Lost Rehash S6.6: Sundown

Once again, they’ve given us an excellent episode.  Sayid has been one of my favorite Losties since the beginning, and I feel that his episodes are always ripe with emotion and character.  “Sundown” did not disappoint.

In the Flashsideways we see that Nadia has married Sayid’s brother, Omar.  It’s obvious that he has feelings for her, and Naveen Andrews acting was exceptional here.  He still put off the “I’m a hardcore former Iraqi torturer and you don’t want to mess with me” vibe, but at the same time his remorse shown through as well.  After he was apprehended by Keamy’s thugs, the predictable happened: Sayid snapped, grabbed a gun, and took down the gang.  Once again we see just how capable Mr. Jarrah is.  Finally, he finds Jin bound in a freezer, and the Flashsideways ends.

The Island timeline offered plenty of excitement.  The fight between Dogen and Sayid was entertaining.  Then Claire showed up and told Dogen that “he” wanted to see him.  Obviously disturbed, Dogen asks Sayid to take a dagger and stab the man through the chest before he speaks, which will give Sayid a path to retribution and prove that he is really a good man.  Sayid takes the dagger and heads out of the temple.

After running into Kate, Sayid heads on into the jungle and soon hears some strange sounds.  He stops and draws the dagger, waiting for the man to appear.  unLocke appears and greets Sayid.  Sayid plunges the blade into unLocke’s chest.  unLocke looks agitated and takes the blade out, asking Sayid why he did what he did, and convincing him to join his side.  He gives Sayid a message to take to the temple.

Sayid returns to the temple and announces that the man is coming and that anyone remaining on temple ground will be killed at sundown.  Many leave.  Sayid goes to the pool room and finds Dogen sitting near the waters, staring at his baseball.  Dogen tells Sayid his story, telling of how he met Jacob and the bargain he made with him.  Sayid suddenly jumps Dogen and drowns him in the pool, and soon after, Lennon comes in to find the drowned body.  He yells that “he [Dogen] was the only thing keeping him [Man in Black] out,” to which Sayid replies “I know.”  Sayid then slits Lennon’s throat and his body goes into the pool, too.

The Smoke Monster arrives, raining terror and destruction on everybody left within the temple.  Miles runs and hides, but soon is found by Ilana, Lapidus, Sun, and Ben.  They know a way out of the temple and Miles goes with them.  Kate, meanwhile, has fallen with Claire, who now knows that Kate raised Aaron, and has defaulted to unLocke’s side, whether she knows it or not.

Thoughts and Opinions

• Would Sayid have killed unLocke if he hadn’t spoken first?  Though the Man in Black said only two words, they still could have worked.  Somehow I don’t think Dogen was trying to get Sayid killed here.
• I guess the darkness within Sayid has now spread.  It makes me a little sad seeing him as a bad guy now, but man, he makes such an excellent villain.
• Keamy was just as disgusting and loathsome in the Flashsideways as he was back when he was on the freighter.
• I’m looking forward to seeing Jin back in action as a mafia man.  Hopefully we’ll find out why he was in LA, and maybe see some tag-team work between Sayid and Jin.  Who knows, maybe they’ll go on to start a popular television crime scene sitcom?
• I’ve long thought that the “Catch a Falling Star” song has had some pretty dark lyrics.
• Next week’s episode, “Dr. Linus,” claims that we’ll be dealing with Ben’s demise, but I find this hard to believe, and I certainly hope not.  Ben is too great of a character to die off so soon.  Whatever the case, though, next week should be exceptional television.