So, my biggest problem with Lost is the tokenism of Sayid. He is their nod to multiculturalism, but has very little relevance in terms of the actual plot. He is never used effectively. So many of the things that occurred would not have occurred if Sayid were to actually use his skills as a soldier.
Here is the main example that I have. This is from Episode 2, a small little change that would have impacted the plot dramatically. This is something that a soldier from the desert would NEVER, EVER, EVER, have let happen.
They built a cistern that was about 2 feet by four feet to collect rainwater. It was about 8 inches deep. This seems practical right? WRONG!!! The reason it was wrong is that the tarp they used was at least 12 feet from side to side, if not a 20 foot tarp. So what that means is they folded up the excess. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were trapped on a tropical island, I would use all of my supplies to the maximum of their ability. So, tarps which are limited need to be utilized as effectively as possible. Now, again, you may think this is not very relevant, but I disagree. I grew up in the desert and have an innate sense of water conservation, even though I don’t usually act on it due to lack of necessity. I think that Sayid the ARAB SOLDIER probably would share my view on this topic.
Back to the tarp. Now, a little cistern like they built is ineffective for two reasons.
- It did not maximize surface area
- It did not maximize volume
Now, the way it was built actually required more work than the most effective way of building it. As I said, tarps are limited, but ropes are not. They have a plane full of wires. Instead of building this fancy little prop stand to hold the tarp up, they just could have strung it between some trees. The water running off of the palm leaves would roll right into the tarp and sag in the middle, giving them more gallons than they would have had otherwise. Leaving one side to sag so that excess runs off would make sure that the weight of the water never exceeds the tensile strength of the tarp in a heavy rain.
This leads us to another big problem. Almost the entire plot of the first season revolved around the water problem. If they had used their tarp effectively in the first place, they wouldn’t have moved up to the cave, there would have been no cave in, no split in the group etc…
This is just the first egregious misuse of Sayid as a character and it determined the whole course of the show. If you don’t like this example, we can talk about Sayid’s potential rational discussion with Jack where he explains that he’s not James T. Kirk and Mission critical personal are not for the away team. Or we can talk about how it would have been harder to kidnap people if Sayid had organized a fighting force out of able people, like Sawyer, Kate, Locke, Charlie and many of the extras who didn’t appear until Season 2. He could have organized some operational security.
Instead we have Sayid, be a good little Arab and shoot that branch above our enemy’s head dramatically, or Sayid be a good little Arab and fix this radio/helicopter whatever.