The Greater Good
Encyclopedia
"The Greater Good" is the 21st episode of the first season of Lost
. The episode was directed by David Grossman
and written by Leonard Dick
. It first aired on May 4, 2005 on ABC
. The character of Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
and the CIA
, who ask him to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Sydney of which his old friend Essam is a member. After they explain that they know where Nadia is, he agrees. It is revealed that after helping her escape several years ago, Sayid left Iraq and has been travelling the world trying to find her ever since. Sayid flies to Sydney and infiltrates the terrorist cell, telling the agents that Essam is in over his head, and that he can bring him in. The agents tell him to convince Essam to go ahead with the suicide bombing so that he will lead them to the explosives, and threaten Nadia's livelihood when Sayid attempts to refuse. On the day of the attack, Sayid reveals he is an informant, and a distraught Essam kills himself. After Essam's death, the agents tell Sayid where Nadia is living in California, and hand him a plane ticket and money. Sayid inquires about Essam's body, and is told that because no one will claim it, the body will be burned. Sayid insists on claiming the body himself, as Essam was a Muslim
man (and Muslims believe in burial, not cremation). Upon being told that his flight is in two hours so he cannot claim the body, Sayid tells them to change his flight and they agree.
(Maggie Grace
), before asking if he can do anything for her. At the same time, Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) tracks down an exhausted and obstinate Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
). Jack blames John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) for Boone Carlyle
's (Ian Somerhalder
) death, but Kate pleads with Jack to return. At the beach, the survivors bury Boone. During the funeral, Locke arrives and attempts to explain what happened, but Jack ignores him and flies into a rage.
Afterward, Jack explains to Sayid, Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), and Kate that Locke is lying, but they insist that Jack must rest. Locke asks Shannon's forgiveness, to no avail; Shannon instead goes to Sayid and asks if he could do something about Locke for her (implying that she wants him to kill Locke).
Meanwhile, Charlie Pace
(Dominic Monaghan
) tells Claire Littleton
(Emilie de Ravin
) that she needs to rest, and though reluctant at first she lets him take care of her baby. Charlie has a tough time getting the baby to stop crying, even having Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) sing the song "I Feel Good" to no avail, but finally discovers that the sound of Sawyer's voice quietens the baby.
Kate attempts to take care of Jack, who stubbornly insists he needs to deal with Locke. Realizing he'd probably try this, Kate drugs his juice and he falls asleep, leaving Sayid free to deal with Locke. Sayid arrives at the caves and begins questioning Locke, asking Locke to show him the Beechcraft. As they walk to it, Sayid interrogates Locke, who realizes just what Sayid is doing. Upon arriving at the plane, their cat-and-mouse game escalates. Sayid tells Locke he knows Locke has a gun, and Locke hands it over. He then reveals that it was he who hit Sayid over the head when he was trying to triangulate the distress signal. This enrages Sayid, who pulls the gun on Locke and questions him about the hatch. Locke lies, saying Boone was talking about the plane's hatches.
Sayid returns to the beach and explains to Shannon that he believes Locke did not mean to harm Boone. This prompts an angry Shannon to take matters into her own hands. Shannon steals the guncase key from a sleeping Jack, and confronts Locke in the jungle. Kate, Jack, and Sayid arrive during the confrontation, but Shannon refuses to back down. Left with no choice, Sayid tackles Shannon just as she fires the gun, the bullet grazing Locke's head.
That night, Sayid visits Locke, who thanks him for saving his life. Sayid replies that he only did it because he believes Locke to be their best chance for survival. He then tells Locke to take him to the hatch.
commented "[Boone and Shannon] were both left with very little to do this season. Especially Shannon, whose high point of usefulness was deciphering Rousseau's documents for Sayid. Well, Maggie Grace is given an opportunity to shine and she does an acceptable job as the distraught sibling who is now looking for someone to blame for Boone's death. We finally get to see some real depth to Shannon's character and her quest for vengeance is believable".
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
. The episode was directed by David Grossman
David Grossman (director)
David Grossman is an American film and television director known most notably for his work on the ABC series, Desperate Housewives which he also serves as co-executive producer, his first series as a producer....
and written by Leonard Dick
Leonard Dick
Leonard Dick is an award-winning television writer and producer who is currently writing for The Good Wife .Leonard was born in Toronto, Ontario, and attended high school at Upper Canada College, where he was elected head of Howard's House, and thus served on the Board of Stewards.Leonard attended...
. It first aired on May 4, 2005 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The character of Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
Flashbacks
Arrested at Heathrow Airport on trumped-up terrorism charges, Sayid is recruited as an informant by the Australian Secret Intelligence ServiceAustralian Secret Intelligence Service
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service is the Australian government intelligence agency responsible for collecting foreign intelligence, undertaking counter-intelligence activities and cooperation with other intelligence agencies overseas...
and the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, who ask him to infiltrate a terrorist cell in Sydney of which his old friend Essam is a member. After they explain that they know where Nadia is, he agrees. It is revealed that after helping her escape several years ago, Sayid left Iraq and has been travelling the world trying to find her ever since. Sayid flies to Sydney and infiltrates the terrorist cell, telling the agents that Essam is in over his head, and that he can bring him in. The agents tell him to convince Essam to go ahead with the suicide bombing so that he will lead them to the explosives, and threaten Nadia's livelihood when Sayid attempts to refuse. On the day of the attack, Sayid reveals he is an informant, and a distraught Essam kills himself. After Essam's death, the agents tell Sayid where Nadia is living in California, and hand him a plane ticket and money. Sayid inquires about Essam's body, and is told that because no one will claim it, the body will be burned. Sayid insists on claiming the body himself, as Essam was a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
man (and Muslims believe in burial, not cremation). Upon being told that his flight is in two hours so he cannot claim the body, Sayid tells them to change his flight and they agree.
On the Island
At the caves, Sayid observes a mourning Shannon RutherfordShannon Rutherford
Shannon Rutherford is a fictional character played by Maggie Grace on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Shannon is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepsister of fellow crash survivor Boone Carlyle . She is...
(Maggie Grace
Maggie Grace
Margaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
), before asking if he can do anything for her. At the same time, Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) tracks down an exhausted and obstinate Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
). Jack blames John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) for Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle is a fictional character played by Ian Somerhalder on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific. Boone is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepbrother of fellow crash survivor Shannon Rutherford...
's (Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
) death, but Kate pleads with Jack to return. At the beach, the survivors bury Boone. During the funeral, Locke arrives and attempts to explain what happened, but Jack ignores him and flies into a rage.
Afterward, Jack explains to Sayid, Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), and Kate that Locke is lying, but they insist that Jack must rest. Locke asks Shannon's forgiveness, to no avail; Shannon instead goes to Sayid and asks if he could do something about Locke for her (implying that she wants him to kill Locke).
Meanwhile, Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
(Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) tells Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
) that she needs to rest, and though reluctant at first she lets him take care of her baby. Charlie has a tough time getting the baby to stop crying, even having Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) sing the song "I Feel Good" to no avail, but finally discovers that the sound of Sawyer's voice quietens the baby.
Kate attempts to take care of Jack, who stubbornly insists he needs to deal with Locke. Realizing he'd probably try this, Kate drugs his juice and he falls asleep, leaving Sayid free to deal with Locke. Sayid arrives at the caves and begins questioning Locke, asking Locke to show him the Beechcraft. As they walk to it, Sayid interrogates Locke, who realizes just what Sayid is doing. Upon arriving at the plane, their cat-and-mouse game escalates. Sayid tells Locke he knows Locke has a gun, and Locke hands it over. He then reveals that it was he who hit Sayid over the head when he was trying to triangulate the distress signal. This enrages Sayid, who pulls the gun on Locke and questions him about the hatch. Locke lies, saying Boone was talking about the plane's hatches.
Sayid returns to the beach and explains to Shannon that he believes Locke did not mean to harm Boone. This prompts an angry Shannon to take matters into her own hands. Shannon steals the guncase key from a sleeping Jack, and confronts Locke in the jungle. Kate, Jack, and Sayid arrive during the confrontation, but Shannon refuses to back down. Left with no choice, Sayid tackles Shannon just as she fires the gun, the bullet grazing Locke's head.
That night, Sayid visits Locke, who thanks him for saving his life. Sayid replies that he only did it because he believes Locke to be their best chance for survival. He then tells Locke to take him to the hatch.
Reception
17.2 million American viewers tuned into this episode. Chris Carabott from IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commented "[Boone and Shannon] were both left with very little to do this season. Especially Shannon, whose high point of usefulness was deciphering Rousseau's documents for Sayid. Well, Maggie Grace is given an opportunity to shine and she does an acceptable job as the distraught sibling who is now looking for someone to blame for Boone's death. We finally get to see some real depth to Shannon's character and her quest for vengeance is believable".