Just got around to watching episode three of Lost season four titled ‘The Economist’. As I had thought this episode turned out to be Sayid central, proving that he was one of the Oceanic 6.
I’ll start of, by saying this episode was fantastic. Of course I am biased but it truly was a great ep in every regard. It gave us hints at things we previously theorised such as that time works differently on Island compared to outside the supposed magnetic field surrounding the Island (Daniel’s experiment) Kudos to the writers for the use of wit in this episode. ‘The Economist’ has some of the wittiest and great lines that I have heard in Lost such as Hurley’s discontent that the freighter had sent another Sawyer after Miles calls him tubby or Hurley calling Sayid’s killing move in last years season 3 finale ‘break dancing’.
Another thing I loved about this episode is the depth of characterization of all these characters. Jack telling Kate that Locke wouldn;t kill her simply because Sawyer wouldn’t let him. This is a man who has admitted openly to loving her and he was openly saying he trusted his love rival because he knew he too loved her and wouldn’t allow her to be harmed…Jack loves Kate, Kate loves him, she also loves Sawyer and vice versa. However Juliet has also been added to the mix and her and Jack have a growing chemistry which is excellent. Lost is like real life, romance is never easy.
There is a beautiful moment between Sawyer and Kate about halfway through the ep where they discuss leaving or staying on the Island. Both have nothing to go back to yet she is hesitant that they can’t play house on the Island forever. Sawyer tells her maybe not but lets find out. Its a great moment to see two characters with such history over the course of the series discussing their future together and its even more exciting considering what we know about Kate after events on the Island at present.
As per usual we were provided with some great shocks and twists. I was not expecting the opener with Sayid on the golf course. I was truly suprised when he shot the other golfer and was a great set-up, pulling the viewer into the ep and Sayid’s flash-forward. The double crosses and triple crosses were fantastic as well leaving me and others not knowing who was playing who. From Sayid’s reaction when he kills Elsa it was obvious he cared for her if not loved her when he killed her and was a great play on how his on Island love Shannon died, her too being shot in the abdomen. The reveal of Sayid’s employer wasn’t exactly suprising as I could make out the voice but it serves up some great questions. So Ben too got off the Island or has he always been able to go to and fro??? Not only that but he has recruited Sayid and who knows who else into killing into people we can only assume from what he alludes to were responsible for the freighter and an unknown incident that resulted in Sayid going back on his word earlier in the episode when he said the Day he trusted Ben would be the day he sold his soul. Im guessing the freighter’s inhabitants despite what we have seen of the new characters that have arrived on Island will have their own purge of the Losties…
Great to see one of my fave characters appear again as well after missing the last episode. It also looks like Desmond will be playing a big part in the next couple of episodes as he, Sayid and Frank make their way back to the freighter. This is going to be interesting considering he was the first to have his suspicions when Charlie clued him in before he died that the freighter was indeed ‘NOT Penny’s Boat’.
Interesting things to be explored in future episodes are -
- Who is the R.G. on Naomi’s bracelet and is this the same bracelet that was on Elsa’s arm as she dies?
- Why do physical objects travel to the Island differently than electromagnetic signals?
- Why was there a 31 minute time difference?
- Why does Daniel say the results of his experiment are “not good” and “beyond weird”?
- Why does Daniel warn Frank to fly the helicopter out on the exact bearing that they flew in on?
- Why does Frank tell Daniel to hang up the phone if Minkowski answers?
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What happened to Jacob’s cabin?
- Why does Ben have a room full of different types of money, clothing and passports for himself?
- Why is the room hidden?
- What business does Ben have in those countries?
- Why does he need to use an alias?
One things for sure things are getting really interesting this season as if they weren’t already and ‘The Economist’ was a great addition which served to build on what has came before and to set up future suprises and episodes which I and im sure every other Lost obsessive are looking forward to.
