Lost (TV Series) The Greater Good (2005) User Reviews

There Is Always a Choice

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 14 April 2006]

Dr. Jack Shephard decides to find John Locke. Sayid Jarrah meets Locke and recalls his past, when he was caught in London by CIA and the British Secret Service. As a former Republican Guard of Iraq, he is blackmailed by the authorities to find a terrorist Melbourne, and the information would be exchanged by the address of Nadia. Charlie Pace gives a nickname to Claire Littleton's baby, Turnip-Head, and takes care of him while Claire rests. Locke shows Sayid the Beechcraft and the place where it was perched in the canopy of the tree. He explains Sayid that he had a charley horse and Boone climbed the tree to investigate the interior of the airplane. The keys of the wallet with the guns are stolen from Jack.

"The Greater Good" is a very complex episode, with many parallel stories. The betrayal of Sayid to his friend Essam Tasir (Donnie Keshawarz) is disgusting, but at least he learned that there is always a choice in life. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil: "The Greater Good"

Note: On 22 March 2013, I saw this episode again.

Choices

[FlikJedi719 · 9/10 · 10 January 2020]

We all have choices and decisions to make in life, and the theme of this episode highlights that perfectly on the Island.

If you're a fan of the show, then you know that this episode and the last are the episodes that start driving that deep wedge between Jack and Locke, and it is executed flawlessly.

The only question I have with this episode is why Locke wore that bloody shirt for so dang long - he showed up to Boone's funeral, and later walked up to Shannon to have a one-on-one conversation with her in the shirt covered in Boone's blood. Later in the episode we see him change, so it's not a matter of that was the only shirt he had.

Despite the above, this episode is still great. Sayid's flashback add depth to his character, and we also get to see his military genius on display during his interrogations with Locke. You cannot lie to that man. The acting, as usual, is on point as well.

The Greater Good gets a 9/10.

More great than good

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 13 January 2018]

When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.

"The Greater Good" may not be one of the best 'Lost' episodes, or one of the best of Season 1, but will agree that it is better than its reputation and a great episode. It may not advance the mysteries of the island as much as previous and succeeding episodes and may lack the emotional power of "Do No Harm" (a very tough act to follow). Also could have done without Hurley's "I Feel Good", that had the cringe factor and didn't add much.

Credit is due for returning to its old themes and there is foreshadowing of what will happen later conflict-wise, especially between Jack and Locke. What "The Greater Good" does, and brilliantly, is developing Sayid more, building upon what we already know about him, and finally giving Shannon something interesting to do after being underwritten for much of the season.

The flashbacks have garnered criticism from fans, to me they added a lot to Sayid's character development and benefitted from a fine guest appearance from Donnie Keshawarz. They are not subtle but they're honest.

Acting is very good, especially from Naveen Andrews and Maggie Grace, the former believably intense and the latter truly touching. Terry O'Quinn relishes his juicy scenes.

Visually, "The Greater Good" is slickly shot as ever, the island beautiful and mysterious. The music is understated and chilling, while the writing is taut, the story absorbing and the direction skilful.

In summary, not a 'Lost' classic but great all the same. Better than given credit for. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"No more lies."

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 7 November 2010]

Given the show's nature and ensemble cast, it was to be expected that Lost would lose a major character during its first season, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise that Boone Carlyle (Ian Somerhalder), one of the less intense and mysterious people on the Island, met his demise at the end of the previous episode, an event that nevertheless had a huge emotional impact and is used by the writers to set up the proper season finale.

Thinking Boone was murdered, Jack sets off to find Locke, but is convinced by Kate to return to the camp and rest after his search proves unsuccessful. While the other survivors bury their departed comrade, Locke shows up and tries to explain, but Jack refuses to listen and is determined to take matters in his own hands. The thought is shared by Shannon, who asks Sayid to take care of Locke for her. Elsewhere on the Island, Claire reluctantly allows Charlie to take care of her newborn baby, with some help from Sawyer and Hurley.

As Sayid ponders what to do with Locke, his presence in Australia prior to the plane crash is explained: having become an informant, he was sent to Sydney to infiltrate a terrorist cell in exchange for Nadia's whereabouts. Upon completing the mission, he was given a plane ticket to Los Angeles, and the rest, as they say, is history...

After an episode that was heavy on personal tragedy (part of which is retained in this offering's flashbacks), The Greater Good returns to the show's main themes and escalates the conflict in view of the imminent finale, with a first glimpse of the strained Jack/Locke relationship. In the acting department, Andrews gets to do his usual best, and Maggie Grace turns in a truly believable, grounded performance, finally letting go of the "California chick" stereotype of earlier episodes in a permanent fashion. Yet another sign of the series having found its feet as the end of the first season approaches.

A great, massively underrated episode

[ametaphysicalshark · 2 August 2008]

The reputation that "The Greater Good" has is absolutely bewildering. Leonard Dick's script creates a fair, realistic view of Muslims and possible motivation for terrorism (I should know, I lived in the Middle East for many years) while staying faithful to Sayid's character and provides some of the most interesting events we had seen up to this point on the island.

Scriptwriter Leonard Dick had the tough task of dealing with the aftermath of Boone's death in the previous episode and handles it very well. The real danger here is keeping the relentlessly unpleasant tone of "Do No Harm", which Dick avoids by injecting some memorable humor into the script featuring Charlie, baby Aaron, Sawyer, and Hurley (who does a rendition of "I Feel Good" which is vaguely embarrassing even for the detached viewer). Some of the dramatic scenes here featuring Locke are quite memorable and very good.

The flashbacks are the aspect most people attack, and apart from a hint of 'dumb spy show' sneaking in, it's actually a very realistic and honest depiction of the mindset of frustrated Muslim youth, and raises some interesting questions in addition to providing some key character development for Sayid.

A tastefully directed and very well-written episode, "The Greater Good" is far better than its reputation among fans of "Lost" suggests and features an excellent guest turn by actor Donnie Keshawarz.

9/10

Best episode by far

[matiasbockerman · 10/10 · 21 November 2018]

Heavily underratted episode, people are very hard to please. Very tense, well acted and writted: several plots and great backround story. Amazing episode

Jack's altruism is getting boring

[gedikreverdi · 10 November 2021]

Nobody trusts Locke. He confessed to have messed up Sayed's transmitter because he thought it'd be dangerous to find the source of the distress call. At least he showed the plane by the cliffs full of heroin hidden inside Mary figurines. In the past Sayed used his friends working with CIA to find Nadia. Shannon wanted to shoot Locke but Sayed stooped him and he wanted him to show him the hatch.