In what’s becoming a regular feature of these Lost post-mortems, I offer up my latest intel on the post-strike landscape. Here’s what I’m hearing is the definitive plan for the rest of the season.

There will be 13 episodes (down from 16 but up from the 8 we would have received had the strike not ended when it did). While 8 Episodes were completed prior to the strike, the producers are actually going to air 7, take a 4-week break (mid-March to mid-April) and then return to air the remaining 6. This will allow them to complete Production on the remaining Episodes. The reason they chose to break at Episode 7 versus Episode 8 (which is already in the can) is Episode 7 supposedly ends on a better break point.

With 3 episodes removed from the season, the producers are working with ABC to add 2 to 3 additional episodes to the next two season’s orders to bring it back to the original 48 episode commitment.

Carlton Cuse says they had this season’s arc well planned out and most of the scripts are written so the only real work ahead of them is compressing some minor story beats meaning we won’t necessarily lose traction and we’ll still get the part of the story they intended to spin this season.

So that’s the plan, Stan.

All right, on with the show.

1.   Check another name off that Oceanic 6 manifest. Accompanying Kate, Jack and Hurley in their newfound lands of misery, we add Sayid. His episode, titled ‘The Economist’, found our former Iraqi torturer using his well-honed skills for corporate espionage. More to the point, he’s now The Professional - a tortured hit man prowling the world for marks at the bidding of some mysterious benefactor. The opening scene offered up this big twist when Sayid put one in the heart of his impromptu golf partner.

2.   I thought Sayid’s flash-forward was well played. While the plot turned on a tired device (the hit man seducing/falling in love with a woman in a bid to get closer to his target), it offered up a nice twist at the end with the revelation that his paramour was not merely her employer’s professional shop girl. In fact, Elsa had been playing future (present?) Sayid all along in a bid to extract the name of his employer. Both Sayid and Elsa were pawns of upper management and both took bullets for their troubles - Sayid’s a little less serious. While we learn the identity of Sayid’s Boss, Elsa’s remains a mystery. I have a theory that I’ll get to in a moment.

3.   On the island, we get further evidence that Jacob’s cabin is really a mobile home. As Locke approaches the circle of ash, he sees a vacant lot where Jake should be rocking. Here’s my thought on this. That cabin – and Jacob – are deeply tied to the mystery of the island. You don’t find it. It finds you and it only finds ‘true believers’ or those it believes it has some purpose dealing with. That’s why it called out to Ben. That’s why it was revealed to Locke (who we know, knows how the island ticks). As for Hurley, I’m unclear why it came to him but as Ghost Charlie told him, “They need you.” so obviously, he fits into some master plan.

4.   This episode also offered up more evidence to support the notion of temporal anomalies. Whether this leads to time travel, teleportation or simply being lost in time, Daniel Faraday’s little experiment confirmed that time flows differently on the island. Case in point – the payload (i.e. digital clock) that was sent to him arrived much later than the freighter showed it did and it was providing a readout that was 31 minutes ahead of the island time (or the clock that Daniel synchronized). He’s already stated that the “light scatters differently” on the island. Now, he’s proven that time is scattered as well.

5.   One thing to note. Just before the rocket landed, Jack and Lapidus were talking and Jack mentioned he’d been on the island for 100 days. Before Lapidus could respond, the rocket arrived. My guess is if time acts this strangely, Jack and company have been on that island a lot longer than 100 days which could lead to some strange Cast Away reactions when the 6 finally do return home.

6.   The time issue might explain Faraday’s curious reaction upon viewing the wreckage of Flight 815 in the season premiere. If you recall, he begins trembling and crying and when asked by his caretaker what’s wrong, he doesn’t know. If Daniel is later recruited to go to this island and he does go (and thus is impacted by the effects of a slowed or reversed march of time) then perhaps his current self is recalling memories that he hasn’t experienced yet. Sort of a time paradox. In other words, he traveled back in time but his present self doesn’t know what his future self will do which could impact the present self. I know that doesn’t make much sense but that’s what all this time travel stuff does. It drives you crazy. And maybe that’s why Faraday is so off.

7.   Off topic – I mentioned Daniel’s caretaker. I picked that up in the repeat of ‘Confirmed Dead’ which aired before the episode and provided little pop-up facts about the episode. In that repeat, they state that the woman who asks Daniel the question is his caretaker. That fact underscores Naomi’s description of him as a “basket case”.

8.   One last thing on Daniel and I can’t take credit for this. In Jeff Jensen’s weekly post episode dispatch on ew.com, he mentions that the two times depicted on the clocks are particularly telling. In addition to providing a visual representation of the 31-minute discrepancy, the times also have biblical relevance. Apparently they are both passages in the Book of Daniel (!). Jensen says that Daniel 2.45 deals with the aftermaths of a divided kingdom (sounds like what we have going on, on the island) and Daniel 3.16 has to do with 3 leaders who refuse to drop their own separate spiritual beliefs and bow down to what they perceive as a false idol. All three are thrown into Hell. We know we have three factions at work with three potential leaders (The Losties – Jack, The Others/DHARMA – Ben, The Freighter’s – either the unseen George or Abbadon). Could this be a tipping point that a lot of bad tidings are going to come their way? That there will be no winners here.

9.   I liked Sayid’s little switcheroo. Miles for Charlotte. I also liked Frank’s reaction to the swap. “That guy’s kind of a pain-in-the ass anyway”. Fahey brings a nice grizzled charm to his essay of Lapidus. I really think he could care less about the island’s mojo. He just favors himself a damn good pilot – the type that could keep his bearings no matter what type of storm he’s flown into (be it electrical or temporal). Again, Daniel underscores the importance of exiting and re-entering the island. There are very specific coordinates that must be followed. This echoes the warning Ben gave to Michael before he ferried off the island in the Season 2 finale as well as the issues Desmond had in navigating away from the island. There’s a very specific slipstream in getting to and from the place.

10.   It’s interesting that Charlotte agreed to stay back. She’s an anthropologist. Why bring an anthropologist to the island? Remember the 4-toed statue spied in the Season 2 finale. Could she be here to research the indigenous people of the island?

11.   Before getting to the final big revelation, I wanted to give props to the writers for the shout back to a prior episode. One thing that always impressed me is the attention to continuity. Jack’s question to Frank “Did the Sox really win the World Series?” was pitch perfect. Of course, now I have to dock Lapidus some charm points as he’s revealed to be a Yankee fan.

12.   Two lines that made me laugh – Sawyer calling the bug-eyed bastard Ben, “Gizmo”. And Hurley’s reaction to Miles’ particular brand of sarcasm. “Great, they sent us another Sawyer.”

13.   And of course, the big reveal. As Sean guessed last week, there are more than 6 people romping around the real world with the news that Ben is pulling Sayid’s strings. Of course, that excuses Ben from being in the ‘box’ meaning I’m going back to my ‘Locke in the box’ theory.

14.   There was a telling line of dialogue in this episode. Sayid says to Locke, “The moment I start trusting him (referring to Ben) is the moment I sell my soul.” So, now we know. Sayid is in Hell.

15.   Now, what’s this grocery list that Sayid is checking of for Ben. My guess, these are members of Abbadon’s group or whomever Abbadon works for. Again, I think it’s a rival company to Hanso/DHARMA. Perhaps two groups working towards the same ends but through different means (think Professor X/Magneto).

16.   Another telling line - at one point Ben says “A war is coming”. We see in the final minutes that his words have come true and that Sayid is a key soldier in that war. When Sayid questions Ben, “Now they know who I am.”, Ben simply responds, “Good.” In other words, he wants his enemies to know this is war. All very compelling stuff.

17.   I’m left with one last question. How does Ben get off the island? The photo from last week hinted at it and his secret cache of business attire, international currency and passports confirms it. My guess, our teleportation theories could be spot on. I don’t think it’s a sub (I think that was just used to go between the two islands). I think he wanders ‘Through the Looking Glass’.