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Namaste

From Lostpedia

This article is about the episode. For the phrase, see Namaste (salutation).
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Lost Season 5
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"Namaste"
Season
Episode

5
09
Airdate
March 18, 2009
Actual length
41:47
Production Code
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Flashback
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Flashforward
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Centric character(s)
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Day(s)
Directed by

Episode transcript
[[{{{transcript2}}}|Part Two]]

[[{{{audiotranscript}}}|Commentary transcript]]

"Namaste" is the ninth episode of Season 5 of Lost and the ninety-fifth produced hour of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on March 18, 2009. The return of his old friends to the Island forces Sawyer to struggle to keep his lie concealed, while Sun and Frank vacate the Hydra Island to find Jin.

Contents

Synopsis

1977

Hurley, amazed that Sawyer is alive, greets him with a bear hug.

Jack, Kate, and Hurley greet Sawyer with excitement and hugs. When Hurley asks why they're wearing DHARMA jumpsuits, Sawyer tells them that they are in 1977. Miles calls Jin on the walkie, asking where he is. Jin warns Sawyer that if he doesn’t report in soon a search party will be sent out and asks what they should do with the new arrivals. When Jack reveals that more of their fellow survivors, including Sun were on the same plane, Jin immediately heads to the Flame saying Radzinsky would know if a plane had landed.

Back at the Barracks, Juliet asks Miles where Sawyer is. Looking on monitors in the security station, Miles sees Sawyer returning to his home. There, as Sawyer is gathering clothing to disguise the new arrivals, Juliet enters and asks him what is going on. He informs her that Jack, Kate, and Hurley have returned, and he is trying to figure a way to sneak them into the Barracks. Juliet then tells him that a submarine is scheduled to arrive that day.

Radzinsky, carefully building the geodesic dome of the Swan station's computer room.

At the Flame, Radzinsky is building a model of the Swan’s geodesic dome. Jin bursts in and begins checking instruments. Radzinsky warns Jin away, saying that only he is allowed to use these instruments. When Jin asks about a possible plane crash, Radzinsky expresses skepticism and refuses to help. However, when Jin physically threatens him, Radzinsky puts out a call to the other DHARMA stations to report in any sightings of a plane.

Juliet holds up baby Ethan.

Juliet then retrieves the submarine manifest from Amy who is relaxing with her new baby. Amy mentions that two of the new recruits had dropped out at the last minute. Juliet inquires about the name of the baby, and Amy reveals that she and Horace plan to name their new baby Ethan. Afterwards Amy asks when Juliet and Jim are going to have a child; Juliet replies "I don't know. Timing's gotta be right."

Jin finds a possible Hostile to be Sayid.

At the Flame, Radzinsky informs Jin that he heard from the Looking Glass, the last station to report in, with no sighting of a plane. He tells Jin to go home, but before they can do anything an alarm sounds, indicating that a motion sensor has detected a Hostile within their perimeter. Jin races outside and into the tall grass surrounding the Flame. He sees someone moving and calls to them to stop. Getting closer he sees that it is Sayid. They greet each other happily and Jin asks about Sun’s whereabouts. All Sayid has time to do is tell Jin that he doesn’t know where Sun is before Radzinsky shows up. Jin is forced to pretend that Sayid is a Hostile and forces him to kneel at gunpoint, warning him that he will be killed if he says another word.

Sawyer drives Jack, Kate, and Hurley to the Processing Center. Along the way, Sawyer mentions that Daniel Faraday has told him certain theories on what actions are possible (or impossible) after having traveled through time; but also notes that Faraday is not there anymore.

Upon arrival at the Processing Center, Sawyer prepares the group for their induction into the DHARMA Initiative. Miles arrives and reports to Sawyer that Jin has a problem at the Flame. Calling Jin on the walkie, Sawyer discovers that Sayid has been captured and that Radzinsky is “taking care of it.”

Kate is questioned by a doubting Phil.
Jack is assigned janitorial work by Pierre Chang.

At the Processing Center, Jack is being inducted by Pierre Chang. After asking him a few questions he gives Jack his new assignment, as a workman performing janitorial duties. Kate is questioned by Phil, who becomes suspicious when her name does not appear on the recruits list. Before he grows any more suspicious, Juliet appears with a new list which she claims to have gotten from Amy and which contains Kate’s information.

Meanwhile, at the Flame, Sawyer arrives to collect Sayid but discovers that Radzinsky is very suspicious of Sayid, who he believes might have seen the plans for the Swan. Sawyer collects Sayid, and takes him to the Barracks.

As the new recruits pose for a group photograph, Sawyer interrupts the ceremony, bringing a captive Sayid to the Barracks. Sawyer and Radzinsky usher Sayid into an underground holding cell.

A young Ben brings Sayid a sandwich.

That night, Jack goes to see Sawyer and is surprised to find Juliet at his house. After a heartfelt greeting, she shows him inside where Sawyer is sitting and reading a book. Jack asks him about Sayid, and Sawyer informs him that he’s thinking of a way to save him. After Jack complains that Sawyer had merely been reading, Sawyer responds that Jack "just reacted" as leader, instead of thinking things through and blames Jack for the deaths which had occurred under his leadership. Sawyer asserts that he is now the leader and sees Jack out. As Jack walks away, Sawyer exchanges a glance with Kate, who is standing on the porch of a nearby house.

At the holding cell, a polite young boy delivers a sandwich to Sayid. The boy asks Sayid if he is a Hostile to which Sayid replies, "Do you think I am?" The two exchange names and the young boy introduces himself as Ben.


2007

The Island comes into view after the bright light.

Just before the crash of Ajira Airways Flight 316 (and still in 2008), the Oceanic Six contemplate their fate. In the cabin, the co-pilot tells Frank Lapidus that he recognized Hurley as one of the Oceanic Six, and marvels at Hurley's willingness to fly over the South Pacific again. Shortly afterward, the plane encounters heavy turbulence in the night sky. Frank takes manual control and attempts to correct the course of the plane. There’s a flash of light, and suddenly they find themselves flying above clouds in daylight (now in 2007).

Flight 316 lands on the Hydra Island's runway.

The plane begins giving them a stall warning. Frank tries to get the plane under control, but as they emerge from the clouds the mountains of the Hydra Island loom in front of them. Fighting for control of the plane, Frank manages to miss hitting a hill. When the radio is turned on, a broadcast of the numbers is heard. As Frank flies over the Island, the copilot sees what looks like a runway. Frank flies toward it and lands, but cannot stop the plane before the end of the runway. He blacks out, and upon awakening discovers his co-pilot has been killed, impaled by a tree branch.

Frank attempts to take a leadership position among the survivors.

In the plane's cabin, Caesar checks on Ilana, who has passed out. He wakes her and apprises her of the crash. After noting that Sayid is gone, she gets up with Caesar’s help. Frank then emerges from the cockpit to check on the passengers. Sun calls to him and he goes to help her, asking where the other Oceanic Six members are. Ben suddenly appears and states that "they are gone."

As Sun is staring out to sea, Ilana approaches and inquires if she lost someone in the plane crash. Sun replies that she was traveling alone. Frank then calls everyone together and informs them that his radio is not working, but that their best plan is to simply wait for rescue. At this point, Caesar asks where they are and expresses skepticism at Frank's claim that the Island is not on the maps. Caesar notes that there are buildings nearby and another Island visible across the water. On hearing this, Ben, who had been sitting near by, takes off into the jungle. Sun follows him, and when she catches him, Ben explains that he’s heading back to the main Island and invites Sun to come with him.

Ben is knocked-out by an oar-wielding Sun.

Ben then admits to Sun that he doesn’t know where Jin is, but that the main Island is the logical place to start looking. He convinces Sun to come with him. At this point Frank emerges from the Jungle and warns Sun not to trust Ben. She argues that she has to, and the two of them follow Ben to where a trio of outriggers have been hidden. As Ben talks to Frank, Sun sneaks up behind him and knocks him out with a boat oar.

Christian Shephard shows Sun and Frank the DHARMA photo.

Frank and Sun arrive at the dock at night. Walking along the dock, they see debris scattered about and hear the monster rustling through the jungle near the end of the dock. Arriving at the Processing Center, they find the place disheveled and apparently deserted. The two hear the whispers, then a light goes on inside a building next to the Processing Center. A door opens and a silhouetted figure greets them. He identifies himself as Christian, and when Sun asks about her husband, he tells them to follow him. Heading into the center, Christian locates a picture from 1977 on the wall. When he shows it to Frank and Sun, they see their friends in a recruiting photo from the DHARMA Initiative. Christian says "I'm sorry, but you have a bit of a journey ahead of you."

Trivia

General

  • This is the first time Pierre Chang has met any of the original survivors.
  • The song "Dharma Lady" by Geronimo Jackson can be heard playing when the picture of the new recruits is taken.
  • As the plane's co-pilot issues a Mayday call, he briefly picks up a transmission of an automated voice reciting The Numbers. The origin of the transmission is unknown but the voice was very similar to the DHARMA Initiative's original broadcast from the radio tower.
  • New DHARMA Initiative recruits were still arriving on the Island in 1978.
  • The names of most of the known DHARMA stations, and other locations can be seen on the Flame station monitors. Images can be seen here
  • The DHARMA Initiative appears to use "Code 14-J" to signify a security alert. The same alert was heard when Alex tripped the panic switch at the sonar fence in "The Shape of Things to Come".


Production notes


Bloopers and continuity errors

A crew member appears behind Sun.
  • Just as Sun belts Ben over the head with the paddle, you can clearly see Ben feeling the effect of getting hit, a split second before he actually does. Slowing the DVD down makes this even more obvious, although it's not essential.
  • After Christian Shephard shows Sun the photo from 1977, a crew member is visible in the darkness behind Sun. Director Jack Bender confirmed that this was a second assistant director. [3]
    • In the DVD version and broadcast in countries outside the US, this error did not appear.
  • When Sun, Frank and Ben are walking up to the outriggers, the sand around the outriggers and right down to waters edge shows footprints and unnatural horizontal lines. These would not be present in a real beach environment with no human interaction. The wind and tide would have erased both in little time.
  • On the orientation video in the Processing Center, the same video young Ben watched 4 years earlier, Chang can be seen wearing a lab coat with a Swan logo, a very long time before the station was built or named.
  • When Sawyer sees the arrival of Jack, Kate and Hurley, he took off his glasses with his left hand, but when the same scene has a close-up, he took them off with his right hand.
  • When Frank addresses the 316 survivors at the beach, a redshirt (Jorge Garcia's girlfriend) alternates from standing directly behind Sun to far away from her, and then back again, in successive short scenes which do not allow enough time (or reason) for her to have moved away and moved back.
  • Jack's jumpsuit's badge says 'Workman', while Roger's and Ben's in "The Man Behind the Curtain" said 'Work Man'.
  • When Amy reveals Ethan's name, Juliet hands the baby back to Amy; the close up shows that it is a prop (fake baby doll) and the blanket over Juliet's left shoulder also disappears suddenly, only to be shown under the baby, when Juliet hands him to Amy, instead.
  • In the last scene, as the camera follows 1977 Young Ben as he takes a sandwich to Sayid, an Apple Lisa is shown in the background. While this computer was available at the same time as the more commonly used Apple II's throughout the series, it wasn't released until 6 years later in 1983.
  • The Welcome New Recruits sign at the Processing Center is first shown tied between two large trees; however, in the scene as Sawyer turns to escort Jack, Sun, and Hurley inside, just before Miles arrives, the sign is turned at a different angle and the left side is secured to the building rather than the tree.
  • When the new recruits are having their photo taken, Hurley looks at Kate, and we hear only one click of the camera. Yet on the picture that Christian shows to Sun, Hurley is looking straight into the camera.
  • When Frank and Sun meet with Christian, in the first scene Frank doesn't have glasses on his shirt, as they enter the room he has glasses between his shirt's button.
  • The aircraft used for Ajira Airways Flight 316 appears to be a Boeing 737-700 or -700/ER (variants of the 737 Next Generation family) based on its exterior appearance. However, the cockpit scene with Lapidus and his co-pilot shows a much older, mechanical-style cockpit that was only seen in the Boeing 737 Original (-100/-200) and Classic (-300/-400/-500) family.
  • The cockpit also has controls and instruments for 3 engines. The Boeing 737 has only two engines.
  • For a flight as long as Los Angeles-Guam (LAX-GUM), there should be three to four pilots. We only see two pilots present.
  • When the vibration begins in the airplane, the co-pilot illuminates a sign telling the passengers to use their seat cushions as flotation devices. Trans-oceanic flights require a life jacket for each person aboard.
  • The co-pilot tells Frank that they are going in "too steep;" seconds laters the aircraft is shown approaching the runway in a near-horizontal altitude.
  • The co-pilot tells Frank that Hurley survived a crash over the South Pacific and is now flying there again. However, while flight 815 did really crash in the south pacific, the Oceanic 6 cover story led the world to believe they crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Recurring themes


Recurring themes in Lost
Black and white • Car accidents • Character connections • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Life and death • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Rain • Rebirth • Redemption • Relationships • Sacrifice • Secrets • Time


Cultural references

Cultural references in Lost
(direct references only)
Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science



Literary techniques

Literary techniques in Lost
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock Characters:  Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character
Story:  Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator 
  • There are several reversals of established character relationships. (Juxtaposition)
    • Sayid, in captivity, is visited by a free Ben.
    • Sayid claims to be a Hostile when he is not; Ben claimed he was not one when he was.
    • In "Confidence Man," Sayid interrogated a tied up Sawyer. Here their positions are reversed.
    • Sawyer is now the leader, whose actions are questioned by Jack.
    • Kate and Juliet are again in competition for the same man, previously Jack, now Sawyer, now Juliet has the upper hand in the relationship and Kate is looking in from the outside.
  • In "Not in Portland," Ethan assisted Juliet when she came to the Island. In "LaFleur," Juliet assisted Amy during labor that brought her baby, now revealed as Ethan, into the Island. (Irony)
  • Jack, a successful spinal surgeon, is assigned janitorial work based on aptitude. (Irony)
  • Pierre Chang says that LaFleur "runs a tight operation" as Head of Security, yet he smuggles Jack, Kate and Hurley into the DHARMA Initiative. (Irony)
  • Jack claims to have arrived to the island by submarine, though his actual arrival was by an arcane method that was technically assisted by Locke; earlier in his own timeline he attempted to leave the island via submarine, though he was thwarted by Locke. (Irony)
  • Radzinsky is building the model for the station he will commit suicide in. (Irony)
  • To protect those on the island, the Oceanic 6 were forced to live a lie. Once they returned, they were forced to do the same. (Juxtaposition)


Storyline analysis

Storyline analysis in Lost
A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries


Episode references

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
  1. Do not answer the questions here.
  2. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer.
For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Namaste/Theories
  • Why are the Numbers heard in the cockpit of Flight 316?
  • What is the journey that Christian tells Sun she has ahead of her?

External links

Retrieved from "http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Namaste"