Hold on to your seats, boys and girls. One of Them introduces one of the most critical characters in the series and I ain't talkin' about the tree frog. The parallel theme between flashbacks and island storyline is "going to war", in which case Henry Gale is about to be known as the first enemy combatant.
I remember the first time I watched the scene with Henry Gale, particularly the moment after Sayid cuts him free. Rousseau put an arrow through his back and, thinking he was dead, I thought, "Well that was anticlimactic."
This sets up one of Sayid's better centrics. What makes it better? The fact that we get to see a young, naive Sayid before he becomes the omniscient Lord of Interrogation. Sam Austen (yes, THAT Sam Austen!) captures him in the midst of the first Gulf war, then eventually hands him off to Kelvin Inman (yes, THAT Kelvin Inman!) for interrogation duties.
And there's the hook. By "interrogation duties" I don't mean he interrogated Sayid. He convinced Sayid to interrogate his own commanding officer. And there it is, the moment Sayid went from a fresh-faced soldier to a cold-blooded interrogator.
The obvious tie-in is with Sayid interrogating Henry Gale. The dialogue between the two is very engaging from the start, even if there might be a few mild head-scratchers. Even though Sayid's "you would remember" rant is a powerful moment I'm not sure I agree with it. If I had to bury my own loved one the chances are excellent that I'd be a walking zombie, that I'd block out those details.
Nevertheless, I love the escalation of tension after Sayid locks himself in the armory with Ben, then Locke refuses to give Jack the combination. What's that I hear? The countdown alarm? Now THAT's conflict!
I've knocked Naveen Andrews around a bit for his acting, but I must give full credit where it's due — this was one of his better efforts. I've always felt he's at his best when he can portray the cold, ruthless person that shows signs of something deeper, and that's exactly what he leveraged here.
When he finally flies off the handle at Henry Gale it's fun to watch the abrupt shift in his facial expressions. The most obvious example falls between the two lines:
Sayid: You would remember...
[wickedly evil face]
Sayid: IF IT WERE TRUE!
At that point I'd be peeing my pants if I were in Gale's shoes.
And speaking of Gale, Michael Emerson wastes no time in showcasing his premier acting abilities. Was there ever a doubt that Gale believed in what he was saying, even as we was staring at the prospect of his finger getting cut off? Locke wasn't kidding when he said he "could be very convincing."
Bonus points for Lindsey Ginter (Sam Austen), love the guy's acting style and dry humor. Clancy Brown, whom I'll always know as Byron Hadley from "The Shawshank Redemption", was predictably fantastic. They would've been crazy not to give him a recurring role.
All things considered I was very impressed at the creation of a credible war zone. There were just enough outside shots to establish the context and really bring it home, otherwise it just would've felt like Sayid was hopping from one small room to the next.
There's probably more CGI going on than I'm even aware of, but I can tell you there's at least one good and bad example of it:
The bad: the helicopter flying toward the horizon in the opening flashback. I'm not sure if it's the scale or the speed that's the problem but something's really "off" by the time it's at a distance.
The good: the smoke-filled horizon behind Sayid after Inman drops him off. Google "one of them Sayid" and you'll definitely see this semi-famous hero shot of Sayid.
One of Them holds up reasonably well given the extraordinary significance of Henry Gale. It's a very timid and vulnerable version of Gale, not the one who's beginning to plant seeds of jealousy and doubt in Locke just yet, but even that makes sense. I suppose he was simply assessing the situation at that point. Oh, and getting medical treatment for that nasty arrow wound.
If you're a big Sayid fan than you'll undoubtedly see added significance in witnessing his graduation to ruthless interrogation techniques.
If you're a big fan of Swan lore than you'll appreciate the significance of seeing Kelvin Inman for the first time.
Yeah, I'd say One of Them establishes quite a bit of scaffolding for episodes in the near and distant future.
With war being the overarching theme of the episode one shouldn't expect a parade of unicorns and rainbows. This episode gets downright nasty with an arrow piercing through a body and bloody interrogations in both storylines. Heck, even the comic-relief storyline had Sawyer squishing a frog in his hand.
This episode just wasn't for the faint of heart.
I wouldn't say "emotional impact" was the big takeaway (or even the goal) of the episode, but tension certainly was. When Locke was late in entering the numbers on the Swan computer, we got our first glimpse of the hieroglyphic symbols on the clock. Now THAT was some freaky imagery right there.
This episode's a good one but it's not even Gale at this best. It's not until he starts getting inside Locke's head that LOST ascends to the next level.
