"Lost"
The Economist (2008)

Director:

Jack Bender

Writers:

Jeffrey Lieber (creator) and
J.J. Abrams (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Lost" (2004)

Original Air Date:

14 February 2008 (Season 4, Episode 3)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Sayid negotiates a deal with Locke to hand over Charlotte from the "rescue team," so that he can get on their helicopter and reach their ship. Kate joins Sayid for the mission, but she decides to stay behind with Sawyer.

Plot Keywords:

Helicopter | Golf | Berlin | Doubt | Headhunter

Cast

Naveen Andrews	...	Sayid Jarrah
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Desmond Hume
Jeremy Davies	...	Daniel Faraday
Emilie de Ravin	...	Claire Littleton
Michael Emerson	...	Ben Linus
Matthew Fox	...	Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia	...	Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Josh Holloway	...	James 'Sawyer' Ford
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Jin Kwon (credit only)
Yunjin Kim	...	Sun Kwon (credit only)
Ken Leung	...	Miles Straume
Evangeline Lilly	...	Kate Austen
Rebecca Mader	...	Charlotte Lewis
Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Juliet Burke
Terry O'Quinn	...	John Locke

Runtime:

43 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Certification:

Venezuela:PG-13 (DVD rating) | Canada:14+

Filming Locations:

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

ABC Studios

Trivia:

This is the first episode where we see a bird’s eye view of the island.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Elsa talks in German to her employer in the flash forward scene, the subtitles say 'He had no idea' but what she actually says at that moment translates into 'He won't give up the name now'. Earlier in that scene, the subtitles say 'He won't give up the name now' but the actual words translate into 'He won't say anything'.

Quotes:

James 'Sawyer' Ford: What's in this cabin that's so important anyway?
Ben Linus: John's looking for somebody to tell him what to do next.

Movie Connections:

References The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Another knockout, Kitsis and Horowitz deliver their best script yet

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

*spoilers for "The Economist" only

"The Economist" is not as frantically paced as the last two episodes in this season, and at first look doesn't quite reveal as much. At first look. The more I think about this episode the more I realize that this season is possibly the first to begin revealing little by little part of the overall story at work here. Season Four's seasonal arc, with the addition of flashforwards, appears to be more directly related to the bigger mythology of the series than any season arc before it. I'm very excited to say the least.

In this episode's island events Sayid engineers a trade with Locke, giving him Miles in exchange for Charlotte, Kate chooses to stay at the Barracks with Sawyer, leaving Jack miserable, Daniel tries an experiment which adds to suggestions of a time warp, and most importantly: Sayid happens upon Ben's stash of passports and clothing, presumably used for his trips off the island.

This episode was a Sayid flashforward, and though not especially revealing with regard to his character, it was certainly interesting, even before the shocking ending this episode had. Sayid is, and I'm assuming you've seen the episode if you read past the spoiler warnings, working for Ben. Yes, none other than Benjamin Linus. Here's what interested me most: this basically changes the concept that Ben is 'the island guy' by informing us that he has not only left the island, but that he appears to be working within a much larger scheme of things. The reveal that Sayid is working essentially as a hit-man in Ben's service is not just interesting in itself, it's also interesting in that it appears that Sayid is doing it in exchange for protection of his 'friends'. I'm assuming this means the Oceanic Six and those on the island, but it's entirely possible it's something we haven't seen yet.

Is Ben working in opposition to Abbadon? Which group are the bad and which are the good? Is it really that clear-cut? I don't think it is. I think good and bad are becoming far, far more ambiguous as this show moves forward.

All in all: another exceptional episode of the series and more indication that LOST is moving forward in a far more confident manner than it has ever done before. Kudos to the writers Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, this is their best script to date.

Stay Lost!

9/10