Lost Recap: "Sundown"

Spoilers below so please don't read unless you've seen LOST episode 6x06 entitled "Sundown."

Wow.  Talk about an intense opening to the show.  The fight between Sayid and Dogen was unexpected and intense, as was most of the episode. Although it was clearly a transition episode lacking in answers, they did an excellent job of positioning the characters for some truly epic events in the coming weeks.


I have always enjoyed the Sayid-centric episodes and this one was no different.  Sayid is a torcherer and murderer yet we still love him as a character.  He definitely has a good and evil side as Dogen highlighted early in the episode.  As we find out later in the episode, apparently Dogen's scales were right in determining that Sayid leans toward the path of evil.  


Sayid being evil is something that's a little hard for me to accept. You have to hand it to him though...he did almost exactly as Dogen said.  MIB barely uttered the words "Hello Sayid" before he had thrust the dagger into his chest.  The fact that he spoke is an interesting topic for debate.  Dogen clearly said that Sayid must stab him before he speaks.  We are now left to ask, did he mean this literally or figuratively?  If he meant it literally, then we could have the key to defeating MIB.  I took it as more of a figurative comment, meaning that MIB can easily persuade so you can't even give him a chance to open his lips.  


MIB's reaction to Sayid stabbing him gives us an incredible insight into his character.  Although he can be a ruthless killer at times (which we see later), he is also cool under pressure, calculating...and smart.  He played to Sayid absolutely perfectly by convincing him that Dogen wanted him to die.  Then he offered him a chance to do something that blew Sayid's mind...bring back the one he loved the most. Can you really blame Sayid for his actions?


The flashsideways was pretty entertaining and it was shocking to see that Nadia had married Sayid's brother, Omar.  Again, we see the good end evil in Sayid throughout this flash sideways.  Running into Jin was random.  Did any of you spot Jack in the hospital where Sayid's brother was taken?  He doesn't speak to Sayid or Nadia, but he walks right past them along with another doctor.  Keamy was just as arrogant and annoying as ever, so I wasn't all that upset when evil Sayid took him out.  Is it just  me or are we seeing the same thing off-island that we are on-island?  Certain characters are becoming grouped together before one final showdown.

Seeing Dogen open up to Sayid was a very touching scene. We actually got a few answers here as Dogen told us his story of coming to the island.  The fate of his son was absolutely tragic and he shared that he inadvertently killed his son while driving drunk.  This explained Dogen's delicate care of the baseball.  Jacob appeared to Dogen and gave him the opportunity to bring his son back...but he could never see him again.  Seems like a fair bargain.  Dogen's son doesn't have to suffer because of his father's actions, yet Dogen must pay for his sins by living on the island and doing Jacob's work.  Dogen then asks Sayid if MIB offered him a similar bargain to which Sayid replies, "yes."

At this moment I thought, holy crap...they are both evil.  


I nearly fell out of my chair when Sayid slung him under the water to drown the life out of him.  The proposition of bringing back Nadia was too great for Sayid as he now appears to have fully embraced the role of MIB's hitman.  The ending was just absolutely insane.  MIB in smoke monster form rips into the temple and annihilates everyone inside, everyone except for our heroes: Ilana, Lapidus, Sun, Miles, and Ben.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them catch up with Hurley and Jack next week to form Team Jacob.  For Team MIB we now have Claire, Sawyer, Sayid, and apparently Kate as well.  Jin is still out in the forest nursing a wounded leg.


The final shots of the show were incredibly well done and the music was great. Sayid and Claire leave the temple with wicked glares as the eery rendition of Catch a Falling Star plays in the background. 


So after an action packed episode we are left with a myriad of new questions and countless other theories to debate.  Despite all that, I feel that we are very close to figuring it all out.  I don't know if it will be me or someone else on the countless message boards out there...but I now believe that someone could guess a lot of the ending.  I'm not sure why...but the positioning of all the pieces has a dark sense of foreboding and dread.

As I said earlier, at one point in this episode I started to think that both Jacob and MIB are evil.  Then I started to consider a theory that I've heard thrown around, but never given it much thought: maybe Jacob and MIB are the same guy (think Fight Club). That's why we still don't have a name for MIB.  Because he's Jacob.  From the very first episode of the show, we've heard about a game between light and dark.  Good and Evil.  Yin and Yang.  Dogen even highlights this in the episode's opening by saying every man has a scale.  Right now, Jacob's scale has been tipped to the dark side.  Something...or someone is going to tip it back in the favor of good.  And that will be the end of Lost.


I'm not even sure if I believe this theory yet, but man...I'm seriously starting to consider it.