Sundown

Did you just feel that? That was LOST rearing back and cold cocking you right in your stupid face with a fistful of awesome!

Alternaverse – Martin Keamy, Egg Gourmand

So things pick up in the Alternaverse with Sayid arriving at Nadia’s doorstep and they lovingly embrace. Fantastic, we think, Sayid finally got the woman he’s longed for ever since season 1. Not so fast LOST says; she’s married to his brother. Thanks to the terrible things he did as an Iraqi torturer Sayid did feel worthy enough of Nadia and so he pushed her into the arms of his worthless brother. Still there is the underlying love there which really makes for an uncomfortable family dining experience. Mommy why does Uncle Sayid have this naked picture of you?

As he’s done all series long Sayid is still trying to prove that he isn’t the man he once was. And once again a situation presents itself to show that he really hasn’t changed at all. His brother is paying “interest” to a loan shark and needs Sayid to take care of him. Sayid says no and Omar gets stabbed in the chest and sent to the hospital (Hi Jack!). Now Sayid is ready for vengeance but Nadia stays his hand and gets him to watch over the children. Tragedy averted right? Wrong – the loan shark sends his boys to pick up Sayid. At this point it’s like kicking a sleeping grizzly bear until it wakes up and mauls you. Thinks aren’t going to turn out well for these guys.

Turns out the loan shark is our good friend Martin Keamy - mercenary, Alex killer, and cooker of a mean omelet. He isn’t half way through with his eggs before Sayid has killed both his goons and put a bullet in his chest. Try as you might Sayid you cannot fight the darkness inside you. Gosh I wonder if this will parallel with what happens on the Island…

Before Sayid flees the scene of the crime he finds Jin locked up in a meat freezer. Looks like his watch delivery didn’t go well. Surely Martin Keamy wasn’t the guy Sun’s dad was trying to bribe? He seems too low on the totem pole to get Mr. Piak’s attention. Who’s above him? Widmore perhaps?

The Island – Sayid Can’t Fight That Feelin’

Back on the Island Sayid is a little perturbed by Jack’s revelation that the Others want him dead so he goes and finds Dogen to get some answers. Things don’t stay civil long and soon the boys are engaged in some mighty fisticuffs. Eventually Dogen’s bearded kung fu gets the best of Sayid’s greasy hair karate and he has him in a position to kill him. Just then Dogen’s beloved baseball falls to the ground and brings him a level head. He exiles Sayid rather than killing him.

Outside the Temple Evil Locke and Claire have reached the edge of the Temple grounds. Evil Locke still seems to be unable to cross the ash line and Claire doesn’t seem to be able to clear it away and let him pass. Interesting. Evil Locke needs someone to give the Others a message and he picks Claire. Why not Sawyer she asks? Where the hell is Sawyer I ask? We haven’t seen him since the freaky name cave! And now that I think about it – where’s Jin? Last episode he was going to take Claire to the Temple to “get her baby” now he’s gone too!

Claire enters the Temple and gives them Evil Locke’s message which basically is just “he has a message but he wants to deliver it to Dogen outside the Temple”. A message of a message really. Dogen, being a wise samurai, sends Sayid instead. Not before giving him a knife and telling him to kill that Evil Locke mother f#@ker dead as soon as he sees him. No chatting about the weather. No asking about his kids. Dead before he even speaks. Sayid heads out leaving Miles and a recently returned Kate standing around doing nothing. “Where’s Sheppard and Reyes” Lennon Glasses asks but nobody answers cause nobody really gives a damn about him unless he’s translating Japanese.

Sayid meets up with Evil Locke. “What’s up Sayid” says Evil Locke. “This knife in your heart is what is in fact up good sir” says Sayid and he stabs him. “Dude. That was totally harsh, you put a hole my favorite Hanes brand t-shirt! How am I going to mack on honeys now?” replies Evil Locke. Evil Locke then promises Sayid anything he wants if he delivers his message back to the Temple (Man, there are a lot of messages going in and out of there!). Sayid wants Nadia but she’s dead. “It aint no thang but a chicken wang” Evil Locke says to that. I have no idea why today I’ve decided to make Evil Locke talk in jive, just go with it.

At this point I’m getting a super “I am the devil” vibe from Black Shirt. The way he’s manipulating people is classic Lucifer. He’s promising people anything they want free and easy just follow him whereas Jacob works in mysterious ways yet provides people what they want but not without sacrifice, very God-like there. Some might still be believing the whole Black Shirt “I’m really the good guy here” (perhaps thinking it’s one of LOST’s famous twists) but I’m going to have to be on Team Jacob with this one.

So Sayid returns with the message telling everyone that they have till sundown to get the fug out or Black Shirt will kill them. People start to bail once they find out they don’t have to stay including former Oceanic stewardess Cindy. Sayid once again tracks down Dogen and confronts him about the whole sending him to Evil Locke to die thing. Dogen shares a touching tale about him killing his son drunk driving, explaining his attachment to the baseball, and how Jacob gave his son back his life but forbade him from ever seeing him again (once again the give you what you want but requiring a sacrifice). It looks for a moment that Dogen’s sad tale has touched Sayid’s heart but no, it’s now infected fully by Black Shirt, and he drowns him. Lennon Glasses shows up just long enough to say Dogen was the only thing keeping Evil Locke out and then gets his throat sliced. That’s pretty much when all hell breaks loose.

Black Smoke rushes in and starts killing anybody it finds. Ileyna, Frank, Ben, and Sun show up to rescued Miles and Kate. Kate leaves them to save Claire who, in case you were wondering, is still batshit insane and singing Catch a Falling Star. Illeyna and crew escape via Hurley’s secret door and Kate is left to look over the wreckage Black Smoke has wrought. It’s probably about this time that she feels like perhaps she made the wrong choice. Evil Locke gives a creepy smile and starts to lead his followers (where’d they all come from? Were they Others who left the Temple and became his? Were they hiding in the jungle waiting for his attack?) away. Thus concluding one crazy ass episode!

Some points to add:
- Dogen is somehow attached to the potency of the ash that protects things from Black Shirt. Once he was dead that ash didn’t mean anything and Black Smoke flew into the Temple.

- Will Dogen and Lennon Glasses come back to life since their dead bodies are floating in the spring that was supposed to heal Sayid or is that thing’s magic gone and Sayid only came alive again due to Black Shirt?

- All of the flashsideways up until now have shown how the character they’ve been focused on has changed for the better with no crash. Not this one. Sayid is still the same killer that he was in all timelines. He’s also the first flashsideways we’ve seen for somebody on Black Shirt’s side. Does that mean something? People on Jacob’s side improve in the alternaverse whereas Black Shirt followers remain the same? Something interesting to note? When Jacob visited Sayid last season it was just as Nadia was killed by a car. Everyone else met Jacob in much happier circumstances. Does that mean something?

- Where were Sawyer and Jin?? If they’re seemingly with Evil Locke then why didn’t they show up during the big attack?

- Next week it looks like Ben’s traumatic but brief talk with Sayid pushed him over the edge regarding his guilt on killing Jacob. He’s going to dig up Locke’s body and, hopefully, resurrect him somehow. I’d love to see Evil Locke vs. Good Locke and feel that Locke’s story arch isn’t over quite yet. I want him to find out why he was special!