Sawyer, I will be your constant.

Well, it has been a week of crazy fame for Charlie and me. I tell you what: who knew the Lincoln Journal Star was read by so many of our parents’ friends? We hope you enjoyed the article as much as we did…and laughed as much as we did. Oh, local newspapers are the best.

Tonight, we’ve got an interesting episode on our hands. Sawyer is back…and I, for one, am not complaining.

Tonight’s episode: “Recon”

Obviously, the mind immediately wanders to reconnaissance for tonight’s episode, which is a term used in the military meaning the gathering of information. As you’ll recall, we last saw Sawyer agreeing to help Flocke get off the island (Sawyer’s actual words were ‘hell yes’). However, unlike the other survivors who are wandering with Flocke through the jungle, Sawyer’s reason to want to leave the island is to escape his current situation, not go to a different situation. In contrast, Claire is following along with Flocke because she wants to leave the island to find Aaron. On the same note, Sayid is with Flocke because of the promise that he could get back the one thing he lost: Nadia.

But this is not the case for Sawyer. He is desperate to escape the very painful memories that are on the island, but doesn’t really have a plan outside of that. Also, it is important to note that even though Sawyer knows Flocke is an ‘alive deadman’, he has no idea that Flocke is allegedly evil incarnate. Just like the Black Eyed Peas, I gotta feeling that once Sawyer starts interacting with other characters during this jungle hike (see: Kate) and learns a little bit more about what is going down with Flocke, there is a very good chance he will retract his membership with Team Flocke. This is Sawyer we’re talking about. Although he puts up quite a front that he is only in it for himself, he has shown time and time again that he cares about his friends and wants to protect them. (Unfortunately, I’m wondering if this is going to spell disaster for Sawyer by the end of this season...)

But back to tonight. Sawyer doesn’t have the ‘darkness’. He hasn’t been claimed. He just wants to leave this island because he’s alone. Again. Juliet is gone. And Flocke is giving him an out. It seems likely that Flocke will convince him to do some (wait for it) RECON work of Team Jacob before this episode is over.

Think about it. Sawyer comes back to the beach. Everyone runs to greet him. He says he needed some time away to mourn the loss of Juliet. Everyone understands and welcomes him back into the club. Secretly, he is figuring out what the plan is: where are they headed next? What do they know? Who is going to do what? And all that information goes straight back to Flocke.

Minor hiccup in said theory: Couldn’t Flocke just become the smoke monster, hide in a bush, and listen? Survey says: yes. So, there must be some sort of action required with this recon. Foil the plans. Steal something. Plant something (like a tree, but not really). I’m not sure what this will be, but you get the idea, right? Right.

Note: Let the record show that I’m not convinced Sawyer is on Team Flocke for sure right now. What if he goes back to his old ways? Can’t you just see it? Sawyer setting up the ultimate long con against Flocke, secretly aiding Jacob? And he saves the day? Yep. Love it.

Maggie needs to get on a soapbox for just a second.

Okay. We’re almost halfway through this final season. There’s a lot of questions. A few things I’d like to find out…soon, if at all possible.
(1) What is Flocke trying to do? He’s enlisting Sawyer’s help, but why? For what end? And why does he need to go to Hydra?
(2) What can Jacob do to stop him? And does Ilana have any idea what to do?
(3) Do I have it all wrong…should I be worried about what Jacob is trying to do and what Flocke can do to stop him?

Okay, I’m done. Sorry.

Guest Starring Tonight!

Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis, Kimberley Joseph as Cindy, Neil Hopkins as Liam Pace, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Ava, Fred Koehler as Seamus, Allen Cole as duty sergeant, Mickey Graue as Zack, Kiersten Havelock as Emma, Christopher Johnson as police officer and Michael Green as lawyer.

Whew!

More Widmore. Yesssssss. I have a feeling it will be more than the 32 seconds he was on last week’s episode. How did he find the island? Why did he find the island? Is he the person Jacob was referring to? And why couldn’t he splurge for a bigger submarine…tough economic times? Finally, perhaps tonight’s episode title refers (in part) to the recon Widmore is doing from his submarine of Team Jacob on the beach…

Not too surprised with Cindy, Zack, and Emma. They’re on Team Flocke, marching toward Hydra. I predict a line or two of dialogue from each of them, with little to no consequence.

Two female names we’ve never seen before: Zoe and Ava. My money is on “women Sawyer is hooking up with in the alternate timeline.”

Seamus is a funny name. But you want to know something crazy? In Ireland, Seamus is a variant / nickname for a very Lostian name: Jacob. I’m not kidding, you guys! Just like Charlie is a nickname for Charles, and Maggie is a nickname for Margaret…if you are a Jacob living in Ireland, you might be called Seamus. No idea what this means for the show…judging by my track record, nothing. But I’m throwing it out there because that is my job!!

Characters that make me believe alternaSawyer continues to challenge authority: “duty sergeant”, “police officer”, and “lawyer”. I smell legal trouble.

Finally, two very surprising guest stars for a Sawyerisode: the woman Charlie Stephan loves to hate, Charlotte Lewis, and the brother Charlie Pace loves to hate, Liam Pace.

Retrospective: Liam is Charlie’s older brother and member of Driveshaft (“You all everybody!”). He is to blame for the following huge moments in Charlie’s life: addicted to drugs, band falls apart. Lucky for him, Liam is living in Sydney with a loving wife and daughter, apparently having pulled his life together. I predict no major role this week (not sure how he would fit into Sawyer’s story), so I predict a wink appearance in the alternatimeline (like Rose at the employment agency) in tonight’s episode.

Charlotte Lewis is the redheaded anthropologist who wouldn’t die last season. She grew up on the island, met Faraday as a young girl, and came back on Widmore’s freighter. Even though Faraday could do so much better, her death inspired him to “change the past”, which ultimately led to the Incident. I suppose that her death means that Man in Black could take over her body, but it is a little more confusing than that. Unfortunately, we don’t know when Charlotte died, as the island was jumping through time. So, while it is possible, it would mean that she has been wandering around the island undead for a long time (most think she died between the Statue’s construction and the well’s construction…by the way, how is that for vague?) without interacting with anyone. Tough sell. I predict Charlotte is off island in the alternatimeline, doing something annoying (sorry, I don’t like her). And that’s all I’ve got on her.

DVR says…
Locke tasks Sawyer with a mission.

Maggie says…
Seriously? That's it? Okay, so he is going on a mission. A reconnaissance mission? I vote yes.

After a powerful performance on the dock with Kate, it has been several weeks since Sawyer graced the screen. We’re due for lots of Sawyer this week. I, for one, am equal to the challenge. God Bless Sawyer.

Namaste,
Maggie