LOST - The Economist

Lots of excitement on last night's episode. It seemed like two hours worth of show. Oh, wait--I re-watched last week's episode which aired right before so it WAS two hours worth of show. Turns out pilot Seth Norris WAS the Greg Grunberg character who was the first to be eaten by the smoke monster. Those claiming Grunberg's character was the co-pilot were mistaken. Grunberg was wearing a wedding ring, while the alleged pilot shown underwater was not--which lends more credence to the conspiracy cover-up theory. Personally, I prefer the doppelganger theory...

Last night's repeat was also "enhanced," which helped fill in some blanks. I missed what the subtitles said about Daniel Faraday before mentioning that the woman was not his wife, but his caretaker. Something about having been somewhere before? Did anyone catch that? I wish they had done more subtitles. But I guess they're trying not to tip their hands too much. It would spoil all the fun...

So here's what we know:

1. Sayid is the fourth member of the Oceanic Six. It also appears that Ben gets off the island, but since he wasn't on Flight 815, he wouldn't be included as part of the "six."

2. Sayid continues to have a soft spot for tall, gorgeous blondes. He meets a woman named Elsa who works for an economist in Berlin. Elsa, by the way, was played by Thekla Reuten who had a role in In Bruges. Unfortunately she meets the same fate as Shannon--a fatal bullet wound in her abdomen administered by Sayid himself. She had it coming, though--she shot him first.

3. After leaving the island, Sayid becomes some sort of hit man, working for none other than Benjamin Linus. It is Ben who treats the wounded Sayid in some sort of kennel or laboratory. At the end of the episode Ben asks Sayid, "Do you want to protect your friends or not?"

4. Speaking of Ben, apparently he HAS been off the island--he has a secret closet filled with suits, all sorts of currency and a variety of passports under assumed names. Is it possible that he IS the man in the coffin then? Maybe John Lantham is one of his aliases...It would certainly explain why Kate wouldn't want to go to the funeral.

5. Sayid's hair is not as curly without the island humidity.

6. Daniel Faraday discovers some time-shifting properties of the island when he asks Regina to launch a payload from the freighter and it arrives with a 31 minute time difference.

7. John needs someone (Walt, Jacob, Ann Landers) to tell him what to do. Some leader he is!

Things we don't know:

1. Who was Mr. Avellino--the man Sayid shot on the golf course? And why did Sayid shoot him? I'm pretty sure it wasn't because Sayid is a sore loser over 100 euros...

2. Why do Elsa and Naomi have the same bracelet? And who was the "R.G." inscripted on Naomi's? Possibly Regina who is still on the boat?

3. Why did Naomi have the picture of Desmond and Penny? Desmond goes with Sayid on the chopper back to the freighter to find out. Charlotte and Daniel stay on the island to continue their "work."

4. Is Minkowski Ben's spy? (Minkowski is being played by Fisher Stevens--I guess we'll actually get to see him when Des and Sayid arrive on the freighter...)

5. Who is the Economist? Is it perhaps the Matthew Abbadon character? (The "enhanced" subtitling on the repeated Confirmed Dead mentioned that "Abbadon" meant "keeper of the abyss."

6. Who are the final two members of the Oceanic Six? Sawyer was trying to convince fellow convict Kate to stay on the island, but we know Kate leaves. Did she convince Sawyer to come with her?

7. What happened to the rest of the Others? The ones that weren't in on the failed beach raid, including the mysterious Richard Alpert...

Best line was from Hurley,who, after duping Sayid and company, keeps his distance as Rosseau escorts Sayid to one of the barracks at gunpoint. Sayid tells Hurley he isn't going to hurt him and Hurley replies, "I saw you snap that guy's neck with that break dancing thing you do with your legs. I think I'll hang back here..."

As usual, check out the recap at Lostpedia, the screencaps at Lost Easter Eggs and the Dueling Analyses at Celebritology.