The Long Con
Air Date: 02/08/2006
Locke and Jack team up to ensure that all the weapons floating around the island are kept in the armory, nice and safe. Locke suggests they do the same with the medicine and lets Jack know Sawyer has been helping himself -- again. Jack goes straight to Sawyer's tent and the two of them face off over ownership of the meds. Sawyer claims it's a case of "Finders Keepers." And that's just fine with Jack. He just found them in Sawyer's tent. And now he's keeping them.
In FLASHBACK we see Sawyer in a now familiar scene. He's in bed with a beautiful woman when he has to rush out to make a meeting. He grabs his briefcase and -- oops! -- thick bundles of cash "accidentally" fall to the floor. Only this time, his mark is on to him. But there's a surprise. Cassidy doesn't call the cops -- she doesn't even storm out of the room. Instead she wants him to teach her everything he knows.
Back on the island, Sawyer tells Kate about the army Jack and Ana Lucia are forming -- trying to, anyway. Turns out a chance to tangle with the Others isn't quite as irresistible to everyone as they thought. Meanwhile Hurley tries to connect with Sayid. He knows Sayid's been despondent since losing Shannon and he has something he hopes will cheer him up. It's a radio -- the same one on which the Tailies picked up Boone's signal from the drug plane. Maybe Sayid can boost the power somehow to help them send another signal?
Meanwhile, Sun works alone in her garden when suddenly she is dragged off into the jungle with a hood over her head. Sawyer and Kate follow her screams from the beach and find her bound and unconscious in the jungle. They bring her back to camp where Ana Lucia leads everyone to arrive at the only possible conclusion. The Others are back…
Ana Lucia wants to go after them. But Locke argues for caution, at least until Sun wakes up and is able to tell them exactly what happened. But Sawyer and Kate smell a rat and decide to do a little investigating of their own. Sun was dragged off by the Others just as Jack and Ana Lucia are struggling to build a force to go after them? Hmmm…
In FLASHBACK we see Sawyer grooming his new pupil in the art of the con. Cassidy's a very bright pupil. But she's hungry for more. She wants to learn the long con. And she knows how they can fund it. Cassidy got more money than we thought in her divorce. A whole lot more.
Back on the island Sun has woken up. She can't tell them anything about who took them. But people are tired of waiting around. Jin leads the charge and sums up his idea of what to do next in a single word: "Gun."
In FLASHBACK we see Sawyer meet up with his old mentor, Gordie. He's been playing Cassidy like a fiddle, knowing the whole time there was more money in her. But when Sawyer says he's having second thoughts Gordie makes the decision real easy for him. Finish the job or, die. Turns out everybody works for someone…
Back on the island, Jack arrives at the hatch to find Sawyer sitting at the computer. He opens the armory and discovers it empty. Sawyer got there ahead of him and warned Locke that Jack was coming for the guns. And while Jack wants to put his fist through Sawyer's head, he has bigger fish to fry just now. Jack finds Locke on the beach and demands to be taken to the new hiding place, but Locke doesn't want to take him there. In the end, it turns out he won't have to.
Sawyer emerges with a gun over his shoulder. He played Locke and Jack against each other in a con to win control of the guns. We don't know how he found the new hiding place, but he's got a message for the camp. Seems he didn't appreciate having his things taken while he was away on the raft. But, what the hell, they can keep the shaving cream and batteries. But if anyone on this island needs a gun? They need to come to Sawyer.
That's the thing with cons. In order to work, the victims need to want something. And even on this island -- lots of people want all kinds of things…
Observations/speculation:
* Any significance to Cassidy's name (as in, "Butch Cassidy and...")?
* Did we see the end of the con? Was Cassidy killed? Was Sawyer somehow suckered? Or is it as it appears, he crossed her for his share of the money.
* The always significant number 5 appears again as Sawyer counts down to when it's safe for him to re-enter Cassidy's house. Other characters--Jack, Kate, etc.--have been shown counting this way.
* Seems like the inhabitants are probably safer with the guns under Sawyer's control, no matter how disreputable he may be. Jack and Locke's escalating power plays were getting dangerous.
* The waitress in the restaurant where Sawyer and Gordie meet is Diane, Kate's mother.
* Charlie's become a sad little hobbit. Maybe he spent too much time around that Dark Ring of Morder.
* Any chance the radio Hurley gave to Sayid can be used for communicating with the outside world? Is it really picking up ancient radio broadcasts or did they just land on an oldies station?
* Hurley quotes Harry Nilsson's "Coconut" when bringing the radio to Sayid. There's likely no deep meaning to this. Good song though.
* Locke is seen searching through the pages of books in the Hatch Library. What's he looking for?
* The book Locke's looking through when Sawyer arrives is "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce (read it here), the subject of a fascinating short film that was used as a "Twilight Zone" episode. The story leaves you wondering if a man escapes he's fate of hanging or if he's actually dead--likely a reference to all the "are they really dead" discussion surrounding "Lost."
* Apparently there was another "Twilight Zone" reference the episode too.
* The manuscript Hurley was reading, "Bad Twin," by a supposedly diseased passenger will actually be published May 2 as a cagey tie-in with the show. According to the books' "about the author" notes: "Bad Twin is the highly-anticipated new novel by acclaimed mystery writer Gary Troup. Bad Twin was delivered to Hyperion just days before Troup boarded Oceanic Flight 815, which was lost in flight from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles in September 2004. He remains missing and is presumed dead." You can pre-order a copy of the novel now from Amazon.
* We learn Bernard is a dentist.
Other stuff:
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