Season 6, Episode 5; "Sundown"

The best part about Sayid-centric episodes is that you can pretty much bank on the fact that some ass is going to be kicked. Still to this day my favorite "kill shot" on this show has been when Sayid body slammed some bad guy onto an open dishwasher filled with butcher knives...awesome. And "Sundown" was filled with action, not only from Sayid but from our old friend Smokey too. But aside from kick ass ninja throw downs and a return from Sgt Evil (Martin Keamy) himself, this ep had some weight to it as well....so let's get right to it.


We're well aware at this point that Lost carries with it heady themes woven throughout its elaborate landscape. But perhaps no other character singularly encapsulates the struggle of good vs evil than Sayid Jarah; and in "Sundown," we see his never ending battle finally come to an end.

Sayid has always known that he is capable of evil acts, but for so long, he fought to overcome that evil by using it to help others. As a boy, he mechanically snapped the neck of a chicken for his brother, so to spare him punishment from their father. During his time with the Republican Guard he tortured countless victims, but eventually turned against his own side by working with the CIA, and was able to free Nadia in the process. When he worked as an assassin for Ben, he was doing so under the pretense that his work was protecting the lives of his Island friends.


And at points in his life, he was able to suppress his evil ways entirely, and live a life of peace and tranquility. In both the Flash Sideways and the Island past, Sayid made amends with his life of sin, and showed promise through reformation. In the Flash Sideways he stayed "clean" for 12 years, promising himself that he'd never return to the life he once led as a trained killer. He even punishes himself for his past behaviors by letting his love for Nadia go unquenched, even though both parties seem to share feelings for each other. On the other hand, in the Island world - after leaving the Island with the O6 - he embraces that love with Nadia to help cleanse himself of his former life's habits. And later - after Nadia's death and his subsequent assassin work for Ben - he tries to repent through charity work, far away from the manipulations of those that prey upon his nefarious services.

But as we know, all of his efforts are for naught. No matter how hard he tries, he finds his way back to killing. In the Sideways he is pushed to again clean up a situation his brother caused, and in response to Keamy's words of desperation - "you don't have to do this," all Sayid can respond with is "yes, I do." After being convinced by Ben that Widmore's people are responsible for Nadia's death, he dives head first into a killing spree. Whatever name he is given, he kills with absolutely no questions asked. After Ben claims the work finished, Sayid realizes what he's done, and lashes out towards Ben, yelling "I killed all of those people for you, and now you're just walking away!" Ben calmly responds, "you didn't kill them for me Sayid, you're the one that asked for their names." Later, when Ben finds Sayid at the charity outpost he tries to convince him to return and save Hurley from the men waiting to kill him at the mental hospital. After Sayid balks at Ben's request, claiming that he no longer lives that style of life, Ben retorts, "Sayid, to put it simply, you're capable of things most men aren't. Every choice you've made in your life, whether it was to murder or torture, it hasn't really been a choice at all, has it? It's in your nature, it's what you are. You're a killer, Sayid." Even though Sayid tries to fight these simple facts ("I'm not what you think I am."), we all know that he eventually does return to Hurley's aid, and in the process leaves a wake of dead men at his feet (one of which was from said dishwasher kill - awesome). And later, when he flashes to '77 Dharma times, Sayid confirms Ben's theory about him before shooting his younger version in the chest, "you were right about me...I am a killer."


Sayid wants desperately to believe that "he is a good man," but deep down inside he knows what he truly is. Even though he is often manipulated into torturing and killing (by war, by Ben, by the thought of saving his friends, etc), in the end the choice to follow that path is his and he inevitably and comfortably settles into that familiar role of evil. In the end, it was so easy for MIB to recruit him…because Sayid was always tipping toward darkness. Once infected, it was just a matter of time until he fell into it completely. As expected, MIB did offer him a flicker of hope in Nadia's love in return for his service, but this is a lie - just as the hope to find Claire's baby is a lie - and deep down Sayid probably knows it. Even at the end of Season 5, Sayid confesses to Jack "there is no hope for me any more". Then, towards the end of "Sundown" Ben tries - with good intentions this time - to pull him back to the light one final time, "Sayid, let's go, it's not too late," and in a creepiness that has become the trademark for Team Darkness, he sneers back, "it is for me." The Sayid we once knew, the man who clung to the hope that he could overcome his demons and fight for good is gone. The scale has tipped for the last time. And with another name crossed off the list, all of a sudden Team Darkness is looking pretty damn strong.



Sayid's fall to darkness also relates to his lack of substantial change in his Sideways life. We've now seen a number of our characters in the Sideways world, and the one similarity their stories share is the noticeable change for good that they have undergone. Jack is able to repair his damaged relationship with his son. Locke - while still disabled - does not let his disability consume him and is open enough emotionally to accept true love from Helen. Hurley has gone from a bad luck mental case to a strong, confident man blessed with good fortune. Kate does not abandon Claire and instead sticks by her, so that Claire can live a full life with Aaron and raise what is rightfully hers. Some argue that the Sideways world is a representation of what life is for those that choose the right path in the Island world. A sort of a picture of what could be if the choices they make are the correct ones (read: lots of Jacob talk). But as we see in Sayid's Sideways, not much has changed in him as a person. Sure, he's still trying his best to suppress his urges, but in the end, he brutally murders Keamy and Omar. It's no secret that these are bad people, but Keamy gave him a way out...he pleaded for his freedom. But in the end, Sayid made the same choice that he always made. No redemption, no reformation, and therefore no happiness, both in the Island world and in the Sideways world. Jacob will have no use for him anymore.


Now let's quickly discuss Locke's Army of Darkness and his viewpoint on all of this. With Jacob's death announced, and Dogen's death by Sayid's hand, Flocke made good on his promise to kill all that opposed him at Sundown. And even though Team Light (for now including Lapidus, Ilana, Ben, Sun, Hurley, and Miles) escapes Flock's grasp, his crew is looking pretty strong. Clearly Sayid and Claire are fully controlled by him at this point, but what about Kate? As he gave his team the once over before that incredibly awesome slow-mo death march out of the Temple, Flocke seemed to pause on Kate's presence. She is not part of his plan. She's not infected, and so far he hasn't personally convinced her to join his side (like he did with Sawyer). But, since - as far as he knows - she is not a candidate, he seems to accept her spot on the roster. This decision could prove fatal for Flocke. As mentioned in last week's blog, there must be a reason that Kate is not on his wall. And the reason could be that Jacob was keeping her candidacy a secret. Kate may be Jacob's ace up his sleeve, his spy across enemy lines. Who knows what will happen here, but keep an eye on this interesting dynamic.



Tid Bits:

I think most people caught this, but when Dogen asks Sayid to kill Flocke, he states "if you allow him to talk, it's already too late." Indeed, as all Flocke needed to say was "hello, Sayid" for his apparent spell to be cast. Sayid seemed to think that allowing him to "talk" meant allowing him to state his case, but I think it was meant to be taken quite literally. This should be an interesting clue to keep in for future showdown scenes with Flocke and our characters. Also, it's important to note that this "rule" apparently didn't apply to Jacob, as he had conversation with Ben before getting killed.

From Lostpedia, on the "Shen ring," the symbol on the Temple's secret door that Ilana and the others go through to escape Smokey:

The Shen ring is an ancient Egyptian symbol of eternity and protection. In ancient Egypt, the Shen Ring also represents dual concepts of time; the cyclic line of periodicity and lineal time (into infinity).



Also from Lostpedia, an interesting correlation between the conversations immediately following Lennon's death on the show, and John Lennon's death in real life:

After Sayid kills Dogen, Lennon asks him "Do you realize what you just did?". Sayid replies "I know". This was similar to the conversation between Jose Perdomo and Mark Chapman that occurred right after Chapman shot and killed musician John Lennon (who shares some similarities with the character Lennon). Perdomo shouted at Chapman, "Do you know what you've done?", to which Chapman calmly replied, "Yes, I just shot John Lennon."

Finally, not much of a bit of info but more of a question to leave you with, what is Jin doing locked up in the freezer in the Sideways world? My guess is that Keamy & company are connected to Mr. Pike's organization and maybe they were bounty hunting Jin seeing that Jin was trying to essentially "defect" from his life of crime (or at least that's what he was doing in the original storyline.) Anyways, I'm sure we'll find out eventually, but it's fun to take stabs at it before being proved utterly wrong ;)


Great episode, looking forward to next week, as usual. There have been some great comments this year, so keep it up below!