Things I Noticed – "Enter 77" by Vozzek69

Sayid, Kate, Locke... This week's episode definitely had an oldschool feel to it. Two straight weeks without Jack and I'm still not missing that scenario. I think most of us are enjoying seeing the other 815'ers again. Things I noticed:

Sawyer's Gettin' Soft
I really thought it would be easy for the 'old' Sawyer to fall back into his comfy leather 1st class seat, and it appears that he did too. But in reality we're seeing a softer, more vulnerable Sawyer these days. Still lamenting the loss of his stash he loses a verbal joust with Paulo (of all people) and then gets thorougly schlacked by Hurley at ping-pong. Sawyer lost some social status while he was gone.

It's easy to argue that Sawyer probably needed to be knocked down a peg, but it was kinda sad to watch him fiddle with the glasses Kate gave him and worry over her. Like many others, his character is evolving. In a reverse role of when Sawyer helped Hurley with some lady advice last season, Hurley comes unbidden to Sawyer's aid this time. Watching that scene, I thought his sage advice was hauntingly Locke-ish.


"Who the Hell Are You?"
Sawyer funnily asks the question we've all been asking. Seems the writers are really straining to casually insert Nikki/Paulo into everyday life, but they still seem to stick out a bit. Maybe after one of them has a flashback episode we'll be a little more accepting. Speaking of which, the "Nun turned stripper" story on both PlayPen magazines could've been a nod toward Nikki's own episode (I read this somewhere on Dark's site) but the interesting headline on one of those mags was something along the lines of "On the beach of sin". Another nod toward the 'everyone has done something bad' theory.


Encounters
Forget the guy with the eyepatch... of particular interest last night was Danielle. Her disappearing act last night was eerily reminiscent of the 1st season when she led them to the Black Rock and then just took off into the jungle. Here she goes again, only this time Sayid questions her.

"I have survived this long by avoiding these types of encounters."

This was a very strange thing to say. Here's someone who was hellbent on getting her child back from the Others during season one, yet now she's got three armed and capable people with her on a joint mission to find Jack AND Alex... and she's uninterested? Sorry, that just doesn't add up. Either Danielle isn't who she says she is (which is a distinct possibility) or she knows a LOT more than she lets on.

Looking back at LOST, most of the things found in the jungle are nothing but a series of 'encounters' - one after the other. The polar bears, the Black Rock, the crashed Beechcraft, the Pearl Station, etc... etc... etc... the list goes on and on. If you follow my belief that many of these things were created by the very thoughts within the minds of the island's inhabitants, then perhaps Danielle has learned to avoid these encounters by NOT playing into them the way Sayid/Locke/Kate played into this one. Maybe these encounters are akin to the test Yoda put Luke through at the dark cave on Dagobah. What's in there? Only what you bring with you. Stretching it? Sure. But the thought went through my head after Rousseau used the word 'encounters'.

I'm thinking Danielle knows a great deal more about how the island works than we originally thought. Whichever way you look at it, she remains one of the best kept secrets of the show.


Sayid Did Some BAD $%&#
Wow... pouring boiling oil over an innocent woman's arms? Even I was sure that woman's husband had the wrong guy. But it turns out Sayid did do those things, which were every bit as bad as he's been hinting at for the last two seasons. I thought Naveen Andrews did a great acting job this episode, by the way.

Kicked, beaten, made to drink from a bowl like a dog - nothing hurt Sayid more than being forgiven by the woman he tortured. It seemed it would've been easier had she hated him, but instead she taught him lessons in compassion that would carry over onto the island. Sayid sparing Mikhail's life could've easily been him passing one of the island's character 'tests' we've seen so many times before.


The Flame Station Storage Facility Lounge Butcher Shop Diner

Anyone watching last night's episode could tell there was something fishy about the whole Flame Station. From the moment they walked in, it seemed a hodgepodge of mismatched crap, bad lamps, orange furniture, and strange equipment. We've got a satellite dish and computers that can speak to the outside world right next to a dinosaur of a typewriter. It just felt 'off'.

And it's funny how things seem to work out. In season two, we find a glass eye. There must be a one-eyed man it goes to, right? Sure there is. And hey, he's Russian, so he must drink vodka right? Of course he does. Not only that, but he can remove a bullet and expertly stitch an arm closed. Hell, there was even a nice little metal dish to drop the bullet into. Clink! Because hey, what kind of bullet removal would it be without a metal dish?

Kate said it. "It doesn't make any sense".

Into the generic basement with the generic D.I. boxes. Onto the generic Dharma binders containing what? More no-frills info on stuff we already know: 'operations' and the food drop. I'm sure all the jumpsuits said 'work man' on them, too. This is rationalization at the highest level, using the least amount of possible info. Oh, except for the one thing in the whole Flame Station that wasn't a Dharma-brand product: the bullets Kate took. Did you catch what they were? They were MARSHAL's. How very, very convenient.

Yes, I'm being facetious here... but at the same time, I'm really not. Almost everything that needs rationalization gets it. The cupboard contains Dharma crackers. The freezers contain sides of beef, obviously from the cows outside. "Get some rope"... and of course there is rope... Sayid hogties Mikhail, and I'm willing to bet he's very experienced at such a thing. And surprise surprise - there's somehow a knife, and Mikhail escapes. When? As soon as no one's looking.


Locke = Gilligan
Causing Boone's death... imploding the swan hatch... burning down the flame station... Locke is fast becoming the island's Gilligan. Soon he'll be locking everyone in a bamboo jail while the rescue plane flies overhead. I can imagine Jack smacking him in the head with his hat - if Jack had a hat. Maybe Jack should work on sleeves first.


Sayid - an Army of One

Sayid totally rocked last night. Kate and Locke were nothing but cheap sidekicks in the wake of his greatness. He takes a bullet, yet still delivers hip throws. He serves up knuckle sandwiches to go with the tea. Over the course of the episode, he gives Mikhail and Klugh both ends of his rifle. He notes the saddle height without blinking... he reveals the trapdoor with the flourish of an accomplished magician. I think he had The Glow this episode or something.

Follow the conversation he has with their host, and you'll see that all the info Mikhail gives them comes after Sayid's already mentioned it. The cable, the submarine - Sayid was testing him to see if he'd lie. And I loved the way he taunted patch-eye at the end. "I didn't say YOU were our ticket... did I? I've got the pimp of all schematic maps right here, chief." PUNKED. It was good to finally see one of 'our guys' getting the upper hand.


Death Wish x 2
I'm not sure exactly why both Mikhail and Ms. Klugh were willing to die, or what they were trying to protect. The obvious answer would be the location of the Others barracks, but it just seemed more important than that. I'm almost positive Mikhail was about to turn the gun on himself after he shot Klugh, though. His deathwish was evident by the end of the episode, when he practically begged Sayid to kill him through direct threats. Next week's preview practically confims it, where it seems he's going out like that dude at the beginning of 'The Running Man'.


"And it cheats..."
It's funny how Locke would be the one to find the computer. It was even stranger how he'd be drawn to it, considering what happened the last time. For some reason I believe Mikhail's assertion that he couldn't beat the chessgame. Programmed by three grand masters, yet Locke beats it (twice)? Pretty far fetched. But if you've been reading my posts before, you already know what I'm going to tell you: Locke beat the computer because he believed he could.

And technically, he didn't really beat it at all. Despite the CHECKMATE message, the computer still could've moved his bishop to protect his king. A lot of people will claim this to be a mistake by the writers, but this is something I really don't think they'd overlook. I'm thinking the computer gave it up to Locke - or rather, Locke saw what he wanted to see on the screen. Much the same way Michael saw what he wanted to see on the screen too.

The coms being down, the sonar being inoperable... those things were just stepping stones on the path to Locke pushing yet another button. Yet when he pushed it, he had no idea what the consequences were. And here's the interesting part: Sayid knew of the explosives. Locke knew of the 77 code. Neither one knew of the other. Only when they both interacted with each other did the station blow up. Recognition dawns on Sayid's face as he says "Meaning what?"... and then BOOM! The C4 charges go off. Hmmm.

... Bonus points to anyone who knows what 'The Glow' is. :)