Sayid's test "failure"

[Jeri]

I had the feeling that the dust that was blown onto Sayid at the beginning of the series of tests was "the Ash" and should have protected a normal person from the tests that were to follow, just as it protected people from the black smoke. So, the fact that he reacted to the tests with pain was an indicator that he was not receptive to the 'protective power' of the ash, and therefore not still 'normal'.