Lost: Season 5, Episode 10 "He's Our You" Review

"You're a killer, Sayid."

-Ben Linus

 

"He's Our You" picks up with a flashback to when Sayid (Naveen Andrews) showed he had a killer instinct as a child and showed no hesitation in killing a chicken.  Years later, Sayid and Ben (Michael Emerson) finish killing off everyone on Ben's list and part ways.  

Some time later, Sayid is building houses in the Dominican Republic.  He is approached by Ben who tells him that John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) has been murdered and that Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is being watched. Sayid refuses to go with Ben, but makes his way to the States on his own.

After leaving Ben, Jack (Matthew Fox), and Sun (Yunjin Kim) at the marina, Sayid goes to a bar, where he meets Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) and they end up in Sayid's hotel room.  Ilana attacks him, holds him at gunpoint, and brings him aboard Ajira 316.  She tells him that she has been hired to bring Sayid to Guam at the behest of the family of one of Sayid's victims.

On the Island, young Ben (Sterling Beaumon) continues to bring Sayid sandwiches, but gets caught by his father, Roger (Jon Gries), who is physically abusive to Ben.  Horace (Doug Hutchison) and Radzinsky (Eric Lange) try to get information out of Sayid, but he refuses to say anything.

Sawyer (Josh Holloway) tries to get Sayid to go along with a story that he is a defector from the Others and wants to join the Dharma Initiative.  Sayid refuses and he is brought out to the Initiative's interrogator, Oldham (William Sanderson), who gives Sayid a drug that forces him to tell the truth.  Sayid reveals way too much knowledge about the Dharma stations before telling them he is from the future and they become more dismissive of what he is saying.

Radzinsky and Amy (Reiko Aylesworth) convince Horace and the rest of Dharma leaders to execute Sayid.  Sawyer tries to give Sayid a chance to escape, but he refuses as well.  Ben lights a hippie van on fire as a distraction which allows him to free Sayid.  Sayid promises to bring Ben to the Others.  As they make their way through the jungle, they run into Jin (Daniel Dae Kim).  Sayid knocks him out, takes his gun, shoots Ben, and runs off into the jungle.

What Works:

It is fun to see Sayid as an assassin once again.  This feels like some old-school spy movie as Sayid and Ben meet up after the assassination is over.  It's good stuff and I wish we had gotten more of it during the series.

Once again, Josh Holloway does a great job as leader-Sawyer.  He's doing everything he can to find a way to help Sayid, who is no help whatsoever.  You can't help but feel for the guy as all of his plans fall apart simply because Sayid is being unhelpful.

The flaming Dharma van will always be hilarious and watching Sawyer and Kate (Evangeline Lilly) react to it never fails to crack me up.  What a novel idea for a distraction.  It's just too perfect.

While I have some issues with the Oldham interrogation scenes, I do like when the drugs take effect on Sayid.  Saying what has happened to him over the course of the show does make it sound ridiculous.  The way he describes what happened and the Initiative's reaction to it is hilarious.

Finally, Sayid shooting Ben really caught me off guard.  The first time I watched this show, I was dumbfounded.  Sayid has fallen a long way.  Being willing to shoot a kid, yikes.  It's a shocking moment and sets up some interesting possibilities with Ben's fate in the future timeline.

What Sucks:

In the early parts of the episode, I have issues with Sayid's character.  I hate how he doesn't say anything to Horace and the others and refuses to go along with Sawyer's plan.  Sayid is a very logical guy.  It makes sense for him to get out of the cell and join up with the Dharma Initiative before setting forth with his own agenda.  I just don't see the logic in what Sayid is doing and that's frustrating coming from the character who has usually been the voice of reason.

I also don't love the character of Oldham.  He's the titular character of the episode and is really built up to be Sayid's opposite number.  He's just some old hippy weirdo who makes drugs.  This guy can't hold a candle to Sayid.  Maybe if Sayid was actually tortured, it would work, but this character falls completely flat in execution.

Finally, the flashbacks don't do a ton for me.  The early ones with Sayid and Ben are fine, but Ilana's introduction isn't super interesting, especially because everything we learn about her ends up being a lie.  It just doesn't click.  I get we need to see how Sayid got on the plane, but it couldn't have done in a more interesting fashion.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "He's Our You," Sawyer gets his 3rd win in a row.  He did literally everything he could to try and help Sayid, while still managing to maintain his cover.  It's not his fault that Sayid didn't want to be helped.  This is Sawyer's 7th time winning this award, which ties him for 4th place with Hurley.

Verdict:

"He's Our You" is definitely one of the weaker episodes of season 5.  It has some iconic moments with Sayid shooting Ben and the flaming hippie van, some funny moments during the interrogation, and some solid scenes between Sayid and Ben, but the characterization of Sayid doesn't jive with me, the character of Oldham falls flat, and the later flashbacks aren't all that interesting.  It's a fine episode, but could have been stronger.

 7/10: Good