LOST: The Economist
I’m fighting a bad cold tonight, so I’m telling you right now, that’s my excuse if this post is subpar. But there was nothing subpar about this episode.
Spoilers about “The Economist,” episode 4.3, after the jump.
Links and Miscellanea
- Here’s an interview with producer/writer/show-runner Carlton Cuse on the end of the WGA strike and it’s affect on LOST. The most important bit: five more episodes this season! (And the slightly bad news: there will probably be a four-week gap between the end of the first eight episodes and the five new ones.)
- This week’s video podcast, as mentioned last week, featured Roland Sanchez, LOST’s costume designer. It’s worth a few minutes of your time, but there aren’t too many real insights there. Hopefully, next week, we’ll have an actual Cuse and Lindelof podcast.
- Kristin Dos Santos interviewed Rebecca Mader (Charlotte Lewis) recently.
- TV Squad offers this helpful guide: “How to live and dress like your favorite LOST character.”
- TV Guide has yet another interview with Jorge Garcia touching on Hurley’s season opening episode.
- Get your LOST-themed valentines at ABC.com
- TV Squad has gathered a couple of videos, of Evangeline Lily (Kate) and Jeff Fahley (Frank Lapidus) discussing the show on TV.
- Finally, here’s an impressive visual tour of the island’s DHARMA stations put together by the WebUrbanist.
Observations and Speculations
- So, when Naomi was killed, she was wearing a bracelet with the following engraved into it: “I’ll always be with you, R.G.” Elsa, the femme fatale in Sayid’s flashforward spy story was wearing a similar bracelet. I got the feeling that we should probably know who R.G. is. The only character I can think of whose last name begins with a G is Goodwin, and as far as I know, we never found out his first name. Regina, the woman on the freighter who Dan communicates with, has the first initial of R, of course, but so far there’s nothing to suggest that she’s R.G. Then again, “I’ll always be with you” might not be a romantic sentiment, but it might suggest some sort of secret pact, or even an implied threat. Most likely, Elsa and Naomi were part of the same international espionage racket.
- So in the future, Sayid is an international man of mystery, as well as an assassin working for Ben. Sayid, of course, is one of the Oceanic Six, which brings that group’s known membership to four: Kate, Jack, Hurley and Sayid. Ben is not one of the six, naturally, as he was not on the plane. Also, we need not assume that only six ever made it off the island—only that six are known to have survived. What in the world would make Sayid want to work for Ben? Ben mentioned keeping his friend’s safe, but blackmail alone doesn’t seem like it would motivate Sayid. On some level, he must agree with Ben’s agenda.
- Sayid’s first mark is Mr. Avellino, an Italian man that Sayid meets up with on a golf course in the Seychelles, a group of islands off the east African coast, in the Indian Ocean to the north of Madagascar. Mr. Avellino apparently realizes that Sayid means him harm because you can see the fear in his face. But if he was someone who thought one of the Oceanic Six was a threat, wouldn’t he have known who Sayid was earlier? Incidentally, Avellino is also a town in Southern Italy.
- Anyone who’s ever seen a spy movie knows that Sayid and Elsa are going to fall in love, that Elsa, too, will turn out to be a spy, and that one will betray the other, resulting in one of them being killed. I thought it was a nice little genre piece. The fun here was trying to fit it into the overarching LOST storyline.
- Potsdamer Platz, the location Sayid claims to be looking for when he first meets Elsa, is the name of a public square in Berlin that was once dissected by the Berlin Wall. The perfect setting for a spy story, really.
- Elsa claims that she “shops” for the unnamed “economist.” I have no idea what she means by this, but I’m guessing it involves cloaks and daggers.
- Sawyer nickname of the week: “Gizmo.” I’m guessing he means this one.
- It appears that I was right about Jacob’s ghost shack moving about on the island.
- Dan, Frank and Miles don’t appear to know too much about the island beyond what they were told for their mission. I suspect that Charlotte may know a little bit more, based on her interests in polar bear skeletons. They aren’t a real tight-knit group. (Miles was only affected by Naomi’s death because “she was hot and I dug her accent.” Then again, he’s not a really sociable guy. And Frank doesn’t seem too bothered about leaving Miles behind for now.)
- Faraday’s experiment lets us know that there really is something funky going on with time on the island. (Recall the “Mittelos,” “lost time” anagram from last season.) The beacon from the rocket reads “03:16:22″, while the clock he brought with him reads “02:45:03″, suggesting about a little more than a half hour time difference. Don’t know what it means, but according to Faraday it’s “not good.”
- Ben has a secret walk-in closet with a stash of passports and international currency that would put Jason Bourne to shame. Interesting. If I had HD, I could probably tell you his alias, but I don’t yet, so you’ll just have to Google it.
- We’re assuming that Sayid traded Miles for Charlotte, but it could have just as easily been Kate he traded. Locke would want Kate for the leverage it gives him against Jack.
- Now we know that Sawyer doesn’t really want off the island. Other characters who have expressed similar thoughts include Locke (of course), Rose, Walt, and probably a few others I can’t think of right now.
- Hotel Adlon looks like a possible anagram to me. Any thoughts? Then again, maybe it’s just a hotel in Berlin.
- Faraday tells Lapidas to follow the exact same bearing that they came in on. This echos Ben’s instructions to Michael at the end of season two to take his boat and follow the compass bearing of 325 in order to leave the island.
- Ben has a couple of lines of apparent significance at the end of the episode: “These people are don’t deserve of our sympathies. Need I remind you what they did the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun?”
I enjoyed this episode, and it’s great to see Sayid get screen time for a change. But I’m not sure what I think of this new international espionage angle. It’s entertaining, but there’s so much we still don’t know about the island. Next week, we find out the fifth member of the Oceanic 6. Any guesses?
February 14, 2008 in Television |
I say we skip all this island mystery stuff and jump straight to Sayid Jarrah, International Man of Mystery.
Ben’s Swiss legend is Dean Moriarty of Zurich. Far out.
Comment by Ramar — February 14, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
Dean Moriarty. Cool literary reference.
Comment by BTD Greg — February 14, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
I loved this episode. Lots of new stuff to chew on. I’m starting to think that I’m going to dislike all the characters by the time the show ends. They’re all turning out to be bastards (Sayid the assassin, Jack the drunk, Kate with too much make-up, Hurly the crazy-guy again, Ben still in power).
Yeah, the clock thing was very Back to the Future.
This episode made me think of something I’m sure most of you have already thought about, but that it’s very possible over the remaining three seasons that the current will catch up with the flash forwards and continue past Jack trying to convince Kate to go back to the island. There’s likely not enough material in between the current and flash forwards to fill up that many episodes. Of course, with this “time” thing starting to play out the next couple seasons could get really crazy, time-wise.
Comment by Rusty — February 14, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
I kept thinking - when they were at the barracks- that this reminded me of intricate Capture the Flag and War games that we played during long summer nights in our neighborhood. Taking random people prisoner, etc. Fun.
Comment by anna — February 15, 2008 @ 12:24 am
Great ending. So the question is: who gets the six off the island. Ben or the Dharma guys?
Comment by Clark — February 15, 2008 @ 1:07 am
Rusty, I seem to recall the producers saying prior to the strike that they wouldn’t just do fast forwards. I’m expecting flashbacks again.
Things still outstanding.
1. The importance of the mysterious Italian woman Jack nearly had an affair with
2. The importance of Jack’s father for everyone
3. The CIA guy who was pushing the button
4. Are the people behind the boat Dharma?
5. What was up with Ben’s kidnapping the kids and killing all the tailies.
6. Why Walt?
7. What is the black smoke monster and what’s its relation to Jacob?
Comment by Clark — February 15, 2008 @ 1:10 am
This was a great episode for drama, but I don’t know if the writers of this show haven’t gotten a little “Alias” still stuck in them. International hitmen?
Anyone out there also just can’t stand Ben and wonders why anyone has kept him alive but has been so willing to kill, say a Naomi?
Comment by Dan — February 15, 2008 @ 3:34 am
Hey there,
found your blog via googling the Berlin references of the episode. (I tried to figure out where they shot the scenes, because although they went to great pains to make it look like Berlin for a Berliner it remains pretty unconvincing. ;-))
Actually it is the perfect choice for the reference because it would be the place to expect a character like The Economist.
Comment by Purslane — February 15, 2008 @ 8:06 am
I think we’ll be leaving the island at the end of this season or the beginning of next. Things will then play-out off the island.
I also wonder about Sayid’s motivations for following Ben. Other than Jack and Locke, Sayid seems the least likely to take orders from Ben.
Great episode.
Comment by Tim J — February 15, 2008 @ 8:11 am
possible theory on why Sayid is in cahoots with Ben…
From the conversation we saw between Locke and Sayid, Sayid clearly was not buying anything that the rescuers were selling. He wasn’t convinced, and said that he was going to get off the island to see who they were. Perhaps this was his way of negotiating with Locke, or perhaps he WAS being sincere.
We also know from Ben that Sayid trusted them once, thought with his head not his gun, and then something bad happened (I imagine someone was killed). I betcha, and this is just a hunch, that Sayid’s long-lost girl was either killed or held hostage by the Freighter folks . It gives him the motivation to seek them out and destroy them. So, he is in leagues with Ben, because Ben has access to their information.
Comment by Hayes — February 15, 2008 @ 8:26 am
Maybe the Oceanic Six are the ones who leave by the boat…and if that’s the case, I’m going to guess that Claire is one of the six….Desmond’s escape vision just took another step toward reality with the Helicopter.
Comment by CW — February 15, 2008 @ 8:27 am
I love the show’s international characters and settings in the flashbacks/forwards but as Dan pointed out, I hope they avoid following Alias too much.
That said, I love the twists and turns of Sayid’s story.
And I also hope they never leave the island, story-wise. It’s the main character of the show!
Comment by David H. Sundwall — February 15, 2008 @ 10:10 am
I have loved Sayid’s character as one of compassion and judgement because this goes against the typical American portrayels of middle-eastern men. So I was really disappointed to see assassin Sayid. I hope we get a really good explanation for this….
Comment by ESO — February 15, 2008 @ 11:04 am
Jack mentioned that he had not seen a Baseball game in the last 100 days and he also know that the Redsox won the World series. Since the World Series ended at the end of October, that means he had not seen a game since mid July. Don’t know if it means anything, but I thought I would put it out there.
Comment by Niki — February 15, 2008 @ 11:05 am
Jack was shown a video of the BoSox winning the pennant when he was first captured by the Others. He still wants to know if it was true.
About Jacob’s wacky teleporting shack: Do you think the powdery residue around the shack is a byproduct of teleportation?
Comment by carligula — February 15, 2008 @ 11:15 am
Any idea of what the facility is that had all of the caged dogs, where Sayid went to get medical attention from Ben.
Speaking of that, is Ben suddenly some kind of medical expert or scientist?
Comment by Niki — February 15, 2008 @ 11:29 am
I thought the powder was to keep the smoke monster out. Now I’m not so sure.
I think Ben was hiding out in a vet clinic. The ’stereotype’ of where to get gunshot wounds worked on is vet clinics because they have most of the tools and medicine you need but aren’t monitored the way hospitals are.
I think Ben always was a bit of a scientist. Recall that on the outside world and the Pirate Batmanuel have a large facility that is scientific. It always made me wonder why, if they are so rich outside, they are so poor inside.
BTW - where are the rest of the Others?
Comment by clark — February 15, 2008 @ 11:38 am
BTW - I don’t see the Alias connections much.
ESO, this is hardly unique territory for Sayid. He tortured Sawyer, for instance. He also has been point man for most attacks. It’s been him or Locke in almost every instance. What I found more interesting was his tacit agreement with Locke.
Comment by clark — February 15, 2008 @ 11:40 am
The rest of the Others are with Batmanuel at the temple waiting for his other TV series to get canceled so he can come back to Lost.
At least that’s what I hope happens.
Comment by David H. Sundwall — February 15, 2008 @ 11:53 am
Ben’s Passport information
http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/2008/02/bens-passport.html
Comment by Niki — February 15, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Transcripts for all Lost episodes. Last night’s isn’t up yet.
There was a moment when Jack(?) was asking why Naomi had a picture of Desmond and Penny and asked if the boatpeople knew Penny Widmore. Glances were exchanged, but no answer was given. I think this is another indication that we’ll eventually learn that the boat and “rescue” are being run by Mr. Widmore.
Comment by bill — February 15, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
bill, that was Desmond. There were definitely some meaningful glances, and no answers.
The last time I saw Mr. Widmore, he was busy running Mead Enterprises.
Comment by BTD Greg — February 15, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
I heard Cane wasn’t getting picked up for next year. So I suspect we’ll see Batmanuel back on the Island.
BTW - I agree Widmore is behind the boat but not Penny. I also think the target of Sayid last night was Widmore.
Comment by Clark — February 15, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Looking forward to the return of Batmanuel.
Comment by Supergenius — February 15, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
i thought “assassin sayid” was very conflicted and obviously emotionally involved with his mark. it almost got him killed, but even at the end of the episode he’s in tears, and i doubt that’s due to the pain of the bullet. i agree with whoever speculated that the freighter people must have done something awful to get sayid to ally with ben, who’s been decrying the boat folks all along.
i wonder about the movements of jacob’s shack, too. why would it be mobile? to keep locke from finding it? is hurley somehow in a position of favor, now?
Comment by amysue — February 15, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
also, the bracelets worn by naomi and elsa clearly suggest that sayid is on a broader mission against a freighter-linked forced, not just some sort of spy-for-hire. i thought it was interesting that the man on the golf course knew to be afraid of him, but then didn’t recognize him immediately if he’s somebody so famous.
btw, sayid cleans up real purty-like.
Comment by amysue — February 15, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
clark–I know it hasn’t been all fun and games, but I thought Sayid’s previous violence had been reluctantly done. Maybe I am just projecting….
I agree–Penny’s dad is likely behind the boat.
Comment by ESO — February 15, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
Sayid is always willing to put his torture and interrogation skills to use. Just last night he was asking for some alone time with Charlotte, and he did a real number on Ben. I think this dark aspect of his character is what makes him compelling.
Comment by Brian G — February 15, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
I don’t think he had to convince Charlotte to come back to her people- and sayid negotiated a trade, not using torture. Remember Sawyer’s hands and that whole situation? He does think torture is wrong, etc.
Wondering if he’ll fly to the freighter and find Mr. Mead and Nadia. For a minute I wondered if Naomi’s sister was Nadia.
on the Oceanic 6- kind of hate how ABC is trying to make this a contest with “guess the 6″- like there’s enough good stuff in this show, you don’t have to make a silly game of it. Aaron? And doesn’t Sun have to leave because she’s about to have a baby?
And who was in the coffin in the black neighborhood?
I re-watched hte scene last episode where Cedric Daniels talks to Naomi, and he says, a little too forcefully, “There are no survivors of Oceanic…” So they’re out to remove evidence, and get Ben, though the reason they want Ben is a little odd, unless someone wants to avenge the genocide of the Dharma Initiative. I think the photo of him was taken in the safe room.
Comment by anna — February 15, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
I hope that “The Economist” into “emerging markets” isn’t the real answer to all this. Essentially some big wig industrialist using the time difference on the island to manipulate stocks. Remember that the island had TV (I think it was in Patchy’s hut.) Suppose someone were able to know what stock prices were going to be 30 minutes in advance and buy & sell based on that. They would be able to accumulate a huge fortune.
Comment by Teresa — February 15, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
Ben talks to Jacob. I think that’s why Dharma wants him.
Comment by Clark Goble — February 15, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Very good episode. Well done all the way around. I don’t have much to be critical of which is what I usually find myself doing here. The only concern I have is that so many questions are popping up that I find it hard to believe we will get them all answered. I’m starting to get the vibe that the writers are going to hope we concern ourselves with these new questions and forget all the ones we had in the first 2 seasons or so.
Comment by John K. — February 15, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
I think the questions are all logical extensions of what we had from season 2 though. We know there are two groups: the Others and Dharma and that they have a war. Dharma is using the numbers to manipulate things - but manipulating the numbers involves large casualities. Ben presumably joins the Others (who probably are descended from the pirate ship) and then kills all the Dharma folks. It’s been war ever since. The big questions are Jacob and the black monster.
Anyway all the raised questions are really about Dharma and its relationship with Penny’s father and the crew now on the island.
Comment by Clark — February 15, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
I look at these first three episodes and my feeling is that the writers are setting things up for a question-answering spree.
Look at the new characters, a ghost buster, an archaeologist, and a physicist who doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed. These are three characters who can really get to the bottom of things on the island, which has paranormal activity, an ancient history, and psuedo-scientific pheonomena taking place on it.
Dan Farraday already got us some answers with last night’s experiment.
I don’t expect any of them to get off the island anytime soon because they have to stick around to answer questions.
What I foresee is a double escape of sorts with a massacre in between. A large group makes it onto the freighter. The incident Ben referred to with Sayid last night occurs, and the six, plus Ben manage to escape before they’re killed.
Comment by Brian G — February 15, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
I thought the time-delay experiment thing was fascinating. So there was a 31 min. time lapse. Is the lapse between worlds always and only 31 min. or does it change? Furthermore, I’m wondering if there isn’t any kind of time travel paradox which results or can result from talking with some by walkie talkie about what is to happen 31 min. from now?
Comment by Jeff G — February 15, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Is it just me or is the physicist sort of a thin Quentin Tarrantino with Asberger’s?
Comment by clark — February 15, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
It’s you Clark. It’s all you.
Comment by Ivan Wolfe — February 15, 2008 @ 8:50 pm
Maybe the Losties are experiencing what it must feel like to get Tivo’ed.
Comment by Supergenius — February 15, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
I agree with everything you predict in #34, Brian, except that I don’t think everybody but the Oceanic 6 plus Ben get killed. If everybody was dead, there’d be no reason for Jack to obsess about getting back to the island. I think some if not most will survive but be left in horrible circumstances.
Comment by Allison — February 16, 2008 @ 10:49 am
I actually figured Sawyer’s ‘Gizmo’ reference was from Gremlins
Comment by Rebecca — February 16, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
Word on the street is that Kate raises Aaron off the island.
Comment by California Condor — February 17, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
What does that mean CC?
Comment by Clark — February 17, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
Awww, c’mon. Don’t post spoilers.
Comment by Jeff G — February 17, 2008 @ 11:39 pm
Question: Remember the Asian guy that they showed in the film when the survivors first learned of DHARMA. Was the Miles?
I am starting to think that the plane crashing was part of the experiment, they were supposed survive, that is why the pilot was able to identify that the pilot was not his friend. The DHARMA or whomever they are working with staged the ocean crash with real bodies to make it look like everyone died so they can do as they please with the survivors, which is why they have so much information on all of the survivors. They were all hand picked to be on that plane.
Comment by Niki — February 18, 2008 @ 8:46 am
No, the guy from the Dharma films was Japanese.
Comment by Clark — February 18, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Marvin Candle/Mark Wickman/Edgar Holowax? He’s older than Miles, even in the orientation film from the 70s. And we have no indication that he’s Japanese.
Comment by Allison — February 18, 2008 @ 10:55 am
He looks Japanese. I suppose he might be Korean though.
Comment by Clark — February 18, 2008 @ 11:19 am
The actor was born in Cambodia.
Comment by Allison — February 18, 2008 @ 11:22 am
Seems like it would be hard for someone who is a semi-celebrity to be an assassin. (That’s what they want you to think!)
Comment by FHL — February 18, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
I also thought the Gizmo dig was in reference to the Gremlins
Comment by John K. — February 18, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
Don’t tell Chuck Barris that FHL. According to his autobiography he was an assassin in the cold war responsible for 33 kills while running such shows as the Gong Show on national TV. There was an interesting if highly uneven movie about this directed by George Clooney a few years back.
Comment by Clark — February 18, 2008 @ 4:09 pm
To add, a lot of people aren’t sure Barris was telling the truth in his bio…
Comment by Clark — February 18, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
11 frames of Jacob
http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/2007/05/11-frames-of-jacob.html
Comment by Niki — February 18, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Just looking at the 11 frames of Jacob - is it just me or does Jeff Fahey (Frank the Pilot) look a lot like Jacob? Jacob has a goatee and long hair - so does Frank - but Jacob’s nose is flatter than Franks…
http://picasaweb.google.com/brandt.malone/RandomPictures/photo#5168829619624138850
The two pictures placed side by side
Comment by Brandt — February 19, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
They really do look close.
Comment by John K. — February 19, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
They said they were going to cast somebody else to be Jacob in the episodes to come when he plays a more prominent role.
Comment by Jeff G — February 19, 2008 @ 11:05 pm
I think in those few frames, Jacob is the prop master, part of the production crew (scroll down to see both photos). And yeah, he was just a stand in until they actually cast somebody.
Comment by Allison — February 19, 2008 @ 11:40 pm
Maybe he’ll be permanently cast. Wasn’t the guy cast as evil Bob in Twin Peaks also one of the prop masters and Lynch just cast him as the supernatural bad guy?
Comment by clark — February 20, 2008 @ 12:54 am
In Twin Peaks it was because the prop guy accidentally showed up in a mirror (technical goof) and rather than re-shoot or ignore it, Lynch decided to incorporate the goof into the series, and thus retroactively make it part of the plot.
Comment by Ivan Wolfe — February 20, 2008 @ 8:10 am