A One Dollar Bet

Here is Lost, season 4, episode 3 "The Economist"
In unrelated news: Hopefully, we can get an oscars prediction post up sometime soon. If you want to participate, let me know!


My one minute recaplet, to be taken with 8oz water: Sayid is the James Bond of the losties. Not only did he do that sweet Xenia Onatopp-like kill last season, but in this week’s episode, we pretty much spend the entire hour watching him shoot people and bang girls.

Aside from a kind of long ‘previously on Lost,’ we open to Sayid praying and then closes Naomi’s eyes. A silver bracelet with an inscription “N, I’ll always be with you, R.G.” First, I don’t know what compelled Sayid to take the jewelry off of her, what is he like grave robbing now? Second, I don’t know why he would analyze it for interior engravings. Oh wait, this is Lost of course there isn’t a good explanation for it. It just kinda happens because it’s convenient.

In this week’s flashforward, we see Sayid enjoying a round of golf by himself. Until this jerk rides up by him and not only continues to bug him, but gives him so advice. I hate when strangers tell me I should do something a certain way. Fuck you, man! I’ll play guitar hero however the fuck I want! Anyways, so the two have a ‘friendly’ wager about which iron is more suited to get on the green. After the stranger wins, Sayid says he’s one of the Oceanic 6 and the man looks very worried. He tries to leave, without collecting his earned wager but Sayid ‘insists’ and calls him by name and then *bang* one dead stranger. So Sayid really hates to lose a bet.

Sidenote: is Kate one of the Oceanic Six? She got off the island, for sure. But would she still have to run from the law? Does she have a golden pass like Jack? I think she is because I don’t have a lot of faith in the writers to cleverly get themselves out of this sticky situation, so they just barrel ahead and pray for the best.

Somewhere in Germany, Sayid hits on this blonde girl sitting in a café. Also, he orders an ‘expresso.’ Sayid, I know you were stuck on an island for like a hundred days, but surely you’ve been in a Starbucks or something. It’s espresso. Blonde girl, Elsa, leaves, marking the restaurant Sayid is to take her, if he ‘can find it,’ she sassily remarks. Except outside, he makes a mysterious phonecall to a mysterious man about and it is clear his intentions are more than just banging her. But don’t worry, there’s some of that too.

When Sayid finds Naomi’s pic of Desmond, they start to wonder why they were looking for Desmond. Juliet runs off to the beach to pick up Desmond and bring him back, maybe to get some answers. Sayid basically tells Jack that he is better at diplomacy. The irony of the torturer being the better diplomat is not lost on me. Jack lets it go, since he tried to shoot Locke last time. Miles sassily demands that he wants to go after Charlotte too, but Sayid just obliges and it kind of stuns him. I guess he was looking for an argument.

Team crazy is marching through the woods and Sawyer wants to know who Ben has on the boat. I’m not sure exactly why, because I doubt he’d know who Ben named anyways. But he keeps threatening violence and Locke stops it. When Locke finds an ashen line, he realizes the cabin is gone and is quite surprised. Ben announces Locke wants to take orders, (from Walt or Jacob though?) but everyone just kinda ignores him. PS Sawyer’s hilarious nickname for Ben is a reference to Gremlins. Haha, bug-eyed Ben. When they realize that Jack will come after them at the barracks, Hurley suggests letting Charlotte go but when he realizes Locke wants a hostage, he kinda tries to back peddle out of the situation. Hurley is such a good guy.

Kate and Jack have a flirtatious moment, then Jack suggests Kate goes with Sayid and Miles. Jack uses Sawyer as a reason that Kate will not get a knife to the back and I find it kinda douche-y but then again, I don’t really like Jack. Miles gets all indignant when Kate gets to wave her gun around. When Frank asks if Sayid was a diplomat, Jack says “no, a torturer,” as the music swells to reinforce the irony.

While walking to the barracks, Sayid is examining Naomi’s bracelet, for some odd reason. Then asks Miles about the team and their relationship. But Miles doesn’t know much about any of them except that he wanted to bang Naomi. Miles retorts that friends don’t usually go after each other with guns either. Touché. Sayid then remarks he’s still undecided about shooting Miles in the face or not.

Sayid picks up Elsa and both look quite dapper. When she wants to leave her pager behind, Sayid insists they take it. Obviously, he wants to run into her boss. She keeps asking him questions about his job and he kind of sloppily parries. Guess she’s not too bright. They make out and leave.

Back on the island, Dan scurries around and sets something up. Probably has to do with lasers (for more on lasers, please see lasersandlava.blogspot.com). He takes Frank’s phone to call Regina on the boat so they can run a science experiment. She fires off a ‘payload’ directed at the laser beacon and though she can track it, saying it lands mid scene, nothing appears. Even if this payload was like pillows and marshmallows, according to the distance it is traveling, it’s still going at least Mach 3. Frank says not to worry but still backs up. Meanwhile, Dan is like just standing right next to the beacon. For a scientist, he’s not very bright.

Sayid and crew come across the barracks and Miles makes a remark about how it’s like a playground. I have to agree with him, the others’ barracks were way too suburban. It’s like a subbarracks or barrburbs. They hear some moaning and bust into a house. Tied in a closet is a gagged Hurley. How reminiscent of Juliet. Hurley fills them in on Locke’s hostage plan and how when he argued with Locke, he was tied and left behind. When Miles calls Hurley ‘tubby’ and tells him to explain, Hurley retorts “oh awesome, they ship sent us another Sawyer.” Amazing. When Hurley asks Miles if they were sent to kill the losties, Miles sassily replies “Not yet.” All the sass, possibly my favorite scene. Hurley says they should go check out Ben’s old house.

Yeah, the Red Sox won the World Series. Kind of a heartbreaker. I know I am a Dodger boy at heart, but growing up with a huge Yankees fan, a little rubs off on ya. Sorry Madelyn, Mike. I’m also surprised at how much Jack misses baseball, since he sucks so much at basketball. The payload finally arrives and it’s a fucking rocket. Why the fuck would you stand so close to an incoming rocket? Inside is a clock except it shows a 31 minute difference. So the island has some weird time bubble thing, possibly like the Lost in Space movie or something. Obviously Dan had to have some idea this was going on because he had a damn experiment set up to test it. I feel like all of this is just gonna have a bad explanation. Juliet brings Desmond back.

Sayid and the A-team investigate Ben’s house and they split up. Using super powers of observation, Sayid notices a warped floor underneath a bookshelf, and suspects a hidden room behind it. He’s right, Ben has an enormous walk in closet in there. He stores some traveling cash, and a few passports too. Sawyer sneaks into the bedroom but Kate draws her gun on him. He signals her to be quiet which immediately prompts her to scream Sayid. Doesn’t she know that a finger to the lips means to not scream. Either way, when Sayid runs into the other room, Locke has a gun pointed on his head. To finish the foreshadowing, it is revealed Hurley was a decoy. They lock Sayid up with Ben while Locke interrogates Miles. Ben sassily tells Sayid, “I lost a dollar, you know. I bet John you wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for your friend as bait.” Haha. Back in the bedroom, Sawyer and Kate share a sexually tense moment as they argue what is here for them versus what is waiting for them back in the real world. Locke brings some room service to Ben and Sayid. Locke tells Sayid about the spy but Sayid refuses to believe anything Ben says. Sayid suggests Locke give him Charlotte but of course offers something in return.

Sayid and Elsa bang and have a conversation about life and love. Sayid realizes he loves her and then says ‘no more secrets.’ Except that cockblock pager goes off and Elsa has to answer it. As she gets ready, Sayid tells her that she has to leave. Obviously, Sayid will be doing something like murder. Elsa asks who he really is and several other questions. Then she pulls a gun and shoots his shoulder. So, in a Bond-like twist, she was also playing him. In German, she talks to her boss on the phone about the setup and though she didn’t get the info, she’ll bring Sayid in for interrogation. Lying on the bed, Sayid sees his gun and plans a distraction so he can shoot her, killing her. Another chick Sayid has banged gets shot and dies. Note to self: don’t sleep with Sayid. But seriously, did they not notice the gun just sitting there before? Seems a little sloppy. James Bond wouldn’t be that sloppy. In a parallel to the opening scene, Sayid closes Elsa’s eyes and rubs her bracelt.

Desmond confronts Frank about how the pic and Penelope but Frank gives up no information, instead just glancing at Dan. Sayid returns with Charlotte, and reveals that his plan was ultimately to trade Miles for her. Kate also decided to stay. Frank doesn’t care for Miles anyways, so he lets it slide. No love for Miles. Dan and Charlotte stay behind on the first ride, so Sayid suggests they take Naomi for some necrophilic reason. Dan warns Frank to fly out the exact same way they flew in. Desmond takes co-pilot for some reason, as if boating and helicopter flying are the same thing. And off they go.

In a veterinarian’s office, a shot Sayid goes into an operating room where Ben cleans up the wound. Sayid shows some emotion over her death. But Ben reminds him that Sayid is a hired gun to protect the ones he loves. So Sayid sold his soul, now working for Ben. At least he’s an awesome badass while doing it. When Sayid tells Ben that they are on to him, Ben ominously replies, “Good.”

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