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This article is about the episode. For the salutation, see Namaste.

"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 makes it harder for Sawyer to keep his lie concealed, and Sun and Frank vacate Hydra Island to find Jin.

Synopsis[]

1977[]

Bearhug

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.

Radzinskymodel

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

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.

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 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.

5x09-juliet-holding-baby-ethan

Juliet holds up baby Ethan.

Afterwards Amy asks when Juliet and Jim (Sawyer) are going to have a child; Juliet replies "I don't know. Timing's gotta be right."

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.

5x09-sayid-hostile-jin-dharma

Jin finds a possible Hostile to be Sayid.

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.”

5x09-pierre-recruits-jack

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.

5x09 Visit

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, which shocks Sayid.

5x09 SomewhereThat'sGreen

The Island comes into view after the bright light.

2007[]

Just before the crash of Ajira Airways Flight 316, 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.

Landing

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 co-pilot 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.

Helping

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.

Fallen

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.

Welcomephoto

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 rustling in the bushes as they approach the Barracks from the submarine dock. Frank asked what made the noises, and Sun said it was probably an animal. 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[]

  • This is the last episode of the season to feature a time shift.
  • This is the first time Pierre Chang has met any of the original survivors on-screen.
  • The song "Dharma Lady" by Geronimo Jackson can be heard playing while 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.
    • Alternatively, the English DVD captions of the episode simply propose that it was an automated cockpit warning.
  • The names of most of the known DHARMA stations, and several other locations—including one called "Temple ruins"—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".
  • The number 4 is seen on the water tank, as Jin runs out of the station after the alarm was triggered. The Flame was previously identified as station 4 of 6 on the blast door map.
  • This episode is rated TV-14-V.


Production notes[]

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

509 sun woman2

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] Carla Bowen and Wainani Young-Tomich were the credited 2nd ADs on "Namaste."
    • The error was digitally removed in the DVD version. It was also removed in some broadcast versions in countries outside of the US and UK.
  • 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.
    • In addition, DHARMA food is seen bearing the logo of the Swan. This could either indicate a continuity error, or perhaps demonstrates that the Swan logo was already in use before the station's construction.
  • 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 (played by background extra Bethany James Leigh Shady, Jorge Garcia's girlfriend) alternates from standing directly behind Sun, to several feet to Sun's right, and then back again, in successive short camera cuts 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.
  • 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, Kate 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 a 737-700/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 mechanical-style cockpit.
  • 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.
  • When Ajira Airways Flight 316 descends towards the runway, no ground proximity warnings are heard in the cockpit. When a Boeing 737 descents rapidly, the GPWS automatically comes on with audible warnings such as "too low terrain pull up", unless they're disabled which could have been the case on flight 316. Frank or the co-pilot should have also called for the ground spoilers to be armed, but they did deploy as soon as the plane touched down indicating that they were armed.
  • When Jack's name is called in the DHARMA in-processing station, you can see the sign for "Inoculations" is spelled incorrectly. It reads "Innoculations" (with an extra "n").

Music[]

The Season 5 soundtrack includes the track "Crash and Yearn" from this episode.

Analysis[]

Recurring themes[]



Cultural references[]



Literary techniques[]

  • 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 while 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. (Juxtaposition)
  • Jack, a successful spinal surgeon, is assigned janitorial work, allegedly 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. (Juxtaposition)
  • 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)  (Irony)



Storyline analysis[]


Episode connections[]

Episode references[]


Episode allusions[]

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?
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