The season of Sawyer continues!

You know how some eps are just ok, but are elevated because of a great ending? (I’m thinking specifically of last season’s “The Economist” and this season’s “The Lie” but there have been others.) Tonight’s episode, “LaFleur” was the opposite: a fantastic and entertaining hour which ends with a bit of a blërg. Mostly because I am a big ol’ Kate-hater, probably; no one stops momentum on the show like she does. I think Evangeline Lilly is a capable actress – not great, not terrible – but the character is just endlessly annoying and pointless. And I really don’t get the appeal.

It’s not like I didn’t know that it was eventually going to happen – their reunion, I mean. The execution was just too clunky and melodramatic for me, especially after all the Sawyer greatness that preceded.

Anyway, a minor squabble with the almost best ep of the season (it might have surpassed “Jughead” with a better end), so onto my highlights:

The Four-Toed Statue! I clapped when it appeared (ask Angela, she made fun of me because of it). My first thought was that it looked kinda Egyptian (like the hieroglyphics seen so often throughout the show – on the countdown clock, on the door Ben went through to summon Smokey, on the outside of Smokey’s temple). Also, if we’re talking about resurrection/reincarnation, so are the Egyptians with their mummies and all. (Update 3:30pm: I just read that the symbol on Paul’s necklace is an ankh, which symbolizes everlasting life – it also appeared on the statue.) Awesome to see the statue though and I wish we could have explored it more, but I suspect there really would not be much for the left behinders to do that far in the past. I also wish I knew more about Ancient Egyptian culture and could come up with some better conclusions.

It seems like 1974 was when they were supposed to be. I’ve stated before that I think that there was some sort of intent to when they flashed to – I think this final flash is no exception. Maybe the Island was skipping because Jack, Kate, Hurley, etc. left when they should not have and not necessarily because Locke didn’t push the wheel the first time. I wonder if they had stayed and Ben had pushed the wheel if they would have all just been zapped to the 70s with no other flashes.

Obvious conclusion: All of them on the Island in the 70s cannot live past the Purge – either they get off the Island (via sub, presumably), travel through time or die because of Ben. Unless older versions of these characters are hidden among the Others in the 00s, I don’t think there are any other alternatives.

So the security station at the beginning of the ep was The Flame – that’s where Mikhail was holed up when we first met him. The girl in The Flame was wearing a Geronimo Jackson t-shirt (I love those little insider-y things they throw in). It seems as though Sawyer set up The Flame/Security station to monitor when Locke would be back. And I’m glad that they did not hold the LaFleur reveal for too long.

Speaking of LaFleur, James was awfully clever in this ep – making smart deductions, asking the right questions. Using the Black Rock as cover story; referencing Jughead and Locke to Richard; surmising that the Island's anti-baby policy was caused by something that has yet to happen. I feel like he was smarter than any character, ever, in the entire series’ run. Very impressed on a character level.

And then, there was that GREAT Sawyer/Juliet scene at the sub. You could feel the chemistry come through the TV screen; it was palpable and just fantastic. I have always been a fan of Elizabeth Mitchell as an actress and Juliet as a character and Sawyer was one of my two favorite characters in season 1 (the other was Sayid). But honestly, I don’t think I ever realized that Josh Holloway was as good as he has been this season. That scene was probably my favorite moment in the episode, so much so that I watched and rewound a couple of times so I could get this full quote from Sawyer: “Well, what about me? You’re really gonna leave me here with ‘The Mad Scientist’ and ‘I Speak to Dead People’? And Jin, who’s a helluva nice guy but not exactly the greatest conversationalist. Who’s gonna get my back? C’mon – just give me two weeks, that’s all I’m asking.”

I’ve written before that I think Lost does established relationships (i.e. ones that existed before the show started) really, really well, but tend to be lacking when it comes to setting up new romances. That’s probably why I have never really cared for Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Kate or Sayid and Shannon, where Des and Penny and Jin and Sun regularly can bring me to tears. So I am so pleased to announce that they have finally gotten one right: a new couple I can get behind! Long live Juliet and Sawyer! (Sawliet?)

I wish I had time to write more (cuz I feel like I could go one for a while about this one), but I’m actually busy, so I’ll bullet the rest of my thoughts:

- I miss Michelle Dessler on ‘24’ – it was really good to see Reiko Aylesworth again. I think she’s gonna be on for a few eps, so I look forward to learning more about her and her mysteriously unnamed baby.
- I love that Jin of 1977 has barely a trace of an accent.
- The truce between the hostiles and Dharma is kinda similar to the truce between the castaways and the Others. (You leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone.)
- Juliet’s reaction to being caught in a lie about the sonic fence was fantastic.
- Miles: “We’re screwed; he’s probably trying to explain time travel by now!”
- Just a random though that I don’t really have time to elaborate on (and I really don’t know if I could anyway): What if Jack, Kate, Hurley, etc. coming back is related to the baby-birthing problem?
- Jeremy Davies was (as usual) fantastic in his few scenes. His grief at Charlotte’s death and insistence that he won’t say anything to her, coupled to his reaction to seeing a young Charlotte in town was heartbreaking. I think I liked Charlotte more because of Faraday. And I miss her already.
- Another great Sawyer line, when he pretty much spoke directly to the online folks: “Your buddy with the eyeliner.” (I forgot to write down the whole line; maybe I’ll update later when I watch again.)
- So I guess Richard with the scraggly hair was smoke and mirrors for young Benjamin Linus.
- By the way, where is young Benjamin Linus?
- Also, where are Rose, Bernard and (especially) Vincent?
- I want a bottle of Dharma-brand Merlot.
- Actually, I think I physically need a bottle of Dharma-brand Merlot.