Lost – “Recon”

Hey there Lost fans! Jonah is partying it up at SXSW, so you’re stuck with me, Michael, for your review this week. So what am I waiting for? Let’s get to it!

“Recon” opens with the answer to the question posed at the end of “Sundown.” The two were back at Claire’s camp, Jin asleep, and unaware of what was going on. Sawyer tells him of Smokey’s plan to get them off the Island, but he promises his friend that he won’t leave without Sun. The whole gang returns, and Kate and Sawyer get a couple of awkward “heys” in, before Smokey marches them away, telling of the black smoke killing everyone at the Temple, and needing to keep moving.

Meanwhile in AlternaLA, AlternaSawyer is seducing a lady, and it seems exactly like his con from season one, but wait! She pulls a gun on him, and he tells her he’s a cop and it’s all a big set up, and that all he has to do is say the magic word, “LaFleur” (!) and in come the police, complete with AlternaSawyer’s partner, Miles!

Back on the Smokey Family Hiking Trip, Kate sees Claire’s skull baby and, like Jin, is completely weirded out. Sawyer confronts Smokey about not leaving the Island yet, and Smokey pulls him aside to reveal his plan for him: Sawyer will go over to Hydra Island and get some recon (oooh!) on the Ajira people since he’s the best liar Smokey has ever seen.

In AlternaLA, Sawyer, going by James Ford, is cold calling Anthony Coopers and lying to Miles about vacations to Palm Springs. He won’t trust his partner with what he’s doing, but he will let him set him up on a blind date with Miles’ friend, Charlotte (!!). They hit it off, and go to bed together. Everything goes wrong however when Charlotte finds a folder labeled “Sawyer” with information about the murder of James’ parents. He flips and kicks her out.  Miles confronts him the next day, but more about how he lied about going to Palm Springs, instead going to Sydney and refusing to reveal why.

While taking a break, Kate tries to talk to Sayid, who’s a total zombie towards her. While Kate is confused, Claire tackles her, holding a knife to her throat. Zombie Sayid is no help, but Smokey pulls Claire off and slaps her around until she calms down. Smokey explains to Kate that he had to give Claire something to hate, and that was the Others. When Kate showed up and told her the truth, he anger was just misguided. She wants to know where Sawyer went, and he offers his hand to go show her. She doesn’t take it, instead getting up on her own.

On Hydra Island, Sawyer finds all of the Aijra passengers dead, except for one, Zoe, who claims she heard the others screaming while she was getting wood, only come back and find them all dead. But Sawyer is too smart for this charade, and pulls a gun on her, only to have several guns turned on him. They’re the people working for Charles Widmore, who they take Sawyer to. Sawyer promises to deliver Smokey to him if he promises not to hurt his friends and get him “off this rock!”

Back on the Island, Smokey tries to explain his past to Kate. Well sort of anyway. He tells him about how his mother was crazy, his mother from before he became what he is now, and that effected what he became. Claire comes in and apologizes to Kate, and says she was right to take care of Aaron.

Back in AlternaLA, James gets a little sad watching Little House on the Prairie (I think), and decides to try and make up with Charlotte, who shuts him down pretty hard.  He decides it’s best to tell Miles the truth, and tells him he plans to kill Anthony Cooper once he finds him. They are rudely interrupted when a car crashes into them, leading them to a high pursuit chase of your favorite fugitive, Kate, who Sawyer recognizes from the airport.

At Camp Smokey, we get a parting shot of Kate and Sawyer, the latter of whom reveals his plan: let Smoke and Widmore fight while they steal the sub and get off the Island. And BOOM Lost.

All in all, I thought it was a really great episode. Up until this point, we’ve had a lot about Team Smokey and Team Jacob and the mystical powers of the two, but “Recon” was about the wild cards, Sawyer and Kate. We also learned some big things; Widmore isn’t on Team Smokey (but not necessarily Team Jacob), Sawyer and Kate weren’t claimed like Sawyer, and what exactly is going on with Jin, who also wasn’t claimed.

Lost is working towards its finale in a slow, but powerful way, and “Recon” yet again set us up for more excitement in the coming weeks. Next week’s episode about Richard should be a big eye opener, but remember, there’s still a lot of time left before we get the hell off this rock.

Some Theorizing

-       Does Smokey’s touch have the same effect as Jacob’s? It seemed a bit significant to me that Kate refused to take his hand when he offered it to him.

-       Something to note in the FlashSideways: when confronted with the choice of good or evil in the FlashSideways and on the Island, both men chose the same thing in both. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer, who are not on either side at the moment, have similar lives, only slightly different. Kate is still a fugitive, but claims innocence, while Sawyer is still after the real Sawyer, but is a cop not a con man.

-       What do you guys think is up with Claire? She seems kind of crazy, but she seemed remorseful, whereas Sayid didn’t. Thoughts on that?

-       How about Widmore? What team is he on? His own?

-      Having Charlie’s brother Liam in the police station was a nice touch.

- Late Addition: Had to add this because I read it in a review, and didn’t even register it while watching: Miles off offhandedly mentions that he knows Charlotte because she works at a museum with his father! Pierre Chang! That means he’s still alive and wasn’t down by the Swan trying to help Jack set off the bomb. Say whaaat?!

-       We’ll be back Thursday with our weekly Lost Conversation, and don’t worry, Jonah will be back next week.

Michael’s Score: 80

TUIW Grade: B+