Killer Instinct

Okay go ahead. Try to change the things you hate the most about yourself. You can do it!

Unless you were on that whole Oceanic 815 thing. In that case, don’t bother. Because try as you might to escape your demons (by running to the Dominican Republic to do good deeds, by denouncing your homicidal ways, by promising never to trust anyone again, etc.), the Island will always find them, and bring them back to you for a face-to-face meeting.

Don’t believe me? Ask Mr. Sayid Jarrah. Because last night's whirlwind of "He's Our You" offering was so chock-full with mythology-shaking events, self-referential nuance and musical and literary references, I'm gonna go with a scene-by-scene recap, just to make sure we catch everything...

11 Secret Herbs and Spices Short of a Bucket
How long has Sayid been a cold, quiet killer? Quite a while, according to the opening scene. In it, young Sayid offs a clucker as a substitute act of manhood for his weak older brother. This scene served mainly to set up the rest of Sayid’s assassin storyline, but I thought it marked another interesting parallel: Eko. As in Mr. Eko. As a child, Eko killed an unarmed, innocent village elder so his brother Yemi wouldn’t have to. Thus, Eko becomes the killer and Yemi becomes the priest. I wonder if there’s some tie-in here, an implication that murderous anti-heroes like Eko and Sayid were never supposed to become what they did, but that by intervening in fate, they were forced into a lifestyle they hated.


Sayidwich
Once again, Sayid is served a sandwich by the young, wannabe Hostile Ben Linus. And once again, a tome from the Dharma Book Club made a brief appearance. This week’s selection: A Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda, who was a self-proclaimed shaman (communicator with the spirit world) in South America. In A Separate Reality, Castaneda and his controversial tutor, Don Juan Matus, get wasted on some plant extract (Hello, John Locke’s secret recipe!) in an attempt to, "perceive energy directly as it flows through the universe.”

So good was this book, that young Ben read it twice. Why? Because, unable to intrinsically feel a communion with the Island due to his mere, unimportant mortality, Ben tries to learn it in a book. And like Linus, Castaneda’s teachings and claims were beloved by his devotees, and questioned as madness by his dissenters. Methinks I’ve got a new book to read.

But aside from chicken salad sandwiches and tales of South American Shamanism, Ben asks Sayid about his hostile leader, Richard, and inquires as to whether Sayid is there to recover him. It is here that Sayid sees his opening – his “purpose” as he later describes it – and that steely cold look in his eye is foreboding, to be sure.

Another One Bites the Dust
Next up, another tubby middle eastern man falls victim to the unholy alliance between Sayid and Ben. This is technically a “flashback,” when compared to the Young-Ben-and-Sayid-in-prison scenes. Of course, those prison scenes occur in 1977 while this one occurs in 2005ish. Confused? Don’t be.

Here’s what I think the point of the Sayid and Ben Linus Murder Club flashbacks were all about: foreshadowing a role reversal. In 2005, Ben Linus manipulated Sayid by getting him to murder his enemies with the threat that his friends were in danger. Three years later, Sayid (and Jack, Kate, et al.) travel back in time to 1977, where Sayid meets the younger version of his puppet-master nemesis. But this time, Sayid wants to be the one pulling the strings. The contrasting scenes – where the two men traded off holding all the cards in different eras – were a nice new twist on the old flashback technique. It wasn’t the most exciting storytelling ever (“Oh wow, Sayid killed another guy and Ben’s a dick in a stupid hat. Never saw that coming.”) but I liked the juxtaposition of power plays between the two.

I’ll Bring Home the Turkey if You Bring Home the Bacon
Back to Jim LaFleur and his bacon-burning significant Other, Juliet, playing house in Dharmaville. Apart from the ever-dramatic love rhombus of Juliet, Sawyer, Jack and Kate, there’s a nice point in here made regarding Sayid: what if he tells? Juliet knows that if the Dharma Initiative gets the truth out of Sayid, they’ll find out about LaFleur, herself, Miles and Jin; and the jig will be up. It’s interesting how settled and content the four Left-Behinders have become in their new roles. And interesting how all they wanted when Locke left was for the Oceanic Six to come back. Careful what you wish for.

Before the LaFleur’s can prognosticate about Sayid’s loose tongue, Horace pays a visit. And because Horace is incapable of bearing good news, we learn about the ominous Oldham, the “psychopath” who Horace believes can get the truth out of Sayid. LaFleur’s face said it all, here. Oldham is bad news (and as we learn later, crazy news). Sawyer storms down to the Dharma jail to warn Sayid. But we see quickly during this contentious meeting that Sayid plans to do things his own way, no matter the cost. Oh how history doth repeat itself on this Island.

Hurley is Funny
“They’re together. Like they live together, you know, not as roommates. You know, ‘together,’ like you guys were? I thought it was kinda obvious. I mean, who couldn’t see that coming?”
That’s really all that needs to be said about this scene. Brilliant.


Awkward Family Moment
Welcome back, Uncle Rico! Napoleon Dynamite’s bastard uncle and Ben Linus’ bastard father made a return appearance last night, taunting Sayid with threats of Oldham’s depravity. When young Ben enters with (yet another!) sandwich for Sayid, Roger the Workman goes ballistic, slamming Ben into the prison bars. While child abuse is always sick and disturbing, it was interesting watching Ben (albeit 13-year-old-Ben) squirm. He still hadn’t learned how to emit that façade of toughness.

At this point, I’d like to credit Dharma Blog viewer and Dharma Blog Lost Party regular (he’s devoted) Jeff H. with the joke of the night. After Roger threw the tray of food at the wall, Jeff noted, “Now he’s gonna have to clean that up.” Nice.

Baby Come Back to Me
In the Dominican Republic, we see Ben visiting Sayid with much the same purpose that Locke did: to get Sayid to come back. Of course, Locke shot Sayid straight while Ben manipulated him and dangled the “your friends are in danger” carrot. But what else is new? Nothing ground-breaking here, but we get a little further glimpse of how Sayid got roped back into Ben Linus’ Wild Ride. And while it’s easier to cheer for John Locke than Ben Linus, you have to admit: Ben’s much more persuasive. “You’re a killer, Sayid.” That scathing quote would stick with Sayid, it turns out.

He’s Their Him
Finally, we meet the titular He from last night’s episode when the Dharma gang drags Sayid out into the jungle for his long-awaited encounter with Mr. Oldham (Fun note, Charlie and Liam's band, Drive Shaft, got their start at a bar on Oldham St. in Manchester!). Dude. They were not kidding about what a sick bastard this guy was. I half expected him to tell Sayid that, “It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again,” or maybe to refer to Hurley as, “a great big fat person.” This guy oozed creepiness in a way that makes Ben Linus look like a big, cuddly teddy bear.Second multimedia sidenote. In addition to the book Sayid received in jail, he was privy to Oldham’s choice of music upon arriving: an Ink Spots song called “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Baby).” which includes the line, "Dream a while, scheme a while; You're sure to find happiness and I guess; All those things you've always pined for…” Indeed, Sayid’s about to dream a while.

So we learned this fun fact: The Dharma Initiative has truth serum! And it is administered by Mr. Oldham, whose sideways, disheveled countenance and low, drawly, subdued speech pattern perfectly accompany his persona. The truth serum works on Sayid, who spills the beans about his entire story, including the stuff that hasn’t happened yet. Luckily for Sayid, it sounds as crazy to Oldham and Horace as I do when I try to describe this show to the uninitiated. “I’m from the future, and you’re all gonna die!” Yeah sure, whack job. The Dharma folk weren’t buying it, and that bought Sayid a little time.

Women: Can’t Trust ‘em and They Make You Buy ‘em Expensive Scotch
We then cut to the bar, where Sayid is downing the hard stuff like a Shepherd man on a bender. And what’s he drinking? MacCutcheon Scotch, the very same scotch that Charles Widmore uses to explain to Desmond that he’ll never be a great man. And the same scotch that Charlie, Hurley and Desmond get sloppy on before Desmond reveals his precognitive secrets to Charlie on the beach. Must be some good stuff. Especially for $120/glass.

And who should join Sayid at the bar, but his eventual captor Ilana. We know her from the Ajira 316 flight, and here we see how she seduced Sayid. Turns out, she’s a bounty hunter working for the man who Sayid killed in that amazing golf course scene last season. Or so she says. I still think she’s got a more important boss (read: Ben, Hawking or Widmore). She pulls the old “Let’s get naked and – just kidding I’m an assassin” maneuver, and delivers Sayid to Ajira 316, where the appearance of the rest of the Oceanic Six + Ben gives Sayid an even bigger knot in his stomach.

Grease Monkeys
I hate going to the mechanic. I always feel like I’m getting ripped off. But show me the Jiffy Lube where Kate and Juliet are working side by side, and they can replace all the made-up parts they want. I’ll pay whatever they ask. Jackpot.

The Democratic Process
Much like the Others held a trial for Juliet, we see their rivals, the Dharma Initiative, holding a trial for Sayid. After some back and forth about the dangers of their captor, Amy chimes in with a Helen Lovejoy, "Won’t somebody please think of the children,” moment, and the vote is “unanimously” cast to take out Sayid.

I thought this scene was a cool reflection on cultural misunderstandings. The whole thing mirrored Juliet’s Trial by Others, where paranoia carried the day and the culprit was sentenced harshly. Despite Dharma’s seemingly benevolent and just societal norms (“Yes, we are (civilized). We have a rule of law,” said Horace), they’re just as susceptible to the same fearful, paranoid savagery as their barbaric, “Hostile” enemies.


I Found My Special Purpose
Yes, that section heading is a quote from The Jerk. You’re welcome.

But seriously, the more I think about (and watch) the final unfolding of “He’s Our You,” the more I like it. Sayid calmly tells Sawyer to quit interfering and let him carry out his purpose. Soon, we see that his purpose involved using an unmanned, flaming Dharma Van used to create a distraction.

Let’s cut to the good stuff here. Sayid and Ben cut each other a deal. Ben would help free Sayid, if Sayid would take Ben back to the Hostiles. Ben could hold up his end of this deal. But Sayid never intended to.

Freed from the Dharma prison, Sayid and Ben begin their escape back to Hostile territory. But when Jin intervenes, Sayid realizes that the time is now for his master plan. He knocks Jin out to prevent any interference. And then, in the heart-wrenchingly reluctant murder to end all heart-wrenchingly reluctant murders, Sayid pulls the trigger on Benjamin Linus, after telling him, “You were right about me. I am a killer.”


What it All Means
This one is big. The implications here are pretty huge. And I think we’re all probably asking ourselves the same question: if, in 2007, Sayid went back to 1977 and killed 13-year-old Ben Linus, what happens to the Ben who is existing in 2007?

And make no mistake: I think Ben’s dead. I don’t think the writers would drop that bombshell on us and make us wait a week, only to say, “Oh man, just kidding! It’s a puncture wound! Close one, though, right?!” That would anger the masses.

A few thoughts are thumb-wrestling in my suddenly incapable brain.

1. Whatever happened, happened. The Faraday mantra. If we’re to believe this, then either Ben isn’t dead (again, this is unlikely) or the things that Ben does that significantly contribute to the events from 1977-2007 are going to need to be accomplished by someone else. Somebody else will have to Purge Dharma. Someone else will lead the Hostiles to prosperity. Someone else will build the Swan Station. Someone else will bring in a fertility doctor. In this instance, the universe is course-correcting for Ben’s death to ensure that all the necessary things happen to create the future that Fate wants.

OR

2. This changes everything. This is the anti-Faraday mantra. Ben Linus is dead, and the things he does and says and effects from 1977-2007 will cease to exist and transpire. If this is the case, is there an alternate future created by a world in which those actions don’t happen? For instance, if Ben carved his name on a tree in 1980, is there an alternate future now where that tree remains un-carved, because Ben is murdered in 1977? And if so, is that alternate future where Frank and Sun are?

OR

3. Could fate somehow resurrect Ben Linus so that he may do what he needs to do? I think it could – either as a living, breathing person, or... as a ghost. Could this, in some way, explain Christian and Claire? This is my grand theory of the night (forgive me, it’s late and I’m out of MacCutcheon’s Scotch).

If people are killed before they’re supposed to die (“supposed to” according to fate), they are allowed to continue to exist in an in-between state. While in that state, they are required to fulfill and complete the “milestones” of fate’s master plan that they were assigned. So in this example, Christian died in that bender before he did what fate required of him: to get Jack to the Island, to get Michael to redeem himself, to get Locke to turn the wheel, etc. So until Christian completes these assignments, he’s held captive in a not-quite-living-or-dead state.

This would seem to support some very long-held LOST theories about death. Boone, Shannon, Eko and many others only died once they had battled and made peace with their demons. Michael, Jack and (arguably) Locke were not allowed to kill themselves until they went back and dealt with theirs. But maybe, if the Island can’t prevent someone from physically dying (a freak heart attack in Christian’s case, a vicious muder in Young Ben’s), they require those people to continue their existence in a paranormal state, guiding others along fate’s preferred course.


Crazy, I know. Please feel free to pick it apart in the comments, and offer your own two cents. It's late, so I’m not going to pretend to grasp every subtlety and solve every mystery right now. But I’d love to know what you think about my “Ghosts Doing Fate’s Bidding” theory, the “Whatever Happened, Happened” mantra or the “Oh Shit, Sayid Screwed Up Everything,” idea.

Oh, and if it helps… the next two episodes are titled, “Whatever Happened, Happened” and “Dead is Dead.” So have fun with that one.

Namaste.
Charlie