First off, I knew from the title of this episode that Sawyer was conning Cassidy from the beginning. I knew it, but I still enjoyed the twist. It was very well done, and quite frankly I love seeing characters come up with brilliant plans, and Sawyer's cons are just that. Brilliant.
So let's take a look at the players in the present day Long Con, and let's start with our new Sith Lord, Charlie.
Charlie, or Darth Heroin as I think he should be known after this episode, surprised me by redeeming himself in my eyes by being totally corrupt. Apparently when he pulls his hood up, he is capable of doing anything dark or possibly evil. In this episode, we see that Charlie has taken the place of "most hated man on the Island," and I'm now seeing that this is a role that Sawyer isn't willing to allow everyone else to have. So Charlie agrees to help Sawyer, partially I think to shift the heat from him, and partially for vengeance. He wants to make Locke look like an idiot, and he manages to do that quite well. I was genuinely surprised by Charlie's participation in the con, since I wouldn't have pegged him for being able to hurt Sun, but in retrospect it all made sense. Charlie has officially turned to the Dark Side. He hasn't actually started using Heroin though, and I'm starting to suspect he never will. He doesn't need drugs to do bad things.
Hurley and Sayid really didn't play any part in the con. They were too busy trying to get a radio signal to work, and I have absolutely no idea where that is going to lead.
Sun. Poor Sun. She got caught up in all the madness, and I truly felt bad for her.
Jin is angry, and I don't blame him. I wonder if this is going to lead to more Jin/Sawyer drama in the future.
Anna Lucia. Okay, so I knew that Sawyer's flashback would be him conning Cassidy, but I genuinely wasn't sure how the current situation was going to play out, and I thought Anna Lucia would be involved. She hates the Others, and wants to help Jack form this army to face them. I was actually willing to give her credit for the move, since I really want to see this army get moving, but I guess she didn't have it in her. Personally I just think its too sophisticated a plan for her tastes. She's too "shoot and ask questions later" to think this one through.
I refused to believe that Jack was behind this con, but at the same time I kind of wanted him to be. I enjoy Jack seeming to become more bad ass, and I thought it would have been an interesting choice to have him be behind something so twisted and diabolical. I also would have given him major props for it.
Okay, let me quote Sawyer's speech in its entirety, because it deserves that.
"How 'bout you listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. You took my stuff. While I was off trying to get us help, get us rescued, you found my stash and you took it. Divvied it up; my shaving cream, my batteries, even my beer. And then something else happened. You decided these two boys here were going to tell you what to do and when to do it. Well, I'm done taking orders. And I don't want my stuff back. Shaving cream don't matter; batteries don't matter. The only thing that matters now are guns. And if you want one, you're going to have to come to me to get it. There's a new sheriff in town, boys. Y'all best get used to it."
So before I discuss Sawyer directly, I should talk about Locke, but I want to point to part of Sawyer's speech that I find interesting. "You decided these two boys here were going to tell you what to do and when to do it." First off, I find it fascinating that the camp has finally settled on Jack and Locke as their leaders, even though I originally thought there was more of a triumvirate of power with Sayid included, but I guess he's been too distracted to care of late. So Locke has taken up the rival position next to Jack, and I truly think it is a RIVAL position. I don't think there's a lot of trust between these two men, not since Boone's death, and I don't think this episode helped matters. Charlie succeeded in making Locke look like an idiot.
So now let's talk about the best part of this episode. Sawyer finally seizes power. I've been wanting this for at least a season now, and the series didn't disappoint. Not only did it deliver a scene where Sawyer took all the power for himself, but it was even more awesome than I thought it would be. I even found myself completely agreeing with him, that the camp shouldn't just blindly follow Jack. Sawyer is a bad ass, and underneath it all he is a good man, and I think he'll do a lot of good with his power. Of course his motives for seizing power were completely suspect, and included equal parts revenge and selfishness, with just a touch of self loathing.
"You run, I con. A tiger don't change his stripes."
So let's talk Kate/Sawyer, because she ended up being the one that Sawyer conned the most in this episode. There were getting on so well too! I really was hoping to watch her read to him, because that would have been so romantic! In a classic angst move though, Sawyer has completely ruined a good thing though. Ugh...
Yes, Kate is right. A big part of Sawyer doing all this would be that so people hate him. Is he guilty over what he did to Cassidy? Or does he just want the attention?
Alright, the other thing I'll say about this episode is that I noticed Kate's mother in the diner in Sawyer's flashback. I've been seeing a lot of connections between all of the character flashbacks, but I'm usually too lazy to note it in these reviews. Don't worry though, I see them!
Rating: 10 out of 10 long cons.
I think this is probably my favorite episode of the season so far, and it might be my favorite episode of the series, even though I gave In Translation the bonus point. I don't think the cons were necessarily very surprising, but they were just fun to watch. I'm starting to think Sawyer is the smartest person on the Island, and I'm glad that he's taken the power back. I cheered loudly for him when he revealed that he was the one with the guns.
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