SUNDOWN

Or, My Head Exploded And I think The Dog Buried My Cognitive Thinking Somewhere In The Back Yard

It is the morning after we have all seen Sundown. I am sitting in a piddly coffee shop on the main floor of the local hospital and they are NOT sharing their WIFI with me! I KNOW they have it because I have it before. I had planned to use my time here productively and re-watch online, but since Café Movito is being chintzy with their WIFI (shameless berating), I have decided to start collecting my thoughts (the ones that I can gather without using the vacuumcleaner and a metal detector) and try to find some sort of understanding to the speeding train wreck/ crossing the sound barrier sonic boom plane crash/ catastrophic Swan implosion that was Sundown (and I mean that in a good way Damon and Carlton).Considering there wasn’t too much movement or action the last couple of episodes, Sundown threw us in head first within minutes and didn’t stop until Smocke, as they are calling the combination of Locke and Smokey, calmly led the Others away from the temple. I’d like use some smart Biblical reference here about good people being led astray, but my head hurts and I the last version of the bible I read were the children’s stories and I can’t remember anyone other than Moses leading the masses. Besides, I’m pretty sure there is no comparison here.

At this point in the game I am questioning the whole somewhat shaky understanding that Jacob was good and Smocke is bad, yet I’m pretty confident that Team Darlton wants us to be as dazed and confused as humanly possible. As we are all aware, nothing is black and white or clear cut or even unquestionable when it comes to LOST and the twists and turns that its super creative (and delightfully evil) writers have produced. THANKS A LOT, GUYS FOR THE MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS!

Basically, in a nut shell (and we all know I’m nutz) Sayid in side time travels the globe translating oil contracts. His beloved Nadia is married to his brother and they live with their two kids in suburban LA. They own two “dry cleaning” shops and appear to be living the American Immigrant dream. But all is not on the up and up with brother dearest and he has taken out a loan with a very shady character (Martin Keamy you are slime in any time), and despite having paid back the loan is being forced to pay extortion money now. When Sayid is threatened things turn ugly and, yet again, Marty pays the ultimate price for his errant ways. But wait, there’s more!

This is the first time we see Jin in Side time since he was led away by the customs officials in LA X, so we can assume the “obscene” amount of cash was satisfactorily explained away and that he was able to avoid incarceration. So, off to finish Paik’s bidding and deliver that “priceless” watch post haste, right? Yes, and who could be the recipient of said watch? Either Marty was “friends” with Paik (I can totally see that, by the way, since they both exhibit such cold ruthlessness), or Jin lost the cash and was looking for more to make his escape. I’m probably wrong.

After Sayid dispatches Keamy and his minions he hears banging and follows the noise to a cooler, where he finds poor Side time Jin, tied up and silenced (sort of) with duct tape across his mouth. That had to hurt royally when he pulled it off don’t you think? I’ll bet Jin’s thoughts were not publishable in any language! I have a thought on how poor Jin came to be mixing it with the Romaine lettuce and cole slaw and I’m not sure I like it.

In original time we see the Sayid we all know and love. Obviously he has recovered enough from both the drowning and diagnosis by electrocution/white hot cattle prod, to demand some answers. There aren’t many 815ers left at the temple and Sayid feels it’s time to either win Dogen over or leave. We learn a little about Dogen and how (and why) he came to the island. Speaking of the Japanese Samurai, I was surprised that he isn’t older than I had expected. He came across as a wise and ancient soul, having collected many many years of experiences and learned important lessons along the way. Instead, we learn that he was a banker and had killed his son in a drinking and driving accident then sold his soul to Jacob in exchange for his son’s life.

Dogen sends Sayid out to kill Smocke and when that fails (and really, we kind of expected that, right?), Smocke makes Sayid an offer he can’t refuse. It’s ironic that he voices that he is a good man to Dogen and then surrenders to his evil side as soon as he is offered a sweet deal by the competition. It’s too bad that he’s struggled so long to regain his self respect only to give up in a moment of weakness. Do you really think Smocke is going to keep his promise and Sayid will see Nadia again? Dead is dead, right? Although, on second thought, she could come back as a polar bear or a Hurley Bird, I guess.

Poor misguided Claire. First of all she’s lured into the forest by the ghost of her father and leaves her baby behind. Then, when she isn’t found, Kate takes Aaron as her own and takes care of him off the island. Meanwhile, it appears her loving father has abandoned her and Smocke has befriended her (I wonder how that friend request would look on Facebook) and lies and tells her that Aaron is in the temple. No wonder she’s a bit nutty and rotating on a wobbly axis! But, she’ll do anything to get her baby back and whatever Smocke wants, Smocke gets at this point.

I know that I said I was growing to seriously dislike what Kate does a few weeks ago, and I still think she’s a loose cannon, but in this case, I think she may have done the right thing. She told Claire the truth, and in the face of certain “black freight train smoke” kind of danger, Kate could only think of helping Claire (even though she didn’t actually need it, bit it is a redeemable act). It’s what kept her alive and, I think, why Smocke didn’t kill her as he rolled over the pit or during the aftermath when they were all leaving the temple.

I’m wondering how Ilana, Frank, Sun and Ben got into the temple, since the spot in the wall we saw Hurley looking at appears to be some sort of hidden room. As an aside, I was curious about the symbol on the wall where Ilana took them to be safe and did a little research. The symbol is an ancient Egyptian Hieroglyph (I found this in a book called the Egyptian Book of Hieroglyphs no less!) that is called a Shen Ring. It is a symbol of eternity and protection, but also represents dual concepts of time. The first concept being the periodical time (based on the rise and fall of the Nile water levels, so maybe a year) and then the infinity (a life time or career?). Interesting, huh? I haven’t quite figured out if this is an inside joke by the writers, or if we should pay some serious attention to it.

Creepy things!

How creepy was Sayid’s smile when he told Ben that it was too late for him? And the haunting “Catch A Falling Star” as Sayid, Kate and Claire walk through the temple courtyard amidst the death and destruction? I still get chills.

DID YOU NOTICE?

Omar and Keamy are the first two characters to be killed in the side time and are also dead in the original time. Also, Omar was accidentally killed by a grenade tossed by Keamy in the original time and was accidentally killed by his associate in the side time. Poor dude can’t win.

The SUV that takes Sayid to “visit” Keamy, has the same license plate as Jack’s Bronco (recycling at its best).

If Kate had just stayed at the temple, Claire would have come to her.

When Dogen explains “the scale” to Sayid, he holds up his hands. One represents good and the other represents evil. The hand he uses for “evil” is covered by a black glove while the hand he uses for “good” is bare.

I know you all saw him, but just in case, did you see Jack at the hospital when Sayid and Nadia were arriving?

QUESTIONS:

Why can’t Smocke be killed the same way as Jacob? Why wasn’t there any blood on the dagger when he pulled it out of his chest?

How did Dogen’s death allow Smocke to enter the temple? What was keeping him out?

Since it wasn’t the Others who saved Sayid, who or what did? Jacob? Smocke? Another entity that we have yet to meet?

Where are Sawyer and Jin? They were last seen in the company of Smocke, so what happened to them? Have they been recruited or doesn’t Smocke trust them?

Why didn’t Richard make it to the temple to warn them? Where is he? Did he realize it was too late and go into hiding? Where did he go, the barracks, the Black Rock, the beach for a sun tan?

Why was Jin being held by Keamy? Where’s Sun in the side time?

QUOTES:

Claire: Are you going to hurt them?

Smocke: Only the ones who won’t listen.

Sayid: Since I’ve been here, I’ve been drowned, beaten and tortured at your hands. Why would I ever do anything for you?

Miles: Welcome back to the circus!

Miles: Right. Claire. She strolled in here a couple hours ago acting all weird. Still hot though.

Frank: We’ll play catch up later. You wanna live, you better move your ass! (I like this one)

Frank: You do hear that, right? You got a plan or are you gonna keep staring at the wall?

Ilana: I have a plan. (sounds like Ben, doesn’t she?).

So, I WAS wrong. I had assumed Sundown would be Sun and/or Jin centric, but instead we got Sayid. Not that I’m complaining. I forgot to take into account the fact that season one was LONGER and was comprised of several more episodes (still not pleased with that BTW).

Next up? Dr. Linus, and I can’t wait! The mere fact that Benny Boy has a doctorate is causing my curiosity and imagination to run wickedly wild.

See? Isn't that a creepy smile?