One of Them
Encyclopedia
"One of Them" is the 39th episode of Lost
and the 14th episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams
, and written by Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
. It first aired on February 15, 2006 on ABC
. The character of Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks. In the episode, the survivors meet and interrogate Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
), a man who they believe to be an "Other".
is under way. Sayid
, an Iraqi soldier, is seen burning documents with fellow soldiers. Some are resisting, and as Sayid's commander orders them to continue, American troops burst in and attempt to identify the commanding officer. Sayid tries to lie, saying that their commanding officer has abandoned them, but the American soldier, Sam Austen (Lindsey Ginter) (who is also Kate's father) doesn't believe him.
Sayid is held captive by the Americans, who have found his commanding officer
(CO). Two higher ranked military men ask Sayid to act as a translator, Sayid attempts to get his officer to reveal the location of a captive American pilot. Speaking in their own language, which the Americans cannot understand, Sayid's CO orders him to grab the American's gun and kill as many as he can, but Sayid refuses. Austen knows they can't get the information and call in the next man; an American DIA
agent named Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown
) orders Sayid to torture the Iraqi officer; at first, Sayid refuses this too, but agrees after the agent shows him a video of Sayid's family being gassed
on the officer's orders. But while interrogating the officer, Sayid learns that it's too late, and that the pilot had been executed anyway. Sayid is eventually released by the Americans, who are pulling out. In the truck, Kate's father asks Sayid "Do you have a wife or kids?" to which he shakes his head. The American commander who asked him looks down at a photo which shows a young looking Kate. Inman tells him that the day will come when Sayid needs information from someone — and that he will have the means to get it. He appears to speak fluent Arabic much to Sayid's shock. However, Sayid vows never to torture again. Just before he leaves, Inman gives him several hundred American dollars for a bus ride back to Ramadi
.
(Michelle Rodriguez
) takes Sayid into the jungle, and he tells her to go back after seeing Danielle Rousseau
(Mira Furlan
), who tells him she was looking for him. Danielle asks Sayid to follow her, but he doesn't trust her, since the last time they met she set up a diversion and stole Claire's baby. She gives him her gun as a symbol of trust.
Danielle takes Sayid to a man she captured, who is in a net hanging from a tree. Danielle tells Sayid not to let him go, because she thinks he is "one of them". The man identifies himself as Henry Gale
from Minnesota
, saying he crashed in a hot-air balloon on the island about four months ago. Ignoring Danielle's warning, Sayid frees the man, who attempts to flee until Danielle shoots him in the back with a crossbow
. When Sayid points out she almost killed him, she replies that if she wanted to kill him, she would have done so already.
Sayid brings Henry Gale to the hatch and tells John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) that Gale claimed he and his wife were in a hot air balloon that crashed on the island. Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
) interrupts and notices Henry's injury. Sayid explains that it wasn't treated because they want to learn as much as they can about the man while he is still wounded. Jack intervenes and removes the arrow but Sayid tells Jack not to untie Gale. Sayid asks Locke to change the combination in the armory, so he can find out more by torturing Henry in a secure room. Sayid tells Jack to put him in the armory so no one else will see him. There, Sayid enters with Gale, and closes the door behind him.
Sayid interrogates Henry, who says that he and his wife, Jennifer, were in a hot air balloon crossing the Pacific Ocean when they crashed four or more months ago on the north shore. He said he was rich because he owned a company that mined for non-metallic minerals. Sayid picks up on this and questions his use of the past tense. Henry admits he's taken to thinking of his life in the outside world as something in the past. He continues, saying he met his wife at the University of Minnesota
. After they crashed on the island, Gale claims that his wife got sick three weeks earlier, starting with a fever, degrading to delirium and ultimately resulting in her death. He describes his hot air balloon and says he dug his wife's grave near where they crashed. Sayid then moves forward and grabs one of Henry's fingers, holding it with the pliers. He then starts questioning more ferociously, threatening to break Henry's finger.
Meanwhile, James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
) is unable to sleep due to a chirping noise coming from the jungle. He asks Jin Kwon
(Daniel Dae Kim) to help him find the source of the noise, but Jin ignores him, so Sawyer goes into the jungle on his own, and while searching, discovers Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) eating from a hidden stash of food from the hatch. Hurley tells Sawyer that the noise is coming from a tree frog
. Sawyer blackmails Hurley, saying he won't tell anyone else that Hurley has a secret stash of food, if Hurley helps him track the tree frog. As they search though, Sawyer makes rude remarks about Hurley's weight, and Hurley decides to go back and leave Sawyer alone to search for the frog, saying that though he (Hurley) stole food, people still like him, unlike Sawyer. Sawyer then apologizes and convinces Hurley to carry on. Sawyer and Hurley find the frog. Hurley offers to release it two beaches away, but Sawyer suddenly kills the frog by crushing it in his hand.
In response to Sayid's questioning, Henry is unable to recount the specific details of burying his wife. Sayid believes he is lying about his identity, stating he would know every last detail about digging his wife's grave. Henry then realizes that Sayid had lost someone close to him
on the island. Sayid beats Henry as Jack and Locke listen from outside. Jack takes action by holding Locke, preventing him from entering the numbers at the appointed time, telling him he will only let Locke go if he opens the door. The timer goes below a minute and Locke complies by unlocking the armory and then dashing for the computer. By the time he unlocks the door, there were only ten seconds. He begins typing the code. However, in his haste he mistypes and has to correct it. As the timer passes zero, the black and white numbers flip over to red symbols. Two are Egyptian hieroglyphs
, two are unknown characters and the second square from the left doesn't stop turning before the camera cuts back to Locke. The Symbols are accompanied with the loud sound of a machine "spooling up" like a jet engine
turbine. Locke finally hits the 'Execute' button, at which point the timer resets to 108 and the sound dies down. Meanwhile, in the armory, Jack bursts in and stops an enraged Sayid, who yells, "He's lying!" several times. They lock a bloodied Henry back in the armory. Jack recalls to Sayid how Danielle tortured him because she thought Sayid was an "other". Locke arrives, and agrees with Jack, stating, "To Rousseau, we're all 'others'."
Sayid is then back on the beach talking to Charlie about what happened in the hatch. Sayid thinks Henry is an "Other" because he feels no guilt about torturing him. He states that Jack and Locke will never understand that feeling, because they have forgotten what the Others have done to them. He asks Charlie if he remembers how the Others hanged him from the tree and kidnapped Claire. He says that the Others are merciless. Then he simply asks Charlie if he's forgotten what the others have done to him.
. The Lost producers liked his work on The Practice, so they were keen to cast Emerson in the role of "Henry Gale", as they thought he would fit the character well. Emerson was originally contracted to appear in just three episodes of Lost, making his first appearance midway through the second season, in this episode. The producers later contracted him for another five episodes, and he would later be made a part of the main cast in the third season as well as the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons.
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...
and the 14th episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (director)
Stephen Williams is a Canadian film and television director. Williams has directed several modern day television programs including work as a regular director on the ABC drama series Lost, where he was also a co-executive producer...
, and written by Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
. It first aired on February 15, 2006 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. In the episode, the survivors meet and interrogate Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
), a man who they believe to be an "Other".
Flashback
In a flashback, the 1991 Allied invasion of IraqGulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
is under way. Sayid
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...
, an Iraqi soldier, is seen burning documents with fellow soldiers. Some are resisting, and as Sayid's commander orders them to continue, American troops burst in and attempt to identify the commanding officer. Sayid tries to lie, saying that their commanding officer has abandoned them, but the American soldier, Sam Austen (Lindsey Ginter) (who is also Kate's father) doesn't believe him.
Sayid is held captive by the Americans, who have found his commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
(CO). Two higher ranked military men ask Sayid to act as a translator, Sayid attempts to get his officer to reveal the location of a captive American pilot. Speaking in their own language, which the Americans cannot understand, Sayid's CO orders him to grab the American's gun and kill as many as he can, but Sayid refuses. Austen knows they can't get the information and call in the next man; an American DIA
Dia
Dia is free and open source general-purpose diagramming software, developed originally by Alexander Larsson. Dia uses a controlled single document interface similar to GIMP and Sodipodi.- Features :...
agent named Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown
Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
) orders Sayid to torture the Iraqi officer; at first, Sayid refuses this too, but agrees after the agent shows him a video of Sayid's family being gassed
Sarin
Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [2CHO]CH3PF. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is used as a chemical weapon. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687...
on the officer's orders. But while interrogating the officer, Sayid learns that it's too late, and that the pilot had been executed anyway. Sayid is eventually released by the Americans, who are pulling out. In the truck, Kate's father asks Sayid "Do you have a wife or kids?" to which he shakes his head. The American commander who asked him looks down at a photo which shows a young looking Kate. Inman tells him that the day will come when Sayid needs information from someone — and that he will have the means to get it. He appears to speak fluent Arabic much to Sayid's shock. However, Sayid vows never to torture again. Just before he leaves, Inman gives him several hundred American dollars for a bus ride back to Ramadi
Ramadi
Ramadi is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad. It is the capital of Al Anbar Governorate.-History:Ramadi is located in a fertile, irrigated, alluvial plain.The Ottoman Empire founded Ramadi in 1869...
.
On the island
On the island, Ana Lucia CortezAna Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Michelle Rodriguez. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section...
(Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
) takes Sayid into the jungle, and he tells her to go back after seeing Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays the scientist who shipwrecks on the island sixteen...
(Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan is a Croatian actress and singer currently residing in the United States. She is well known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on all five seasons of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 , and Danielle Rousseau on Lost.-Early life:Furlan was born to an...
), who tells him she was looking for him. Danielle asks Sayid to follow her, but he doesn't trust her, since the last time they met she set up a diversion and stole Claire's baby. She gives him her gun as a symbol of trust.
Danielle takes Sayid to a man she captured, who is in a net hanging from a tree. Danielle tells Sayid not to let him go, because she thinks he is "one of them". The man identifies himself as Henry Gale
Henry Gale (Lost)
Benjamin "Ben" Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series Lost. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815...
from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, saying he crashed in a hot-air balloon on the island about four months ago. Ignoring Danielle's warning, Sayid frees the man, who attempts to flee until Danielle shoots him in the back with a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
. When Sayid points out she almost killed him, she replies that if she wanted to kill him, she would have done so already.
Sayid brings Henry Gale to the hatch and tells 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,...
) that Gale claimed he and his wife were in a hot air balloon that crashed on the island. 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 :...
) interrupts and notices Henry's injury. Sayid explains that it wasn't treated because they want to learn as much as they can about the man while he is still wounded. Jack intervenes and removes the arrow but Sayid tells Jack not to untie Gale. Sayid asks Locke to change the combination in the armory, so he can find out more by torturing Henry in a secure room. Sayid tells Jack to put him in the armory so no one else will see him. There, Sayid enters with Gale, and closes the door behind him.
Sayid interrogates Henry, who says that he and his wife, Jennifer, were in a hot air balloon crossing the Pacific Ocean when they crashed four or more months ago on the north shore. He said he was rich because he owned a company that mined for non-metallic minerals. Sayid picks up on this and questions his use of the past tense. Henry admits he's taken to thinking of his life in the outside world as something in the past. He continues, saying he met his wife at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. After they crashed on the island, Gale claims that his wife got sick three weeks earlier, starting with a fever, degrading to delirium and ultimately resulting in her death. He describes his hot air balloon and says he dug his wife's grave near where they crashed. Sayid then moves forward and grabs one of Henry's fingers, holding it with the pliers. He then starts questioning more ferociously, threatening to break Henry's finger.
Meanwhile, James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
) is unable to sleep due to a chirping noise coming from the jungle. He asks Jin Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim.- Prior to the crash :...
(Daniel Dae Kim) to help him find the source of the noise, but Jin ignores him, so Sawyer goes into the jungle on his own, and while searching, discovers 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...
) eating from a hidden stash of food from the hatch. Hurley tells Sawyer that the noise is coming from a tree frog
Tree frog
Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semi-aquatic.-Characteristics:...
. Sawyer blackmails Hurley, saying he won't tell anyone else that Hurley has a secret stash of food, if Hurley helps him track the tree frog. As they search though, Sawyer makes rude remarks about Hurley's weight, and Hurley decides to go back and leave Sawyer alone to search for the frog, saying that though he (Hurley) stole food, people still like him, unlike Sawyer. Sawyer then apologizes and convinces Hurley to carry on. Sawyer and Hurley find the frog. Hurley offers to release it two beaches away, but Sawyer suddenly kills the frog by crushing it in his hand.
In response to Sayid's questioning, Henry is unable to recount the specific details of burying his wife. Sayid believes he is lying about his identity, stating he would know every last detail about digging his wife's grave. Henry then realizes that Sayid had lost someone close to him
Shannon 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...
on the island. Sayid beats Henry as Jack and Locke listen from outside. Jack takes action by holding Locke, preventing him from entering the numbers at the appointed time, telling him he will only let Locke go if he opens the door. The timer goes below a minute and Locke complies by unlocking the armory and then dashing for the computer. By the time he unlocks the door, there were only ten seconds. He begins typing the code. However, in his haste he mistypes and has to correct it. As the timer passes zero, the black and white numbers flip over to red symbols. Two are Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
, two are unknown characters and the second square from the left doesn't stop turning before the camera cuts back to Locke. The Symbols are accompanied with the loud sound of a machine "spooling up" like a jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
turbine. Locke finally hits the 'Execute' button, at which point the timer resets to 108 and the sound dies down. Meanwhile, in the armory, Jack bursts in and stops an enraged Sayid, who yells, "He's lying!" several times. They lock a bloodied Henry back in the armory. Jack recalls to Sayid how Danielle tortured him because she thought Sayid was an "other". Locke arrives, and agrees with Jack, stating, "To Rousseau, we're all 'others'."
Sayid is then back on the beach talking to Charlie about what happened in the hatch. Sayid thinks Henry is an "Other" because he feels no guilt about torturing him. He states that Jack and Locke will never understand that feeling, because they have forgotten what the Others have done to them. He asks Charlie if he remembers how the Others hanged him from the tree and kidnapped Claire. He says that the Others are merciless. Then he simply asks Charlie if he's forgotten what the others have done to him.
Production
In 2001, American actor Michael Emerson won an Emmy award for his guest appearance as serial killer William Hinks on The PracticeThe Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
. The Lost producers liked his work on The Practice, so they were keen to cast Emerson in the role of "Henry Gale", as they thought he would fit the character well. Emerson was originally contracted to appear in just three episodes of Lost, making his first appearance midway through the second season, in this episode. The producers later contracted him for another five episodes, and he would later be made a part of the main cast in the third season as well as the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons.