And what is it about this episode that’s getting me so worked up? Well, it’s that the Lost Island appears to exist in some kind of chronal anomaly – or, for those of you that don’t speak Technobabble – a Time Hole. Hints about this have been dropped in writer interviews and supplemental material ever since the far-flung days of Season One, and suddenly the payoff has finally shown up in the series proper, justifying the discerning fan’s otherwise blind faith. Season 4 is fast procuring a reputation for being the one that finally delivers on three years of setup. While we, the audience, don’t yet understand exactly what this Time Thingy means, we can at least be confident that the writers do. It’d certainly be a pity – after all, despite Andrews’ doubts, he manages to portray Sayid as about the least clueless character on the Lost Island, always calm, confident, and with the aura of serene lunacy only a reformed torturer could have. He makes compelling watching, even when he’s all but done up in plus fours and a tank top on the golf course. Taking the centre stage for this episode’s flash-forward, Sayid is revealed as the fourth member of the elusive “Oceanic Six” and that, following his time on the island, he’s become a covert agent with a heart of gold – one that unfortunately leaves him susceptible to gunshot wounds. When his fake relationship with the woman he’s spying on becomes something more, he warns her to leave before he kills her employer – unfortunately, she’s as deceptive as he was, and when she shows her true colours, he only just manages to escape with his life. Meanwhile, in the past, Sayid proves that he won’t learn anything from the betrayal he suffers at Hurley’s hands while on Locke’s trail. And like Shakespeare said: how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is, to have the comedy fat guy make you look stupid in front of your new friends. Oh well. After some negotiation over just why the so-called rescuers want Ben, the situation ends with Miles the Ghost Whisperer now in the “care” of Locke’s group of insurrectionists, while Desmond, Sayid, the Lawnmower Man and Lara Croft head back to the boat. Lost is a show with fantastic cinematography, but after 3 years, that aerial, helicopter view of the island looks as fantastic to us as it must do to the characters themselves.
title: “Lost Season 4 Episode 3 Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-07-21” author: “Mark Newell”
I only have a couple of bones to pick with last night’s episode, so I’ll get those out of the way first. Firstly, the Kate/Sawyer scene in New Otherton a.k.a. The Barracks strove a little bit close to fanservice. We haven’t seen Kate and Sawyer properly talk since the end of season three and it was nice to see them chat it out, but we could have been spared the very soap-opera vibe of the scene. And just when we think we have a handle on Kate, the writers make her change sides at the merest mention of shacking up with Sawyer. This I have a problem with: Kate’s decision to join the Southern gent seemed less about the criminal’s motivations and more about the need to keep the Jack-Juliet-Kate-Sawyer “love square” storyline going. Which isn’t good, and nor does it keep that particular storyline feeling fresh. If a character is going to jump through hoops for the sake of the story, you begin to lose any interest in the character. This was all a bit muddily written – seriously, Kate forgot she was a criminal? I know she’s been looking a bit more excited recently than any convict has the right to, but really, did she just forget she blew up her dad? (Now THAT’s a Hallmark card I’d love to see – “Sorry For Blowing Up Dad. Love and kisses, Kate”.)
But let’s not concentrate on the flaws too long. “The Economist” was a pretty good episode, if not for Daniel’s experiments, Ben’s secret identities or the tease of a new Big Bad (all of which I will cover later on), then for its focus on everyone’s favourite tortured torturer. Fact: over three seasons, there has never been a bad Sayid episode. Ever. You have to give it to Naveen Andrews – whenever it’s his time to shine on the show, he one-hundred-percent brings it, be it in a flashback or otherwise. And last night, he brought it to Flashforward City. Ladies and gents, Sayid Jarrah is one of the Oceanic Six, and while he hasn’t grown a beard or entered a mental institution, he’s become an assassin for Benjamin Linus. Back on the island, he said that the day he started trusting the former Head Other is the day he would have “sold his soul”. Ironic enough that he ends up working for him, his loyalties to keeping his friends safe (the Oceanic Six? Those still on the island? Both?) being the only thing that could save his soul. It’s funny how the characters on this show fight so hard for redemption on the island, only for those who get off it to crave it once again. “The Economist” was chock full of these little ironies.
In his post-Island story, Sayid (rocking a hairdo that was, for better or worse, truly pimpalicious) was in Berlin, supposedly living off Oceanic settlement money and sightseeing while putting the moves on Elsa, an economist’s assistant (Sleeper Cell’s Thekla Reuten). It was Sayid’s mission to get to the so-called “economist” through the blonde, but as we know, Sayid loves attractive blondes. And as anyone who’s seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade knows, it is always dangerous to trust attractive blondes called Elsa. Sayid found this out the hard way upon being shot by the double agent, who had been keeping tabs on the former soldier throughout their affair for her employer. In a great scene that turned from delicate to despairing at the sound of a pager, Sayid put his emotions to the side and killed Elsa. Crying over her body, we saw that Elsa was wearing a silver bracelet, not unlike the one worn by…
The other big on-island events happened on the impromptu helicopter site. Desmond (who needs to learn how to properly button his shirt) demanded to leave the island on the chopper after Frank and Daniel kept their mouths shut on a possible connection to Penelope Widmore. Good for him, I say. It’s good to have Desmond back – I sure hope he gets some redonkulous premonitions this year… or at least some flashbacks explaining why he got kicked out of the army. Sayid, as we know, also left the island, but seeing him take off was still a Very Big Deal. His eyes conveyed total relief at leaving his new home – even a little sadness worked its way in there – while his body language said that he’s prepared to carry out Mission: Infiltrate The Freighter. The Big Ask: will Desmond make it home too?
The Very Very Big Ask: is island time not real world time? Daniel carried out an experiment involving the freighter firing a “payload” onto the island – namely a rocket with a timer in it. All very scientific stuff – I found myself agreeing with Frank over his description of the jittery physicist: “Half the stuff he says goes over my head. The other stuff goes way way over.” What I couldn’t agree with was Frank’s nonchalant reaction to the results – the rocket from the freighter reached the island a full thirty-one minutes and sixteen seconds later than it should have. It seems that Daniel’s comment from last week’s episode about the light “not scattering quite right” was more than just an endearingly odd thing to say – it was possible evidence that this island is not of this world. In a recent pre-season interview with Entertainment Weekly, Matthew Fox pointed out that there were important questions the audience would soon see addressed within the show. Namely: “What is this island? Where is this island? When is this island?” That final question is very, very intriguing and, with this week’s developments, hints that time travel (or something to do with time – I’m a big fan of time travel escapades) could have something to do with it. Upon leaving the island, Daniel told Frank to “make sure” the helicopter left on the same bearing as it came in. Could this bearing be, say, the same compass bearing of 325 degrees Michael was handed upon leaving the island? And if so, is it possible to get back to the island? Big, big questions indeed.
And so, we find ourselves at the end of yet another Lost recap and with the usual set of questions: Do you fear for Sayid’s soul like I do? Would you drink Locke’s ice tea? Who here thinks that Charlotte and Daniel are mega-cute together? Could Ben be fighting the “right” fight off the island, morally dubious though it may be? When are we going to see Michael and Zoe Bell’s character already?
Til’ next week, I’m Lost. (And if your mum’s a blonde called Elsa, tell her I’m sorry for my assumptions above. I will be sending a card in the post.)
