Recon

What better way to begin a Sawyer episode than with our resident “bad boy” uttering his most famous lines; “Son of a bitch”. He burns his fingers while getting Jin a cup of tea or at least I hope that was tea ’cause if it was just water, more than just the water in the temple is messed up. Jin is quick to point out that Locke isn’t Locke after Sawyer tells him that he has joined up with him. Sawyer tells him that he knows that but whoever Locke is has said that he can get them off of the island. Jin isn’t going anywhere, however, until he knows for sure if Sun is on the island or not. Sawyer promises that if Sun is there he will help Jin find her before they leave. As Unlocke returns with his group I noticed right away that Sayid and Claire look real odd. Sawyer and Kate greet each other and this reunion is a little “off” compared to what we saw at the end of last weeks episode.



“Jimmy” as the woman in bed calls him is late to meet whoever “that guy” is. The time is 8:42 and at first I thought we were seeing yet another patented Sawyer con. But this is the ATL where nothing is as it seems. The title is “Recon” so you couldn't blame me for seeing a con being pulled yet another time as a re-con. The woman calls James “dimples” and in the ATL James Ford gets a nickname instead of giving one. She tells him she knows a con when she sees one because she is married to a con man. She asks him how stupid does he think she is and he tells her that she is pretty stupid. He goes on to tell her that she is being set up by the cops. He says his magic word “La Fleur” which brings in the cavalry. In the lead is Miles who is James’ partner and we find out that in the ATL James Ford is a cop. Surprise!




Claire checks on her creepy ass baby thing as she packs some supplies. Kate comes in and asks Claire what it is and Claire says that the bone baby squirrel thing is all she had. Uh, sorry, it didn’t make me feel sorry for Claire if it was in fact supposed to. Unlocke calls his group in for a huddle. Cindy asks him what happened to the rest of the people at the temple. Unlocke tells them that the black smoke killed them. Watch Sayid’s face when Unlocke says this; Sayid knows that Unlocke is the black smoke. Claire holds hands with Kate as Unlocke tells them this which = weird. Unlocke tells Zach and Emma that he is going to take care of them. The group is soon on the move which gives Sawyer a chance to ask Kate about Jack and Hurley. She says that she passed them as she was headed back to the temple so they are OK but she is not sure what happened to Miles. Kate asks Sawyer why he is with Locke and he points out the he is not “with” anybody.




James is looking for Anthony Cooper. He lies to Miles about who Cooper is and then lies about his trip to Australia. Notice the cups of coffee Miles brings with him; one is white and the other is black. Miles tells his partner that he has a blind date with a friend of his. Actually he says the woman is a friend of his girlfriend. At first this slipped by me but then I thought about it and there are no coincidences in the ATL. So who is Miles’ girlfriend because we know her but we don’t know who she is yet. Two thoughts on this is that she is either Ana Lucia who we know is a cop in the MTL so maybe she is still a cop in the ATL and also Miles’ girlfriend. The other thought is that his girlfriend is Rachel, Juliette’s sister, and this is how James will end up sharing a cup of coffee with her in the future when Miles sets him up on a blind date with her. This is why theories are so much fun because we might never know who Miles’ girlfriend really is but we have it narrowed down now in our own minds. Back to the ATL: Miles says that the woman he has fixed Jim up with works with his father at the museum. So can we assume that Pierre Chang is alive and well off of the island in the ATL as well? Sure we can, it’s the ATL and it‘s just another fun theory. Miles continues to question Jim about what is going on with his life and tells him that he can tell him the truth about anything. Miles knows he is lying as it’s fairly obvious that James Ford is not as good of a liar as Sawyer is in the MTL. Miles asks James if he wants “to die alone”.




Unlocke announces that they will be making camp for a couple of days. Sawyer balks at the idea and asks about getting off of the island. Unlocke says that they should talk in private. The two go off and Unlocke tells Sawyer that he wishes he had not interrupted him. Sawyer asks him what really happened at the temple. Unlocke comes right out and tells Sawyer that he is the “smoke thing“. Unlocke says the others were trying to protect the island from him but all he wants to do is leave the island. He tells Sawyer that he is to go to Hydra island and do some recon. Oh, that’s where the title comes from, guess they got me on that one. Unlocke tells Sawyer that he isn’t concerned about Sawyer’s safety. Sawyer wants to know why. Unlocke tells him that he isn’t worried because Sawyer is the best liar he has ever met in his life. This is an odd statement because how does the MIB as John Locke know about Sawyer being a good liar? I’m starting to wonder if the MIB has had a sort of foothold inside of John Locke ever since the plane crashed. That would explain Locke being able to walk after the crash or knowing Sawyer is a good liar. It could also mean that there is a part of Locke’s psyche still buried inside that the MIB can access whenever he needs to in order to get information that Locke had. That would explain how he knew what Locke was thinking as Ben killed him. Anyway, Unlocke reminds Sawyer that they are going to get on the plane that is on Hydra island and they are going to leave and never look back which is what Sawyer needs to hear. Which is what Unlocke is good at saying; whatever someone needs to hear.




James meets his blind date who turns out to be Charlotte, who cleans up real well by the way! Charlotte is an archaeologist. The two share some small talk about Indiana Jones and Charlotte’s whip. She asks him why he became a cop and he tells her that he got to a point in his life where it was either criminal or cop and he chose cop. The two eventually end up back at his place and get to know each other even better. He offers her a drink … of water … no really he offers her water. She asks for a shirt and he directs her to the top drawer on the right. He goes off for the water and she looks for the shirt. On the bureau is Watership Down, A Wrinkle In Time, and Lancelot as well as an 80's boom box and some petroleum jelly. What is James really up to? OK, only the books are important here as all three we know Sawyer read on the island. In A Wrinkle In Time there is a scientist who is help captive on an alien world that is controlled by a large black cloud called “The Black Thing”. In the drawer Charlotte finds a photograph of a young James with his parents. There is also a folder with “Sawyer” written on it. James sees her with the folder and gets all pissy about it and throws her out.




Sawyer gets to Hydra island and we get a few minutes of nostalgia. We see the cages where he was with Kate. He finds the dress they made her wear is still there also. Turns out no matter how much he loved Juliette the last three years, he still has feelings for Kate. Remember what he told Horace about three years being long enough to get over somebody? Guess it’s not.




Kate asks Sayid if he thinks Locke can get them off of the island. He says yes. Then she asks if he is alright and he says he's not. Claire grabs Kate and goes all prison yard on Kate. She tries to stab Kate in the throat who begs Sayid for help which she doesn’t get. Sayid just sits idly by and watches. Unlocke comes to her aid as he pulls Claire off of her and tosses her aside. He tries to tell Claire why Kate had Aaron. Claire keeps freaking out. Unlocke gives her a fresh one right across the face. He tells Claire that her actions are completely inappropriate and says he will deal with her in a moment. He asks Kate if she is ok and you can’t blame Kate for freaking out here. She’s allowed to at this point. Unlocke goes back to Claire and I can’t help but feel that Unlocke treats Claire as if she is a little girl not a woman in her twenties. Maybe that's how you deal with the people with "the sickness".




Sawyer finds the Ajira plane and checks out the nearby camp. He sees marks in the sand where something has been drug through it. He follows the trail into the jungle where there is a pile of dead bodies. Apparently they stink pretty bad. He hears someone running and gives chase. He catches up to the person and he tackles a girl who says that she is “the only one left”.




Liam Pace is in the police station looking for his brother. James tells him that drugs isn’t his department. He says “Good morning sunshine” to Miles who tells James to come with him. Miles doesn’t seem happy. Inside the locker room Miles asks James if he has something to tell him. Miles wants to know why he was in Australia but told him he was in Palm Springs. Miles ran James’ credit card and he knows he took flight 815 back to LA two days ago. This is the first acknowledgement we have that the flight we saw in the ATL was indeed flight 815. James tells Miles that it is none of his business. Miles catches feelings and tells James that they are no longer partners. James is unable to accept what he sees in the mirror and punches it. This got the point across to me that even though in the ATL James Ford is not a criminal but a cop he can't accept himself as he is. In the ATL he never takes the name “Sawyer” and becomes a con man. In the MTL Sawyer always knew who and what he was and has always done what he does best and that is lie and con. Sawyer, unlike his ATL counterpart, doesn’t hate himself for lying and has always been ok with this. James Ford is not. I guess I should point out that one thing is blatantly missing in the ATL and that is the letter. Where is the letter that a 9 year old James Ford wrote to “Sawyer”? I’m starting to see what the ATL is all about now. We are seeing what would have happened if Jacob had not touched the candidates. Think about it, if Jacob doesn’t give little James Ford a pen then the letter to Sawyer can never be completed. Without that letter James doesn’t have anything to remind him of the con man that cause the deaths of his parents. So it is Jacob who put James Ford onto the path of becoming Sawyer in the first place.



Sawyer gives the woman named Zoey a drink from the canteen and she is a fountain of information. He tells her he is going to take her to the main island so she can be with his group. She says “thank God” but Sawyer is quick to tell her that God has nothing to do with it. I want to point out that in this episode we found out what happened to the rest of the passengers on flight 316 and this episode just happened to air for the first time on 3/16.




Unlocke apologizes to Kate and says he takes responsibility for what has happened because he told Claire the others took her baby. He says that he told Claire the lie because in order to get Claire to join him he needed her to hate the others. He said the hatred would “keep her going”. Kate remarks that he is very insightful for a dead man. Unlocke says that nobody is perfect which could mean he is a fan of “Some Like It Hot“ which is the last line spoken by Tony Curtis in the film (a thanks to Lostpedia for that one!). He tells Kate that she is included with the people he has sworn to protect. Kate asks him where Sawyer is and he says he will show her. He offers his hand in helping her to her feet and she refuses it. This acts as a way of telling him she is there but she is not with him even though she does go with him.




On Hydra island Sawyer asks Zoey if she thinks the plane could still fly. She asks more questions and Sawyer realizes she wasn’t really on the plane even though she got Guam right when he asks her where the plane was headed. The question about guns sets him over the edge and he pulls a gun on her. Like James Ford in the ATL, Zoey calls in her reinforcements. Sawyer asks her if her name is really Zoey and she asks him if his name is really Sawyer. Touché. Sawyer goes down onto his knees (which is right where we want him, am I right ladies?) and tells them to take him to their leader. Like all of us, Sawyer knows the pattern LOST has taken for the past five years.




Unlocke and Kate walk to the beach where tells her that he is not a “dead man” as she put it. He says that his mother was crazy and because of this he had some growing pains which caused him to have problems that he is still trying to work through. He says the problems could have been avoided if things have been different. He tells Kate that he is telling her all of this because now Aaron has a crazy mother too. Some people, myself included, give Unlocke some sympathy points after hearing his story. This helped humanize him a little even if he really isn’t human. Let’s look at this a little closer now. The way Unlocke told the story was similar to how Locke told Kate about his failed relationship with Helen back when he was trying to get her to come back to the island in The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham. He struggles to tell the story as he tells it very slowly and deliberately. It hurts to tell this story. Let’s go with the idea that the MIB is Jacob’s brother and in a Biblical turn (which would not be the first one for this show) he would then be Esau. I don’t think anybody is hearing this theory for the first time so let’s look at who their mother was. Rebekah was Jacob and Esau’s mother and in the Bible Rebekah loved Jacob and the boys father, Isaac favored Esau. Esau is cheated out of his inheritance by his mother and Jacob. Is this possibly why Esau thought of his mother as “insane”? Since this would cause animosity between the MIB and his mother perhaps this explains why women on the island were not able to have children. This could be a curse he put upon the island as a way to get retribution. How did he do it? Anybody remember a statue of Tawaret (an Egyptian fertility Goddess) that isn’t there anymore?




For the umpteenth time Sawyer is lead somewhere at gunpoint. He sees men setting up pylons like the ones at the barracks. Sawyer sees the sub and he almost begins to run towards it. He is very interested in seeing just who is inside of that sub.





James grabs a beer and pulls out a TV dinner and watches some “Little House on the Prairie” which a long time ago in the MTL Sawyer told Kate he was a fan. What Michael Landon tells his daughter James takes to heart about people who have died still being with us in our hearts. I couldn’t tell if ALT James was thinking about his parents here or if maybe some thoughts of Juliette were bleeding through. You know I’m still waiting for the scene where they get coffee together. He goes to see Charlotte and offers her a sunflower. This time the yellow flower doesn’t do the trick as it had in the past with Juliette. Charlotte tells him that he blew it and she closes the door in his face. He leaves the flower for her anyway.




Inside the sub Sawyer notices a locked door. Zoey tells him that what is in the room is none of his business. Sawyer is introduced to Charles Widmore. Sawyer tells him that he knows who Widmore is (despite the two of them having met on the island in the 50’s and then living on the island but in different camps for three years during the ‘70’s) because he is the person who sent the freighter to the island to kill everybody on it. Widmore comments that he is surprised by how little Sawyer really knows. He tells Sawyer that he didn’t kill the Ajira survivors but Sawyer doesn’t believe him in fact Widmore doesn’t expect him to. Widmore asks why Sawyer is on Hydra island. Sawyer tells Widmore the truth about Unlocke and makes a deal with him. The deal is he will deliver Unlocke to him in return for safety and safe passage off of the island for him and whoever he brings with him back to Hydra island. The Sawyer that actually cares about other people is back as he plans on keeping his friends safe as well as himself. Widmore asks Sawyer how does he know he can trust him and Sawyer answers “Same way I know I can trust you.”, which simply means they really can’t. The two shake on it and Widmore says they have a deal.




Claire apologizes to Kate and thanks her for taking care of Aaron. Kate and Claire hug it out as Kate reluctantly accepts Claire’s apology. Was it a forced apology by Unlocke? Probably.




Sawyer is greeted by Unlocke as he makes it back to the main island. Unlocke asks him what happened to the Ajira passengers and after Sawyer tells him they are all dead he says “that’s terrible” in a tone that made me not believe that he didn't kill them. I really don’t know what to believe with this guy or thing. Sawyer tells him that he saw Widmore and he came to the island on a sub. It seems Unlocke knows who Charles Widmore is. Sawyer tells him everything he saw including the pylons that Widmore’s gang were erecting. Unlocke asks him what he told Widmore. Sawyer tells Unlocke the truth again as he tells him about the deal he made with Widmore. Unlocke thanks Sawyer for his honesty and Sawyer tells him he did it because Unlocke is the person that can get them off of the island.




Miles meets James as the two talk in a car. James gives Miles the folder marked “Sawyer”. James tells Miles about his parents death. He goes on to tell his partner about why he was in Australia and who Anthony Cooper is. He tells Miles that when he finds Anthony Cooper he is going to kill him. Miles asks James why he didn’t tell him about this before which James answers that if he had Miles would have tried to stop him. The two seem to make amends just in time for a car to crash into them. A hooded figure jumps from the car a runs away. James gives chase in his car. Another cop car is also in pursuit as the person runs down an ally. James and Miles drive down a different ally allowing James to catch the person. The person turns out to be Kate. The first words said in the MTL by Sawyer are echoed here as the last words said by his ATL counterpart. “Son of a bitch”. So now that we know that Sawyer is a cop in the ATL why did he let Kate get away in LA X even after he had to have known she was a fugitive? He had to have seen the handcuffs, right?





Sawyer sits down next to Kate at the fire and he asks her what’s for dinner and she says rabbit. Hope it’s not one of the rabbits from Watership Down. Kate asks him why he is running errands for Locke. He tells Kate about Widmore being on the other island. Although the title may refer to Sawyer's recon mission over to Hydra island it could also indicate that Sawyer is once again forced to play the con game as he attempts to con both Widmore and Unlocke. Sawyer tells Kate that his plan is to let the two of them fight it out and while they are busy with each other they are getting off of the island. She says that they can’t fly the plane and he tells her that they aren’t going by plane they are going to leave on the sub.




Before we wrap this up, let’s talk about Widmore for a minute. He is there but still in the submarine and not actually on the island. Is it possible that he can’t set foot on the island? How about that locked room, what’s in there? Desmond could be in there. Eloise Hawkins knew that the flight to Guam was the one Jack and his group had to take to get back to the island. Zoey knew this too and she got this information from Widmore. So knowing from Eloise that the island wasn’t done with Desmond yet supports the fact that Desmond is on the sub what Widmore. Charles used Desmond to get back to the island but not on the island? Of course the other thought about the locked room doesn’t include Desmond at all but a whole lot of explosives which could be the case, this is still LOST after all.





You know what, there’s still something else that is isn’t sitting right with me. Last episode Unlocke told Ben that he could join up with him and his group over on Hydra island. Did he send Ben there knowing Widmore was going to be there? If this is the case then I am really worried for Sawyer. Dissect this one with me; Widmore and Unlocke could be on the same side. Neither Widmore nor Unlocke seemed that surprised to find out about the others presence. What if Widmore has been working for the MIB all along? We know he didn’t like the way Jacob was running things inside of the Others group. There’s a lot of time unaccounted for where the MIB could have gotten to Widmore and turned him to his side in the Jacob vs. MIB battle. If this is the case Sawyer just got conned himself and this all could come back and bite him in the ass soon. Real soon, in fact, since the conclusion of this episode means we are officially at the half way point of the final season.