Dharma "Torture" = Acid?

"A twelve-year-old Benjamin Linus just brought me a chicken-salad sandwich, how do you think I am?"

Wowsers!

Now... while I truly enjoy a Sayid-centric episode most of the time, this episode wasn't my favorite of the season. But I did have moments that made me REALLY happy. But it's taken me a few days to figure out why. I think I finally put my finger on it -- this is one of those "set us up for other things" episodes. It's carefully moving the chess pieces around the board, maneuvering them into positions capable of doing something serious. But until then, the pawns and knights are just running silly around the board, trying to make sense of things.
But mainly, the reason I didn't LOVE this episode (take that with a grain of salt, because I'm only saying that in comparison to other episodes this season - because Lost can do no wrong!) was because they gave too much away in the preview. AND, they totally tricked us in the preview -- making us think something catty was going to happen between Juliet and Kate in the motor pool -- like Juliet saying "stay away from him." Instead, it was a much less interesting affair -- peppered with long, lingering gazes at a passing-by Sawyer. I don't like tricky editing like that -- this shows tricky enough! That said, I did LIKE a lot of things about this episode -- the Dharma-brand torturing (heh!), Sayid/Sawyer face-off, Hurley the Chef, Despondent Juliet, and of course Mini Ben's flaming VW! Whoo! I knew his plan the minute I saw the flames - although I didn't expect Sayid to punch Jin and dump on Mini Ben at that point - so I was little shocked, not that it happened, just at the timing. They're totally going to ask Jack to help save Mini Ben though, and Jack will have to figure out if he should save Ben's life AGAIN...

My favorite part of the episode was when Sayid, while tethered to a tree and going through an acid trip, totally spills his guts to the Dharma gang. It's right up there with Hurley's explanation of what "really" happened on the island to his mother. Fucking awesome.

And yes, like everyone else, I loved that crazy laugh he gave when Oldman wondered if he'd given him too much :) Sweet!

Let's break down the episode --

We see young Sayid and again probe into the fundamental aspects of Sayid's psyche and what makes him a killer. He kills a chicken for his older brother and is praised for it -- thus introducing the chicken/egg concept -- which came first Sayid Jarrah the killer? Or did Benjamin Linus make him that way?

There's so much online about theories and speculation... I'll try not to make this blog redundant, but it's fun :) Most people think Benjamin Linus is the Anti-Christ, and I think he's more like Judas -- the friend who does the dirty work, but facilitates the incidents causing martyrdom. I choose to think that there is some greater story being told and that everything Ben does is for the greater good of the island -- he's a good guy! And he totally didn't kill all those people...right? Or watch his daughter get shot? Or locking Kate and Sawyer in cages (see, THAT's not evil! It totally led to them having a naked cage party - where's the evil in that?)? I hear that Ben will be summoning Smokey in the next few weeks to judge him -- I'll bet we find out he's an old sweetie and everyone got him wrong. And if he turns out to be the devil -- I'll probably still be in denial, he rules!

But why would Ben want Sayid to shoot Mini Ben? Because IT HAPPENED. It made Big Ben(heh! "Kids, look! Big Ben! Parliament!") into the man he is "today." Was a necessary step for Ben? Methinks, yes. And so, just in case Widmore changed something; just in case Sayid wouldn't shoot Mini Ben, big Ben had to make SURE that Sayid would do the deed. Heck, this is what "The Economist" was all about, too. Maybe Ben NEVER had Sayid kill anyone Widmore was associated with. (The economist's assistant notwithstanding.)

So many questions were answered by this episode! Of course, Mini Ben will not die. He'll be saved by the Island, or by Richard, or by Juliet, Jack, or someone. Because Mini Ben WAS shot, and he DIDN'T die. Sayid probably thinks he's STOPPING Ben from becoming Ben, but in reality, it was Sayid who helped make Ben who he was in the first place!

The one question about all of this that remains, and this is a minor question in many ways, is who actually set up Sayid to get on that plane... Ben or Widmore?

What was up with that voting?!? It made me suspicious of Amy... I read a theory:

Amy is CRAZY
She chose to took a picnic in off-limits territory (could that really be an accident? How could you casually just do that?)
If Ethan is her son, how does he end up with the Others?
In general she seems a little sneaky to me.

I got to thinking about all these things and here is my crazy Amy theory: what if Amy is in fact an Other (a spy integrated with the Dharma people)? The story would go something like this: the Others want one of their own in the enemy's territory (we have seen them do this with Ethan and Goodwin before... in fact come to think of it I'd be surprised if they didn't have a spy there) so they send Amy off the island and into the Dharma Initiative from there. From here there would be two possibilities:

ONE -- Along the way she falls in love with Paul, a true Dharma guy, and forgets her real people. She takes him to a spot in Others' territory because she thinks she won't have problems as they wouldn't kill one of their own (or they tell her to go there -- something is just not right about her casually picnicking out there). In any event Sawyer saves her and she returns to Dharmaville, even more estranged from her people now, then gets with Horace and has Ethan.

TWO -- Paul is also an Other/spy. This would make sense as to why they both chose to go into off-limits territory (to confront their original people because obviously if there was a shoot-out they have some sort of beef), and why Paul has an Egyptian necklace, which evokes a connection to the islands' natives. Either option could explain how Ethan ends up back with the others -- maybe she sent him there, they took him, whatever, but his Mom is actually one of them and therefore he would be more likely to be saved from the Purge.

I like this theory... I like it A LOT. Because seriously, WTF? Why does she want to kill Sayid? Is she Radzinsky's sister or something? They both have been smoking too much Dharma-brand reefer, because they are PARANOID! Sleep with one-eye open? You mean all your guns, gas, and sonic fences don't make you feel safe Amy? REALLY? She's totally a spy.

TARA'S CONDENSED LIST OF QUESTIONS

1. Where the HECK is Daniel Faraday?
2. Is Amy a spy for The Others?
3. Was the Ankh a symbol that Paul was one of The Others, also?
4. Why doesn't Amy wear the Dharma jumpsuit?
5. Is that baby that same Ethan? And if so, damn! He's looking OLD for 27!
6. Did you guys catch the date mix up with Charlotte? Every Internet geek on the planet who has a Lost page did and it caused a scandal! Awesome.
7. When are Juliet and Kate going to have a showdown?
8. Didn't Jack look at Kate with pity when he told her about Sawyer/Juliet? He totally did. I like the new Jack. Awesome.
9. Was I the only one expecting Oldam (or whatever the heck the crazy tee pee guy's name was) to pull out some medieval torture device?
10. Was I the only one who started laughing when I saw the sugar cube and eye dropper? Because I totally realized what they were doing and that the CIA used LSD for the same thing around that time...! Yay history!
11. Is Kate seriously back for Sawyer? Why do these important conversations -- the ones where characters actually SAY stuff to each other -- always seem to get cut short by smoke monsters or flaming VW's?
12. Will Jack save Ben?
13. Did Sayid create Ben the Killer or did Ben the Killer create Sayid? Confused? Me too.
14. What's the significance of that damn Scotch? It's everywhere!
15. Does Ilana work for Widmore? And if so, does Cesar work for Ben? That would be cool!
16. Why is the Swan of such significance? Maybe because it's outside of the territory (in Hostile land) and is where Jughead is buried? Or is the true source of island power?
17. Who let Radzinsky be in on the secret council meeting?
18. Why didn't Jin just trust Sayid and let him escape? Is he REALLY that much of a Dharma man now?
19. Where's Miles?
20. Anyone else miss John Locke? I do! I miss the shiny head and glinty eyes. Thank God for the reruns on Sci-Fi! I've been watching the old seasons -- it all fits together so well! I heart Darlton!
21. And Richard? I heart eyeliner.
22. And, finally, Sayid, you've been a professional torturer, soldier, and killer for years -- you REALLY mean to tell me that you drop ONE bullet in someone and then go running manically into the jungle? I swear, if that were someone I REALLY wanted dead I would have unloaded every bullet into their skull -- not into their chest! C'mon Sayid! Really? Really?

Worst killer ever... because if you got the chance to kill the worst man ever (not that I think Ben is this man), you'd totally unload your clip into his skull! Sorry little Ben, but Sayid did you a favor, at least that big brain of yours is untouched.

This leads me to my final, final thought -- in discussing with Paul this week, we came across the notion that my love for Benjamin Linus might not be completely unfounded. He has such a fundamental skew on the black and white judgements on goodness -- either the island/Jacob have you on the good list, or you're worthless. I think for me, when Ben seemed shocked to hear Sayid say he (Sayid) wasn't a killer and wouldn't do his job, becuase Ben believes that because Sayid has killed, that fundamentally he is a killer. It's cut and dry, black and white, yes or no -- with Ben. And maybe it's that rigidity that's being seen as ruthlessness. And maybe I have a secret crush on Michael Emerson. In a purely intellectual way, because... ew!

Until Wednesday!

Namaste Losties!