S4E3 - The Economist

Wow.

A very special Valentine’s Day episode I would say. I shall recap in honor of the holiday.

***LOST VALENTINES***

To: Naomi
Card: White construction paper with a lot of neon marker colors squiggled all around the border.
Outside: “I’ll always be with you”
Inside: One of those old school “slap bracelets” from the 80s. “I’m getting one of these made for you in metal real soon!”
From: RG

Interesting bracelet. I don’t believe we know anyone with the initials RG… yet. However, I think the most interesting thing about it was the fact that Elsa (that blond chick that Sayiid offed in his flash forward) was wearing one too.

To: Mr. Avellino
Card: Green card depicting a lavish golf course.
Outside: “Hope you get a hole-in-one for Valentines!”
Inside: “And by that I mean a hole somewhere in the vicinity of a vital organ.”
From: Sayid

Well, I had a feeling Sayid would be one of the Oceanic Six, but mainly because his pseudo-girlfriend that he let escape way back when is too much of a good reunion storyline to not develop. However, his “future” was definitely a surprise. More on that later…

To: Naomi
Card: Just regular notebook paper folded a bunch of times.
Outside: “I dig your accent and I think you’re hot.”
Inside: “Wanna go out or something once we finish our mission? Check box YES or NO.”
From: Miles

Apparently Miles doesn’t care much about Charlotte and only cared about Naomi on a superficial level. However, he seemed super interested about Locke and how he wound up dividing the group. Was this just forced dialogue to lead to Sayid’s snappy “I haven’t decided yet” comment on whether the freighter folks were good or bad? If not, it really begs the question of why Miles is so interested in their group dynamic. Whatever… I bet he’s there to try to “talk” to all of the dead Dharma folks in that mass grave in order to get the missing pieces of their research.

To: Dan
Card: No card, just a big tube.
Outside: Steel durable enough to withstand being shot from a freighter.
Inside: A portable clock/timer for people who hate watches. Also great for baking or performing physics experiments.
From: Regina

If I remember correctly, the timer he had with him showed maybe 3:15ish and the one in the tube read 2:45ish. So, something funky with time is happening on the island? Okay. His comment to Frank at the end about making sure he takes the same bearings when flying out as they did coming in mirrors Ben’s comments to Michael when he gave him the boat at the end of season 2 and said to make sure he stays on those coordinates or else he wouldn’t be able to leave. Interesting, but it doesn’t tell us much besides “there is a lot of crazy shitake going on with this island.” Not exactly news.

To: Ben
Card: Oversized manila envelope
Outside: Unmarked.
Inside: Wads and wads of foreign currency and fake passports.
From: Self

What the…? So does ol’ Benny boy travel incognito? We knew from last season when he showed Juliet the footage of her healthy sister that he has a little influence with the outside world, and more so now that we know he has a plant on the freighter, but maybe he’s a lot less “confined” to the island than we think. Hmm…

To: Kate
Card: Plain white paper folded in half with a drawing of one of the Dharma barracks.
Outside: “Let’s play house together…”
Inside: “Until the electricity goes out or we starve, whichever comes first.”
From: Sawyer

I wonder if she really voluntarily stayed with the Locke camp. Sawyer did make an interesting point, though. What does she have to get back to? They’re just two criminal peas in a pod. Interesting, though, because we know she does get off. I wonder, though, if Sawyer will too. He seems like an obvious guess of the “he” that she told Jack she needed to get back to at the end of last season. My theory is that she gets pregnant while on the island with Sawyer Jr., but is afraid he will die like all of the other island-conceived kiddies, so she decides to leave and Sawyer decides to stay or is killed or something tragic. Or even better, he’s killed in the process of helping her get rescued. Not that I want him to die, but you know, it seems like it would be good closure for his character… self-sacrifice for his baby momma.

To: Sayid / Elsa
Card: Pink with red and white cut out hearts.
Outside: “We’ve certainly had a whirlwind romance this past month.”
Inside: “Too bad I have to shoot you.”
From: Elsa / Sayid**

**They laugh at how funny it was they bought each other the same card until an awkward silence falls between them.

Wow. You know I had a tiny suspicion that she wasn’t being totally up front at one point, but it still surprised me when she pulled the gun. It did seem he really cared about her, though. Either way, if she had a similar bracelet as Naomi, what does that mean? Perhaps Elsa’s “employer” is the mysterious RG? However, “I’ll always be with you” seems a bit odd of an inscription from your boss…

To: Sayid
Card: Red construction paper with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 written in black sharpie along the border.
Outside: “I (heart) lists almost as much as I (heart) you!”
Inside: Long list of names scribbled on a napkin. “Speaking of which… I’ve added to the list of people I want you to kill. Have a great Valentines!”
From: Ben

Double wow. I guess when Sayid mentioned the list to Elsa just before she shot him, that should have been the clue, but I was still pretty surprised that Ben is his employer. The interesting thing to me was that Ben said, “You know what happened last time when you thought with your heart instead of your gun,” or something like that. That leads me to believe that Sayid WILL have the touching reunion with the woman from his past, but then she is killed by whatever forces Ben is supposedly against. That’s the only way I can see Sayid deciding to work for him.


Crazy, crazy, stuff. A really good episode I would say. Brian, I totally forgot about Claire getting on a helicopter was part of Desmond’s “flash” when he was talking to Charlie last season, so I think I’ll put her on my list of one of the two remaining Oceanic Six.

Comments? Did I miss anything? Any other guesses of who comprises the final third of the Oceanic Sextuple?