LOST- Episode 21: The Greater Good

  Previously on LOST: Sayid tried to get the radio signal but got whacked in the head and Boone tried to use a radio but wound up dead.

  We open on Sayid's face.  He is looking very sad because he is watching Shannon play with her dead brother's hair.  If this was all part of Boone's plan to get more attention from her- it worked.  Sayid asks the standard funeral question, "Is there anything I can do?"  He tries to comfort her with the story of Boone's bravery- deciding to die instead of using up all of Jack's antibiotics.  Shannon nods, but says nothing.

  Sayid flashes back to when he was just walking along- then the camera pulls back to show he is being escorted in handcuffs by military guys.  Though I don't know why Sayid's daydream would contain a reveal shot.  'I remember that time I was walking...oh wait- I was arrested, that's right.  Silly me.'

  18 hours later, the CIA and the Australian version of the CIA are ready to talk about a deal with our man.  Sayid is insulted that they think he is a terrorist, but they know he is not.  His old college roommate is and they want to use Sayid to infiltrate the organization.  Sayid resists this plan until they reveal that they know where his beloved Nadia is.  If he wants to know the information, he must go to Sydney.

  Back on the island, Kate is tracking something in the jungle and finds what she is looking for.  It's a crazed and tired looking Jack who is stumbling in circles looking for Locke.  He is mad that he based his treatment of Boone on Locke's lie and wants some answers.  Kate begs him to come back to camp for the good of the masses. 

  Next on today's agenda is the funeral at the beach.  A chance for all the extras to get in a scene and put "looked sad on LOST" on their resumes.  Jack asks Shannon if she would like to say anything, but she refuses.  Sayid steps up and says that while he didn't know Boone well, he admired his courage in trying to help the drowned Joanna.  And if that eulogy was awkward- imagine what Locke's is going to be like.  Locke stays at a distance, still wearing his Boone-stained shirt and begins with, "It was my fault."  He very carefully reveals some select details about what happened during Boone's accident.  Locke agrees with Sayid that Boone was a hero.  At this point, Jack can no longer hold in his rage and assaults Locke while shouting "Where were you?", "What did you do?" and "You lied!"  This outburst triggers the creepy LOST title screen, which I totally forgot about.

  The gang tries to get Jack to calm down and tell him to get some rest.  He is convinced that Locke is a liar and there is something going on with a hatch.  Sayid flashes back to a religious ceremony where he meets up with his old buddy, Essam.  Yes, I had to look that name up.  Sayid learns that his friend is a tree cutter now and lost his lover to a stray bomb.  They go back to his place and meet the other cell members, er, I mean tree cutters.  Sayid busts them pretty quickly when he notices that their cigarettes are not setting off the smoke alarm.  He pulls the device down and disables a bug. 

  On the beach, Claire tries to fend off Charlie and Sun who are trying to take her gigantic baby so she can get some sleep.  Charlie assures her that he won't let anything happen and she finally gives in.  Elsewhere, Locke returns Boone's bag to Shannon.  He sits down with her and tells her how sorry he is for ever letting Boone hunt with him.  Locke leaves thinking her silence is an acceptance of his apology, but in the very next scene, she asks Sayid to do something about Locke.  Maybe she's mad that he couldn't even change out of the bloody shirt before talking to her.

  Over in the tent, Kate forces Jack to suck down every last drop of juice to get his blood sugar up.  Jack tries to stand up to find Locke but he can't because Kate drugged him with sleeping pills.  Jack tries to laugh it off, but he is asleep almost immediately. 

  At Cavetown, Locke is at long last washing his shirt.  Walt gives him an odd look.  Sayid sees Locke's surgical scar, but Locke insists it is a war wound.  Sayid then asks to be taken to the aircraft that killed Boone so that he can get some of the radio parts.  So it's off to the jungle, where the game of cat and mouse begins.  Sayid's interrogation forces Locke to admit that he and Boone weren't hunting boar- they were exploring.  Sayid even questions Locke's leg injury.  Locke realizes what is going on and thinks that Sayid might consider him a liar.  Sayid says that he knows when he is being lied to. 

  Just as they reach the wrecked plane, Sayid flashes back to a friendly one on one soccer game with his pal.  Sayid realizes that a target is coming soon and Essam admits that he is the one who has been chosen to be a martyr.  He also admits that he doesn't think he can do it.  Later, Sayid takes this information to the CIA but they tell him that getting Essam to surrender is useless because he doesn't know anything.  In an ironic twist, the agents tell Sayid that he has to convince his friend to go through with the bombing so that they will know what the target is.

  At the beach, Charlie can not get the baby to stop crying and Hurley's bad singing does not help matters.

  Back at the plane, Sayid tries to piece together what happened and asks Locke why he lied.  Locke says he made a mistake.  As Sayid begins his salvage mission inside the plane, Locke asks him why he doesn't trust him.  For one thing, Sayid has seen the gun Locke is packing and hasn't told anyone about.  It's the gun Locke found on the dead Nigerian "priest".  He hands it over and asks for trust, but Sayid is still skeptical.  Locke only handed it over because he was busted.  Locke scratches his head and decides to reveal something Sayid doesn't know.  He was the one who whacked Sayid when he was trying to locate the radio signal way back when. 

  Sayid has a commercial break to mull this over, but it is not long enough because he grabs Locke by the throat and points the gun at his neck.  Locke's shaky explanation is that they shouldn't have wanted to find the source of the signal since it was saying how "it killed them all".  "Is that a place you really want to lead people to?"  Sayid releases Locke and asks why he hadn't said anything all this time.  Locke says no one would have listened to reason back then because they were too focused on getting off the island to see the bigger picture.  Sayid continues to interrogate.  No, Locke did not burn the raft.  The "hatch" Boone mentioned was the door of the plane.   (Good one, John!  I think he bought it.) 

  Sayid lowers his gun and thinks back to when he convinced Essam to go through with the bombing...by agreeing to do it with him.  In real time, Shannon is looking at her wallet photo of her and Boone together when Sayid approaches and asks to go for a walk.  He tells her that he believes Boone's death to be an accident.  Shannon is upset with him for not being able to do her simple little murderous favor. 

  At the raft, Walt is dropping all kinds of hints that he doesn't want to leave by asking questions about tipping over and sharks.  Michael calmly answers all his son's silly questions and assures his son that they are not going to die like Boone did.  Charlie approaches looking for help from anyone he can find.  The baby won't stop crying until an intriguing discovery is made.  The baby stops crying whenever it hears Sawyer's voice.  Sawyer tries to run for it, but Charlie follows in hot pursuit. 

  Jack awakens from his drug-induced slumber and quickly realizes that someone has taken the gun case key from around his neck.  Jack goes off to find Locke, since he obviously is the culprit, but Sayid tells him it wasn't him.

  This mystery won't last nearly as long as some of the others, because our next scene is Shannon opening the case and arming herself.  She stalks off with a gleam in her eye. 

  We return from the break in flashback mode and it's GO TIME for the terrorists.  Sayid and Essam receive their instructions and prepare to move out.  The explosives are hidden in the back of the van, the disguises are on and Essam begins to pray.  This display forces Sayid to admit his true motive.  Essam feels betrayed that he was used just so his so-called friend could find a woman.  Maybe he was right to be upset, but suicide was a little drastic.

  Sayid, Jack and Kate are running through the dark and stormy jungle trying to stop Shannon, but Jack falls down.  Kate stops to help him so that it is only Sayid who discovers Shannon with weapon drawn on a helpless Locke.  Sayid tries to talk her down but all it does is make her shoot.  Fortunately, it misses.  Jack and Kate arrives which emboldens Shannon's cause since it was Jack who informed her that Locke is a liar.  Sayid makes his move and tackles his girlfriend but the gun goes off anyway and Locke hits the dirt. 

  Shannon is very angry with Sayid for stopping her and tells him to get away from her.  Jack ignores his oath and walks away after he sees Locke stirring and stares him down for a bit.  The bullet only grazed his head, by the way.

  At the beach, Sawyer has reluctantly given in to Charlie and is reading to the unnamed baby from a car magazine.  As the sun sets, Sayid watches Shannon sitting alone and Kate assures him that she will get over it in time.  Sayid says that time won't make a difference.  Sayid flashes back to the aftermath of his actions.  He learns that Nadia is in California and his plane leaves in two hours.  Alas, when he finds out that Essam's body is not going to be properly disposed of according to their faith, he demands a different flight so he can stay and claim his friend. 

  At the campfire, Locke thanks Sayid for saving him.  Sayid still doesn't trust the man but senses that Locke is their best chance for survival.  "And now you're going to take me to the hatch," he says.  Locke tries to stammer his way out of it, but Sayid stares him down and says, "No more lies."   

  Next week on LOST: Kate and Sawyer fight over who gets to go on the suicide raft, while Jack and the others try to open the hatch.  Walt doesn't think this is a good idea...