14. Sayid Tortures Sawyer
Episode: Confidence Man (1×08)
This is the first episode where we learn something about Sawyer that hints that he’s not the most horrible person on the island. We learn that he’s a con man, but we also learn that he’s willing to end a con if a young boy would be hurt by the deal. It won’t be for a few episode that we learn why, but the seed is planted. Of course, when we turn to the island, Sawyer proceeds to be as awful as he’ll ever get, denying asthma medication to Shannon for no apparent reason.
Jack sees no choice but to employ the skills of his torture buddy, Sayid. The shot of Sayid sharpening the bamboo is pretty intense. Sawyer finally breaks, but in true fashion, he still maintains control over the situation by demanding to work with Kate and then manipulating her.
13.5. There’s a New Sheriff In Town
Episode: The Long Con (2×13)
The above entry reminded me of another moment I just can’t leave off the list. Well, see for yourself.
13. Sayid Shoots Avellino
Episode: The Economist (4×03)
I more or less hated the flash forwards. While I occasionally don’t mind a tease as to what is to come, I think the show overdid it, sometimes focusing more on this vague future than all the fun going down on the island. But for a brief moment, I was engaged. It was nice to see Sayid playing a serene round of golf. You figure, maybe he’s at peace now. Nope.
Death By Troggles 
Is 13.5 the “Y’all better get used to it” speech?
That speech was so hackneyed and cliche, I almost quit the entire series. When I think of the lowest lows of the show, the writing in that speech is the first thing I think of.
I’d almost forgotten the torturing of Sawyer (to be honest, the majority of things Sawyer does have left me, for whatever reason, whether they be interesting or not). Sayid’s haven’t, for the most part, and I loved the sudden violence on the golf course.
It’s hackneyed, but that was Sawyer 90% of the time. I more so enjoyed the gravity of the moment.
That was Sawyer 90% of the time, which is what made the other 10% of him so damn compelling. And, in fairness, somewhere in the middle Sawyer kind of flipped to being not-so-cliched. But at the start, yeah…
Yeah, I disliked the character right up until around Dharmaville. Once the pretense of the character was dropped, he became a lot easier to watch.
I hated Sayid storylines. The golf course thing was cool, but for the most part I think he’s the most inconsistently motivated character in the show, and he would tend to rub off on other people and make them inconsistently motivated too (particularly with Jack). I “get” all of the criticism of Lost when I think about Sayid.
Agreed, though was he more inconsistently motivated than Charlie?
I’d say Charlie’s motivations were weaker but more consistent than Sayid’s.
It’s weird. I liked the character, I just liked so precious little about the character, if that makes any sense.
But yeah, the moment that stand out with Sayid are always violent: the golf course, the bamboo, the dual murder in the temple (which is about when his character stopped making a damn bit of sense: okay, so he’s feral and conscienceless, but feels badly enough about things to betray the dark man later for no solid reason? eh?)
Yeah, he was interesting at the beginning, and became progressively less so ever season.