2.14 One of Them

In flashback, Sayid’s bunker is under attack, thick with dust and shaking as bombs hit nearby. Sayid and other soldiers are frantically shredding papers as their commanding officer barks orders and tells them they do not leave until he says so. American troops break in and ask who is in charge. Sayid covers for his commander, saying no one is in charge – that the commanding officer left two hours earlier. He get knocked out with a gun barrel for his trouble. Sayid is removed from an outdoor secured area, and is taken away to be used as a translator – the Americans are questioning/torturing Tariq, his commanding officer.

Ana is looking for Jack but finds Sayid. She takes Sayid into the jungle and shows where Danielle is moving through a short distance away. Sayid says he will take care of the situation by himself and asks Ana to return to camp and not tell anyone what she saw. He intercepts Danielle and asks what she is doing. She says she is looking for him.

Danielle tells Sayid she is taking him to a place where there is something that is important and will help him. To maintain trust, she gives him her gun and tells him to use it if he has to.

In flashback, Sayid, accompanied by an American soldier (who, coincidentally, is Kate’s father) questions Tariq about the missing pilot that the Americans are trying to find. Tariq just responds in insults or tells Sayid to steal the American’s gun and kill as many of them as he can. Sayid simply responds with ‘he does not know.’ The American soldier gives up and order Sayid to be taken away, promising that someone much rougher will replace him.

On the beach, Sawyer cannot sleep because of a frog call. He asks Jin to help him find the frog, but Jin just stares at him contemptuously. Sawyer goes into the jungle and finds Hurley digging into a personal stolen stash of food. Sawyer says if Hurley will help him find the annoying tree frog, he won’t tell about the stolen goodies.

Danielle leads Sayid to a hidden stash of crossbow and arrows. Sayid hears cries for help, and, ignoring Danielle’s pleas to wait, finds a man trapped in a hanging net. Danielle says not to believe a word the man says, and not to cut him down. The man says his name is Henry Gail and he is from Minnesota. At least he didn’t say ‘Canada’. Sayid cuts him down, but when Henry sees Danielle loading the crossbow, he tries to run. He is shot, purposefully and  non-fatally, in the shoulder. Danielle tells Sayid to take the man to a doctor and question him. She says he will lie for a long time. Sayid carries the man away.

In flashback, Sayid is taken back for questioning about Tariq. His American inquistor tells him that Tariq has authorized the use or serin gas on a northern town where Sayid had relatives, killing women and children. He shows footage of the event until Sayid asks him to stop. The American asks Sayid to turture Tariq.

Sayid wakes Locke in the bunker with Henry. Henry tells Sayid and Locke that he and his wife crashed on the island while crossing the Pacific in a balloon. He says they lived in a cave on the beach, and that his wife got sick and died three weeks ago. Jack arrives. Sayid tells Jack not to untie Henry.

Hurley gets fed up with Sawyer’s fat jokes and turns back, telling Sawyer to go ahead and tell everyone that he has some stolen food. He’s not worried – people like him, he says. Sawyer apologizes and begs Hurley to help him find the frog, and Hurley agrees.

Jack removes the arrow from Henry while Locke and Sayid discuss whether he is telling the truth. Locke says there is no way to be sure, but Sayid says there is a way, and asks Locke to change the combination on the armory (I assume so it can be used as a torture chamber). Locke agrees.

Jack agrees that the unconscious Henry should be kept in the armory for safety reasons. The three of them move Henry into the locker, then Sayid shuts and locks the door.

In flashback, Sayid brings his case of torture materials to Tariq and asks again where the pilot is. Tariq thinks it is a joke and tells Sayid to kill himself to save what little honor he has left. Sayid has other ideas and brandishes a pair of pliers. Some time later, Sayid emerges from the room with bloody hands and the information that the pilot was executed and buried a few kilometers away.

Jack tries his old combination and finds it doesn’t work. Locke explains that they are at war – why else would Jack be raising an army.

Sayid asks Henry a series of questions, all of which are answered promptly and seemingly sincerely. He lived in a cave about two days walk from where he was captured. His wife got a fever and died. Her maiden name was Murphy and they met at the University of Minnesota. Henry wants to know who is questioning him; Sayid identifies himself as a torturer.

Sawyer and Hurley have found the tiny but loud frog on a downed tree trunk. Sawyer catches it alive and admires it for a few moments. Hurley comes up with a plan to take it two beaches away and let it go. Sawyer likes his plan, but has an alternative – he squeezes his fist together and dumps the frog remains in Hurley’s hand.

Despite Henry’s answers being perfect, even giving details about the balloon, Sayid brandishes a pliers he stole from Jack and demands to know how many shovelfulls of earth Henry used to bury his wife. Sayid breaks down, still reeling from burying Shannon. Sayid begins to pummel Henry, demanding that he tell him the truth. Jack hears this and pins Locke to the wall, demanding that he open the door. The alarm begins to sound; only 57 seconds left in the countdown, and Jack refuses to let Locke enter the code until he first opens the door. Locke gives in and opens the armory. Jack rushes in a tries to restrain Sayid. Locke rushes to the console but is unable to get the code entered in time. The counter spins like a slot machine and is about to lock in with a series of evil-looking red and black symbols when Locke finishes entering the code, and the counter returns to 108 minutes.

Sayid and Henry exchange an unusual look as Sayid leaves the room. Sayid maintains that Henry is one of ‘them’.

In flashback, Sayid is being transported by truck. He shares the back of the truck with a number of American soldiers, one of which is Kate’s father (he is looking at a photo of Kate as a teenage girl). The second American officer tells Sayid he now has a skills which will come in handy should he ever need to know something; Sayid pledges never to use that skill again. He is given a wad of American dollars and left to return to the employ of Saddam Hussein.

On the beach, Sayid tells Charlie about Henry and the beating. Sayid says he knows the man is one of the others because he feel no guilt about beating him. He feels that Jack and Locke have forgotten how much evil the Others have done. He asks, pointedly, if Charlie has forgotten this.

Comments

Henry is wearing shoes. I believe so far the Others have not worn shoes.

Henry gives a look to Sayid after his torture session that seems to have ‘Others’ written all over it.

In the last episode (The Long Con), Sawyer got Charlie to do his dirty work for him. Now it looks like Sayid is grooming Charlie to assassinate Henry.

Locke didn’t tell anyone about the weird symbols that started to lock in when he didn’t enter the code in time.

Sayid is missing an important piece of information that plays a part in this whole mystery. At the end, he tells Charlie that Claire was abducted by the Others and they did god knows what to her. But if you recall, part of Claire’s memory from the time she was abducted involved inflicting scratches on Danielle’s arm! So either Danielle is one of the Others, or she rescued Claire from captivity by the Others. If it is the latter, why didn’t Danielle tell anyone about this? If it is the former, which seems more likely, then did Danielle just purposefully help Henry infiltrate the survivors?

This is possibly the best episode ever of Lost. It certainly is the most intense episode in some time.

Nits

If Sayid doesn’t trust Danielle, why does he stand idly by and let Danielle get armed with a crossbow and arrows while he has a big gun slung over his shoulder? Sure enough, she soon shoots someone that he didn’t want her to shoot.

The creators did a sneaky thing to give the counter a kind of ‘second life’ that we didn’t know it had. Locke actually does not enter the code in time. The counter goes down to zero, and then starts spinning. It locks in a bird (black on red), what looks like a stamp or feather (red on black), what looks like a needle (black on red), and what looks like a paper clip (red on black). It is just about to lock in the final red on black symbol when Locke finishes entering the code – well after the counter had expired. So you actually don’t have to enter the code before the counter expires!

Memorable Moments

• Jack and Locke squaring up as Sayid goes nuts and the alarm sounds

Quotable Quotes

Sawyer: ‘Dharma Initiative Ranch Dressing’. You know, you’re supposed to refrigerate that after you open it.
Hurley: Well, actually, on the back, it says, it’ll keep at room temperature for up to seven years.

Danielle: You should take him to a doctor. He’s no good to you dead.
Sayid: And then what?
Danielle: You talk to him, Sayid. As I recall, that is what you do.

Jack: Sayid! What’re you doing?
Sayid: What needs to be done.

Jack: Why isn’t this combination working, John? Did you change it?
Locke: Yeah.
Jack: Why would you do that?
Locke: You're raising an army.
Jack: What?
Locke: And why you didn’t ask me to help – well, that’s your business, but there’s only one reason to raise an army, Jack – and that’s because we’re at war. And like it or not, whatever Sayid has to do behind that door – that’s a part of it, too.
Jack: What if he’s telling the truth, John?
Locke: What if he’s not?

Sayid: There is a man down in the hatch, a stranger captured by Rousseau. I beat him. I beat him badly.
Charlie: Why are you telling me this, Sayid?
Sayid: Jack asked me how I knew - knew for sure that this man was lieing – how I knew for sure that he was one of them – one of the Others. I know because I feel no guilt for what I did to him. But there is no way I can ever explain that to Jack, or even Locke. Because both of them have forgotten.
Charlie: Forgotten? What?
Sayid: That you were strung up by your neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days during which god only knows what happened to her. That these people – these Others – are merciless. And can take any one of us whenever they choose. So tell me Charlie – have you forgotten?