The Economist

I wasn't as thrilled with "The Economist" as I was with season 4 of Lost's other two episodes. I won't say I was disappointed either, but with the first two shows being so action packed and filled with info, this one seemed to just drag along a bit.

The Flash Forward
Let's start with the biggest reveal of all, Sayid ends up working for Ben. Who saw this coming? I guess we should have when Sayid said "The day I start trusting him (Ben) is the day I will have sold my soul." Well, consider it sold, Sayid.

When he shot the guy on the golf course at the beginning, I immediately thought that Sayid had joined the freighter people in his off island life. I was off, but not by much. As soon as Ben started talking at the end (in a deeper voice to tease the audience), I knew it was him. So the reveal of his face wasn't as big a shock to me. Now, I'm eager to see this play out. What happens on the ship and back on the island for Sayid to agree to this. How is he protecting his friends? Who did Elsa work for? Does Sayid even know what he is in the middle of?

Ben, the traveling man
When Sayid found the secret room in Ben's house, I had no clue what he was going to find. It turns out Ben does quite a bit of traveling with lots of cash from different countries and passports for his aliases hidden in there. How does he get off island? Surely, he didn't catch the sub every time he wanted off. Remember, Juliet joked that they were building a runway on the Hydra island last year. Maybe there already is a runway on the main island.

Daniel's Experiment
The most interesting point of the episode came with Daniel's experiment. There have been hints that time passes differently on the island than off it in the past, but this is the first real confirmation of that theory. The rocket's clock and the on island clock were 31 minutes apart when the rocket finally got to the island. What does this mean? I have no clue, but Daniel is on to something. He made sure to tell Frank to maintain the exact same bearing when leaving in the helicopter that they did on the way in. What does Daniel fear? Is he worried the chopper might find a worm hole and end up somewhere else, like Africa maybe?

Another thing that interested me just before the helicopter took off was that Charlotte didn't want to go because she has work to do. What sort of work will she be doing? She is an archaeologist, so I wonder if she'll visit the four-toed statue anytime soon or maybe check out Adam and Eve back at the caves.

Kate/Sawyer
The island's criminal couple is back together. Looks like Jack lost Kate once again. He sent her along with Sayid and Miles to ensure that Locke wouldn't do anything drastic, but it seems to have backfired now that Kate is staying with Sawyer. Did she really choose to stay or was she just locked up with Sawyer the whole time and was never asked if she wanted to go back? From the looks of the previews, it looks like we'll get more information next week on Kate.

Jacob's Cabin
Locke led his group to the believed location of Jacob's cabin, despite Hurley's continued references that the cabin was in the other direction, and alas, the shack was not there. Will Locke's faith be tarnished if he can't contact Jacob? When will he confront Hurley about his seeing of the cabin as well? Will Ben provide more information on the cabin's location or its ability to move?

Another interesting related moment came when Hurley was setting up Sayid and company in Othersville. Hurley mentions that Locke is taking direction from Walt and this peeks Sayid's interest right away. Remember way back in Season 2 when Sayid was charming Shannon. Her downfall came at the hands of Anna Lucia, but remember that she was out in the jungle because she had seen visions of Walt and was searching for him. Sayid ended up seeing him as well. Wonder what he thinks about Locke seeing Walt on the island too.

Penelope Widmore
Finally, fan favorite Desmond got in on the season 4 action. When he confronted Frank and Daniel about their knowledge of Penny, the look they gave each other told the whole story. They definately know who she is, or at least know what Widmore is. Penny is rumored to be involved this season, so it will be interesting to see where this goes. Is Widmore behind the freighter (even though Charlie told us its "Not Penny's Boat") or maybe the fake crash site for Oceanic 815? Regardless, the freighter people know more than they are letting on, especially since Naomi was looking for Desmond when she landed on the island originally and there was no mention of him in her flashback meeting with Matthew Abaddon.