First off, it's spelled Sayid.

Second. It's startling that it's on ABC which is about as politically correct in its "newscasts" as it's possible to be.

Sayed\Said\Saeed\Sayid etc. are all correct.

There's no "right" spelling when translating from Arabic to English.

Thanks, Ally. ;)

That whole "the Americans made me a torturer" aspect was still politically correct, but it was redeemed by the fact that the Iraqi prisoner had used chemical weapons -- which apparently Saddam had -- against an Iraqi village and by the "America betrayed Iraq by not taking Baghdad in the first war" resolution. It was astonishing that the necessity of torture argument was presented seriously but the thread hasn't resolved and it may yet be shown to be a grotesque mistake.

Of course, as Battlestar Gallactica is currently proving, sometimes a plot gets away from the writers and makes a completely unintended point. [What is going to happen to the humans and cylons if they ever discover Earth's human monotheism?]

the cylons are the humans.

The most startling thing for a network TV show was that it presented the idea that in war you have to get your hands dirty, and did so without any apparent disapprobation. Of course, there's still time for them to introduce some Polynesian island natives and show us how all of this craziness is due to evil Europeans...

I thought the dichotomy was interesting between Jack and Sayid. Jack loves the idea of playing Rambo but has no clue about what soldiering is really about, and Sayid who would love to remain in the background but finds himself facing another potential genocide involving his village.

One point confused me.

The senior American "officer" (?) in charge of the American military interrogators is depicted in camo without insignia of rank, branch, etc. But, he is clearly "in charge" of the troops.

Leftists could say, "See. He is not in uniform."

Is Lost's implication that the bearded American directing the interrigators is not military at all? The professor's beard may be used to suggest he is more "cerebral", like a CIA perhaps? He surprisingly also speaks fluent Arabic to Said in his very last scene on camera.

Comments welcomed!

john:

Wasn't he just Special Forces who couldn't do the torture himself?

I thoght the best part was Said saying that he knew the guy was an enemy because he didn't feel guilty for torturing him.

I thought he was CIA.

John: I'd bet dollars to donuts that the bearded guy shows up again in the future, somehow related to the whole Dharma thing...

hmmmmm, donuts......

I've got the episode on tape and the podcast commentary downloaded to watch and listen to later.

Speaking of BSG, Ron Moore, the writer/developer is honest about his lefty politics and his lefty writing room. I have to roll my eyes at what he says in his podcasts sometimes. During the whole Pegasus/Admiral Cain thing, he mentioned how he had Cain's staff give briefings standing up because he read how John Bolton would do that so his meetings would go faster. The condescension was dripping off him. He didn't need to say what he thought of Bolton. I wonder if he knows Rumsfeld uses a standup desk?

These podcasts are a little questionable, it's one thing to read some of these people's writings but to have their voices in your head (earplug headphones) is a little creepy.

oj:

..donuts are on the table.

The bearded professor was also flush with Benjamins, many of which he handed to Said as the American troops released Said. I don't think Special Forces officers would have that kind of a bankroll on their person.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has a ginormous crush on Sayid, which was only helped along by last night. When he said my name is Sayid, and I'm a torturer, she actually picked up a magazine and started fanning herself.

RC: I love the podcasts, not least because of Moore's complete misreading of his own series. Actually, both BSG and DS9, which Moore also ran, are deeply conservative series, which is one of the reasons DS9 is such an outlier in the Star Trek universe.

Sayid is the best character on that show, and the torturer line made me sit up a little straighter and rewind the DVR several times. I needed to hear it over and over.

I think the bearded guy was intelligence, and Kate's father was the gentleman in the convoy with the picture, who asked Sayid if he had a wife and kids.

I adore Sayid and the ending was great last night.

Was that picture Kate? We thought so but weren't sure.

Joe: Yes.

John: I believe that there were Delta Force guys roaming around Afghanistan after 9/11 with millions of dollars in cash.

I thought he was CIA, because of his age & lack of uniform...

RC:

Does the guy not know the Cylons are the heroes?

I share Mrs. Shropshire's opinion of Sayid. He's utterly sexy and I think the best character on the series. Naveen Andrews will do more for Arab American relations than anything else I can think of. He certainly makes the other men on that island look like pimply adolescents.

As for the Arabic speaking head honcho at the end of last night's episode, it immediately occurred to me that he was the head honcho "other" who appeared in last week's episode. I think it was the authoritative voice that first made me think of it and then I noticed the square jawed shape of his face.

OJ:

I don't know. He spent some time once commenting on how unique it was for them to write protestors as being on the wrong side of an issue and potentially violent. Such a strange concept!

So he's totally oblivious.

erp:

No way, Hurley is far and away the best. He's had more good one-liners than any sit-com character of recent years.

OJ: Yeah, he's oblivious. He's commented more than once that he's proud that the show is positioned so that the viewer can't discern its point-of-view.

Hurley is very annoying. He flaps his hands, and that voice: [Hurley voice]Noooo, bad numbers, bad numbers, don't open haaaaatch...[/Hurley voice]. Not attractive at all.

joe:

Oh, if you're talking Men Whose Bitch You'd Be then certainly Said is the man, or perhaps Locke.

Nah. Anna Lucia, she's my daddy.

If being on the island offeres a chance at redemption as has been broadly suggested, Hurley had the perfect opportunity to slim down. Can't figure out why he hasn't. In fact, he looks even bigger than he was at the beginning.

There can't be enough carbs on the island even if he's raiding the storeroom to maintain that huge bulk.

he's eating the other characters.

Anyone notice the nicknames that Sawyer calls people he's talking to?

When he caught Hurley with his ranch dressing, he called him Babar. I nearly fell off the commode laughing!

"With a little ranch, it tastes just like chicken!"

You have a TV in your bathroom?

Our commode is part of living. So, it's in the living room. With the TV