Sayid Jarrah

Sayid Jarrah wakes on the beach as a stranger among strangers, but he is quickly the one everyone turns to: methodical, resourceful, fluent in electronics and violence alike. A former Iraqi Republican Guard interrogator, he carries a private history he doesn't volunteer, and a quiet, aching hope of finding a woman named Nadia.

Naveen Andrews plays competence and guilt as the same posture — precise hands, watchful stillness, a courtesy that never quite hides what he's capable of. The writing makes him the survivor most useful to the group and most uneasy with himself, and that tension, rather than any twist, is what keeps you watching him think.