Sundown

Better episode than last week's, and hey, improvement is what it's all about, right?

I even cared about the Reality B plotline. But maybe that's just because I think Sayid is a far more compelling character than either Jack or Kate.

Here's what I got from "Sundown."

1. Esau can apparently cross an ash circle if the Others' Temple leader is dead. Or something. This one is fuzzy.

2. Sayid was definitely dead. (Thank you, Miles, for taking so long to mention this fact.) That means Esau brought Sayid back... and this is the essence of "infected." I take this to mean Claire also died (in the barracks during the mercenary attack) and was brought back by Esau.

3. While Esau has a creepy influence over the Infected, he still needs to offer them something they really, really want to exert full control. Hence Claire asks about Aaron before going to the Temple, and Sayid is in after Esau basically promises him Nadia.

4. Dogen's baseball is a memento of his son.

5. Sayid is 100% in the tank for Esau now. His little smile after the temple cleansing said it all.

6. Dogen can beat Sayid in a fight, and rather easily. I was actually wondering this out loud about ten minutes before the rumble started.

And some thoughts:

-Dogen's reveal about why he is on the Island brings me back to the notion that Jacob and Esau are not Good and Evil, but rather two competing powers with different goals. Jacob manipulates just as much as Esau does... though Esau is known to kill people fairly often, so he's got that going for him.

-Things are not looking good for Jacob right now. The only Others on the Island who aren't dead or following Esau are Richard (if he counts), Ben (if he counts), Ilana and whoever is alive from her crew, and Cindy, Zach and Emma, who apparently fled into the jungle. I suppose more could have gone with Cindy, but we don't know for sure. Esau, meanwhile, picked up another minion in Sayid, and whoever of these Others are following him now. Include Sawyer in there and he's doing okay.

-Kate has gotta be freaked out. She finds Claire, and Claire is nutso. Smokey kills a bunch of Others, then Locke, who is dead as far as she knew, shows up.

-Notice that Ben is the only one left at the Temple at this point.

-Unaccounted for: Jin, Sawyer, Richard.

More to come, though I'm traveling for work starting tomorrow and might not get to it. Feel free to add your own.