Season 4, Episode 3: "The Economist"

And the hits just keep on coming...quite literally this time. In another strong episode, we learn quite a bit about Sayid's future "Head Hunting" career, but are still left with a number of burning questions heading into the episode 4. Like how did Sayid get to be Ben's little henchman? Why are they killing people and who is this mysterious "Economist?" In order to try and fully understand these questions, let's go back to something that has happened in the past - something that many of you may not be aware of - to try and explain what Sayid is doing, and more importantly, why he's doing it.

What you need to know first is a summary of plotline that was explained through an "alternate reality game" (called "Find815") that the producers of Lost created for fans during the off-season. In short, it was a scavenger hunt of clues that led fans to understand how the wreckage of flight 815 was found. So that you can impress all of your Lost friends, a brief recap of the game's storyline follows:

Sam Thomas' girlfriend, Sonya, was a flight attendant on flight 815. Sam was very upset upon losing the love of his life to the crash, but also suspicious about how no remains were ever found. So after doing some initial research (Sam worked as a computer technician for Oceanic, so he had some access...and more importantly, some questions), Sam decided that he wanted to take a look in the Pacific himself for the wreckage. He talked his way onto the Christian I, a salvage ship that was on a mission to find a slave ship from the late 1800s called the "Black Rock" that had sunk in the same area as 815 had gone down (we of course know that the Black Rock crashed ashore the Island). While on the ship, Sam received some very cryptic emails from an organization called the "Maxwell Group." At first he just thought they were junk since the bodies of the messages were just numbers, but soon he realized that they were codes for coordinates and other messages that only he would understand (like terms of endearments that he and Sonya would say to each other in private). After persuading the Christian I's captain to take a look at the area of the coordinates that he'd received, they realized that they had indeed found what they thought at the time was the Black Rock. But when they actually dove down to the ocean floor for a closer look, they of course found the remains of Flight 815 (!). The tale end of this storyline was obviously shown in Episode 2 of this season. See the full description of the game here on Lostpedia.

So the major points that can be taken from this arc are that 1) The Maxwell Group was behind placing the fake Flight 815 wreckage in the ocean, and 2) The Maxwell Group clearly used Sam to lead the Christian I to "find" the evidence of the remains. But why?

My guess is because the people from the Maxwell Group feel that the 815 story needs closure. Once every one knows that the flight is found and that there were no survivors, the world can move on. And while the world moves on they won't notice that the Maxwell folks will stick around the area and look for the Island. And once they find it, they may need to "get rid" of any survivors that are there, especially anyone that isn't Ben. I mean, no one's going to miss them anyways, right? There already dead. They just need Ben, anyway, and if anyone gets in their way, they are expendable.

So could it be possible that Micheal Abaddon, the scary dude who gave Naomi her orders to find Ben on the Island, is at the head or near the head of this "Maxwell Group?" And could it be that the Maxwell Group is just a cover for old Dharma folks that want payback? And is it entirely crazy for me to think that Abaddon could be Elsa's boss, the elusive "Economist" that Sayid is looking to kill?

Probably. But I do think that there is a connection here somewhere. Whether or not Elsa's boss is Abaddon isn't really the point...the point is that Ben knows who ALL of these people are, and because of their knowledge of the Island, and because of their desire to get back (or get Ben), they need to be eliminated. Don't forget that both Naomi and Elsa had the same bracelet on...I think this clue is the strongest piece of evidence that links Abaddon to both the Freighter folks and flash forwards. (The bracelets probably aren't sentimental pieces of jewelry, they could be GPS tracking devices or something of that nature so that their "bosses" can keep track of them...hence the incription, "always be with you - RG") (I also kind of think that "R.G." could be Regina from the boat...and actually could be her sister ((they sound exactly the same, and a code's just a code...doesn't mean that she can't have a sister)), but one theory at a time)



Another connection to this theory is Ben's ability to wrangle Sayid into this elaborate plan to eliminate all the people on his "List." But doing so is simple; he just exploits Sayid's feelings for his friends that are left behind. Trademark Ben manipulation...he's telling Sayid that the "only way to protect them" is to follow his plan. While Sayid may be a trained killer, his heart still wins most of his personal battles, as we've seen with his Iraqi girlfriend, Shannon, and now Elsa. In the end, it was too easy for Ben. Sayid may have "sold his soul" by trusting Ben, but in his mind he had no choice, the well being of his friends came first. Bottom line, if Ben's enemies are allowed to live, they could potentially threaten the lives of all of the people that remain on the Island. Sayid's friends.

Now of course, there's some other stuff that happens in the episode. Stoner Daniel sets up a little experiment showing that Island time is 31 minutes slower than Freighter. I have no answers for this. Obviously there are plenty of space time wrinkle theories out there, but I don't get it. How can they communicate in real time with the Freighter if the Island exists in a different time than the rest of the world? Yeah, I don't know either.



And on to Locke's group: did anyone else find it interesting that they have basically come full circle from being victims to being hostiles? Or in other words, from "losties" to the new "others?" The elaborate traps, taking hostages, bringing freshly brewed Iced Tea to said hostages (not exactly a nicely cut grilled cheese or a hamburger, but they're still learning)...it's great. But for the first time we see a sense of uncertainty with Locke this week. He can't find the cabin, and Tall Walt is no where to be seen...who's going to tell him what to do?

And speaking of this hostage situation...everyone remember that Sayid was thrown into the "barracks" (or rec room, whatever) with only Ben before Locke showed up with beverages? Well, who knows how long they were in there for. Maybe they got to talking. Maybe Ben was doing some recruiting....it is a little strange that Sayid insisted on going to the Freighter alone....hmmm.


So there was more, but this is long enough as it is...and I might be even more confused than when I started. Lost seems to be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us this season, and I say keep it coming.

Programming note: it looks as if the cast and crew will start shooting new episodes in March and will return with about 5 new episodes this spring. That will bring the tally up to 13 for the year. While there were supposed to be 16 episodes total, the writers felt confident that they could squeeze the plotlines into 13, which probably makes sense since they usually have 2-3 "filler" eps a season anyways. Good news!

Till next week!