"The more I hold on, the more I pull away from those around me."
This was a quote from Sayid to Danielle and it goes a long way to explain his arc throughout the series. We learn that his childhood friend Nadia was the subject of brutal interrogations by the Republican Guard, then fate gave Sayid the unenviable task of trying to break her spirits. Just before he carries out orders to execute her, he orchestrates a break-out and sets her free. For the next seven years he holds onto the hope that she was able to escape and survive. It's this undying hope that essentially freezes him in time.
After Sayid is captured and finds himself on the receiving end of brutal interrogation, we learn that he and Danielle have some common ground in terms of coping with isolation. It is this tenuous bond that draws more information out of Danielle, including the first mention of three significant pieces of the mythology: the Others, the "sickness" and the whispers. Well, four if you count The Black Rock even though it was technically included in her transmission.
In one of my favorite mini-arcs of the season, Hurley surprises everyone by building a two-hole golf course. This moment of levity was way overdue and I sense that the writers knew it was time to let the audience take a breath and smile. I embraced the opportunity to do just that.
I have a tough time assessing the quality of Naveen's acting, mostly because Sayid is by definition a stoic, expressionless warrior of sorts. I appreciate his ability to sublimate his natural accent and I realize it can't be easy, but that ability alone doesn't put him in an elite category for acting. Nevertheless his scenes in Danielle's hideout were very well done, particularly after he became frustrated with her obscure references. I laughed at his "if we're lucky!?" when Danielle suspected the loud noises were coming from a bear.
Bonus points to Andrea Gabriel (Nadia) for superb acting. She happens to be one of my favorite recurring guest stars.
Major deduction for William Mapother's very poor acting. I realize he needed to sell himself as a bit odd given the reveals that would come later, but all of his speaking roles in LOST are wooden, over-enunciated embarrassments. He's fine when he's pummeling someone in the pouring rain and that's about it.
The interrogation scenes in Danielle's hideout were very well executed, starting with Sayid gradually regaining consciousness to the echoes of "Where's Alex!?!" in multiple languages. The blurred-vision effect was spot on, a great way to ease the audience into the introduction of the enigmatic Danielle.
Strange as it may sound, I also really appreciated the visuals of the prison where Nadia was kept, particularly the use of light versus darkness. When Sayid walks into her cell and throws her a black hood, she asks if he's going to hurt her. Without answering her, his shadow slowly creeps across her face until you can barely see her.
And last but not least, the shot of Hurley standing on the golf course is now iconic, with his improvised flag and proud smile. Excellent work by Greg Yaitanes in that scene, as well as the whispers encircling Sayid to finish out the episode's cliffhanger.
Solitary actually has a chance of holding steady in the Longevity category, mostly because so many pieces of his character arc AND the mythology point back to what was introduced in the episode.
Hearing Danielle talk about the Black Rock, the others on her team, and the sickness is also a reason to keep coming back for clues.
Now that I know Sayid's entire arc I've come to appreciate Solitary a bit more. Many people question why he and Shannon were presented as soulmates given his years of clinging to Nadia, but Solitary goes a long way to explain it. Shannon brought him out of his isolated world and gave him a chance to pull away from his dark past. Nadia kept him frozen in one particular role, one that never felt true to him in the first place.
I also have a soft spot for Danielle, one of my favorite female characters in the series, so Solitary gets an Intangibles bonus for that as well.
