry, of Newhart’s Larry, Darryl and Darryl fame – has Sayid restrained to a tree. He gives Sayid a sugarcube dosed with a truth serum.

Sayid’s truth serum has kicked in. He starts spouting out the truth and they seem to think they overdosed him. He reveals what he knows about The Flame, The Pearl and The Swan stations and that they are all going to be killed in the future.

Juliet’s talking to Kate in the auto shop when they bring Sayid back. A DHARMA panel converges to decide what to do with him and they agree – unanimously, including Sawyer – to kill Sayid.

Sawyer tries to free Sayid, who refuses. Sayid says he is fine there and he knows his purpose there. (Sayid's sugarcube incident seems to have given him clarity about the island and his purpose - like the sweat lodge experience. Did he encounter anyone (Jacob? Richard? Christian?) while he was tripping?)

Sawyer reluctantly goes to seek the help of Jack, but Kate answers the door. He asks her why they came back and before she can answer, a flaming DHARMA van goes careening into building 15.

Little Ben set up the diversion so he could free Sayid. Ben had been beaten by Roger and he frees Sayid when he promises to take him to the Others.

Little Ben lets Sayid out of the jail and they run. In the jungle, Jin finds them and Sayid knocks him out, takes his gun and shoots Little Ben. Sayid was a prisoner and feels he's a prisoner of his own destiny, as spelled out by Ben.

We got hamburgers. We got punch.

Sawyer tells Jack to step off. The flash mysteriously gave Jack a 1970s ‘do. Sun gives Ben a smack upside the head. Sawyer says "what's up?" to Kate. Ethan hangs out in a hammock. Phil the Dharma guy has wicked eyebrows. Harry Potter Ben serves up Sayid a sammich.

Lost 5x09: Namaste

Ajira Flight 316, 2007:
Frank Lapidus is flying the Ajira 316. The co-pilot notes that Hurley, an Oceanic 815 survivor, is on the flight. Lapidus doesn’t let on that Hurley’s not the only one, joking that lightning won’t strike twice in the same place. Then the turbulence hits. Flash. Suddenly it’s daylight and the island is in front of them. Sully Lapidus safely lands on runway (the runway that the Others had Kate and Sawyer help build when they were being held back in season 3). Poor co-pilot dude got a branch through the windshield.

Geek alert: As the plane is going down, we hear the numbers being broadcast on the radio. The numbers wouldn't have been broadcasting in 2007. Danielle replaced them at least 19 years ago and then that transmission was stopped by the 815ers so Charlie could get the signal in the Looking Glass station.

Caesar wakes up Ilana (she says “Sarah” or “Tara” when he’s waking her). Frank sees Sun there and asks where the other 815ers are. Ben, creepy as always, says “They’re gone.” Lapidus asks where, and typical Ben replies, “How would I know?”

1977:

Sawyer meets the Dharma van at the North Point, as we saw at the end of LaFleur. Sawyer and Kate hug. It’s clear he was lying to Horace when he said that he’d forgotten her. The question is whether he puts his feelings for Juliet behind him.

They tell Sawyer that Locke is dead (typical Lost – when asked how he died, Jack says it doesn’t matter).

Jin says they have to radio back or the Dharma folks will be suspicious. Hurley plays the part of the viewer and says, “Dude, your English is awesome.” Sawyer says that they’ll bring them back. Hurley asks what about everyone else and Jin learns that Sun was on the plane too. He rushes off to find Radzinski to find out if a plane landed on the island. Sawyer tells them to stay put until he can figure out how to get them back to the Dharma barracks safely. Oh, and by the way guys, it’s 1977. Hope you’re ok with that.

Geek alert: In the future, Radzinski was one of the numbers’ button pushers partnered with Kelvin Inman. Radzinski was also the person who started the map of the island and the Dharma stations on the blast door. He person who edited the orientation film for the Swan station, splicing out what we can be sure was important information. Kelvin stated that he committed suicide by shotgun (there was a blood stain on the ceiling of the Swan) and was buried in the time between button pushings by Inman. Desmond took over for Radzinski after he encountered Inman after Des was marooned.

Juliet suggests to Sawyer that they process Kate, Jack and Hurley as if they’re new Dharma recruits coming in on the sub.

Jin visits Radzinski at the Flame and demands to know if a plan has landed on the island. Radzinski sends out a system-wide broadcast asking for info, but no one else has seen the plane.

2007:
Back on the beach on the smaller island, Frank takes the leadership role. He says that they need to “stick together” (echoing Jack’s “live together, die alone” line). Caesar says that there are buildings on the island and Ben walks off to find them. Sun and Frank follow him.

1977:
Juliet goes to get the sub manifest from Amy, who’s recovering after delivering her baby. Amy wakes up and Juliet says that she doesn’t want Amy working in her condition. Amy says they named the baby Ethan. (‘Twas Ethan, as speculated. Though why he was named Ethan Rom in the future and not Goodspeed is a question we don’t know yet.) Amy tells Juliet that she and LaFleur should have a baby too, and she replies, weepy, “timing’s gotta be right.”

Sawyer returns with 1970s clothing for them. They are supposed to act as though they were coming in on the sub. They agree to do it as there won’t be another sub for six months.

Back at the Flame, Radzinski gets the final report and no one at any of the stations has any indication of a plane landing. A motion sensor alarm goes off inside the Dharma perimeter and Jin runs off to look for whoever it is. Turns out it’s Sayid. There’s almost a happy reunion until Radzinsky shows up. Jin figures it’s easier to pretend that Sayid is a hostile and take him prisoner than try to explain it and blow his, Sawyer’s, Juliet’s and Miles’ covers.

Geek alert: Among other things, the Muppet Show was showing on one of the TV screens (top left). To the right of that was a newscast. Not sure who...Cronkite? Anyone confirm?

Sawyer’s taking Hurley, Jack and Kate to be processed and they’re trying to wrap their heads around this. Hurley reminds Sawyer that all of Dharma were killed in the future and their bodies dumped in a pit and asks if Sawyer is going to warn them. He says “ain’t here to play Nostradamus” and that Faraday told them they can’t change the future anyway. Jack asks about Faraday and Sawyer only replies that he’s not here…anymore.

They arrive at the Dharma new recruit processing and Sawyer tells them to just play it cool. Miles shows up and sees Jack and Hurley. Miles tells Sawyer there’s a hostile caught at the Flame. Jin tells Sawyer on the radio that it’s Sayid. Radzinski has held him in the storage room.

Question: How did Sayid make it past the sonic fence?

2007:

Ben tells Sun he’s heading to the other island and that’s likely where Jin would be. He’s going to use an outrigger to get there. Sun tells Lapidus that they should go despite the fact that a freighter was sent to retrieve him…she believes him because he may be able to help them find Jin. They make it to the outrigger, Ben throws off his arm sling (mama island kissed it all better) and says that they’re going to go to the sub dock on the island. Sun clocks him with an oar.

Question: Why did Sun go back to 2007 and not 1977? There was some speculation that perhaps baby Sun was on the island in 1977 and there couldn’t be two Suns on the island, but her passport stated she was born in 1980, so that’s not likely. Could it be because she left Ji Yeon home? Thoughts?

1977:

Dr. Pierre Chang is processing Jack because Amy is recovering from giving birth. He gives Jack his assignment – his aptitude test showed that he was up for janitorial work. A man with creepy eyebrows, Phil, says that Kate is not on the list. Juliet saves the say with a new manifest with Kate’s name on it. (Phil is one suspicious dude.)

Potential Geek Alert: Is this a continuity error? Did the baby, when she was handing it back to Amy look more like a doll than the baby she was handed?

At the Flame, Radzinsky is freaking out to LaFleur that Sayid “the hostile” might have seen the model of The Swan and the survey of the island. He recommends shooting Sayid. They question Sayid who realizes that he has to play along. He says he’s “a hostile” and LaFleur takes him back to the barracks.

2007:

Lapidus and Sun arrive at the dock. (It’s pitch back out even though they only had a half mile to paddle across to the other island.) They hear the black smoke monster noice and then trees start to rustle. They make it to the Dharma processing center that, in 2007, has been destroyed by Keamy’s crew. A light comes on in the abandoned building and Christian emerges. He tells them to come in.

He shows them a picture of the Dharma “freshman class of 1977” and Jack, Hurley and Kate are in the picture. He says they have quite a journey ahead of them.

What’s up with the person standing behind Sun in the dark? Looks like red hair. Could it be Charlotte? Jacob? If not, then who?

1977:

Phil of the Eyebrow is taking the picture that Christian shows Sun. Phil tells them to get settled into their new digs and get used to the safety protocol. And they can have hamburgers and punch. LaFleur and Jin show up with Sayid and they bring him down to the brig. LaFlawyer tells Phil to bring him food.

Jack asks Phil where to find LaFleur and Juliet answers the door. They hug, and Jack comes in to talk to Sawyer. Jack questions why they’re not doing more. And Sawyer tells Jack to step off. He tells Jack that he thinks, unlike Jack who just reacts…that he saved Jack’s ass and he should go back and wait for someone to figure it out for him. Sawyer took great pleasure in putting Jack in his place.

Outside, Katie is pacing and she and Saywer wave to each other.

Sayid gets his sandwich delivered and it’s by mini-Ben! Ham and cheese with extra creepy and a side of bug-eyes.

Overall, a great plot episode. It didn’t have the twists or mythologies that leave me scratching my head. But it was certainly necessary to advance the plot. What did you think? Drop me a comment below.

-Sean Salo

That 70s Show: Lost Island Edition (with hints of Egypt)

The record stops skipping. Sawyer gets his groovy on. Horace pulls a Butthead (“Fire…Fire!”). Juliet went to Apex Tech to learn a new trade. Jin finished his Hooked on Phonics course. Sawyer blows Alpert’s mind…like totally. And Jin picks up some hippie hitchhikers. Oh yeah, we see a wicked old statue and we’re like, “FOUR-TOED STATUE!”

Lost 5x08: LaFleur

After two weeks of feeling a little underwhelmed, I was energized and psyched after last night’s premiere of “LaFleur.” Finally some things we weren’t spoon-fed. Super geek alerts below, so make sure to read through!

1974:
We open with Sawyer holding the rope at what used to be (or one day will be) the well, and Juliet says it was before the well was built. They look up and they see a massive stone statue from behind.

Geek alert: This is the full four-toes statue, we can assume. And it appears to be old. In the right hand, the statue is holding something. Take a look at this picture and see if you think it could be a match.

The name of this Egyptian god? Horus. (Horace? Horus!)

More on this one below.
























Locke fixes the broken donkey wheel and Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Jin do the final jump. They lose their headaches and realize they are done with skipping; that John was successful and fixed the island and time.

1977:
Jerry, a security guard with kickass pork chop sideburns, had a girl named Rosie in the security station and Phil is giving him crap about it. Then they see Horace Goodspeed (the guy Locke saw in the jungle with the nosebleed chopping wood last season) on their security monitors blowing up trees. I’m guessing he was using the explosives from the Black Rock. They debated whether to alert LaFleur, but then realize they have to. They knock on his door and LaFleur is … Sawyer!

Geek alert: Rosie was wearing a Geronimo Jackson jersey.

Sawyer and Miles drive out to get Goodspeed, who’s passed out at this point, and they bring him back to his house. The woman in the house, Amy, is pregnant and goes into labor.

1974:
Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Jin are walking through the jungle and find Daniel. He’s in mourning over Charlotte. Sawyer takes over, declares they’re going to the beach, and Miles asks, “Who put him in charge?” This is a great callback to season one when Saywer asks that about Jack.

They hear gunfire and Sawyer and Juliet kill two men who were tying up a woman. The woman Amy, whose husband Paul was killed by the gunmen, says they have to bury the two and that they have to bring Paul’s body back. They agree to help and as she’s leading them back, they come upon the sonic fence. Juliet tells her to turn it off, but Amy dupes them and walks thru with earplugs in. The rest are immobilized by the fence.

1977:
Amy’s in the infirmary and her baby is presenting breech. Sawyer gets Juliet, who’s working on a Dharma van, to help. She reluctantly agrees.

Sawyer talks to Jin who’s mastery of the English language is now better. Juliet manages to deliver the baby safely. It’s a boy.

Question: Who is the baby? Odds are on Ethan Rom.

1974:
Sawyer wakes up in the camp. It’s Othersville when it was still Dharmaville. Horace is questioning him and Sawyer (Jim LaFleur) says they were on a salvage vessel looking for the Black Rock. Horace tells them they need to leave on the sub the next day and that he can’t stay to look for the rest of the crew because he’s not Dharma material.

Miles, Faraday and Juliet are talking. Daniel confirms that the island is done skipping. James says that LaFleur is a creole name. (Why he couldn’t just use Sawyer is unclear.) A siren goes off and they’re ushered into a house. The hostiles have breached the camp. It’s Richard Alpert looking guylinered and young as always.

Potential Geek Alert: Alpert breached the camp. The baby was breech. Different spellings, ut it’s interesting. So if the baby was Ethan, who later works for The Others/hostiles, that means the breech baby was on the other side in the Dharma/hostiles war.

Horace goes out to greet Alpert and he apologizes for not having turned off the fence. Alpert laughs it off and says it doesn’t bother them, that the only thing keeping them out is the truce that has now been broken by the men having been killed. Sawyer goes out to discuss this with Alpert and he proves he knows Richard from 1954 and the meeting with John Locke.

Alpert agrees to maintain the truce if they get justice by taking Paul’s body back. Amy very reluctantly agrees, after taking Paul’s necklace.

Geek alert: The necklace is an ankh, the Eyptian symbol for eternal life. The image of Horus, and the statue of Horus (if in fact it is Horus), also appears to be holding an ankh.

More on this below.









Horace agrees to let them stay for two more weeks and look for the rest of the crew. Juliet says she wants to go the next day, but Sawyer convinces her to stay. And the first spark of romance - or at least lust – is there.

1977:
Sawyer goes home to a romantic dinner with Juliet. They are living together after three years together on the island.

Sawyer goes to Horace’s cabin and tells him that he’s a daddy. He says he was initially set off that he found Paul’s ankh necklace in Amy’s drawer. He wasn’t sure if Amy was really over Paul. Sawyer says it is. That he doesn’t even remember what Kate looks like.

Sawyer wakes up in bed with Juliet and he goes to meet Jin in the North Valley. Jack, Hurley and Kate emerge from the Dharma van and… nothing except a look.

Millions of Skaters hearts broke at the idea of having to wait at least two weeks (Lost is off next week) to find out what happened.


Super Geek Alerts! Super Geek Alerts! (Thanks to my brother Phil for helping me with a bunch of this.)

Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris and had a man’s body and a falcon’s head. There was certainly a bird, perhaps a falcon, in the hieroglyphs on the countdown clock in the Swan station.











The Eye of Horus is an Egyptian symbol of power, because Horus was injured in battle and the eye was healed by Hathor – healing the eye was a symbol of renewal. (Later, the name became Hor.)





The image could be said to look not unlike John Locke’s injured eye from the initial crash, no?






Horus was said to rule Lower Egypt and to have battled Set for conftol of Upper Egypt. Horus was deemed the winner by the gods, though Set was given rule over the desert, which was infertile. But the war continued, and after 80 years of fighting, the gods grew tired. They were challenged to a boat race, where they were to race in boats made of stone. But Horus’ boat was actually made of wood, and he won. Set stepped down and won the throne of Egypt except for the desert.
Hor, as Horace was later known, and Set together are an anagram for Others.

Also, there are some very interesting parallels, archetypes, in the full mythology of Horus and that of Jesus Christ.

• Both births were attended by wise men or angels
• Their births were signaled by a star
• Born of virgins
• Born on Dec. 25th and under poor conditions
• Were of royal decent
• Both aught in temples at 12
• Both had 12 deciples
• Were baptized with water
• Disappeared at young ages and returned, preaching, in their early 30s
• Performed miracles
• Walked on water
• Gave a sermon on the Mount
• Transfigured on the Mount
• Died on a cross
• Died on a cross between two thieves
• Buried for three days
• Resurrected from the dead

Some other cool potential parallels to the Egyptian thing now that the door has been opened (thanks again Phil):

Hawking - Hawk King
Faraday - Pharoah Day


So what did you think? Hit me up with your thoughts below with a comment.