TVSquad

(S05E09) "Dude, your English is awesome." - Hurley

We've had two weeks to stew on the events of "LaFleur" and maybe that's why I went into "Namaste" expecting so much more. That isn't to say that I was disappointed with the Oceanic Six/Left Behinders reunion. The simplest way to put it is that the nature of the narrative on Lost has forced the show to change so that these are the types of stories that are most organic to the plot now.

The flashbacks from the first few seasons are a distant memory at this point, and it's exciting because for a while now, we've been watching stuff that didn't already happen. Well ... technically it did since they're all in 1977 now, but you get what I mean. One thing is for certain - no matter how you slice it, three years is a long time.

That was really the whole point of this episode, wasn't it? How much things have changed? It works on a much higher level, too, because when Lost is finally over, "Namaste" will definitely be remembered as an episode that changed the tone of the show, as well.

So the gang is back together. How Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Co. pulled it off, no one really knows for sure at this point, but it's 1977 and they've thrown quite the monkey-wrench into Sawyer/LaFleur's comfy DHARMA lifestyle. The entire reunion had so many layers - shock, amazement, but most importantly, confusion. Confusion about how they got back, why they had to come back, and what to do now that they are back. We've reached a point that feels very inert - the next step isn't completely clear.

Sawyer has been thrown into the reluctant leader position (something he never wanted, but occasionally got saddled with, back in 2004) and it's important to remember that he had reconciled that DHARMA and Juliet was his life now. There was no reason to think that Locke's promise would pan out. Much of Sawyer's attitude throughout the hour had an "I'm doing this because I'm supposed to, not because I want to" air about it, and it all culminated at the very end with the pseudo passing of the torch from Jack to Sawyer.

Sawyer's comment about Jack not thinking and only ever reacting was dead on, and he certainly went out of his way to make sure Jack knew that James Ford's reign would be different. But Jack's no fool. He knows Sawyer has the upper hand now, and watching him take the orders for once will be interesting. The look on his face when he found out he would be a DHARMA workman instead of a doctor said it all.

Seeing DHARMA in its heyday is fun, but we've seen it all before via flashbacks, so it isn't 100% fresh. Little things stood out, like seeing Radzinsky building the model for the Swan or seeing the Flame working to its full potential. Having young Ben at the end, ever sympathetic to the Hostiles, bring Sayid a sandwich was a nice touch, too.

A few more thoughts:

• I thought the DHARMA folks ran a tighter ship. It seemed awfully easy for Sawyer and Juliet to sneak everyone in as new recruits.
• Was anyone else underwhelmed with Sun, Lapidus, and Ben? Even the run-in with Christian, showing them the 1977 DHARMA photo wasn't all that exciting. I don't see a bigger picture here, and it's looking more and more like the sole reason for them not making the 30-year jump was simply to delay the Sun/Jin reunion.
• The same can be said for Sayid. Why exactly was he thrown so far away from Jack, Kate, and Hurley? Ostensibly, it looked dramatic - Sayid is alive! - but it looks more like it was just a gimmick to separate him and set up his capture.
• I love the tension between Juliet and Kate. The second Sawyer told Juliet "they were back," there were a million things she could have been considering, but you could tell that her only thought was Kate and Sawyer's history.
• Speaking of Juliet, how about the look on her face when Amy told her they named the baby Ethan? More logical than shocking, I suppose.
• Phil's gonna be a problem. He didn't look pleased when Jack went to visit LaFleur late at night.
• We still got no explanation from Hurley or Sayid about how they got on the plane or even knew about it. Why did Hurley have a guitar? Why was Sayid being escorted by Ilana? I know the answers are coming, but I thought for sure we'd get something to nibble on in this ep. To some extent, I almost felt like the lack of info was intentional. Both Hurley and Sayid had very few lines period in this episode.
• Sun has a great poker face. I loved when she and Frank saw Smokey and she played it off like it was some furry, woodland creature. I had forgotten that Frank had never encountered Smokey.
• Anyone else notice that when Frank's co-pilot tried to send out a distress signal, all he heard was the numbers transmission? When did that get re-activated? I know Danielle's distress signal was turned off, but who from 2004-2007 would have reactivated the "4 8 15 16 23 42" broadcast?
• Why was DHARMAville so completely trashed? Even after Keamy's goons sacked the place, it didn't look that bad.
• I'd like some backstory on the DHARMA/Hostiles truce. What events led to it and why did both sides agree to it?
• What happened to Faraday? Sawyer said he was there, but no longer with them? Was he booted from DHARMA after trying to warn young Charlotte one too many times? Or did he try something funky down in the Orchid?

That's all I got. Here's the official description for next week's episode. Doesn't seem like Sayid "Iraqi MacGyver" Jarrah is going to be staying in his DHARMA jail cell too much longer.

"He's Our You" - Things begin to unravel when one of the survivors goes rogue and takes matters into their own hands -- risking the lives of everyone on the island -- on "Lost," WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on ABC.