Lost: Not Following Doctor's Orders

“Namaste” was all about getting our bearings.

Sure, the episode was mostly about our slightly dazed (but not because of the drugs for that sub ride) and confused characters finding their bearings in their new settings (whether it was 1977 or 2007). It was also about us in the audience getting a chance to wade back into the pool slowly after a week off from the show that often leaves us channeling Hurley. (Uh...what?)

I usually think of “transitional episodes” as a necessary evil, but “Namaste” was filled with enough fun little moments and a surprisingly high amount of humor to keep us from feeling like we were spinning our wheels.

Let’s knock the ’07 stuff out of the way first because, frankly, there are a currently a LOT more people I care about in ’77. (1977 also has the added benefit of NOT featuring Cesar and Illana. I know it’s VERY early, but these two are still screaming Nikki and Paolo 2.0, and their only purpose seems to be that they were probably leading the outrigger that shot at Sawyer, Juliet and Co. in the ocean while they were travelling through time some episodes ago.)

That being said, I really liked the first and last 2007 sequences. I thought the plane crash was very well done (I liked the brief moment of tranquility after the turbulence that took Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid away). And Frank Lapidus (it’s still kinda weird seeing Jeff Fahey clean-shaven) reinforced the notion that he’s an awesome pilot, landing the plane in one piece after overshooting a runway on Hydra Island (probably the one Kate and Sawyer were working on as part of that chain gang when they were held captive by the Others).

After that, I mostly waited for the episode to go back to the Dharma days. Even the typically-excellent Michael Emerson came off as too cartoonishly bad in this episode. It was ok when Lapidus asked what was happening and Ben sarcastically/evil-ly responded “How would I know?” to cap the opening sequence, but having him coolly/evil-ly ask Sun “Wanna come?” when he announced plans to go to the main Island was too much. It felt like each line should have been followed by a rimshot (“Lost” version of a rimshot is that muted trombone noise right before the show goes to commercial.)

At least now we know why he was knocked out cold when Locke finds him. Sun may have become the first person in the history of ever to get the jump on Ben. She knocked him out with an outrigger paddle in the middle of a speech about getting back to his people, so Sun and Lapidus (who’d followed Sun into the jungle after she’d followed Ben) headed to the mainland.

They docked near the Others’ barracks and took part in one of the show’s spookiest sequences ever. I’m not even talking about the Smoke Monster apparently scanning them and deciding they didn’t deserve to be eaten (or have an arm ripped off). I’m talking about the entire sequence with Christian “I Never Use My Last Name When I Introduce Myself” Shephard slowly emerging from one of the lit houses and inviting Sun and Lapidus to follow him (that’d be a big “no thanks” for me). Inside he revealed a “Shining-esque” picture of Sun’s recent plane mates in 1977 and gave the understatement of the (21st) century by telling them “You have a bit of a journey ahead of you.”

What was most interesting to me in this scene wasn’t the revelation from the picture (we could see that coming as soon as Christian started scanning for photos), it was the idea that Sun (and Lapidus?) must apparently travel back in time to meet up with the rest of the crew. I can’t be the only one who was under the impression that the people from the Dharma days would have to be the ones to find a way to get back to the future (especially before that nasty purge).

Speaking of the nasty purge, leave it to Hurley (who is really the one character that speaks for the audience) to bring up the elephant in the room. I hadn’t realized how little Jorge Garcia has been given to do since “The Lie”, but it was good to have him back and pointing out how awesome Jin’s Korean was.

After he got over his initial shock (and awkwardly hugged Kate) Sawyer dropped the bomb on his friends that it was actually 1977 (loved Jack’s “of course it is” reaction) and got the idea to pass off his friends as new Dharma recruits that had arrived from a sub. He’d have to do it without Jin’s help, who bolted for the Flame (the telecom station) when he heard Sun was on the plane.

It was in the Flame that we met Radzinsky. If you recall, Radzinsky was Kelvin Inman’s original Hatch buddy in the Swan before Desmond arrived on the Island. That hatch got a bit of a shout out as Radzinsky was working on a model of the Swan as Jin came barging in asking if a plan had landed on the Island. Mostly though, Radzinsky seemed like an annoying, know-it-all irritable jerk, so I was a little disappointed in the character. (Then again, given that the character’s previous appearance was a splatter of blood on the ceiling, I don’t know what I was expecting.)

Maybe I was just annoyed because he was so eager to kill Sayid, who’d been wandering around in the jungle. Sawyer/LaFleur forced him to identify himself as an Other to save his life, but now Sayid is in lockup and being brought sandwiches by an old frenemy. Seriously, how great is it that young Ben of all people is the one bringing food to a captive Sayid? (If little Ben ever pummels Sayid with his fists, then I’ll really be freaking out!) Last we saw, Sayid was advising anyone who’d listen to do the opposite of what Ben says — so I guess he’ll be having ketchup with his sandwiches instead of mustard. (Also, what’s with this show and bringing sandwiches to captors? Whatever happened to gruel?)

Jack, Kate and Hurley are having a much easier time fitting into 1977 (despite that one particularly suspicious Dharma guy that was eyeballing Jack). I liked Jack’s tense meeting with a distracted Dr. Chang and his assignment as a workman/janitor (was this somehow Sawyer’s doing?) I also liked the scary moment when Kate wasn’t on the list before Juliet swooped in for the save. Did Juliet leave Kate’s name off before having a change of heart?

We don’t know because the players in this love square (and this episode) did a spectacular job of putting off the “big talks” they must have with each other. Instead, we got lovely, mostly wordless scenes (Juliet helping Sawyer gather clothes after learning Jack and Co. were back, Jack finding Juliet in Sawyer’s house, Sawyer staring at Kate on her porch) conveying what they couldn’t talk about yet, because they had to make sure the new arrivals’ cover was established first.

We DID get a great scene near the end when Jack came by Jim (not James) LaFleur’s house to game plan. Jack busted his chops about reading a book and drinking beer, while Sawyer responded with a pointed dig about Jack’s past failure as a leader. To his credit, Jack didn’t become indignant like he did in the past and seemed to take things in stride, while Sawyer seemed more concerned with re-establishing that he’s the man now (dog!)

This got me thinking (a rare occurrence). All this time, we’ve assumed Kate’s arrival on the Island would be the thing to shatter Sawyer’s perfect life on the Island. But what if it’s Jack’s return that really does him in? The Sawyer in “LaFleur” was a take-charge kind of guy, but seemed sweet and supportive. Now that Jack’s back on the Island, will Sawyer start acting (and drinking) like he’s got something to prove and revert back to his old wiseass, nickname-spouting (“Kong”, “Quickdraw”) self? What if THAT is what proves to be his ultimate undoing?

So what’d you think of this episode? Where the hell is Faraday? (Sawyer said he’s “not here anymore”, but knowing his smartass tendencies, I take that to mean that Faraday lost [*boom* “Lost”!] his mind, not that he actually went somewhere.) Why did Sun and some of the other ’07-Ups not travel back to 1977 (other than to mess with Jin)? (I can understand Ben not being back there, since 1977 already has a Ben Linus, and I can understand Locke not making the trip since he has to be in the same time period as Ben so Ben can mess with him.)

Also, are we really supposed to believe Sawyer has a sweatshirt that fits Hurley well? Is Sayid destined to really become an Other? (I don’t see any way Sawyer can get him out any other way) Finally, was there a point to Ethan being revealed as Amy and Horace’s baby (other than to creep Juliet out) and are we really supposed to believe Ethan was 26 or 27 in 2004?