Lost 6.08. Recon
In which we find out that no matter which timeline, Sawyer loves Watership Down, but as opposed to Of Mice and Men, does not spoil the ending for non-readers. :)
As opposed to Jack, I never had that much of a problem with Sawyer; in the first season, I wondered whether he'd be the bad boy with a heart of gold cliché which at that point, with the Spike Wars still raging and Veronica Mars fans being all agog over Logan Echols, I really had more than enough from (or rather, had more than enough of fannish reactions along the lines of "oh why is everyone on the show so mean to our wooooooobiee?"), but he turned out to be a bit more complicated than that, plus Lost never prioritized him above and beyond the other characters. Around ca. the third season, I decided I even liked him, not in a passionate way, but in a "carry on, James, you're entertaining" way. Still, if you asked me about what keeps me watching and which episodes were my favourites, Sawyer episodes wouldn't have made the cut. (Except when they're also Locke episodes.) So last season's LaFleur being one of my favourite s5s caught me a bit by surprise. This season, I was somewhat irritated by Juliet's death mainly treated as something we should pity Sawyer for. Recon, however, thankfully didn't try that even once and instead used Sawyer in an interesting way, plus it moved the story forward. Well done, show.
Reboot!Sawyer - whom I should really call James Ford, as he never used the alias to begin with - being a cop instead of a grifter was a clever and entirely plausible twist on how Sawyer could have turned out with the same childhood trauma but with a different way of channeling it. (And without Jacob's meddling.) His personal life isn't exactly happier, and he's still obsessed with tracking down original Sawyer, aka Anthony Cooper, but presumably all the con victims of Sawyer Prime are better off. Moreover, he's partners with Also Not A Conman In This Timeline Miles which cracked me up and is very fitting. And I have to correct myself already: an ongoing friendship is something neither Sawyer nor Miles managed pre-island in Lost Prime in their grifter days, so they are better off here, in addition to being more productive members of society.:)
Ever since Reboot!Locke and Helen mentioned his father on the wedding invite list, we were all wondering whether Locke's father isn't the bastard in the Rebootverse he was in the Primeverse. While we still don't know how Reboot!Locke ended up in the wheelchair, and whether or not dear old dad had something to do with it, Anthony Cooper at the very least is still a con man in either timeline. Granted, relieving a couple of their money via an affair with the woman isn't the same type of dastardliness as conning your son out of a kidney and pushing him out of a window, but I bet Reboot!Cooper won't turn out to be a misunderstood trickster with a heart of gold, either.
Considering the show first introduced her as an energetic character and then killed her off in a couple of episodes during which she was shown sick and as an object for Daniel Farraday to moon over, I'm really glad Charlotte had another chance to appear. Reboot!Charlotte isn't just alive and well but also shows a refreshing and sane attitude towards romance: as much fun as sex with Sawyer was, he clearly has issues and she's not interested in dealing with them. Good for her, I say. (Meanwhile, the Charlotte/Daniel shippers are relieved as well, I bet, hoping for another go in the Rebootverse, but I have to say that relationship always struck me more as creepy than anything else, considering Faraday never told her what the hell was going on until it was too late, and mostly angsted around her.) Also, I hope we see more of Indiana Jones!Charlotte, but given the show has only nine more eps to go I would understand if not, and would be okay with the implication she's doing her archaelogy thing blessedly free of romantic angst in the Rebootverse.
One more observation about the Rebootverse before I get to the Prime timeline: as mentioned above, Reboot!Sawyer, even without being stranded on an island, turns out to be a fond reader with the good taste to appreciate Watership Down. I never get tired of the Lost writers promoting books. It's a very endearing trait of the show through all seasons. (And a nicely unexpected quality of Sawyers since season 1.) James Ford watching Little House on the Prairie as well made me grin because I wonder who among the writing staff was a fan.
Meanwhile, on the island in the Prime timeline: things get nicely shades of grey again. Sawyer coming to the conclusion that it's best to have Smokey and Widmore duke it out and make a getaway while they're at it is a reasonable plan to make, though this being Lost, I doubt things will work out for him that way. But it's a refreshingly un-suicidal attitude and definitely better than smashing glass or playing Russian roulette. Also, kudos to Sawyer for immediately recognizing what Widmore's people were building on the Hydra island. It's good continuity, too, since after three years as Dharma security chief Sawyer would be able to recognize the sonic security posts if he spots them. Speaking of those three years, at first when he told Kate he intended to use the sub for their getaway I thought "well, that's not better than the air plane, James, because you still need someone to navigate it for you", but I presume in said three years Sawyer could have learned how to maneuvre a submarine. There was one available, he had the time and the access, and it would have been the smart thing to do.
Smokey's interaction with everyone this episode was without metaphorical moustache-twirling. Not exactly trust-inspiring, but highly interesting. For example, I don't doubt for a moment the whole "I had a crazy mother, and now Aaron has one, too" to Kate was said in order to manipulate her, but that doesn't mean it was a lie. (The best manipulators use the truth.) If so, are we actually talking about Smokey's mother (whether or not that was a metaphysical entity or a person), or are Locke's memories starting to influence him, the way they did whe he used the "don't tell me what I can't do" line? (Although in fairness I'd hesitate to call Emily crazy; it's more like she played at being so because, as she admitted at the end of Deus ex Machina, Anthony Cooper paid her to.) Manipulate-via-the-truth is also what I'd call telling Kate why he told Claire the Others had her baby - because it gave Claire focus, and having an enemy to hate is a good driving force - and being upfront with Sawyer about being the black smoke creature and having killed the people at the temple who refused to leave. The question is, if Richard & Co. are right about Smokey wishing to kill everyone, why does he bother? Because he needs these people to get off the island and couldn't do it alone? I do hope it's a bit more complicated than that, and the lack of moustache twirling and gloating gives me a bit hope.
Sawyer versus Charles Widmore was a fun scene, and also answered the question as to whether or not Widmore was in league with Smokey which I've seen theorized elsewhere. My suspicion that smashing the lighthouse glasses is what allowed dear old Charles to finally return to the island grows. Widmore building those sonic devices illustrate he's no fool, either. I wonder whether they'll work on Smokey in Locke's form, if not to deter him than by rendering him actually vulnerable?
Lastly: is it me, ore is the name Zoe as popular as Jack in various shows and movies these days?
As opposed to Jack, I never had that much of a problem with Sawyer; in the first season, I wondered whether he'd be the bad boy with a heart of gold cliché which at that point, with the Spike Wars still raging and Veronica Mars fans being all agog over Logan Echols, I really had more than enough from (or rather, had more than enough of fannish reactions along the lines of "oh why is everyone on the show so mean to our wooooooobiee?"), but he turned out to be a bit more complicated than that, plus Lost never prioritized him above and beyond the other characters. Around ca. the third season, I decided I even liked him, not in a passionate way, but in a "carry on, James, you're entertaining" way. Still, if you asked me about what keeps me watching and which episodes were my favourites, Sawyer episodes wouldn't have made the cut. (Except when they're also Locke episodes.) So last season's LaFleur being one of my favourite s5s caught me a bit by surprise. This season, I was somewhat irritated by Juliet's death mainly treated as something we should pity Sawyer for. Recon, however, thankfully didn't try that even once and instead used Sawyer in an interesting way, plus it moved the story forward. Well done, show.
Reboot!Sawyer - whom I should really call James Ford, as he never used the alias to begin with - being a cop instead of a grifter was a clever and entirely plausible twist on how Sawyer could have turned out with the same childhood trauma but with a different way of channeling it. (And without Jacob's meddling.) His personal life isn't exactly happier, and he's still obsessed with tracking down original Sawyer, aka Anthony Cooper, but presumably all the con victims of Sawyer Prime are better off. Moreover, he's partners with Also Not A Conman In This Timeline Miles which cracked me up and is very fitting. And I have to correct myself already: an ongoing friendship is something neither Sawyer nor Miles managed pre-island in Lost Prime in their grifter days, so they are better off here, in addition to being more productive members of society.:)
Ever since Reboot!Locke and Helen mentioned his father on the wedding invite list, we were all wondering whether Locke's father isn't the bastard in the Rebootverse he was in the Primeverse. While we still don't know how Reboot!Locke ended up in the wheelchair, and whether or not dear old dad had something to do with it, Anthony Cooper at the very least is still a con man in either timeline. Granted, relieving a couple of their money via an affair with the woman isn't the same type of dastardliness as conning your son out of a kidney and pushing him out of a window, but I bet Reboot!Cooper won't turn out to be a misunderstood trickster with a heart of gold, either.
Considering the show first introduced her as an energetic character and then killed her off in a couple of episodes during which she was shown sick and as an object for Daniel Farraday to moon over, I'm really glad Charlotte had another chance to appear. Reboot!Charlotte isn't just alive and well but also shows a refreshing and sane attitude towards romance: as much fun as sex with Sawyer was, he clearly has issues and she's not interested in dealing with them. Good for her, I say. (Meanwhile, the Charlotte/Daniel shippers are relieved as well, I bet, hoping for another go in the Rebootverse, but I have to say that relationship always struck me more as creepy than anything else, considering Faraday never told her what the hell was going on until it was too late, and mostly angsted around her.) Also, I hope we see more of Indiana Jones!Charlotte, but given the show has only nine more eps to go I would understand if not, and would be okay with the implication she's doing her archaelogy thing blessedly free of romantic angst in the Rebootverse.
One more observation about the Rebootverse before I get to the Prime timeline: as mentioned above, Reboot!Sawyer, even without being stranded on an island, turns out to be a fond reader with the good taste to appreciate Watership Down. I never get tired of the Lost writers promoting books. It's a very endearing trait of the show through all seasons. (And a nicely unexpected quality of Sawyers since season 1.) James Ford watching Little House on the Prairie as well made me grin because I wonder who among the writing staff was a fan.
Meanwhile, on the island in the Prime timeline: things get nicely shades of grey again. Sawyer coming to the conclusion that it's best to have Smokey and Widmore duke it out and make a getaway while they're at it is a reasonable plan to make, though this being Lost, I doubt things will work out for him that way. But it's a refreshingly un-suicidal attitude and definitely better than smashing glass or playing Russian roulette. Also, kudos to Sawyer for immediately recognizing what Widmore's people were building on the Hydra island. It's good continuity, too, since after three years as Dharma security chief Sawyer would be able to recognize the sonic security posts if he spots them. Speaking of those three years, at first when he told Kate he intended to use the sub for their getaway I thought "well, that's not better than the air plane, James, because you still need someone to navigate it for you", but I presume in said three years Sawyer could have learned how to maneuvre a submarine. There was one available, he had the time and the access, and it would have been the smart thing to do.
Smokey's interaction with everyone this episode was without metaphorical moustache-twirling. Not exactly trust-inspiring, but highly interesting. For example, I don't doubt for a moment the whole "I had a crazy mother, and now Aaron has one, too" to Kate was said in order to manipulate her, but that doesn't mean it was a lie. (The best manipulators use the truth.) If so, are we actually talking about Smokey's mother (whether or not that was a metaphysical entity or a person), or are Locke's memories starting to influence him, the way they did whe he used the "don't tell me what I can't do" line? (Although in fairness I'd hesitate to call Emily crazy; it's more like she played at being so because, as she admitted at the end of Deus ex Machina, Anthony Cooper paid her to.) Manipulate-via-the-truth is also what I'd call telling Kate why he told Claire the Others had her baby - because it gave Claire focus, and having an enemy to hate is a good driving force - and being upfront with Sawyer about being the black smoke creature and having killed the people at the temple who refused to leave. The question is, if Richard & Co. are right about Smokey wishing to kill everyone, why does he bother? Because he needs these people to get off the island and couldn't do it alone? I do hope it's a bit more complicated than that, and the lack of moustache twirling and gloating gives me a bit hope.
Sawyer versus Charles Widmore was a fun scene, and also answered the question as to whether or not Widmore was in league with Smokey which I've seen theorized elsewhere. My suspicion that smashing the lighthouse glasses is what allowed dear old Charles to finally return to the island grows. Widmore building those sonic devices illustrate he's no fool, either. I wonder whether they'll work on Smokey in Locke's form, if not to deter him than by rendering him actually vulnerable?
Lastly: is it me, ore is the name Zoe as popular as Jack in various shows and movies these days?