Hey there marvelous masters of mythology, and I'll tell you right off the bat, that was my favourite episode in a long time – so much happened, so many answers, so many questions! We're gonna mix things up this week. So much exciting stuff happened that I've decided to do my Top Ten Namaste Moments list. This episode has sent me into delirious spins of happiness. I'm just going to be dancing for a minute.
10. Juliet delivered Ethan as a baby! Ok, I was hoping it might be someone more important or, you know, alive, but I'm still more than happy with this. Makes you wonder how he made it out of The Purge though, doesn't it...
9. Jack got served! First Sawyer, sorry, LaFluer gets him assigned to Workman duty. He then calls Jack out on his former lack of leadership skills, and finally sends him along on his way home to do as he's told! This felt better than it should have. Jack needs his comeuppance, and Sawyer served him a fair ol' dose of it tonight by putting him in his place.
8. Dr "Marvin Candle" is a douche! Pierre Chang has a whinge to Jack about how tough he's got it, filling in for a woman who just gave birth so he can tell an undercover spinal surgeon to be a janitor. From where I'm sitting, Pierre, I'd say you've got it pretty darn good. Side note – didn't Kate look unhappy to have finally left three years of lying only to barge headfirst into another round?
7. Sun knocked out Ben! In a scene that simultaneously brought both Ben strangling Locke and Charlie knocking out Desmond to mind, Sun flattened the back of Ben's head as soon as she got the information out of him that she needed. Of course, considering my ever-present lack of complete trust in Sun, I found myself asking if she might still working with Widmore... She flipped to Ben's side very quickly and, while it was due to the proof of Jin's survival, I still don't think she could get over three years considering vengeance so quickly. 6. Faraday is gone? The mere mention of Faraday had me excited and I desperately wanted Sawyer to go into more detail after mentioning the good doc is not around anymore. This leads me to a few theories – 1) he simply travelled off-island on the sub to the 70s, 2) he defected to the Others, or 3) he found a way to time travel solo. No surprises that I'm putting all my chips on 3!
5. Sayid has really bad luck! Sun, Frank, Ben and Locke remained together in the present while Jack, Kate and Hurley all wind up together in the past. Sayid gets thrown back too, but dumped alone in the jungle and spotted, causing a 14J (the same alarm Alex entered into the sonic fence at gunpoint, btw). His captors think he's the enemy and his friends aren't speaking up to save him. I really felt bad for the guy, and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...
4. Sayid meets Lil' Ben! In a super creepy moment that should've caused a million questions in your mind at once, a young Ben Linus brought Sayid a sandwich and introduced himself. Ben knew these Losties as a child, meaning he may very well remember them now he's grown up! Certainly explains why Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley were on the list of people Michael had to bring to the docks in season 2 – he already had Juliet and he'd made up his mind about Sayid being a bad person.3. Frank Lapidus: World's Greatest Pilot! Seriously, after watching him manage the plane through a flash, a time-skip from night to day, a cloud, a stall and away from a mountain, there's no doubt in my mind the man needs a medal. We also managed to get a great look at the runway on the Hydra Island and overheard that someone has turned the Numbers broadcast back on since the 06 left....
2. Christian hangs out in Old Otherton! Oh boy, did I love this scene. The last time we saw the Others' village, Smokey was tearing apart Widmore's mercenaries at Ben's request; by the looks of things, he may have never left once he got through the sonic barrier. The shot of it tearing up trees made me think of the very first night on the island and smile. Christian stepped straight out of a horror movie and onto the set, showing Sun and Frank a photo of their time-displaced friends as a cloud of black smoke opened the door and rushed in behind them. Creeeeeeepy!
1. Radzinsky, come on down! The mere mention of the man by Jin at the beginning of the episode had me on the edge of the seat. Not since the season two finale have we even heard a peep out of this character, let alone met him. The man responsible for the Swan, the button and the hatch-door map of the island, Radzinsky was an even bigger brainiac know-it-all than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong – I loved him, but he was far too eager to shoot Sayid. I dug that he was building the model and working on the maps for the Swan, meaning it has been built yet, making it far more likely to be involved in, or the direct cause of, "The Incident." But even more than that, I loved that he had The Muppets playing when he was supposed to be on surveillance duty.What an ep!
Namaste
The Heroic Lost Ninja
PS – I forgot one – honourable mention for Hurley and Sawyer's bear hug reunion!