S2Ep14 - One of Them (Sayid's third flashback) - 2/15/06

Hello my dear friends -

It's been another 2-week hiatus for Lost, and I am sad to say that I hear we have TWO MORE weeks of repeats of the show after this week: Kate's second flashback - Whatever the Case May Be and then House of the Rising Sun - Sun's original flashback.

But for now, we can discuss One of Them, as well as look forward to episode 15, entitled Maternity Leave, airing this week.

THREE CHEERS FOR THE RETURN OF MAJORLYPISSEDSAYID!

Hip hip hooooray!
Hip hip hooooray!
HIP HOP HOORAaaaaaay,

Hoooooo....


Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....


Hooooooo......


Whoa, sorry - I just went back in time to 1993, my freshman year at U of M when the Fab Five made the Final Four and everyone was singing that song together in the streets in the middle of campus. Ah, the memories.

How much I've changed since then... because now:

"My name is e. And I am a Lost addict."

"MY NAME IS SAYID JARRAH. AND I AM A TORTURER."

Nice to meet you, Torturer Sayid.

Well, TPTB weren't lying when they said that they were reverting the characters back to their original states. It was interesting to find out that Bad Boy Sayid is a Master Torturer Level 5 courtesy of the U.S. military. Other than that, there wasn't much monumentally new in Sayid's flashback except for the fact that Kate's father was one of his captors. And we kind of already guessed that from the Sayid video playing in her dad's office in What Kate Did earlier this season. But all in all, I didn't mind the flashback sequences, and liked how they contrasted his big "I will never do that again" statement with his present-time beat-down of Mr. Gale from Minnesota. More on that freak in a minute.

Finally, here is an astute post on the similarities of Danielle and Sayid's interrogation techniques: "Ok, last thing for now, which I haven't seen mentioned yet - the parallels between Danielle's interrogation of Sayid, and Sayid's interrogation of Gale. Because they parallel exactly, the whole progression of it, the questions asked - except they're sort of mirror images of each other. She, too, asked him personal questions, and seemed to be digging for the emotional truth (or lack) of his story. Except that she found it in Sayid, and so they bonded; whereas Sayid did not find it in Gale. Also, there was the same moment over verb tense: Sayid said he used to be a soldier; she interrupted and said, used to be? And he said it was a long time ago. And again, he was telling the truth and she believed him, whereas Gale?... And also when she turned the conversation back to the personal, digging again about Nadia - he ignored her question and asked in turn who Alex was. He seemed to do it out of not wanting to talk about Nadia, but also truly wanting to know who Alex was and what "he" meant to Danielle. Perhaps it was just a technique to get control of the situation, but it was a sympathetic one by that point. And they did seem to connect over both having lost somebody important to them. Contrast that with Sayid asking Gale about his wife's death, and the totally feral look Gale got on his face as he spotted a weakness and interrupted to ask if Sayid had lost someone himself. That look creeped me out big time (even before I went back and watched the old episode and saw all these similarities/contrasts). It was easily as creepy as the look he gave at the end before they shut the door."

One last post on the Sayid's interrogation technique:
"As a University of Minnesota alum, it was frustrating to see Sayid question "Henry," because I could have tripped him up so fast with U of MN trivia. Hell, you could have told him to sing that goofy 1902 fight song!"

I'M WISHY-WASHY. NO, I'M NOT. YES... YES... I GUESS I AM.

Locke is even annoying me with his inability to make decisions on his own lately. He is definitely not leadership material, I must sadly admit. It seems that Locke can be quickly and easily pursuaded to do just about anything, as long as the person trying to convince him uses the slightest bit of reason (exhibit A from his past - giving kidney away). Last episode he promised Jack that they would keep the ammo room combination a secret and consult each other before moving any guns out. At the end of the episode, Sawyer played upon his paranoia to get Locke to move the guns and fall into Sawyer's trap. This episode he followed Sayid's orders at the beginning, only to turn around and follow Jack's orders less than an hour later, all while still trying to obey The Island by pressing the damn button in time.

However, I think that overall, Locke and Sayid have always had a sort of respect for each other, and I think that if Sayid were to emerge as the leader opposite Jack, Locke would quickly be his second-in-command. It also seems like Locke was quite miffed at not being asked to be in Jack's army, as he specifically brought it up:
JACK: Why isn't this combination working, John? Did you change it?
LOCKE: Yeah.
JACK: Why would you do that?
LOCKE: You're raising an army.
JACK: What?
LOCKE: And why you didn't ask me to help -- well, that's your business -- but there's only one reason to raise an army, Jack. And that's because we're at war. And like it or not, whatever Sayid has to do behind that door -- that's a part of it, too.

WHY, SAWYER, WHY?!?!!?

You know what - I can deal with all the bad stuff Sawyer has done to date, including the faux kidnapping of Sun... but now that he's killed the frog, he's officially on my Shit List. There's just no excuse. WE GET IT, TPTB! Sawyer is not a nice guy! We get it already, stop killing off innocent tree frogs!

There was what I will term a "mega-uproar" on the boards about the tree frog murder. Hence this post: "Doesn't anyone find it interesting that people had more of an emotional reaction to Sawyer killing the frog, an animal,... then Sayid who beat up a human?"

Not me, because I like animals generally more than I like most humans.

I think this post from the boards summed it up quite nicely:
"I really hated what Sawyer did to the frog. I'm mourning it more than Boone. "

The only thing redeeming Sawyer right now is his knack for nicknaming other Lostaways and delivering some of the best lines of the series. On the subject of nicknames, see if you can match these 14 to their rightful owners:

The Nickname Match-Up

WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD...

So the mysterious "Henry Gale" has the same name of Dorothy's uncle in The Wizard of Oz. There are many theories about what exactly that means in terms of this new character, and none are very substantial or logical. There are parallels to the Others in that he said he lived to "the north" and we know that the north is where the Others live, and where Michael was heading when he disappeared.

Other weird things about his "balloon alibi" include the fact that the dimensions he gave for his balloon are exactly the same dimensions of Steve Fossett's first balloon. To most people, this meant that Mr. Gale just memorized these dimensions to create his "back-story." Others pointed out that those dimensions could only hold one person and Mr. Gale said he was with his wife. And some mentioned that perhaps there WAS a Mr. Gale who landed on the island with his wife, and that she became sick and died, but that this guy was still an Other (because of his overall creepiness) and ended up killing the real Mr. Gale and assuming his identity.

For all of you who think that guy is NOT an Other. Uh... did you see that look he gave Sayid at the end? First off, the fact that he wasn't DEAD after the MajorlyPissedSayid beat-down is clue #1. The second clue was the eeeee-vil stare he threw Sayid's way at the end.

No one has been able to capture that exact moment when he had the very smirky look, but this is close:

Scary Stare

The only thing not really adding up is - how did he get caught, if he's really an Other?

And finally, for those of you thinking you recognize that guy, he's been in a lot of stuff.

Here is his profile.

Most notably, he played the ultra-weirdo Willy Hinks on The Practice back when I used to tune in every week and hang on the edge of my seat (shout-out to Nerdy P who misses her Eugene like I miss my Bobby!).

I HATE JACK. REPEAT: I HATE JACK.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I am sick of Jack running around and just yelling at everyone and being totally irrational. If they find some random dude in the jungle alone, then yes, I do think it's appropriate to understand fully what his deal is before inviting him into the Hatch for some tea... especially considering that there have been two confirmed "moles" - Ethan and Goodwin - within the survivors' camps before.

JACK: What if he's telling the truth, John?
LOCKE: What if he's not?

Exactly. WHAT IF HE IS NOT!!!?!?!! Jack is insane. They need to be suspicious of EVERYONE. That is where I stand. It's all about the suspicion and paranoia, baby.

SIGNS, SIGNS... EVERYWHERE, SIGNS

Did you really think the counter would hit zero? .... SUCKAS!

Please. When that actually happens, we will be hearing about it for weeks beforehand on the promos, ads and previews... :

"Next on Lost... what will the survivors do when time....... runs....... out???? Really, we're serious this time. It's hitting zero and it's not a fake-out. Seriously, please, trust us this time. We guarantee that the counter WILL HIT ZERO."

My prediction of when this will happen (if it's this season): May sweeps.

Who else was expecting to see that crazy symbol for "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" when the counter started going ballistic and stopping at hieroglyphics???? Just me?

So of course someone "translated" the hieroglyphics, and the closest they could get was the phrase "cause to die." Which I guess kind of makes sense if it's a doomsday counter and all the symbols only appear if it's going to activate.

Do you need to see them again?
The Counter Symbols

But something definitely WAS starting to happen when the timer counted down - there were all these rumblings in the interior of the hatch and Locke was looking around like "Oops." I'm sure once it really does count down, the blast doors will activate.

Finally on the subject of the counter, in case you are interested, here is a post from someone who sounds like they know what they're talking about (which is about the best you can get on the boards, I guess):

"Although the word never fully finished (the second sign never stopped, did it?) the clear fit is the ancient Egyptian word for "cause to die" (as stated earlier), in transliteration "swdja / swDA". The first sign is the bolt of cloth, with the phonetic value of "s". The second sign would be the "w", either a quail chick or a small spiral. The third sign is actually a type of drill, and it has the phonetic value "wdj". The bird is a vulture, it has the phonetic value of "a". The last sign is there as a determinative (to give the word it's particular meaning). Together, it then spells "swdja", and it's pretty clear, especially given the determinative.The word is made "causitive" by the initial s, but that is not the same thing as a command (which would be interpreted by usage and/or conjugation).

Also, this is not the word used by Egyptians with reference to a natural or peaceful death, i.e. not a word that shows up in tombs or funerary texts when they wanted to put a nicer spin on everything. It's definitely a more hostile sense of the word, which is also clear via the determinative, which is also used for the word for "enemy". That last sign is a type of weapon, and it is a simplified version of another sign in which a crouching or fallen figure holds it to his head. Not a happy sign."

YOU'RE AN OTHER, I'M AN OTHER, DON'T YOU WANT TO BE AN OTHER, TOO?

SAYID: He is one of them.
JACK: Yeah? Did he tell you that? (Um... does Jack really think he would say 'I'm an Other?? You GOT me!' Ugh.)
SAYID: No.
JACK: Then how do you know?
SAYID: Because I know. He is one of them.
JACK: I think that Rousseau thought that about you once, Sayid. If I'm not mistaken she strapped you down, she shocked you, all because she thought you were one of them.
LOCKE: He is.
JACK: What?
LOCKE: He is one of them. To Rousseau, we're all Others. I guess it's all relative, huh?

During the first season, many people brought up the fact that the phrase "the others" was used often throughout the show, and not only just about The Others. I thought the exchange above was interesting because I do think that an ongoing theme of the show has been distrust of anyone outside of a chosen group - the whole "us vs. them" in several ways - the little cliques within the original group, the Fuselage group vs. the Tailies, The Others vs. the crash survivors, Danielle and other randoms vs. the crash survivors, etc..

Speaking of The Others... it looks like several of them WERE present a few episodes ago when the torches were lit - if you look closely, you can see them (I still couldn't find the Force Field, but I'm sure it's there):

The Others outside of the Ring of Fire

AN ARMY OF TWO: MAJORLYPISSEDSAYID AND DARTH HOODIE

[Back on the island we see Sayid sitting on the beach with Charlie.]
SAYID: There is a man down in the hatch. A stranger captured by Rousseau. I beat him. I beat him badly.
CHARLIE: Why are you telling me this, Sayid?
SAYID: Jack asked me how I knew -- knew for sure that this man was lying. How I knew for sure that he was one of them -- one of the Others. I know because I feel no guilt for what I did to him. But there is no way I can ever explain that to Jack, or even Locke, because both of them have forgotten.
CHARLIE: Forgotten? What?
SAYID: That you were strung up by your neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days during which God only knows what happened to her. That these people -- these Others -- are merciless, and can take any one of us whenever they choose. So tell me, Charlie, have you forgotten?


Well if that doesn't sound like a recruitment speech, then I don't know what does. I'm not so sure what headway Sayid and Charlie could make against The Others... but I bet (despite the Locke/Charlie drama) that Locke would join them vs. Ana Lucia and Jack. I must agree with Sayid though, per my point up above about Jack... it's just incredible how little people seem to be remembering - I mean, they've been on the island less than two months and all this crap has happened? What more do they need to stop being so trusting of newcomers?

MAYBE THEY *ARE* IN PURGATORY.

JUST KIDDING.

I just thought I should mention that Gary Troup, the author of the "Bad Twin" manuscript that Hurley found that I referenced last week, is an anagram for Purgatory.

THE EW THEORY

So everyone is abuzz about the big "EW Theory" on Lost (as in, the magazine Entertainment Weekly) that is out this week. I think this guy is damn close.

I will not cover this theory here even though I don't consider it a spoiler. If you want to read through it, then you can below. I agree with parts 1-3 and some of part 4, but not all of it. I sincerely hope 5 is wrong, because that is just lame. Post comments at the bottom of this page and let me know what you think!

The EW Theory

THIS OTHER GUY'S THEORY

Some guy on one of the board's I've visited made a crazy-extensive theory post (with pictures and everything!!!) that is actually quite impressive and diverts a tad from the EW theory. I don't think either of the theories is completely right. But see what you think. Once again, these aren't spoilers because some random is just posting his thoughts.

Random Guy's Collective Consciousness Theory

BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

SGT. AUSTEN [to Sayid]: ... Buccelli here says that you speak English. Ever doing any translating?
SAYID: Formally, no.
SGT. AUSTEN: Hell, the fact you know what "formally" means -- we're good.

[We see Sawyer walking through the jungle looking for the frog. He comes across Hurley who's dipping a chip in some Dharma ranch dressing.]
SAWYER: What do you got there, Rerun?
HURLEY: Nothing. [Hurley covers up the dressing and some other food he has]
SAWYER: Yeah, well, you've got a spot of nothing on your chin there. [Sawyer uncovers the dressing] Dharma Initiative ranch dressing? You know you're supposed to refrigerate that after you open it.
HURLEY: Well, actually in the back it says it'll keep at room temperature for up to 7 years.



[We see Sawyer and Hurley walking through the jungle.]
HURLEY: This is how people get killed in scary movies.
SAWYER: If this was a scary movie I'd be with a hot chick not you, Barbar.
HURLEY: It's Babar.
SAWYER: Why don't you shut up, Hammo. Or your ranch disorder's going to be the new lead item on the coconut internet.



GALE: It started as a fever. After 2 days she was delirious. Then she died. I don't know why you're asking me all these questions. I don't know why you're treating me this way -- why I have to explain to you who I am when you don't tell me who you are.
SAYID: I was 23 years old when the Americans came to my country. I was a good man. I was a soldier. And when they left I was something different. For the next 6 years I did things I wish I could erase from my memory -- things which I never thought myself to be capable of. But I did come to learn this -- there was a part of me which was always capable. You want to know who I am? My name is Sayid Jarrah, and I am a torturer.



LOCKE: Give you a hand? [Jack doesn't respond] Jack, I know this isn't...
JACK: Shut up.

UPCOMING EPISODES

3/1 - Episode 15, Maternity Leave - I think it's safe to say that this is going to be a Claire flashback from when she was kidnapped. The previews showed a new hatch with the "medical symbol" on it. Claire's original flashback rates as my #2 favorite flashback of the series (with of course Locke's original "Walkabout" as #1), so although I'm scared to set my expectations high, they already are.

3/8 - Repeat of "Whatever the Case May Be" (Kate's Second Flashback)

3/15 - Supposedly another repeat - "House of the Rising Sun" (Sun's original flashback)

Air date TBD, - Episode 16, The Whole Truth

Air date TBD - Episode 17, Lockdown

Air date TBD - Episode 18, Still untitled

Air date TBD - Episode 19, S.O.S.

ANOTHER POSSIBLE CONNECTION?

Remember when I rambled on about the picture of Desmond and some woman that was in his hatch room? Some people think it was Sawyer's girlfriend from The Long Con. Judge for yourself here:

Comparison of pictures

VERY GOOD INTERVIEW (ABOUT THE SHOW) WITH MATTHEW FOX

You don't even need a username or anything, yee-haw. But know this: he likes to swear.

GQ.com Interview with Matthew Fox (Jack)

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS ONE.

Only click this link if you have the ability to play sound and no one around you can hear it... trust me. It is not profane, just extremely bizarro.

The Sawyer Song

OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Below are a few articles covering Lost's links to Buddhism. Shout-out to Nerdy D for sending me one of these articles, and for going to the Buddhist Meditation classes with me back in the day. I think I need to start going again, writing this damn blog is stressing me out!

The Buddhist Review

The Buddhism of Lost, from The Chicago Tribune

HE'S SO CUTE!

So I had this big plan last week to write all about the cast appearance's on the various late night talk shows, since they've been making the rounds lately. And in said plan, I was going to tell you all about how even though I do not like the character of Jack, I still love the actor Matthew Fox (known on the boards as Foxy), and how watching him do these interviews just made the love grow even more. And then just now I was reading the boards and saw that there's really quite a stir around Matthew Fox's "ManGiggle." I find this hilarious because I planned to mention this (and now I guess I AM mentioning it)... I realized that on neither Party of Five nor currently on Lost did either of Matthew's characters really do a whole lot of laughing. In fact, I actually think I cried during every single episode of Party of Five, they were so damn depressing. But anyway... imagine my surprise when Matthew is all smiles and laughs on Letterman and The Daily Show last week. It was genuinely cute and I was dying. I'm reading a certain board pertaining to Lost cast media appearances, and found all these other fans of Matthew's cheeriness:

• Foxy + Jon Stewart = ManGiggles! No one can rock the ManGiggle quite like Foxy. I was a very happy girl.
• The GQ issue with Foxy on the cover actually mentions his ManGiggle:"... he sort of giggles. He has the kind of goofy, girly laugh only really, really handsome guys can get away with."
• I had never noticed the ManGiggle before, but I just watched Foxy on Letterman and it's cracking my shit up. It's AWESOME. Hee!
• I saw both Letterman and The Daily Show. I found the contrast between Jack and Foxy really delightful. I wish the Jack character showed a little more humor. That would make him a lot more likable.
• What fun it was seeing Foxy on all the shows. I love the giggle. And he was really amusing with both Letterman and Jon Stewart. I also got a kick out of how he handled Regis and his whole theory on the dinosaur being on the island.

Site with downloadable zipped files of all recent Lost cast interviews

I have a high-speed connection, and it took me about 10 minutes to download ONE clip, so because I am so nice, I will write out some of the best moments of two interviews:

Late Night with David Letterman

DL: It just gets creepier and creepier, doesn't it? Not only are you lost, but things are going WRONG.
MF: Things are going terribly awry.
DL: And do YOU have any idea what's going on?
MF: I haven't the foggiest clue. I really don't. They keep the actors in the dark.
DL: Is it possible the people will get OFF the island?
MF: (ManGiggle) Maybe in the FINAL episode... (ManGiggle)
DL: Is it possible it's all a dream?
MF: No, I don't think that's possible. I think there's a more concrete explanation.

DL: Let's take a look at a clip from an upcoming episode. Do you know what this clip is?
MF: Uh, actually, no, I don't.

A clip of Jack running frantically through the jungle is shown. At the end, Jack stops and stares in frozen horror ahead of him. It is... Dick Cheney with a rifle pointed at him.

Much ManGiggling ensues.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

{Clip of Jack/Locke confrontation is shown}
JS: Just very briefly, before we get going... Um... Who is that guy? What are you guys doing on the island/ Who are The Others? And how do you get off? And is Gilligan involved in any way?

{Later...}

JS: I haven't been watching for a little while... did anyone survive the plane crash?

{Later...}

JS: Now, Party of Five had its fans, and people would say, "Oooh, I wish you'd go with this girl,"... but THESE fans for Lost...
MF: They're intense. They pay very, very close attention. They're discerning fans. They're desperate to know it's leading somewhere.
JS: IS IT?
MF: Yes, it is.
JS: Does it involve the second Darren from Bewitched? Will it tie together anything from other... Are you the kids from The Lord of the Flies? WHAT'S GOING ON???
MF: They keep us in the dark.
JS: What, like you're veal?!?!?

{Later}

JS: Lost airs Wednesday nights at 8 on ABC. Tivo it and watch it frame by frame - you'll pick things up!!!

On THAT note, here are two funny posts regarding the "obsessive fans" topic:

• "If you have to pause, rewind, play it backwards and translate it into Latin, it's NOT A CLUE!"
• "Secondly, and this is no joke, if you capture the chirping of the frog as an mp3, load it onto an ipod, and have it played backwards at 1/3 speed, it a snippet of Charlie's band singing their hit song, "You All Everybody"." (There was an entire thread about whether or not that was true. It is NOT.)

Now to conclude this section, I must give you some bad news. Josh Holloway (Sawyer) was also making the rounds, and he was NOT as cute as the character Sawyer. He had quite a goofy laugh, not as good of a Southern accent, and I just wasn't feeling the cool Sawyer vibe. So Matthew Fox wins when it comes to interviews, by far.

iTUNES, HERE I COME

The Lost soundtrack/score will finally be released March 21st. About time!

Alright my dear friends, it is way past my bedtime and once again I have missed an hour of Agent Jack Bauer's life on 24. Since the next two weeks are repeats, I will post the write-up on Maternity Leave the Monday before the next new episode, at the VERY latest. If I find out that there WILL be a new show on 3/15, I will put up a short post as soon as I know.

Until then,

- e