Last night's Sayid-centric episode of Lost (Only 10 more!!!) was one of those maddeningly slow eps in which the first 92 percent of the hour feels as if we are crawling down the Plot Development Highway, and the last 8 percent is so slam-bam that at the end Ponch and Jon pull you over for reckless endangerment and speeding.

Whew.

So, where are we? Well, first and foremost, Smokey the Locke Monster has established his Army of Others Plus Losties. (Oddly, Commander Sawyer was not seen in this episode. And where was Jin? Recovering in Claire's Crazy Camp?) In addition to Oceanic Stewardess from Season 2 and Those Two Kids She Always Has With Her, Locke now has Sayid firmly on the dark side. And Crazy Claire, obviously. And accidentally Kate. She's not evil, she's just ... there. I'm guessing she and Sawyer will come together down the road to help defeat the Monster from within the group.

And really, thank goodness Jacob sent Jack and Hurley on the old school mission last week, because wow. What a mess at the Temple. If the Smoke Monster didn't pulverize you, then Sayid did you in. The look on Ben Linus' face when he saw Sayid and realized that the "darkness" had taken over. ... Sundown is usually a good thing because it means, you know, cocktail hour, but in this case ... I's rather have it be 5 o'clock somewhere else.

But back to Sayid. He has, of course, always been the guy who has been struggling to redeem himself. In Iraq, during Desert Storm, he was a torturer for the Republican Guard. Afterwards, he did some terrorist things, etc., etc. He tried really hard to become a "good guy," but in the end received the ultimate punishment in losing the love of his life, Nadya. (Don't forget he lost the love of his Island Life, too, Shannon.) Then he became an assassin for Ben, etc., etc. Then he tried to be good again. It never seemed to really work out.

In Sayid's New L.A. Now, he is still trying to become that good guy, having sacrificed Nadya to his brother because he did not deserve her, but then ultimately succumbing to the murderous side again when his brother (and more importantly Nadya and her kids) are threatened. He kills all the really bad guys, and then stumbles across Jin, duct-taped in a freezer. When last we had seen New L.A. Jin, he was being led away by airport security for having wads of cash in his luggage.

(Side note, I hope you saw Jack walk by New Sayid in the hospital where Omar was being treated.)

Back on the island, Sayid and Samurai Guy have long boring conversations and then beat each other up and then Sayid is banished but then he's not and then he meets Smokey Locke and then he delivers "the Sundown message" and then he kills Dogen and then he kills Dogen's Sidekick and then all hell breaks loose. Sayid has had his epiphany (like Jacob wants to Jack to have) that if you are bad, you're bad, and you just accept it and move on. Naveen Andrews did Emmy-caliber work on this episode, conveying that slow realization/transformation with both Island Sayid and New L.A. Now Sayid. 

At the end, Sayid and Kate are with Locke and Sawyer and Claire on Team Evil. Jack and Hurley are somewhere. The Girl Who Is Not Michelle Rodriguez is with Ben, Lapidus, Sun and Miles. Jin is temporarily unaccounted for.

Clearly, we are headed for a Rumble in the Jungle. A Thrilla in Manila. With Only. 10. Episodes. Left. I think people are going to start dying. How about you?