The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 10

Last night we got back into the typical “Lost” rhythm of one step forward, two steps back. Though nothing really pushed the story forward (er ... leaving out the jaw-dropping ending. Spoilers below the cut!), we spent time with Sayid, in true Dharma spirit, on a trip riddled with karmic retribution. It began with toddler Sayid, a Natural Born Killer, and continued through the life of adult Sayid, International Badass ... still a killer (with killer hair).

Peppered throughout “He’s Our You” were Sayid’s interactions with young Ben, suffering at the hands of an abusive father and desperate to join the Hostiles. (Side note: Sorry, but Dharma’s “crazy teepee man” has nothing on Sayid. The strongest weapon in his spooky arsenal is sodium pentothal? Give me a break. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sayid had a resistance to it already built up in his bloodstream.)

For all of Sayid’s moral quandaries, the episode belonged (as it often does) to Ben. Young Ben, who later in life would find a predilection for preparing delicious hams, uses his kitchen prowess to make chicken salad sandwiches for Sayid in the hopes of bribing Sayid to help him leave the Dharma camp for the Wild Island Beyond. The Ben-Sayid relationship has always been complex and interesting, with the power dynamics between the two always in flux. Finding out last week that Sayid and Ben would meet in Ben’s early life (this time travel is wreaking havoc on my verbs) just added another layer to the complexities. I’ve always felt Ben saw Sayid as a true ally, although I’ve been misled by Ben’s manipulations before (haven’t we all?)