The Long Con

I just rewatched "The Long Con," one of the best LOST episodes of Season 2, and perhaps of the entire series. It is a Sawyer-centric episode that details two of Sawyer's long cons, one on-island to get control of the guns (and therefore, the group) and one from his past, where he steals $600k from a woman named Cassidy.

The episode is noteworthy simply for the entertaining and twisty plot lines. Of course, with foreknowledge of how the episode turns out, the deft foreshadowing placed throughout the episode by the writers becomes much more apparent. In fact, in retrospect, the on- and -off-island actions mirror so closely that we should all feel like fools for not seeing it coming the first time. But my second watching also revealed some greater significance.

Two insignificant notes first:

1) Sawyer's associate, Gordy, is played by IWU alum and my Commencement speaker Kevin Dunn. It's a small role, and not really that noteworthy. The only real element of the character I have deeper thoughts about are what his role was after Sawyer got the money. My best guess is that the song-and-dance about loving Cassidy Sawyer gave Gordy at the diner was to throw him off, so that Sawyer may keep all the money. We don't know how it turns out, and I don't remember seeing any resolution in a later episode, though I could be mistaken.

2) Speaking of the diner, the waitress is Dianne Jansen, mother of Kate. There's no real significance to that tidbit, at least in this episode. Just another neat interconnection placed in by the writers.

Now to the more meaty stuff. "Cons" (actions, not people) are a significant motif throughout the series. But a few things about Sawyer's in this episode are noteworthy.

1) Whatever we make of Gordy, it appears that he at least was in some sort of position of pulling Sawyer's strings. We have seen many times throughout the series characters manipulating others for what appears to be personal gain, but later is revealed to be done at the beckoning of some larger power. To avoid any spoilers, I'll leave it at that.

2) I don't believe it's insignificant (I know, I know, double negative) that John Locke is (one) target of the con. How many times have we seen Locke conned? (His mom, his dad x2, Benry in the Hatch to name a few). But what really struck me is Sawyer's dialog with Charlie at the end of the episode, when he notes "Johnny Locke has a nemesis." That slapped me in the face, as I had not remembered it at all from the first time I watched it. Again, I'll leave it at that until I've received assurances that everyone is done watching season 5.

3) Both Sawyer and Charlie's desire to "stop taking orders" from those in power and want of revenge/"to make a fool" out of them mirrors Ben's rebellion near the end of season five. Again, I'm leaving it there. But Sawyer's half-fire-lit face throughout much of his dialog is reminiscent of many other "dual" characters.

4) When Hurley and Sayid are listening to the radio at the end, Sayid says the radio signals could be coming from anywhere, to which Hurley responds with the throwaway line "or any time." Clearly that foreshadows "future" developments, but in an undeveloped way. But now, I am going to pay attention to the music in future episodes just to see if "Moonlight Serenade" is played somewhere/time else. That would be fun.

5) When explaining his motives to Charlie, Sawyer says he is not a "good person." You can read the entry on Lostpedia about Good and Bad People for the significance of that.