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['LOST' COLUMN] GETTING 'LOST' WITH NIKKI STAFFORD | Lost: 4.03 'The Economist'
The fourth member of the Oceanic Six appears to be just as messed up as the other three.
| | | By Nikki Stafford | | Posted 2/15/2008 | |  | | ![['LOST' COLUMN] GETTING 'LOST' WITH NIKKI STAFFORD](http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/wizarduniverse_2062_168811159) [EDITOR’s NOTE: Saying that guest columnist Nikki Stafford is a “Lost” fanatic is a gross understatement. But, more importantly, she’s a “Lost” guru and has teamed with Wizard Universe to bring her expertise to a weekly recap of “Lost,” pointing out key moments and raising questions about TV’s most-talked about mystery.]
Previously on Lost...
Last week’s episode generated a lot of discussion on one point: Who is Ben’s man on the boat? Here are some possible suspects:
• Michael. We saw him leave in the boat with Walt approximately a month before the current events. Like Desmond, he probably got turned around, and Ben talked him into working for him to continue to try to get away. Maybe Walt is with him, or maybe he got Walt to safety but came back. He’s proven himself worthy to Ben in the past (killing two survivors, freeing Ben, and walking four other survivors into the clutches of the Others), and since we see in the future that Sayid is working for Ben, it’s not too off-the-wall to think Michael could as well.
• Mikhail. He was already in the water at the end of season three, and he could have gone over to the boat. It’s not clear if the guy’s alive or dead. However, I don’t think he’s had time to get over there, find out information, and transmit it back to Ben. Besides, Ben already knew about Naomi, presumably from the information from his “man” on the boat.
• Charlotte. She was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and he shot her in the chest rather than aiming for her head. It would be just like Ben to shoot someone to throw the others off the scent, and to say “man” on the boat when he really means a woman.
• Walt. He could be on the boat and astrally projecting the answers back to Ben. He’s had enough time to be over there, but it’s not clear in this case what’s happened to Michael.
• Richard Alpert. He came and went from the island all the time in the service of Ben. He seemed to be losing faith in Ben at the end of season three, but he’s usually been loyal to him, and could have been moving back and forth between the boat and the island. Unfortunately, Nestor Carbonell, the actor who plays him, went off to star on “Cane,” and CBS refused to let him continue to work on “Lost.” The show hasn’t had any more episode orders, but it also hasn’t yet been cancelled, which probably holds Carbonell to that show. At the very least, he wasn’t able to appear on “Lost” for the first 8 episodes.
| |  Episode Recap:
On the island, Sayid goes off to retrieve Charlotte after Frank promises him a spot on the helicopter if he does so. When he, Kate, and Miles get to the Others’ compound, they’re ambushed, and he trades the others to Locke for Charlotte. In the flashforward, we see Sayid, the fourth member of the Oceanic Six, is a hitman and conman who has turned into a more menacing version of Sawyer, taking out a series of people. When he’s wounded in the line of duty, he limps back to the man who’s been ordering him to kill people who pose a threat to Sayid’s friends... and it’s none other than Ben.
FINALLY!
I’ve been waiting three full seasons for one of the characters to finally broach the fact that life on the island is preferable to going home. I was so relieved to hear Sawyer voice what fans have been saying from the beginning: Why does Kate want to go home, when home is a prison sentence? Why does Sawyer want to leave, when he’s completely alone and has no one in the real world? Now that Sawyer’s killed the man he’s spent his life hunting, it seems he’s had some clarity, and realizes there’s nothing left for him.
| |  Highlights:
• Miles: “In case you zoned out while you were tweezing your goatee...” This guy is a rude ass, and I love it.
• Jack after Kate says now he knows what it’s like to be left behind: “Does that mean I should wait twenty minutes and go anyway?”
• Jeremy Davies. I think this guy is amazing, and I love just watching him in every episode, with his jitteriness and nervous fidgeting. What a great actor.
• “What’s with the swing set, did these people have daycare?”
• Hurley: “Oh. Awesome. The ship sent us another Sawyer.”
Biggest “GASP!” Moments:
• Sayid shooting the Italian man on the golf course! He was a torturer in the past, tried to work through it in season one and wanted to change, and now he’s right back where he started, it seems. No torture, just killing.
• The rocket registering a time of 31 minutes longer than the clock on the beacon. Whoa. This brings us back once again to that whole idea that there’s a time warp, or that time is moving differently on the island, or that everything is happening at once. So is it really December 24 off the island, or does it seem to the outside world that it’s been a lot longer that they’ve been missing? Notice how Jack says, “I can’t believe it’s been 100 days since I’ve seen a game,” and the rocket test happens immediately after, as if to signal it hasn’t been 100 days, but much, much longer. This might be the way they can explain Walt’s rapid aging process off the island, if they decide to bring him back into the storyline.
• Et tu, Hurley?
• Sayid and Desmond actually leaving on a helicopter? Did anyone else get a serious rush watching that scene?
• BEN. Off the island.
Hurley’s Numbers:
The second clock that Dan looks at has a time of 03:16:23. He says the times are 31 minutes off (15 + 16).
Did You Notice?:
• Sayid is playing golf in the Seychelles, which is a group of islands off the coast of Africa. In season two, after Eko’s brother’s small plane landed on the island, some fans speculated that maybe the island is off the coast of Africa, since that plane wouldn’t have had enough fuel to have gotten to the Pacific. These islands were where some fans speculated the castaways really are.
• Frank says if Sayid brings Charlotte back safe, he will take him off the island. That, of course, could mean plopping him in the ocean. He chooses his words as carefully as Ben does.
• Elsa was the name of the lioness made famous by the book and film, Born Free, by Joy Adamson. Interesting, since Sayid is now “free,” but also in captivity.
• When Sayid finds Hurley locked in the closet, Hurley’s eyes dart around and he pauses before saying, “They left me,” as if he’s not completely on board with what he’s doing.
• Ben has the Holy Qu’ran on his bookshelf. I’m sure on further viewings I’ll figure out what the other books are (beside it is a book about religion).
• When Sayid looks at one of Ben’s fake passports, the name on it is Dean Moriarty. Moriarty is the main character in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, based on his friend Neal Cassidy. Moriarty is the one who convinces Sal, the book’s narrator, to follow him around on various adventures, much like Ben convinces others to follow him for better or for worse. (Also, Moriarty has some daddy issues.)
• Ben tells Sayid it’s no use having friends you can’t trust, foreshadowing what happens to Sayid with Elsa. Sayid then says the day he begins trusting Ben is the day he’s sold his soul, foreshadowing who his boss will eventually be.
• Locke brings iced tea to Sayid. The last time Sayid was offered iced tea, it was from Mikhail, who was conning Sayid the way Locke just tricked him.
• Sayid shoots Elsa the same way Shannon was shot by Ana Lucia, which could be one of the reasons why her death affects him so much.
| |  So Many Questions...
• Naomi’s bracelet: “N, I will always be with you. R.G.” Who is R.G.? Is it someone significant? Is it Regina? Is it the person holding this group together?
• When Sayid tells the man on the golf course who he is, the man becomes unnerved. Is it because he knows Sayid is here to kill him, or does he know something about what happened on the island? Or both?
• What is the significance of the volcanic ash that surrounds the spot where Jacob’s cabin should be? Fans speculated last season that it was either keeping Jacob in, or keeping others out.
• Why does Frank tell Dan to hang up the phone if Minkowski returns? Where is Minkowski? Why would he have to hang up if he came? Is Minkowski not there for the same reasons as the rest of them?
• What was with that little room hidden behind Ben’s bookshelf? What does he do in there? Why did he have so many suits? Money from other countries? Passports? Has he been coming and going from the island as well?
• What list is Sayid referring to? Why are these people trying to hurt Sayid’s friends? By “friends,” is Ben referring to the Oceanic Six, or the people left behind?
• Why is Elsa wearing a bracelet that’s the same as Naomi’s? Did Sayid keep it from Naomi and give it to Elsa, or was Elsa already wearing it when they met? Do people who are part of a certain organization wear this bracelet?
• Why do Daniel and Charlotte decide to stay on the island? Have they been given a mission that’s being kept a secret from Frank?
• Is Ben a veterinarian, or is he just using the O.R. of an animal shelter as a meeting place with Sayid? Does Ben have surgical experience?
• More importantly, why is Sayid working for Ben? Why are these people on the list? Who made the list? Is it another list by Jacob? Is the island still playing a big part in the lives of the Oceanic Six, even after they’ve left? Are the others in Ben’s hold, too, or is he just lording over Sayid?
Next week: Locke declares a dictatorship, and Kate and Sawyer look like they’re going to play house.
Nikki Stafford has published companion guides to “Xena,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Alias,” and “Lost” through ECW Press. Her new book is Finding Lost—Season Three: The Unofficial Guide. Check her blog,
“Nik At Nite,” for more on your (and her) favorite shows. | | | | | |
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