So I'm going to say right now that I think Henry is one of the Others, even though I think this episode was somewhat ambiguous about them. The actor who plays Henry is familiar to me, I think he was in The Practice, and I feel like he is really good at acting evil and manipulative, so that's what I expect him to be doing in this series. Plus I have a hard time swallowing the idea that Sayid would torture an innocent man.
So I'm thinking that it might be time to reveal one of the theories I heard about the show before I started watching. I realize that it's probably spoilery, but it's been in my head for a long time, and it has affected the way I view the series. So here it is. The theory is that all the supposed survivors are dead, and that the Island is some sort of purgatory.
Here's why I think I believe in this theory. Everyone on the Island seems to have been a criminal of some sort, or have been involved in some very morally ambiguous activities. Sayid is a great example of this. He is a torturer. This guy who appears to be so gentle and kind, is a freakin' torturer! Also, Kate, Anna Lucia, and Sawyer are murderers. Jin was an enforcer. Charlie was a drug addict, and Echo was some sort of Nigerian drug lord. What a weird plane to have all these morally corrupt people on board.
I'm a little confounded as to Sayid's backstory though. So he wasn't a torturer until the U.S. military used him to torture people. Did the Nadia flashback happen after this? I was confused. Also, who is Sayid's father that he was described as being a "great hero?"
So last season I thought that the series would be spent building up this society. I thought that the mysteries of the Island, and this conflict with the Others would be on the side, and the main focus would be on building up the infrastructure of this new Island community. This season has been a departure from that, and at first I thought we were going to spend time watching the survivors train and drill for battle. Instead the series has decided to focus not on the physical intricacies and details of going to war, but the emotional and mental preparation for it as the characters transition into their war state. By that I mean that they abandon any sense of moral code, and go all Lord of the Flies on us.
Speaking of Lord of the Flies, I actually thought when I read that book that it wasn't as "lord of the flies like" as I thought it would be. That's weird to say, but I feel like that phrase has gotten overhyped to the point where I assumed that book would be much more savage and vicious than it actually would be. I mean, it didn't have any random Sayid torturing scenes in it, did it?
Okay, I think I should also mention that I think the Lord of the Flies was the inspiration for the Tail Enders. It makes sense too, since they had more encounters with the Others, and their leaders were the killer cop, and the former drug lord. Our camp was lead by a doctor and a guy who worked at a box company, so they were not quite as easily driven into the path of violence and mayhem.
Danielle was in this episode. She has tons of traps around the Island, which is pretty cool. She's been "lord of the flies like" for quite some time.
I think it's interesting that Locke sides with Sayid on torturing Henry. Does he actually agree with Sayid, or is this just him siding against Jack?
Alright, Sayid talking about knowing what it feels like to bury your loved one really got to me. Oh I miss Shannon a lot, although I'm actually starting to find it really weird that someone as experienced and wordly as Sayid was attracted to Shannon. I guess he liked her pure apathy.
Sayid introducing himself as a torturer reminds me of Sawyer calling himself a con man, and saying he cons and Kate runs. Sayid tortures. There's something very interesting about defining yourself in this very one dimensional way. I think it's strangely liberating to just focus on one aspect of who you are, and to just abandon everything else. These characters are dropping the trappings of civilization and reverting to their primal instincts.
I think the most interesting scene in this episode was between Sayid and Charlie. It parallels the scene in Season 1 where Charlie told Sayid that he didn't care about killing Ethan. Sayid tells Charlie he feels nothing while beating on Henry. Jack might have been talking with Anna Lucia about preparing the survivors for war, but these two men are already there. They're ready to kill the Others, and they're not going to feel any guilt about it.
Meanwhile, our side story involves Sawyer discovering that Hurley has been hording food. Ugh, Hurley. Why do you have to live down to the worst stereotypes about fat people? Then Sawyer goes off and decides to kill a frog that has been annoying him. I don't really understand what this had to do with the general theme of the episode, but I do like Sawyer so having him in this episode didn't hurt. I guess we got to see him defend his role as most hated on the Island by protecting Hurley's secret.
What the hell? The countdown hit zero, and nothing happened! Well, other than some strange symbols. What are those about?
Rating: 8 out of 10 lock combinations.
I enjoyed this episode,and I really liked how all of the characters are resorting to their dark sides. I'm curious as to how far this is going to go, and at one point they'll decide they've crossed some sort of moral line. I'm still not huge on Sayid's flashbacks, but this one was better than the last two. I didn't hate the side plot with Sawyer and Hurley, but I found it kind of pointless. I'd rather there be a coherent theme that the side plots supported, although not in a heavy handed kind of way. I guess that's a lot to ask for, but a perfect 10 out of 10 episode would deliver on that.
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