Review:
The flashback in this episode is significantly better than the last one. I think this episode my get lost in the shuffle. When we recall the first few episodes we think of Locke’s surprising wheelchair reveal, or Kate’s criminal flashbacks, or even Jacks hallucinations and emotional flashbacks. We don’t really talk about this episode, at least I don’t. I think we should give this episode at least as much recognition as those first few. Sawyer’s story is amazingly written, he really is a “complicated guy (sweetheart)”.
Also in this episode we see Sayid bounce back from getting hit in the back of the head.
Altogether I find this episode, although not mythologically significant, still packs a punch and is very entertaining. I’ll give it a 7.5/10.
Ratings:
-18.21 million viewers.
-Originally aired Nov. 10, 2004
Questions:
-Who is the real Sawyer?
Character Impressions:
Jack
-Jack gets all aggressive towards Sawyer, it’s cute, he’s pretty much hyper-ventilating just talking to Kate about Sawyer. Poor Jack has such misplaced aggression, he’ll be inactive for episodes, then something angers him and he’s almost murderous, (in season 4 he is literally murderous towards Locke).
Kate
-I love watching Kate talking to Sawyer, she’s an amateur con artist, and he has her lapped so many times. She tries to manipulate him but lacks all subtlety, she can find his weaknesses but instead of exploiting them she just declares them which gets his back up and turns his aggression towards her. Kate does have a good moment in this episode when she does the work for us and figures out Sawyer isn’t the same Sawyer from the letter. It makes me wonder whether he wanted her to find that out. Perhaps it was a test to see if she would believe that he was that evil, she doesn’t believe it, so I assume she passed his test.
Charlie
-The peanut butter part between Charlie and Claire is a little hard to accept on the first go through of the episodes, but at this point it really makes sense, it shows how shock is really effecting them, I’m sure this is one of the only realistic “stuck on an island” type thing. I’ll bet I would be doing all kinds of stuff like that, just imagining things to keep myself occupied and satisfied.
Boone
-Boone gets slightly beat up by Sawyer
-Boone was the person reading Watership Down, he had it in his suitcase. I haven’t read the book, does this reveal anything about him? Or was it just a book related to the general theme of Lost.
Shannon
-Shannon not breathing was really not a big deal, could any of us care less about whether she died at this point (or ever).
Claire
-(See Charlie’s)
Michael
-Michael has a hilarious infomercial moment (like the knife crushing the tomato), he’s gutting a fish with some sort of knife thinger, and it’s going fine then he flicks all of the guts at his own face. Good stuff.
Walt
-N/A
Jin
-N/A
Sun
-In these early episodes Sun wasn’t able to speak English very well. But she did save the day with her eucalyptus plant.
Locke
-Locke is absolutely ruthless in this episode. He plants the idea in Sayid’s head that Sawyer was the person who attacked him, and then he gives him a knife and pretty much tells him to go get him. For being a nice considerate guy, Locke’s preservation skills seem to be pretty ruthless.
Sawyer
-Sawyer’s letter was absolutely glorious writing. We thought he was Sawyer and that we see him in the flashback supposedly pulling that con, and causing the death of a poor kids parents. If I recall correctly, I didn’t have a clue that he wasn’t Sawyer until the end of the flashback.
-Sawyer makes me want to be a con-man.
-I had no memory of the black guy in Sawyers flashback who threatened to hurt him if he didn’t give him the briefcase of money (which was his in the first place) plus 50%. He apparently goes back to that guy with nothing, so likely he has been tortured before.
-Sawyer’s stab wound looks completely real. And there have been few Lost moments that bloody.
-Sawyer’s plan is awesome, he doesn’t go through the torture just to kiss Kate, he does it to knock Jack and Sayid down a peg or two, and he succeeds wonderfully. The two of them are so racked with guilt that they can barely get over it. In fact, Sayid leaves because of it. In my mind that was the best part of the episode, when Jack finds out Sawyer doesn’t have Shannon’s inhalers, and he’s evil for taking the situation so far.
Hurley
-“That was like a..Jedi moment”
Sayid
-Bamboo under the fingernails hurts me just thinking about it.
-Sayid’s inner conflict is pretty dull for us now, but at least he made himself useful by attempting to map the island.
Rose
-N/A
Flashbacks (what we knew then):
–
Flashforwards (what we know now):
-The opening scene is exactly the same as in the season 4 finale. Except in this episode it’s Sawyer and Kate in the finale it’s Sawyer and Juliet. If that isn’t enough proof of Sawliet then I don’t know what could convince you (I’m really not into those hybrid couple names, but that name is just too gross not to use).
-One of the main features of the island is that it gives people second chances, This is especially true for Sawyer. Sawyer has led a life probably as hard as Kate’s. He’s obviously tortured because of what he became, his enemy, Sawyer. And from what he says he’s been a con-man since he was 19, I doubt that brought him happiness. We know that he has a daughter, but that just fills him with more guilt because he knows he’s a bad father. Think of how wonderful his life on the island is compared to life in the outside world. He actually has a lot of fun on the island (except in Season 3). Last night I watched 310 – Tricia Tanaka is Dead (with some friends who are watching the show for the first time), and it is amazing how much he has changed, even at that point when Kate abandons him for Jack, he still is able to enjoy himself on the island. He keeps people at arms length still, the nicknames are to alienate people, but he gets along with them. If anyone truly deserves to live on the island it’s Sawyer. I’m still surprised he even got on the helicopter at all in the season 4 finale.
– Izi
Not Confused Just Lost 
Nice review, I loved how you went very into detail and divided the parts of the episodes into categoriest. Keep it up!