Lost 6.5, “Sundown”

Lost 6.5, “Sundown”

Mar 04

I try not to read much of what other writers have to say about a show I’m reviewing until after I’ve written my own review. But my friend Dan Carlson posted a link to his write-up of the season six Lost ep “Sundown” for Pajiba and his post title was too spot-on to miss:

“In Every Possible World, Sayid Is A Killer”

Just about says it all, doesn’t it?

Part of what I’m taking away from this season so far is the idea of fate versus freedom: Is there some grand design that topples the dominoes of our lives together regardless of the choices we make, or do the currents and eddys of existence lead down divergent paths based on how we choose to behave?

Throughout the series, we’ve seen the casual connections between characters before their trip on Oceanic 815. More recently, we’ve seen Jacob’s quiet manipulation of his “candidates,” where a simple touch seems to have been enough to push these people down the path toward the island.

Now we have one of the most “grey” characters on the show, Sayid, in an exploration of fate versus freedom. He’s been “poisoned” by a mysterious force on the island; those wacky Others have tried killing him out of fear for what he has become. He claims he’s not a truly evil person, and yet in the final analysis, he chooses the killing path. We see that for this man, it appears as though Sayid cannot escape violence, no matter how he may try to be a “good man,” as he claims.

It’s probably more accurate to say he believes himself to be a good man, or wishes himself to be one. He has acted nobly on the island. He’s also engaged in wanton torture, not just in his days as part of the Iraqi Republican Guard, but on the island when circumstances required it. In the sideways-verse, he appears to be more forced into violence than on the island, but still…it doesn’t take much to get Sayid out there and shooting.

Meanwhile, we get a sense of the full scope of the Man in Black’s power and influence; as Flocke, he’s managed to ensnare Sawyer and Claire, and now Sayid and Kate. As the smoke monster, he invades the temple and decimates any of the Others who were unwilling to choose his side.

Sayid’s turning point involves a command by the strange Others leader, Dogen, to stab Flocke in the chest with a special blade. Sayid complies; it has no effect on Flocke. In his guise as quiet manipulator (or is he?), Flocke manages to turn the situation to his advantage (or does he?). Dogen warns Sayid that “if he starts talking, it is already over,” but Sayid’s attempt to stop Flocke talking certainly didn’t quiet the creature.

It appears Sayid has been turned to the dark side, but it also appears he was always destined to end up there. The darkness was within him all along, even before the island had its way…or is it the events of this episode, and Sayid’s longing for his true love, that turn him to his darkness? Are we who we are or who we choose to become?