Episode Analysis of 1.08 "Confidence Man"

WARNING: If you have not already seen all of LOST, please DO NOT READ THIS.

My LOST re-watch and in-depth episode analysis will include major details from the entirety that was LOST, and will be written with the perspective of having seen everything already. You will be SPOILED if you read any further. It is far better if you learn the story of LOST for yourself, as it is meant to be seen. Trust me on this, and don't say that I didn't warn you first. Seriously. Stop it. Now. Go watch it. Then, come back here.

To read my original post on this episode, please refer to Confidence Man.

This episode was written by Damon Lindelof, and directed by Tucker Gates. It originally aired on November 10th, 2004.

This is a James "Sawyer" Ford flashback-centric episode.

We begin with Kate, who is walking up the beach, along the shore-line, carrying a bunch of bananas over her shoulder.

She comes across a pile of clothes and boots, a pack of smokes, a lighter, and a paperback copy of Watership Down. She looks to the ocean to suddenly see Sawyer, who is swimming naked.

SAWYER: [from the ocean] "Hell of a book. It's about bunnies."

[We see Sawyer coming out of the ocean, and toward Kate, naked.]

KATE: [looking Sawyer up and down] "Must be cold without your trunks."

SAWYER: "You bet. How about you come a little closer and warm me up?"

KATE: "You sure know how to make a girl feel special, Sawyer."

[Kate walks away.]

In a flashback, Sawyer is in bed with a woman named Jess.

JESS: "You're incredible, Sawyer."

SAWYER: "I love you. Look at you. [making eye contact] What do you want, right now?"

JESS: "How could I want anything else?"

[Jess looks at the clock behind him, and notices the time.]

JESS: "Oh.. Uh-oh. Baby?"

SAWYER: "Oh, what?"

JESS: "I thought you had a meeting."

SAWYER: "Yeah, but it's not until 3:30."

JESS: "Baby? It's 3:28."

SAWYER: "Damn it. Damn it. [Getting up to get dressed.] Baby, why don't you just, uh.."

JESS: "No, just go. You go, okay? I'll stay here.. Order room service, and get fat."

SAWYER: "Why don't you order a chocolate sundae, and when I get back, I'll use you as a dish? [Sawyer pulls a brief case from on top of the armoire and money spills out.] You weren't exactly supposed to see that.."

Back on the Island, after his encounter with Kate, Sawyer walks through the jungle, carrying his book, Watership Down, alone. He suddenly hears some rustling noises. He starts running and finds Boone going through his stash that is hidden in the jungle.

SAWYER: "What are you doing in my stuff, son?"

Back at the caves, Jack tends to Sayid's head-wound, as Sayid catches him up on the details of what happened to him in the jungle a day earlier.

JACK: "This is going to hurt. [He tends to Sayid's head.]  Ready to tell me what happened?"

SAYID: "We were trying to find the source of the distress call. I saw the flare from the beach, and then the flare from Sawyer's position in the jungle. I switched on my antenna, activated the transceiver, and then.. Darkness. Whoever hit me came from behind."

JACK: "And destroyed the equipment?"

SAYID: "Yes."

JACK: "Listen, we're going to figure this out, but don't do anything.."

SAYID: "I will do whatever I need to do to find the man responsible."

Shannon suddenly enters the caves, practically carrying Boone, who is bloodied. Jack and Sayid rush over to help Boone.

SHANNON: "We need some help over here!"

JACK: "What happened?"

BOONE: [sitting down] "Sawyer."

Back at the beach, Claire writes in her diary, while Charlie approaches her, bringing some water.

CHARLIE: "Morning delivery."

CLAIRE: "Aww. You're sweet. Thanks."

CHARLIE: "Well, I figured in your condition, with the extra baggage, you know.."

CLAIRE: "Well, I can still walk."

CHARLIE: "Barely. Anyway, I worry about you out here. You know, it's very.. Sunny."

CLAIRE: "Thus, my hat."

CHARLIE: "There's plenty of hats in the caves. And, we've got a doctor there as well. That'll come in handy."

CLAIRE: "I like the beach, Charlie."

CHARLIE: "Yeah.. Who wouldn't want to spend the day with sand fleas?"

CLAIRE: "I want to be here.. For when we get rescued."

CHARLIE: "When we get rescued, right."

Back at the caves, Jack now tends to Boone's wounds.

BOONE: "Jack. It's fine. It's just a scrape."

JACK: "Yeah.. Lots of scrapes today. I'm running out of peroxide."

BOONE: "He just jumped me, man. I didn't.."

JACK: "Why?"

BOONE: "Shannon has asthma."

JACK: "Asthma?"

BOONE: "Yeah."

JACK: "I've never seen her have an attack before."

BOONE: "Because, she had an inhaler. She's sneaks hits when no one's looking. She's been embarrassed about it since she was a little kid. I guess breathing's not cool."

JACK: "Had an inhaler?"

BOONE: "It ran out a couple of days ago. But, I had four refills, which should have been enough for a couple of months. But, she always forgets her medication.. So, I put it my suitcase. Today, I see that jackass reading Watership Down."

JACK: "You're losing me."

BOONE: "It was in my bags. The stuff that I checked. If he has my book, then he has my luggage.. If he has the luggage, he has the inhalers. Her breathing got really rough today, man. If she has an attack, it's not going to be good."

Back at the beach, Sawyer reads his infamous letter, while smoking a cigarette. Jack enters the tent and immediately starts going through Sawyer's stuff. Sawyer folds his letter quickly.

JACK: "Where is it?"

SAWYER: "Hey, Doc. Long time no see."

JACK: "Where is it?"

SAWYER: "Where's what?"

JACK: "The girl's asthma medicine. Shannon.. Her inhalers."

SAWYER: "Oh. That."

JACK: "You attacked a kid for trying to help his sick sister."

SAWYER: "No, I whooped a thief cuz he was going through my stuff."

JACK: "Yours? What makes it yours? What.. You think you can just take something out of a suitcase and that makes it yours?"

SAWYER: "Which I had to move because everybody just wants to help themselves. Look, I don't know what kind of commie share-fest you're running over in cave town, but down here possession's 9/10ths. And a man's got a right to protect his property."

JACK: "Get up."

SAWYER: "Why.. You want to see who's taller?"

JACK: "Get up."

SAWYER: "You sure you want to make this your problem, Doc?"

JACK: "Oh yeah. I'm sure."

[Sawyer gets up. Kate enters.]

KATE: "Hey, what's going on here?"

[Jack walks away, and Kate follows him.]

In his flashback, Sawyer is in a hotel room with Jess, who is easily being conned by him.

JESS: "You told me you were going to Baton Rouge to close a deal."

SAWYER: "Just trust me. There isn't any time to explain. I'm already late. I miss this meeting, the whole deal's a bust, alright? That's everything I have. 140,000 dollars. There's an oil mining operation in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling platforms. 300,000 dollars buys one share. But, as soon as you invest, a Government Sponsored Fund kicks in and triples your money in two weeks. Triples it."

JESS: "300,000?"

SAWYER: "Yeah."

JESS: "You've got 140."

SAWYER: "I found an investor in Toronto.. Wants in 50/50. In two weeks, we'll be splitting almost a million bucks. Jess, this is my chance."

JESS: "There's another option."

SAWYER: "Yeah, and what's that?"

JESS: "That I give you the 160,000 and we split the profit."

SAWYER: "Yeah, and how in the hell are you going to scare up 160,000 bucks?"

JESS: "My husband."

Back on the Island, Kate talks to Jack on the beach, after his encounter with Sawyer.

JACK: [Furious, but about as threatening as a sand flea.] "I'm going to kill him."

KATE: "That's not going to help us get the medicine."

JACK: "Maybe not, but it'll feel good."

KATE: "So, what's stopping you?"

JACK: "We're not savages, Kate. Not yet."

KATE: "Let me talk to Sawyer."

JACK: "What makes you think he's going to listen to you?"

KATE: "He says we have a connection."

JACK: [Jealous already. Give it a rest, dude.] "Do you?"

KATE: [She gives him the "Are you kidding me?" look.] "Please."

Just at the tree-line of the jungle, Sawyer is chopping wood with the axe. Kate approaches him.

KATE: "What do you want?"

SAWYER: "Excuse me?"

KATE: "What do you want, Sawyer?"

SAWYER: "Freckles, I got so many answers to that question, I wouldn't even know where to start."

KATE: "What do you want for the inhalers?"

SAWYER: "Ah, good question. Hang on a tick. What do I want? [He pauses, thinking.] A kiss oughtta do it."

KATE: "What?"

SAWYER: "A kiss, from you. Right now."

KATE: "I don't buy it."

SAWYER: "Buy what?"

KATE: "The act. You try too hard, Sawyer. I ask you to help a woman who can't breathe, and you want me to kiss you? Nobody's that disgusting. I've seen you, you know."

SAWYER: "Seen me what?"

KATE: "With that piece of paper.. The one you keep in your pocket. I've seen the expression on your face when you read it, and how carefully you fold it up. It means something to you. So, you can play games all you want, but I know there's a human being in there somewhere. Give me the medication."

SAWYER: "You think you understand me?"

KATE: "Yeah. I think I have.."

SAWYER: "Shut up. You want to know what kind of human being I am? [He hands her his letter, forcefully.] Read it. Read it. Out loud."

KATE: [She takes the letter and reads it.] "Dear Mr. Sawyer, You don't know who I am, but I know who you are and I know what you done. You had sex with my mother and then you stole my dad's money all away. So, he got angry and he killed my mother, and then he killed himself, too." [She stops reading.]

SAWYER: "Don't stop now. You're just getting to the good part."

KATE: "All I know is your name. But, one of these days, I'm going to find you and I'm going to give you this letter so you'll remember what you done to me. You killed my parents, Mr. Sawyer."

SAWYER: "Now about that kiss..? I didn't think so."

Back at the caves, John Locke sharpens a knife, while Sayid approaches him for questioning.

SAYID: "Locke.. Where were you last night, around sunset?"

LOCKE: "Well, I'm afraid the only witness to my whereabouts is the boar that I was skinning for our dinner. I heard you were trying to send out a distress call. So, it would seem whoever attacked you has a reason for not wanting to get off the Island. Maybe someone who is profiting from our current circumstances? And, from what I've seen, you and Mr. Sawyer share a certain animosity."

SAYID: "No, he has an alibi. Just before I was struck, he set off a bottle rocket, a signal we had worked out, two kilometers away. He wouldn't have the time to go.."

LOCKE: "..Unless he found a way to time delay the fuse on his rocket."

SAYID: "How could he possibly have.."

LOCKE: "Anyone who watches television knows how to improvise a slow fuse. Use a cigarette. [Locke offers Sayid his knife.] Just in case there's a next time."

Back at the caves, Shannon is having a full-on asthma attack. While she continues to gasp for air, Boone is trying to keep her calm, and Jack searches through his stash of medication, while Sun watches them.

BOONE: "Just try to breathe. Breathe. Come on, Shann. Work with me."

[Sawyer walks into the caves to get some water. Jack confronts him immediately.]

JACK: "Give me the inhalers. Now."

SAWYER: "Hell, I wondered when you were going to stop asking nice. [Jack punches him.] Well, it's about time, cowboy. Been telling you since day one.. We're in the wild. Didn't think you had it in you. [Jack punches him again.] That all you got?"

[Jack notices that everyone is watching him. He shakes his head and walks away.]

In his flashback, Sawyer is in a restaurant, having lunch with Jessica, and her husband, David.

SAWYER: "I'm not sure this is such a good idea."

JESS: "Why not?"

SAWYER: "Because, business between friends is always a little sticky. [to David] I don't know you well, but I know your wife. Working with her at the Auto Dealership, I'm just not sure I'm comfortable."

DAVID: "Louisiana will invest two thirds of the drilling costs.. What is this? A loophole?"

SAWYER: "Look, David.. You're reluctant. I get it. You got your lumbar yard.. You don't need this."

JESS: [to David] "You should do this."

DAVID: "Jess, I don't even know this guy."

JESS: [to Sawyer] "Show him the cash."

[Sawyer reaches down next to his seat, and opens the briefcase slightly, showing the money inside.]

DAVID: [he looks] "How do I know this is real?"

SAWYER: "The money? Hell.. How about you hold on to it for a night? Check it out. I want you to feel secure. [He pauses.] You know what? Let's not do this. I've got another investor who's already committed."

JESS: "David?"

SAWYER: [putting 300 dollars down on the table] "This should cover lunch. And, I'll see you Monday [to Jess]. David."

JESS: "David?"

DAVID: [to Sawyer] "Wait."

[Sawyer, who is walking away, stops and smiles to himself.]

Back on the beach, Charlie and Claire are hanging laundry, and discussing the things from their lives that they miss.

CLAIRE: "Warm fluffy towels. Your turn."

CHARLIE: "Uh, Banoffee Pie."

CLAIRE: "You already said that."

CHARLIE: "Toffee and cream.. mmmm."

CLAIRE: "Is food the only thing that you miss?"

CHARLIE: "You're pregnant. I mean, do you not crave anything? Pickles, fried ice cream, chocolate?"

CLAIRE: "Peanut butter. I'm the only Australian who loves peanut butter."

CHARLIE: "I could get you peanut butter."

CLAIRE: "Yeah.. Sure you can."

CHARLIE: "Yes, I can. And, when I get you peanut butter, you have to vacate this sandy shore of depression and move to the caves. Deal?"

CLAIRE: "Deal."

[They shake hands.]

Back at the caves, Shannon's asthma attack is worsening, and the fact that Boone is completely freaking out isn't helping, either. Jack tries to calm her down, as Sayid watches on.

BOONE: "Help! She's not breathing! [Jack goes over to them.] The attacks are getting worse."

JACK: "Shannon, listen to me. [Trying to calm her down.] Look at me. Look at me. You need to listen now. This isn't just the asthma, it's anxiety. It's in your head."

SHANNON: "No."

JACK: "Yes. You know that your medicine's run out, and you're panicking. Shannon? Shannon, look at me. We can fight this. Together, okay? Nod your head, Shannon. Good. Breathe in through.."

BOONE: "She needs her inhaler."

JACK: "Boone! [to Shannon] Breathe in through your nose. Slowly. No, no, no. In through the nose, like this. [He takes a deep breath, slowly through his nose.] You can do this, Shannon. You can do it. In through the nose. [She does it, and her asthma attack starts to calm down.] You got your breath. Yeah. Your color's coming back. See, I knew you could do this. Do you feel it?"

SHANNON: "Yes."

JACK: "It's passing. Okay. Again, in through the nose. Alright. Just keep doing that. Keep breathing like that. That's perfect. Good job. [Jack takes Boone aside.] Keep her relaxed. Do not let her panic."

BOONE: "Yeah. Yeah."

HURLEY: "Whoa. Man. That was awesome. I mean, that was like a.. Jedi moment."

[We see Jack walking out of the caves. Sayid sees him, and follows.]

SAYID: "Jack.. What will happen if she doesn't get the medicine? [Jack shrugs.] Then, we have to make Sawyer give it to us."

JACK: "Yeah, that's what I'm going to do."

SAYID: "No. Not you, me. I served five years in the Republican Guard."

JACK: "I thought you were a Communications Officer?"

SAYID: "Part of my training entailed getting the enemy to communicate. Just give me ten minutes with him. He'll give us the medicine. [Jack doesn't respond.] Is that a yes?"

JACK: [taking a long moment] "Yes."

Hurley walks through the jungle, as Charlie follows, asking questions about the food from the plane.

HURLEY: "Food from the plane's been gone for over a week, dude."

CHARLIE: "What, no secret stash for emergencies? You and Jack have got a bunch of stuff in that cave."

HURLEY: "Sorry, man. No peanut butter. No peanuts. No nothing."

CHARLIE: "Yeah.. But, there's got to be something. I mean, look at you."

HURLEY: "Look at what?"

CHARLIE: "No. No.. Listen."

HURLEY: "Fat guy hoarding the food.. Is that what you think?"

CHARLIE: "No. It's just, we've been here for two weeks and you've not really.."

HURLEY: "Slimmed down much?"

CHARLIE: "All I need is a bag of peanuts."

HURLEY: "I have no food, alright?! And, for the record, I'm down a notch in my belt. I'm a big guy, it's going to be a while before you're going to want to give me a piggy back ride, okay?"

CHARLIE: "Sorry. Sorry.. That was bad form."

HURLEY: "Yeah. I'm used to it."

CHARLIE: "So, not even a bag of.."

HURLEY: "Dude."

CHARLIE: "Okay. Alright, I'm sorry."

Back at the caves, Michael attempts to clean a fish, and sprays guts all over himself. Sun, seeing that no one else is around, approaches him, and asks him about the sick girl, Shannon. Michael tells her that Shannon has asthma. Sun tells him that she thinks she can help Shannon somehow.

On the beach, Sawyer sleeps, sitting on one of the seats from the plane, in front of his tent. He wakes up to see Sayid standing right in front of him.

SAYID: [with a big metal pipe poised over Sawyer's head] "Good morning." [He knocks him out.]

[We see Jack and Sayid dragging Sawyer away, as Kate sees what is happening.]

KATE: "What are you doing? Jack!"

JACK: "This was Sawyer's choice, not mine."

KATE: "If you do this!"

[In the jungle, we see Sawyer tied to a tree. Sayid splashes water on his face to bring him to.]

SAWYER: [to Sayid] "Well, ain't you the brave one, jumping a guy while he's napping? [to Jack] Uh-oh, I'm in trouble now, ain't I?"

JACK: "Sawyer, I'm giving you the chance to do the right thing. Now, all I want is the asthma medicine. Just tell me where the inhalers are and we'll stop."

SAWYER: "Stop what, Chico?"

[Shot of Sayid carving bamboo spikes with the knife that Locke gave him.]

JACK: "It doesn't have to be this way."

SAWYER: "Yeah, it does."

SAYID: "We do not have bamboo in Iraq. Although, we do have something similar.. Reeds. But, their effect is the same when the shoots are inserted underneath the fingernails."

SAWYER: "You know what I think, Ali? I think you've never actually tortured anybody in your life."

SAYID: "Unfortunately for us both, you're wrong."

[Sayid starts with the bamboo under the fingernails. Sawyer starts squirming, clearly in pain.]

SAWYER: "That's it? That's all you got? Splinters? No wonder we kicked your ass in The Gulf.." [Sawyer screams, in complete agony.]

JACK: "Sayid. Sayid!"

SAWYER: "No. Don't stop now. I think my sinuses are clearing."

JACK: [to Sawyer] "What the hell is wrong with you?"

SAYID: [holding the knife up to Sawyer's face] "Perhaps losing an eye will loosen your tongue?"

SAWYER: "Okay. Okay."

SAYID: "Where is it?"

SAWYER: "The only person I'll tell is her."

JACK: "Kate?"

SAWYER: "That's the deal."

In a flashback, Sawyer is in a bar with his loan-shark, Kilo, playing pool.

KILO: "Tell me, Sawyer.. Do you want to die? Because, when a man walks in my place and tells me he left a 160,000 of my hard won dollars in the care of a civilian.. I've got to ask myself if what I'm hearing isn't the desperate cry for the sweet release of death."

SAWYER: "Deal closed today. See, women are easy.. A few cosmos, a couple of stunts they haven't seen between the sheets, and they think the scam's their idea. Now, husbands.. They need to touch the money.. Smell it. Believe that, if they had the brass to put that suitcase in the trunk of their family sedan and speed away, they just might have a chance at being an honest-to-gosh outlaw."

KILO: "Okay, Tex. You got your grift so pat.. What'd you need my money for? Where's your seed from the last couple you roped?"

SAWYER: "Well, what can I say? I like earning it as much as I like spending it."

KILO: [holding a pool cue to Sawyer's chin] "Be that as it may, I know a thing or two about making people suffer. Now, you have my money, plus fifty percent, by noon tomorrow, or I'll tell you all about it."

Back on the Island, Kate approaches Sawyer, who is bleeding, and still tied to a tree.

KATE: "So, I'm here. Where is it?"

SAWYER: "Happy to tell you. Just as soon as I get that kiss."

KATE: "What? Are you serious?"

SAWYER: "Baby, I am tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery. I just got tortured by a damn Spinal Surgeon and a genuine Iraqi. Of course, I'm serious. You're just not seeing the big picture here, Freckles. You really going to let that girl suffocate, because you can't bring yourself to give me one little kiss? Hell, it's only first base. Lucky for you, I ain't greedy."

KATE: "Okay."

SAWYER: "Okay. [They kiss.] I don't have it."

KATE: "What?"

SAWYER: "The medicine. I don't have it. Never did."

KATE: "The book.. They said you found it in their luggage."

SAWYER: "The book washed up on shore, went in the drink with the rest of.."

[Kate elbows him across the face. Then we see her walking toward Jack and Sayid.]

KATE: "He doesn't have it."

JACK: "What?"

SAYID: "He's lying. Can't you see that? He's been lying from the beginning. He doesn't want us to get off this Island. That's why he attacked me!"

JACK: "Hold on a minute."

SAYID: "He destroyed the transceiver!"

JACK: "You don't know that. Sayid!"

Sayid runs back to Sawyer. Sawyer is loosening the bindings on his wrists. He gets up, and tackles Sayid as he is running toward him. Sayid and Sawyer struggle on the ground. They roll around, as Sayid stabs Sawyer in the arm, and immediately holds his arms out, like it was an accident. Jack pulls the knife out, and blood spurts out.

JACK: [to Sayid, who is standing there, in shock of what he just did.] "You hit an artery. [to Sawyer] Keep still, damn it. Sayid, I need my stuff from the caves. My leather backpack. Go!"

[Jack is pinching Sawyer's artery closed.]

KATE: "Can you make it stop?"

Back at the caves, Boone is sitting with Shannon, as Sayid arrives, covered in blood.

BOONE: [running to Sayid] "Whose blood is that? Whose blood is that?"

SAYID: "Sawyer."

BOONE: "You went after Sawyer and you didn't even tell me? She's my sister."

SHANNON: [Calling Boone over.] "Boone, don't leave me alone, okay?"

BOONE: [going to her immediately] "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

SHANNON: "Okay."

[Shot of Michael coming in, while Sayid runs out with Jack's girly, leather backpack. Sun approaches Michael.]

MICHAEL: [holding out some branches] "Are these the right ones? I think I found the right tree, but I'm guessing."

SUN: [smelling the cuttings] "Just let me see. Oh, yes.. Good."

[Jin enters, seeing them talking, and yells something in Korean. Sun walks away. Jin looks at Michael angrily.]

MICHAEL: "Don't, man. I'm telling you.. Don't."

Back in the jungle, Kate helps Jack tend to Sawyer's wound. They both hold him down.

SAWYER: [to Jack] "Let go. I know you want to."

JACK: "Shut up. And, stop moving."

SAWYER: "You've been waiting for this, haven't you? Now you get to be the hero again.. Because that's what you do. Fix everything up all nice. [to Kate] Tell him to let go, Freckles. We already made out.. What else I got to live for? Hey, Jack.. There's something you should know. If the tables were turned, I'd watch you die."

In a flashback, Sawyer is at David and Jessica's house, finalizing the deal.

SAWYER: "Alrighty. It looks like we're in the oil business."

DAVID: "We're cool?"

SAWYER: "Oh, we're cool."

DAVID: "We get the money back?"

SAWYER: "Week from tomorrow, tripled."

DAVID: "You're not going to skip town, are you?"

JESS: "David, for God's sake, he left all his money with us. We could've skipped town."

SAWYER: "Smart woman you got there, David. Don't let her go."

[A kid comes into the room.]

JESS: "Hi, baby. What are you doing up? Are you feeling better?"

BOY: "Will you read to me?"

JESS: "In a minute, sweetheart. We have company right now."

[Sawyer is looking at the kid, very sad.]

DAVID: "You okay?"

SAWYER: "Deal's off."

DAVID: "Excuse me?"

SAWYER: "Deal's off. Forget it."

JESS: [to Sawyer] "What are you doing?"

DAVID: "Hold on.. What is this, a joke?"

SAWYER: "I'm calling it off. Walking away."

DAVID: [grabbing Sawyer] "You're not walking out of here. You know what I had to do for this? All this money in one day?!"

SAWYER: "Take your hand off me, boy."

JESS: "Sawyer?"

DAVID: "What's going on here?"

JESS: "This isn't how it was supposed to work. You said that we were.."

DAVID: "Said? What'd he say, Jessica?"

[Sawyer leaves the money and walks out.]

On the Island, Sawyer wakes up in his tent, with Kate sitting next to him.

KATE: "You're lucky to be alive."

SAWYER: "Jack?"

KATE: "Went to the caves to check on Shannon. [She holds up Sawyer's letter.] I read it again, and then again, because I've been trying to figure out why you beat up Boone instead of just telling him you didn't have his sister's medication. Why you pretended to have it anyway.. The thing that I keep coming back around to is that you want to be hated. Then, I looked at the envelope.. America's Bicentennial, Knoxville, Tennessee. You were just a kid. Eight, maybe nine years old.."

SAWYER: "Kate."

KATE: "This letter wasn't written to you. You wrote this letter. Your name's not Sawyer, is it?"

SAWYER: "It was his name. He was a confidence man. Romanced my momma to get to the money.. Wiped them out clean. Left a mess behind. So, I wrote that letter. I wrote it knowing, one day, I'd find him. But, that ain't the sad part. When I was nineteen, I needed six grand to pay these guys off I was in trouble with. So, I found a pretty lady, with a dumb husband who had some money. And, I got them to give it to me. How's that for a tragedy? I became the man I was hunting. Became Sawyer. [She looks sad.] Don't you feel sorry for me. [He grabs the letter from her.] Get the hell out. Get out!"

Back at the caves, Sun rubs a mixture she made with the eucalyptus plant on Shannon's chest, as Boone watches. Jack approaches, and Boone tells him that Sun cured Shannon's asthma with the mixture she made from the plant. Jack smells the plant that Sun used, realizing that eucalyptus helps breathing, and thanks Sun. Jin enters the caves, carrying bamboo on his shoulder, and sees how Sun helped Shannon. He manages to stop being a dick for a moment.

Back at the beach, Claire is sleeping, while Charlie arrives, beginning to pack her clothes and belongings, and waking her up in the process.

CLAIRE: "What are you doing?"

CHARLIE: "Packing your stuff. You're moving to the caves."

CLAIRE: "You didn't? Peanut butter? No way."

CHARLIE: "Just like you ordered. Oh, there is one thing. It's extra smooth."

CLAIRE: "That's okay. [Charlie opens an empty jar.] It's empty."

CHARLIE: "What? No. No, it's not. It's full. Full to the brim, with stick to the roof of your mouth.. Oh, God.. Makes you want a glass of milk, extra smooth. [He puts some imaginary peanut butter on his finger and into his mouth.] It's the best bloody peanut butter I've ever tasted. You want some?" [Claire tries the imaginary peanut butter.]

Back at the beach, Kate stands at the shore, looking out at the ocean, as Sayid walks by.

KATE: "Sayid?"

SAYID: [stopping] "I can't stay here."

KATE: "What?"

SAYID: "I'm leaving. I don't know for how long."

KATE: "Sayid, you can't. We still don't know what's out there."

SAYID: "I've worse things to fear than what's in the jungle. What I did today.. What I almost did, I swore to do never again. If I can't keep that promise, I have no right to be here."

KATE: "There's nowhere to go."

SAYID: "Someone has to walk the shore and map the Island.. See what else there is. I can't think of a better person to do it than the only one I trust. I hope we meet again." [He kisses her hand and leaves.]

A montage follows with I Shall Not Walk Alone by The Blind Boys of Alabama playing.

On the beach, Sayid continues walking, as Kate watches him, while the sun is setting. Elsewhere on the beach, Charlie and Claire begin walking to the caves with her belongings.

In the caves, Boone gives Shannon a bottle of water and she smiles.

Back on the beach, Sawyer sits against a tree, and holds a lighter to his letter, but changes his mind and closes it.

In a wide-shot, Sayid walks down the beach with a trail of footprints behind him, and into the sunset.

Interesting Notes & Observations:

• In the "Previously on LOST" segment, we see Jin yelling at Sun about her buttons, Michael and Walt giving Jin the stink-eye after he was handcuffed to the plane wreckage, Sun approaching Michael, and revealing that she actually speaks English, and finally, Sayid triangulating the signal and getting knocked out from behind. That last one is the only thing that I see as actually relevant to this episode. I guess there really wasn't that much to show that's relevant to the episodes this early-on. I'm going to stop harping on it.
• Sawyer is still reading Watership Down by Richard Adams. Jesus. How long is it going to take him to finish this book? I mean, he's on a damn Island. There's not that much to do.
• One day, I'm going to actually read the books from this show.
• When Sawyer comes out of the ocean naked, Kate checks out his junk like twelve times.
• How is he supposed to think that you don't want to kiss him now, Kate? Come on. Stop sending mixed signals. There are only so many women to choose from on this Island, and you kind of have to go with the one who checks out your package first.
• Boy, that briefcase sure did open up easily. It was filled with real money and everything, just like the movies. I sure hope that sweet woman doesn't get fooled into anything. Oh, wait. That was easy. Jeez. At least Cassidy wasn't dumb enough to fall for this con. At least, at first she didn't. She was a keeper.
• I'm pretty sure if Shannon's asthma was really that bad, she wouldn't have been able to carry Boone back to the caves, let alone even do that without being able to breathe. 
• Claire writes in her diary. We later find out some of what she wrote when Charlie breaks the rules like a damn teenager, and actually reads her journal after she gets kidnapped by Ethan, in Special.
• Jack is such a pussy. Seriously. One minute, he's about to fight Sawyer, and the next, Kate arrives, and he walks away. Seriously, dude? Who are you trying to impress? In case you haven't noticed, Kate is kind of a badass chick. I don't think she cares if you hit someone. Plus, you're not hitting that anyway. 
• Kate is so full of shit. She's like one of those girls who's constantly saying they don't like a dude, but by saying it, they're only proving that they actually do like you. I wish women would stop playing games and just say what the mean.
• And Jack is one of those dudes that pretends the only reason he's not fighting you right now is because his girlfriend is holding him back. Dude, if you want to fight, she's not stopping you. You're not fighting because you're scared, and not because some 100 lb. woman is holding you back.
• Oh, okay, Jack. You're not savages yet. That's why you're not hitting Sawyer at this very moment. I'll be sure to remember that for later.
• Jack cannot spend one moment not being jealous over Kate. They've known eachother for nine days.
• Oh, okay, Kate. So, Sawyer is crazy because he thinks he has a connection with you? He's absolutely insane and there's no chance in hell that's actually true, right? I'll remember that later when he's shoving his tongue down your throat and you're enjoying it.
• Kate asks Sawyer what he wants, just like Sawyer asked Jess in his flashback.
• In the caves, Locke sharpens a stick with his knife. This isn't that meaningful or anything, but it reminded me of the scene in Season Six (I can't figure out which particular episode it was in.), where the "Man in Black," appearing as John Locke, was sharpening a stick as well.
• Locke tells Sayid that the person who attacked him "didn't want to get off the Island," and he is correct, because it was him who didn't want to leave. I'm calling you out, John Locke. Don't mess with my boy, Sayid.
• Mr. Locke, are you trying to insinuate that Sayid hasn't watched television? Okay. I can't imagine that he's really the television watching type either. He's probably too busy cleaning his gun to catch up on LOST. He fell behind after the first season. 
• Jack punches like a girl. Also, by not really punching Sawyer at all.
• Oh, David. Maybe, you don't know this guy, but your wife sure does. 
• Uhh. What the hell is Banoffee Pie? I could probably just Google it, but I'm a little scared. It's probably some weird English thing. 
• Do Australians really not like peanut butter? Seriously?
• Hurley's Star Wars line is funny and all, but I wouldn't exactly call what Jack did a "Jedi moment." It seems like they just wanted to make a Star Wars reference there, and it doesn't really fit, because, well.. Jack isn't Han Solo, dude. He's more like Jar Jar Binks.
• Oh yeah, Jack? You're going to make Sawyer tell you where the inhalers are? Really? You mean, like how you did the first three times in this episode? Or like, when Sayid actually tortures him, you can't take it, and you make him stop?
• Jack gives the okay to Sayid about him getting the location of the inhalers from Sawyer by torturing him. Oh, so we're NOT savages then, Jack?
• Michael gutting that fish is so gross.
• I'm not sure if you know this, Jack. But, if someone actually wants to be tortured, it's probably a clear indication that they're not going to give you whatever information you're looking for. 
• And, Sayid, you should clearly know better. You're letting your judgement cloud the situation by the lies that Locke told you about Sawyer because you don't like him. Now, you're right, in that someone did lie to you. It just wasn't Sawyer who did. You should know better, man.
• I wonder if Sayid's bamboo torture method really hurts that bad. I'm going to trust him and say yes.
• The bar where Sawyer has his meeting with Kilo (Great name, by the way.), looks a lot like the bar where he meets Jack's father, Christian Shephard, in Sydney, in Outlaws.
• In his flashback, Sawyer tells Jess that he has 140K in the briefcase, and he needs someone to go in with him on the investment, and provide the other 160K, to make 300K, which would triple in a few weeks. Later on, after Sawyer left the money with Jessica and her husband, David, he meets with his loan-shark, Kilo, who asks him why he left 160K of his money in the care of a civilian. I always thought the discrepancy in the amount of money (140K and 160K) was a continuity error, but I don't anymore. I think Sawyer lied to make 20K more off the deal. It was a con inside another con. Crafty.
• Kilo puts a pool cue to Sawyer's chin. How exactly is that threatening?
• Sawyer still wants a kiss from Kate, even though he just got tortured by Sayid. Maybe I'm just looking too far into it, but in a way, I think he was proving to her that they do have a connection.
• Sawyer admits that he doesn't have the inhalers. His kiss with Kate must've submitted him into a moment of actual honesty.
• Kate drops an elbow on Sawyer. Her patented move.
• Kate tells Jack and Sayid that Sawyer doesn't have the inhalers, and Sayid looses his frakking mind.
• Also, if this were a real fight between the characters of Sawyer and Sayid, and not scripted (I know that sounds ridiculous.), I'm pretty sure that this wouldn't have happened.
• Also, we know that Sawyer fights dirty from his fight with Sayid in Pilot, Part 2, where he threw sand at him.
• Every time I see Sawyer get stabbed in the arm by Sayid, it makes me cringe. 
• Calm down, Boone. She may be your sister now, but in a few episodes, you'll be having sex with her. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
• Jin sees Michael talking to Sun and he steps to him. Uhh.. How did no one find out that Sun spoke English sooner? She's being pretty obvious about it.
• In the flashback, Kilo asks Sawyer if he wants to die, while on the Island, Sawyer wishes to die.
• Sawyer tells Jack that he'd watch him die, but he will soon change into a person that wants to help others. He also tells Jack that he's the hero that fixes everything, which he'll end up being as well.
• Sawyer wants to die because of what he did to the man he thought was the real Sawyer in Sydney, as we'll learn later, in Outlaws. Also, in his flashback, Sawyer proves that he does have a heart by walking out on the deal with Jessica and David when he realizes they have a child. He does this because of what happened to him as a child.
• That Jessica is one fucked up bitch. I mean, not only is she cheating on her husband, but she gets conned by the dude she's having sex with on the side, brings him home to her family, and as him around her husband and son? What the hell is wrong with this broad? Well, I guess that's why Sawyer chose her.
• Jack and Hurley ended up coming across Shannon's inhalers when they revisited the caves, in Lighthouse, which was a direct reference to Jorge Garcia showing up at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009 LOST Panel to ask Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse a few questions, one of which was about Shannon's inhalers. It's a pretty damn awesome video, and Michael Emerson even shows up. If you've never seen it, check it out here..
• Also, I'm not exactly sure if them coming across Shannon's inhalers is supposed to be meant as a reference to this episode, as in, that's where the inhalers were all along, or that they came across the inhaler that Shannon discarded, as Boone mentioned in this episode as well. Oh well. It doesn't really matter. BUT. I NEED ANSWERS. THEY NEVER ANSWERED EVERYTHING! I WASTED MY LIFE WATCHING THIS DAMN SHOW. SCREW YOU, WRITERS. I HATE YOU ALL AND I'M GOING TO TWEET ABOUT IT. And.. Scene.
• By the way, I have asthma, and eucalyptus actually does help.
• Sayid saying "I hope we meet again." to Kate is foreshadowing the next episode, Solitary, in which Nadia tells him something similar.
• The song I Shall Not Walk Alone by The Blind Boys of Alabama is really fitting.

Answered Questions:

• John Locke cons Sayid into believing that Sawyer was the one who knocked him out when he was triangulating the signal, but it's Locke who later confesses to Sayid that he was the one who did it, in The Greater Good. 
• In Outlaws, we see what happened to Sawyer's parents, and find out why he was in Sydney.
• Also, we later find out that the real Sawyer was John Locke's father, Anthony Cooper, in The Brig.

Unanswered Questions:

• What really happened to Shannon's inhalers?
• Why is Claire the only Australian who likes peanut butter?

Favorite Moments:

• SAWYER: "Hell of a book. It's about bunnies." 
• JACK: [Furious, but about as threatening as a sand flea.] "I'm going to kill him." KATE: "That's not going to help us get the medicine." JACK: "Maybe not, but it'll feel good."
• CHARLIE: "Uh, Banoffee Pie." CLAIRE: "You already said that." CHARLIE: "Toffee and cream.. mmmm." CLAIRE: "Is food the only thing that you miss?"
• HURLEY: "Whoa. Man. That was awesome. I mean, that was like a.. Jedi moment." 
• I love the look on Sayid's face when he says, "He'll give us the medicine." Classic Sayid.
• HURLEY: "I have no food, alright?! And, for the record, I'm down a notch in my belt. I'm a big guy, it's going to be a while before you're going to want to give me a piggy back ride, okay?"
• SAYID: [with a big metal pipe poised over Sawyer's head] "Good morning." [He knocks him out.]
• SAWYER: "You know what I think, Ali? I think you've never actually tortured anybody in your life." SAYID: "Unfortunately for us both, you're wrong." 
• SAWYER: "No. Don't stop now. I think my sinuses are clearing." 
• SAWYER: "Baby, I am tied to a tree in a jungle of mystery. I just got tortured by a damn Spinal Surgeon and a genuine Iraqi. Of course, I'm serious. You're just not seeing the big picture here, Freckles. You really going to let that girl suffocate, because you can't bring yourself to give me one little kiss? Hell, it's only first base. Lucky for you, I ain't greedy."
• KATE: "This letter wasn't written to you. You wrote this letter. Your name's not Sawyer, is it?" SAWYER: "It was his name. He was a confidence man. Romanced my momma to get to the money.. Wiped them out clean. Left a mess behind. So, I wrote that letter. I wrote it knowing, one day, I'd find him. But, that ain't the sad part. When I was nineteen, I needed six grand to pay these guys off I was in trouble with. So, I found a pretty lady, with a dumb husband who had some money. And, I got them to give it to me. How's that for a tragedy? I became the man I was hunting. Became Sawyer. [She looks sad.] Don't you feel sorry for me. [He grabs the letter from her.] Get the hell out. Get out!"
• Charlie and Claire and the imaginary peanut butter.
• SAYID: "Someone has to walk the shore and map the Island.. See what else there is. I can't think of a better person to do it than the only one I trust. I hope we meet again."

Overall Significance:

• Charlie and Claire's conversation about her staying on the beach for "..When we get rescued." reminds me of the conversation they had in Charlie's flashback, in Greatest Hits, when Charlie tells her that the "..The helicopters will come and takes us home." on the night after they first crashed on the Island. 
• We find out that Sawyer's name isn't actually Sawyer, but the name of the man who killed his parents. The identity of the real Sawyer would become one of the show's bigger mysteries throughout the first few seasons.
• From Lostpedia: The song ("I Shall Not Walk Alone," by The Blind Boys of Alabama) at the end of the episode includes lyrics about Mother Mary, the source on the Island for heroin. In "The Brig" it is revealed that Sawyer's mother is named Mary.
• Sayid leaving to "map the Island" is the beginning of the exploration further out into the Island.

Final Thoughts:

• This episode offers the first flashback of a character in which we don't find out how they got to the Island. We will later find out why Sawyer was in Sydney, in Outlaws.
• Sayid decides to leave the group, in shame of what he did to Sawyer, but little does he know, that he will be the one who is tortured next, in Solitary.
• It's a little disappointing that there weren't any "108" references in this episode, considering it's episode "1.08 (Season 1, Episode 8)."

I'll be back next week with my analysis of Solitary. And, remember. I'll see you in the next life, if not in this one..

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