"Namaste" holds no power as a self-contained episode. There is no clear centricity, no clear focus, but the episode works as what it is, another week of "Lost" and a setup for the events to follow. All things considered not only is this all handled very well (even the love quadrangle aspect wasn't focused on for too long), but there is a lot of cool stuff for fans in this episode. For example we get to see Radzinksy (finally!) building a model of the Swan, Jack being processed by Pierre Chang/Marvin Candle/Edgar Halliwax, and find out who Ethan's parents were, as well as get a fabulously creepy appearance from Christian Shepard.
The episode opens with us seeing how 316 landed on the Hydra island, and where Sun and Ben and the rest ended up. Overall the dynamic of this group of survivors has yet to really take form and I expect won't really. Ilana and Caeser simply haven't been developed as actual characters yet, but they aren't really annoying on a Nikki and Paulo sort of scale, mostly because they were brought into the story for a reason. Scaredy cat Lapidus on the main island and destroyed barracks was hilarious, not that I blame him at all. I nearly jumped when Christian appeared in that doorway. Great Christian appearance this time too, but like the rest of the episode it's more hints of greatness to come in the future than greatness in and of itself.
In 1977 we see how Hurley, Kate, and Jack become part of DHARMA. This is handled quite well by writers Brian K. Vaughan and Paul Zbyszewski. There is occasionally some grating dialogue but overall the interpersonal drama is effective. Jack's conversation with Sawyer was fantastic, and it feels so oddly satisfying to see Sawyer finally get the better of Jack, and I don't really even like Sawyer more than Jack. After Sawyer was almost totally useless for the entirety of the first few episodes of season 5 it is so great to see the writers giving the character a great story for the first time pretty much since the first two seasons. Good stuff.
Hopefully "LaFleur" and "Namaste" have finished off the setup portion of this second half of season 5. "316" and "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" felt like a season finale, and these two have felt very much like the first two episodes of a brand new season. I enjoyed both episodes a lot but look forward to getting to the bigger, more important stuff now.
