Enjoy!
5x09: Namaste
Ajira 316 is in the air at night. Lapidus’s co-pilot notes that Hurley is on the plane and how he must have nerves of steel to fly over the same part of the Pacific. Lapidus, we can tell, knows what is about to happen. The turbulence starts, the bright light flashes and we hear the flash sound, and suddenly the plane is in daylight. It starts stalling out, and we see the plane hurtling toward the island through the windshield. Frank is asking for more power from the co-pilot, who doesn’t think he can pull the plane up in time. He does, of course, and suddenly a white strip of sand appears below – a runway. They make a mayday call, but it doesn’t work – instead, they hear the numbers being broadcast. As Frank lands the plane, they realize that the runway isn’t long enough, and they crash into the jungle.
After some time, Frank wakes up from being knocked out from the force of the crash. The co-pilot has a tree trunk through his chest – he is dead. Cesar wakes Ilana up, and she says something that sounds like “Jarrah” or “Sarah.” Ben is also there – which means that he is not in the injured survivor room at the Hydra because of injuries from the crash, as we saw him a few episodes ago.
Two things about Ilana: first, she has no reaction to the turbulence during the crash. Was she expecting this? Is this a clue to what she is up to? Second, what does she say when Cesar wakes her up? Most guesses are Jarrah, Sayid’s last name, or Sarah. Jack’s ex-wife was Sarah, and I believe Juliet’s sister might have been named Sarah. Is there a connection?
As for other things in this scene, there has been a lot of talk about the numbers being heard. First, it sounds like a different voice is reading them than the voice we heard last time, when Danielle Rousseau’s crew arrived on the island and heard them on the walkie, for example. In that scene, it sounded a lot like Hurley’s voice. In this scene, there isn’t a popular guess as to who it could be. But second, why would the plane have heard the numbers in the first place? If it’s 2007, as we are assuming, we shouldn’t be hearing them; Rousseau turned off the signal just before the freighter arrived in Season 4. So what does this mean? One idea is that the numbers broadcast was “residue” from the plane crossing into the island’s “bubble.” As it crossed, it allowed Kate, Jack, etc. to be transported to 1974, and then maybe it popped back out of the bubble, but there was some “time residue” left and they were still hearing the numbers. I’m not sure I agree with this idea, and it also doesn’t explain why a different voice might be reading the numbers. Another idea is that this is a clue that they are arriving in an alternate timeline. A timeline when someone else is reading the numbers, and the numbers are still being broadcast. More on this alternate timeline later…
30 years earlier, we see the continuation of the reunion of Sawyer with Jack, Kate, and Hurley at the island’s North Point. Hurley gives Sawyer a hug, and Sawyer says to “take it easy, Kong.” Hurley says, “I actually miss that.” Sawyer asks where Locke is, and they tell him that Locke is dead, but don’t answer how. Hurley asks what the deal is with the Dharma jumpsuits, and Sawyer says that he is in the DI. Jack thinks the DI came back, but Sawyer corrects him: “We came back, and so did you…it’s 1977.” Hurley utters, “Uhh…what?”
The scene continues with Hurley commenting on Jin’s speech: “Dude, your English is awesome!” Sawyer shares his plan with them – for the moment, they need to stay here until he can think of a way to bring them in. Jack tells Sawyer and Jin that they didn’t come back alone; others came with them, including Sun. At this news, Jin jumps into the Dharma jeep and says that he’s going to see Radzinsky at the Flame because he’d know if a plane came to the island.
Next, we see Juliet at the security station, where Miles is on duty. She is looking for Sawyer, who took off on her that morning without saying where he was going. Miles switches one of the TV screens to the view of Sawyer and Juliet’s house – he’s there.
Sawyer is at the house going through clothing in his closet when Juliet arrives, and he tells her that “they’re back.” Juliet is overwhelmed by this – who? How? They’re here now? Sawyer fills her in on everything he knows, but says that he is just as confused as she is. He needs a way to bring them in before they screw up everything they have there on the island. Juliet brings up the sub – there is one coming in that day. They could pretend that the three Losties are new arrivals on the island.
In this scene, the look of shock, then horror is clear on Juliet’s face (nice job, Elizabeth Mitchell!). She is shocked at the mere fact that they somehow came back in time by plane, and that they made it to the island, but she is also worried that their return is going to ruin the life she has with Sawyer. But Sawyer is, too; he stops racing around looking for clothes to lend to the newly-returned Losties when he sees the look on Juliet’s face and tells her that he wants to bring them in without ruining things. They seem to be on the same page here.
Jin arrives at the Flame. Inside, Radzinsky is building a model of the Swan – specifically the geodesic dome in this scene – on top of some blueprints. Jin starts going through printouts, angering Radzinsky: “Nobody handles any of the gear in this station except me.” Jin asks him to check the other stations to see if they detected a plane landing on the island. Radzinsky balks at this idea – a plane on the island? Jin has no time for nonsense – he strongarms him to make the call. Radzinsky reluctantly and sarcastically makes an all-call to the other stations asking if they saw a plane on the island.
I loved seeing the Swan plans! I took a look at the screencaps and couldn’t really make out anything revealing – I was specifically looking for the area that was sealed off with concrete, but I just couldn’t figure out what was what. But I did check out the Lostpedia page about the Swan and found some pretty interesting stuff, which I will share in a separate post.
This is the first time we have seen Radzinsky (not counting the stain on the ceiling of the Swan…) – and he’s totally annoying already.
One more note – if you look closely at the bank of TV screens in the Flame, you can see a very popular late-70’s TV program being broadcast: The Muppet Show! And if I remember correctly, you can see the Muppets on one of the screens every time you see them in this episode.
Sun is shown on the beach with Jin’s wedding ring in her hand. Lapidus gathers all of the Ajira people up and gives a “live together, die alone”-esque speech. But Cesar challenges Frank; if the island is uncharted, why are there building and animal cages down the beach? What is on the bigger island? Cesar wants to search the building (and does, as we see in an earlier episode this season). As this is happening, Ben quietly walks into the jungle. Sun sees him and follows him. Lapidus sees Sun walk away and follows her.
Sun is searching through the jungle for Ben, but suddenly Ben appears and asks her why she’s following him. She asks him where he’s going, and he says, “To our island. Wanna come?”
In the next scene, Amy is sleeping in a hammock with her baby. Juliet walks up quietly and takes some papers off of a side table next to the hammock, but Amy wakes up. Juliet says she was just getting the sub manifest. Amy says two recruits dropped out. Amy lets Juliet hold the baby, and Juliet asks if she and Horace decided on a name for the him. They did: Ethan. Subtle disgust shows on Juliet’s face, and she hands baby Ethan back to Amy.
So the baby is creepy Ethan. I can only imagine what was going through Juliet’s mind as she held him…
Jack, Kate, and Hurley are waiting at the North Point for Sawyer to return. Kate asks Jack if the woman who told them to come back said it would be 30 years ago – Jack says that she left that part out. Then Sawyer drives up in a Dharma van and brings some 70’s-style clothes from his and Juliet’s closet. The plan is that they will pose as new Dharma recruits, and that this is their only chance, as another batch of recruits aren’t scheduled for another 6 months. It either this or camping out for a very long time.
Hurley is wearing another dog-themed article of clothing; this time it’s a bulldog sweatshirt (I’ve heard it’s the
Back at the Flame, Radzinsky and Jin are waiting for replies from the other stations. Radzinsky says that the Looking Glass was the last station to report in and they didn’t report any planes. Suddenly some of the equipment starts beeping – Radzinsky says a hostile has been detected within the perimeter in grid 325. Jin runs out with a gun, with Radzinsky following. The “hostile” is Sayid; Jin finds him running through the jungle in handcuffs. They start talking until Radzinsky catches up to Jin – Jin then acts like he doesn’t know Sayid and aims his gun at him.
Back in Sawyer’s van, Jack, Kate, and Hurley are all dressed like they stepped out of the ’77 JC Penny catalog. Hurley is asking Sawyer about the DI: “You do know they get wiped out…aren’t you going to warn them?” Sawyer says he’s not there to play Nostradamus, and Faraday has some interesting ideas about what they can and can’t do. Jack asks about Faraday – he’s there, too? “Not anymore,” Sawyer says.
The big question continues: where is Daniel Faraday? What does “not anymore” mean? My theory is that he is working on the beginning stages of the Orchid, but there are so many other possibilities: did he time travel somewhere else? Did he go crazy? Did he just disappear? We don’t really have too much to go on, except for the opening scene of this season, when he is seemingly disguised as a Dharma worker in the Orchid.
It’s a Dharma party! Under the “Welcome New Recruits” banner and to the tune of “Ride, Captain, Ride,” Sawyer puts hooka bead necklaces around the necks of Jack, Kate, and Hurley when they arrive at the
Miles then drives up to tell Sawyer about Jin’s 14J, the hostile incursion code, at the Flame, and sees the Losties. “What the hell are they doing here?” Sawyer gets on the walkie and calls Jin at the Flame. Jin walks away from Radzinsky to tell Sawyer that the hostile is Sayid. “Son of a bitch,” he says.
Ben and Sun are on their way to some outriggers that are hidden on the beach. Sun asks Ben if Jin is on the main island, and Ben says that’s where he would start looking. Lapidus finally catches up with them and tells Sun not to trust Ben, but Sun says she has to. Frank tells her that he can’t come – he has to take care of the other Ajira passengers. Ben starts telling Lapidus what might be useful to them on the island, but Sun suddenly whacks Ben in the back of the head with an oar, and he collapses on the ground. Lapidus says he thought she said she had to trust Ben. “I lied,” she says.
Jack and Kate are in the
An interesting note about the video: Pierre Chang has a Swan station patch on his lab coat…but isn’t Radzinsky still just planning the Swan? How can he be wearing a patch for a station that hasn’t been built yet? There are two theories about this. One is that it’s simply a production error. The other is that the Swan actually has been partially built, or has been built for its original purpose, but that Radzinsky is planning on adding on to it for some reason. According to the Swan orientation video, if I remember correctly, the Swan was being used for a purpose that was different from its original purpose due to the incident. But we know the incident hasn’t happened yet, so this can’t be why Radzinsky is designing what he is. I think that what he is working on is the original Swan, and not an addition. I don’t think it has been built at all in 1977.
Sawyer arrives at the Flame. Radzinsky is freaking out – he is worried that Sayid saw the Swan model, and that he is a spy. He proposes that they shoot him. Sawyer wants to talk to him instead. They bring Sayid, who for a moment is shocked to see Sawyer, out of the storage room. Sawyer tells him to “listen real carefully to what I got to say,” which has a double meaning; since Radzinsky is standing here, you are a hostile that needs dealing with, but between you and me, I’m about to give you some really useful information about what’s going on, Sayid. Sawyer tells Sayid that he has to identify himself as a hostile according to the truce, or they have a right to shoot him, and Sayid says that he is. Sawyer then says that he is taking Sayid to the Barracks. Radzinsky strongly disagrees and threatens to tell Horace, but Sawyer tells him to go right ahead; he isn’t threatened.
Sun and Lapidus arrive at the wharf on the main island. It is in a state of disrepair – lampposts have fallen over and it looks like it hasn’t been used in a while. It is dark, and they hear the distinct sound of the Smoke Monster’s clicking as it rustles in the trees, but Sun tells Frank that it’s probably just an animal. Lapidus probably has no idea that the Smoke Monster exists. They arrive at what looks like the Barracks, but the buildings are also in shambles: windows are boarded up, the
Things are a mess inside the
There are a few things about this scene to talk about. The biggest was the fact that after the door opens, presumably blown open by the wind, there is a one shot of Sun’s face, and over her left shoulder you can see a woman with long hair in a black t-shirt with some sort of white logo or writing on it standing in the room behind her. I guess I need a new TV because I watched it three times and have no idea how anyone could make her out. When you know to look for her, you can see her, but otherwise, this must be something that people with HD noticed. Anyways, the theories were flying that the woman was Claire, or Charlotte, or even the ever-discussed Annie, Ben’s schoolmate back in
On to more story-related things, this scene kicked off a lot of discussions about something I mentioned earlier: the possibility of an alternate timeline. Here’s the issue: when the Others moved into the Barracks after the purge, they seemed to erase all traces of Dharma from their surroundings. We never saw any Dharma logos or signage anywhere. Now in what we assume to be the Barracks in 2007, the
What is the journey that Christian is talking about? What is Sun going to have to do to find Jin? The obvious theory is that time travel will have to be involved. (We learn a little more about this journey in the next episode.)
Back in 1977, they are taking the exact photo that Christian showed Sun. The photographer tells them to say “Namaste!” when they smile, and Hurley says, “Nama what?” Geronimo Jackson’s “Dharma Lady” is playing in the background. Phil tells everyone that they are free to get settled into their “new digs” and to review their security protocol handbooks. “We got hamburgers, we got punch…” Then Phil gets a call on his walkie from Sawyer – they are about to arrive with the 14J.
They bring Sayid to the cell in the security station, and Sawyer tells Phil to bring him some food; “We’re not savages.”
In case you haven’t heard, you can download Geronimo Jackson’s song “Dharma Lady” on iTunes as a free download. It’s quite a groovy tune. We heard this song in the previous scene, and it’s also the song that Jin was listening to in the Dharma van when he first discovered Jack, Kate, and Hurley in the lagoon when they returned to the island.
Jack goes to see Sawyer at his house, but Juliet answers. Jack thinks he has the wrong house, but Juliet says no, come on in. Sawyer is reading a book. Juliet excuses herself – “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about…” – and Jack asks Sawyer what the plan is. Sawyer says he’s thinking about it. Jack counters that it looks like he’s reading a book. And then Sawyer gives Jack a verbal smackdown: Winston Churchill read a book every night because it helped him think, and that’s what I do – I think, but you react. Jack says that he got everyone off the island, but Sawyer points out that he’s right back where he started, and a lot of people died because of his decisions. Sawyer ends up telling Jack to let him handle everything; “Isn’t that a relief?” Jack says yes, and I think I believe him when he does. Jack never asked to be the leader when Oceanic 815 crashed, and after everything that’s happened, I think he’s happy to let someone else take the lead. Jack leaves, and sees Kate in the next house as he walks away.
In the final scene, a boy walks into the security station and tells Phil that he is delivering a sandwich to the prisoner. He goes to Sayid’s cell and puts the brown paper bag with the sandwich inside through the slot in the bars, telling him that he didn’t put mustard on it. The boy asks Sayid if he’s a hostile, and what his name is. Sayid tells him his name and asks the boy what his name is. “I’m Ben.” Sayid pauses to register who this boy is, and then says, “It’s nice to meet you, Ben.”
LOST
Is “I didn’t put mustard on it” some sort of code? There was a lot of discussion about this when “Namaste” first aired. Was Ben trying to tell Sayid something that he thought he would understand because (he thinks) he’s an Other? It just seemed like such a random comment to make.
Your thoughts?
Next up is “He’s Our You.” Stay tuned…
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