Spoilers below!
In just a couple of hours, I’m leaving for WAM. So this post might be a bit more rushed than the others, but here goes . . .
RECAP
Last night’s episode marked a return to LOST’s mostly character-centric flashback formula, with a Sayid-centric episode. Indeed, we open up with a flashback — of a young Sayid killing a chicken, in an attempt to save his older brother from the wrath of their father. He seems unaffected by the killing.
Then in a flashback that comes soon after, we see Sayid doing more killing, as he brings sexy back in his hot assassin mode. (Hey, I can safely say that I don’t normally have a thing for trained/hired killers. But Sayid with the suit, straightened hair and gun out does it for me every time.) Seeming unaffected by this killing, like all of the others, he leaves the murder site and goes outside to see Ben, standing all shadily in the shadows. Sayid asks for his his next assignment, and Ben assures them that there are no more: mission accomplished, Sayid has officially murdered everyone in Widmore’s organization who posed a threat. Sayid reacts with shock and anger, asking “That’s it?” Ben confirms, tells him good work and begins to walk away. Looking forlorn, Sayid asks what he’s supposed to do now. Ben tells him to go back to his life, and this seems to not act as a reassurance.
Back on the island, Mini-Ben is still bringing Sayid sandwiches. We are reminded that Mini-Ben is sympathetic to Sayid precisely because he believes him to be a Hostile. Mini-Ben asks Sayid if Richard sent him, and then tells him if he’s patient, he will help him.
Horace then goes to see Sayid, with a pair of pliers no less. We think that he’s about to go all Sayid on Sayid, but he’s actually being nice and removing Sayid’s restraints. He then asks Sayid to talk, and Sayid refuses. So Horace gives him one more hour and goes to see Sawyer.
Sawyer is busy reassuring Juliet that everything is going to be okay, at the same time as Hurley is informing Kate that Sawyer and Juliet are a couple, when Horace comes in and tells Sawyer that they need to take Sayid to Oldham, whoever that is. Sawyer hates this idea, and says that if he can just talk to Sayid himself, this will all be sorted out.
But, that sadly doesn’t go so well, even though Sayid says the best line in show history, when Sawyer asks him how he’s doing: “I was just delivered a chicken salad sandwich by a 12-year-old Benjamin Linus. How do you think I’m doing?” Sawyer gives Sayid the option of his own plan, where Sayid eventually joins Dharma, or being left on his own. Sayid, seemingly going nuts, or just not wanting to live anywhere with Mini-Ben, chooses the latter.
We then see more of Mini-Ben when his mean, abusive, alcoholic father comes to mop up the prisoner area. After poorly attempting to mock Sayid, Mini-Ben suddenly appears with a new sandwich for Sayid, and not liking this, we see his father enact more abuse on him, this time physical as well as emotional.
Flashback to Sayid working for that Habitat for Humanity type organization, and Ben shows up in that creepy, sudden way that Ben always shows up. He tells Sayid that Locke is dead, and that Sayid needs to go protect Hurley. Sayid refuses, saying that he will not kill anyone else for Ben. Ben basically says “but that’s what you do — you’re a killer.” Sayid argues otherwise, and they part ways.
Another flashback, and Sayid is drinking very expensive scotch in a bar when Ilana starts chatting him up. Sayid bites, but when they end up in his hotel room, she kicks him in the face and pulls a gun on him. Turns out that she’s a bounty hunter, coming to take him back to Guam for the murder of that guy on the golf course forever ago.
Later, we see them in the airport together, as Sayid half-heartedly tries to convince her to take the next flight. She refuses, and makes a crack about how she’ll get him a rabbit’s foot from the gift shop. For some reason, Sayid does not respond with “Okay lady, that’s real cute, but here’s the thing. I’m a member of the Oceanic 6, remember? I was in a plane that crashed over the Pacific. Obviously you know that, or you are like the worst bounty hunter ever. Got it, good. Now see that guy over there? Also a member of the Oceanic 6! And that guy next to him? Oceanic 6! Oh hey, look at that woman in the sunglasses — Oceanic 6! And there’s that other woman over there! You guessed it — Oceanic 6! Now, you can keep joking about how superstitious I am all you like, but you look around and tell me that you want to get on this fucking plane.” Of course he doesn’t say that. It would make sense. Also, it would kind of ruin the trajectory of the show.
Oh, and when he asks her if she works for Ben, she says that she does not.
Back on the island, Sayid is taken to see Oldham, a man who lives in a tent and apparently has truth serum. Sayid asks Sawyer who he is, and Sawyer says “He’s our you.” They give the truth serum to Sayid via sugar cube, in the exact same way that one gives a pill to a cat. Sawyer looks worried, and we start to think that he really didn’t think this whole “you’re on your own” thing all the way through. But no mind, they don’t believe Sayid when he says he’s from the future anyway. Of course, they don’t take into account the fact that everything else Sayid says is true, and say “hey, wait, if that’s true, and he’s taken truth serum . . .” but luckily for Sawyer, the Dharma bunch aren’t the brightest crayons in the box.
Everyone then starts to debate whether or not to kill Sayid. Radzinsky of course insists that they should, and though Sawyer argues otherwise, everyone eventually agrees when Amy says that they need to kill him in order to protect their spawn of Satan, Ethan. Sawyer does try to save Sayid one last time, though, by telling Sayid to hit him, take the keys and the guard’s gun, and run away. Sayid refuses, saying that he’s exactly where he wants to be. We start to worry that he’s on some kind of suicide mission, feeling regretful about all of his murders.
But then it’s Mini-Ben to the rescue. A flaming Dharma van rips through Dharmaville, crashing into a house and exploding. Obviously this takes up everyone’s attention, while Mini-Ben goes to free Sayid, asking him to take him to Richard so that he can join the Hostiles. Sayid agrees, saying that is what he’s here to do.
In the jungle, they run into Jin. Sayid is forced to knock him unconscious, so that no one knows he has escaped. He then steals Jin’s gun, as Mini-Ben comments on how awesome his badass ninja skills are. Sayid looks at the ground with grief, and tells Mini-Ben that he was right: Sayid is a killer. He then lifts the gun, and shoots Mini-Ben, seemingly dead, and runs away.
ANALYSIS/THEORIES
Obviously killing a 12-year-old is not cool. At the same time, as I jokingly expressed in the last post, I certainly understand the sentiment. Yes, killing an innocent baby who has not yet done anything wrong seems horrific, and I think all of us can agree on that. But when you know that said baby is going to turn into Ethan, and that killing him now would save a lot of pain and suffering, especially on the part of your friends? Well, I imagine that we would all be split on the morality of that one. I think it’s a gray area (and thankfully one that we’re not likely to run into in real life). I understand that by killing Mini-Ben, Sayid thinks that he’s saving all of Dharmaville, the suffering of his friends, and getting a part of his own life back. Further, you could tell that he really didn’t want to do it, but felt that he had no choice. In short, my assessment is: fucked up, but understandable.
But here’s what I think. First of all, Mini-Ben is not dead. I imagine that most of us probably agree on that. Sayid is, of course, the one person who hasn’t yet gotten a primer in time travel, not even the shitty Sawyer primer, and obviously doesn’t understand that he can’t change things. Further, obviously having confidence in his abilities, he doesn’t check for a pulse, kick Mini-Ben, anything. And we know that the island has healing powers, at least when it wants to.
But my theory goes further than that. I think not only that Mini-Ben is alive, but that it is in fact Sayid that turned Mini-Ben evil. That act of violence and betrayal made Mini-Ben go from a mild-mannered, kind-hearted, abused kid, to the ruthless, evil murdering monster that he is today. In fact, I’m quite convinced of it.
Also, on other Sayid-Ben encounters. Ben’s telling Sayid that he thinks Locke was murdered gives us at least something of a clue as to why Ben might have done it: because he thought that it would lure Sayid back into “protecting” people for him.
I think that their encounter after Sayid did his “last” killing for Ben also tells us something about why Sayid now hates him (again). All of this time, I thought that Ben had stabbed Sayid in the back in some way. It seems that he did, only not in the way I had assumed. He betrayed Sayid by taking away his life yet again. Sayid had lost his wife, and had nothing left. Ben gave him a purpose again, and then when he declared that Sayid was done, he took it away. This enraged Sayid, broke him, and forced him to assess what he had been doing with his life. And that was more than enough to make Sayid turn against him.
What do you think?