He's Our You

This week's Lost was the latest of several "fill in the blanks" episodes we're likely to get over the next few weeks. This one covered the events of how Sayid wound up on the flight back to The Island, and the answer there was pretty much as expected -- he was a prisoner being brought against his will.

For me, the element that felt missing from the proceedings was the explanation of what happened between the time Sayid finished killing for Ben and the time Ben reapproached him later in the Dominican Republic. We know that Sayid first aligned with Ben in search of revenge for the death of his beloved Nadia. We know that Ben led Sayid to believe that Widmore was responsible for this. Are we simply to assume that Sayid found out at some intervening point that this was a lie? Otherwise, I can't understand Sayid's sudden hatred of Ben. And given where this episode was leading, I'm surprised this would be left as a blank for us to fill in, that we wouldn't see exactly the reason Sayid came to hate Ben once again.

As for that ending, with Sayid murdering Young Ben, we have to remember the stance Lost has taken on time travel, "Farraday's Rule" that "whatever happened, happened." You can't change the past. Therefore, Ben is not dead. I suspect the resolution to this conundrum may have something in common with the end of season three, in which Adult Ben shot Locke and left him for dead. No, I doubt the strange "spectral residue" of Walt (or whatever the hell that was that saved Locke's life) is going to intervene on Ben's behalf, but just as the Island has twice disallowed Locke to die because of his importance, so it seems it won't allow Ben to die either. Perhaps this is part of what allowed both men to lead the Others (Richard notwithstanding).

Interesting, but all heady stuff. Character-based, yes, but all entwined in the big "What's with the Island?" mysteries. So I guess I'd call tonight a middle of the road episode. It was at least a good story for Sayid, a journey of his attempt to change, and his realization of (what he believes to be) his new destiny. But I think it lacked one or two more dramatic beats from his past (or his future, whatever perspective you want to take these days) to really strengthen the story.