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214 - One of Them (A Sayid Episode)

Mini Recap: Ana comes to Sayid when she spots Danielle walking in the jungle. The French woman leads him to a man she captured in the jungle—the man says his name is Henry Gale and he is from Minnesota. She thinks he’s an Other. Sayid takes him to the hatch when Danielle shoots him with an arrow. While they’re waiting for Jack, Henry tells Sayid that he and his wife crashed on the island four months prior in their hot air balloon. His wife got sick two weeks ago and died. Jack removes the arrow and, with the encouragement of Locke and Sayid, moves him to the armory, but Sayid has other plans—he has Locke change the combination and locks himself inside with the prisoner. Inside, Sayid asks for his story and tortures and beats the man when he continues to tell him he’s not an Other. Locke refuses to give Jack the combination, until Jack pins him to a wall and the timer starts to go off. He unlocks the door and runs to the computer to input the numbers—but he makes a mistake and, while he backspaces, the timer flips, revealing red hieroglyphs in place of the numbers. He quickly inputs the sequence and pushes the button, causing the four out of five glyphs to flip back into 108. Meanwhile, Jack pulls Sayid off of Henry and locks the door on the man. Later, Sayid finds Charlie on the beach and asks him a simple question—has he forgotten?

The flashbacks in this episode take us back to the Gulf War. Sayid is picked up in Iraq by Sgt. Buccelli, Sgt. Austen (yes, that’s Kate’s dad), and Inman, a CIA operative. They lost a helicopter pilot and want to know where he is, so they enlist Sayid to interrogate his own commanding officer, Tariq, to help them. Tariq refuses to speak, so Inman hands Sayid a single box—a box with torture items. Sayid gets the information the hard way and tells them their pilot is dead and he can take them to where he is buried. Once they retrieve their dead pilot’s body, Buccelli tells Sayid that, one day, there will be something he needs to know, and now he knows how to get it before he hands him bus fare and sets off again.


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Bombs drop on an Iraqi compound. Sayid and other soldiers burn and shred documents as the building shakes due to the explosions. In Arabic, Tariq, the commanding officer, tells them that they're getting closer. Move it! Burn those! Shred faster! Hurry up! Sayid! Take these files! Burn them! Keep shredding cowards! They can leave when he says! He strikes a soldier. Stop again, and he'll kill him himself! He's his commanding officer and he will do—but what he'll do they never know, because the door is knocked down by the U.S. Army at that moment. The soldiers and the sergeant—Sgt. Buccelli—tell the Iraqi soldiers to get on the ground. They do so after several shouts and Buccelli asks who's in charge and no one answers. He repeats himself and spots someone still burning papers. He says that somebody better tell him to stop, or God help him, he's dead. A soldier tells him that they don't understand. They understand. He'll fire on three. 1... 2... Sayid tells the man in Arabic to stop shredding or they'll kill him. Buccelli asks Sayid if he's in charge. No, he is not. Who is? Sayid looks at Tariq before saying there's no commanding officer there. He left two hours ago, for Hila. Buccelli looks at him. His English is good, but he's lying. And that ain't so good. He knocks Sayid out with the butt of his rifle.

There is activity within the compound. A couple of soldiers make their way through several prisoners kneeling inside a fenced area. Buccelli points at Sayid. That's him, Sergeant. And this time it's Sgt. Austen, who's picking up Sayid. They lead him out. Austen tells Sayid that they don't want to be there any more than he does. His pal, Sadaam, had to go marching into Kuwait—here they all are. Bucelli tells him that Sayid speaks English. Ever do any translating? Formally, no. Hell, the fact he knows what 'formally' means—they're good. Apache helicopter went down in this vector two days ago. Their sources tell them the pilot was captured. It's very important they get the pilot back. They know that he was taken to the local Republican Guard intelligence commander—a man named Tariq. Know him? Yes, he was their commanding officer. Know where he is? When the bombing started he fled to Hila. Hila, huh? Yes, that's right. They open a door and see Tariq sitting inside. Welcome to Hila.

Sayid is washing up when Ana comes running out of the jungle. She asks him where Jack is. Why? They run quietly through the jungle before Ana stops and points. There. See? Danielle is walking in the trees a short distance away. Sayid tells Ana to go back. He'll deal with this. What? Go back, Ana-Lucia. And don't anyone what you saw. Sayid follows Danielle. He steps out in front of her so that she's surprised when she sees him. He asks her what she's doing in the jungle. Looking for him.

Sayid and Danielle walk through the jungle. He asks her where they're going. She said he was looking for him—what was her plan—to hide in the woods hoping he would pass her by? She was going to wait until dark and find him at his tent. Why? He stops and she tells him they need to keep moving. Not until she tells him where they're moving to. Trust her. The last time they met she arrived to warn them that the Others were coming, which They weren't. In fact, it was a diversion to kidnap Claire's baby. So pardon him for not trusting her. This place she's taking him to—there's something that will help him—something important. As for trust, take this. She gives him her rifle. If she's lying, it's his to use. He checks to see if it's loaded. How much further? Not far.

FLASHBACK. Austen is using Sayid as a translator with Tariq. Austen tells Sayid to ask Tariq where he took the pilot. In Arabic, Sayid tells Tariq they want to know where the pilot is. Tariq tells him to tell Austen that his mother is a goat. He says he does not know. Look, they know for a fact he interrogated the pilot day before yesterday. Hell, probably in this room. Tell him if they get their man back safe and sound, he goes free. Sayid tells Tariq they will let him go if he tells them where the pilot is. Tariq tells him he is a disgrace. He's an Iraqi soldier! Steal Austen's gun and kill them all. Right there on his belt. He can get a few of them before he is killed. Austen asks him what he's saying. He says he does not know. He was born, but he wasn't born yesterday, Austen says. Now, if Sayid doesn't help him out, someone else will take over. And that someone—he won't play nice at all. He is sorry. He does not know. Austen starts to leave. He had his choice. Guards, lock him back up.

A frog croaks, causing Sawyer to not be able to sleep. He gets up, frustrated. Jin walks by and he gets his attention. Hear that frog—that frog? Want to help him find it? Jin gives him a dirty look and walks away. What, they ain't friends anymore? Sawyer walks through the jungle, looking for the frog. He stumbles upon Hurley, who dips a chip into some Dharma ranch dressing. Sawyer asks him what he has and immediately Hurley covers up the food he has. Nothing. Yeah, well, he's got a spot of nothing on his chin. He wipes it off as Sawyer uncovers the dressing. Dharma Initiative Ranch Dressing? You're supposed to keep that refrigerated after you open it. Actually, in the back it says it'll keep at room temperature for up to seven years. Sawyer uncovers the rest of the food. Well, well, look who's got a secret stash? Please, dude, don't tell. What, that you stole food from the group? Now why would he want to do that? Come on, man, please? The frog croaks again. Son of a bitch. Sawyer looks around for the frog with his hand on the gun in his waistband. Dude, it's just a tree frog, Hurley tells him. Has he seen it? Yeah. Help him find that thing and he can keep right on ranch dipping. Deal?

Sayid and Danielle are still walking through the jungle. He asks her how much further and gets no response. Danielle? They're here. And where exactly is here? Danielle uncovers a crossbow and some arrows she's hidden. What is that for? A voice faintly asks for help. Sayid immediately runs off toward it. Wait, Danielle says. The voice again calls for help. Sayid, listen to her. Sayid finds the owner of the voice—hanging from a tree in a net trap.

The man in the trap again calls out for help and Danielle tells Sayid not to believe a word he says. Hey! He's one of Them. The man tells Sayid he has no idea what Danielle's talking about. She's crazy. Sayid asks her how long he's been up there. Since last night, the man answers. Please, just cut him down. His name is Henry Gale. He's from Minnesota. Please. He's lying, Danielle warns. Sayid pulls out his knife. He's going to cut him down. Don't. Henry thanks him and Danielle tells him he's making a serious mistake. He cuts him down and tells him he's alright. Danielle prepares her bow. Henry sees and runs off. Sayid tells her not to, but she shoots him in the shoulder anyway. Sayid runs to him, telling her she could have killed him. If she wanted to kill him, she would have killed him. She shot him with no provocation. He is one of Them. Tie him up. Take him to the doctor. He's no good t Sayid dead. And then what? Talk to him, Sayid. As she recalls, that's what he does. But know this—he will lie—a long time. He will lie. Sayid carries him back to camp.

FLASHBACK. A handcuffed Sayid is taken to Inman, apparently a CIA operative. Inman tells him that he wants to talk about his buddy Tariq. Look, he gets it. He's a man who values loyalty. Even doing a little translating for them—he feels like he's doing the wrong thing. He gets that and he respects that. He holds up a video tape. This is what Tariq was doing before he took over command of Sayid's village. He was the head of the chemical warfare battalion in the North. He plays the tape. He personally supervised the use of sarin gas on this village. Recognize it, right? Sayid had relatives in that village. So, he knows what sarin gas does. No discrimination—the entire marketplace—innocent women, children. Enough, please. Inman shuts off the tape. Loyalty is a virtue. But unquestioning loyalty—he doesn't think that's him. Why should he believe him? How does he think they knew he had relatives in that village? They liberated his personnel file, and Tariq's. He shows him the files. All they want it their pilot back so they can send him home to his family. Tariq will never talk to him. That's why Sayid's going to have to make him talk. He gives Sayid a box.

In the hatch, Sayid wakes Locke. They got out and find Henry. Minnesota, huh? That's the question, isn't it? Henry asks where he is. Ignoring him, Sayid asks who he is. Henry, Henry Gale. Ah, his back. They're going to take it out, but first he wants him to relax. How did he get to the island? Four months ago, they crashed on the island, his wife and him. Crashed in what? A balloon. They were trying to cross the Pacific. His wife—where is she? She died. She got, she got sick three weeks ago. They were staying in a cave off the beach. Ah, his shoulder. At least untie his arms. Jack suddenly enters the hatch and asks what the hell is going on. Sayid tells him Danielle trapped him in the jungle. She thinks he's an Other. Henry is confused. An other what? Jack ignores him. Sayid shot him with an arrow? Does he have a bow? Is he just going to let him bleed to death? He was trying to get honest answers while he was able to give them. And his wound is far from life threatening. Locke tells Sayid they should let Jack treat him first. Than they'll get their answers. Okay. Jack, do not untie him.

Sawyer and Hurley walk through the jungle, looking for the frog. This is how people get killed in scary movies, Hurley says. If this was a scary movie, Sawyer replies, he'd be with a hot chick, not Barbar. It's Babar. Why doesn't he shut up? Or his ranch disorder's going to be the new item on the coconut internet. Hurley stops. Fine, go ahead. Tell everyone the fat guy's been hiding ranch dressing—the fat guy likes to eat. Yeah, he's fat. Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat. Think he doesn't know that? At least people like him. Know what? He can find the damn frog by himself. Hurley starts to leave, but Sawyer calls him back. He's sorry, alright? This frog is killing him. He's got to help him out. Please?

Jack is using some pliers to remove the arrow from Henry's shoulder as Locke and Sayid watch from a distance. Locke asks Sayid what he thinks and he returns the question. He thinks he's pretty convincing. Yes, he is. The real problem is there's no way they can be sure he's telling the truth. That is not necessarily true. Does Jack have the combination to the armory? For now he does. How long would it take for him to change it? If he's angry—looking for someone to punish—why would he need to punish anyone? He wants to find out who he is. He wants the truth. And they both know that Jack will have issues with what must be done in order to get it. So how long, John, to change the combination? Couple minutes, tops. Then he suggests he gets started.

Jack is still working on Henry, bandaging his wound. Sayid enters and asks if he said anything. No, he didn't. He was in shock. Locke tells Jack they can't just leave him lying there—if people see him it'll create a panic. Yeah, well, where should they put him? Sayid says they should put him in the armory—secure. Better to err on the side of safety, Jack. At least until they can be sure. Okay. For now. They carry Henry to the armory. Jack points to a cot and says they can pull that in. He shouldn't be on his back. Good idea, Locke says. As they turn around, Sayid shuts and locks the armory door, leaving only he and Henry inside. Jack pounds on the door, asking what the hell he's doing. Sayid leans against the door. What needs to be done.

FLASHBACK. Sayid enters the room with Tariq carrying the box he got form Inman. Tariq stares at him. They're letting him speak with him alone now? Sayid ignores him. He needs to tell him where the helicopter pilot is. Tariq laughs. This is their new bluff? That Sayid's going to torture him? They think he will do this? Sayid is a loyal soldier. The son of a great hero. Do not disgrace his father! He wouldn't dare harm him! He will follow his orders as his commanding officer. Take that bag. Put it over his head and tape it up. Kill himself, now! That's an order. Do it and die with what little honor he has left. He would have him take his own life—the information means nothing to him! Tariq spits in Sayid's eye. He wipes it away before opening the box and pulling out some pliers. Later, Sayid finds a pacing Inman in his tent. Emotionless, he tells him the pilot was executed two days ago. He's buried in a field four kilometers from there. He can take him there. He hands him the box with bloody hands.

Jack tries the combination on the armory, but is unsuccessful. He tells Sayid to open the door. Answer him! Jack, Locke says. Why isn't the combination working, John? Did he change it? Yeah. Why would he do that? Jack's raising an army. What? And why he didn't ask Locke to help—well, that's his business—but there's only one reason to raise an army, Jack, and that's because they're at war. And like it or not, whatever Sayid had to do behind that door—that's a part of it, too. What if he's telling the truth, John? What if he's not?

Inside the armory, Sayid ties Henry up. He tells him to get up. What's happening? Sayid makes Henry sit up. He said he's been there for four months. What? He said he came to the island four months ago, yes? Where is he? Please answer his question. Yeah, yes they landed four months ago. Maybe more. Who is he? And they were in a cave for all that time? Off the beach, on the North shore of the island. How far from this beach was he captured? He doesn't know. How many days' walk? Two—two days. Why did they stay on the beach for so long? Why wouldn't they? They wanted to be there for fly-overs? They had an emergency beacon, a transmitter. What kind of transmitter? An ADF beacon. They wanted to make sure they'd be spotted. Look, whatever he thinks he is, he's not. Please, please just—tell him his name. His wife, what is her maiden name? Murphy. Where did he meet her? University of Minnesota. How did she die? She got sick. She got sick? It started as a fever. After two days she was delirious. Then she died. He doesn't know why he's asking him all these questions. He doesn't know why he's treating him this way—why he has to explain to him who he is when he won't tell him who he is. He was 23 years old when the Americans came to his country. He was a good man. He was a soldier. And when they left he was something different. For the next six years, he did things he wishes he could erase from his memory—things which he never thought himself to be capable of. But he did some to learn this—there was a part of me which was always capable. He wants to know who he is? His name is Sayid Jarrah and he is a torturer.

Hurley and Sawyer are still looking for the frog. It croaks again and Sawyer asks where it is. Hurley spots it and runs toward it, but trips and falls. Sawyer catches it. Nice catch, Hurley tells him. The tiny frog stay in his hands, silent now. Well, he'll be damned. All that noise from that tiny critter. It kind of reminds him of a turtle he had once, Hurley says. Its name was Stuart. It ran off when he was ten. Well, that's what his mom said. He kind of thinks she threw him out. Sawyer talks to the frog. He's a happy little fella, ain't he? Hurley has an idea. Why doesn't he take him—far from there—two beach away? Then maybe he'll find a Mrs. Tree Frog. That way he won't keep Sawyer up anymore and everyone's happy. Yeah, that's one idea. Here's another. Sawyer squishes the frog in his hand. Dude. He hears with a little ranch dressing, they taste just like chicken. He hands the frog to Hurley.

Jack cleans up the blood from working on Henry as Locke enters. He asks if he can give him a hand and Jack remains silent. He knows this isn't—shut up. Jack starts to wash his hands and notices that the pliers he removed the arrow with are missing. He looks at Locke. Where are the pliers? In the armory, Sayid asks Henry to tell him about his balloon. What does he want to know? Everything. She's 140 feet high, 60 feet wide. And when she's up in the air, 550 thousand cubic feet of helium and 100 thousand feet of hot air keep her up. And if you could look down on her, you'd see a big yellow smiley face on top. Why would he travel that way? Because he was rich. Because it was his dream. And Jennifer thought it would be neat. He 'was' rich? Guess he's thinking of things in the past tense now. How's that for optimism. How did he become so rich? He sold his company. What kind of company? Mining. What did he mine? They mined non-metallic minerals. Everyone wanted to talk to him at cocktail parties. Sayid gets closer. Give him his hands. Give him his hands! He puts the pliers around Henry's finger. Where is she buried? What? Listen to him. He said he buried his wife. Tell him where? What is he going to—where?! In the jungle. By the balloon, in the jungle. How deep? How deep did he dig the grave? He doesn't—it was—how deep? How many shovelfuls of earth? Did he use his hands? How long did it take him? He doesn't remember. He would remember! He would remember how deep. He would remember every shovelful, every moment. He would remember what it felt like to place her body inside. He would remember if he had buried the woman he loved. He would remember—if it were true! Did he—did he lose someone? Did he lose someone here on the island? Did he lose someone, too? What happened to her? It was an accident. It was an accident. The woman responsible thought she was someone else—someone coming to hurt her—someone like him! This is all a mistake. Slow down, okay. Hurting him isn't going to bring her back. Sayid starts beating Henry. He knows what he lost. Tell him how long. No, no. Help! Help him! From outside, Jack yells at Sayid. He turns on Locke. Open it. Open it now, John. Jack, this has to happen. He pushes Locke up against a wall. Open that damn door, understand! Open it now! No. The alarm starts. Now! Inside, Henry asks Sayid what he wants him to say. Whatever he wants him to do, he'll do it. Please. Sayid continues to beat him. He wants him to tell the truth. Outside, Jack tells Locke to open the door again. Let go of him. Or what? He wants to push the button? Open the door. The alarm becomes more insistent—the timer is getting closer to zero. It's under a minute now, John. He better think fast. He wouldn't. What? He wouldn't what? If they don’t—he would risk everyone's lives? He talked him into pushing that button once, John, but it's his now. He's the one who won't risk it. Him? He doesn't think anything's going to happen when it gets down to zero. Jack! Want to see what's going to happen? See what's going to happen. They can hear Sayid screaming to Henry, asking him who he is. The timer is down to 27 seconds. Okay, says Locke. Okay. Okay, right 15, left—he think Jack's stupid? Open it! Locke rushes the armory door and opens it. Once he's done, he runs to the computer to enter the numbers. The timer is at ten seconds. Jack opens the door and wrestles Sayid out. At the computer, Locke notices he typed 16 twice instead of 15, 16. He goes to backspace as the timer hits zero and starts spinning around. Something starts up in the hatch. The timer starts showing black and red hieroglyphs.* Four of them lock into place with one more to go. Frantically, Locke finishes the numbers and hits execute before it can finish. The timer resets and something winds down. Back by the armory, Sayid continues to scream that Henry is lying while Jack holds him back from beating the man anymore. He's lying! He's lying! That’s enough. Jack lets go of Sayid and shuts the armory door, leaving Henry alone inside.

Jack asks Sayid what happened. He is one of Them, Sayid states simple. Yeah? Did he tell him that? No. Then how does he know? Because he knows. He is one of Them. Danielle thought that about him once, didn't she? If Jack's not mistaken, she strapped him down, she shocked him, all because she thought he was one of Them. He is, Locke pipes up. What? He is one of Them. To Danielle, they're all Others. It's all relative, huh?

FLASHBACK. An Army convoy is driving down a long, barren road in Iraq. Sgt. Austen is looking at a photograph in a truck with Sayid. He asks him if he has a wife, kids. Sayid shakes his head. Austen continues looking at the photograph of Kate at a river. The trick comes to a stop and they take Sayid out. Inman tells a soldier he'll take him. To Sayid, he says it's over. They're pulling out, not going to Baghdad. So Sadaam gets to stay in power which means Sayid, most likely, will remain in his employ. Guess he's lucky he has a new skill set he can use. What he made him do no human being should ever have to do to another. Inman pulls a knife out, but only uses it to cut the bindings on Sayid's wrists. In Arabic, he tells him that one of these days there will be something he needs to know. And now he knows how to get it. He will never do that again, Sayid tells him. Yeah. Good luck, Sayid. He hands him some money. Bus fare back to Ramadi. He heads back to the bus. Move out!

Back on the island, Sayid is sitting on the beach with Charlie. He tells him that there is a man in the hatch. A stranger captured by Danielle. He beat him. He beat him badly. Charlie asks him why he is telling him this. Jack asked him how he knew—knew for sure that this man was lying. How he knew for sure that he was one of Them—one of the Others. He knows because he feels no guilt for what he did for him. But there is no way he can ever explain that to Jack, or even Locke, because both of them have forgotten. Forgotten? What? That Charlie was strung up by his neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days during which God only knows what happened to her. That these people—these Others—are merciless, and can take any of them whenever they choose. So tell him, Charlie—have you forgotten?

* Again, this was interpreted. The four glyphs that showed up meant 'cause for death' or 'cause to die.'

One of Them was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.