It seems like LOST always has a new trick up its sleeve and this week’s “Recon” has more than a few as we see Sawyer play every side against the other. James Ford, party of one?

Dennis

So happy to have a Sawyer episode! Not to hate on Kate every week but, eh, hell, it’s what I do. This episode just proved how little chemistry Sawyer and Kate actually have. I loved Sawyer and Juliet but this episode has proven that Sawyer has chemistry with everyone… except Kate. I was invested in Sawyer and She’s All That’s Jodi Lyn O’Keefe! I was invested in Sawyer and Charlotte! I was invested in Sawyer and Miles! Heck, I was even invested in Sawyer and his very special episode of A Little House on the Prairie.

I’m still fascinated that the LOST writers think there’s enough people out there who still care (ever cared?) about the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle. Ooh Sawyer said he’s going to get him and Kate off the island! Ooh Sideways Sawyer apprehended Sideways Kate (who doesn’t apprehend Kate, is the question?). Still, between Ben’s side-story last week, and Sawyer’s this week, I’m happy the alterna-world is getting more compelling. What does it all mean and how do they relate? I can never answer those questions, when it comes to LOST. At least this is enjoyable head-scratching.

Speaking of which, I meant to mention in this week’s Remote Uncontrolled that Michael Emerson should net another Emmy for his performance. Well, fellow Emmy winning cast member Terry O’Quinn sure is giving him a run for that, playing whoever the hell he’s playing. And speaking of that: Apparently even The Smoke Monster has parental issues on this show. Perhaps Mama Monster was too full of hot air? Yeah, even I hate me for that pun.

Robert

Sawyer’s always been a character that I’ve wrestled with as a force on the show. He’s been the outlaw, the smooth talker, a source of never-ending nicknames, even a competent leader of DHARMAville, but he’s never truly been on the right side of things. Aside from the rare heroics (trying to stop the Others from taking Walt, trying to save Claire from Keamy’s raid,  jumping out of that chopper), he’s only ever been on his side. His new allegiance with Locke—followed by his double-crossing deal with Widmore—tells me he’s still only looking out for self, all in hopes of just getting off the damn island for good.

On the surface, that’s how Sawyer’s always been played, but I suspect there’s something bigger at work here. Just like we’ve discovered how important Kate has been to the formula (yes, that damn triangle made Jack and Sawyer do things they wouldn’t necessarily do), Sawyer surely has a purpose in all this (his playing Locke against Widmore has to be a part of the endgame, right?). Personally, I don’t think he’s ever leaving the island, but in trying to do so, I do think he’s going to give us one final act of heroism (Sawyerism?) by taking out someone important who happens to be in his way. Right now my money is on Widmore for the loss.

That would make his life as alt-Sawyer/James Ford that much sweeter, of course. His life as a detective (partnered with Miles aka The Guy Who Finds Dead People?) is a polar opposite of everything we’ve come to learn about him, but it’s still true to his fundamental character. He’s obsessed with finding the real Sawyer, he still likes him some Watership Down, and his gruff demeanor still rubs people the wrong way, but at least he’s on the side of right now. His blind date with Charlotte was a nice nod to last season (if only to let us know that she did make it off the island and still ends up an archaeologist) but it was the way it went down the tubes that revealed James Ford’s vulnerability. After pondering Half-Pint’s fear over losing her parents and hearing Charles Ingalls kick some mad prairie knowledge, he has a change of heart and tells Miles the truth about his trip to Australia and Anthony Cooper. It showed that this James Ford was a man that could screw things up and still turn back to fix them, rather than barreling through life without looking back.

Still, the biggest difference between this flash-sideways and the previous episodes is that this one left us with a hanging thread. Considering how LOST has handled season openers and finales, this makes me think we’ll eventually see what happened after James caught Kate in the series finale. But that whole ending makes me wonder if all of these flash-sideways, like his car, might get rear-ended at the buzzer. I hope not.

Chris

Only eight episodes left until the finale! All will be answered! It’s almost over! Ahhhhh! Oh ABC On-Air Promotions Department you do enjoy the taunting.

Now that we’re how-many-episodes into the season, I’m starting to wonder about the pacing of the show in its final gasp. And I know I’m not alone ‘cuz my fiancee looked over at me at the end of the episodes asking, “how is this going to end? They’ve answered nothing! Nothing happened in this episode!” It’s true, nothing much happened in this episode. Sawyer went to Hydra Island, scoped it out, appeared to be makin’ deals with both sides and came back and that’s it. The set-up to the final punchline is excruciatingly slow, and in the past I’ve been the guy that’s all “just sit back and enjoy the ride” when it comes to LOST but…c’mon! Now I’m at a point where I’m beginning to struggle to see how this show is going to resolve itself in a satisfying manner.

Having said that, just like in previous episodes this season I thoroughly enjoyed watching a new side of an established character. In this case it was Sawyer and his turn to truth-telling emotionally-stable guy was interesting and fun to watch. Even better was the pairing of Miles/Sawyer as buddy cops. I’d watch that show if they spun it off and I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one! The scene at the beginning with Sawyer’s usual con turned on its head was genius, as was pairing him with Charlotte. Like the previous episodes, alt-Sawyer reached an epiphany, started telling the truth and backed away from his resolve to kill Anthony Cooper (would he have done it anyway? What happened in his alt-Sydney experience?) and even went groveling back to Charlotte after that misunderstanding. Actually I wonder if it was a misunderstanding or if Charlotte was specifically looking for that folder in Sawyer’s chest. The way she played it made it seem like she was hunting for something other than a shirt. Maybe alt-Charlotte is a con artist instead of an archaeologist.

So Widmore’s on Hydra Island. That was a turn of events that I’d forgotten about since the last episode. More questions arise from there – is he from on-island or the alt-sunken-island timeline? What’s locked away in that room? (I read a comment somewhere that said maybe Desmond’s locked away in there…) Who’s this Tina Fey lookalike and will she be this season’s Arzt or Frogurt? Is the MIB actually Aaron? Will Claire eventually kill Kate? And most importantly, will next week’s episode about Richard be the best episode of LOST ever? Hm. Yeah these episodes aren’t answering anything. ABC, you’re fired!

Scott

“Sundown” essentially resolved Sayid’s six year character arc and “Dr. Linus” recast Lost’s chief villain as one of the good guys, so it was only a matter of time before we got a “What Kate Does”-esque letdown. “Recon’s” only real surprise was that so much wheel-spinning came from a Sawyer episode, since Mr. Ford’s entries are always among the show’s finest.

But I wouldn’t rate “Recon” as a waste of time; this was all about set up after a run of episodes full of answers and great character work (I’d be willing to bet that those watching only for answers will find plenty in next week’s fabled Richard entry “Ab Aeterno”). The flash-sideways didn’t quite resolve Sawyer’s deep personal demons the way Locke’s or Ben’s did, but it did end with the stoic con man letting someone in by sharing his pain with his partner Miles. And frankly, I had so much fun watching what felt like a pilot for Ford and Miles: LAPD Nites that I really didn’t care about the narrative moving forward.

Widmore’s return to the island with another obligatory squad of heavily-armed nerds was fairly uneventful and chock full of the kind of hollow dialogue I wish we’d move past by now (“I didn’t kill those people.” WHO DID?? “You know so little.” TELL ME MORE THEN, JERK!). Zoe is a yawn of a character, more like the annoying Pickett than the bizarro psychopath Keamy. I’m thinking everyone who arrived on the sub will be dead in the next three episodes except Widmore, who will be bound and pushed around the island like Ragdoll Ben at the end of season 3.

Not as clear-cut a reaction as we might have expected to this week’s episode, but we’ve still got a way to go before it’s all said and done. What did you think?

Chris Johnston talks about video games old and new at Player One Podcast.