Those folks over at “Lost” can be so romantic. For their Valentine’s Day special, they gave us an episode full of love, passion and … murder?

Well, what did you think? That Sawyer and Kate were going to go skipping off into the jungle, while Locke sprinkled them with rose petals and Ben played the violin?

Nope, the star-crossed lovers in this installment were a off-island Sayid—who cleans up really, really, REALLY well—and a German cutie named Elsa who he meets in a cafe.

All is well, until she learns Sayid’s just out to murder her boss, an elusive “economist” who’s only in Berlin a few times a year. Then, whoops, she shoots Sayid, Sayid kills her, and Sayid slinks off to get doctored up by his employer, who turns out to be … BEN?!?

Whoa. The surprise reveal wasn’t that Sayid is the fourth member of the Oceanic 6 (like, duh), but that apparently, the Oceanic 6 aren’t the only ones who leave the island.

And apparently, Mr. Linus is running some crazy underground hit list, with Sayid as assassin and their secret headquarters as the creepiest veterinarian’s office on the planet.

Questions, of course, abound.

Who are the people on this list, and why will killing them protect Sayid’s “friends?” Who are those friends anyway? The rest of the Oceanic sextet? The folks back on the island? What’s the connection between Naomi and Elsa, who seemed to have the same engraved bracelet?

And when exactly did Ben turn into M. and Sayid into James Bond?

All that flash-forward action tied into events happening back on the island.

Sayid strikes a deal with Freighter Frank: If he returns Charlotte from Locke’s camp unharmed, he’ll chopper Sayid over to the main boat.

So Sayid, Kate and Miles head over to New Otherton to attempt a rescue, while Jack and Frank stay behind to watch twitchy Daniel conduct kooky experiments with rockets and tripods. (Seems that Mystery Island operates a half-hour behind the rest of the world. Yes, Daniel, the island is weird. We kinda knew that already.)

Meanwhile, the SKM trio get suckered into a ploy by Locke and his gang: Tie Hurley up and pretend that he was left behind, so ol’ Locky can capture them. (Hurley, you bad boy. Looks like Locke did indeed squash that seed of rebellion we saw in Hurley earlier: Maybe this is where Hurley’s flash-forward regret of choosing Team Locke begins?)

But before the jig is up, there’s a sweet moment between Kate and Sawyer, who wants to stay on the island with her and “play house.” Kate’s answer? Scream a warning to Sayid, who’s found a hidden room in Ben’s house.
And that’s the post-island tie-in: The room’s storing a bunch of bad-looking suits, tons of different foreign currencies and fake passports, all with Ben’s mug on ‘em. Me thinks Ben has been lying about never having left the island before. Shocker! (P.S. Anyone else catch the last name on one of the passports? Moriarty, as in Sherlock Holmes’ archenemy. UPDATE: I’ve now read elsewhere that Ben’s entire alias is Dean Moriarty, a character in Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” Dean had a bum for a daddy: Sound familiar, Ben? And Dean triggers most of the novel’s adventures, just like Ben is the mastermind behind Sayid’s killing spree.)

The island part of the episode winds up with Sayid bringing back Charlotte, as promised, in exchange for Miles as Locke’s hostage. Juliet brings back Desmond from the beach, hoping that he can figure out how who the Freighter Folks are—since Naomi did have that photo of Desmond and Penny.

They claim not to know who Penny Widmore is, but man, those guys are bad liars.

So off Frank goes in the chopper with Naomi’s body, Sayid and Desmond, and we’re left with an image we’ve never seen before: A aerial view of the island, lush, green and beautiful.

There’s a tiny, fleeting smile on Sayid’s face as they finally leave the island, and perhaps, towards their doom. (Those Oceanic Sixers seems to have made a bad deal, huh? None of them seem too happy off the island…)

I’m so psyched that we’re getting a full “Lost” season this year—13 out of 16 episodes, but pish-posh, it’s better than an unresolved 8!

So what are you all thinking? We now know two-thirds of the Oceanic 6—who do you think the last two will be? Who on earth does Benjamin Linus work for? And is he a bad guy after all?

Post your comments below, and check back next Thursday when we’ll discuss another burning “Lost” topic…

(Photos courtesy of Lost-Media)