Lost - "Sundown"

Yeah, I know that my episode preview posts have been lacking this season. It’s the product of two things:

1. Lost being on Tuesday. Since I usually do my analysis of the previous week’s episode over the weekend, it doesn’t leave me a lot of time to work on the following week’s episode preview – unless I do nothing but Blog all weekend, which would get in the way of my drinking and womanizing.
2. Wanting to be surprised. Although I’m as confused about Lost as ever (and it’s super frustrating), there’s still a part of me that likes to be surprised by the action of each week’s episode so that I get maximum enjoyment. If I spend too long analyzing the episode and coming up with every potential scenario, it increases the chances that I’ll actually guess correctly – and accidentally spoil myself and readers of the Blog.

So you’ll have to forgive me if you think these episode previews are a shell of their former selves. They are, and it’s partially intentional.

Episode Title: “Sundown”

Brian’s Deeper Meaning Guess: The first season of Lost started with episodes centered around Kate, Locke, Jack, then Sun. Thus far, the last season of Lost has started with episodes centered around Kate, Locke, and Jack, so it seems obvious that this week will be a Sun-centric outing, right? I mean, her name is included inside the episode title, just like the Season Two Locke centric “Lockdown”! Maybe not… take a look at the guest stars for the episode…

Guest Stars: Kevin Durand as Keamy, Anthony Azizi as Omar/Arabic man, Hiroyuki Sanada as Dogen, John Hawkes as Lennon, Andrea Gabriel as Noor "Nadia" Abed Jaseem, Kimberley Joseph as Cindy, Cas Anvar as Omer, Kailee Velasco as Eva, Aramis Knight as Sam, Peter Stray as doctor, Salvatore Abbadessa as cabbie, David Griffith as screaming Other, Mickey Graue as Zack and Kiersten Havelock as Emma.

Guest Star Breakdown: In what is becoming a recurring theme for this season, we’ve got some “old friends” appearing in an episode where they seemingly don’t belong – Keamy and Omar (who is also strangely referred to as “Arabic Man”) – both members of Widmore’s Freighter crew that were killed On-Island in Season Four. I’m guessing their appearances will be another one of those “cute wink to the fans” in the Off-Island action by having them interact with our Survivors in ironic / hilarious ways. Then we’ve got the expected guest stars of Dogen, Lennon, Cindy, Zack, and Emma – all the nameable Temple Dwellers, which is where I expect most of the episode’s action to take place this week. Finally, you’ve got the “no name” guest stars who are always either hugely important characters whose identities are being kept secret – or worthless background characters unworthy of having a name in the first place.

Then there are the finale two characters, Nadia and Sam.

Nadia’s inclusion in the episode seems to confirm that this episode is actually SAYID-CENTRIC, not Sun-centric. Also, check out what this “Sam” character looks like:

I hate to keep going back to the same theories, but tell me that isn’t the spitting image of a Little Sayid! Could it be that Sayid and Nadia are living happily ever after in the Off-Island action, with a young son whom they have given the traditional Iraqi name of “Sam”? I’m going to go with it – although if this is true, the Off-Island storyline may feel a little “been there done that”, since it would be two consecutive weeks where we learn that one of our Survivors has a child in the Off-Island storyline.

Based on this new information, let’s get back to the deeper meanings of “Sundown”…

I could “Sundown” taking on many meanings – and unfortunately none of them appear to be good news.

Even though she’s not getting the Off-Island storyline of the week, the most obvious explanation of “Sundown” is a reference to Sun… going down. The last time we saw Sun, she was burying Locke, but Ilana had told those with her that the safest place to be on the Island was at the Temple. At the ending of last week’s episode, we learned that Jacob drew Hurley and Jack away from the Temple because “someone bad is about to arrive”… which most everyone assumes to be the SmokeLocke / Claire crew. The only question is – will Ilana’s group arrive before SmokeLocke’s group?

If so, and there is an impending attack on the Temple, Sun may be injured / killed in the process.

If not, then there may be nothing to worry about for Sun, and the title is totally a red herring.

My gut tells me that there’s no way that Sun can die before she has her Sideways Flash, and there is certainly no way that she dies before she and Jin have their reunion. From a story-telling perspective, I can’t decide if it would be more interesting to have all the other characters (aside from Jack and Hurley) at the Temple when this big bad battle goes down – or to have Ilana’s group arrive after the battle is over and discover the carnage and aftermath… and deal with the shock of knowing that even the “last safe place” on the Island isn’t safe anymore.

(Friend of the Blog “Red Khmer” also proposed the intriguing scenario that Sun is mortally wounded and Jin uses the Others’ “magic fountain” to revive her, unknowingly allowing her to be “claimed” by Anti-Jacob… and pitting Sun vs. Jin in the big battle between good and evil on the Island. It would be totally cruel, which makes me like it – but I find it hard to believe that the Jin would be able to convince the Others to use the “magic fountain” on Sun, especially after they saw that it didn’t seem to work on Sayid.)

So that leaves us with two options. If I was a betting man, I’d go with Option #2 – Ilana’s group arriving post-battle… which means that Sun is going to end the episode the same way she began – perfectly fine.

But if the episode title doesn’t refer to Sun, what does it refer to?

Remember, this is a Sayid-centric episode. Sayid, a character who we have been told has a “darkness growing inside him”. Well, think about the literal definition of “Sundown” – it’s the time when the light goes away, leaving behind only darkness. This episode may feature the moment when Sayid goes from acting like good ‘ol Sayid to being fully enveloped by the “darkness”. Perhaps SmokeLocke and Co are coming to the Temple to formally “claim him” as one of their own?

(Note: in doing my research for this episode, I also discovered that in psychiatry, a “Sundown” refers to experiencing confusion or hallucinations at night as a result of strange surroundings, drug effects, decreased sensory input, or reduction of oxygen supply to the brain. So perhaps Sayid will start experiencing these symptoms as a result of the “claiming process” as well.)

From a grander perspective, “Sundown” may indicate that we’re standing at the border of some serious bad stuff going down and continuing for the remainder of the Lost episodes. The time for sunshine happy days on the beach is over – it’s time for death, destruction, and kicking puppies. I told you Lost was depressing!

Episode Description: Sayid is faced with a difficult decision, and Claire sends a warning to the temple inhabitants.

Episode Breakdown: Both aspects of this week’s episode description are interesting – and not exactly what I had envisioned for this episode. By saying that “Sayid is faced with a difficult decision”, it seems to indicate that he has a vote in the happenings of the episode… so he’s not just going to end up a mindless follower of SmokeLocke as a result of the “darkness”. But what is that decision going to be?

• Join SmokeLocke or die?
• Join SmokeLocke or the Others die?
• Kill the Others for SmokeLocke or die?

None of them are easy decisions, and given Sayid’s position on the Island right now, I don’t see any easy happy endings coming his way.

The other portion of the episode description is equally puzzling, since it seems to indicate that SmokeLocke and Claire don’t just bust into the Temple (yes, I know that there is the ash barrier around the Temple, but that’s why SmokeLocke has Claire to brush it out of his way) and start kicking ass – but instead send Claire inside with a “warning”. Maybe this episode won’t be all death and destruction after all?

I don’t think so. I’m expecting a heavy episode, full of fatalities, and an explanation of what dark path lies ahead for Sayid – perhaps even gaining an understanding of what this whole “claimed by the darkness” stuff is all about.

(Note: I am also hoping for some advancement in the Off-Island storylines, even if it is something as simple as Sayid being confused about an aspect of his life, just like Jack with his appendectomy scar. Hey, a guy can hope!)

Until tomorrow night, Happy Losting!

http://facethewoods.com/lost/index.php?topic=510.0