Namaste, "Namaste"

Sawyer once again took charge in this episode, although this time it was more of a happenstance to the plot; Lost needed to bring all the Oceanic Sixers into the Dharma fold, and they used last night to show the whys and hows, as well as plant plenty of hints about where the next few episodes will lead. So while it lacked the focus of the past few episodes, it was a necessary step in the arc of the show.

Major questions/teases:

-Why didn't Sun or Lapidus flash back to 1977 with the rest of them?

-According to Sawyer, Faraday was around -- but then he left. Where'd he go? (And how will the show bring him back?)

-We met Radzinsky, who according to Kelvin Inman was in the Swan hatch before Desmond got there -- until he couldn't take it anymore and blew his brains out. Assuming that this story is true, how does he end up stuck in the Swan hatch and suicidal? (Maybe from being such a tag-along buzzkill: Sawyer just wanted to talk to Sayid alone, darn it!)

-Christian to Sun and Lapidus: "You've got a long journey ahead of you." The implication being, of course, that they'll be able to travel back to 1977. So how do they get there? And when they go, what does that leave Locke, Ben, Caesar, and Ilana to do?

-Sawyer's conversation with Jack at the episode's end was an unexpected surprise and a pleasant reminder that as much as we all root for him, he's still kind of a jerk. Flaunting his new leadership role in Jack's face -- even assigning Jack to janitorial duties -- will certainly create a power struggle down the line, no? (And, uh, what is the plan? You're back, guys -- what else are we supposed to do? Creating another goal will be something the writers need to establish quickly, especially since the Purge isn't happening anytime soon.)

-Likewise, Sawyer's wave to Kate was pretty loaded. I still say it doesn't make much sense -- Sawyer and Juliet are in an established relationship, and Sawyer had a couple months worth of a fling with Kate three years ago -- but Lost has always been on less than solid footing with this love quadrangle. (Snap prediction: at the show's end, Jack ends up with Kate, but Juliet dies -- karmic payback for Sawyer's murderous past.)

Notable moments:

-Turns out the runway that Sawyer and Kate helped the Others build in Season 3 came in handy after all. Does that mean the Others -- perhaps on orders from Jacob -- knew that particular plane was going to have to crash land in the future? Or were they building it for someone else?

-After the crash, Caesar referred to Ilana as "lady" -- which is the first real confirmation we have that the two didn't know each other before boarding the plane. (We still don't have the slightest hint about why Caesar was flying, nor why Ilana had Sayid in custody.)

-Why, oh why, did I not figure out that Amy's baby was Ethan? It makes ridiculously perfect sense -- and yet he's the only male character I forgot about in my Who's Amy's Baby article. What a botch.

-The wordless conversations between Jin and Sayid, and Sawyer and Sayid, were utterly fantastic. As a pure test of acting abilities, they all passed with flying colors:

Sawyer: Listen, clearly you can tell something's not right here. I'm in a Dharma jumpsuit, and so is this guy whom you've never met. The safest thing we can do right now is pretend you're a "hostile" -- it's way too complicated to go with the truth, and it'll blow my cover, okay?
Sayid: Well obviously, this isn't an ideal situation, and I wish you all weren't pointing guns at me. But after all we've been through, I trust you, for better of worse, and you're right -- for now, it looks like it's best if we keep up whatever charade you're playing. So fine. Not only will I play along and say I'm an Other, I'll get right into the character. "That is not what we call ourselves, but yes, I'm a 'hostile'."

Sawyer: Thanks, man. I promise I'll come up with a plan, but just hold tight for now.

Sayid. Yeah, yeah. But if you forget about me in this jail cell, I'm kicking your ass. Oh look, it's Ben.

-The Ben reveal -- yet another one of those "don't reveal their face even though everybody knows immediately who it is -- was great, but I really hope they do sort of a "fill-in episode" that details what happened for the past three years. Or heck, a few fill-in episodes. Obviously, Sawyer and company must be fully aware that Young Ben is living among them, and they must know a lot more details about the "hostiles," and the nature of the truce, than we do. Catch the audience up to date on what the characters know, ASAP.

Overall, well done. As long as they don't overplay the Kate/Sawyer thing next week, it'll be interesting to see where the show goes from here and what plan, if any, Sawyer cooks up.

TAGS: Frank Lapidus, Jack, Juliet, Kate, Namaste, Sawyer, Sayid, Season 5, Sun, Young Ben
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