Lost: The Greater Good Rewatch

June 1, 2023 9:22 AM - Season 1, Episode 21

Locke tells the truth.

S1E21: The Greater Good (Lostpedia | transcript): air date 4th May 2005 • writer Leonard Dick • director David Grossman • day 42 on the island • Sayid flashbacks

Is there anything I can do for you? • I am Iraqi, I am not a terrorist • nobody calls her Noor • Booneral • it was my fault • where were you, you son of a bitch • Essam • was that … Half-Life? • so tell me, exactly what kind of trees do you cut? • Turnip-head • John Locke killed my brother; will you do something about that? • sleeping pills in Jack’s juice • I know when I’m being lied to • you’re not even close to being done, my friend • two hatches on a plane, Sayid • Baby Huey • Jack’s key, gone • I hope she makes you whole again • Locke, shot grazed • Sawyer reading to the baby • there’s always a choice • no more lies

Therese Odell, Houston Chronicle: Necessary sacrifices on Lost

Sayid spares Locke’s life, even though he knows it will damage his relationship with a woman. Why? For the greater good, of course. He believes that Locke may be the best chance the survivors have of surviving on the island. Which is such an interesting statement, isn’t it? Sayid doesn’t believe that Locke can get them off the island, but rather keep them alive on it.

Annie Barrett, Entertainment Weekly: ''Lost'': The guns come out

I admire the difficult balance this show has managed to achieve concerning the group’s collective opinion of Locke. It’s easy to distrust him day to day, but you can tell the castaways all somehow sense he’s in charge and leading them through whatever/wherever this island is.

Myles McNutt, AV Club: Lost (Classic): “The Greater Good”/“Born To Run”

Sayid works as a late-season flashback because he’s the castaway most able to move past the tragedy of the previous episode. Not only was he able to quickly compartmentalize Boone’s death to approach Locke in a reasonable fashion, but he even moves past Shannon’s attempted murder with ease. He breaks down his logic for Locke smoothly, noting that he’s prioritizing the greater good as opposed to Shannon’s own feelings, but then tells Locke — rather than asking Locke — to take him to the hatch. The hatch hadn’t been brought up since their first conversation at the plane. The hatch had been a preoccupation of Jack’s but had been lost amidst Shannon’s theft of the guns. And yet there it was, on Sayid’s mind, the missing piece of this puzzle that he kept in mind as he calmly handled the interceding events. While still an episode where some castaways are going about their normal lives, there is something strikingly urgent about the cliffhanger here, with Sayid single-handedly insisting the show’s narratives converge in the way the previous episodes only suggested, and in a way the end of the season demands.

Rewatch companion: THE STORM: A Lost Rewatch Podcast - S1, E21: "The Greater Good" with Janna Zagari

Dave Gonzalez: “Is Locke a bad guy, Joanna?”
Joanna Robinson: “No.”
Dave Gonzalez: “You don’t think so?”
Joanna Robinson: “No.”
Dave Gonzalez: “He seems to have a really selective way with when he tells the truth.”
Joanna Robinson: “You know what I think? I think Locke believes that what he is doing here is for the greater good.”
Dave Gonzalez: “That’s the quality of a hero in this case?”
Joanna Robinson: “Did I say hero? No. I think there’s a lot of grey area between bad guy and hero, and that’s the thing that you’re stubbornly, consistently, refusing to acknowledge. Just because I don’t think he’s the villain of the piece, or the villain of this episode, doesn’t mean I think he’s the hero of the show. I don’t even know if I could tell you who I think— well, no, I know I think the hero of the show is. But yeah, I love when Sayid says in that scene: that earns you adaptability. Oh, that’s a really good line. In terms of like, yeah, Locke is being cagey and crafty, but not I think in a way where he’s trying to hurt people. And I think that’s a distinction. What do you think, Neil?”
Neil Miller: “I agree. I think that Locke for the most part in this episode is telling the truth. He just really doesn’t want to tell anyone about the hatch. Like that’s his line.”
Joanna Robinson: “I will say his hatch response is really fast. Which hatch? There’s two hatches on a plane.”
Neil Miller: “Yeah, there’s two hatches on a plane, Sayid. So yeah, I don’t feel like he’s acting in a way that he feels as hurtful. But I do think that we can tell that John, especially in this episode, still believes that he’s meant to be on the island, and still believes that the fact that they’re on the island is a good thing, whereas everyone else is building a raft. This comes up in the conversation with Sayid, where this is the first time John’s sort of outing himself as, like, team island versus team rescue. And to another character, rather than just him and Boone, and maybe Walt to a certain extent. It’s an interesting island politics play for him to try to have that be a thing that he and Sayid are… together on, I guess? I don’t know. I don’t know if he thinks he can win Sayid to his side. But he does firmly believe that they’re supposed to be there, so I think he’s only acting toward that end.”
Dave Gonzalez: “I definitely think at the end that Sayid is more on Locke’s side. Or that he thinks he could be on Locke’s side, but still be in a position of power where his safety isn't threatened. At the end I’m like, yes, if Locke takes Sayid to the hatch right now, Sayid will agree with Locke’s premise that he proposed at the Beechcraft that it’s actually worthwhile staying on the island. And I can’t think of another point in this season upcoming that I could remember that Sayid flips. So I’m going to say this is probably it as far as I know.”

“I sense you might be our best hope of surviving here. But I don't forgive what you did. And I certainly don't trust you. And now, you're going to take me to the hatch.”

L O S T

posted by We had a deal, Kyle (1 comment total)

Currently streaming in the US on Hulu (subscription) and Freevee (free with ads); in the UK on Disney+; and available for purchase just about everywhere. Next episode will post at the weekend. Probably.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:22 AM on June 1, 2023