Season 4, Episode 3:
The Economist
On the Island, Sayid makes a deal with Lapidus, that he will get Charlotte back from Locke if he agrees to bring him back to the freighter. Sayid, Miles and Kate head for the Barracks, while Juliet fetches Desmond from the beach. Daniel conducts an experiment, having Regina fire a payload to his location from the freighter, and is alarmed to notice a huge time discrepancy between when the payload arrives and when it should have arrived.
Locke comes to the location of Jacob's cabin, but finds that it has disappeared. At the Barracks, Hurley pretends to have been abandoned, allowing Locke to get the drop on Sayid's group. Sayid convinces Locke to trade Charlotte for Miles. Kate decides to stay behind with Sawyer. Lapidus agrees to take Sayid and Desmond to the freighter, while Daniel warns him to follow an exact compass bearing.
In flashforwards, Sayid assassinates a man named Peter Avellino on a golf course in the Seychelles. In Germany, he starts a relationship with a woman named Elsa, in order to get information on her employer, a mysterious "economist", who his own employer has instructed him to kill. Sayid eventually admits this to her, but she turns out to be an assassin herself, and shoots him, forcing him to kill her in self-defense. Sayid goes to see his employer, Ben, who tells him he has a new target for him.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Sawyer convinces Kate to stay at the Barracks by asking her what it is that she's so desperate to get back to, considering that the only thing waiting for her is prison.
- Beware the Honest Ones: Hurley manages to trick Sayid's group into thinking he was abandoned at the Barracks in order for Locke to get the drop on them.
- Call-Back: Jack asks Lapidus to confirm that the Boston Red Sox really did win the World Series, something Ben had revealed to him back in "The Glass Ballerina".Lapidus: Don't get me started on that, alright? My dad's from the Bronx, I bleed Yankee blue.
- Deadly Euphemism: Sayid describes himself to Elsa as a "headhunter", which is true, although he neglects to mention that he assassinates the people he headhunts.
- Due to the Dead: Sayid closes Naomi's eyes, covers her up with a blanket, and convinces Lapidus to bring her body back to the freighter when they have space on the helicopter for one more person.
- Exact Words: Sayid promises Lapidus he will bring Charlotte back from the Barracks safely. He never said anything about bringing Miles back too.
- Foreshadowing: Daniel's experiment and his warning to Lapidus to follow a very strict bearing coming to and from the Island foreshadow the events of "The Constant".
- Hated by All: Miles is despised by everyone on the Island who has met him so far, to the point that Sayid trades him to Locke's team for Charlotte without a second thought and Lapidus is completely ok with it.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Kate abandons Jack's team, deciding to stay at the Barracks with Sawyer.
- Multiple Identity IDs: Sayid finds a secret room at Ben's house containing multiple fake passports and large amounts of different currencies.
- Nothing Personal: Danielle tells Sayid that her holding him at gunpoint while working for Locke is nothing personal, which he accepts. In general, the survivors' "conflict" is pretty friendly, even while they're all tricking and pointing guns at each other.
- Refuge in Audacity: Sayid trades Miles for Charlotte to fulfill his deal with Lapidus, which Lapidus is totally ok with, since Miles is a jerk that nobody likes.
- Replacement Flat Character: Lampshaded by Hurley with regard to Miles, who has essentially replaced Sawyer as the jerk who gives everyone nicknames now that Sawyer has become a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.Miles: Where the hell did they go, Tubby?
Hurley: Oh, awesome. The ship sent us another Sawyer. - The Reveal: Sayid is one of the Oceanic 6 who escaped the Island. He's also working for Ben in the future.
- Tempting Fate: Sayid says that the day he starts trusting Ben is the day he has sold his soul. The flashforwards reveal that in the future, he is working as Ben's personal hitman.
