"LaFleur"

JANUARY 10, 2011

FOCUS: SAWYER
EPISODE: 5.8
AIRED: MARCH 4, 2009

A Sawyer episode! Haven’t had one of those in a while. “LaFleur” is interesting in that it’s REALLY a Sawyer episode – Jack, Kate, etc barely appear, but James is front and center for two equally interesting stories, one telling the story of how he joined the Dharma Initiative, and another showing him in a leadership role, dealing with a minor crisis before the shit hits the fan (i.e. Jack and the others arrive). And it aired on my birthday! Nice gift, eh?

What I like about the episode is that it’s actually the inverse of a traditional Lost tale. Usually the present day stuff is action-based, and the flashback tells a personal story that relates to it in some way. But here, the 1974 tale has the action (shootouts! A hostile breach!), and in 1977, Sawyer’s finally coming around to enjoying a life without Kate. And while I certainly don’t buy that a man could forget what my lady looked like after just three years (I’d say at least 10), the sentiment is quite heartbreaking.

But at the same time, I really enjoyed the scenes depicting his growing relationship with Juliet. Her claim that she’ll continue to have his back (and the look on her face when he asks it again at the end of the 1974 tale) is quite touching, and it’s actually one of the few romances born out of the show that I totally buy. Sayid and Shannon never made any goddamn sense, and Kate’s back and forths with Jack and Sawyer usually sprung from her being pissed at the other - as much as I liked seeing her and Jack together in the present day, the two never really had that sort of bonding (not counting their very first meeting) that we see with Juliet and Sawyer here. Good stuff.

It was also fun to see him in a leadership role, and being respected to boot. Folks looked up to him, and he seemed happy. He barely even got to be funny in the 1977 scenes (though I liked his reference to the “coconut telegraph” – good thing he switched it from “internet”), but he did get to help settle a couple’s minor squabble and give his girlfriend a flower. And he makes it believable – good on Josh Holloway for his performance here. He’s barely ever gotten to play anything but an anti-hero, but here? Shit, he’s bordering on Matthew McConaughey rom-com mode at times. He even has his hair combed! I’m guessing this episode is a favorite amongst his female fans.

Speaking of the couple, the female is none other than Reiko Aylesworth, who was one of the few characters I liked on 24 (so of course, she was killed). And one of the Dharma guys who first sees “the hostiles” at the beginning of the episode is Kevin Rankin, better known as Herc from Friday Night Lights (the best show on TV!). Lost employed a lot of folks from my other favorite shows over the years, and S5 would be a goldmine – in addition to these two, Jacob was played by the guy who played Lucifer on Supernatural (and the Man in Black, aka Titus Welliver, also appeared on that show), and the great William Sanderson from Deadwood (and about a million other things) will be popping up in “He’s Our You”. All they needed was someone from MST3k and I’d probably be able to forget most of the stuff I didn’t like about the season!

Anyway, damn good ep, possibly the best in the season. Can’t remember specifically liking any one episode for the rest of the season (I’ll know for sure in about 10 days I guess).

Where are we?