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Below are several critics’ reviews for episode 5.09 – “Namaste”.

Click on the authors’ names to read the full reviews.

1. Emily Nussbaum (New York Magazine):

Not bad, not bad at all. Granted, we grade on a curve for any episode set in the seventies — peasant tops! — but while it was no LaFleur, this serviceable episode shifted our game pieces nicely, provided a few nice reveals, some Dharma culture, and only two bits of disgusting Kate-Sawyer eye contact. (We watched with our hands over our face.)

Only trouble is that there was a strange shallowness to it all — so much love quadrangle, so many fantasy payoffs of people kicking one another’s ass. Show, you are so strange and inconsistent, why do we love you? Clearly you are our wonderful, awful Kate.

2. Alan Sepinwall:

God, can we just stay in the ’70s for the rest of the series? I’ve been loving this season overall, but “LaFleur” and now “Namaste” feel like a cut above the rest, because the 1977 version of Sawyer may be the most appealing version of any character in “Lost” history. The three years in the Dharma Initiative has mellowed him and given him time to mature. He’s the Sawyer we know (still tossing out nicknames, still chesty with Jack), but he’s smarter, and sneakier, and every bit the leader that Jack mistakenly believed himself to be, and that Sawyer himself never believed he could be. When he dresses down Jack and says he’s going to find a way to get Sayid out of his present predicament, I believe him. Sawyer-as-LaFleur just puts a damn smile on my face and leaves it there for the rest of the hour.

[More reviews after the jump.]

3. Jeff Jensen (EW.com):

”Namaste” in a nutshell: Time travel trio Jack, Kate, and Hurley got assimilated into 1977 Dharma society. Time traveler Sayid was suspected of being a ”Hostile” and got thrown in the Dharma detention center. And back in the present — which in Lost time is the year 2007 — Sun and Lapidus paddled to the big island and learned from Christian ”Dead Man Walking” Shephard where and when the other castaways are. It was a transitional episode of Lost — an installment that cleared up some unfinished business and put everyone where they needed to be for the episodes to come. Coming out of the two-week break, ”Namaste” was good for reminding us where we are in the larger season 5 saga.

4. Patrick Kevin Day (Los Angeles Times):

Most weeks “Lost” raises more questions than it answers. Tonight, we got more answers than questions. But not by much — we still have plenty of questions. What made “Namaste” a great episode was the manner in which it gave us the answers. Instead of having everything spelled out, we got our answers casually, dropped in throughout the episode. So casually, in fact, that those who complain that the show never answers anything could easily continue their gripes, because on “Lost,” the answers come only to those willing to pay close attention.

5. James Poniewozik (Time):

We’re at the time of the Lost season when it tends to be given over to getting-there-from-here episodes. “Namaste” was certainly one of those, setting up the dynamics for the Lostaway Reunion Tour ’77 as it goes forward. The most satisfying, for those of us who tended to get, shall we say, rubbed the wrong way a bit by Jack, was seeing Sawyer assert his authority as alpha dog in trying to get the crew out of their predicament.

As leader before the Oceanic 6′s escape, “You pretty much just reacted. … You didn’t think,” Sawyer tells Doc. “I’m going to think. Because that’s how I saved your ass today.” Pretty harsh. And pretty true, no? I mean, to be fair, Jack did prove himself capable of strategizing and taking the time to contemplate a plan (as when he allied with Juliet in season 3). But it often backfired, and he would do it an a high-handed Doc-knows-what’s-best-for-you manner (see same example).

Jack, for his part, comes back to Sawyer that he did get the Six off the Island. Sawyer does not say—as Ben did in another context—”And how did that work out for everyone?” He doesn’t need to.

6. Tim Goodman (SFGate.com):

While watching “Lost” last night the feeling wasn’t so much that “I really want tons of things to happen and questions to get answered,” it was more “I really missed this show last week. Thank God it’s back.” Mrs. CrankyPants was quick to point out the giant allure of “Lost” – that it changes the playing field (and sometimes the rules) with swift creativity. It’s what makes the series so intriguing – to create whole new scenarios and strange universes out of what’s already familiar to us. And here I thought 1977 was big for the punk revolution ahead, on “Lost” it’s cool because the writers basically say, “OK, we’re back on the island. It’s going to be 1977. Let’s just mess around with what this means for those in the moment, those thinking ahead and those aware that not everybody is in the present. Let’s just tread some water 30 years back in time and see how it all play out.”

So, while you could argue this is a place holder episode, I wasn’t bored for even a second. You can soak in this show, Madge. Whether it’s Hurley’s jokes, the ’70s vibe (and clothing), Miles (we need more of Miles), Young Ben, the Muppets on the monitor, how quickly Juliet gave back Baby Ethan, or the idea that while the ’70s are set in motion, a few of our strange new Ajira friends are on the beach, in 2008 (or is it 2007?), ready to explore. And I don’t trust them at all. I think Caesar has plans. And they’re dangerous plans.

7. Jace (Televisionaryblog.com):

All in all, “Namaste” was an intriguing installment that offered some answers to some of the series’ most recent mysteries while also seemingly setting the stage for some major drama next week. (It helps now that the castaways seemingly know as much as we do now.) After all, there’s only so long that things can stay happy and mellow in the groovy 70s before the darkness creeps in.

8. Paul Levinson:

You gotta hand it to Lost – I certainly do. Tonight’s episode 5.9 was as different from the earlier Los Angeles based story this season as Los Angeles was to the island episodes of the past seasons, and tonight’s all-island episode was another complex gem. What we really having going on are three distinct epics of Lost – the original island and flashbacks, the Los Angeles and island and flashforwards, and now just the island, in two different times.

The feel and flavor is appropriately different. We’re in 1977 Dharma ville, and Sawyer is head of security, living and in love with Juliet. Jack and Kate and Hurley would have a hard time surviving, without Sawyer figuring out how to integrate them. But the result is demoting Jack to a position far inferior to Sawyer’s. He and Jack have a confrontation of sorts tonight, and it’s clear that Sawyer has no intention of ceding any authority, even secret authority, to Jack. Another fine Lost conversation.

9. JOpinionated:

Through five seasons, I never truly considered that the title of the show is about us rather than them. Tonight was the first time that I actually said “I’m lost” out loud. It happened when Sun and Lapidus arrived on the main island, and that they were in a different era than Jin, Sawyer, etc. Even though they were on the same plane as Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid. It only took me 91 or so episodes to realize that Abrams and Lindelof knew exactly what they were creating and how it would affect us.

10. Chris Carabott (IGN):

“LaFleur” set in motion what has been a surprising and welcome direction for the series. Integrating Sawyer’s group with the DHARMA Initiative has given the storytellers and the audience a remarkable new viewpoint on the island and the Lost universe. We’re now able to see events through DHARMA’s eyes and this will hopefully lead to us having a better understanding of the role they play on the island. One perk that is immediately apparent is being able to see those rundown old DHARMA stations at the height of their use. It was great to see The Flame again and Radzinsky (Eric Lange) building a model of The Swan station.

The highlight of “Namaste” isn’t just the reuniting of Sawyer’s group with Jack’s group but how their relationship develops over the course of the episode. The sentimentality of their initial reunion begins to slowly erode over the course of the episode. It’s subtle at first. Juliet’s reaction to the news speaks volumes as she sits silently for a moment knowing that the return of Jack’s group will eventually cause problems for the life they’ve created for themselves. On the flipside, Jack endangered his friends and strangers to return to the island so that he could bring back those left behind. Now Jack finds those he has come back to save living happily ever after (as can be) – in 1977.

In stark contrast to that friendly reunion, Jack and Sawyer’s final conversation this episode cemented the new pecking order on the island. Sawyer is calling the shots now and in his style he let Jack know his place in this new regime. The sense of animosity that quickly resurfaced in that final scene was great and a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sawyer reminding Jack of how people died while he was in charge seemed petty and a little more in line with the Sawyer of old. There’s no doubt he enjoys being the one in charge now. Assigning Jack to janitorial duties was undoubtedly Sawyer’s doing as well.

11. Cultural Learnings:

This isn’t a mind-blowing episode of Lost in terms of major revelations, but it fills in some key gaps that we hadn’t quite pieced together in the last few episodes, and draws attention to our central conflict. The show is purposefully trying to reboot itself in the middle of a season, knowing full well that it’s impossible – that impossibility is embodied by the characters, the characters who are either trapped separated by decades from the people they came to see or those trapped in the distant past with no clue as to their mission. Just as they can’t forget about the past, pretend like nothing happened, neither can I, and this kind of narrative disconnect in fact sends us back to these characters, and even back to past events in previous seasons, to get a real sense of what has changed.

12. Ryan Mcgee (Zap2it):

If “LaFleur” set the stage for the second half of Season 5, then “Namaste” started to place the pieces in motion. While Sawyer is clearly in control at this point, the show reminded us this week just how tentative that control really is. The three-year time of peace, love, and namaste is over. The time for epochal action has begun. And said action may save the Island once and for all, or tear it to shredded, decayed, monster-slithering pieces?

13. Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad):

We’ve had two weeks to stew on the events of “LaFleur” and maybe that’s why I went into “Namaste” expecting so much more. That isn’t to say that I was disappointed with the Oceanic Six/Left Behinders reunion. The simplest way to put it is that the nature of the narrative on Lost has forced the show to change so that these are the types of stories that are most organic to the plot now.

The flashbacks from the first few seasons are a distant memory at this point, and it’s exciting because for a while now, we’ve been watching stuff that didn’t already happen. Well … technically it did since they’re all in 1977 now, but you get what I mean. One thing is for certain – no matter how you slice it, three years is a long time.

That was really the whole point of this episode, wasn’t it? How much things have changed? It works on a much higher level, too, because when Lost is finally over, “Namaste” will definitely be remembered as an episode that changed the tone of the show, as well.

14. Drew McWeeny (HitFix.com):

I thought “Namaste” was a good episode, but not a great one.  More than anything, this was an episode designed to set certain things in motion, bring other things to a resolution, and launch whatever the rest of this season is going to be.  As a piece of stand-alone drama, it’s almost useless, but on any show as mythology-heavy as this one, I contend you’re going to HAVE to have a couple of episodes like this during the year.  It’s inevitable.

The good part about tonight was that you could really hear the clear authorial voice of exec producer Brian K. Vaughan, particularly in the scene where Sawyer criticizes Jack for reacting instead of thinking.  It’s a criticism that’s been leveled against the series over the years, certainly, so it’s a nice little meta-joke, but more than that… it’s similar to some moments in “Y The Last Man,” Vaughan’s comic book series, in which his protagonist was finally called on some reckless behavior after maddening choice after maddening choice.  I like that Sawyer… oh, I’m sorry… LaFleur… put Jack in his place and really called him out.  It’s interesting to see how well Sawyer and Miles and Jin and Juliet have adapted to being part of the Dharma Initiative.

Over the next few days, we’ll be posting the recaps and analyses by Chris Kirkman, Jeremiah, Gitsie Girl and the SL-LOST Team.

Related posts:

1. Episode 5.06 “316″ – 16 Reviews
2. EW Reviews the Season 5 Premiere
3. Critics’ Reviews of Episode 5.08 – “LaFleur”