When Hurley says "dude" it makes me laugh almost every time.

Lost – The Economist
Locke’s hostage could be the key to getting off the island, so Sayid and Kate search for their fellow castaway in an attempt to negotiate a peaceful deal.

This episode starts with Sayid praying. I hate to tell you Sayid, you might as well quit because if there is a god you’re going to burn in hell for what you’ve done. Sayid looks at Naomi and takes off her bracelet, which says “N: I’ll always be with you, R.G.” Sayid decides he really wants to go to the boat and get off the island. So much so he’s willing to get into a helicopter piloted by Frank. From here on out I will refer to Frank as Keanu Nolte. I don’t know what Sayid is thinking but I’d rather eat mangoes and bananas for the rest of my life rather than get into a helicopter piloted by that guy. Keanu Nolte tells Sayid that he’ll take him off the island if he can get Charlotte back from Locke’s crew. Sayid promises he can make that happen. Sayid, Miles, and Kate strike off into the jungle to go looking for Charlotte and all is well.

Flash forward and it’s Sayid playing golf. An Italian guy drives up on a golf cart and bets he can make a better shot than Sayid. At that point I knew it wasn’t going to end well for this guy. They chat a bit and then Sayid tells the guy where he got his money from -- which was the Oceanic 815 settlement -- calls the man Avelino, whips out a pistol, and makes quick work of him. Silly Italians should know never to make a bet with a pissed-off Iraqi torturer. This Avelino fellow really got uncomfortable when Sayid mentioned he was one of the Oceanic 6. He was probably some sort of executive at Oceanic or involved in Dharma. We get another flash and Sayid is in a coffee shop in Berlin “introducing” himself to an attractive woman named Elsa. Sayid is quite the smooth talker when he wants to be. He asks her out to dinner and she says yes, but then once she leaves Sayid makes a phone call to his “employer” and says he has made contact.

We get a quick cut to Locke’s crew looking for Jacob’s cabin. Locke knows that they are where it should be, but it’s obviously disappeared. Maybe Hurley was right when he said it was another direction. Ben has this knowing, giddy look on his face but he’s not answering any questions because he knows Locke looks like an idiot in front of his whole crew. I love it when Locke is about a hair away from completely losing it. He gets this wild-eyed, crazy look. I’m loosely stealing this from Bill Simmons but it’s accurate. He looks just like Jonathan Papelbon when he got the final batter out in the 2007 World Series. He threw his mitt as high as he could and looked like a wild-eyed, piss-drunk kid from Boston screaming at some poor bastard to come at him and fight. Locke’s “I’m going crazy” look is a lot like that.

Jack’s crew is just hanging out by the plane. Sayid and Miles are getting ready to go after Charlotte. Jack convinces Kate to go along with Sayid and Miles. The three of them go trudging off into the forest. Miles is really starting to make me mad. He’s angry all the time and doesn’t answer any questions. It’s completely frustrating at times and sometimes I really enjoy it. I still think he’s the best candidate for doing something stupid that’s going to get himself or someone else killed because he refuses to answer to reason. I don’t buy anything he says about not caring about the other members of his boat crew either. The three finally get to the Others' barracks and find Hurley tied up in a closet. He says that Locke’s crew tied him up because he was starting to believe they should be trying to get off the island.

Hurley tells them everyone went to Ben’s house, so they all head that direction to see if there are any clues telling them where Locke’s crew went. They start poking around and Sayid finds a secret door behind a bookcase. Behind the door is a room that looks like a captain’s quarters on a submarine. There are some suits hanging on the walls, and a desk. When Sayid opens some drawers on the desk he finds cash from different countries and what looks to be about 40 passports from various countries, all belonging to Ben. I really wonder what Ben really is. Meanwhile Kate is poking around Ben’s room when Sawyer walks in and shushes her. Too bad Sayid…they got the drop on you. Hurley set you up sucka!

While all of this was going on Daniel decided to do a little experiment. He called the boat and had them shoot a missile at a beacon on the island. Regina counts down the time until the missile lands on the island. Guess what? The missile doesn’t show. A little bit later, crazy Daniel looks up and there is a missile headed for him. Once the missile smashes into the ground Daniel jumps on it like a meth addict in a meth house. He opens up the payload and pulls out a clock. Bingo bango bongo I was right. The time is 31 minutes off, meaning that time works differently on the island.

Flash forward and we have assassin Sayid in bed with Elsa. She tells him she loves him but she doesn’t think he’s opened up to her. He’s just about to when her beeper goes off. This is the employer that Sayid is supposed to get at. Sayid finds out where he’s staying and decides to tell Elsa what he is and that she needs to leave so she isn’t asked any questions about his death. Obviously she freaks out a bit, and she runs to the bathroom to wash her face and cry. I get the feeling Sayid may actually care about her. Just when I feel bad for her, though, she comes out and shoots Sayid in the shoulder. So she wasn’t quite who she said she was either. Elsa calls her employer, the “economist,” and says she’ll bring Sayid in. But, when she comes out of the bathroom Sayid puts two rounds in her. She slams up against the wall and smears blood all the way down. Too bad, she seemed smart.

Sayid comes back with Charlotte sans Miles. This doesn’t make Keanu Nolte mad so he agrees to take Desmond, Sayid, and Naomi’s body back to the boat. Desmond really wants to know why they had a picture of his girlfriend Penny but Keanu Nolte is less than forthcoming with that information. I can’t believe they actually took off and are flying off the island. We get another flash forward and it’s wounded Sayid walking into a veterinarian’s office. He’s obviously here to meet with his employer and get that bullet wound taken care of. He walks into the operating room and a voice tells him to sit. I could tell it was Ben’s voice the second I heard it, but it was still a bit of a shock when it actually turned out to be Ben.

• It will be interesting to find out how much time has actually passed off the island as opposed to on. I thought I heard Jack say it was hard for him to believe he hadn’t seen a baseball game in 100 days.
• Finally Sawyer made his point to Kate about why he stayed. He’s totally right. She doesn’t have anything but handcuffs waiting for her when she gets back so why is she trying so hard to get off the island. It makes sense she decided to stay with that crew.
• Ben and Sayid are pissed about something. I know Sayid isn’t above killing but it really seemed like he was trying to get away from that part of his life. Someone must have really crossed him to make him go on a killing spree for Ben.
• It was kind of cool when Ben said he was glad people knew they were after them. I also liked it when Ben gave Sayid crap for thinking with his heart instead of his gun.
• So we know Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid are off the island. I doubt Ben was one of the Oceanic 6 because nobody knew he was in Berlin [and he wasn't on the Oceanic flight -- ed note]. Chew on this one…what if Kate isn’t one of the Oceanic 6 either? Just because she survived a plane crash doesn’t mean she's off the hook for blowing up her dad. What if nobody knows she’s off the island either?