Thursday, March 19, 2009

"Namaste"

Thank goodness for a new episode!  I do think "Namaste" was great, even though there wasn't anything truly mind-blowing about the episode.  Here are the highlights:


- The title of the episode, "Namaste", is Sanskrit for "I bow to you".  Sanskrit is one of the languages of Buddhism.  Two main ideas of Buddhism are rebirth and karma.  Hmm... very interesting.



On to what happened in 2007:

- During the flight of Ajira 316, the co-pilot recognizes Hurley as one of the O6.  As the plane encounters turbulence, they also experience a time flash (it's nighttime when the turbulence starts, but broad daylight when it stops).  Lapidus is able to land the plane on the runway... we assume this is the same runway Kate and Sawyer were helping to build while they were being held captive by the Others.  

- Lapidus awakens to find his co-pilot dead (does anyone remember what happened to the co-pilot of Oceanic 815?)... he leaves the cockpit to find Sun, then realizes Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid are gone (we know from the last episode that Jack, Kate and Hurley are back in 1977... why isn't Sun with them?!)

- On the beach, Lapidus gathers the survivors of Ajira 316 together, asking everyone to chill and wait for help to "come looking for us".  Caesar, however, wants to go off exploring the nearby buildings.  While this is taking place, Ben sneaks off into the jungle... which is noticed by Sun, so she starts following Ben.  Lapidus notices Sun taking off, so he starts following her. 



- Sun catches up to Ben and asks where he is going, to which he replies he's going "back to our island... wanna come?"   He tells Sun there are 3 outrigger canoes nearby that they can use to get to the main island.  (How does Ben know about the outriggers?  were they put there by the Others?)  When Lapidus catches up to Sun and Ben, he warns Sun that Ben is dangerous and she shouldn't trust him.  But Sun says she has to trust Ben...

- As Ben and Sun are getting the outrigger ready to go, Lapidus pleas with Sun again not to go with Ben.  She asks Lapidus to come with them, but he says he can't, as he has to look after the other passengers.  As Ben is telling Lapidus that he has people to take care of too, Sun whacks him in the head with an oar, knocking Ben out!  (You go, girl!)



 - Lapidus and Sun make it to the main island at nightfall.  Before they make it to the barracks, they see something disturbing or knocking down trees (Smokey?!), but continue on anyway.  They find the barracks deserted... whispers are heard and then a light comes on in one of the buildings.  A man appears in the doorway, who calls out "Hello" and identifies himself as Christian (how is it that Lapidus and Sun can see Christian?!)



- Christian takes Lapidus and Sun into the processing center and shows them a picture of the "new recruits" from 1977... included in the picture are Kate, Jack and Hurley.  Christian then tells Sun, "I'm sorry, but you have a bit of a journey ahead of you." (could this "journey" be some sort of way to get those who are in 1977 back to the correct time?)



Now what happened in 1977:

- We get a replay of the reunion between Sawyer, Jack, Kate and Hurley.  Jack tells Sawyer that Locke is dead... Sawyer then tells Jack that it's 1977 and they're a part of the Dharma Initiative.  
- When Jin hears Sun was on the plane but Jack doesn't know where she is, Jin takes off, saying he's going to the Flame... if there's a plane on the island, Radzinsky would know about it.  When Jin gets there, he finds Radzinsky building a model of the Swan station...



- Radzinsky verifies no plane has landed on the island... but then an alarm is sounded indicating a Hostile is inside their perimeter.  Jin runs off into the jungle and finds Sayid in handcuffs!  Jin asks about Sun, but Sayid doesn't know where she is.  Before they can talk any further, Radzinsky, who has also run off into the jungle, finds Sayid, forcing Jin to act as though Sayid is a Hostile and takes him prisoner.  



- Back in the north valley, Kate asks Sawyer, "Other than you and Jin, who else is still here?"  We don't see Sawyer's answer... and later on he mentions Faraday, to which Jack is surprised... so this makes me think Sawyer didn't answer Kate's question at all...

- Sawyer tells Jack, Kate and Hurley to stay put while he comes up with a plan to explain their appearance on the island.  He goes back to his house to gather clothes, and Juliet finds him there.  Sawyer tells Juliet, "They're back... Jack, Hurley, Kate..." Although she is stunned by the news (and a little sad, I think), Juliet tells Sawyer there's a sub coming in that afternoon.



- Sawyer gets back to Jack, Kate and Hurley, telling them of "2nd batch of recruits" coming to the island... the plan is for the three of them to act as though they were on the sub.  The plan will work since everyone on the sub is knocked out, "no one meets until we process them".  

- Juliet tries to get the information on the recruits from a sleeping Amy without disturbing her, but Amy wakes up.  Juliet covers, saying she doesn't want Amy working today.  Amy reveals she and Horace have decided to name their baby... ETHAN!



- On the way to the barracks, Hurley asks Sawyer why he doesn't warn Dharma of "the purge".  Sawyer's reply is that he's "not here to play Nostradamus to these people".  And that "Faraday's got some interesting theories on what we can and can't do here."  As stated before, Jack surprisingly asks "Did you say Faraday?  He's here?"  (Sawyer's reply of "Not anymore" makes me think he means Faraday is no longer there mentally, rather than physically!)

- Sawyer takes Jack, Kate and Hurley to the processing center, telling them to watch the "meet and greet video" and listen for their names to be called to get their work assignments.  Miles drives up and tells Sawyer "there's a 14J at the Flame".  Sawyer gets on the walkie with Jin, who tells him the "Hostile" really is Sayid.

- In the Processing Center, Jack's name gets called by none other than Pierre Chang himself.  Chang tells Jack, "based on your aptitude test, you'll be doing janitorial work." Score one for Sawyer!

- Phil notices Kate's name hasn't been called... he says she's not on his list and grows suspicious.  Juliet walks in to Kate's rescue, telling Phil she has a new list from Amy, and that Kate is on it.  (Oh, the looks these two give each other... )





- Back at the Flame, Sawyer arrives intending to question the "Hostile"... Radzinsky thinks the "Hostile" is a spy, since he saw the model of the Swan station and the survey of where it will be built.  Radzinsky's solution is to shoot the spy, but Sawyer is adamant about talking to him first.  Sayid plays along, admitting himself to be a "Hostile".  Sawyer says he's taking the "Hostile" back to the barracks.  

- The "new recruits" pose for a photograph (the same one Christian shows to Sun in 2007)



- After the photo is taken, Sawyer drives up with Sayid, and takes him to the security station.  He locks Sayid in a cell, saying he can stay there until they can figure out what to do with him.  When Phil asks "what are we going to do with him?", Sawyer just replies, "bring the man some damn food, we're not savages".  Later, we see a boy come into the station saying he has brought a sandwich (as soon as I saw the boy, I knew who it was going to be...)  Sayid tells his name, and asks the boy his... "I'm Ben."  



- That night, Jack goes looking for Sawyer's house.  Juliet answers the door and they first embrace before Jack says he must have the wrong house, as he was looking for Sawyer.  Juliet tells him he does not, and invites Jack in.  After a brief awkward moment, Juliet leaves Sawyer and Jack to talk...

- Saywer's smackdown to Jack was awesome!  When Jack asks "Where do we go from here?", Sawyer calmly replies, "I'm working on it"... Jack comes back with, "Really? 'Cause, to me, it looks like you were reading a book."  Sawyer goes on to say he once heard Winston Churchill read a book every night, saying it made him think better.  He tells Jack, "That's how I like to run things... I think.  Back when you were calling the shots, you pretty much just reacted... you didn't think, Jack, and as I recall, a lot of people ended up dead."  Jack defends himself saying he "got us off the island"... but Sawyer says "but here you are, right back where you started."  Sawyer tells Jack he's going back to his book and think... 'cause that's how he saved Jack's "ass today... and that's how I'm gonna save Sayid's tomorrow." (BAM!) 



My favorite line of the episode:

Hurley, to Jin: "Dude, your English is awesome!"


All in all, not a bad episode... what did you think?

17 comments:

Michelle said...

The others took over the barracks when they purged the dharma dudes. So wouldn't Ben have noticed Jack, Kate, and Hurley in this 1977 photo? So maybe Ben knows all along they'll end up in 1977, he knows how to move the island so he must know about the time travel too.

And Ethan ends up an Other, so isn't he a bit peeved at Ben for knocking off his folks with the poison gas? How come he got spared?

I just loved loved loved the interaction between Jack and Sawyer. My head was whipping back and forth between them as if I was in the room with them. I kept saying "OOOOHHH" and "Good one!"

Sawyer refrained from walking over to Kate at the end of the epi so maybe he's secure with Juliette and there won't be any guy/girl swapping going on.

wonder when we find out what Sawyer whispered to Kate.

Remember a couple weeks ago Ben is in a bed all beat up? I hope Sun royally kicked his @ss.

Shannon said...

Vozzek69 has a great recap up on DarkUFO here:


http://darkufo.blogspot.com/2009/03/things-i-noticed-namaste-by-vozzek69.html


And has this to say about the episode, which I think it a great description:

"Namaste is the click-click-click of the coaster making its upward climb toward the final run of episodes this season"

Lula! said...

I liked "Namaste'," but felt it was a filler episode...I'm hoping next week's rocks and rolls with action. The preview at the end of last night's ep looked veyr promising.

Great recap, Shannon! You rock and roll, too!

OK...here's my few ponderings. ('Cause believe it or not, I've only seen this episode ONCE--been very, very busy this week!)

Why is Sun in current time (2007, that is), while Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid are back in '77?

Ben was getting his prissy pants on again, all huffin' and puffin' through that jungle. "Wanna come?" he poses to Sun, all flippantly. So Ben. So awesome.

And speaking of Ben...is Sun not acting EXACTLY like him now? Scheming, Lying, Manipulating, using force to get what she wants? Girl was determined to get to Jin! She totally whacked him with that shovel. She did. I loved it.

Yay for Shannon--correctly guessing 2 weeks ago that Horace & Amy's baby is Ethan, indeed!

I have 2 favorite moments in this episode:

First, the look on Jack's face when he's told that he'll be working as a janitor. Utterly priceless! OK, people...do we LOVE that it was sexy as all get out that Dr. Juliet becomes an auto mechanic while Dr. Brain Surgeon will get stuck washing potties? Of course we love this. WE DO!!!!

And speaking of Dr. Brain Surgeon, I LOVE Sawyer's polite, Masterpiece Theater-worthy smackdown on Jack's boo-tay. Dude never raised his voice...never put his book down...just spoke Gospel truth to Jack and proved, without a doubt, that he has grown into his leadership role. BAR NONE! I've said it before, I'll say it again...Saywer is the most redeemed character on Lost. Amen.

Also...
Sayid meeting little Ben? This is DELICIOUS and a half. I cannot wait to see how this plays out.


I am so excited about next week's episode.

And for the record--I didn't speak one ill word about Kate in this commment. I'm saving it for next week, as I'm certain she'll be deserving of my Masterpiece Theater-worthy smackdown. Bwahahahaha!

Shannon said...

Speaking of Kate... I was surprised when Sawyer greeted her for the first time...

I was so expecting him to be, "Hiya, Freckles"... but instead her just called her Kate. I think that's very telling...

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

It sorta seemed like filler...but I think there was a lot there. I do want to know why Sun is not in the right time. Does Ben know that he's not in the right time? Does he know how to get back?

And when they showed Ben - when Locke saw him - he looked much more beaten than what Sun did to him.

Love, love that Jack's "aptitude" test shows that he has a knack for being a janitor :-) And Sawyer's thinking tirade...perfection!

I cannot wait to see what happens with Ben. And an explanation for Faraday...

Anonymous said...

To answer your pilot question, the pilot from flight 815 was played by Greg Grunberg (of Heroes fame) and was quickly eaten up by the smoke monster out the front windshield of the plane! :)

Anonymous said...

D'oh, that was the pilot, NOT the co-pilot, sorry!

My favorite line was from Hurley, after Sawyer tells them that they are in the 70's (I think) and Hurley says:

"*pause*...What?"

LMAO!

Christina said...

Ok, so, yes, a pretty straightforward episode, but with some questions as well.

Why is Sun in 2007 and not 1977? Why is BEN in 2007 and not 1977? Perhaps because Sun and Ben are present in 1977 as younger people and they can't morph back? I read somewhere that Sun may be Chang's daughter. It seems obvious that Ben didn't travel through time because little Ben is there. Sun - I'm not so sure. And, how will they get back to 1977? Do they need to turn the big wheel and move the island again?

What was with the smoke monster and the misty stuff and whispers? Was Jin's voice one of the whispers? And, what is Christian doing there - why can Sun and Frank see him?!?

I LOVED that Jack was fit to be a janitor! And, I loved that Juliet conveniently forgot to put Kate's name on the manifest and list. Oops. The question is why she saved her at the last minute. And, of course, the alpha male battle between Sawyer and Jack was awesome!

Sayid supposedly tries to kill someone next episode - Ben? And, what happens if little Ben dies? Is that why Ben is all beat up in the future? Or is it because Sun kicked his ass? Oohh, so many possibilities! ;) Can't wait for next week.

Good recap btw! Kudos!

Ash said...

Ah, Sawyer - beauty and brains. Hawt.

'cause that's how he saved Jack's "ass today... and that's how I'm gonna save Sayid's tomorrow." THE best!

I did notice that Kate called him "James" as well - quite surprised by that.

Great recap Shannon!

I guess Ben and Sun are taking the form of the "baddies?" Maybe why they aren't in '77 - the island won't allow it for some reason? But what about Lapidus? So far he seems harmless enough - I smell back story.

And the baby Ethan!? Zooweee.

Elena said...

I'm guessing that Faraday has taken one of the subs and is off the island trying to figure out how to right everything. Can't wait to see more "little Ben". And where the heck has Vincent gone?

Heather said...

I thought Ben could never go back to the island??? Wasn't that a stipulation of moving the island or something? Didn't he say that at the end of last season?

Karen M. Peterson said...

Mama Bee: Indeed the co-pilot of Oceanic 815 died in the crash and the pilot lived. Until he was eaten by Smokey the Monster. Interesting that the co-pilot of Ajira 316 died and the pilot lived as well. I think it's because Lapidus was supposed to be on the island. The sub on Oceanic was not Lapidus and, therefore, met an early demise.

I really liked the episode. While it may seem like filler, I think we will soon learn that it is very important.

And my theory on why Sun, Locke and Ben are in the wrong time is that someone didn't want them to go back to the island. With Ben, no one wants him there. With Locke, Ben didn't want him there. With Sun, Jin didn't want here there. I think that's why they are in the wrong time.

My big question is, why did the Ajira 316 passenger recognize Hurley as one of the O6, but not Jack, who was the spokesman of the group, or Kate who went on trial for murder almost immediately after they were rescued? What's up with that?

Michelle said...

Ben did say he could never go back to the island didn't he? I forgot about that, thanks for reminding me Heather.

Christina, the theory about Sun being Chang's daughter and not being able to be in two "times" at once makes a lot of sense. Though I sorta thought Chang's baby would be Miles, he started getting nosebleeds sooner than some of the others and Faraday asked him how much time he's spent on the island.

Karen's theory about the island, or folks on the island not wanting Locke, Ben and Sun to come back could also be true. Good thinking.

I just love this show. Sure it was kinda just some filler this epi but the banter between our faves was priceless

Christi said...

Did you all see the postsecret list of secrets today?

If you go here http://postsecret.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-secrets_22.html
it's close to the bottom.

It says "If Heaven isn't EXACTLY like the tv show Lost, I don't want to go."

Now that's what I'm saying.

Sara said...

Just stumbled upon you amazing LOSTies through some random blog surfing! I thought I was a big fan but you guys put me to shame!

My big question for the episode is this: how can Ben be in both 1977 and 2007? It's one thing to be time traveling, but it's completely different to be existing in two decades at the exact same time....

FROGGITY! said...

Loved Sawyer being in charge. Loved it! Loved the whole Jack Workman thing! HAHAHAH! Bout time.

Excited about tomorrow's episode!!!

Michelle said...

yes I'm back again to comment on this post -

I just realized that Ben knows that the missing 316-er's are in 1977. Sayid told Ben his name before Ben told Sayid who he was.

So Ben must remember meeting Sayid for the first time in 1977.

I can't wait to see tonight's episode.