Season 2, Episode 14:
One of Them
In flashbacks, Sayid and his troop are captured by U.S. soldiers. When Sayid's commanding officer Tariq refuses to give up the location of an American helicopter pilot, one of the American officers tells Sayid of a past atrocity that Tariq committed in Iraq. Sayid agrees to tortue Tariq for the information. The American lets Sayid go, and tells him he will always be a torturer.
On the Island, Sawyer discovers that Hurley has a hidden stash of food. He makes him help him track down an annoying tree frog, which he kills. Danielle tells Sayid she has captured one of the Others, though the man she has found, Henry Gale, says he travelled to the Island in a hot air balloon. Locke helps Sayid lock him in the armoury at the Swan so he can torture him. Although Henry insists he is innocent, Sayid is convinced he is lying. Jack forces Locke to open the door by preventing him from pushing the button, causing hieroglyphics to come up on the timer before Locke finally pushes the button and resets it. Sayid tells Charlie about Henry, and that he has not forgotten what the Others did to him and Claire.
Tropes in this episode include:
- All for Nothing: Sayid resorts to torturing his commanding officer so that the Americans can recover a captured pilot. Once he's done, he reveals that the pilot was already executed and buried.
- As You Know: Sgt. Austen reminds Sayid that the Americans are here because Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
- Asshole Victim: Sayid tries to justify his torture of "Henry Gale" as this, noting that he is sure that he's an Other because he doesn't feel any guilt for what he did.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Sawyer crushes the tree frog for being annoying, even after Hurley offers to take it further away from the camp.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: In Sayid's flashback, he is disgusted at being made to torture his superior, who was guilty of war crimes. At the end, he swears that torture is never acceptable and that he will never do it again. In the present, Sayid feels no guilt for his torture of "Henry Gale", due to his belief that the victim was a bad person.
- Blatant Lies: Sayid tries to cover for Tariq by saying he already fled, but the Americans see right through it.
- Call-Back: When Danielle gives Sayid her rifle, he inspects it to make sure it works. The last time they were in a standoff, the firing pin was removed, and that was also how she killed Robert.
- The Corrupter: Inman drives Sayid to start torturing, a habit we know he has trouble breaking.
- Foreshadowing: Sayid reminds Charlie that the Others kidnapped Claire and kept her somewhere. The next episode would reveal what happened during her kidnapping.
- Manipulative Bastard: Inman manipulates Sayid into torturing Tariq by claiming he doesn't speak Arabic. At the end, he reveals to Sayid that he does know it, and deliberately got Sayid to do it in order to teach him a new skill.
- One Degree of Separation:
- One of the soldiers who supervises Sayid during his captivity is Kate's dad. He even looks at a photo of her while asking Sayid if he has a family.
- In a later episode we learn that Kelvin Inman was Desmond's partner in the hatch.
- Sergeant Rock: Sergeant Major Sam Austen of 75th Ranger Regiment is seen in action during the Gulf War.
- Wham Episode:
- The timer runs all the way down to zero for the first time since the survivors started pushing the button, and we get a sense that something very, very, very bad will happen if the timer isn't reset.
- We meet Henry Gale, someone who will gain significant importance.
- Wham Shot: Locke fails to push the button in time, and the numbers on the timer are replaced with hieroglyphics.
