Lost 2.14: "One of Them"

Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
Directed by Stephen Williams

In which Danielle delivers a captive to Sayid, who believes that the prisoner is one of the Others, and he proceeds with a brutal interrogation with Locke’s help, much to Jack’s chagrin…


Status Report

Thus far, this season has been the victim of a few basic issues inherent to the premise and format. While the first season had a relatively simple and discernable arc, the focus was squarely on the character arcs and the evolution of key conflicts. This was accomplished by explaining the psychological underpinning of each major character and demonstrating how that played into their interactions on the island.

The benefit of that format is that it quickly establishes the foundation for the metaphorical aspects of the series. Each character falls somewhere on the redemptive continuum, so to speak, and there’s also a clear basis for conflict. But there’s also an inevitable drawback. Once a character’s background is established and the basic drive of each character is in play, it’s hard to maintain the same level of interest and mystery. Subsequent flashbacks run up against expectation and familiarity.

One of the most common complaints against the second season is that the writing staff hasn’t produced the same level of depth as evident in the first season. This is directly related to the familiarity drawback. It’s too easy to take a flashback that adds shading to the overall picture and assume that it’s a simple retread. This problem has been most evident following “Collision”, as the pieces have been falling in place for serious conflict within the tribe.

In this case, it would be easy to look at Sayid’s flashbacks and wonder what they bring to the table. It should be relatively obvious. In the “present”, Sayid is driven to torture a man who seems to be the enemy, because he might have been responsible for the death of the woman he loves. He believes, to the depths of his soul, that Henry is one of the Others, and therefore, he is justified in his desire to get answers. The fact that revenge is a part of the equation occurs to him, but he doesn’t necessarily recognize how that is affecting his judgment.

The flashback serves two purposes. On the one hand, it shows a time when Sayid overcame his morality to interrogate a superior officer largely through a desire to gain revenge. Sayid was also fighting to survive, caught in the hands of a deceptive enemy, but that merely forced him to make a choice. He could have killed Tariq to prevent his further interrogation or used any number of tactics to stall, but the fact that Tariq was personally involved in chemical warfare against his family became the primary focus. (Thus drawing the parallel between the past and the “present”.)

On top of that, it is revealed that Sayid was introduced to the joys of torture and interrogation not by the Republican Guard, but by the Americans, who fooled him into becoming their puppet. That adds an interesting component to the self-loathing that he attaches to his torturing ways. It’s not just that torturing people goes against his moral code; it’s that his loyalty was so easily undermined in the process of uncovering that part of his soul that enjoys the practice.

Sayid believes that Henry is one of the Others, and as such, he has no problem applying violence against Henry in the spirit of vengeance for Shannon’s death. In fact, though it’s not mentioned directly, Sayid may remember that the Others practically staged the accident to ensure that Ana shot Shannon. Whatever the case, the writers do a very good job of keeping Henry’s status completely ambiguous. At no time does Henry tip off Sayid in any definitive way.

In fact, the most pivotal scene, which is staged as if Sayid is about to break Henry, actually seems to be the breaking point for Sayid. Henry may not rattle off the details of how his wife died and the exact circumstances of burying his wife (both of which are troubling, to be fair), but Sayid reveals the full depth of his anger and resentment in that moment. Note how quickly Henry begins questioning Sayid, turning the tables; that is actually more indicative of his possible “Other” status than anything else.

The fact that the tribe has a possible prisoner ratchets up the overall tension and also serves as another way to drive a wedge between the growing factions in the camp. Jack wants to pull together an army to fight the Others, presumably in a defensive manner, but he doesn’t necessarily recognize how ugly such a situation would become. Yet it makes sense for Jack to balk on the torture now, because he already felt the guilt and shame for asking Sayid to torture Sawyer in the first season.

Locke, on the other hand, seems to go along with Sayid’s plan for less obvious reasons. On the one hand, if he’s against an offensive posture with the Others, for some unknown personal purpose, why let the situation go so far before backing down? The point would then be to convince Jack that he’s not ready for what a war with the Others would require. On the other hand, the fact that he waits so long to relent to Jack’s demand suggests that his agenda is more complex. He wants to get more information about the Others, and he will do what it takes towards that end, but he doesn’t want to tempt fate by attacking the Others before understanding their role in the island’s “design”.

This is an interesting reversal between their normal roles, thus demonstrating how Jack and Locke are just two sides of the same coin. Jack (the man of reason) is the one who balks at the rather pragmatic solution of beating the truth out of Henry, a solution Locke (the man of faith) advocates to determine motivations. Because both of them have an agenda to pursue, as Sayid rightfully points out, they lose sight of the fact that the war has already begun: the Others began it almost immediately.

However, Locke brings up one of the central questions of the series, and one that must inevitably drive the rest of the season (if not beyond). The tribe assumes a great deal when it comes to the Others, and the Others have been less than inclined to explain why they do what they do. Locke makes a very good point in noting that this vague and threatening tag of “Other” is a completely relative term, and it helps to demonize people who may have a very good reason for doing what they’ve done. Henry is the one possible source of information they have. (And that, in fact, is as good a theory as any for why Locke leaves Henry in Sayid’s capable hands.)

Thus, by this theory, Jack sees the Others as a threat to tribal survival (the pragmatic chieftain stance) and Locke seeks to understand how the Others fit into the big picture (the spiritual shaman stance). Unfortunately, Sayid now has a reason to believe that Jack and Locke are going in the wrong direction, giving in to his darkest impulses in the process, and he seems to be pulling Charlie into his orbit. Is it possible that Sayid and Sawyer will end up presenting Jack and Locke with some opposition for leadership of the tribe as the season marches on?

This might explain the purpose of Sawyer’s little adventure with Hurley. On the face of it, it was a bit silly and a waste of time, but there may be more to it than that. Sawyer made a choice in the previous episode to grab control of his own destiny, and that inevitably led to bad blood within the group. But is Sawyer prepared for the backlash? He seems sincerely bothered by Hurley’s harsh reaction to his usual ribbing, though in typical Sawyer fashion, he refuses to make nice. That may put Sawyer in the right frame of mind to ally with Sayid.

In terms of the island itself, the time is coming for another major plot turn (usually around episodes 15-17), and this episode fells like the first step. Certainly the writers dropped an interesting clue or two. The images on the red/black tiles that appeared when the countdown reached zero were hieroglyphics. More to the point, there are two very quick connections that can be made, simply based on the partial information shown.

First, the hieroglyphics shown match a combination that is typically translated as “die”. (Resources are available all over the internet, so this can be easily confirmed.) Of course, there’s always the question of context, so it’s not clear what that actually means. But one of the symbols is also “the arrow” (the final symbol on the right). This leads to an additional theory.

Since there are five symbols and a total of six Dharma stations, are the five symbols also the symbols for the other five stations? The Swan, the sixth station, could represent the “source” of an outgoing signal, which is then sent to the other five stations, with the setting of the tiles roughly representing a signal being sent to each station. The idea is that The Swan might be at the center of the Dharma network, possibly locating completely on the island, and the device triggered by the countdown could require elements at each of the other stations.

Taken in combination with the “translation” interpretation, this might give a clue regarding context. What happens to the meaning if the hieroglyphic for a swan is added to the symbols that translate as “die”? How does that change the meaning? Which symbol would one use, if that were the case? There are variables in play, preventing a clear picture, but it all plays into the theory that everything is designed to convince the occupants of the hatch that exceeding the countdown will lead to the end of the world.

This was the rare example of a second season episode that succeeded despite a narrow character focus. This is a good sign. When the plot and character arcs weren’t moving forward very much, largely due to the widened focus of the first seven episodes or so, episodes focusing on a handful of characters were harder to sustain, since they did not have the same depth. This episode, on the other hand, was very focused with major consequences on the rest of the season. That is exactly what the writers needed to deliver, and if the past two episodes are any indication, this season may finally be returning to form.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode built on the rising darkness of the past few episodes while adding an exciting new element to the tensions within the tribe. There is a definite sense of movement in the plot and character arcs, and while some may find the flashback less than revealing, that is certainly up to debate. Any worries that the season is aimless should now be a thing of the past.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 8/10

(Season 2 Average: 7.2)