They later had a dinner and ultimately started a fling. For some reason, Elsa's boss never paged her during this relationship (a supposed break from routine), and before long it became apparent (to us, anyway) that Sayid was tailing Elsa for access to this Economist.
As he loomed over her body, he took exceptional note of her bracelet, one very similar to another we saw earlier in the episode (but more on that later).
In typical Ben style, he then continued, "why are you crying, because it hurts, or because you were stupid enough to care for her? These people don't deserve your sympathies. Need I remind you what they did the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun?" Sayid responded, "you used her to recruit me into killing for you." Ben's response - "Do you want to protect your friends, or not, Sayid? I have another name for you." Sayid, concerned, responded. "but they'll know I'm after them now." Ben ended the episode with one word - "Good."
It is the design of this bracelet that Sayid would later recognize on Elsa's dead wrist. What is the connection? Is RC the "economist?" Given Ben's aversion to Naomi and her crew now, and his assigning Sayid to kill the economist (and others) later, are Sayid's future victims connected to our mysterious newcomers?
Sayid demands to be taken to the freighter on the next flight of the chopper, and "purchases" his seat with a promise to first retrieve Charlotte from team Locke. He then retrieves the picture of Desmond and Penny from Naomi's pack, and he and Jack dispatch Juliet to fetch Desmond to see if he can't get a few answers from these people.
Let me just say, I love when Sayid steps up and takes charge. His strategies don't always work out, but whereas Jack's "man of science" and Locke's "man of faith" personalities never seem to lead us, the audience, anywhere, Sayid's "man of action" personality introduced us to Rousseau, the power line running to the Looking Glass, the four-toed statue, and, coming soon, the freighter.
Meanwhile, Team Locke arrives at the familiar ring of ash, only to find there is no Casa de Jacob. Hurley is unsurprised (he told John it was the other way, though he doesn't say anything about it now), and Ben, of course, takes the opporunity to taunt Locke in front of his people, "John's looking for somebody to tell him what to do next." And really, isn't that Locke's biggest failing as a man of faith - his constant need to find the next burning bush?
Hurley tries in vain to persuade Locke to release Charlotte, since he didn't sign on for any hostage-taking. Locke gives him the "I'm the decider" speech, apparently silencing Hugo's dissent...
Miles also gets in a quip calling Hurley "tubby" while demanding to know where Ben is, and Hurley responds, in classic fashion, "great, they sent us another Sawyer."
Finally, a TV show written by and for theoretical physicists! Huzah! But seriously, any thoughts on what this is all about? Please send them my way. Desmond arrives with Juliet and smiles when he sees the helicopter, as though it actually had Penny's face painted on it (perhaps Des shouldn't expect to see her too soon, given that actress Sonya Walger has been appearing on "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" as the eventual wife of the man Sarah Connor left following a marriage proposal...)
Perhaps a tease to their future connection? Sayid discovers, behind the bookcase, a secret room, filled with suits, cases, and lots of international currency, as well as a number of passports. The Swiss passport Sayid inspects shows Ben's picture with the name, Dean Moriarty. 
Suddenly, Kate is greeted by Sawyer and Sayid is surprised by Locke. Hurley sheepishly avoids eye contact and says, "sorry, dude." Sayid is marched over to where team Locke is keeping Ben (the game room), and tells Hurley he doesn't have to fear him. Hurley's response (does he get all the best lines, or what?), was that he's seen Sayid do that "break dancing thing" with his legs, so he'll just hang back. Locked in with Ben, Sayid starts falling victim to the master manipulator's taunts. Ben says he bets Locke would not be stupid enough to fall for Hurley's ruse, and when Sayid suggests he's better off since he has actual friends, Ben points out there is no use having friends he can't trust.
She asks how long the two of them could play house in New Otheron, and Sawyer asks her back, "why not find out?" What made this scene so great for me was not just the just-shy-of-tender moment between these two, but the fact that, for all his claims last week that he wouldn't listen to Ben lest he be subject to manipulation, he basically quoted Ben's words while arguing that he and Kate should stay on the island and she should let goody-goody Jack leave without her.Locke brings Sayid some iced tea (and ignores Ben's comment that he's thirsty, too). Sayid reveals his stance on the F4 - he tells Locke that he agrees the newcomers are liars and not really there to rescue them, but says in order to infiltrate their freighter, he needs to bring Charlotte back.
He then assures John he never intended to take Charlotte from him without leaving something in exchange...Back at the chopper, Desmond does not believe Frank when the pilot says he doesn't have any idea who Penny Widmore is. Des then insists he's flying back to the freighter on the first flight out. (Why on Earth Frank goes along with this so easily, I can't begin to imagine).
Sayid returns with Charlotte in tow. He tells Jack that Kate decided to stay (is he telling the truth, or did Jack really just lose Kate for good to Sawyer's "let's play house" overtures? Funny how offering a woman a happy, secure future gets you farther than using her as a pawn.... He also reveals he traded Charlotte for Miles. Frank decides this satisfies their arrangement, since he considered Miles a pain, anyway. Charlotte and Daniel decide not to take the last seat on the chopper. Daniel warns Frank to fly the same exact bearing. Since there are no other takers for the final seat (Jack seems aware that Sayid and Desmond are better equipped scouts than he is), Sayid insists they take Naomi's body "home." Finally, the chopper departs, with Frank at the stick, Desmond riding shotgun, and Sayid in back with Naomi's body.
Parting Thoughts1. So the big reveal this episode was obviously Ben's off-island role as sayid's handler. The first thought that occurred to me when I saw this was, of all things, "OMG, that was Ben in the coffin at Hoffs/Drawler!!!!" Why make this connection? Here's my thinking. Ben was one of the names kicked around online after last season's finale. After all, he was someone both Jack and Kate knew but for whom Kate could not fathom why she would attend a funeral. He was neither friend nor family to Jack. Ultimately, I ruled Ben out because I did not believe he would ever leave the island, willingly or otherwise. Obviously, I was mistaken about that. Moreover, given the stack o' fake passports, the fact that the obit referred to Mr. Jonathan L___tham is as obviously explainable as the report that the deceased was from New York.
2. With only 43 episodes to go, I think the mysterious economist might very well be Matthew Abaddon. It appears Abaddon and Ben have been set up as the master movers on opposite ends of some big chess game. And if not Abaddon, then perhaps somebody working for or with him. I would bet that Mr. Widmore's name will end up being on Ben's hit list at some point, too.
3. I'm still trying to get around the 31-minute delay in the arrival of the Regina's rocket. Obviously, there are some quirky space/time things going on with the island, which is why it appears invisible to the outside world (usually - hello, where are those Arctic guys from Season 2???) and why only select bearings will let you escape (or get to) the island. The weird time shift may also explain why Walt has aged faster than the show's time line allows. But then, after three years, on the island, why was Desmond able to track his button pushing "oops" to the date Oceanic 815 crashed? Shouldn't time have been messing with him, too? Or was the Swan Hatch implosion the start of the whacky time effect?
4. As much as I admire Sayid for his "get 'er done" attitude, did he screw things up again with his Miles for Charlotte swap? Didn't he just somehow convince Locke to release somebody with nearly complete intel on the numbers and armaments to be found at New Otherton, or the fact that if you find John Locke, you find Ben Linus? For that matter, how dumb is Locke not to account for this? Perhaps New Otherton won't be a permanent home, after all...
5. Assuming Kate did in fact stay behind willingly, it's getting even murkier how she and Hurley will end up in the O6. Jack and Sayid are in the work-with-em (at least to figure out what they're up to) group, while Hurley and Kate are in the stay-away-from-them-at-all-costs group.
Well, that's it for this week, folks. See you back here next week for the intiguingly titled "Eggtown."
Daniel got very upset by the news that all aboard were now confirmed dead, though he himself seemed unable to figure out why.
Miles trembled, then began to speak to nobody we could see, demanding to be told where "it" is. A sound behind a cabinet prompted Miles to check behind a vent, where he found a wad of cash and a stash of drugs. He turned off the device, then told the ghost it can go now, that it was at peace. Happy to score the hidden loot, Miles even gave a refund of $100 to Mrs. Gardner on the way out the door.
She saw a French language newspaper on the ground reporting that 815 was found, with no known survivors, but for some reason continued to doubt these reports. After bribing her way into the dig, she found a skeleton...of a polar bear...with a DHARMA Initiative Hydra Station leather collar! 
And the strangest thing about this scene? She didn't seem the least bit surprised by this...
As Frank let a toy plane sink in a fish tank, he watched yet another report on the recovery of flight 815. According to the news, which depicted the graphic footage of a decomposing body in the pilot's chair, the body was confirmed as the pilot on flight 815 (which, of course, is odd, given that we all know the pilot was killed by the smoke monster and left, broken, in the treetops). The news report continued that recovering bodies would be next to impossible, but it was hoped that confirmation that all 324 passengers were accounted for would provide closure. Frank called the family and friends hotline on the bottom of the screen - 888-548-0034 (try it - it works), and reports that the pilot in the footage is not Seth Norris (Gregg Grunberg from "Heroes," who you'll remember from the aforementioned monster-chomping scene in the pilot episode, no pun intended). 
Frank knew this because the left hand, clearly visible on the screen, had no wedding ring. And the reason Frank knew that Seth always wore his wedding ring? Frank was supposed to be the pilot of flight 815.
It seems, not that surprisingly, that Abaddon was not a lawyer for Oceanic Airlines as he would go on to tell Hurley in last week's flash-forward. Naomi was not pleased about shepherding an archaelogist, a physicist, a ghostbuster, and a drunk pilot for a mission "like this" - which we would later learn was a mission to find and snatch Ben - since none of them had military training. Naomi and Abaddon argued over whether she and her team,would find survivors of flight 815. Abaddon, insisting she would not, as though repeating a media buzz word, told her that every member of the team was selected for a specific purpose, and that everything relies on you getting the team in, getting them out, and preventing them from getting killed.
John tells the still-skeptical Sawyer that he got his orders - to go to the cabin and to kill Naomi - from Walt (only taller).
Jack, getting suspicous, asks Daniel about the gun. He says it's a precaution. When Jack asks, "against what?" Daniel "Ok, see, umm, rescuing you and your people? Can't really say it's our primary objective." Then what is, inquires Jack? Saved by the bell, Daniel gets the signal from Miles' transponder.
He sees Kate move for Daniel's gun, and demands to know where Naomi is - "the woman you killed, where is she?" Miles chastises Daniel for being too trusing, confirming that Naomi used the code - "tell my sister I love her." Kate, guns pointed at her, again rats out Locke. Miles swears he would know what happened if he saw the body (you know, because he's a ghost whisperer).
"Only a matter of time before he gets us, Johnny," snorts Sawyer, "and I bet he already figured out how he's going to do it. So you walk him."
It's Sayid and Juliet to the rescue! Miles and Daniel are disarmed...
Jack knows what this means - Locke's got her.
With a bell? He pulls out his phone, but it's smashed. He has a flare, which he shoots off.
...but she's okay - she's wearing a vest?! 
Seems like an unlikely precaution, eh? 
Jack, Sayid and Kate give incredible looks of relief.
But it seems like a Ben from years ago. Miles calls the freighter and gets someone named Regina. He then asks for Minkowski, but George can't come to the phone...Frank knows that Juliet was not on the plane, since he thoroughly memorized the manifest after it went down. 
Franks seems intrigued by finding a "native."
Ben tempts John to release him in exchange for answers. Locke calls his bluff, demanding to know what the black smoke is. Ben says he doesn't know (and, to me, Ben sells this one - but his lack of knowledge about Smokey is a topic for another day). About to get shot, Ben spurts out that he knows the woman they found is Charlotte Staples Lewis, and rattles off her whole biography, and the names of her team. Ben knows what they're doing here. "I know what they want," he tells Sawyer. "Me, James, they want me." He says he knows this because...he has a man on their boat!
Abbadon could not produce any I.D. when asked to confirm his identity, making Hurley suspicious. Finally, Abaddon asked Hurley a question that must be on all of our minds - "Are they still alive?" This set Hurley off, prompting Abaddon to make a graceful exit.
Charlie was who Hurley saw in the store, sending him on his high-seed chase. Charlie told Hurley he was dead, but also "here." He certainly seemed to be there, and convinced Hurley this was not just a hallucination by slapping him hard in the face. Given that another patient seemed to see him, as well, I wonder what to make of this... Charlie told Hurley he had to do something – the realization of which was the real reason Hurley ran. "They need you Hugo, you know they need you." Again with the "they"? Hurley counts to five, and Charlie’s gone. More on this later...
That this FF takes place before the previous one was revealed when Jack told Hurley he was "thinking about growing a beard." (You had to love Hurley's line, "You’d look weird with a beard, dude," particularly since we all know this is true). Hurley then got a little confrontational, asking if Jack was checking to see if he was nuts, was he "going to tell?" As Jack was about to leave, Hurley apologized for joining "team Locke" (see below). Jack smiled and called that water under the bridge. Finally, Hurley told Jack the meaning he seems to have divined from his Charlie visits, "I think it wants us to come back." "It's going to do anything it can..." Jack's response, "we’re never going back," was one that did not phase Hurley. "Never say never, dude." Perhaps this encounter planted the seed that would later culminate in broken Jack's "we have to go baaaaaack, Kate."
Sawyer wants to warn Jack, but Sayid argues that making the call now would alert the new arrivals of their suspicions. Hurley, determined to pay heed to his lost little buddy, resolves the conflict in Sayid's favor by chucking the walkie-talkie into the ocean. The beach party decides it would be best to gear up and find Jack's group on their way back to the beach to warn them in person. As guns are distributed, a remarkably chipper Sawyer quips, "and here I thought I was going to get a good night's sleep."
Hurley falls behind on the trek through the jungle. Dropping back, Sawyer asks if he wants to talk about Charlie, an uncharacteristic bit of tenderness for his favorite target of torment, and perhaps indicative of gratitude for Hurley's big save with the Dharma bus. But Hurley, on a mission and unwilling to get floored by his feelings, responds “we’ll probably get to Jack faster if we don’t talk.”
The first thing Hurley sees inside is a signature Lost head scratcher - Christian Shepherd rocking in Jacob's chair, in his familiar funeral suit and white sneakers.
Suddenly, Jack appears and clobbers Locke. After a brief scuffle, Jack gets hold of Locke's Dharma pistol. Locke, looking up, says, "you won't shoot me Jack." But Jack pulls the freakin' trigger! As it turns out, the gun wasn't loaded, but Jack pulled the trigger!!!!
Ben, knowing the benefit of choosing the hard place over the rock, asked Jack for permission to go with Locke. Alex and Karl, knowing the best way to stay safe on this island is to be where Ben puts himself, go along, and Danielle joins them.
Sawyer, on the other hand, moves to joins Team Locke. When Kate, dumbfounded, asks what he's doing, he tells her, "same thing I’ve always done, Kate, surviving." The look he gives seems to suggest he wants her to come, too, but always believing she'd ultimately choose Jack, he doesn't even ask. As it starts to rain, Locke says, "you’ll know where to find us, when you change your mind."
Faraday, seeing Jack and Kate, asks, "are you Jack?" And the episode ends.
Lost certainly has its fair share of significant numbers. But this ain't 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42. Post a comment, or email me with your thoughts.
