Get Your Recon

Lost Season Six, Episode Eight: Recon

Top of the mornin’! Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and more importantly, Happy Morning After LOST.

Another week, another episode that underwhelmed Maggie and satiated yours truly. I didn’t love “Recon,” but I view it like this season’s “Lighthouse” episode: what it lacked in plot development or compelling dialogue, it made up for in mythology and did a nice job setting up the next episode. Let’s just hope that next week’s episode is as impressive as Lighthouse’s follow-up, Sundown. (From the looks of the preview – a Richard Alpert backstory episode – I’m betting we won’t be disappointed.)

But we’ve got some nuggets to dissect from Recon; aside from Sawyer bedding two gingers, some serious mommy issues and a really ominous submarine closet. Let’s do this.

LAPD Blues

Recon began with déjà vu all over again: Sawyer’s classic “pigeon drop” con being played out on a hapless, post-coital mark. Only, this ginger was sharper than the average daywalker: turns out, her hubby was a conman, and she was onto Sawyer. Ever a step ahead, Sawyer revealed he was in fact doing Recon on her – that she was part of a setup designed to lead the LAPD to her con artist lover. For proof, he summoned the swat team with a very interesting codeword: LaFleur. Chalk that up as yet another probably-insignificant-but-still-cool commonality between our two timelines.

Different But the Same
Detective Ford is a mostly-readable carbon copy of Scumbag Sawyer. He’s the same smooth-talking, criminally-minded southern gentleman. His origin story – where a conman Sawyer ruins his parents’ marriage and causes his father to kill his mother and then himself – remains the same. And he’s still out for revenge.

But Detective Ford is different in some ways. For one thing, he followed a more noble path toward that vengeance against Sawyer. “I guess I got to a point in my life where I was either gonna be a criminal or a cop, so I chose cop,” he says. The key word there is “chose.” Remember, Jacob’s modus operandi is to lead people to the precipice of a big decision, then trust their inherent goodness to let their free will make the right decision. In his original back story, Sawyer chose evil. This time though, he has chosen to at least accrue some karma by taking down bad guys.

Interestingly enough, this episode featured Miles in a prominent role, but we didn’t see one ghost. Unless you count Charlotte’s glaring white backside. And I do. Miles – playing Ford’s partner on the force – sets James up with Charlotte, who he says works with his dad at the museum. Remember, Miles’ father is Pierre Chang, the mastermind behind Dharma’s time travel experiments. In this timeline, it would appear Chang left the Island (or never went) before it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Interesting. I would’ve pegged Chang as “destined” for that job.

Bottom line: last night’s Sawyer was a familiar face, but the choices he had made left him in different surroundings. Whether his killer instinct is still honed remains to be seen. But something tells me this Sawyer doesn’t quite have it in him. I think he’s a better guy.

Additional fun fact: Sawyer was watching Little House on the Prairie, the very show he told Kate he liked in the Season Three episode, “Tricia Tanaka is Dead.” Whaddya know, that episode was good for something after all.

The Man in the Mirror
After adding a second ginger notch to his belt in as many days, James Ford chases Charlotte out of his apartment when she finds his Sawyer File. Miles – after doing a little recon himself – puts the pieces together and sniffs out Sawyer’s deceptions. Sawyer, frustrated at the rare occurrence of being found out, smashes his hand through the mirror in the locker room.

And here I should apologize. I’ve neglected to mention in any of my writeups this season the significance of mirrors. Every flash-sideways storyline has featured a main character examining themselves in a reflective surface. Jack checked out his mysterious shaving nick in the 815 lavatory, then examined his abdominal scar in his apartment. Kate, Locke and Ben all caught glimpses of themselves, too. The whole gang has had one moment of literal and figurative reflection in each of their respective flash-sideways.

That can’t be insignificant. I believe it has something to do with the motif of self-actualization that I’ve discussed previously. Our sideways characters are – for the most part – at peace with themselves and living, arguably, a better life. Jack’s a good dad, Kate grew a heart, Locke made peace with his paralysis, Ben was selfless with Alex and Sawyer chose cop over con. While these characters all still have their faults, they’re more or less in a better place.

I’m still high on my theory that this alternate reality will be the reality into which our Island-bound castaways “escape,” if they choose to do so. And I think the mirror theme, as a symbol of self-examination, is meant to provide our characters a literal and figurative device with which to examine the merits of that reality. Each character has improved their lives in this reality, but each still has glaring flaws. And perhaps the mirror metaphor is a method of reminding them (and us) that the grass may not always be greener on the other side(ways).

Connect(ion) Four
And I’d be remised if I didn’t mention Sawyer and Kate’s rendezvous. After slamming into his and Miles’ cruiser, Kate runs (shocker!) before Sawyer tracks her down.

So that’s Sawyer and Kate, together. Jin and Sayid, together. Locke and Jack, linked by an inevitable surgical consult. And Ben and Locke, chilling in the teacher’s lounge. Four big connections that may prove the link between our castaways to be strong enough to withstand the test of (alternate) time(lines). Keep an eye on it. I swear, it’s gonna matter.

The Mamas and the Papas

Once again, I found the on-Island story much more compelling than What If Land. Terry O’Quinn’s ability to make me believe he is a completely different character this season is unbelievable. I buy him as Locke, and as Flocke. And last night, Flocke set up several strategic dominos.

Group Dynamics
Locke played Charles Ingalls last night, serving as a reassuring, motivating father to his wayward flock. Pretty ironic for a man who never had a good example of a father to go off of.

After uniting his new band of followers with unwitting participant Jin and new recruit Sawyer – who were left behind at Camp Crazy to babysit Claire’s poop baby – he distanced himself from “the black smoke” by claiming that it killed the people at the Temple. He didn’t see fit to mention that he is the freaking black smoke, so add that to your list of reasons Flocke is Evil. He even took time to console tail section kiddos Emma and Zach, who is still cradling the same teddy bear he’s been dragging around since Season Two.

Next, he sought to chill everyone else the eff out. He explained that they needed to keep moving in order to (metaphor alert!) “take advantage of the daylight.” Innocuous line or another hint that new-look-Locke is, in fact, exploiting these people’s natural goodness (or “light”), for his own personal gain.

Finally, Locke set out to strategically position Sawyer, Kate and Claire, for the next phase of his chess match.

Papa Do Preach
Claire explains to Kate that poop baby was merely a substitute for Aaron. “It’s all I had,” she says. 30 minutes later, Claire jumps Kate. (You would’ve thought that an episode that required me writing “Claire jumps Kate” would’ve been much better.) Locke pulls Claire off to diffuse the situation, but Claire isn’t calming down. He tells her – much like my parents often had to tell me – “this is completely inappropriate.” And when she still doesn’t chill out, Locke proves once and for all that his pimp hand is strong, and swipes Claire across the face. While you may not agree with the methods, you can’t deny that Locke has a very fatherly dynamic with Claire – one that perhaps originated with his protection of her from drug-addled Charlie and his building of Aaron’s bassinet, way back in Season One. Though now, that relationship is in a much darker place; one where Locke seems primed to exploit Claire’s trust in him for personal gain.

Next up on the John Locke tour of fatherhood missions: Sawyer, who trusts Locke more than I would. Locke easily talks Sawyer into a Hyrda Island recon mission, after explaining to his new “son,” that his predicament with the Temple Others was a “kill or be killed” situation – they wanted him dead, he wanted to leave the Island, and something had to give.

Finally, Locke addresses Kate. He apologizes for Claire’s behavior, taking responsibility for creating in her a dark hatred. Interesting to hear Locke rationalize his manipulation of Claire, wasn’t it? He claimed that hatred kept Claire going when she thought Aaron was gone. Some father.

Mommy Dearest
For a show heavy on daddy issues, last night’s mommy blockbuster was a hell of a moment. Locke’s monologue to Kate about his own issues with his lineage was perhaps one of the more revealing mythology moments we’ve had yet.
“You referred to me as a dead man. I am not a dead man…. My mother was crazy. A long time ago, before I looked like this, I had a mother just like everyone. She was a very disturbing woman, and as a result of that, I had some growing pains. Problems that I’m still trying to work my way through. Problems that could’ve been avoided had things been different…(and) now, Aaron has a crazy mother, too.”

Whew. That’s heavy. If Jacob and MIB are indeed meant to be actual historical characters, then we should all be looking up “crazy, disturbing mothers in history” on Wikipedia. I love hearing about pre-body-of-Locke MIB. I can’t wait to see where the origins of that character came from.

Here’s a couple thoughts. As Maggie reminded me, many have purported a “time loop” theory as it pertains to LOST. That everything we’re seeing is just a continuous loop, rehashing the same major events with slightly different twists each time. Last night, we heard Locke refer to his crazy mom, who he then equated to Claire. If LOST is indeed showcasing a repeating loop of time, could it be reasoned that MIB is the manifestation of Aaron? Remember, Aaron has always been ominous. Psychic Richard Malkin warned that “great danger surrounds this child,” and Claire has always been afraid to raise him. What if Aaron – the only character we really know with a crazy mom – is the reincarnation of the Man in Black? Or, put another way, maybe the Man in Black is the grown up version of Aaron. Makes you think again about that mysterious little blondie that Sawyer and Locke encountered in the jungle a few weeks back, doesn’t it?

Or let’s go another direction with Locke’s monologue last night. I hung on the part where he said that his crazy mother had resulted in “growing pains” for him. I don’t think he mean the Seaver Family kind (RIP Boner). He also noted that he was still trying to work through those problems, and that those problems “could’ve been avoided had things been different.” Very interesting. Is Man in Black looking through his own mirror at this point? He seems to be contemplating what an alternate version of himself – one devoid of bad-momma baggage – might’ve turned out. The more we learn about the Man in Black, the more I’m intrigued by the concept of him as a real, living, breathing man. He referenced his “past body” last night, and told Sawyer a few weeks ago that he used to be a man, just like him, who felt pain and loss. So how did this flesh-and-blood man become the ruthless, smokey, Man in Black ala Locke? I think it might have to do something with his physical and mental imprisonment, and perhaps the idea that he can’t leave the Island until he’s unloaded and dealt with that “pain,” that “loss” and that “crazy mother.”

Time will tell. But let’s mentally bookmark Locke’s download of information about his mother. It matters.


Hydra? I Don’t Even Knowa!
Sawyer’s mission to Hydra Island was fruitful, for the most part, if not somewhat confusing. After battling through a half dozen Widmore flunkies – including “Zoe,” or as I like to call her, “Lizzzzz Lemmoooonnnnnnnn!!” – Sawyer finally gains an audience with the man himself. (He even got the line of the night for, “Take me to your leader.”)

Two quick notes: (1) the makeshift pylon fence leads me to believe that Widmore knows exactly what he’s dealing with in Smokey. (2) What’s in that locked closet? More to the point: who is in that locked closet? Early money is on Desmond, who would only go back to the Island if locked in a submarine closet. But, seeing as I’m in NCAA bracket mode, I’ll pick a sleeper: Walt. Sorry, I just don’t think we’re done with him yet.

Sawyer’s contentious, terse meeting with Widmore was a little ho-hum. They wasted no time on pleasantries, however, with Sawyer accusing Widmore of attempted mass murder and Widmore condescending to Sawyer as a misinformed, ignorant pawn. But both men put down their rulers long enough to cut a deal: Sawyer would deliver Locke if Widmore would deliver Sawyer (and friends) off the Island. Fair enough. I did like Sawyer’s response when Widmore asked how he knew he could trust him. “Same way I know I can trust you.” (Read: you can’t, but I’m all you’ve got.)

Upon returning to the beach, Sawyer comes clean to Locke and sets into motion some sneak attack battle plans. Then, he returns to the camp to tell Kate that he’s really just using Locke as a decoy to distract Widmore’s people away from the submarine long enough to commandeer it and ride it to safety. (by the way, worst dramatic ending ever: “We’re taking the sub!” Sigh).

To me, the question is where do Sawyer’s loyalties lie. What’s his motive right now? I think it is, plain and simple, to get off the Island. But it was interesting to watch him claim a variety of different alliances. He told Jin he was “with Locke.” Then he told Widmroe he would turn Locke in. Then he told Kate he wasn’t “with anybody.” It seems Sawyer is playing a game within the game, pushing certain people into place for his own purposes.

In Conclusion

I’m going to end this about 500 words earlier than usual, if only because I don’t think 3000 words are necessary to breakdown a “setup” episode. And because next week looks like it might require 5000.

But I think my main takeaway from Recon is a reinforcement of the motif of moral ambiguity that has been such a big part of this series. I remember in Season One, convincing myself Locke was evil. By the end of the season, I was sure he was good. I’ve repeated this cycle at least 20 times since. Same for Sawyer. And I go back and forth on Jacob, MIB, Richard Alpert and Ben Linus.

Contrast that ambiguity with the show’s very deliberate inclusion of non-ambiguous dichromatic symbolism: black and white. Every day, we hear about problems that “can’t be broken down in black and white.” We hear about things that aren’t as simple as we’d like them to be. We question leaders who ensure us that there is one right answer to a problem. And now we have Jacob and his nemesis, who seem unfailingly tied to their respective color: black or white. Maybe the message behind that, is that no one way is right; no solution is without its drawbacks. And that we as humans – no matter which versions of ourselves we try to hold up to the mirror – are never without flaw.

Namaste.

Charlie