Some of us Sayid fans have been worried for awhile that Sayid might crack from post-traumatic stress (a. being picked up at Heathrow airport, handcuffed and held in a cell for 18 hours with no explanation, b. infiltrating terrorist cell at great risk and emotional pain, c. watching his old friend commit suicide because of his betrayal, d. surviving plane crash, e. reverting to his torturing past, f. exiling himself in shame and planning to live as a hermit indefinitely, g. captured, injured and tortured, h. his brand-new love dies in his arms, i. held hostage at gunpoint by a woman rocking back and forth while she fondles her gun, j. going out into the jungle with said woman and digging up a recently buried body--all within the space of two months--who wouldn't be nuts by now?)

I think Sayid isn't quite right in the head at this point. Shooting Henry was totally random, impulsive and counterproductive. Sayid shouldn't have access to a gun right now--God knows what random act of violence he'll come up with next. And perhaps he shouldn't be involved in the interrogation at all at this point. (I'm loving the weird Sayid/Ana good cop/bad cop act, but they're both pretty warped.)

What do you think?

Sayid probably had (and maybe still has) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to his experience in war, but I don't think now he is insane. His life seems to be a continuous loss. Nadia, his friend, Shannon, and who knows how many more. Of course shooting Henry was impulsive and irrational, but I imagine -and hope- Sayid will realize on his own that he messed it up. He is supposedly expert in obtaining information but he was about to kill the source. I think he'll be the first one to say it was not very clever from his part. He shouldn't have a gun at this point, I agree...but if "real war" against the Others begin, he has to be the one leading the losties 'army' :biggrin:

I wonder if Sayid was actually going to soot nonHenry as in shoot to kill. Maybe he was just going to shoot over him or something to scare him into talking. Unfortunately though, Sayid often interrupts.

Some of us Sayid fans have been worried for awhile that Sayid might crack from post-traumatic stress.

This is seeming to be the case with many of the characters at this point, isn't it? We've seen at least half of them battle similar demons as last season, there's been a lot of regression. Sayid seems to have regressed the most, because he not only has returned to his old ways (which, for example, Sawyer also has done), but he's also almost completely lost control (which, I would argue, Sawyer has not done, at least not to the extent that he's becoming more dangerous than he was before).

The issue of insanity is one brought more to light by Hurley's latest episode. We can't reject the idea that Sayid may, indeed, be coming unhinged by mere fact that we see him act as uncontrolled as we've ever seen him in an episode dealing with mental illness.

I don't think Sayid is insane. I found him to be very much in control during this interrogation, certainly much more than the last time he questioned NotHenry. I think the whole shooting NH thing was a set up between Sayid and Ana (playing good cop/bad cop) and Sayid never intended to shoot him. If you rewatch the scene you can see a look exchanged very quickly. If Sayid had really wanted to kill NH Ana would not have been able to stop him so easily. He didn't even fight her that much, or seem that angry. And this is the same man that almost beat Eko to get to Ana that day in the jungle. The whole "I will kill you." exchange was a ruse to get NH to trust Ana so he will talk to her at a later point.

I don't think that Sayid is dangerous to anyone but the Others. Even his questioning of NotHenry was about how many there were and who the leader was, not about personal information. Sayid is in soldier mode. He is preparing for what he sees as the battle ahead.

(I'm loving the weird Sayid/Ana good cop/bad cop act, but they're both pretty warped.)

Really? I'm not really seeing it except in a literal sense of Sayid being bad (out of control) and Ana being good (cool-headed for once).

I think the whole shooting NH thing was a set up between Sayid and Ana (playing good cop/bad cop) and Sayid never intended to shoot him.

If that's the case, wouldn't the writers give us a scene showing that so we don't get the wrong idea about one of the heroes? (Not that the writers have ever been big on giving us information we need.) As it is, we can only assume Ana was only there to keep Sayid from flying off the handle - there didn't really seem to be a lot of plan or reason or order to that interrogation scene, or any of the others, for that matter.

If Sayid had really wanted to kill NH Ana would not have been able to stop him so easily. He didn't even fight her that much, or seem that angry.

If Sayid's acting on emotion rather than with the control of a soldier, and if he's becoming increasingly more fragmented, that can explain both how she got the gun from him and why he didn't fight. Aside from the outbursts of anger toward NotHenry and the Others in general, Sayid's behavior fits a man "who is already dead." Which is definitely not a healthy state of mind.

I think Sayid is having a breakthrough. I think before the crash he was totally freaked by his situation and is now coming to terms with what he's done, why he did it and that some things have to be done even if they are against what you feel should be right. When he stated I am a tourturer i think he made progress with his anger.

If Sayid's acting on emotion rather than with the control of a soldier, and if he's becoming increasingly more fragmented, that can explain both how she got the gun from him and why he didn't fight. Aside from the outbursts of anger toward NotHenry and the Others in general, Sayid's behavior fits a man "who is already dead." Which is definitely not a healthy state of mind.

I don't think he IS acting on emotion. He seemed VERY controlled in this week's episode. As to showing us a conversation between Sayid and Ana beforehand..don't you know by now we cannot count on the writers of this show to hand us anything? :rolleyes: You have to look carefully at the expressions on the faces and the meeting of eyes in that scene. But there is defintiely cooperation between Sayid and Ana.

I think that Sayid is coming out of his initial shock and grief. Not that he won't have residual grief to deal with for a long time, but he is much more focused and controlled than he was in Collision or One of Them, not fragmented at all. Shannon's death is not going to destroy him. He knows that his instincts are intact. He was right about Henry. Now he wants as much information as he can get about what they are up against with the Others. Those are not the thoughts and actions of someone who is "losing it". Those are the thoughts and actions of a soldier.

Sayid's return to soldier mode may also be a way of buffering himself from his grief. Soldiers have to detatch from their own feelings. His complete control in this interrogation convinces me that is exactly what he's done.

I think that Sayid...is much more focused and controlled than he was in Collision or One of Them, not fragmented at all.

What about in comparison to his very cool, calm interrogation style in the Republican Guard? The Sayid we see interrogating Not!Henry doesn't seem like the same person interrogating Nadia and other insurgents in the Solitary flashbacks. He's acting a whole lot more like pre-island hot-headed (ineffective, except as a vigilante: gasp! parallel/mirror) cop Ana-Lucia than like the effective interrogator.

All that to say, while Sayid's found a few clues through good detective work to prove Not!Henry is...not Henry...He hasn't gotten any other vital information out of Not!Henry himself. So what's the point of his raging and temper tantrum throwing -- especially when that's not Sayid's interrogation style.

Not!Henry tells what he wants to tell, and from the way he's manipulated Locke et. al, is much more in control of things than any of the castaways, even Sayid.

It's interesting that this thread opened up. I've been chewing on what is happening with Sayid of late. He is indeed going through a great deal of stress. It is correct that it has been quite extended and that does take its toll on a person. That considered, I don't think that he's 'going insane'.


He appears to be putting his pain to positive uses: building things - we've seen the examples of the building now twice; and the quick and timely organization of the fire brigade when Charlie had his fun. Sayid doesn’t seem particularly tense at all times, either. When Ana Lucia fetched him for Rousseau, he didn't seem particularly 'clenched' in Ana Lucia’s company. Someone slipping away mentally to should be raging at the sight of she who caused his most recent and perhaps deepest loss.


His first dealings with NonGale support more the idea that Sayid is in obvious pain more than spiraling insanity. He doesn’t jump to the conclusion that the netted prize is an Other. Rousseau makes the ‘identification’. Now that I type that, I wonder if Sayid isn’t a little like Locke. Sayid wanted to believe that Sawyer could have hit him when the transceiver was smashed so heard Locke's words as verification and now Rousseau is saying what Sayid wants to hear: the net man is the Other. That seemed to be all it took to convince him – or perhaps it’s the lack of regularly scheduled flights to and from the island and the new face in front of him.


So he considers NonGale an Other. There is only Rousseau and Sayid there. Sayid can do what he wants with this person. I would expect a deranged person to release his demons and extract the revenge that is percolating by simply beating the man to death. If Rousseau objected, who would take her word over Sayid’s? What’s stopping him from carrying NonGale deeper into the jungle and finishing the job that Rousseau started? No one would have been the wiser.


I hated what took place in the hatch with NonGale, but consider this: did Sayid carry NonGale to Jack and Locke so that Sayid would be stopped from going too far? He has free reign before that carry. To return NonGale to the hatch brings in other people, people without his agenda. Is this to prevent the act that someone insane would commit? If all he wants in his clouded mind is to interrogate, why not use the Sawyer method and tie NonGale to a tree? Why take the time to go to the hatch at all?


Another point to prove that he’s not slipping: he was alone with Ana Lucia and Charlie. Here again is another opportunity for his sanity to slip and him to simply murder. Drag her out into the jungle and kill her. He has the gun. He could do it with his bare hands. No one would know. I don't know how much he trusts Charlie at this point but they are striking me as the Brothers Grimm and it's possible he could hurt Ana Lucia with no objection from Charlie (who I think is in a darker place than Sayid, ultimately) and cover with the story of an Other's attack.


Instead, I think that AnaLucia's apology took a lot of the sting out for him - helped him see that he wasn't the only one in pain. He watched her sleep that night.


On the return to the hatch from the balloon trip, Sayid was in control. Confident control. He was right. He proved it. He had the evidence. He played NonGale beautifully. I couldn’t tell where he was going with his speech about finding the balloon, the grave. He wove the web and dropped NonGale into it. I don’t see these as the acts or words of a man slipping away from his sanity.


The shooting: Sayid was in control. He was calm. Again the web. Again the plop of NonGale into its strands. Note the touch that stops Ana Lucia from interrupting him. The counting before the shots. She stops him – agreed she’s trained for such actions – but we’ve seen Sayid in action. He’s tough to stop when he’s certain of his path and when he’s enraged. He’s not enraged here. He knows exactly what he’s saying and doing. Ana Lucia might not know the script exactly but she knew her role. She didn’t even have to pull him down as she did – simply striking his arms up would have the same effect – NonGale hating Sayid more than anything and Ana Lucia saving his miserable life. And as WhoKnowsWhy points out, look again at the scene. There is a look that is exchanged. It’s quick. But it’s there.


If that's the case, wouldn't the writers give us a scene showing that so we don't get the wrong idea about one of the heroes? (Not that the writers have ever been big on giving us information we need.) As it is, we can only assume Ana was only there to keep Sayid from flying off the handle - there didn't really seem to be a lot of plan or reason or order to that interrogation scene, or any of the others, for that matter.



We’re not done here. The writers have time to let us see this. I’m keeping in mind Ana Lucia’s statement to him in the jungle when they first hit the meadow “If I'm going to back your play on this, Sayid, we need to be sure.”


Not!Henry tells what he wants to tell, and from the way he's manipulated Locke et. al, is much more in control of things than any of the castaways, even Sayid.


I agree that Sayid lost it on the first interrogation. Completely and that NonGale was leading him by the nose. That wasn't the case with the second appearance. The pulling of the gun seemed in line with the rough tactics that Sayid used initially. With the advent of Good Cop/Bad Cop, now is not the time for Sayid to stay calm. NotGale must be convinced that at any moment Sayid could snap. Otherwise how is Ana Lucia to be the good cop?

I said he was more focused than in Collision and One of Them, not that he was as focused as when he was in the guard. He wasn't that focused when he tortured Sawyer. Sayid is different since the crash. He has changed from that person we met in Solitary. His search for Nadia, Essam, the crash, and Shannon's death have all changed him. My point is that he is becoming more focused again, rather than less. He did not have a raging temper tantrum this week. We don't know how long he had been in there. He was interrogating him very coolly until NotHenry refused to answer his question about how many Others there were. Then he looks at Ana and they go into their act. It was all a part of the plan.

I see Sayid as a survivor. He may regress, but he will find his way again.

NotHenry HAS manipulated things up to a point, but that is about to change. Sayid and Ana are working together. Jack is now a party to the interrogation since it's been proven the prisoner is an Other. Locke will not believe him about the button, so his only "friend" among the lostaways won't protect him anymore. I would not want to be him right now.

I don't think Sayid is insane, but I do think he has so much anger right now that he's allowing it to rule his actions, and his life. If the thing with Henry wasn't 'good cop/bad cop'. then he's starting to make careless mistakes because of his rage, and I think something bad might come out of it - someone will probably get hurt unless he gets some help. I wish we could have seen someone talk to him about Shannon instead of it just being dropped completely. When Charlie was going through his thing after Claire was kidnapped, someone came and had a good talk with him and it helped. I just don't see Sayid being at the top of his game when he's like this.

I don't think he's insane i think he's the only sensible one on the island!

What about in comparison to his very cool, calm interrogation style in the Republican Guard? The Sayid we see interrogating Not!Henry doesn't seem like the same person interrogating Nadia and other insurgents in the Solitary flashbacks. He's acting a whole lot more like pre-island hot-headed (ineffective, except as a vigilante: gasp! parallel/mirror) cop Ana-Lucia than like the effective interrogator.

All that to say, while Sayid's found a few clues through good detective work to prove Not!Henry is...not Henry...He hasn't gotten any other vital information out of Not!Henry himself. So what's the point of his raging and temper tantrum throwing -- especially when that's not Sayid's interrogation style.

Not!Henry tells what he wants to tell, and from the way he's manipulated Locke et. al, is much more in control of things than any of the castaways, even Sayid.

Actually, Mrs. Tater, the high point of Sayid's interrogation career was his very careful and subtle (and mostly nonviolent) interrogation of Locke. He got what he wanted, and without losing credibility with/power over the interviewee.

With Nadia, he seemed unsure even at the beginning . . . thrown off his stride when he discovered she was a childhood friend (as she surely intended) and rattled enough when she described her previous injuries to apologize to her ("but this is something different"). I don't know that we've really seen evidence that Sayid is a GOOD torturer. I'd prefer it if he weren't.

My experience of deep depression is that the rage comes as sudden, unexpected, capricious outbursts rather than in a sustained form. As I see it, a person in Sayid's state is capable of getting frustrated, pointing his gun at someone and threatening to kill him at the count of three--but not of agreeing to go on a hike with Ana Lucia, packing his backpack, hiking several hours and then murdering her in her sleep. That takes cold-blooded planning.

Even if it was intentional (a thought I had and dismissed, but I dunno)--I don't think Sayid and Ana Lucia gained anything with the near-shooting of Not!Henry. Henry already knows all too well that Sayid is the "bad cop." Henry sees Sayid out of control--so out of control that he has to be watched over by his companions. Sayid hasn't gotten anything out of Henry yet, and he's not going to. It's time to write it off as a lost cause.

Actually, I think their best bet now would be to let other Lostaways in on the interrogation (along with Ana Lucia). Kate, Sawyer and even Charlie are experienced con artists; each might have a different approach to conning a fellow liar. Libby is a therapist (or at least a former mental patient--but she seemed very skilled in hypnotizing Claire). Henry seemed plenty impressed by stately Eko (if only he knew!). Motherly Rose just might elicit something different with her approach. Hurley might turn out to be like Columbo--you let things slip because you've written him off as dumb. Just asking Henry to tell his story over and over, to different people who ask different questions, might tease out some information.

Back to Sayid's role in the interrogation . . . I was STUNNED by the corpse reveal and the driver's license in the previous episode . . . and I certainly didn't expect it to be followed up with the $20-bill note in DAVE! I love the LOST writers! I had the thought that Sayid had actually written the note on a hunch (even though his voice hitched quite convincingly at the "love" part). I didn't see anyone else here suggest that, but then I saw it in Interested's "Raising an Army" fanfic over at Lost Forum. It would be a crazy thing to do--there's not enough information to know if there's a chance it's accurate, and if it isn't, you destroy your credibility with the person being interrogated. But maybe Sayid is just crazy enough to do that? Like "Lethal Weapon" crazy?

Either that, or Not!Henry is the unluckiest spy in history. (Not!Henry's note to self: If you're going to assume a dead person's identity, search his pockets first.)

I agree with the good cop / bad cop take (at least that is what I am hoping for). Sayid actually seems to signal Ana--if I recall, with something like a slight raise of his hand, as though to say "not quite yet." As previously mentioned, she disarms him very quckly and easily, considering that he is more highly trained than she in combat and likely physically stronger. He just walks out of the room without protest, and odd reaction for a man in a rage. And then Gale thanks Ana for intervening--thus we see she is beginning to earn his trust. She doesn't push it at this point, though, and leaves. Notably, we never see Ana and Sayid together after this point. She doesn't follow him to confront him or say anything to him.

If that's the case, wouldn't the writers give us a scene showing that so we don't get the wrong idea about one of the heroes?

Of course not! They want us to get the wrong idea about the characters. They wanted us to think Ana kidnapped Sun. They want us to think Gale is an Other and then think he is not an Other and then think he is an Other again. They want us to think that Sawyer is reforming and then they want us to think that he is falling. They want us to think all sorts of misleading things.

As it is, we can only assume Ana was only there to keep Sayid from flying off the handle - there didn't really seem to be a lot of plan or reason or order to that interrogation scene, or any of the others, for that matter.

There did not seem to be, but I suspect more will be revealed later. It seems unlikely to me that Sayid has not calmed down at this point and that he would actually try to kill a useful source of information. If he were still that much on edge, he probably would have shot Henry as soon as they came in the hatch. But he didn't.

And to respond to the question of what's the point of the raging temper tantrum throwning--the point is to get Henry to trust Ana more and to make him more open to her interrogation methods. The pp is right that Sayid isn't going to get anything out of him--not after he lost it with that first beating. But Ana just might, and the more Gale turns to her because she protects him from Sayid, the more likely she is to get something out of him.

That said, I'm not optimisitc Sayid and Ana will succeed with the good/cop bad cop routine. I think Henry Gale--notGale, whatever I'm supposed to call him--is smarter than all of them. In fact, I think he may possibly be the man behind it all.

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=38492

This thread might be of interest to some of you . Its not the same discussion but its a bit of a parallel topic on a similar idea about Sayid. Some interesting insights here.

Naveen is brilliant at acting out Sayid's varying levels of sanity. Sayid is often wise, logical, clear-headed, warm and serene. A lovely charming man to be around. At other times he completely flips out and becomes an intense raging tyrant. He has a dark side and a streak of madness (probably born out of all the trauma he has been through) which surges up every now and again - but he is strong and can control it most of the time. I've been very impressed at how he has forgiven Ana Lucia and does not even blame her for Shannons death.

I don't think he's insane i think he's the only sensible one on the island!

Amen to that, brutha!

Sayid is not insane at all. Ana Lucia is nuts!

I don't think Sayid is insane, but I do think he has so much anger right now that he's allowing it to rule his actions, and his life. If the thing with Henry wasn't 'good cop/bad cop'. then he's starting to make careless mistakes because of his rage, and I think something bad might come out of it - someone will probably get hurt unless he gets some help. I wish we could have seen someone talk to him about Shannon instead of it just being dropped completely. When Charlie was going through his thing after Claire was kidnapped, someone came and had a good talk with him and it helped. I just don't see Sayid being at the top of his game when he's like this.

I'm glad Sayid has that relationship with Charlie, weird as it is. Maybe only crazy outcast Charlie can relate to crazy isolated Sayid right now. Sayid was the one who helped Charlie after he got all strange after killing Ethan.

And they've both lost their blondes, albeit under quite different circumstances. They're two glum, angry, lonely guys.

I thought Sayid was at his best, frankly. He was amazing, so smart and clever and subtle! he totally stole the show in Lockdown and Dave, with very little screen time.
The entire interrogation seemed planned to me, and brilliantly done. Sayid reading out the dollar bill was genius, and Gale just about fell apart then. And why shouldn't he play it rough? Gale deserves to be shot with all the lies and the misleading crap he's pulled on the Losties! Why the hell should they give him any leevay now, or be sympathetic? He's just proven how chillingly sinister he is, and what a great liar he is. This is a war situation, and they need to be as ruthless as The Others. Anything less would be highly lame, IMO.
To me, Sayid proved these last 2 episodes how smart and resourceful he is. The Losties are lucky to have someone like him around. If it hadn't been for him, AL and Charlie would have come running back screaming, 'we found the grave and the balloon! Let Gale go!"
Sayid's a soldier, and he knows this is war. That's why he's willing to do whatever it takes to get the better of the Others and I for one, applaud him! At least Gale won't make any smart *** remarks to him, ala 'got milk'?

I don't understand why people are surprised that Ana was able to disarm Sayid. She is a trained and experienced street cop and he was not expecting it. It was very quick and she was very professional. It all looked very believable to me.

To the main question, no, he is not insane but he is more than a little unstable right now. He can control himself for a time but he can not be trusted where NotHenry is concerned.

Sayid was intent on proving that NotHenry was an Other. That was the only reason for the trek out to the balloon. It was the reason he dug up the grave rahter than take what he saw at face value. It was the right thing to do but his reasons were still his own. Now he has, to his way of thinking, proved he was right. All that is left is for him to punish an Other for Shannon's death. His behaving calm when things are under his control does not mean that the anger and violence is not just under the surface.

He has stated that once NotHenry's alliegence was proven then "something must be done" (something like that). His violent actions before and after the trek all follow that same line of reasoning.

Someone must pay for Shannon and for Sayid, any Other will do.

It will take a scene in the show to convince me that it was a good cop/bad cop act.

Robinhood...there IS a scene in the show. When Ana walks in, Sayid clearly raises a finger toward her. He is doing more than asking her to wait. He points to the exact spot on the wall where he ends up after the gun goes off. I have watched this scene an embarrassing number of times, and made my un-Lost obsessed husband (the Law and Order afficianado) watch too. (without telling him what I was looking for) He saw the same thing. And he KNOWS good cop/bad cop! LOL!

Ana and Sayid are definitely working together. If Sayid simply wanted to punish NotGale he would have pulled a "Charlie" walked in the room and shot him. Yes, Jack and Locke would have been upset, but what could they really have done? It's not like Sayid cares what they think of him. No. Sayid is in soldier mode and he and Ana played the prisoner perfectly. Unfortunately, with Jack's "trade the prisoner" idea...Ana may never get the chance to continue the questioning.

Many astute and observant viewers watched the same scene carefully and did not see any type of organization or cooperation between Sayid and Ana Lucia. Perhaps if you look for it you see it? Perhaps if you don't look for it you don't? But at this point to say that Sayid and Ana are definitely playing good cop-bad cop is pure supposition; just as it is pure supposition to say that Sayid is definitely going mad. It will take another episode or two (or twenty, more likely in the case of these writers) to see whether this is a straightforward storyline or not.

Sorry I used the word defintely above...MV/YV. But I have to say that I was NOT looking for them to be working together when I first saw the scene, yet I noticed it right away, as did many others.

Actually, I think the best evidence that they were working together, that they had some kind of a plan for interrogating the prisoner is the fact that Sayid did not simply shoot him. Why ask him any questions? If Sayid is as insane/depressed/hopeless/bent on revenge as some people want to paint him, why wait? Shoot the guy. Sayid wouldn't care what happened to him afterwards or what the other survivors thought of him.

To me, this proves that Sayid is working in soldier mode. He wants the Others, perhaps to punish, perhaps for the also obvious reasons of finding Walt and keeping everyone else safe. But he doesn't just want anybody. He wants the head honcho. He's preparing for battle. Not insane at all at this point.

I love the fact that a LOST scene like this can be written, directed and acted so that we argue for days about what it means! Same thing with Sayid's stare at AL while she was sleeping--different fans read all kinds of things into that ambiguous look.

Sorry I used the word defintely above...MV/YV. But I have to say that I was NOT looking for them to be working together when I first saw the scene, yet I noticed it right away, as did many others.

Actually, I think the best evidence that they were working together, that they had some kind of a plan for interrogating the prisoner is the fact that Sayid did not simply shoot him. Why ask him any questions? If Sayid is as insane/depressed/hopeless/bent on revenge as some people want to paint him, why wait? Shoot the guy. Sayid wouldn't care what happened to him afterwards or what the other survivors thought of him.

To me, this proves that Sayid is working in soldier mode. He wants the Others, perhaps to punish, perhaps for the also obvious reasons of finding Walt and keeping everyone else safe. But he doesn't just want anybody. He wants the head honcho. He's preparing for battle. Not insane at all at this point.

It seems to me from past episodes, that Sayid has to build him self up to commit violence. He starts out apparently calm and then his emotions sneak in and he works himself up and then acts violently. Both times with NotHenry he acts this way. He is very professional at first but then he loses his detachment and, in some cases, seems to purposely work himself into a frenzy so he can get violent.

Sayid is not a cold blooded killer. Not from what we have been shown. To me he is acting almost like a berserker. He gets himself all worked up to make the violence easier to let loose.