Season VI, Episode 8 – Recon

Line of the night – “They are setting up pylons, like the ones in New Othertown. You know, like the ones that keep out That Smoke Thing…” – Sawyer (not his best work, but still brought a smile to my face)


This episode was good, but I was actually more stoked with the PREVIEWS of next week’s ‘Richard Alpert’ episode. Off to the episode…It’s 8:42 pm and Sawyer’s knockin boots with a lady friend. It’s not Kate and it's not Juliet…holy sh!t, it’s Taylor Vaughan from “She’s All That”. Sawyer tries to pull the ‘pigeon drop’ con and Taylor ain’t falling for it because she is married to a con man. Taylor pulls out a gun, and asks who is going to save him now. Sawyer’s response, “I don’t need saving.” (We’ve all heard that line before). Sawyer admits that it’s a police setup and all he has to do is say the magic word, and cops will bust through the door. She still does not believe him, so Sawyer says the magic word, “Expecto Patronum!!” Actually he says, “Lafleur” and cops come bursting in. Turns out Miles is his partner in this side-ways timeline. Surprise.

Back from the LOST intro…Jeff Probst is getting Sawyer and Jin ready for the next Survivor Challenge when Flocke returns with the other Others, Kate, Claire and a whacked out Sayid. Jin wants to get out of there to find Sun, but his ankle is still hurting him, where’s Nurse Kim when you need her??? Claire goes to her “Degoba Yoda Hut” and grabs the rope, the knife and a candlestick. She’s up to something, and I don’t think it involves Professor Plum in the Conservatory.

WHOOSH to the Sideways timeline, Detective James Ford is calling every Anthony Cooper on his 'list' to find out if they were in Alabama in 1976. Please note, Anthony Cooper is John Locke’s con-man father whom Sawyer strangled to death with chains back in Season 3. Miles swings by and sets up James on a blind date “with a girl who works with my dad at the museum.” So in this timeline, Dr. Pierre Chang is alive and well.

Back to the jungle and Flocke has a one-on-one with Sawyer. Flocke tells Sawyer that the black smoke killed everyone who stayed at the temple, and furthermore tells him that “I’m the Smoke Thing!” “They were convinced that they were protecting the island from me, when in fact, all I want to do is leave.” Kill or be killed. Flocke has a job for Sawyer. He wants him to gather information from the people on Hydra Island. “You are the best liar I ever met.”

WHOOSH back to 2004 and the Sideways timeline. James Ford is on his blind date, and it turns out to be good ol’ Charlotte. While James and Charlotte are enjoying dinner, Daniel Faraday is sitting in the parking lot stalking Charlotte with binoculars…psycho. Just kidding. James says, “What are you like...Indiana Jones or something?” Chris Gallaway just fist-pumped like a champ. James ‘tells her the truth’ about why he became a cop, “I got to a point in my life where it was either become a criminal or become a cop.” They go back to his place for some hanky panky. She asks for a t-shirt and decides to root through his sock drawer. She finds a “SAWYER” file which reveals that James Ford’s parents still suffered the same fate as the original time line.

WHOOSH to Hydra Island. Sawyer is walking through the former Dharma station and sees the Polar Bear cages. He finds Kate’s shirt, and I was hoping that Isabel was going to sneak up behind him. Apparently she died back in Season 3 at the same time as Mr. Friendly on the beach, but I never noticed that….

Back at the Others camp, and Sayid is in a ‘dead’ zone. Kate asks if he believes Locke can get them off the island, and he half-heartedly agrees. Claire comes out of nowhere and delivers the signature Rock Bottom on Kate. Cat Fight…Cat Fight!! Flocke throws Claire out of the way like a rag doll and Claire continues to rant about how Kate took her baby. Flocke bitch-slaps Claire, “you disappeared, she couldn’t find you, she did what she had to do.” Wow, that was pretty intense!

WHOOSH back to Sideways timeline and Charlie Pace’s older brother, Liam, is trying to track him down. Nice cameo. Miles finds out that James Ford has been sneaking around and lying to him. “I’m not your partner anymore.” This reminds me of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “you can find yourself a new best friend!!”

WHOOSH to Hydra Island, and Sawyer finds the beach camp of Ajira Airways. There’s a pile of dead bodies, so who killed them? In the distance someone is running away. It’s Marlee Matlin from Children of a Lesser God. Actually the girl’s name is Zoe, but she looks a lot like Marlee Matlin. She says that she was collecting fire wood and when she came back they were all dead. Sawyer responds, “Trust me god has nothing to do with it!” (I personally wonder if that is a subliminal message from the writers to us). Sawyer and Zoe walk along the beach, and as they are about to climb into his boat, he pulls a gun on her. Sawyer sees through her web of lies, but not before the cast of the Big Bang Theory jumps out of the brush armed with automatic rifles. “Take me to your leader.”

Back on the main island, Flocke sits on the beach with Kate to show her where Sawyer went. Flocke admits he was the one that told Claire that the Others stole Aaron. She needed something to keep her going. Then he has some very interesting comments, “I’m not a dead man. My mother was crazy. A long time ago before I looked like this, I had a mother just like anyone else. She was a very disturbed woman, and I had growing pains. I had problems I am still trying to work my way through, problems that could have been avoided had things been different.” So what the hell does that all mean? Who’s Locke’s mom? He also adds that, "Aaron has a crazy mother too." I knew it, I knew Aaron was going to have a prominent role, right…right?

WHOOSH to 2004 and Sawyer is enjoying a Hungry Man microwave dinner while watching Little House on the Prairie…interesting combo. RIP Michael Landon. He evaluates how he treated Charlotte when he kicked her to the curb at 3:00 in the morning. He goes to her but ‘he blew it’. Sorry bud, that awesome Sunflower didn’t charm her too much.

WHOOSH back to Hydra Island and the dorks from Big Bang Theory lead Sawyer towards…Widmore’s submarine. Marlee Matlin (Zoe) leads Sawyer down the submarine hatch. A guard that looks just like that dude from The Shield is waiting for him. He takes Sawyer to meet Charles Widmore. They establish an agreement that Sawyer will lead Flocke right up to his doorstep so that they can kill him. In return, Sawyer wants his friends to be protected and safe passage off the island. They shake…and the deal is done.

Back on the main land, Claire apologizes to Kate and they hug…how sweet. Part of me wanted Claire to grab Kate’s head and put her in the Sleeper hold, I am still not convinced Claire is back to normal. Sawyer gets back to the beach and tells Flocke everything about Widmore’s plan, even the fact that, “they are setting up Pylons like the ones in New Othertown…you know, like the ones that keep out That Smoke Thing…” Flocke appreciates Sawyers loyalty.

WHOOSH to our final scene from Sideways 2004. James explains to Miles his obsession with finding Anthony Cooper. He admits that he is trying to track down Anthony Cooper so he can kill him. A runaway vehicle slams into their squad car, and the driver takes off running. This has to be Kate…well Son of a Bitch!

WHOOSH to Camp Flocke, and Sawyer sits with Kate. He tells Kate that Widmore is there for Flocke, and he is going to ‘let them fight it out.’ While this presumed fight is taking place, they are going to get the hell off the island, but they ain’t taking the plane…they are taking the sub.

BAMM- LOST

My first thought at the end was, “Ok dipshit…so I guess piloting a naval submarine is sooo much easier than flying a commercial airplane Just like driving a car, no big deal.”

Will Jack and his group join Widmore to take on Camp Flocke? ORRRR is the whole Widmore arrival really a bait and switch tactic by the writers. What if Widmore is actually in cahoots with MIB Flocke? If Widmore was there to kill Flocke, then that would mean that Ilana (Jordin Sparks) and her "Jacob-is-Awesome" team should have an alliance with Widmore. However this is not the case, because back in Season 4 during Miles's flashback story he is picked up in a van by Bram (Ilana's friend) who informs Miles that he is playing for the wrong team (Widmore's Freighter team).

Where are Rose and Bernard, and who’s team will they be on?

Until next week’s long-awaited Richard Alpert episode, Namaste and Good Luck!

-Slice