5x09: Namaste

A good episode, although it was character-driven without a whole lot of mythology (relative to many of the other Season 5 outings).

We learn that Sun was not flashed off the plane, and that Ben was not injured after the crash. Hmm, I wonder how he got injured, and if we’ll see that tonight?

My theory (and that of most observers, I think) that Ajira 316 was in the present and the Oceanic Six less Sun was in the past was confirmed.

Jack and Hurley’s lines and expressions as Sawyer explained the time situation to them were a good stand-in for the audience’s thoughts throughout this season.

The best mythological nugget tonight was that we finally got to meet Radzinsky. He’s a bit of a jerk, and he’s at the Flame. Why is he not at the Swan? Oh yeah, because he’s designing a model of the yet to built Swan and fretting that the Hostiles may be sending spies to ascertain its location. No wonder Radzinsky knows so much about DHARMA and is later able to make a killer blast door map.

Sawyer and Juliet are not particularly pleased that they came back. They are having a nice time playing house on the island, and I am reminded of Sawyer’s plea to do so with Kate in “The Economist”.

Horace + Amy = Ethan, which creeps Juliet the heck out. Then Amy asks if she and Sawyer are going to have kids, which lets Juliet have the line of the night: “the time has to be right.”

Sawyer mentions Faraday’s ideas about rules, but the question is where is Faraday? We know he’s puttering around the Orchid at some point, so he’s clearly gone but not forgotten. And good job by Hurley, pointing out that DHARMA is wiped out in the not-that distant future.

The funniest A-team mission ever: “Infiltrating the DHARMA recruits welcome party”.

Interesting song choice: “Ride, captain ride, upon your mystery ship” by some one-hit wonder that’s not coming to mind. So the island is a mystery ship and Jacob is the captain…and that means Jacob is Magnus Hanso, right? Right?

Sun whacking Ben, then teaming up with Lapidus, was awesome. But why was Sun not flashed off the plane as everyone else was? Was she not supposed to come back? Was Ben not flashed back because it would create a paradox?

Poor Jack, stuck as a workman. But awesome to see Pierre Chang in the flesh, interacting with one of our characters (his brush with Faraday in “Because You Left” didn’t really count). Pierre was clearly not happy to be dragged out of his lab to have to deal with a bunch of peon janitors showing up on the submarine.

The monster was lurking as Frank and Sun stepped off the dock. I was afraid it was going to finish the pilot-killing ways it started way back in the beginning. Instead, though, Sun and Frank enter the barracks. Interestingly, they are not decimated as they should have been (post-Keamy) and still have DHARMA insignia. Is this some sort of island/monster-induced mirage? What has happened on the island over the three present years since the Oceanic Six left and Sawyer and friends started time-jumping?

Christian is in one of the DHARMA cabins for the mythological meat of the night. Has Jacob taken up residence in a DHARMA cabin too? Anyway, the picture from 1977 on the wall was great. Christian tells Sun she has a long journey in front of her, and of course we’re all intrigued to see what that will entail.

Phil is suspicious of the new recruits, particularly Kate, and the facts that Juliet had to bail Kate out and that Sawyer is protecting Sayid is not going to help assuage those suspicions. I suspect he’ll be a problem as the season progresses.

The seeming friendship between Sawyer and Jack is blown to bits as Sawyer frostily explains that his leadership style is thinking, while Jack’s was reacting. But as he needles Jack on having to go home and wait for someone else to make a decision for him, he strikes out. Jack’s genuine smile remind us that he was never really comfortable with being the leader (a theme that the episode I just watched this afternoon, “White Rabbit”, introduced from the very beginning of the show). Jack now seems to be the happiest of our castaways, as he has since opening his eyes in “316”.

Ben is the creepiest little kid ever. Do our heroes tell him things that enable him to be seemingly omniscient? And will anyone try to kill little Ben?