The Economist Recap | Lost Season 4 Episode 3
Apparently there are quite a few English majors who frequent this site, and they have been quick to inform me they are less than pleased with my use of improper grammar. To my defense, I’m usually typing these posts up while watching an episode of Lost and honestly don’t really pay too much attention to grammar - instead focusing on points of interest. In attempt to give some people one less thing to complain about, I’ve taken a little more time in doing a little proofreading. A ton happened in this episode of Lost, so here we go:
Daniel Does a Time Test
Daniel calls the boat to do a payload test to see how long it takes for a rocket sent from their boat to arrive on the island. Regina is counting down the seconds until the rocket is supposed to arrive, but when she gets to zero there’s no rocket to be found. Later on the rocket arrives and the timer is 30 minutes behind Daniels watch. This would seem to suggest that time on the island is actually 30 minutes slower than it is off the island. A small hint in a later flash-forward further hints at this fact.
Sayid is one of the Oceanic 6
In a very interesting flash-forward, we see Sayid enjoying a lovely day on the golf course. A man drives up in a golf cart and makes some quick small talk and then challenges Sayid to a bet on which club to use to get closer to the hole. Sayid looses the challenge and reveals that he is a very poor loser. He shoots the man dead on the spot. Sayid’s not really a poor loser, it turns out that he was there on purpose looking for this man. Before shooting him, Sayid reveals that he is a member of the Oceanic 6, which seems to genuinely frighten the other man. It’s almost as if the man knows that he is now in danger from Sayid.
In an additional flash-forward, Sayid meets a lady named Elsa in Berlin. Sayid tells her that he is a headhunter (a corporate recruiter, and slight pun intended). She tells him that her employer is an economist and that she does some shopping for him. Later on its revealed that the kind of shopping she does is similar to the kind of shopping Sayid is doing. It turns out that Sayid is after Elsa’s boss and she is after his. Elsa’s boss finally calls her and Sayid informs her that he is there to kill him because he is on a list. Once this is revealed she shoots him and calls her boss to tell him. One thing you may or may not have noticed is that while talking to her boss, she says she was expecting him to call 30 minutes ago. I believe this is a slight hint that her boss is on the island, seeing as how Daniels payload time test was 30 minutes behind.
Although shot, Sayid is not dead. He gets his gun and shoots and kills Elsa. Sayid then notices a bracelet that she was wearing. It is the same that he found on Naomi’s dead body. I don’t believe that it was the same exact bracelet Naomi was wearing, but a replica. I think Naomi and Elsa were working for the same man who gives them the bracelet. If you’ll remember, the initials on the bracelet were R.G. My guess is that the G stands for Gardner. This is the same last name as the lady that we saw Miles visit when doing his ghost buster house call.
Locke Still can’t find his BFF Jacob
Locke is still tromping around in the woods looking for Jacob’s cabin. He still can’t find it and decides its time to go to the Other’s barracks. The main question this brings up is why can’t he find Jacob after seemingly being so in sync with him.
Once at the barracks, they use Hurley as a diversion to tell Sayid, Kate, and Miles that they have tied him up and left him and he doesn’t know where they went. They look around Ben’s house and Sayid finds a secret compartment full of different kinds of clothes, currency, and passports with different names for Ben. Locke sneaks up on him and takes him at gunpoint to where they are holding Ben. Sayid tells them that if he takes Charlotte back with him, then he can get to the boat and find out whom these people are. Locke says that’s not necessary because Ben already has a spy on the boat. Sayid makes an ominously foreshadowing comment that the day he trusts Ben is the day he sells his soul.
Locke and Sayid apparently work out a deal where he trades Miles for Charlotte and brought her back; leaving Kate and Miles behind with Locke. As they are packing up the chopper, Charlotte tells them she’s not coming because she has work to do. What this could be I’m not exactly sure, but I’m guessing it has to do with doing whatever they came to do with Ben. Since she does not go with them, Desmond takes her place, demanding to find out what their connection is with Penny. And so they are off. Is Desmond another member of the Oceanic 6? I don’t think he will be considered as such since he wasn’t on the plane. We also don’t know what will happen to him on the boat.
Final Scene
In my opinion, the final scene of this episode was worth of a season finale. It was a major “WHAT??” moment for me. Sayid apparently doesn’t want to go to a real doctor to get the bullet taken out that Elsa gave him. Apparently his boss doesn’t provide medical benefits. Sayid is in what appears to be a vet or animal hospital as there are lines of caged dogs. Sayid is meeting his boss to get the bullet taken out and as he begins to work on him he asks if she’s dead, speaking of Elsa. He says yes, and that she was after information about him. He says “Well of course she was” and we then see his face. It’s none other than Ben. He then tells Sayid that in order to protect his friends he must continue going after the people on his list.
Final Questions
What do you all think about these unanswered questions?
1. Who was Elsa’s boss?
2. What happen to make Sayid start working for Ben and who is he protecting his friends from?
3. What’s with the time difference on and off the island?
4. Where’s Jacob hiding?
5. What kind of work is Charlotte staying behind on the island to complete?
6. Who will Sayid and Desmond find on the boat that is Ben’s supposed spy? I still am guessing its Michael.
images via DarkUFO
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33 Responses to “The Economist Recap | Lost Season 4 Episode 3”
thanks for your recaps…
it helps me to understand the episodes better, since my english is not very good.
Thank you Scott for the very good recap! Just a comment to those who bother you with grammar errors: instead of complaining about grammar, you should add some value to Scott comments and recaps. It takes time to do them and it is already quite nice of him to provide them to us Lost fans, and we don’t want that to stop, so a little gratitude here.
Anyway, I thought this episode was very good and mysterious. Do the numbers in the chronometer mean anything??
Maybe Sayid has been cooperating with Ben because Ben did something to the people left behind and is bribing Sayid against protection to his friends… Like, if he doesnt cooperate with this and this, then his friends will be killed.
As for Ben’s spy, i think it could be Michael too! His name has been appearing in the cast list at the beggining…
Interesting comment: Ben has a Swiss ID from Bern - exactly as me!! lol
Great recap! I need these recaps because I never pick up on the subtle things, like Elsa mentioning her boss was 30 mins late, and the rocket being 30 mins late too, that’s brilliant! I was thinking that Ben was Elsa’s boss too, and it is one of Ben’s games to try and convince Sayid that he must kill these people in exchange for getting the rest of the people off the island. (Looks like Sayid must have “sold his soul” in the future since it looks as though he trusts Ben now). But if her boss is on the island, that doesn’t point towards Ben though, since he was in that vet hospital.
But if it turns out that Ben is Elsa’s boss, then that would indicate that he knew Naomi too, since they had the same bracelet. Maybe Naomi was the spy, even though he saw her getting axed in the back!
Re Jacob, maybe Jacob’s hiding because he’s sick of Locke harassing him all the time, looking for answers!!
Thanks so much for your recaps. It is nice to read about all the little things I miss
when I’m watching the show, everything makes much more sense now. Thanks again
and I don’t care about the spelling!
Gosh this doesn’t make sense at all! I’m only on episode one but have been reading forwards and all these things are too muddled up!! It’s lost at it’s best! Since when has Locke been going to Jacob for answers? Also, where does Charlie come into the picture appearing to Hurley? I wonder when the rescued 6 are actually going to leave the Island or if that is just a hoax too! Thanks for info though!
Hey Scott, another great recap. Please continue and thanks for the pics.
Sometimes it’s a bit rough to understand everything since there are so many different dialects in this show, especially tough without subtitles.
@ Kat: Elsa was talking in fluent German to her boss. We know that Ben has a lot of aces up his sleve but if this guy turns out also to speak German I’ll eat my hat!
I’m German native and for one was happy (for a change) to hear someone speak clean German on an American TV show, no stupid fake accent
I looked it up and found that the lady playing Elsa is actually from Holland, close enough then.
I would consider Ben to be one of the Oceanic 6 since Jack said something about being sick about lying about something (I think he said that in the 3rd season finale in the last scence at the airport).
Can’t wait for the next episode….
I dont think Ben will be considered one of the oceanic 6 since he wasnt actually on the plane; same for Juliet and Desmond.
On a side note, I have another post scheduled to go up automatically later tonite. It will certainly be a bit of a shocker and cant wait to see what everyone thinks about it.
Check back tonite!
I also had the thought that Ben was Elsa’s boss. Ben has many passports to many places all over the world, so it wouldn’t surprise me that he could speak multiple languages (German included). Even though we saw Sayid meet with Ben to take care of the bullet, it doesn’t mean Ben wasn’t on the island. We know he can travel back and forth some how since he had the clothes and passports. Maybe Sayid is able to do so now as well and what we saw was another hatch on the island that we have yet to see. Possibly the Orchid hatch.
I have to say “Thank you so much, Scott for these great reviews”. Without your lost’s recaps, I will not know about what is going on with the show cause I am in Thailand. I have to wait for the DVDs set coming out! and I can’t wait that long!. Please keep doing good work.
First time comment to anything like this but i was just thinking to myself, maybe the time delay of 30mins indicates the additional distance the rocket may have had to travel as in there are ‘wormholes’ or portals that connect the island back out into the ‘real world’ and certain bearings connect to certain parts on the planet, allowing the people on the island to travel around the world very quickly, hence the importance of the bearings and the fact Ben seems to have so many passports. Also might explain why all the characters that seem to have left the island all appear to be in different places and exotic locations. Also links in with the electromagnetic anomalies of previous seasons… Its a bit of a stretch but seems to be making sense… sort of.
In your recap. You mentioned Elsa says to her boss he was supposed to call 30 mins ago. She actually says at 10:30. Was there a clock in that scene that indicated it was 11am?
Even if not it makes sense… but I just wondered.
man that was a great recap.. but be careful, don’t read the recap if you haven’t watched the episode yet, you’ll miss a lot of excitement.. i guess.. well, i can’t wait for the next epidsode to tell ya the truth.. what is going to happen??!:)
Scott, I think Johnny King was right. Elsa didn’t say 30 min ago, she said 10:30. Anyway, it must be important somehow.
Why did Sayid throw off the Mobile after talking to Ben? And why Elsa’s boss uses a pager instead of a cell phone? I guess both “bosses” wants avoid to be tracked, which may suggest they are the same person… or not.
What about this dialogue:
Locke: Why would I give you Charlotte for nothing?
Sayid: I never expected you to give her to me for nothing…
What do you guys think Sayid offered in exchange for Charlotte? Miles? I don’t think so, because Locke already have him a that time.
A couple of questions not directly linked to this episode:
Where are the rest of the “others”?!
And what about those 815 survivors (including the flight attender) which likely joined the “others” in season 2 (i guess)? (remember that? when they are whatching Jack in the cage?)
Can’t wait for the next post, Scott! Thanks for the recap, good job!
Just found this site this season, love reading the recaps from someone else’s view. Great job.
As for my comment, when Jack and Frank are taking about the red socks winning the world series Jack says something along the lines of I can’t believe that I haven’t seen a baseball game for 100 days and Frank doesn’t seem to have any reaction to it. So to me it seems there is not a big time difference from the Island to the rest of the world.
I have only watched the episode once so that could be completely wrong.
Just to add to the ‘wormhole’ thing i mentioned a few comments above i was just watching The Orchid orientation video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bTvAUVPyLI&feature=related) and the guy on there mentions the ‘Casimir effect’ so i went and did a bit of digging about and there is a connection between the Casimir effect and wormholes:
Casimir effect and wormholes
Exotic matter with negative energy density is required to stabilize a wormhole.[6] Morris, Thorne and Yurtsever[7] pointed out that the quantum mechanics of the Casimir effect can be used to produce a locally mass-negative region of space-time, and suggested that negative effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect)
Hi again.
This 4th season it´s becoming more and more misterious…
I actually think that people in the island can´t seem to get older.
I mean I know Ben was a boy, but apart from him and the little girl…
Noone else is getting older…
And we also “know” that Ben manages somehow to get in and out of the island.Like as if he has somekind of double life. Otherwise how do you explain the dozen´s of Passport´s and different currency money on his secret room?
I also believe that there´s going to happen something as Desmond and Sahid are on their way to the supposed “rescue ship”… Maybe Desmond´s final hour is aproaching…
Let us wait and see!
To Nuno
Ben and the little girl (which we dont even know if she is still alive, we never saw her again or if we saw her, i am suspecting it was Bonnie (in the Looking Glass)) get old because they are not native from the island. I am thinking that the natives such as Mikhail and Richard have some kind of “power” that does not let them grow old.
I noticed that the expiry date for Ben’s passport is 1st April - aka Fools Day. Maybe the passport is a red herring?
Great site btw.
Forgive me please if i’m wrong but when Daniel is calling the boat doesn’t Frank say to him to only talk to Regina and if George Minkowski gets on the phone to hang up immediately. Perhaps George is Bens spy and they’ve already figured it out?
that thing about George Makowski is for sure weird… and your theory is not bad. Maybe when Ben meant “a spy on the boat” he was not referring to a boat, but to the team in general…
What im intrigued about, is the relation between the team of 4 + naomi and Abbadon… i’d like to know more about that.
The part that says that Sayid was killing for Ben is really fascinating as Sayid previously he regretted torturing during his days as an interrogating officer back at Iraq. Sayid whats up, be a Man and say no to being a Hitman. I preffered this recap to the rest. Scott keep up with the good work. Bye
I don’t really think that the submarine is the only way out of the island as i seems to be that in the futureflash BEn is seen to be free with his travels to and fro.
How would Locke possibly be in search of Jacob, did Jacob’s house disappear or did Jacob go out for a stroll, if so one of the Losties might meet him on the island.
The writers of Lost are good because if Locke’s father hadn’t conned him for his kidney, he would have died from the gunshot, so i think Locke should thank his dad for his act.
Christain and Jacob may be one, if you recall before Jack found the water, he found out that the coffin was empty and after that his father appeared to him severally. But Note that in Hurley’s case his friend was imaginary. Come to think of it, how can someone be dead with his coffin empty. Also recall that the funeral scence of ep 3 was for Jack’s father. CAtCh YoU lAtEr.
I wanted to say that I think your analysis is very insightful. I took many classes in film theory and always watch Lost with a critic’s eye, paying close attention to subliminal themes and messages… you’ve completely outsmarted me. good work!
I had thought that Jacob as an abstract entity may be able to take on the appearance of the survivors friends/family to communicate but in an interview with the writers, they confirmed that Christian Shepard was in Jacob’s cabin and that the eye appearing at the window was Jacob (although the role of Jacob had not been cast).
WELL I LOVED THIS LOST EP. N THANKS TO SCOTT FOR THE RECAPS CAUSE I DO MISS SOME STUFF THAT U REMIND ME OF WHICH HELPS CAUSE IM PRETTY MUCH ADDICTED!
WELL I DID NOTICE THE SAME/SIMILAR BRACLET ON SAYID’S FUTURE GIRL AS ON NAOMI SO I GUESS SAME BRACLET, SAME BOSS.
I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE DELAY IN THE ROCKET LANDING WAS 31.18 PUT THAT BACKWARDS 1831 AND YOU HAVE THE YEAR THAT FARADAY INVENTED ELETROMAGNETIC INDOUCTION WHICH I THINK PLAYS A HUGE PART THIS SEASON. THERE HAS BEEN ALOT OF CLUES BOUT TEH MAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE WAY MAGNETISM CAN ALSO AFFECT RAYS OF LIGHT AND WHEN PUT IN RIGHT SPOT CAN ALSO CREATE A SPACE WHERE TIME CAN MOVE AT A DIFFERENT SPEED. I BELIEVE THERE IS A LOOP HOLE SOMEWHERE N THE ROCKET HAD TO TRAVEL THROUGH IT TO GET TO THE ISLAND THUS TAKING LONGER. I THINK THE BUTTON THEY WERE PUSHING IN SEASON 1 WILL SHOW IT’S IMPORTANCE THIS SEASON. I BELIEVE THE MAGNETIC FIELD PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN GETN TO AND FROM THE ISLAND AND SOMEHOW CREATED A WHOLE WHEN IT WAS NO LONGER BN PUSHED.
HAVE LOTS TO TALK BOUT SO I WILL DO ANOTHER POST 2MORROW CAUSE IM AT WORK N ME BOSS WILL KIK MY BUTT!
[...] at Lost Review Scott has in-depth breakdown of each episode, even if you miss some details, he does not. Reading [...]
Emmalux:
I don’t think it was ever confirmed whose funeral Jack went to at the end of season 3. I know he was the only one that attended, so it could be his dad, but I also remember thinking that the coffin was quite small! Like it was a child or a shortish female.
And I don’t think we ever actually saw Jacob either (unless you slow down the video when the cabin is shaking up and stuff is going everywhere, then you definitely see a figure of an old man, which is pretty scary!) And I think it is pretty far-fetched to think that Jacob and Jack’s dad is the same person, because Jacob has been on that island for as long as Ben has
P.S. I’m convinced now that Elsa’s boss and Sayid’s boss is Ben. Now that the theory of teleporting or wormholes, or whatever means there is to get to and from the island has been suggested, it makes sense that he is getting Sayid to kill off the people who tried to get him on the island.
P.P.S. When is the recap of Episode 4 coming on?! I need to read the things that went way over my head and I missed!
I just watched it and there is so much to be said about it!
One thing that gets me about this episode is that Sayid is apparently able to go around un-noticed as one of the oceanic six. I got the feeling from the first couple of episodes in the season that they were kind of celebrities now, or at least all over the news. That is an assumption but it makes sense to me.
I know that in the second flash forward he is in Berlin so that to me could be possible but as for the man on the golf course, that guy seemed to try to get out of there as soon as Sayid mentioned he was one of the oceanic six. If I was a guy with something to fear from these people I would at least know what they looked like especially if they were all over the news.
Makes me kind of wonder if he is actually one of the oceanic six, he called himself one of the oceanic six in the golf scene but none of the other six have talked about or to him. Please correct me if I am wrong.
4. Where’s Jacob hiding?
Well, ive only seen the last episode of season 3, and i thought there is no Jacob - its a trick, or smth.
Hi, Great Recap!
Can anyone tell me the last three sentences between Sayid and Ben in this episode? Been playing them over and over but can’t figure out the exact words…
Thanks!
RAH
There are some quotes at this site: http://www.tv.com/lost/the-economist/episode/1146985/trivia.html#quotes
Hope this helps.
i am agree with karen, majors who complain about grammar instead that appreciate ur recap and comments don’t know how spend their time..
u’re great!
fuck em all
ciao