"The Economist" basically continues developing the on-island story quite fast, and Charlotte rejoins Frank and Daniel while Miles ends up in Locke's hands. Most intriguing of the on-island events are the discovery of Ben's secret room and Daniel's time experiment, which is a terrific scene in its execution. This is a great script, and it's really better than I initially thought it was. Lots of fun, occasionally clever dialogue, some great one-liners ("great, the ship brought us another Sawyer"), and a neat structure and sense of pace, although it slows down slightly near the end as far as the on-island stuff goes.
The flashforward is better than I initially gave it credit for as well. It works both as a spy story (which I'm sure the genre enthusiasts who wrote the script were thrilled to write), and as an emotional story for Sayid. I'd go as far as saying it was at least his second most interesting flash (forward or back) to me personally, and I really thought that Naveen Andrews was terrific here, and gave one of his better performances. Yes, the ending was surprising and intriguing, but I really don't think that this episode as a whole should be reduced to its ending. As a script, this really works well all-around, and is excellent both on and off the island. The dialogue in particular struck me as notably better here than in many other "Lost" episodes.
Jack Bender's direction is tasteful and smart as well (as usual), and I found the scene in the hotel with Sayid and Elsa late in the episode especially well-shot. I know this episode is well-liked, but I feel like it almost doesn't get quite enough credit, it is really, really good all-around. Some of Michael Giacchino's new compositions for season 4 are absolutely incredible, can't wait for that CD.
The flashforward is better than I initially gave it credit for as well. It works both as a spy story (which I'm sure the genre enthusiasts who wrote the script were thrilled to write), and as an emotional story for Sayid. I'd go as far as saying it was at least his second most interesting flash (forward or back) to me personally, and I really thought that Naveen Andrews was terrific here, and gave one of his better performances. Yes, the ending was surprising and intriguing, but I really don't think that this episode as a whole should be reduced to its ending. As a script, this really works well all-around, and is excellent both on and off the island. The dialogue in particular struck me as notably better here than in many other "Lost" episodes.
Jack Bender's direction is tasteful and smart as well (as usual), and I found the scene in the hotel with Sayid and Elsa late in the episode especially well-shot. I know this episode is well-liked, but I feel like it almost doesn't get quite enough credit, it is really, really good all-around. Some of Michael Giacchino's new compositions for season 4 are absolutely incredible, can't wait for that CD.