Season 4, Episode 3: "The Economist"

Wow, very interesting episode. I think I am more confused than ever now! They just keep bringing in more twists!

So here are a few things that we learned from this episode:

1. Naomi had a bracelet with the inscription... "N - I will always be with you - R.G."
Sayid's "future" girlfriend, Elsa, also had a similar silver bracelet. Is the man she is working for the same man who sent Naomi to the island? It was interesting that Sayid took quite an interest in Naomi's body. He was praying, then immediately walks over to her, closed her eyes and covered her body, and made sure they brought her body with them on the helicopter. He also takes off her bracelet and closely inspects it. Why does he have such an interest in her suddenly? I think that all of the women who work for this "RG" have these bracelets. It will be interesting in future episodes if we see any others with the same bracelet.

2. Ben has a "secret room" in his house. Sayid discovers a secret passageway behind a book cabinet. It leads to a room full of things like passports, money from around the world, etc. - This implies that Ben does in fact have the ability to go to/from the island (or atleast he did at one point) and that he uses different identities. The name on Ben's "passport" was Dean Moriarty. (Dean Moriarty is the name of a character in the book "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac...Dean Moriarty is described in the book's summary as “the holy con-man with the shining mind." This name is also a reference to Professor Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes - who was known as a criminal mastermind.)

3. There was a 31 minute difference in time between the rocket that Daniel did the experiment on and the actual time there on the island. This reminded me of the movie "Back to the Future" after Doc does his first experiment on the time machine and noticed that the two stopwatches have different times. So why is there a difference in time when the rocket arrives on the island? Daniel seemed very perplexed when on the phone with the freighter that it hadn't arrived yet. This would support alot of the theories out there that there is some kind of space/time continuum on the island. (Also, the idea that Richard Albert has not aged at all, from the time Ben was a boy, until now.) Also, this time difference again references the CS Lewis reference from last week, in that his book the Chronicles of Narnia has to do with a time portal that people can travel between. Another thing to mention on this subject, is that when Elsa (Sayid's future "girlfriend") calls her boss after shooting him, in the subtitles you see that she says to him he didn't call when he was supposed to, that he called 30 minutes late. Maybe this man is actually ON the island (or the freighter?) Perhaps he was calling when he thought he was supposed to, but did not realize it was actually 30 minutes later in "real" time. I think it's very clear that her boss is someone that has something to do with Dharma, or this new group that is on the freighter. (the guy who visited Hurley at the mental institution, and the one who sent Naomi and the four others to the island).

-Another very interesting observation in the time difference is that the clock on the rocket read 3:16 - this is probably one of the most well-known biblical passages. John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world that he gave his own begotten Son, and for all who believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.") Hmmm...

4. Jacob's house is not where Locke remembered it to be. Also remember last week Hurley made the comment about the cabin being the other way. Maybe it can only be seen by certain people? Ben seemed to find it amusing that Locke could not find it - especially because it seems now that Locke is looking to Jacob to find out what to do. Interesting also, because Locke told Hurely that "I'm calling the shots now." So what happened to the cabin, though? Maybe since the rest of the group was with Locke, and they couldn't see it, since it seems only "special" people can see him, maybe Jacob didn't want to be seen? I don't know...

5. "Future" Sayid is working for Ben. He tells Elsa that he is a recruiter. This reminds me of when Ben "recruited" Juliet and other people that he brought to the island. He also has the list that he is working off, just like Ben had the list on the island. Clearly Ben has always recruited people to come work for him, as we have seen he has the ability to find out everything about a person, so he knows exactly who he wants working for him. Ben also says something to Sayid about "don't you want to protect your friends?" Was he talking about the other survivors? Is Sayid doing this work for him because Ben has something against him, or helped him get off the island in exchange for him working for him? Maybe in exchange Sayid agreed to work for him if it meant saving the other survivors? Or protecting some secret. Obviously we know that the Oceanic Six has some big secret that they are keeping, and having to lie about. Maybe Ben agreed to get some of the others off the island, but they are having to protect them in order to keep their secret. And obviously this new group of bad guys (the ones who sent the freighter) knows they are there, off the island, and are possibly trying to kill them. It seems that Sayid is killing those people (for example, the guy on the golf course clearly was afraid when he found out that Sayid had been one of the people from flight 815....also Elsa's "boss" who Sayid wanted to kill obviously could be the guy who is in charge of this whole group) - He only contacts her by his pager...he was trying to kill Sayid....there is something definitely connected there. It was also very interesting that not only did Sayid plan to meet her and started dating her just to find out about her boss so that he could kill him, but she was doing the same thing to him.

6. The survivors turned on eachother, just like Locke predicted back in Season 1. Here we see that Hurley, and even Sawyer, have sided with Locke and turned on Kate and Sayid in order to "capture" them. I also think, that when Sayid tells Jack that Kate decided to stay behind, that was not the whole truth. I don't think she stayed willingly (he made it sound like she stayed for Sawyer) - we didn't see what really happened, we just saw Sayid walking up with Charlotte. But they may have taken them hostage, or something else happened with Locke, but I don't think Kate just decided to "stay" there on her own will. There are clearly two groups - those that are with Jack and those that are with Locke....and I really don't think that Kate is "with" Locke. Or that she would abandon Jack like that (even if it was for Sawyer!!)

7. Hurley, Jack and Sayid have specifically mentioned in their "futures" that they are part of the Oceanic Six. Hurley and Jack had a conversation about it, about being suddenly "famous" and having cameras follow them, and Sayid tells the guy on the golf course he was from the plane crash and got a big settlement. However, although we do know that Kate does get off the island, there was never any mention of her being a part of the Oceanic Six. I think she may be in "hiding." As Sawyer clearly made her realize, what does she have to go back to - jail time? She may have come back either with a different identity, or may have done so in secret. Remember when she and Jack met, it was late at night, off a dark road behind the airport. Why did they meet in such a secret location...he also mentioned they had met at that same spot before, like it was their "secret" hiding place. Also when she says she has to get back to "him" - many people assumed it was Sawyer - but it could have been a number of people - maybe even Ben? He could have promised her "protection" if he was able to get her off the island somehow. I actually think she could be working for him as well as Sayid - and in return he gives her "protection" of not being caught and going to jail. Clearly he has the ability to come up with new identities (passports, etc.) - he could have made a deal with her on the island (he seems to do that alot!) and gotten her off some other way. My point here, is that while they keep referring to the "Oceanic Six" - I think there are others that get off the island, but that only six of them are "known" to the rest of the world. The other people like Kate, Ben, Desmond, Juliet, etc., may have gotten off as well but had to hide it from the world. And I do think, that despite the submarine being blown up, that they do have another way to get off the island...Ben is just not sharing that information with them yet.

8. As I've mentioned before, it seems that everyone that does leave the island becomes exactly what they did NOT want to become. On the island, they all gain back what they want most. Jack, the strong doctor, becomes the leader on the island....then back home he becomes his father, an alcoholic who struggles just to stay afloat. Hurley, who was finally "free" of his bad luck on the island, once back home, goes crazy and ends up in the mental institution again. And now we see Sayid, who on the island struggled with the fact that he had once been a torturer, and tried to put his past behind him, goes right back to being a killer again, at the mercy of someone else calling the shots and allowing himself to do whatever he has to do in order to fulfill his duty, even if it means killing someone he loves. It will be interesting to see who the other "SIX" are, and what fate lies ahead for them in becoming exactly what they don't want to be.