LOST 1.21 The Greater Good (Sayid)

This episode is about making choices and sacrifices for the greater good.  In this case, Sayid must decide (both on the island and in his past flashback) whether or not someone has to die to save many others.

Sayid makes a deal with the CIA

In the flashback, Sayid is being taken to interrogation in Heathrow airport.  Apparently the CIA has been monitoring his movements for some time and has figured out his is looking for Nadia who he let escape from her Iraqi captures.  The CIA informs him she is alive and will let him her whereabouts if he infiltrates a suspected terrorist cell in Australia.  Sayid agrees, goes to Sydney and finds a old college friend named Essam who is part of the terrorist cell and has been recruited to be their martyr.  Sayid quickly gets their confidence by pretending to find a listening bug in a smoke detector.  Essam, whose wife was killed in a bombing, has second thoughts about the suicide attack, given his Islamic faith.  Sayid goes back to his handlers to try and save Essam from his fate, but the CIA is more interested in finding the hidden C4 explosive that will be used.  They remind Sayid that if he wants to find Nadia he must cooperate.  So Sayid devises a plan.

When he meets Essam again the cell members take them to the C4 warehouse where a truck is waiting for the two men to transport the bomb.  Essam is given a gun and points it at Sayid when he confesses he is working with the CIA, but he wants to allow Essam to escape.  Essam accuses Sayid of being motivated by a woman and not thinking about helping others.  Essam points the gun at himself and takes his own life.  This CIA holds up their part of the deal and allows Sayid to travel to Nadia, but instead Sayid is concerned that Essam will not get a traditional burial, so he delays his trip a day, which leads him to be on the fateful flight 815.

Sayid's Got a Gun

On the island Sayid is put in a similar situation. Shannon wants to kill Locke for his part in Boone’s death.  Jack has accused Locke of lying which led Jack to prescribe the wrong surgical treatment.  Sayid confronts lock by the Beachcraft drug plane, Locke confesses that he led Boone there and made him climb into the plane searching for something that would get them rescued.  But when asked about the hatch, Locke lies and says the plane has two hatches and is not sure why Boone would be talking about them.  Sayid doesn’t trust Locke because he secretly has been carrying a gun.  Locke also admits he was the one who knocked Sayid out when he was searching for the radio tower, saying going to place where Daniel said “it killed them all” wasn’t a good idea.  Sayid goes back to tell Shannon the circumstances of Boone’s death.  But Shannon merely steals the key Jack has to the gun case.  She confronts Locke and nearly kills him except that Sayid intervenes and the bullet grazes Locke’s head instead.  Sayid says he may have made a mistake but right now Locke is there best chance for survival.

Thoughts:

According to Lostpedia, Shannon was not supposed to have known about the gun case.  I picked up on this too, seemingly only Jack, Kate and Locke knew about it. However the writers seemed to have resolved this by writing a scene in the season 3 Expose‘ episode where Kate accidently lets this information out to Shannon.

Kate drugs Jack with sleeping pills in his juice, just as she did to her flashback husband, and later told Sun how to do this as well.  However Michael accidently swallowed the drugs that Jin was supposed to receive.

Sayid is very swayed be woman, Nadia of course, and in this episode Shannon, and later he falls for Elsa (a spy).  Each one gets him somewhat involved in something dangerous.  But Nadia really tried to help Sayid.

Walt says something funny when he says while on the raft they might encounter a shark, which is exactly what happens next season.

What do you think?  Was Sayid acting for the greater good or was he just interested in finding Nadia, or both?

We find hidden C4 explosive on the island as well.  It’s in the Flame (communications hatch) where Mikhail lives.  Coincidence, on Lost?  I don’t think so.  But Sayid was pretty miffed when Locke used it to blow up that station.

LOST 1.22 Born to Run (Kate)

This is the ultimate Kate episode.  We learn so much about her at this time.  She has needed to run since she was a little girl as evidenced by the time capsule tape recording she made with Tom when they were kids.  She is always volunteering to go on missions on the island, in fact, she insists on going by her catchphrase “I am going with you”.  Kate is a born runner.  But why has she needed to run since she was a little girl?  Does it have something to do with her father, who we find later, had a difficult relationship with her.  Or is there something else?

Kate

Well we know why she is running in this episode.  We already know that Kate is a fugitive from the law.  We see her early on in this episode changing licence plates and dying her hair.  She is going under the alias Joan Hart when she picks up a letter from the front desk.  It’s a hand written note probably from Cassidy, but I am not sure.  She starts crying and heads back to Iowa.

In Iowa she visits the hospital pretending to bring flowers to find out where her mom is located and what is wrong with her.  She has cancer.  This isn’t the first sickness is referenced.  Michael’s girlfriend died quickly of a rare blood disease, and Ben Linus had a tumor.  Woman who lived on the island died suddenly during labor.  Richard Alpert points out in Season 5 that Ellie needs to get away from the bomb because she is pregnant presumably due to the radiation.  I still like the theory that Kate and her mom were on the island at some point.  I am still not sure that Annie (who talks to young Ben) might be Kate.

Kate seeks out Tom and they re-establish the bond they had as kids.  They dig up the toy plane that was buried in the time capsule and listen to their plans to marry and have children.  But things don’t work out that way.  And the next day Kate apologizes to her mom, for all she has put her through, which we will find out about in future episodes.  Kate’s mom is somewhat horrified for seeing Kate.  I am still not sure why.  She cries out Help Me (which we heard Jacob or fake Jacob saying to Locke in the cabin).  Kate runs and is stopped by security. She escapes and gets Tom’s car keys.  They flee together.  Tom wants Kate to turn herself in but she can’t.  I am thinking it’s not because she is running from the law, it’s because she needs to get back to the island. I know I need to stop with the time loops.

Kate tries to get to Tom to leave the car, he won’t and he is shot.  The car crashes.  Kate looks back at the toy plane and leaves the car on the run again.

On the island Kate is exposed as the fugitive to everyone, when Sawyer blows her cover.  I am not sure how he find out although he may have pieced together the fact that she wanted the Marshal’s case to her fugitive status.  Kate is also a party to poisioning Michael, not so that she can get a spot on the raft (although she wants one), but because she is helping Sun to keep Jin and the island.  Sun is worried he may die out there and they are not talking right now.  Walt also admits they he burned the raft to his dad.

Observations:
Kate has about 10 to 15 different license plates.  Meaning she has been (or plans to be) in a lot of different states.  She changes a Nebraska plate to Ohio.  And then goes to Iowa.

Contents of the time capsule

The New Kids lunch box is unburied to reveal a toy plane, a baseball, the tape, and a hat.  The hat is is a West Hills CA baseball cap.  We have not (yet) seen that location in Lost, but it may be close to were Kate lived in Seasons 4 and 5. Would it be cool if it belongs to Aaron or maybe Kate will have her own son.  We saw Kate steal the lunch box which Jacob later payed for in Season 5. Tom was the lookout.  Jacob told her not to steal again.

Why was Kate’s mom so panicked to see her?  She knew that Kate had killed her father, but did she really think Kate was going to hurt her?  Maybe she was just trying to get Kate to stop running but she had a panicked look on her face.

Kate is one of my favorite characters because she thought (like Sun) that once she found the right man to love she would be happy.  But she accidently killed him and her need to run has prevented her from finding her happiness.

LOST 1.20 Do No Harm (Jack)

Here is Friday’s poll question:

Do No Harm represents the Hippocratic oath that doctor’s take when they become doctor’s.  Basically it says when doctor’s come to heal their patients their first concern is to not to ever hurt their patients.  Obviously Jack tries to live by this, but he has two overwhelming aspects to his personality which come into conflict.  First he believes he has the power and gifts to cure anyone who is injured.  Jack’s mantra throughout this first season is “I am going to “fix” you”.  Meaning if you are broken I can heal you.  I am thinking of the time Jack steps in to help his dad complete the surgery on the pregnant woman.  His father was called to do it, but Jack takes over.  When the woman dies, Jack blames his father’s alcohol impaired state for the death, but never believes he himself may have something to do with it.

Jack also has a problem “letting go”.  This theme runs throughout the show.  Both Jack’s dad and Kate have told him to let go of things.  In this episode Jack has trouble letting go of Boone when he can no longer be saved from his life threatening injuries.

Thoughts:

In the flashback Sarah, Jack’s soon to be wife, calls Jack her “hero” for saving her to walk again.  At their wedding Jack says that Sarah saved him.  But this leaves Jack wondering if he is marrying her because he loves her or because he saved her.  Jack plays this part on the island numerous times, ie saving lives.  But is he thinking of the patient’s wishes?  Boone says it’s okay to let him go and even Sarah said it was okay if she never walked again.

Aaron is born with Kate's help

The scene with Kate helping Claire give birth to Aaron is replayed in season 5 when Sawyer travels back to that place in time while time “shifting” is occuring on the island.  Sawyer does not intervene.  Since Sawyer was on the island, it means he was in two places at once.

Sarah and Jack make beautiful music

Sarah wears a tee shirt with the numbers on it 44.  Jack plays the piano (we see he does this again on the island) with her.  It’s the song Heart and Soul and is the same song that is used in the movie Big for the giant piano scene.

Jack is angry at Locke for lying about how Boone was injured which led Jack to prescribe the wrong treatment causing the blood to pool in his leg.  Jack uses a “pen like” instrument to relieve the pressure  on his lung (just as Boone was trying to find a pen in the series pilot).  Jack stays angry at Locke until Season 5 when he finally believes him about the powers of the island.

Boone tells Jack its okay to let him die

Boone says “I know you made a promise, I am letting you off the hook” right before Jack is about to amputate his leg.  Rose said something similar about Jack not leaving her when the 815 plane started to shake and break up.

All About Lost ReWatch Eps 5 (S1 17-19)

In the next installment of the Lost Rewatch Jeremy and T.L.E. discuss the similarities between the episode of Lost, "In Translation" and the film "Lost in Translation" leading to a discussion about the possibility of Scarlett Johansson appearing on Lost. The duo also analyze the next two episodes of Lost as well as the shocking event that happened to T.L.E. in the past week.

MP3 File

LOST 1.19 Deus Ex Machina (Locke)

Deus Ex Machina refers to a sudden change or “solution” to a story.  In LOTR and the Hobbit it was the sudden (and totally unexpected appearance) of the Eagles that turned the battle to the side of the heroes.  It refers to Greek theater when a crane was used to lower a character into the set.  The character came in like a god, therefore Deus Ex Machina translates to “god from the machine”.

In this episode the sudden appearance of a light coming out the hatch may be the Deus Ex Machina.

Thoughts and Observations:

The Mousetrap made me think of FakeLocke’s plan to get Jacob.  Wait to your opponent lands on the cheese and then spring the trap.

Speaking of Numbers the regular footballs are in aisle 8 and nerf in aisle 15 (flight 815).

What’s up with his leg getting injured but he can’t feel it or even burn it.

This is the first time we hear Locke mention that he is being led by the island.  Boone is freaked.

Locke is given a red folder and drives a red car to Cooper’s house.  Red is usually a sign that the character is going to die.  Boone dies soon after holding a red shirt.

In a dream Locke sees a bloody Boone, the Nigerian drug plane, his mom pointing up, and Locke in a wheelchair.  Boone also mentions Theresa goes up the stairs and goes down the stairs. The only other Theresa on the show is Dan’s girlfriend who we last saw in a coma.

Sawyer mentions his dead Uncle, the same one who tells him not to write the revenge letter to the real Sawyer, who just so happens to be in this episode, Cooper.

Locke freaks out and bangs on the hatch after sending Boone off a cliff.  The hatch lights up, but how?  We find out in Season 2