Episode Analysis of 1.09 "Solitary"

WARNING: If you have not already seen all of LOST, please DO NOT READ THIS.

My LOST re-watch and in-depth episode analysis will include major details from the entirety that was LOST, and will be written with the perspective of having seen everything already. You will be SPOILED if you read any further. It is far better if you learn the story of LOST for yourself, as it is meant to be seen. Trust me on this, and don't say that I didn't warn you first. Seriously. Stop it. Now. Go watch it. Then, come back here.

To read my original post on this episode, please refer to Solitary.

This episode was written by David Fury, and directed by Greg Yaitanes. It originally aired on November 17th, 2004.

This is a Sayid Jarrah flashback-centric episode.

We begin with a shot of Sayid Jarrah sitting on beach, after he's left the rest of the plane crash survivors out of shame for what he did to Sawyer, and also to map the Island.

As Sayid sits on the beach alone, he looks at several photographs of a woman, turns one over and reads something that is written in Arabic on the back of one of them.

Sayid, presumably thinking about the woman in the photographs, stares off, deep in his thoughts, and then looks across the beach, and suddenly notices something sticking out of the sand.

We see a shot of a thick, worn cable sticking out of the sand. Sayid goes over to it, bringing his backpack with him, and digs it up carefully. He pulls the frayed cable up, out of the sand, watching it lead down the beach, and into the ocean on one end, and also into the jungle on the other. Sayid picks up his backpack, and begins to follow the cable into the jungle.

Back at the beach, Jack visits Sawyer's tent to change the bandages on his wound. Jack has no interest in being gentle, so he just rips the bandage off Sawyer's arm instead.

SAWYER: "Ow. Easy, Jackass."

JACK: "You want it easy, quit moaning. I've got to change these bandages."

SAWYER: "Well, try not taking my skin off with them. How'd I score the house call, Dr. Quinn? Trying to ease your conscience?"

JACK: "My conscience is fine, thanks."

SAWYER: "Of course. What do you have to feel guilty about? I mean, you just let that damn Arab torture me.. [Jack cleans his wound.] Stood by and watched. You figure, you patch me up.. Buy you a ticket into heaven? Only reason you're here.."

JACK: "I'm here because no one else wants anything to do with ya."

SAWYER: "She does." [He smiles.]

JACK: [laughing to himself] "Change your own bandages. [Jack leaves Sawyer's tent. We see Kate standing on the beach, looking out toward where Sayid went, worried, and biting her nails. Jack approaches.] Looking for someone, or just admiring the view?"

KATE: "It's been two days since Sayid took off on his own. I keep looking up, thinking I'm going to see him coming back.."

JACK: "He'll come back when he's found what he's looking for.. The French transmission."

KATE: "He isn't looking for anything. He left because of what happened.. For what he did."

JACK: "It was an accident."

KATE: "Well, accidents happen when you torture people, Jack."

JACK: "Sayid's a trained soldier, Kate. He can take care of himself."

In the jungle, Sayid walks quickly, following the beach wire, which he has dropped, on the jungle floor. He suddenly stops, noticing a trip wire. He inspects it, and then steps over it carefully with one foot, doing it successfully, and then with the other, when he steps on something, triggering a trap that wraps a rope around his leg and pulls him up.

Sayid swings from the rope, upside down, struggling, and hits a tree, which causes a branch to puncture his leg. He pulls it out, and loses consciousness.

Some time later, at night, Sayid, who is now conscious, but not completely lucid, continues to hang from the tree in the jungle, arms hanging, while praying. He suddenly hears a noise. He struggles to look around, and hears footsteps.

SAYID: "Hello? Hello?"

Whoever the person is, they don't respond. Instead, there is a knife, and Sayid is cut loose from the tree. Sayid falls to the ground, trying to look around to see who has freed him, but his vision is blurred, and he is disoriented. The person with the knife walks over to him, as he passes out.

Back at the caves, Jack treats a patient, a redshirt, named Sullivan, while Sun assists him, and the rest of the survivors argue. Hurley approaches, carrying trays of food for them.

JACK: "What's going on out there?"

HURLEY: "Uh, you know, the usual.. People yelling at each other over nothing."

SULLIVAN: "Doc, what do you think this is..? This, this, this, uh.. Rash? It's bad, right? Like some kind of a tropical disease?"

JACK: "It's hives."

SULLIVAN: "What's that? Is that like poison ivy?"

JACK: "It's a common rash, Sullivan. It's brought on by heat and stress."

SULLIVAN: "Okay."

JACK: "Just try to relax. It'll clear up." [Getting up, to dismiss the patient.]

SULLIVAN: "Right."

JACK: "Try to keep your mind off it."

SULLIVAN: [Getting up.] "Okay, [To Sun, who has a poultice.] What is that? Is it like aloe? Isn't that for sunburn, or something?" [Sullivan and Sun walk off.]

HURLEY: [to Jack] "Try to keep your mind off it? What else has that guy got to do but stress?"

JACK: [Sitting down to eat with Hurley.] "I've got enough on my plate without having to treat hypochondriacs."

HURLEY: "Yeah, but, that's like my point, man. We're all fried. I mean.. Have you taken a look at everybody out there? Everybody's way tense. Dude, I'm just saying, it'd be sweet if we could have, I don't know, something to do."

JACK: "We're surviving here, Hurley.. And, that's what my main concern is.. Keeping us alive. Things could be worse."

HURLEY: "How?"

Inside, somewhere underground, Sayid is extremely disoriented. A light goes on, shining in his face. There are many voices, repeating a question over and over. A woman's voice appears to slow down, as Sayid begins to get his bearings, and asks "Where is Alex?" in many different languages. Sayid's hands and feet are bound to a metal bed-frame. He begins to become accustomed to his surroundings and grasp what is going on.

SAYID: "What? Who are you?"

DANIELLE: "Where is Alex?"

SAYID: "I don't know what you're talking about."

[The woman runs across the room, and switches something on, which electrocutes Sayid, causing the light to go out temporarily. Sayid screams out, in pain.]

DANIELLE: "Where is Alex?"

SAYID: "Please, listen.."

DANIELLE: "Where is Alex?"

SAYID: "I don't know any Alex."

[She electrocutes Sayid again. He screams out, in pain, even louder this time.]

SAYID: "Stop!"

In his flashback, Sayid is in Iraq, in an interrogation room, where he is torturing a prisoner, by repeatedly punching him in the face.

PRISONER: "Stop."

SAYID: [Arabic Subtitle] "You want me to stop, Falah? Then start answering my questions, because I can do this all day. I assure you, we already know the truth. But, I want you to admit it. [In English] And. all the pain will stop. Your Shiite friends have already implicated you in the bombing. [shouting] You planted the device in the Baathist Headquarters, didn't you? You killed two soldiers! [lowered voice] Confess it. Confess it, and perhaps it will only cost you your hands instead of your life." [The prisoner throws up.]

Outside the interrogation room, Sayid and his Commanding Officer, Omar, walk and discuss thing the prisoner.

SAYID: "He doesn't know anything. Your sources were wrong."

OMAR: "Perhaps. But, that's really not the point, is it? You handled yourself very well in there."

SAYID: "Did I?"

OMAR: "I'll put in for your reassignment to Intelligence Division, if you wish it."

SAYID: "Yes, sir, very much so."

OMAR: "Good, now stop calling me sir when it's just the two of us."

SAYID: "You're my Superior Officer, Omar.. For now."

OMAR: "And, I'll enjoy it while it lasts."

A woman walks through the hallway they are in, handcuffed, being brought in for interrogation, escorted by two armed guards. Sayid watches her. They appears to recognize eachother, and make eye contact as she passes by. She is the woman from Sayid's photographs on the Island.

OMAR: "That reminds me, Sayid. In addition to your increased responsibility, Communications Officer.." [The dialogue volume fades as the woman walks by.]

SAYID: "I'm willing to make that sacrifice." [Sayid salutes him.]

Back on the Island, in the caves, Hurley sleeps, sitting on a log. Bags of luggage are dropped at his feet, and he wakes up because of it.

ETHAN: "Hi"

HURLEY: "Yo. What's this?"

LOCKE: "They were in the jungle. They must have fallen from the plane."

HURLEY: "What are you guys doing out in the jungle at night?"

ETHAN: "Best time to hunt."

LOCKE: "Ethan here has some experience.. Spotted some tracks, looked like they might be rabbit or some other rodent."

HURLEY: "Rodent, yum."

ETHAN: "Figured people are starting to get tired of eating boar meat."

HURLEY: "You got that right. Alright, well, I'll take a look at these [indicated the suitcases], and see if there's anything useful."

ETHAN: "Okay."

Locke and Ethan begin walking away, as Hurley starts digging through the luggage. He finds a red Hawaiian shirt and takes it out. Locke stops to put his knife in a sheath, as Walt, who is sleeping next to Michael nearby in the caves, notices him. Walt sneaks away to talk to Mr. Locke without Michael noticing.

WALT: "Mr. Locke, are you going back out to hunt?"

LOCKE: "For a bit."

WALT: "Can I go with you? I mean, I just want to learn how to do what you do.."

MICHAEL: [waking up] "Walt!"

WALT: "I was just.. I was talking to Mr. Locke, and.."

MICHAEL: "I know what you're doing. It's not going to happen, man. Get back to bed."

HURLEY: [opening a bag] "Whoa, dude." [He smiles.]

Back in Danielle Rousseau's self-dug, underground bunker, she continues to electrocute Sayid.

SAYID: "Please. Just listen to me! I keep telling you, I don't know who Alex is! I'm a survivor of a plane crash. I found a wire on the beach.. I followed it. I thought it might have something to do with the transmission we picked up on our receiver. A recording.. A mayday, with a French woman repeating on a loop for sixteen years.."

DANIELLE: "Si quelqu'un m'entend, je vous en prie, venez à notre aide.. Il les a tués. Il les a tous tués.. [French Translation: If anybody hears me.. Please, come to our rescue. It killed them. It killed them all.] [Coming out of the shadows.] Sixteen years. Has it really been that long?"

SAYID: "You."

DANIELLE: "You just happened to hear my distress call? I know what you are. [She knocks him out with the butt of a rifle.]

Later, still at Danielle Rousseau's place. It's now day time, and he's going through Sayid's belongings. Sayid regains consciousness. Rousseau continues to go through his backpack. There's a big book in it. Sayid looks around, scoping the place, and sees a jacket with the name Rousseau on it. Rousseau finds Sayid's photographs.

SAYID: "Rousseau."

DANIELLE: "How do you know my name?"

SAYID: "I read it. There, on the jacket. [Rousseau has Sayid's photographs from his backpack.] What is this place? Those batteries.. They wouldn't be able to produce enough power to transmit your distress call all these years."

DANIELLE: "It broadcasts from somewhere else. But, they control it now."

SAYID: "They?"

DANIELLE: "You. And, the others like you."

SAYID: "I don't know who you think I am. I've already told you, I'm not.."

DANIELLE: "Sayid?"

SAYID: "How do you know my name?"

DANIELLE: "My name was on a jacket. Yours is on the envelope you carry. Who is she? The woman in the photographs.."

SAYID: "Nadia. Her name is Nadia."

In his flashback, in Iraq, Sayid talks to his Commanding Officer, Omar, while looking at a prisoner's file which has the same photograph of the woman, Nadia, which Sayid has on the Island.

OMAR: "We cannot tie Noor Abed-Jazeem directly to the bombing, but we know where her sympathies lie. She's a known associate of Kurdish and Shiite insurgents."

SAYID: "You think she knows who orchestrated the bombing?"

OMAR:" That, my friend, is exactly what you will find out."

[We see Sayid in a room with the woman he had watched being escorted into the building by the two armed guards.]

SAYID: "Noor Abed-Jazeem, I'm going to ask you some questions. If you refuse to cooperate, I'm going to hurt you. Do you understand?"

NADIA: "Nobody calls me Noor, Sayid. You of all people should know that. [Sayid is startled.] What? You don't remember me? Am I so different from the little girl in the school yard who used to push you in the mud?"

SAYID: "Nadia?"

NADIA: "And your mother would tell my mother, "Why must you pick on little Sayid?" And I'd answer, "Because he ignores me."

SAYID: "You had enough attention with your family's wealth, and your charm."

NADIA: "Such things matter little to children. But, then you always were older than your years, weren't you, Sayid?"

SAYID: "Not old enough to understand that being pushed in the mud was a sign of affection. Now, you're a traitor to your country. Tell me what you know about the bombing in Najaf. Tell me, or I swear, I will hurt you."

NADIA: "Oh, I know, Sayid. This is not my first interrogation by the Republican Guard. This is where they burned me with acid. [Showing her neck.] They pierced my hands with a drill. [Showing him.] Would you like to see the soles of my feet? Where they flayed the skin off? These are the handiworks of your friends. The people you swear allegiance to."

SAYID: "If you were innocent, I am sorry. But, this bombing is a different matter, Nadia."

NADIA: "Go on, Sayid. Do your work. I'm not going to tell you anything."

SAYID: "Then, I'm going to hurt you."

NADIA: "I know."

On the Island, Danielle Rousseau inspects Sayid, discovering a wound on his leg.

DANIELLE: "You have a bullet wound."

SAYID: "I was a soldier."

DANIELLE: "You were. And, are you still?"

SAYID: "That was a long time ago."

DANIELLE: "Tell me more about her. The woman.. Nadia."

SAYID: "Alex. Who is he?"

Back at the caves, Michael works on drawing something in a sketch book.

WALT: "I'm bored. Can I take Vincent to the beach?"

MICHAEL: "I'll take you later, man. I'm in the middle of something."

WALT: "But, there's nothing to do around here."

MICHAEL: "Well, you've got to figure out stuff to do. You know what I'm saying? You've got to find a way to entertain yourself."

HURLEY: [Rummaging through suitcases, in search of something, and speaking to himself.] Come on. Come on. I know I saw it. [He finds what he was looking for.] Yes."

JACK: "Hurley, uh.."

HURLEY: "Hold on, man. I'm busy. [Hurley sees Michael holding a long stick, and goes over to him.] Dude, can I borrow this?"

MICHAEL: "What?"

HURLEY: [takes the stick] "Thanks, man."

JACK: "Hurley, what are you doing?"

[Hurley just points at him, laughs and runs off.]

Back at Danielle's foxhole, she continues to question Sayid.

DANIELLE: "So, you heard my transmission.. Came looking for me, for answers?"

SAYID: "I didn't know you were alive."

DANIELLE: "Still lying."

SAYID: "I'm not lying."

DANIELLE: "Lies!"

SAYID: "Nothing.."

DANIELLE: "Like this plane crash, which you survived. You claim there were others?"

SAYID: "More than forty. Yes."

DANIELLE: "Then why are you alone?"

SAYID: "I left them."

DANIELLE: "Why?"

SAYID: "There was.. I did something. Something I'm ashamed of."

DANIELLE: "But, Nadia.. You left her, too?"

SAYID: "She wasn't on the plane. She's dead.. Because of me."

DANIELLE: [putting her hand on his face] "I'm so sorry. I want to show you something.."

Back at the caves, Michael draws in his sketch book, and discuss his plans with Jack.

MICHAEL: "See, this junction here.. Re-route some of the spring's water flow into a couple of suspended basins, pop in some hose, and you got showers. This way you keep the drinking water separate.."

JACK: "This is.. You drew this?"

MICHAEL: "I was an artist in a previous life."

JACK: "I thought you were in construction.."

MICHAEL: "I am. I mean, I was.. Long story."

CHARLIE: [entering] "Hey, Jack. Hurley's all worked up about something.. Said we should come see it."

[Jack, Michael, and Charlie go. Shot of plateau.]

HURLEY: "Welcome, to the first, and hopefully last, Island Open."

JACK: "What?"

HURLEY: "It's two holes for now.. Three par, and no waiting."

JACK: "Hurley, you built a golf course?"

HURLEY: "Rich idiots fly to tropical islands all the time to whack balls around.."

MICHAEL: "All the stuff we've got to deal with, man.. This is what you've been wasting your time on?"

HURLEY: "Dudes, listen. Our lives suck. Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max. I mean, we're lost on an Island.. Running from boars and MONSTERS.. Freakin' polar bears!"

MICHAEL: "Polar bears?"

CHARLIE: [to Michael] "You didn't hear about the polar bear?"

HURLEY: "Look. All I'm saying is, if we're stuck here, then just surviving's not going to cut it. We need some kind of relief, you know? We need some way that we can, you know, have fun. That's right, fun. Or else, we're just going to go crazy waiting for the next bad thing to happen.."

[Jack and Michael look at each other.]

Back and Danielle Rousseau's place, she shows Sayid a music box.

DANIELLE: "It's a music box, but it's broken. It has been for a long time. It was a gift from my love for our Anniversary."

SAYID: "You mean Alex?"

DANIELLE: "Robert. This was such a comfort to me in the first few years here."

SAYID: "I could fix it for you. I could take a look at it, if you freed my hands. [Danielle gets up quickly.] I'm very good with mechanical things. I need my hands."

Danielle gets a syringe, scrapes it with sandpaper, and fills it with some medication. Sayid begins to squirm.

DANIELLE: "What is written on the back of your photograph?

SAYID: "What are you doing?"

DANIELLE: "Did she write it? Or did you? Perhaps, you don't want to tell me because it causes too much pain.."

SAYID: "Rousseau.. You don't need to do that."

[Shot of Danielle giving him the injection.]

Back at Hurley's golf course, Michael and Jack discuss their golf strategy, but for some reason, we're supposed to believe that they're doing something different. Perhaps, something more important. I'm not exactly sure why.

[Shot of Michael and Jack, close up on their faces.]

MICHAEL: "This is a problem, man."

JACK: "Yeah."

MICHAEL: "I mean, I know what I'd do, but it's got to be your call."

JACK: "Okay.. Give me a seven iron."

MICHAEL: "You got it."

JACK: [to Hurley and Charlie who are taunting him] "Hey, heads up over there!"

CHARLIE: "No chance! You won't get anywhere near us!"

SULLIVAN: [entering off camera, interrupting Jack's shot] "Hey, Doc? "There you are. Somebody said you went this way. Listen, that rash of mine, it's starting to spread. It's like the size of a grape.. [he pauses] What are you guys doing? Are you playing golf?"

JACK: "Yeah."

SULLIVAN: "Can I play?"

Back at Danielle's, Sayid is unconscious, but now moved from the bed-frame he was bound to. His head rests on a desk, while he sits, chained to chair. He suddenly wakes up. He looks around, to get his bearings, and notices some maps and notations on a table behind him.

DANIELLE: "Sorry about the sedative. It was the only safe way for me to move you. You offered to fix my music box after all I've done to you.. Striking you, shocking you. Why?"

SAYID: "Do you want me to fix your music box, or don't you?"

DANIELLE: "Yes. Yes, please."

SAYID: "Then I want to know your name. Your first name."

DANIELLE: "Danielle. My name is Danielle."

SAYID: [working on the music box] "And, how did you come to be on this Island, Danielle?"

[Danielle sighs, looking like she doesn't want to talk about it, but she will for the price of the music box.]

DANIELLE: "We were part of a science team."

SAYID: "A science team armed with rifles? Was Robert on the team?"

DANIELLE: "Yes."

SAYID: "And Alex, was he, too?"

DANIELLE: "Our vessel was three days out of Tahiti when our instruments malfunctioned. It was night.. A storm. The sounds. The ship slammed into rocks, ran aground.. The hull breached beyond repair. So, we made camp, dug out this temporary shelter. Temporary. Nearly two months we survived here. Two months before.."

SAYID: "Your distress signal? The message I heard, you said, "It killed them all."

DANIELLE: "We were coming back from the Black Rock. It was them. They were the carriers."

SAYID: "Who were the carriers?"

DANIELLE: "The Others."

SAYID: "What others? What is the Black Rock? Have you seen other people on this Island?"

DANIELLE: "No, but I hear them. Out there, in the jungle. They whisper. [Long Pause.] You think I'm insane.."

SAYID: "I think you've been alone for too long.."

In his flashback, Sayid goes into Nadia's Solitary Confinement cell to bring her food and show her some photographs of the suspects in the bombing.

SAYID: [giving her bread] "I'm sorry.. This is all I could find. I'll try and bring you some fruit later on. Are you ready to talk?"

NADIA: "That depends on what you'd like to talk about, Sayid. Books, weather? Since I've seen neither locked in this cell for weeks, I'm afraid my conversation will suffer.."

SAYID: "We have two suspects in custody. Have a look at these photographs. [Showing her a bunch of photographs.] All you need to do is nod. If you prove you are willing to cooperate, I think I can get them to free you."

NADIA: [touching his hand] "Then I won't have these visits to look forward to anymore.."

SAYID: "This isn't a game, Nadia."

NADIA: "Yet, you keep playing it, Sayid.. Pretending to be something I know you're not."

Back on the Island, on the beach, Shannon is getting yet another tan in her bikini, while Boone approaches her. Kate is nearby, gathering wood, and overhearing their conversation.

BOONE: "You're never going to believe this.."

SHANNON: "You finally learned how to tie your own shoes?"

BOONE: "Funny. Someone at the caves built a golf course.."

SHANNON: "Are you high?"

BOONE: "Seriously, a golf course. Apparently, Jack's playing with them right now."

KATE: [shocked] "Jack? Is golfing?"

BOONE: "That's what I hear. I don't know about you guys but I'm going to go check this out.."

SHANNON: "Wait for me, bonehead.."

SAWYER: [To Kate, who is heading to the golf course with Boone and Shannon.] "Doctor playing golf. Woo. Boy, howdy.. Now I've heard everything. What's next, cop eating a doughnut?"

KATE: "You want to come, you should just say.."

SAWYER: "I think I'll pass on that, Freckles. Not big on crowds. And, let's face it, the crowd's not too hot on me, either."

KATE: "One outcast to another.. I'd think about making more of an effort."

SAWYER: "Duly noted."

Back at Danielle's place, Sayid continues to fix her music box. He finishes, and plays it for her.

SAYID: [showing her] "You see, some things can be fixed.."

DANIELLE: "Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much."

SAYID: "Danielle? Please let me go."

DANIELLE: "Go?"

SAYID: "Back to the people I told you about.."

DANIELLE: "You can't. You have to stay. It's not safe.."

SAYID: "Not safe.. What's not safe?"

DANIELLE: "You need me! You can't leave."

SAYID: "Danielle.."

They suddenly hear sounds like the MONSTER outside and Danielle quickly gets dressed, gathers some things, and picks up a rifle. She also grabs a backpack, and heads to the hatch opening, leaving a second rifle behind, which Sayid takes notice of.

SAYID: "Where are you going?"

DANIELLE: "If we're lucky, it's one of the bears.."

SAYID: "If we're lucky? It might be that thing out there.. The MONSTER."

DANIELLE: "There's no such thing as monsters.." [She leaves.]

In a flashback, Sayid talks to his Commanding Officer, Omar, about Noor Abed-Jazeem.

OMAR: "You have to execute her.."

SAYID: "What?"

OMAR: "The Jazeem woman has given us nothing. This will send a message to the others who will not talk."

SAYID: "I just need more time with her.."

OMAR: "You have had more than a month, Sayid. Now, bring her outside and shoot her. Or I will. Is this a problem?"

SAYID: "No. It's not a problem."

OMAR: "Good."

Nadia sits in her cell, while Sayid opens the door, letting the light in.

NADIA: "What did you bring me today?"

Sayid throws an execution hood at her side.

SAYID: "Put it on."

NADIA: "Are you going to hurt me, Sayid?"

Back on the Island, Sayid uses the tools that he had to fix the music box to get himself free from being chained to the chair. He goes through Danielle's things, grabs her maps and notations, putting them in his backpack, and the other rifle that she left behind. He climbs up the ladder to the hatch opening, and leaves the photographs of Nadia on the desk behind.

Back at Hurley's golf course, a group of people have now gathered after hearing the news of the golf course. Jack takes a shot, while Kate, Shannon and Boone have shown up in the process.

CHARLIE: "Ugh!"

HURLEY: "Dude, I think he stuck it."

CHARLIE: "Lucky, lucky."

KATE: "This thing have a ladies team?"

JACK: "Hey, when did you show up?"

KATE: "A while ago. I almost didn't recognize you. You're smiling."

JACK: "I'll have to watch that.."

KATE: "So, how'd you come up with this?"

JACK: "Wasn't me.. It's all Hurley. I've been going crazy trying to make everyone feel safe.. I haven't been sleeping because I want everyone to feel safe. And, he builds a golf course, and everyone feels safe."

HURLEY: [after missing the ball completely] "Aww. Crap! Do over."

CHARLIE: "It's a mulligan. Mulligan. It's a gentleman's sport.. You've got to get the words right. Mulligan.."

WALT: [coming up behind them] "Dad.."

MICHAEL: "Hey, come here. Check this out.."

CHARLIE: [Hugging Hurley from behind. Everyone is laughing.] "You want to..? Let me.."

HURLEY: "Dude. Get away from me."

WALT: [to Michael] "You left me alone at the caves.."

MICHAEL: "What? I left you with Claire."

WALT: "She's sleeping."

MICHAEL: "Oh, man. I'm sorry. I just.. I just got caught up. I'm really sorry, Walt. I screwed up. I'll make it up to you. Hey, you want to play?"

WALT: "Nah.. There's other people waiting."

MICHAEL: "Oh, no.. Don't worry about it. They won't mind. You want to take a swing?"

CHARLIE: "Michael, it's your shot. You're up."

MICHAEL: "Oh, okay. Cool. [to Walt] So, we'll play later, okay?"

In the jungle, Sayid runs with a limp from his wound, and looks for Danielle Rousseau, while carrying her spare rifle. He hears a noise and slows down. Danielle also hears something. She begins looking while walking, and pointing her rifle toward it. Sayid approaches her from behind, leveling the rifle and pointing it at her.

SAYID: "Put the gun down, Danielle. Put it down on the ground. [She levels her rifle and points it at him.] Don't."

In a flashback, Sayid walks down a corridor with two Armed Guards, escorting Nadia, who has a hood over her head. He dismisses the other soldiers, saluting them.

SAYID: [to two soldiers] "I'll take it from here.."

As soon as the soldiers leave, and Sayid takes the bag off her head, running down the corridor with Nadia.

NADIA: [terrified] "What's.. What's going on?"

SAYID: "Forty meters outside this door, there's a supply truck that will be leaving shortly. They don't check them on the way out.. Only coming in. Get inside. Cover yourself any way that you can. They won't reach the city for thirty minutes. That's enough time for you to jump out and hide yourself.."

NADIA: "Come with me."

SAYID: "I can't. Desertion. They would kill my family. I don't have your courage.."

NADIA: "You have more than you know.."

Nadia takes the photographs of herself out of Sayid's pocket, and writes something on the back. Sayid's Commanding Officer, Omar, enters the corridor, noticing them.

SAYID: "Nadia, you have to go.."

OMAR: [off camera at first] "Sayid. What are you doing?"

[Omar reaches for his gun.]

SAYID: "Don't.."

OMAR: [shouts] "Guards!"

[Sayid shoots him.]

NADIA: "Sayid.. Now you have to come with me! They'll kill you!"

SAYID: "No.. You escaped. You stole my gun, and you shot him. And, then you shot me.."

[Sayid shoots himself in the leg.]

NADIA: "Sayid!"

SAYID: [giving her the gun] "Take it. Please, Nadia. Take it and go."

Nadia takes the gun from Sayid and runs. Sayid looks at the message she wrote on the back of the photograph.

Back on the Island, Sayid and Danielle Rousseau point their rifles at eachother.

SAYID: "Please. I don't wish to hurt you.."

DANIELLE: "You already have."

SAYID: "Don't."

[Sayid pulls the trigger on his rifle, but nothing happens.]

DANIELLE: "The firing pin has been removed. Robert didn't notice it was missing, either, when I shot him.."

SAYID: "But, you loved him.."

DANIELLE: "He was sick.."

SAYID: "Sick?"

DANIELLE: "It took them, one after the other. I had no choice. They were already lost.."

SAYID: "You killed them?"

DANIELLE: "What would have happened if we were rescued? I couldn't let that happen. I won't!"

[Sayid throws the rifle down.]

SAYID: "I'm not sick."

DANIELLE: "I know."

SAYID: "Then why kill me?"

DANIELLE: "I can't let you go. Don't you understand.. To have someone to talk to, to touch.."

SAYID: "You'll find me in the next life if not in this one.."

DANIELLE: "What?"

SAYID: "The writing on the back of Nadia's photograph. I know what it's like to hold on to someone. I've been holding on for the past seven years to just a thought.. A blind hope that, somewhere, she's still alive.. But, the more I hold on, the more I pull away from those around me. The only way out of this.. This place, is with their help. Come with me. You don't have to be alone, Danielle."

DANIELLE: "Your people.. The ones you're determined to get back to. Watch them. Watch them closely."

SAYID: "Danielle. Who is Alex?

DANIELLE: "Alex was my child."

Back at Hurley's golf course, an even bigger crowd has gathered. Charlie clears grass away from his golf ball, as Michael laughs at him.

CHARLIE: "Guys, please. I've never made par on a course before.."

[He takes his shot and misses.]

HURLEY: "Dude, you were robbed."

CHARLIE: "Bollocks. See that?"

MICHAEL: "Okay, Jack. It's up to you. Sink this, and you get to wear the blazer."

KATE: "No pressure."

CHARLIE: "Yeah, no pressure."

HURLEY: "Five bucks says he sinks it."

CHARLIE: "Hey, you're betting against me?"

HURLEY: "Sorry, dude.. But, you're a duffer like me."

BOONE: "Make it ten, and you're on."

SULLIVAN: "I don't have any cash, but I'll bet my dinner on the Doc."

SAWYER: [entering] "I've two tubes of sunscreen and a flashlight that says he chokes.."

[Everyone just stares at Sawyer for a minute.]

KATE: "I'll take that action."

BOONE: "Yeah. Yeah, me too."

SHANNON: "You just bet on Jack, dumb-ass."

BOONE: "We need the sunscreen, Princess.."

Jack takes his shot, while everyone watches, but we don't see if it lands or not.

Off, somewhere else, the sun is setting, and a knife hits a tree.

LOCKE: [Noticing that someone is there, without looking.] "Does your father know you're here?"

WALT: [Shaking his head, indicating no.] "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Locke hands the knife over to Walt, as he grabs it and looks at it.

In the jungle, Sayid walks, quickly limping back to camp, while using a walking stick, with the wound on his leg tied with a tourniquet. The wind howls, and Sayid hears whispers. He stops, and looks around.

Interesting Notes & Observations:

• There was no "Previously on LOST" in this episode. See? Now, I can't complain that they were irrelevant in the beginning because there was nothing to even show concerning the episode at hand. Well done.
• In the beginning, Sayid looks at photographs of Nadia, which were given back to him, after he presumed they were lost forever, from Claire, who found them while going through the luggage and belongings of the survivors, in Walkabout. 
• Also, I'm pretty sure that the original photograph (The one Claire gave back to Sayid in Walkabout.) wasn't actually of the same actress, but was edited in later, after they found Andrea Gabriel. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere, some time, probably a long time ago.
• I never noticed before that Sayid has more than one photograph of Nadia. It's kind of weird that at least one of them is the same photograph that was kept in her file when she was being interrogated by the Republican Guard. What, did Sayid steal them or something? That's kind of creepy, dude.
• As you can see, Sayid has several photographs of Nadia.
• The woman who plays Nadia, Andrea Gabriel, is absolutely beautiful. I mean, most of the women on this show are hot, but she's just.. damn. Breathtaking. I don't think I've ever used that word before. Now I feel stupid. Oh well. She's hot. Andrea, if you see this, call me..
• Gee. I wonder where that cable into the water could go? Maybe an underwater hatch? Nah. It's probably nothing. Nothing at all.
• Also, it's probably not the best idea to leave a cable sticking out of the sand when a bunch of people just crashed on the Island, and you don't want them to figure out where you are. Not too smart, huh, Others?
• While Jack is changing Sawyer's bandage on his arm, I'm pretty sure there's no wound there at all.
• Hmm.. Kate seems more worried about Sayid than she was when Jack left in White Rabbit. More proof to my theory that there was supposed to be a connection between Sayid and Kate in the beginning. Plus, Sayid doesn't cry every eight minutes.. What chick wouldn't want him over Jack?
• We know that Sayid is Muslim, and of course, that Muslims pray several times a day.. But, I think, when he's hanging upside down and praying is probably one of the few times we ever saw him pray on the show. I can only think of two others.. One, when he was on the Elizabeth with Sun and Jin, and they discovered the four-toed statue, in Live Together, Die Alone. And, Two, after Naomi Dorrit died and he was going to get on the helicopter with Desmond to go back to the Kahana, in The Economist.
• I love how Jack acts like he has more important things to do than to treat Sullivan. Dude. You're on an Island. Be happy you have something to do.
• Once again, Doctor Jack Shephard's bedside manner is fantastic.
• From Lostpedia: During the scene where Jack treats Sullivan for his rash, Shannon can be heard in the background saying "Eww, get him out of there. He's drinking our water." This dialogue is from a deleted scene of this episode, where Shannon comes across Vincent drinking from the main water supply. Shannon yells at Walt for letting the dog drink from the water, and is then confronted by Michael for yelling at his son. Hurley tells Shannon that dogs mouths are, in fact, cleaner than humans. Shannon, defeated, storms off.
• Danielle Rousseau asks Sayid "Where is Alex?" in German, Spanish, Italian, French, and English. Why didn't she broadcast her signal in all of these languages? It seems to me, if you speak all of those languages, you might have a better chance of being found on a deserted Island, if you broadcast your distress call in as many languages as you can actually speak. 
• From Lostpedia: d
• Danielle asks Sayid where Alex is when he is semi-conscious. She speaks at least five different languages: English: "Where is Alex?" German: "Wo ist Alex?" Spanish: "¿Dónde está Alex?" Italian: "Dov'é Alex?" French: "Où est Alex?"
• Whoa. Sayid is beating some dude, and speaking Arabic. Wait. All of a sudden he can speak English?
• Sayid talks to his Commanding Officer outside of a building, which has a face painted on the side of it, but it's partially blocked.. I wonder if it's Saddam Hussein? Unfortunately, I couldn't find a screenshot of this.
• This is the first episode that I noticed Carlton Cuse in the opening credits.. Before looking it up, I was pretty sure he started on The Moth, but nope, it was actually this one. I'm surprised that I actually spotted it the first time he was credited because, from so many years of watching this show, I'm conditioned to not looking at the credits, because I never wanted to be spoiled.
• And, we have our first Ethan sighting. Good job spotting the crazies, Mr. Locke.
• Why is Ethan laughing, smiling, or being funny in any way so fucking creepy? Seriously. 
• Locke says that Ethan has experience hunting. I wonder if he hunted with the Others. I can't imagine they have fresh meat over there in Otherville. 
• Look, I get what Michael's doing. Walt doesn't listen, so he has to lay down the law. And, he's never really been a father to him his whole life, so he doesn't exactly know how to do it, but.. The thing is, Walt is a kid with a curious mind, and he wants to learn things. Michael is an artist, and he should know better. You have to find a way to connect with a kid who is like that, and have them learn to respect you because you're similar, instead of being a dick to him and showing how different you are. Like I said, I get where he's coming from, but he's just going about it all wrong. It's possible to have him respect you and be his friend, too.
• Danielle Rousseau can manage to remember exactly what she said on her distress call SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, but she can't seem to remember the specifics as to when her baby, Alex, was taken from the Others? Oh, that's awfully convenient.
• Also, she says that "they" control the source where the distress call is being broadcast from, but when the survivors of the plane crash visited the radio tower, in Through the Looking Glass, no one was even there. In fact, Danielle Rousseau took them there, and she wasn't even worried about it. Also, if they did control it, why didn't they just shut it off then, instead of allowing it to broadcast for sixteen freaking years?
• Danielle Rousseau discovers a bullet wound on Sayid's leg, foreshadowing how he would get the wound later in this episode, where he helps Nadia escape from the Republican Guard.
• Sayid asks Rousseau, "Who is he?" about Alex. This is Danielle's first indication that Sayid isn't lying, and he doesn't know who Alex is, but we don't know that because it's never indicated to us, the audience, that Alex is actually a girl.
• It confuses me as to why Sayid tells Danielle that Nadia is dead. Perhaps, he's trying to get her to sympathize with him.. Or, he says it because he crashed on the Island, instead of going to find her in Los Angeles, after the deal he made with the CIA in The Greater Good, like he was supposed to, and he assumes that someone else has? It doesn't make sense because the last thing Sayid knows of Nadia is that she is, in fact, alive, and he's actually going to visit her when he leaves Sydney.
• I always thought that it was also possible that Sayid was speaking of the future, when he was actually with Nadia, after leaving the Island, and she was hit by a car after Jacob touched him. How would he know she was dead? Because he already lived it. It was one of the many things that led me to believe that the Island was in some sort of time-loop, and they had all, somehow, experienced this before. Although, it didn't end up exactly being true, I still like to believe it. The idea of it works for me.
• I know that Danielle Rousseau has been alone for a long time and everything, but isn't it kind of creepy to touch the face of someone you not only just met, but tortured not five minutes ago?
• Any time a character on the show uses the word "lost," or when Hurley's says "We're lost on an Island." it cracks me up. It's so meta. Also, the line "We're lost on an Island." reminds me of when Jimmy Kimmel visited the LOST set for his show at the end of Season One, and he and Dominic Monaghan wrote a LOST opening theme-song for the show. Check it out.
• Umm.. First of all, where the hell did Danielle get syringes and medication from? Second, what the hell did she use to put Sayid unconscious with? And, third.. That needle was so rusty and dull. Who else was she doing this to?
• Sullivan looks like he could use a few rounds of golf. Dude needs to chill.
• Sayid uses his interrogation skills to get information about how Danielle came to the Island.
• Danielle Rousseau's story of crashing on the Island, and her mention of the Black Rock, reminded me a lot of how Richard Alpert got to the Island, as seen in Ab Aeterno.
• Sayid notices Danielle Rousseau's maps and notations while scoping the room.
• Sayid's thinking "This chick is bat-shit crazy." 
• From Lostpedia: Carmen: The music played by Danielle's music box is the Intermezzo from Carmen, the French Opera, by Bizet.
• In This Place is Death, we see Danielle's music box on the beach, after she was ship-wrecked on the Island.
• I can never figure out why Sayid would leave the photographs of Nadia behind when he leaves Danielle.
• I love how Kate just assumes that Jack came up with the idea for the golf course. Yeah, Kate. Jack is the frickin' Island genius. He has ALL the great ideas. You know, like the ones that happen without thinking, and then end up getting everyone killed pretty much every week? Yeah, those. Come on, Kate. There's over forty people who just crashed here. Other people can have ideas. Get over yourself. The world doesn't revolve around you and Jack and your awful job at flirting. You two make me sick. Okay. I'm done. Ugh.
• Your damn straight Hurley made everyone feel safe, Jack. Between him and Sawyer's leadership skills later on, I'm not sure they ever needed you on this Island.. Yeah. I said it.
• Hey, Charlie.. Maybe if you weren't so busy doing drugs and being gay with Hurley, some of the girls on this Island would actually pay attention to you.. I'm just saying, dude.
• It's nice that Michael is too busy playing golf to even keep an eye on his kid. And, then Walt walks off again without Michael even noticing. Really. Great.
• Why did Sayid have Nadia's photographs from her file? Did he take them out and destroy her file?
• I can't understand why in the hell Sayid would shoot Rousseau. I mean, I know she's crazy.. But, dude. Just leave her there. Maybe he was trying to put her out of her misery or something. I don't know. I mean, he didn't shoot her because the firing pin was missing, but he didn't know that. He still pulled the trigger.
• Reminds me of when Jack was going to shoot Locke, but the gun didn't go off.
• Nadia's note to Sayid, on the back of the photograph, "You'll find you in the next life, if not in this one.." reminds me of Desmond's "I'll see ya in another life, brotha.."
• Sayid tells Danielle that he's been holding on to the thought of Nadia for seven years, which would make the time of her being held prisoner by the Republican Guard, and Sayid being a soldier at that time, around 1997, after the end of the first Gulf War.
• Sayid asks Danielle to come back to the beach camp with him, even though he was just going to shoot her in the face.. And, then she touches his face all creepy again, even though he was just going to shoot her. Man, these two are a dysfunctional relationship just waiting to happen.
• Danielle tells Sayid that Alex was her child, but she still doesn't say that Alex is a girl.
• Ohh, yeah. Right, Kate. You'll take that action. Sooner or later.. What? I couldn't resist.
• Hey! Look! It's Scott and Steve! (I still don't know which one is Scott and which one is Steve..)
• Uhh.. Locke? I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea. Also, tell the kid to point the damn knife away from himself. You know.. Don't run with scissors, and such? Jeez.
• The whispers according to Lostpedia: (Male Voice) "Just let him get out of here." (Male Voice) "He's seen too much already." (Male Voice) "What if he tells?" (Female Voice) "Could just speak to him.." (Male Voice) "No."
• I wish they never answered the mystery of the whispers. They were so interesting back then.

Answered Questions:

• We see exactly where the end of the cable on the beach that, which Sayid discovered, and lead into the water went, when Charlie followed it down to The Looking Glass station, in Through the Looking Glass.
• In The Little Prince and This Place is Death, we find that the story of Danielle Rousseau, her love, Robert, and the rest of their science team arriving on the Island, which she tells Sayid in this episode, is in fact, true.
• In Dead is Dead, we find out what really happened to Danielle Rousseau's baby, Alex.
• Sayid says that Nadia is dead, but we learn that she isn't. In fact, Sayid marries her after returning from the Island, and is later killed, in The Incident. We also see her funeral, in The Shape of Things to Come.
• We never found out exactly what the MONSTER was, but we found out where it came from and (sort of) how it was created, in Across the Sea.
• Danielle Rousseau mentions the "sickness" to Sayid, and although it was never definitively answered, we were given a few different clues as to what it could be in episodes like The Constant and Sundown.
• In Everybody Loves Hugo, we found out what the whispers really were, and it's lame.

Unanswered Questions:

• What ever happened to Sullivan?
• Where did the end of the beach wire, which Sayid was following, go to? 
• How did Danielle Rousseau not hear the plane crash on the Island?
• Why does Sayid say that Nadia is dead because of him?

Favorite Moments:

• Sawyer calling Jack "Jackass" and "Dr. Quinn" never ceases to make me laugh.
• I think Sullivan is my favorite redshirt. It's either him, or Neil Frogurt.
• NADIA: "Nobody calls me Noor, Sayid. You of all people should know that. [Sayid is startled.] What? You don't remember me? Am I so different from the little girl in the school yard who used to push you in the mud?"
• MICHAEL: "I was an artist in a previous life."
• HURLEY: "Welcome, to the first, and hopefully last, Island Open."
• JACK: "Hurley, you built a golf course?" HURLEY: "Rich idiots fly to tropical islands all the time to whack balls around.." 
• HURLEY: "Dudes, listen. Our lives suck. Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max. I mean, we're lost on an Island.. Running from boars and MONSTERS.. Freakin' polar bears!" MICHAEL: "Polar bears?" CHARLIE: [to Michael] "You didn't hear about the polar bear?"
• MICHAEL: "Polar bears?" CHARLIE: [to Michael] "You didn't hear about the polar bear?"
• Umm.. Are Michael and Jack about to makeout? What exactly are we supposed to think is going on here?
• Hurley and Charlie taunting Jack while they're golfing. I believe that was something that Dominic Monaghan and Jorge Garcia improvised.
• SULLIVAN: [entering off camera, interrupting Jack's shot] "Hey, Doc? "There you are. Somebody said you went this way. Listen, that rash of mine, it's starting to spread. It's like the size of a grape.. [he pauses] What are you guys doing? Are you playing golf?" JACK: "Yeah." SULLIVAN: "Can I play?"
• NADIA: "That depends on what you'd like to talk about, Sayid. Books, weather? Since I've seen neither locked in this cell for weeks, I'm afraid my conversation will suffer.."
• SAWYER: "Doctor playing golf. Woo. Boy, howdy.. Now I've heard everything. What's next, cop eating a doughnut?"
• DANIELLE: "There's no such thing as monsters.."
• CHARLIE: "It's a mulligan. Mulligan. It's a gentleman's sport.. You've got to get the words right. Mulligan.."
• Charlie showing Hurley how to golf.
• SAYID: "You'll find me in the next life if not in this one.." DANIELLE: "What?" SAYID: "The writing on the back of Nadia's photograph. I know what it's like to hold on to someone. I've been holding on for the past seven years to just a thought.. A blind hope that, somewhere, she's still alive.. But, the more I hold on, the more I pull away from those around me. The only way out of this.. This place, is with their help. Come with me. You don't have to be alone, Danielle."
• MICHAEL: "Okay, Jack. It's up to you. Sink this, and you get to wear the blazer." 
• John Locke giving Walt his knife.

Overall Significance:

• The beach wire first introduces the on-going theory (Mainly started by Jack of The LOST Podcast with Jay & Jack.) of there being an underwater hatch. He even had the sack to ask Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about it one year at San Diego Comic-Con. His theory ended up becoming true when Charlie swam down to The Looking Glass station in Through the Looking Glass, which they discussed in the previous episode, Greatest Hits, as a plan to unblock the signals leaving the Island.
• Here's the video of Jack from The LOST Podcast with Jay & Jack asking the question at San Diego Comic-Con in 2006 (Although, his question is actually cut off in the beginning, but shows the answer, and also Jay's question on behalf of Jack, about Rose and Bernard working for the DHARMA Initiative.).
• I wonder what happened to Sullivan. I think this is the only time we ever see or hear from him. He probably had a heart attack because he got bit by a sand flea or something.
• We meet Danielle Rousseau and Ethan Rom for the first time.
• Sayid meeting Danielle Rousseau is the first time we begin to hear of other people on the Island, and referring to them as "The Others." 
• Danielle speaks of the "Black Rock" which we finally found out was a ship, in Exodus. She also finally refers to Alex as "she" in that same episode. 
• From Lostpedia: David Fury revealed in an interview with Lostpedia that, in the first draft of the script, "There was an exchange (Pitched by J.J., when he and I broke the story.) in an early draft of "Solitary," when Rousseau tells Sayid she had been part of a research team. Sayid asks her what they were researching. She replies: "Time." The network saw that draft and asked us to remove the line. They were very timid about anything that smacked of Sci-Fi during the first season."
• Nadia writes "You'll see me in the next life, if not in this one.." on the back of her photograph, which became true, because Sayid met her in the flash-sideways in Sundown.
• We also hear the whispers for the first time in this episode.

Final Thoughts:

• In this episode, Sayid is held prisoner by Danielle Rousseau, while Nadia is held prisoner by the Republican Guard. Sayid also faces immediate karma for his actions of torturing Sawyer in the previous episode, Confidence Man.
• Nadia is one of, if not my most favorite ever, flashback character. 
• It's hard to not love or identify with the story between Sayid and Nadia.  
• Also, the chemistry between Naveen Andrews and Andrea Gabriel was pretty intense right off the bat.
• There's so much information dispersed in this episode, that you don't realize until you go back and watch it again. 
• This is one of my favorite episodes.

I'll be taking a break for a few weeks, but I'll be back soon with my analysis of Raised By Another, where I will discuss some more events that occur on Craphole Island.

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