One of Them
Air Date: 02/15/2006
We open in FLASHBACK on an Iraqi bunker during the first Gulf War. As bombs continue to fall around them, a brutal Republican Guard commander urges his soldiers to destroy their documents before it's too late. The door is kicked in and a squad of American soldiers captures the Iraqi soldiers. They want to know who is in charge and thankfully one of the new prisoners speaks English. Sayid.
Sayid is taken aside for questioning and asked where the commander, Tariq, is. But Sayid is a loyal member of the Republican Guard, so he tells the Americans that Tariq fled long before they arrived. And it looks like the Americans believe him. Until he is led into a room to find Tariq tied to a chair in front of him.
On the island, Rousseau has been spotted near the camp on the beach. And when Sayid asks what she is doing there, she tells him she was looking for him. She leads him through the jungle; she has something important to show him. They arrive in a clearing to find a man hanging in a net from a tree. Rousseau has given them a prisoner.
Back in FLASHBACK, Sayid is being used to translate the interrogation of his own commanding officer. The Americans are looking for a missing helicopter pilot and they know Tariq can lead them to him. But the commander refuses to cooperate. And Sayid's continuing loyalty clouds his own involvement, despite the threats of what's to come.
Sayid is introduced to a man who has some information about what kind of man Sayid's boss really is. He tells Sayid it is very important they find the missing helicopter pilot, but he knows Tariq will never talk to him. That's why Sayid is going to have to make him talk to him. And so Sayid goes back inside the holding room with Tariq. Only this time he brings a few things with him. Horrible things...
Back in the Hatch now, Sayid is "talking" to this prisoner. And honestly, the guy tells a very compelling story. It sounds like he's a victim in all of this, just like the rest of them. And Sayid may have more in common with this man than he realizes. But he wants to be sure. After what he has been through, Sayid needs to be sure. And we see just how much Sayid has learned since that dark day back in Iraq with Tariq. Even after he swore never do anything like that again.
But, you see... that's the thing about human nature. We all have a dark side. And if we need something badly enough, there is almost no limit to what we will do, or who we will become in order to get it.
Observations/speculation:
* The U.S. military leader in charge of the soldier who apprehend Sayid is Kate's step-father, seen in a flashback earlier this season. At one point he asks Sayid if he has a wife or children and is seen looking down at a picture of Kate.
* Sayid remains convinced the newcomer, Henry Gale, is one of the Others. As viewers, we're left wondering if that's the case or not.
* In "The Wizard of Oz," Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle. At the end that story, the Wizard flies off in a balloon.
* But, as a poster here notes, there's another "Henry Gale" as well.
* It turns out that the U.S. intelligence guy who convinces Sayid to torture his former boss speaks Iraqi Arabic. A fact that he doesn't reveal to Sayid until much later in the flashback. Why didn't he handle the interrogation of Sayid's boss himself? Why did he choose to cultivate Sayid as a torturer? Cruelty? Expedience? Some deeper, darker purpose?
* In season one we're led to believe Sayid was a interrogator for the Republican Guard. What we learned last night, though, is he learned his skills from the U.S. military.
* When the security system counts all the way down it displays what looks like Egyptian hieroglyphs. Here's a screen shot couple with a message board poster's proposed translation:
* It sounded like the Hatch's blast doors were starting to close when the timer ran down.
* Will the fact that the timer ran out draw the attention of anyone, i.e. the heads of the Dharma Initiative, wherever they are?
* Gale says his wife became ill--another reference to people getting sick. Danielle referenced members of her crew becoming sick. Desmond, down in the Hatch, seems surprised when Locke told him none of the crash survivors had become ill. So, what's up with this mystery illness we hear about but never see?
* Some of the mysterious numbers show up at the bottom of video the intelligence guy shows to Sayid.
* Some folks say Sawyer may come to regret squishing that frog.
Other stuff
* In the most recent official "Lost" podcast, the creators promise we'll know why the plane crashed by the end of this season.
* See a preview for the next new episode (next week it's a rerun of the show's pilot).
* See promo shots for the next new episode.
* See screen captures from "One of Them."
* See the Best "Lost" Sites on the Web.
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