Lost – Sundown

This week’s episode focused on Sayid, and was full of action. We got to see Sayid on the mainland dealing with his past and seeing the love of his life being married to his brother. Claire and Smoke Monster John made their way to the Temple and eventually, all hell broke loose. Sayid was finally “claimed and Smoke Monster John gained quite a posse of followers.
This was another great episode. We learned a little more about Dogen, and picked up some more info about the Smoke Monster. I’m pretty disappointed that Sayid has been recruited. Yeah, it’s cool to see him rough people up and not give a damn, but it was comforting to know that he was on the good side. While he was in the jungle, Smoke Monster John tempted Sayid by offering him the chance to have anything in the world. The temptation was too great and Sayid agreed. As that scene was playing out, I couldn’t help but think that Sayid was making a deal with the devil. In some ways maybe he was. I don’t think Smoke Monster John can deliver on his promises though. Just look at Claire. Smoke Monster John told her that Aaron was in the Temple – we all know that he’s not, so that’s obviously a lie. I think he lied to Sayid as well, just to recruit him.
It was cool to see the similarities between Dogen and Sayid. Both have made deals with Jacob and the Smoke Monster respectively, and both serve their masters well. Wasn’t their fight intense? I kept waiting for Sayid to get the upper hand, but he never really did. It was sad to see Sayid kill Dogen near the end of the episode; it’s a shame Dogen didn’t put up more of a fight. Maybe he knew what was going to happen and was at peace with it?
Smoke Monster John was smart in having Sayid deliver the message to the Temple-dwellers. It dawned on me that Sayid noticed them looking at him; Miles gave us a little hint as well. “You were a dead man for a few hours. When you sat up, they were just as surprised as we were”. Hmm. Maybe the people kept looking at him because he came back from the dead without the help of the healing spring. They probably thought, ‘There must be something special about him’. He’s almost like a Jesus figure, rising up from the dead; I can see how the Temple-dwellers could be convinced to listen to him.
At the end of the episode Smoke Monster John had a smirk on his face when he realized that Kate was with his band of followers. She may not actually be one of his followers, only time will reveal her true alignment. However, Smoke Monster John led Claire to believe that Aaron was in the Temple, but he wasn’t. Come to think of it, I didn’t notice Claire searching the Temple for Aaron. For being fired up enough to kill someone, she could have just taken a quick look around for her son. Anyway, maybe Smoke Monster John’s smile was because he knows that a clash will be coming soon now that Claire knows Kate raised Aaron. Remember, Claire said that she’d kill Kate if it was true that she was raising him.
One final thought – When Claire told Dogen to meet with Smoke Monster John, he refused. He knew that Smoke Monster John would kill him. Claire then tells him to send someone he won’t kill; Dogen turned around and asked for Shephard and Reyes. Did you catch that? I wonder if that’s a hint. Maybe Smoke Monster John can’t kill potential candidates. That makes sense. He couldn’t kill Jacob, so he had Ben do it. Now he’s probably going to play everyone off of each other to get what he wants. I can’t wait to see what happens next!