And then there were two -

We have our Final Two in the LOST field of 64 March Madness. Here it is the 6Th of April and we are finishing up the March Madness competition? Yep! Anyway, as voted by you, the readers of this blog, here are the two that have been voted into the championship round:

Juliette Burke 3 Seed

How she got here:

In the first round Juliette walked he way past Sun's infant Ji-Yeon.

The second round she had it almost as easy as she dispatched with Jack's father, Christian Shephard.

In the third round, Juliette was almost eliminated by Kate. The two of them finished tied and it was up to me, with my executive challenge in hand, to break the tie. I've got some crap about it but if it hadn't been left as a tie I wouldn't have had to do what I did, now would I?

In the Elite Eight round the good doctor was up against her biggest challenge to date with a head to head against John Locke. Surprisingly, Juliette beat Locke easier than she did Kate. Go fig!

Juliette did away wit Jin in the Final Four round to get to the Championship match.

Versus

Sawyer 1 seed

How Sawyer made it to the championship match:

The hunky redneck shucked and jived his way past Minkowsy and Frank Lapidus in the first two rounds.

It was a little closer with his match up in the Elite Eight contest when he faced Daniel Faraday. However, nothing would stand in his way with a date in the final four where he faced off against Desmond who Sawyer sent packing, brutha!

The Final Four match up was against perennial "Bad Guy" Ben Linus, the first 1 seed versus a 1 seed match. It is easy to see that Sawyer has danced his way to the championship round. Does his journey end here? Only time and your votes will tell.

Aw, they look so good together, too. Unfortunately only one can win. Who will it be?

Sawyer and Juliette get a good look at the marque that states they are the final two in the LOST Field of 64 Challenge!

Continuity Errors?

This week I want to discuss a few continuity errors that were very obvious in this past weeks episode. First look at the screen cap from when Sayid shot Ben:

Now check out the screen cap from when Jin found Ben lying in the jungle:

The wound is in a completely different/wrong side of the chest. And one more that may or may not be a different position but it does look to be a little low to me:

Now I have pointed out some other continuity errors in the past. I won't post pictures but if you have the DVDs go check it out for yourself. First of all let me direct your attention to the Swan hatch. When we see it in the first episode of season two, things change positions and appearance. Another instance is during Miles' flashback to when he is playing Ghostbuster in the old woman's house. When he goes upstairs there are pictures hanging on the wall. We see these pictures again when he comes back down the stairs and the frames have changed.

I know things happen and sometimes, although it appears to be only mere minutes between one moment and the next, truth be told, it could be days or even weeks between scenes when they are filming the show. So things happen right?

I for one don't buy it, not for a moment. For the longest time I couldn't figure out exactly what it was that bothered me about these obvious errors. Finally, after I posted my April Fools Joke, the one about Shaymalan being the director of the finale, I was able to put my finger on it. Or at least get it a little closer to the target.

How did that fake story help me clear up my misgivings about some errors on LOST? Well, think back to when you first saw the Sixth Sense. The movie where Bruce Willis is dead 99% of the time and we don't know it until the final minutes. Don't yell at me for spoiling it for you, it's been long enough since the movie was released, you should know the surprise ending by now! When the camera pulls back (something LOST has been doing the past few seasons as well and will continue to do more of this season and next) we see more of the picture. We see where the clues were the entire time. We were shown hints and red herrings and led down dead ends so often we didn't know when we saw the answers to the questions we didn't even know we were supposed to be asking. That's the same with LOST. For almost the entire movie we saw things from Bruce Willis' characters point of view, a character who either didn't know he was dead or couldn't come to grips with the fact.

That's what we have here, especially with Ben's gunshot wound. When Sayid shoots Ben, he truly wants to kill the 12 year old boy. Sayid is a killer. We've seen him do it enough times, it's beaten into us so hard that we take it on face value that Sayid shot him right through the heart. Sayid wanted Ben to die so badly he "saw" the bullet hit Ben directly in the chest and go through his heart. But it didn't. A few minutes later, Jin rolls Ben over and the bullet wound is on the right side of his chest. Nowhere near where it was a few minutes ago. Sure he was shot, but Jin didn't see the wound in the same pace because it wasn't in the same place. Sayid saw the bullet hit Ben in the chest near his heart because the island wanted Sayid to see it there. Remember when Ben shot Locke? The wound seemed to be right through the chest as well. Later the wound in much lower allowing for the missing kidney story to fill in the blanks of why Locke wasn't dead. Ben wanted Locke to be dead and a bullet through the heart would have done the trick. The same can be said for Sayid.

Jin, since he has no real interest in weather the boy lives or dies, sees the wound exactly where it is. Later, after Juliette operates on him the wound is a little lower. Why? Because that's where Juliette needs to see it on order to think she can save his life. Same for Kate and Sawyer. When Sawyer is carrying Ben the wound seems to move down even further. Because that's where they need it to be to believe they can save Ben's life.

The Swan hatch items being moved or changed can be summed up by saying the items looked one way when we saw Desmond in the hatch because that's how he saw the hatch. When Locke and Jack are in the hatch it looks different because to them, it is different. The pictures on the wall change because in one scene we see them through Miles' eyes and then we see them a second time through the dead boys grand mother's eyes.

Something else that occurred and was pointed out by Vozzek69 is during "Whatever Happened, Happened" when Kate is in the grocery store. She asks the stock person where the juice boxes are and he directs her to them. Not once did he look at Aaron or even acknowledge his presence in any way. A few seconds later, Kate goes back to the same employee in the grocery store to ask if he saw where her little boy went. At which point he seems to be oblivious to the fact that she even had anyone with her. Let's go one step further. When Kate goes to see Cassidy a second time, Clementine answers the door. She smiles and says "Hello Auntie Kate.", again, she never acknowledges Aaron. And he's standing right there next to Kate holding her hand. Isn't he?

It seems it's all a matter of perspective. I predict that the final episode of LOST will be very similar to the final minutes of The Sixth Sense. We will be offered up all of the missed clues we were supposed to see and missed. Or did see but didn't understand them well enough to give us hints to the end game that we were heading to. For the entire series we have been the victims of well played out misdirections by TPTB and writers alike. Victims that went along just as happily as we could knowing full well the entire time we were the marks of the real Long Con.

Weekly Musical Montage

This one is for all you John Locke Fans and if you like The Killers it's a double fun time!

Late Breaking News From Yesterday 4/1/09

In a shockingly quiet press release yesterday, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, revealed that the director of the series finale would be none other than acclaimed director M. Night Shymalan. The content of the finale still remains a secret, but Lindelof and Cuse stated that they wished to "get a hold" on the most important episode of next year, to make sure that everything goes "without a hitch."Shyamalan, director of such films as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Lady in the Water says that he is more than up for the challenge, and will begin working with the producers as soon as his newest film, The Last Airbender, completes production. Shyamalan, an avid ''Lost'' fan, said that he was already working with Damon and Carlton on an early draft of the episode.

Whatever Happened, Happened

Notice Ben's gunshot wound is now on his right side last episode it was more on the left side of his chest!?!?

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This week I have decided to do the weekly recap a little differently in order to try a new format. I am going to take a more chronological approach. So with that in mind let's start with all of the off island flash back scenes.

She’s Got You

First off, in an episode that is Kate centric, you can usually count on two things; the first being I will probably hate it and two; a Patsy Cline song will show up somewhere in the episode. The country stars song She’s Got You plays across two lines here. It alludes to Kate having Aaron but it also points towards Juliette having Sawyer. Kate sings "Catch A Falling Star" to Aaron when he is asleep. This was the same lullaby that Claire asked Arlene Stewart to sing to Aaron when she was going to give him away for adoption in "Raised by Another". This song also plays in Aaron's would-be nursery in The Staff as the mobile spins in the episode "Maternity Leave". Kate shows up at Cassidy’s house with Aaron in tow and an envelope full of money. Kate tells Cassidy what Sawyer asked her to do. Kate tells Cassidy the money is for her that Kate received it from a settlement from Oceanic Airlines. What happened to the money Sawyer had in an account for Clementine? Perhaps Cassidy already got that and is how she has a house. Cassidy says Sawyer was a coward for jumping from the helicopter. She tells Kate that he jumped because he wanted to be away from Kate.

In a mirror reflected image there are two of the numbers "4" and "23". Obsess much?

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In The Supermarket - “I was standing over there by the tomaders, and I hollered ‘Don't look Ethel!’ but it was too late, she'd already been incensed!”

That may be the longest sectional title I have ever used! It’s from The Streak by Ray Stevens by the way. If it’s not on your ipod it oughta be! Anyway, we revisit the marina scene when Kate takes Aaron and leaves. On the way home, the little prince is thirsty. They go to the grocery store and Aaron wants a juice box not milk. They grow up so fast! Jack calls Kate and she ends up loosing Aaron. She frantically runs through the store looking for him and she finds him with a woman who looks like Claire. For a second I actually thought it was Claire which would have been awesome. The next day Kate shows up back at Cassidy’s where Kate tells her about loosing Aaron. Kate says she wasn’t surprised that she lost him and she thought “It’s about time.”. Kate always knew she would one day loose Aaron or have him taken from her. Cassidy tells Kate she took Aaron because Sawyer broke her heart and she needed Aaron to fix it.

Sometimes I Am Wrong And This Time, I Liked It

Kate goes to the hotel room where Claire’s Mum is staying and the two have an uncomfortable meeting. Kate tells her about Aaron and Claire. Kate claims Claire is still alive but does she really know this? The answer is easy at this point; there’s no way she can, except for the visions of Claire she has been having so maybe Kate is on to something. That must be proof enough for Kate. Kate continues on with her explanation of why she has Aaron and why she lied about him. She now knows that Aaron was filling a place in her heart left by Sawyer but that is still not why Kate decides to go back to the island. She isn’t going back to find Sawyer, she is going back to find Claire. She is going back for Aaron not Sawyer. Aaron still has the place in her heart and there is no room for Sawyer in it now. Now, I started this recap by saying that I don’t like Kate centric episodes. I really don’t like Kate's character much at all either (I know, I hear the jeers already, you can like her I don’t mind. The fault may lie with me, not you, but who is to say?) however, this episode was probably one of, if not her best episode. If there was any doubt about Evangeline Lilly’s acting ability it can all be put away now. The scene where she says goodbye to Aaron tore me up. One of the best Kate scenes ever and she only spoke one line: “Bye bye baby.”. Absolutely heart wrenching!

Now let’s move on to the on island scenes:

“Administer two-amp sodium bicarb, insert an airway. Start an IV, 51. Lactate Ringer's. Squad 51, continue to monitor patient and transport immediately." "We're on our way, Rampart!”

This is the recap with the largest section titles. This last one is from the television show “Emergency”. Jin does his best Randolph Mantooth impression as he makes the first island ambulance run. Back at the scene of the diversion created by Ben and the flaming Dharma van, Horace has a way of stating the obvious. Not to be outdone, Jack, makes himself seem a little too inquisitive by asking way to many questions. Especially for someone who says “Hi, I’m the new guy, what’s going on? I deserve to know.” Will you shut up already! Roger asks Kate to run the winch but, ha-ha, I heard “Run the wench!” Ah sweet irony. The trippy aspects of time travel catch up to Kate when Roger introduces himself.

It’s Allergy Season On The Island Of Mystery

Josh Holloway must either get sick once every season or his allergies act up while they are filming because he sounded like crap in the beginning of the episode. Kate goes to the security room (how secure is this room if anyone can just come strolling in?) to see Sawyer. Sawyer quickly tries to get her to leave. Horace and the rest of the security team show up and Horace is very interested to know why Kate is there. Sawyer basically pats Kate on the head and tells her to run along while the men talk. The group go to Sayid’s cell and Sawyer takes the set of keys from the lock. After telling Miles to gather their fellow survivors together until he can figure out what to do next, Sawyer finds Roger at the infirmary and asks for his keys. Roger of course, doesn’t have them. Now I have to ask, for a weird cultish community like the Dharma Initiative have set up on the island and with hostiles and smoke monsters that need sonic fences to keep them out, why the hell is their only one doctor there? I'm just saying is all. Juliette tells Sawyer that Ben is bleeding internally and she can’t find where the bleed is. Sawyer goes to find Jack.



Hello! McFly?

Over at house arrest, Hurley and Miles discuss the effects that changing the past will have on the future. This scene is a shout out to us, the viewers, and all of the discussions that have taken place over the past few weeks. There are two sides of the fence and Hurley is on one side and Miles is on the other. I love it when the writers give the viewers a voice. Sawyer asks Jack to come and help save young Ben’s life. He refuses. Kate and Jack argue about Jack not trying to save Ben. Jack says he has already done this once. Jack tells Kate that it is not supposed to happen. He is going to let the island do what it wants for a change. Jack feels that maybe he is just getting in the way. Finally, Jack has fully come around to the Man Of Faith thinking that Locke wanted him to do so many moons ago. His timing sucks though. Kate leaves in a huff when Jack reminds her that she didn’t like the “old me”.




I Don’t Know My Bloody Blood Type

Ahh, anyone still really miss Charlie? Kate shows up at the infirmary to donate blood for Ben. Kate tells Juliette that Jack and her were engaged off the island in the three years they were gone. Roger comes in to check on his son and tells Kate that Ben took his keys and let Sayid out. Roger opens up to Kate about Ben and the circumstances of his birth and the fact that Roger has not been a good father. Kate has a hard time saying “No” when Roger asks her if she has any children. Their conversation is cut short as Ben goes into medical distress.


What Now Mr. Smarty Pants?

Hurley and Miles continue their debate about changing the past and the future. The writers did a pretty good job of clearing up some of the questions and answers about any time paradox. Except for the question of why Ben didn't remember Sayid when Ben first saw Sayid after the crash. Easily the best scene of the episode!



Run Kate, Run!

The writers are trying to suddenly do a 180 on Roger. One episode they try to make us hate him and the next he gets a chance at redemption as they try to make him a little bit more like able. Juliette tells Kate that maybe there is something “they” can do to help Ben. She is referring to the Others. The two hotties load Ben into the Dharma patient transport van and Juliette tells Kate she will give her as much of a head start as she can. Kate eventually arrives at the sonic fence. Ben asks Kate to tell his father he is sorry for stealing his keys. Sawyer pulls up and tells her he is there to help her. Sawyer calls Kate “Freckles” for the first time since she returned to the island. Uh oh! Kate wants to know why Sawyer is helping her save Ben. Sawyer tells her that Juliette said it was wrong to just let a kid die. “I’m doing it for her.”, he tells her. We are left on our own to decide if Sawyer meant Juliette or Clementine. They go off into the jungle together and don’t bother to reset the sonic fence? That’s just careless.



Rant Juliette, Rant!

Juliette confronts Jack who is just getting out of the shower. I think Juliette got a peek at Jack’s little “Shephard’s Hook”. Juliette informs Jack that Kate and Sawyer have gone off to try and save Ben’s life. She says it is because they “actually care”. Oh snap! Jack says he came back to the island because he cared. He says to Juliette that he was trying to save them. Juliette then tells him they didn’t need saving. Juliette corrects him by telling him he came back for himself. Jack tells her he is supposed to be back but doesn’t know why yet. Juliette tells him he better figure out why and do it damn skippy!




You are lost and gone forever, Dreadful sorry, Clementine.

Kate tells Sawyer about her visits with Cassidy and Clementine. She tells him all about his daughter. Sawyers' face expresses his emotions, especially when Kate gives him Cassidy’s take on why he jumped from the helicopter. Apparently Cassidy was on the right track. Sawyer tells Kate that he wasn’t fit to be Kate’s boyfriend nor was he fit to be Clementine’s father. We watch Sawyer’s face light up, however, when Kate says that he seems to be doing alright with Juliette. Sawyer admits he has done a lot of growing up in the last three years. Their little chat is interrupted when The Others show up. Sawyer asks them to take him to see Richard Alpert if they want to avoid a war. Interesting statement.


Boy, you gonna carry that weight Carry that weight a long time

Richard intercepts Kate and Sawyer and says something like "you wanted to see me, here I am" when Sawyer asks where he came from. Richard just keeps getting more and more mysterious. As we get answers about the island we get more questions about Mr. Alpert. Alpert then asks if the boy is Benjamin Linus. Sawyer asks if the two of them know each other. Some interesting information comes out when Richard tells them what will happen to Ben if Richard saves his life. Richard says he will never be the same. Ben will forget any of this ever happened (a good ploy played by the writers in order to explain Ben not knowing Sayid, one question answered) and his innocence will be gone (we know why Ben turns all dark and deadly now I guess answer number two) and Ben will always be “one of us”. Which we know will happen. One of the Others tells Richard that he shouldn’t do it without talking to Ellie first and if Charles finds out. We know who he means there. Ms. Hawking and Charles Widmore are both still on the island with The Others in 1977. Richard cuts him off by saying that he doesn’t answer to either of them. Ellie and Charles Widmore now appear to have authority among the Others. The Others allow Sawyer and Kate to leave as Richard takes Ben to what I am guessing is “The Temple”. In an odd twist of fate, Sayid, Juliet, Jack, Kate and Sawyer are somewhat responsible for the person Ben will become.


"Bedside Manner?" "Yeah, that." "Yours sucks dude!"

The episode ends back in 2007. John Locke is diligently sitting next to Benjamin Linus’ sick bed. Ben wakes up and is surprised to see John Locke alive and sitting there. Locke smiles at Ben when he says “Welcome back to the land of the living.”



Mostly Harmless

The episode title is an allusion to a Douglas Adams quote from his book in the Hitchhikers Guide Trilogy. "Anything that happens, happens. Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again. It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though." Jack refused to save the young Ben because of who he would become. As a result, Kate had to take Ben to Richard, which is what made Ben the man Jack hated.

A Sad, Sad Day!

I come home from work and am confronted with this unfortunate turn of events. Yet another victim in the economy trouble. I am currently speechless and at a loss. Click on picture to read entore article from Associated Press.

Spoliers? I got 'em

We’re a little over halfway through season 5 and I wanted to take some time to fill you all in on some spoilers that I currently can confirm as more than just rumors but can’t fully say they are 100%. With LOST, I don’t like to call anything 100% but if I wasn’t strongly in favor of these being accurate I wouldn’t post them. I will list them in order of the episodes if I know in which they will happen. Again:

read at your own risk.

Episode 11 (Kate Centric) “Whatever Happened, Happened” - Press release from ABC: “Kate goes to extreme measures to save Ben's life when Jack refuses to help. Meanwhile, Kate begins to tell the truth about the lie in order to protect Aaron.” We will find out what Kate did with Aaron. I’m told that Cassidy and Clementine (the woman Sawyer conned and who had his child) return for this episode. Do they figure into the story of what Kate did with Aaron before returning to the island?




Episode 12 (Ben Centric) “Dead Is Dead” - Press release: “To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged.”






Episode 13 (Possibly Miles Centric) “Some Like It Hoth” - Press release: “Suspicions about a possible breach intensify after Ben is taken from the infirmary, and a reluctant Miles is forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official.” The title is not set in stone on this one and may change. A 20 something Aaron and JiYeon have been cast and it is rumored that the two will appear in this episode in a flash-forward. The scenes take place on the island somewhere in the 2030’s. Reports claim that Miles is seen off-island and is kidnapped by men wearing Dharma uniforms.





Episode 14 (Daniel Centric) “The Variable” - Press release: “On the 100Th episode milestone for the series, the time of reckoning has begun when Daniel Faraday comes clean regarding what he knows about the island.” Radzinsky and Pierre Chang return for this episode. The Aaron and JiYeon scenes may be for this episode.




Episode 15 (Possibly Jack Centric) “Follow The Leader” - Press release: “Jack and Kate find themselves at odds over the direction to take to save their fellow island survivors, Locke further solidifies his stance as leader of "The Others," and Sawyer and Juliet come under scrutiny from the Dharma Initiative.” Other than the title and that little blurb, I got nothin’.

Juliette and Kate in scenes from the finale

Episodes 16/17 *will be shown as the 2 hour season finale “The Incident”



More Kate and Juliette

Some general answers and answers I have received from sources that I can’t put in any particular episode:

Baby Ethan is THE Ethan and we will see how he got from DHARMA to the others.

Jacob Told Ben to build the runway.

We will learn more about the Swan. Hints that what’s behind the concrete wall may just be pure energy. (Difficult to show, claims its bright and loud) that is dispelled by pressing the button.

Sawyer filming season finale

The little girl we saw in La Fleur was Charlotte, the birth date is a production error.

Hints that Walt’s vision about people wanting to hurt Locke is about the Ajira survivors hurting him.

The season finale will contain a wedding. Signs point to this being the wedding of Jin and Sun.

The Mysterious Jacob?

On Friday the 13Th, they were filming at the U.S.S. Bowfin submarine museum at Pearl Harbor. The Bowfin previously served as the interior of the Others' submarine, the Galaga. On the set were Josh Holloway, Jeremy Davies, Evangeline Lilly and Elizabeth Mitchell. There was also a young girl possibly a young Charlotte. The key scene was a fight sequence that leaves Sawyer pretty badly bloodied and battered.

Sawyer's parent's funeral

There is at least one more big death this year, possibly in the finale. Although this is big news for the finale, the death isn’t what everyone will be talking about the next day!

Elizabeth Mitchell has been confirmed as signed for season 6.

Jin and Sun will reunite but it will be closer to the season finale.

There will be an assault against Dharma. The “Hostiles” will attack the latest Dharma station that is under construction. The Swan I assume.

Filming Nadia's death

Rose, Bernard and Vincent will all be appearing in the finale.

Jack has some explosive plans which may lead to "The Incident"

Something goes horribly wrong with the construction of a Dharma station.

One death happens before the finale and one might occur during.

In the finale a young Sawyer will meet the mysterious Jacob at his parents funeral.

Reports say that the same mystery man will appear at the wedding that is also in the finale.

Richard is back

One step further says that they re filmed the fall that broke Locke's back and the same man (Jacob?) was witnessed at the scene with Locke as well.

Mark Pellegrino is confirmed as the actor who plays Jacob.

We revisit the death of Nadia.

Jacob’s Cabin returns.

Juliette filming on the sub

That’s all I got for now. Will update as more info comes in. I almost forgot to give credit where credit is due: Thanks to DarkUfo for info and pics as well as The ODI.

Don't forget to vote in the final four poll. If you don't know about it scroll down and read about it. Vote! Vote! Vote!

The Final Four

The votes have been cast and we are now down to the Final Four. Here are the final match ups before we go to the championship round. Some of you are still only voting for one person. When you vote this round, make sure you vote for two people total. One in each contest so make those votes count. No hanging chads need apply! Here, now, are the Final Four:

In one of the most lopsided victories of the entire contest by a count of 8-2 and leaving Desmond far behind. Welcome to the final four

Sawyer 1 seed

versus

Ben 1 seed

In what might be the best match up of the entire tournament, Ben Linus takes on our resident rough redneck. Sayid made the contest close but apparently there are some people either holding this past weeks episode against our Iraqi killing machine, or secretly like Ben a lot more than they would like to admit.

In what I can only describe as the biggest upset of the entire contest by beating Jack, a number one seed, by 3 votes, we have the wild card

Jin 3 seed

versus

Juliette 3 seed

If Jin isn't the biggest upset of the tournament then Juliette taking out John Locke has got to be. Juliette took out the heir apparent to the Others' leadership by two votes. Two of the number one seeds went down in the elite 8 another will go down this round. Who will make it to the championship match?

I am giving these contests a little more time on the voting clock to make sure everyone gets their votes in. Be sure to vote for two people total this round. Good Luck and happy voting.

Weekly Musical Montage

A week or so late here is a video recap of La Fleur with musical accompnyment from ColdPlay.

He's Our You

Slam On The Brakes And Steer Into The Skid

In a season that has been high on the action/drama/answers it seems the past few weeks we have hit the brakes a little. We had a week off, a midseason “let’s get everybody where they need to be” episode last week in Namaste, and now we had an episode that seemed to be going nowhere up until the somewhat shocking final minute. Let’s dissect “He’s Our You” what was quite possibly the less gooder episode of the season so far.

Who’s Going Chicken Huntin’?

We are introduced to a young boy that turns out to be Sayid who we find out was capable of killing from the start. Sayid not only kills the chicken but he does it with his bare hands. This scene reminded me of the Eko scene when we see Eko kill for his younger brother who was not capable of doing it. The we are shown a young Ben who is not yet the cold blooded killer we know he grows up to be bring Sayid a sandwich. A chicken salad sandwich at that. Ben gives Sayid his lunch, a book (more on that later), and the puppy dog “Will you take me with you to see Richard who is your leader, Right?” eyes. Back in snowy Russia, Sayid kills the last person on his list and Ben tells him he is done. He can go on with his life and is now free. Sayid has been Ben’s hired gun for so long he doesn’t know what else to do. After the murder of Andropow, Ben tells Sayid "You are free". Immediately after, we see Sayid behind bars in 1977. Horace cuts off the plastic(?) handcuffs and gives Sayid a chance to talk. Sayid remains quiet and is told that if he doesn’t talk that Horace will have to take it to the “next level”.

I Can Bring Home The Bacon

And burn it up in the pan. Juliette is preoccupied with watching Jack and Kate to notice she is burning breakfast. She asks Sawyer if “It’s over” and then adds “Us”. Sawyer reassures her that it is not. Sawyer visits Sayid and tells him the plan he has come up with to explain Sayid’s sudden appearance. Sayid doesn’t agree with the plan. Sayid says one of the best lines this week when he asks Sawyer; “A twelve-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich, how do you think I feel?” Sayid truly doesn’t know what to do he has been given a lot to digest in the past few hours.

If You Want To Keep A Secret, Don’t Tell The Fat Guy

Way back in season one we knew Hurley couldn’t keep a secret and often had some really bad timing when coming forward with the information. No time would have been the right time for Kate to find out about Juliette and Sawyer but Hurley fumbles around it and tells her. She is a little surprised to hear Jack knew and didn’t say anything about it. And check out the ’fro on the dude working the food line! Damn nice job by the costume department! Back in the Dharma jail, Roger Linus is mopping up and shares a few snide comments with Sayid who has one for him as well. Roger goes on to tell Sayid that he won’t be so snappy when he is taken to Oldham. Ben shows up with another sandwich and Roger manhandles Ben. Ben's dad becomes a lot easier to gas to death as we watch him Slam young Ben's head into the bars of Sayid's cell. "You never brought me a sandwich" - more time echoes, as this is the same line Ben gave Juliet back when she was bringing Jack all those great lunches in S3. Sayid feels some pity for the boy. Back in 200?, Ben once again visits Sayid and tells him he’s got more killing to do. He also tells Sayid Locke is dead and thinks he was murdered. Thinks? Hurley is being watched and we know how that turns out. Ben tells Sayid he is a killer, it’s his nature.

A Shocking Development

Occurs when Sawyer and company come back to Sayid’s cell. Damn did Sawyer zap Sayid right in the nuts? Ouchies! When the group arrived at the old Indian teepee I immediately thought they were at Jacob’s pre cabin abode. I even thought Horace called “Old One” instead of Oldham. Sawyer tells Sayid the episodes title line and we know that Oldham is a torturer. Sayid is tied to a tree and given truth serum on a sugar cube. Sayid pulls the restraints tight as he strains to get at his torturer, who turned out to not be much of a torturer. The guy was still creepy and Sawyer looked very worried.

What’s A Girl Like You Doing In A Place Like This?

Sayid meets Illana (or however you spell her name, I know, I’ll call her the new main female “Red Shirt”, how’s that?) in a bar while drinking $120 a glass McCutcheon’s (I don’t know how to spell that either, I feel lazy today) whiskey. This is what Sayid was up to after the group met at the marina. During the small talk at the bar I didn’t trust her for a second even though I knew the outcome even if I didn’t know I still wouldn’t have trusted her. Maybe it was the accent.

Tied To The Tree Of Woe

Sayid is fucked up! There’s no other way to put it, the guy was not feeling any pain. He spills the info that he has been on the island before. Tells about the two plane crashes. He also says to ask Sawyer and when Horace asks him who is Sawyer, Radzinsky interrupts. Ok, I guess Stewie has his uses after all. The subject is quickly changed to the Swan hatch and Sayid tells them he knows about it even before it is built. The drama gets ramped up a bit when Sayid sobers up a little when he says very dead pan “You are all going to die, you know?” Then he drops the bigger bomb as he tells them he is from the future. Sawyer literally shit in his Dharma jumpsuit, I believe. Sayid laughs as he tells Oldham that he used the exact dosage, meaning that what he is telling them is indeed the truth. Apparently they don’t believe it is though.

Keep Your Friends Close

And your enemies closer, especially if it’s the girl your live in lover used to have a thing for three years ago. Juliette gives Kate the grand tour of the motor pool and tells her that she is glad Hurley told her about Juliette and Sawyer. As the van pulls up and Sayid is taken back to his cell, Sawyer sees Juliette and Kate comparing notes. “Did he ever do you up against a cage?” Kate asked. You could see the worry on Sawyer’s face but it’s possible the worry was for Sayid and not from seeing his current and former flames with their heads together. I did however notice the camera panned to Kate and then to Juliette. I wonder if that was supposed to show us Sawyer’s order of importance and his POV. Inside the group decide they have to make a decision on what to do with Sayid. Radzinski leads the discussion with a lynch mob mentality. Horace and even Amy agree that Sayid must be killed. Sawyer does not want to go along with the plan but he votes with them. The scene had a very “12 Angry Men”/“The Lottery” feel to it.

Boot To The Head (Nya Nya)

Don’t worry if you didn’t get that chapter title reference, only one reader probably did and he knows who he is! Small talk leads to bedroom talk which leads to Sayid getting a kick in the face. The Red Shirt ho tells Sayid she was hired to take Sayid to Guam to answer for the murder of the guy on the golf course. I don’t even know if this is the truth. Back in 70’s Dharma, Sawyer goes to see Sayid and offers him his last chance for freedom. Sayid doesn’t take the chance and tells Sawyer he didn’t know what his purpose was when he came back to the island but now he does. It’s difficult for Sawyer to grasp the concept of Sayid not taking his cue and donning the Dharma jumpsuit like Kate, Hurley, and even Jack so easily have done. Sayid has had the worst life experiences of the rest of the O6, I will give him that. Ben fueled Sayid’s killing rage and gave it a purpose after Nadia’s death. Once Ben took that purpose away, Sayid numbly atoned for the terrible things in his life by trying to build something for once instead of destroying it. And now the island has taken that away from him as well... sucking him back in, forcing him to wake up to swaying bamboo trees and an all new cast of bullshit people and bullshit mysteries that it expects him to now play along with. Understandably, Sayid's position is simple: Fuck That.




You Just Hop On The Bus Gus, Make A New Plan Stan

In a frustrated huff, Sawyer goes over to see Kate. He asks her why she came back to the island. Put yourself in Sawyer's shoes. He has no idea what happened to his friends off-island, and he's even more clueless as to why they'd ever intentionally come back. Yet after 3+ months of hell, Sawyer gets to settle down and spend 3+ years living an actual life. Without having to con or grift or search for his father's killer, Sawyer's enjoyed having things and doing things that most people take for granted. Most important of all, by now he's spent 10x as much time with the Dharma Initiative as he has with his 815 friends. It's Juliet though, that really hits the nail on the head this episode: their fairy tale is coming to an end. Dharma is only a temporary dream to wake up from: there's a man behind a curtain somewhere pulling on levers of happiness and contentment. Sawyer and Juliet were never really responsible for building and establishing anything. They're nothing more than actors in the island's big show, playing this part in their cute little Dharma jumpsuits until the curtain closes. Anyway, Kate doesn’t get to really give an answer because one flaming Dharma van crashing into a house later Sawyer has to start the bucket brigade. Another child starts a fire to disrupt the plans of the adults reminds me of Walt setting the raft on fire way back in the first season The second best line of the night was delivered by Sawyer to Jack as Jack came out to see what was all the fuss. “Three years; no burning buses, you all are back one day!” Then Sawyer puts out an all points bulletin and Phil comes a running and leaves the “Prisoner” alone.




Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Dharmakhaban

Ben, who looks like Harry Potter, just add the lightning bolt scar, goes back to Sayid’s cell dressed like Anakin Skywalker. Sayid looked as if he was waiting for Ben in a very Silence of the Lambs stance. In hindsight I guess he was. Sayid tells Ben he will take him with him if Ben helps break him out. It is also obvious that Ben was abused more by his father after he was taken away from Sayid’s cell the last time. Sayid tells Ben that taking Ben with him to the group of Others is why Sayid is there. Flashing back to cover some scenes we had already seem parts of, we hear Sayid ask to go on a different plane after he sees Kate, Jack, and Hurley. On the plane Ben appears to be shocked to see Sayid on the plane also on the plane, but is he really? Could it be all part of the plan? Or does Ben know what will happen back in the 1970’s and did not want Sayid to make the journey? I thought we had to go with whatever happened, happened? Maybe Ben is starting to realize that now. Red Shirt chick with the accent tells Sayid that she does not know who Ben Linus is nor does she work for him. I still don’t believe her. Back on the island, Sayid and Ben escape into the jungle and Jin pulls up in a Dharma van. Sayid quickly dispatches Jin and takes Jin’s gun. Sayid tells Ben Linus, a young Ben Linus something that he wanted to be able to tell to the Ben Linus he has known for the past three years. “You’re right, I am a killer.” The big shock at the end of the episode is Sayid buries a bullet into the chest of a young Ben Linus

What It All Really Means?

In the grand scheme of things, we were shown forty plus minutes of Sayid being forged into the cold hearted killer that we know he is. It wasn’t for out benefit though, it was all for Sayid’s. He had to go through all of this in order for him to be able to do what he needed(?) to do in the last minute of the episode. Shooting a 12 year old boy in the chest in cold blood isn’t something that sits well, with most people. This is the same Ben that grown up to commit genocide as Sayid points out on the plane. We have to keep all of this in the back of our minds in order for it to be “okay” for Sayid to do it. But is it ok? The book Ben gives Sayid; A Separate Reality and written by Carlos Castaneda in 1971, is an allegedly non-fictional book about a man's experience working with a self-proclaimed sorcerer. The authenticity of the book, along with the rest of Castaneda's series, has been a topic of debate since they were published. Part of the story is about the effects of plants that caused mind alterations, like mushrooms, that help people "see." Other that that, I ain’t got nothin’.

Big props to Vozzek69 for some of the writing of this recap.