Sundown

Sayid walks up to a house...Nadia and her two children greet him...whose the proud papa? Sayid's brother, Omer. Omer gets a call. Meanwhile, Sayid tells Nadia that he got her letters, but didn't write back because...and Omer's back.

Later, Omer tells Sayid that he got a loan from someone to open another store and although he paid it off, the man is demanding "interest". Sayid ponies up some cash, but Omer says that what he needs is for Sayid to step in. Sayid refuses to do so.

The next morning, Sayid is putting the kids on the school bus. Nadia rushes out of the house, and I almost had a panic attack thinking that she was going to run into the middle of the street and get hit by another suv! But, no. She tells him that Omer's in the hospital. They head over there (Jack passes by).

Later, Nadia tells Sayid that she knows all about the money. She finds a picture of herself in Sayid's bag and confronts him as to why he's schlepping her image around. Sayid says that he hasn't gotten over all the horrible things he did and that he doesn't deserve her.

Sayid is picked up by some henchmen...who work for,....Keamy! Haven't seen him since he was in Wolverine. This is a great scene - Keamy is cooking eggs, and playing a great mafioso-type.

Long story short, Sayid kicks butt and takes names. He shoots everyone. Again. And then - hears screaming coming from the kitchen's walk-in freezer. It's...Jin?

Back on the island, Dogen tells Sayid that he was balanced the wrong way...that's why he tried to poison him. Still no idea why Dogen couldn't do it himself.

As Dogen and Sayid fight, and it's a heckuva fight, the baseball on Dogen's desk rolls off. Dogen stops, and tells Sayid to leave and never come back.

Locke sends Claire into the Temple with a Bushonian message - anyone who doesn't join Locke will be killed. Dogen refuses to leave the Temple. He has Claire thrown into a pit.

Dogen has Sayid bring a message to Locke - and gives him a dagger. He tells Sayid that Locke/evil incarnate/whatever has been trapped for years but is now free and that he won't stop until everything on the island is destroyed. Dogen says he should stab him in the chest before he has a chance to talk.

Kate heads back to the Temple.

Sayid stabs Locke, but not until Locke has time to say "Hello Sayid". Apprently, too late. Nothing happens. Locke tells Sayid that in essence, Dogen has manipulated Sayid. By stabbing Locke, Dogen wanted Locke to kill Sayid. One thing Sayid doesn't like = being manipulated.

Sayid agrees to deliver Locke's message to Dogen, but only after Locke promises him that he would be able to hold the woman who died in his arms again. To be honest, I am not even sure that this is a true motivating factor for Sayid. He, like Sawyer, is completely nihilistic. It's interesting that Locke offers everyone what they will have in the flash-sideways reality. They just won't have it in the exact way that they want it.

Kate finds Claire in the pit. Kate confirms to her that she took Aaron, and lets her know that she came back in order to rescue her and reunite them. Claire says to Kate - "I'm not the one who needs rescuing." ! A large group of Others follow Locke, including Cindy and the kids.

Sayid confronts Dogen. Dogen tells Sayid about how he was once a banker in Japan, and once after a promotion, his colleagues took him out and he had too much to drink, and later got into a car crash with his 12 year old son (who played baseball)...and his son didn't survive. He tells him that Jacob came to him in the hospital and made him an offer - he would bring Dogen's son back, but Dogen could never see him again.

Sayid then tackles Dogen, and ends up killing him and then Lennon.

Then - Smokey arrives! Smokey kills and kills, and when he's done with that, he kills. Kate take refuge hanging in the pit where Claire is. Miles barricades himself in a room, but the door is forced open by...Ilana, Frank, Ben, and Sun!

Ben goes to find Sayid. He meets up with him by the pool over the bodies of Dogen and Lennon. Sayid ain't coming. Miles asks Sun where Jin is...she's thrileld to hear that he's alive and nearby. Ilana finds the same doorway that Hurley used , and the group escapes.

Sayid, Claire, and Kate join Locke. Kate's a little amazed to see Locke, who as far as she knew was dead.

The Lighthouse

Not 100% in love with this episode. The on-island drama was definitely helpful for the development of the plot, however - the flash-sideways was heart-warming, but I don't feel it enhanced anything...

We see that Jack has a scar from the removal of his appendix. Jack doesn't remember having it removed, but calls his mother and she tells him that it was removed when he was a kid.

Jack then goes to a school and picks up...dum dum dum...his son! David is apparently annoyed with his father's pressure on him as much as Jack was annoyed with his own in the flashbacks.

Jack bawls at a couple of different points during the episode (is there ever a Jack-centric episode without significant tearing?). It is actually pretty moving that he realizes how he wants to be a father to his son, especially during their conversation after the recital, where Jack admits to his son that his focus for him is not success vs. failure, because as a child he was told by his father (Christian) that he didn't have what it takes. He tells David that in his eyes, David can never fail.

Moving.

Most interesting points - we don't know who David's mother is...Dogen is at the recital...Jack's father has died...in the will, he names Claire Littleton.

On the island - the pill...the whole fiasco is a bit drawn out, but it does make us try to guess at what exactly is Sayid now that he has been brought back to life. Is he evil? Is he crazy? Ben Linus was (presumably) brought back to life in the same manner. As was Claire. So - what gives?

Kate goes off on her own. Seen this movie before.

Let's skip to the good stuff. The lighthouse, which Hurley finds out about by talking to Jacob's ghost.

Hurley says that they have to move it to 108 degrees (which is 4+8+15+16+23+42). Jack makes it to 23, which has his name next to it.

I have tried - as have many - to decipher exactly what the numbers correspond to. At first, I thought they were the row numbers of the individuals on the plane who would be candidates. Well, that holds true for Jack, but Hurley's number is off, as is Locke's. So - not sure what it all means.

Jack sees his childhood home, and realizes that he has been spied on since he was a child, as have the other 5. Well - he goes a little...Jack...and busts up the Lighthouse mirror.

Jacob appears to Hurley and apologizes for misleading him. He says that Jack had to understand how important he truly is...Jack will do something and people like Jack need to 'look out at the ocean for a little while' before understanding that they have to do it. Jacob says that he had to get Jack and Hurley away from the Temple because a bad person is about to get there...and it's too late for Hurley to warn the people there.

It's interesting with Jacob and the MIB/Locke. Are they equals, polar opposites? Who/what are they?

As for Claire, she's cookoo for cocoa puffs.Claire has pretty much taken the place of Rousseau. She puts an axe into Justin, and shows Jin where the Others branded her. The only other time we have seen branding being used by the Others was with Juliet - she was marked when she was put on trial back in the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land'. That was a punishment, though...I think that this was more of a branding, i.e. - this woman is dangerous...a mark of Cain as it were, as opposed to a scarlet letter. She reveals to Jin who her friend is when he shows up, but admits to Jin that she knows its not John Locke.

A little bit worried that Claire now knows that Kate took Aaron...but - why didn't Jin say that Kate took Aaron to save him, or - why the hell did you leave Aaron in the forest?