LOST Recap and Discussion: 6X06 Sundown

What follows is a discussion of the sixth episode of LOST's final season. It will include spoilers of the show so don't read if you don't want to know!

It's no secret that Sayid is one of my favorite characters. He's been one of the most complex and interesting characters to follow and I have to say that I'm sorry for the path he's been on the past few seasons. I felt this episode was like a nail in the coffin of Sayid's characterization and maybe not so much an episode that moved the plot forward.

There is a machine that measures the good and evil inside of you! (wish we could test this out on our politicians) Unfortunately, Sayid is just a bit more evil than he is good, which gives the LOST writers a chance to show us another fantastical Sayid fight scene! Dogen stops short of killing Sayid and tells him to leave and never come back.

But there are other plans afoot on the island, like a crazed Claire coming to the temple and letting Dogen know that Smokey wants to talk to him. Her appearance changes everything and Dogen instead suggests Sayid kill Smokey.

Sayid doesn't quite succeed in this mission and instead seems to strike a bargain to raise Nadia from the dead. We quickly learn it's in exchange for killing Dogen. He seems to be quite the cold man! We do learn from Dogen that he struck a bargain to save his son's life and in exchange, apparently, his presence in the temple keeps Smokey at bay.

Kate comes back to the temple and Miles cracks me up with his quick assessment of what happened. Kate hunts down Claire, who seems crazier by the second, and lets her know she has Aaron. Kate, ever clueless, announces that she's come to rescue Claire. Claire scoffs. She's not the one who needs rescuing.

Sayid delivers a message from Mr. Smokey -- leave the temple and join smokey or stay in the temple and die. And...so tonight we saw the smoke monster in all of his fury and glory. Including knocking Kate down a bit in the pit, but sadly she survives.

Also, all of those people we haven't seen for awhile like Lapidus show up and Ilana knows a secret compartment in the temple where they all hide to escape the smoke monster.

Smokey has gathered his army it would seem, though I have no idea what for. And Kate has somehow wandered in among them...

Sideways Sayid

This was a bit anticlimactic. Sayid is visiting his brother who is married to Nadia and they have the world's most gorgeous children. Also, Sayid and Nadia are still in love with each other which is just sad. Sayid's brother is a bit dim and took an illegal loan. He wants Sayid to take care of it for him, but Sayid refuses. They seem to mug Sayid's brother and then kidnap Sayid, and oh my gosh it's Keamy! Sayid kills them all and discovers Jin tied up.

When it comes to the character of Sayid, I conclude from this episode that despite the fact that Sayid desperately wants to do the right thing, he will always fall back on his violent nature to achieve what he wants. He wishes he could be good, but time and time again he has chosen to act on the instinct of force, and does not seem to consider other ways of achieving his goals nor believe that other ways would be effective.

A Few Questions:
*Does this mean Kate is evil now?
*Just why is Smokey assembling an army?
*Smokey actually did speak to Sayid before Sayid tried to stab him. Is this significant?
*Ben???? Will he die next week? Remember when he was the big bad?