The episode takes place entirely on the island with flashbacks from Sawyer and co.'s time in 1977 with the DHARMA Intiative, back to 1974 shortly after the time flashes stopped. The cutting between events from 1974 and 1977 was handled flawlessly and did a good job of explaining exactly how we got to where we are now/then. Little touches like the improvement of Jin's English did good job of establishing that three years had passed.
It's been a while since we've had an opportunity to see Sawyer's con artist skills put to the test, but he definitely delivered this week. Under the alias of "Jim LaFleur," Sawyer was able to convince Horace with his lie of how his group ended up on the island. Hearing him place little specifics like the Black Rock to sell the lie was a neat touch and shows that Sawyer is a master of his game. Could "LaFleur," the French word for "flower," be a reference to the Orchid station, or possibly Rousseau's French expedition team?
James Ford aka Sawyer aka Jim LaFleur
Besides the appearance of the full four-toed statue, my favorite parts of "LaFleur" were the frequent juxtapositions and ironies in the episode. Here are a few examples:
1. In 1974, when Sawyer wakes up from the sonic fence incident, Horace asks him "How's your head?" and Sawyer replies, "It hurts." In 1977, when Horace wakes up from his drinking binge, Sawyer asks him "How's your head?" and Horace replies, "It hurts."
2. Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Miles, and Daniel have been living a lie for three years, just as the Oceanic 6 have off of the island.
3. Sawyer, the career criminal, is now head of security. In "The Long Con," Sawyer referred to himself as the "New Sheriff in Town". As Chief of Security LaFleur Sawyer is "the new Sheriff in town." He even has a sheriff star in the logo on his DHARMA suit.
4. Juliet delivered the son of Horace, the person that brought Ben Linus to the Island whom was the person that brought Juliet to the Island to deliver babies.
And speaking of Horace's son, he's the one person we now know has been born *and* conceived on the island. We're specifically told that all other DHARMA kids were born off-island. So with the birth of this child, as Sawyer smartly points out, whatever happens to prevent childbirth on the island hasn't happened yet. I think that something is most likely the mysterious "Incident." So then who is the son of Horace? We probably won't find that out for a while (but I believe it is Ethan). But consider this: was he supposed to be born at all? If Juliet hadn't been there, would he have died otherwise? Was having Juliet travel back to DHARMA time necessary for the birth of this kid? And if so, did Ben Linus knowingly recruit her to the island in the 1990's for this sole purpose... the whole 'solving the fertility problem' thing being something he knew she couldn't fix anyway? If so, I think we just saw something really important.
In the final scene of the episode, Sawyer receives a phone call from Jin and heads out in his DHARMA jeep. Jin pulls up in his DHARMA van and Hurley, Jack, and Kate hop out. Sawyer's reaction to seeing his friend for the first time in three years was perfect and was a great way to end this great episode. The next episode, "Namaste" does not air until March 18.
For more information on "LaFleur," including a complete synopsis and transcript, visit LostPedia.com's entry for the episode.
No comments:
Post a Comment