he's our you

U.G.L.Y. You ain't got no alibi. You're ugly, yeah, yeah. You're ugly.

Although I'm sure not a single soul liked tonight's LOST episode, the story line did serve a purpose, tied up some loose ends, gave us some answers.

I really did feel bad for Sayid, he was just bouncing around in a game of mind fuck bumper pool with the universe. Ben twists his words so that Sayid is left with the smoking gun, he's been asking for name after name, not killing for Ben, looking to kill anyone in the way of his friends' safety. What do I do now? Well, Sayid, I'd go find a purpose for yourself, maybe help make the world a better place, find a carpenters belt that suits those flexible hips of yours, then I'm going to come and ask you to kill again. But wait! You're not a killer, excuse me. But I'm sure you'll come take care of the guy in the dark sedan that's been sitting outside of the crazy house, just waiting for you to show up. And after you kill said sedan man, get shot up with horse tranqs, end up at the harbor and threaten me, I'm going to make sure the woman you pick up at the bar, after you've paid for a whole bottle of MacCutcheon's, the only action and handcuffs in your future will put you on a plane to Guam, with four of your little friends. Seriously, did you feel that he was duped, just a little bit?

I don't think Ilana knows she's working for Ben, but Sayid has no doubt. Again, coincidence that he's tracked down by a bounty hunter and put on the exact plane discussed in the Lamp Post 36 odd hours earlier? Ben could have set that up hands tied, face bludgeoned, locked in a gun cabinet.

DUDE! I can't believe William Sanderson was Oldham! #4 Deadwood alum, and Kim Dickens/Cassidy has an appearance in the next episode. What was up with the tipi, prayer flag and old gramophone? Granted, Billie's "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" is one of my favorites, a very ironic soundtrack for a torturer. Although, I think there was a definite cultural rift; I think most American men Sayid's age might have an idea that any one using a dropper and a sugar cube isn't really gonna torture him, just send him on a nice trip...er, um, plane crashes. Please, LSD will get you to say alot of things and he certainly wouldn't have come down by the time Ben comes for him.

Granted, the Dharma Bums aren't down with karma...but Amy's little rant got me thinking about the fertility problem, how she emphasized "we have to think about all the children" as if Sayid could possibly do something to harm the Dharma kids or she's alluding to the Others/Hostiles possibly threatening to harm their children in the past. I can't believe they all voted to off Sayid, with Horace's "I would really like to say it's unanimous." Sawyer had to raise his hand to keep up his front/real life. I'm not digging the DI, I hoped they really were a bunch of smart kids looking to save the world. Nope, they're a bunch of weasel dicks in bad overalls. A couple cards shy of a deck. Phil is a pussy. Radinsky, he's a geek who has a little power and is running hard. Horace isn't much of a leader, he look sad and bloated, not the smiling Mathematician we saw in the Namaste line a couple years ago.

I know that young Ben needs to be seen as sympathetic, innocent. We have to be able to see his growth toward "a liar, a manipulator, a man who allowed his own daughter to be murdered to save himself. A monster responsible for nothing short of genocide." Wow, that was a mouthful! I hated seeing him getting tossed around by his dad, I also think that Sayid didn't like seeing it either. Ben totally played a badass with the flaming bus to distract and spring Sayid from the hoosegow. I was totally right last week, Ben wants to leave, he knows that Sayid will bring the change he's been patient waiting for. For the story, Sayid needs to shoot Ben. Hell, the island's healing powers might be the needle that convinces the Others that he's supposed to be their leader. However, shooting a child is just pushing the boundaries, even with someone like me who reads some of the most out-there transgressive fiction.

Sayid will pay the consequences, Book of Law style. (Horace brought it up.) I have no doubt, Sayid has already paid for his actions in his heart. That's why we dislike this episode so much. Adult Ben back handed with an apology for calling Sayid a killer, but young Ben reminded him that a tiger can't change his stripes. I don't want to see the pain that Sayid will go through internally.

Speaking of stripes, Sawyer and Juliet do not want things to change, this, us, playing house...they never really believed "they" would come back. "I've built a life here, a pretty good one. If I let you (Sayid) go, all that goes away." Again, good for LaFleur! He's all grown up!

I wish they would have played up the whole "wait, Sawyer's with Juliet?" a little more, Kate really does deserve to look like a bit of a fool, thinking that he would still be waiting for her. Really, come on. Although, both she and Juliet are saved by the bell. Although it's a great way to stretch out the miles on a story line, the one thing that drives me crazy about the writing on this show are the answers on the end of tongues deliberately taken from us in order to give it to another week's episode. Yeah, that's what keeps the ad money coming in...

Purpose was important tonight...and hopefully, we'll get more answers next week, other than Sayid feeling he's back to knock of little Hitler.

Ben gives Sayid a book! Not on this show! A Separate Reality is an allegedly non-fictional book written by anthropologist/author Carlos Castaneda who wrote about the effects of psychotropic plants, peyote and mushrooms. He talks about "seeing" a practice best described as, in Castaneda's own words, "perceiving energy directly as it flows through the universe".

Conversations/Lines of note:
Ben to Sayid:
"You're capable of things that most other man aren't. Every choice you've made in your life whether it was to murder or torture it wasn't really a choice at all, was it? Its in your nature, its what you are. You're a killer, Sayid."
"I'm not what you think I am. I don't like killing."
"Well, then I apologize. I was mistaken about you."

Amy: "I can't sleep with one eye open. We have a baby now. We have to think about Ethan. We have to think about all the children here. how are we going to feel safe with this man around? I don't know what he's up to, but we can't keep him here."

Sayid to Sawyer: "When I woke up in the jungle and I realized I was back on this island, I left there was no purpose to it. But now I know what I am here."

Sawyer/Kate:
"Why'd you come back?"
"I don't know why everyone else came back, I just know why I did."

Oldham: "Turn your mind off, let it take effect. It's beyond your control, fighting is poor use of our energies. Whether you struggle or not, one thing's for sure, friend. You will tell us the truth."

Ilana/Sayid:
"I like sad men."...talking about being between jobs, the only thing he's ever been good at, but wants change.
"I know why you are sad now. When you are good at something there are always going to be people who tempt you into staying the same."

Sayid: "I am a bad man." "Because I am from the future." (maybe I should use half a dropper..) "You used exactly enough."