"Sundown"

A very interesting episode of LOST tonight...overall not as great as the past two but still pretty good. I continue to be in the dark though about where this is all going but I have a few new insights as well.

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

First of all, they totally faked me out with the episode title. I was sure that this would be a Sun-centric episode so I was very surprised to see the episode start with a Sayid flash-sideways. Kind of sad to see in the flash-sideways that it is Sayid's brother that ended up with Nadia, but Sayid had his reasons. It was also interesting to see that like the Island Sayid, "just when he thought he was out, they pulled him right back in." I'm getting used to seeing other characters appearing in the flash-sideways so now it's just a guessing game to see who the surprise cameos will be. I took a shot in the dark and guessed that it would be Jin tied up in that meat locker, but I never suspected that we'd see Keamy again. I suppose it's fitting that Sayid dispatched him here as he was unable to do so alone on the Island back in Season 4. So why was Jin tied up and beaten in the meat locker? Roxi thinks that he had delivered the gold watch and I suppose that Keamy and his men beat him up to send some sort of message to Mr. Paik. Hopefully we'll find out more about that soon.

Honestly, the flash-sideways storyline wasn't too compelling but that was more than made up for by the Island story. Right off the bat, it seemed like this would be another episode where someone would ask questions but not get any answers. Despite some obfuscation though, Dogen was quite forthcoming. During the extended fight scene between Dogen and Sayid, the slow motion falling baseball was pretty laughable, and I should have seen the heartbreaking story associated with it coming, but I figured it might be weeks before we'd get it. Dogen confirmed what we were led to believe after his appearance in Jack's flash-sideways last week: he isn't an ancient pirate but rather came to Island more recently from Japan where he was a banker and he came to the Island so that his son could live back in the real world. Beyond that we might not learn much more about him thanks to his shocking murder but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sayid's confrontation with Locke was pretty awesome. The Smoke Monster noises and rustling foliage before Locke's appearance made for a really cool entrance. I wonder if things would have gone differently if Sayid had stabbed Locke before he had the chance to say hi. I don't think that Dogen was being literal when he told Sayid that if he stabbed Locke after he talked it would be too late...but what if he was? Honestly though, I think that it was Dogen's plan for Sayid to be killed by Locke...too bad he never counted on Sayid being amenable to temptation. I shouldn't have been surprised that Sayid ended up killing Dogen but I got faked out when he set the knife down. I never expected him to drown the man! And then to kill Lennon just like that was brutal! Even though Lennon said that Dogen was the only thing protecting the Temple from Locke, I have a feeling that Sayid simply broke the circle of ash and that's what let the Smoke Monster in.

Kate is really annoying. With all the female writers on the staff, it would seem that they could create a better storyline for her. Her hunt for Claire didn't last very long and Claire was pissed, but it doesn't look like she's going to kill Kate any time soon. So now what? I don't know what we're supposed to take away from their interaction other than Claire has definitely chosen sides and she is with Locke. And what's with the "Silence of the Lambs" pit in the temple?

The assault of the Temple by the Smoke Monster reminded me of the time that Ben called the Monster to take care of the commandos in the Dharma Village in Season 4. The carnage was intense and I wasn't sure if Miles was going to make it. I actually thought the pounding on the door he was hiding behind was Locke coming to bargain with him. Needless to say, I was surprised when it turned out to be Ilana, Frank, Sun and Ben. I guess we'll learn about their trip to the Temple soon (next week?). Ben was suitably freaked out by the "new" Sayid which led Roxi to speculate that whatever was done to heal him when he was a boy was different than what was done to Sayid.

The closing moments of the episode were very powerful and disturbing. The soundtrack of "Catch a Falling Star" while Clair and Kate walked amongst the Temple dead was suitably creepy. And then the slow motion reunion of Sayid and Claire with Locke was very ominous. I am wondering what we are to make of Locke's expression when he saw that Kate was with Claire. I couldn't tell if it was disappointment or indifference. I am officially creeped out by Locke and the power that he wields. As I've said before, I still don't have any idea how the show will end but it seems that our main characters may end up being split between two sides of a very old conflict.

As always, I'm left wanting more and look forward to next week. I can't believe there are only ten more episodes of LOST left!