'Lost' recap: What's Your Worldview?

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RISKY BUSINESS

What will Sayid's baptism and reemergence mean for him? Or bring out in him?

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Regardless, the ankh and its note served as a figurative key of entry into the Others cloistered community. Dogen and Lennon brought Sayid to a gurgling reflecting pool. The pool wasn't reflecting much last night. It was muddy, and this came as something of a disturbing shock to the Others. ''The water is not clear,'' said Lennon. Dogen tested the properties of the pool by slicing his hand and dipping into the water. Nothing happened. What was supposed to happen? Uh, healing I guess. Which is enough for me to be plenty provocative. Since season 1, we've wondered about how it was that the Island could make Locke walk or cure Rose of her cancer. We have something approaching an answer: the very water table of the Island is spiked with miracle mojo.

Dogen warned the castaways that there could be ''risks'' involved in trying to save Sayid. He turned an hourglass, and Sayid was held underwater for as long as the sand sifted. Sayid regained consciousness, then thrashed, but the Others didn't pull him out; the sand had not yet run out. So Sayid continued to thrash, the stopped, and died. And a few seconds later the hourglass had run its course. The castaways were furious. The way it looked to them, the Others had basically drowned their friend. But that's not what Dogen was trying to do; it seemed to me what needed to happen was that Sayid needed to not only be revived but stay alive for the entire course of the treatment in order for the full scope of its magic/effect to take. What is that magic/effect? And what were the ''risks'' Dogen spoke of? We may look to Benjamin Linus for some illumination. Last year, after Sayid shot Young Ben, Richard Alpert brought the boy into the Temple for healing. We may now surmise that what happened to Sayid was what happened to Ben, albeit more successfully. But what did Alpert say? ''He'll forget this ever happened, and his innocence will be gone.'' The bottom line is that the spring's affect on people may be more than physical — it could be spiritual, too.

Did Sayid's death move you? Maybe it's because my heart's colder than donkey wheel ice on a polar bear's teat, but I didn't go mushy over dead Sayid. He's been dark and damaged for so long, I felt happy for the end to his suffering. In other words, he got the death that Charlie yearned for on the plane.

Anyway, he didn't stay dead for long. Just as Lennon was trying to cajole Jack to join him for an urgent chat about an undisclosed topic, Hurley started wigging out: Sayid was alive. ''What happened?'' he asked. (There's that memory loss Alpert spoke about!) I know some of you have already come to some conclusions. I know this because you're currently pounding me with emails as I write these words late on Tuesday night. Some of you think that the water of the spring turned muddy because of Jacob's death. Some of you think Sayid is now the reincarnated Jacob, or that he's under the thrall of Smokey. Some of you think Sayid has come back a better man. Others think he's been ''corrupted.'' To these options, I would add this one: Sayid has come back clarified. The spring gives you life — but also boils you down to your essential parts, to your defining qualities. Ben got dunked, came back... well, Ben. And he could only ever be ''Ben.'' Which has some ramifications when it comes to themes of redemption and damnation on this show. What might this mean for Sayid's baptism? And in a muddy, malfunctioning fount, no less? I am mulling.

Terry O'Quinn's performance as FLocke the Smoke Monster promises to be one of the most entertaining parts of season 6. We got the revelation of his Smokey-ness in a scene in which Bram led a doom(ed) patrol of Jacob acolytes into Four Toed State. They fired on FLocke, but their bullets passed through him. Interesting. Then came the hideous ticking and Smokey billowed into the room, flashing his psychic strobes and uncoiling his ephemeral tentacles. He quickly took down all comers. But brave Bam gave him a small challenge. Bram grabbed some ash — the kind of ash that once surrounded Jacob's cabin — and formed a protective circle around himself. No sweat for smokey, who threw some rocks at him to knock him out of position. Then Bram was impaled. The guy with the Dracula writer's name got a vampire death.

So now we know for sure that ash is protection against the Monster, whom we now know as a who instead of a what. (This is progress in the mystery resolution business of Lost!) But now we must wonder anew about Jacob's Cabin. Was that ash keeping smokey outside the cabin — or inside the cabin? Because now I'm really not sure if Jacob ever really lived inside that cabin at all.

I was riveted by Fake Locke's assessment of the man whose visage he now wears. He shared Locke's final thought as Ben strangled the man to death: ''I don't understand.'' (How did the Monster know this thought? Has he always been tapped into John's head? Maybe after their first encounter in season 1?) FLocke deemed Locke's confusion ''the saddest thing you ever heard.'' Interesting. It's as if FLocke was heartbroken that Locke died without answers. Which I guess makes Smokey... the avenging angel of Lost fans everywhere? Seriously, I do wonder if Smokey is fundamentally anti-mystery, anti-gamesmanship. Remember last season, when he rallied the Others to march on Jacob's Four Toed beach house? His motivation for them? To get answers from Jacob. Reasons for his behavior. An end to puzzles and all those little slips of paper. FLocke had a secret agenda, of course, but I wonder if he was actually dead serious in his abhorrence for ambiguity. He embodies brutal honesty. In his psychological profile on Locke, FLocke noted that John ''was a victim who shouted at the world for being told what he couldn't do, even though they were right.'' Ouch! Flocke then spat venom at the thought of Locke as ''weak'' and ''pathetic'' and ''irreparably broken'' — then spoke admiringly of him for embracing his Island life and not wanting to return his frail, damaged old life. Throughout this entire speech, I was struck by how FLocke moved from shadow to light and back to shadow again. Not sure what it meant, but it was a great effect. And finally, the punchline — FLocke's stated ambition. ''I want the one thing John Locke didn't,'' he said. ''I want to go home.'' What did that mean? I think the question actually begins with who do you think FLocke really is (God? The Devil? Other?), and if you think that person or entity is good or evil. What's your vote? And what's your proof? Please post below!

I am up against my deadline. Some very quick hits:

''Hello, Richard. Nice to see you out of those chains.'' FLocke's line to Richard after leaving the Four Toed Statue and Richard had finally figured out FLocke's identity was a theory spawner. ''You?'' Richard said. ''Me,'' Flocked said, and then took him down hard. The popular theory is that FLocke was alluding to the Black Rock with his chains reference, as if Richard had come to the Island as a slave. What might be the reason for their bad blood? My hunch is that FLocke is bitter toward Alpert for conspiring successfully to keep FLocke locked up all these years. FLocke hoisted the unconscious Alpert on his shoulder and walked into the jungle, yelling before that: ''I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN ALL OF YOU. As he left, he passed the body of the real John Locke lying dead on the and. I yearned for this betrayed man of faith to take to his feet and walk again. That didn't happen. But I do wonder if the book Fear and Trembling offers us some hope for this world's Locke. Kierkegaard says the knight of faith is characterized by trusting the strength of the absurd and confidence that everything they give up in this life (even, presumably, life itself) will be regained. Might that portend resurrection? I think we should all check to see if Fear and Trembling speaks to Locke. After all, Kierkegaard wrote the book under a pseudonym: Johannes de silentio — John The Silent. And right now, no John is more silent that the dead one in the sand.

So I've got a book to read. And some sleep to catch. These epic two-hour episodes take a lot out of me, but it was fun hitting the Lost ground running with you. I'd love to hear your theories, questions, concerns in the message boards below — or on Twitter @EWdocjensen) tomorrow at 12 PM PST/3 PM EST, as I'll be responding to Tweets/questions at that time.

Until next week — Namaste!

Doc Jensen