Lost: Season 5, Episode 8 Review: LaFleur
LaFleur
Original Airdate: March 4, 2009
Writer: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Kyle Pennington
Director: Mark Goodman
The final piece of the trilogy explains the long standing question at the heart of the return story: how did the past three years play out for the Island Five? Going into this season and knowing only Locke got off the island, what happened was wide open to debate. The first five episodes this season showed us roughly four or five days, with them shifting through the island’s greatest hits, but after Locke realigns the wheel, they wind up decades in the past. Despite that, things turned out really well for them. Here we see what happened through the lens of Sawyer, a character long overdue for an episode.
Although he is one of the more compelling & integral characters of the series, Sawyer hasn’t had a centric episode since the “mini-season” at the start of season three. To put it in perspective, Locke & Jack have each had four centric episodes in that gap (not including Jack sharing the centric stage with the Oceanic Six), and most of the central cast have had two to three. This gap is due in part to those left behind taking a back seat to the Oceanic Six last season, but now with those cards finally revealed, it’s about time to return to this character.
Sawyer’s progressed a lot since his last episode. After facing and killing the real Sawyer in “The Brig”, it was suggested late in season three that he was heading down a dark path. Instead he has become the selfless hero, retrieving Claire during the ambush, jumping out of the helicopter so the Oceanic Six could be rescued & being the glue keeping the Island Five together during this ordeal. So this episode continues that trend as the former drifter settles down with a real job and adult responsibilities.
The final temporary shift takes them to the earliest known period, as they are in viewing distance of the statue. That brief moment certainly flared a lot of frustration among viewers awaiting any type of follow up with this hint for two and a half seasons. It has little to do with the current action, but since the time jumps are over, this was likely slipped in here as a reminder that they haven’t forgotten that tangent and it will be followed up on in the future. It also ties to the mirror of season two, the only time the statue (or at least a foot) was seen before.
The shifts stop in 1974, where they encounter some Others ambushing a couple on a picnic in hostile territory. Surprisingly they can alter this moment, killing the two Others and freeing a woman named Amy (Reiko Aylesworth, always nice to see former 24 alum getting work) who works with Dharma. As mentioned in my “316” review, it makes sense with the mirroring themes from seasons past that Dharma would come back in a big way, and having them go back is a great way to tackle that as the hatch told as much as it could in season two.
The aftermath reveals another layer to the Dharma/Others relationship: a truce. Presumably since they didn’t have nuclear weapons, The Others decided not to eliminate them from the jump like the US Army in 1954. However, they do 15 years from where the castaways end this episode. So what happened that caused The Others to abandon the truce? All we know is that Ben denies making the call when The Purge happened. Unless they’re really slow to react in retaliation for what happened in 1974.
When Richard confronts Sawyer, they reach an agreement to stop the bloodshed if they claim Paul’s body. I’ll be brief because I don’t know if there’s any explanation for why they did this. It may be related to the Smoke Monster, it could be some incidental element to the story.
The Island Five and Oceanic Six’s last three years have interesting comparisons and contrasts. Both lied to assimilate or re-assimilate into a larger culture, but from what little is shown, the Island Five’s three years play out much better than the Oceanic Six’s. They fit in superbly and the only known danger at this point is the Purge, which according to Vision Horace doesn’t happen until 1992. So whatever event the Oceanic Six needs to prevent to save the leftover 815 survivors hasn’t happened yet or it was a long con to get them back.
Sawyer, while he could use his real name or the Sawyer moniker, takes the name LaFleur (for sake of consistency he’ll continue to be referred to as Sawyer). Nicknames and aliases are key parts of Sawyer’s character in a way of cloaking the reality of those around him as well as himself. Unlike taking the name of the man he credits for ruining his life to be bad, Sawyer as LaFleur continues the trajectory he’s been on by becoming the friendly, but no nonsense head of security in the Dharma Initiative. Ultimately, Sawyer’s arc for the rest of the series appears to be with him resolving who James Ford is: Sawyer, LaFleur, a combination of either, or neither.
Amy is effectively the gateway for the Island Five to the world of Dharma. Saving her life definitely helps their standing, although they are quick to get them ready to be shipped out, an event that obviously doesn’t happen. Since it is Lost and there is always room for speculation for anything not explicitly said, there was a lot of theorizing over why their two week stint turned into one where they worked for Dharma for 3 years. Despite them making peace with the Others, Horace still is ready to ship them off when the sub returns, so why did they stick around? Whether this will ever be answered is unlikely.
After Paul’s passing, Amy and Horace fell in love and got married. This caused a lot of discussion about Olivia Goodspeed. A lot of people, including myself, assumed the two were married and thought Amy & Horace would have some scandalous implications. However, looking through the transcript to “The Man Behind the Curtain”, at no point do they mention that Horace & Olivia were married. They could be siblings. I’ve heard rumors that the actress who played Olivia didn’t want to come back, so they accidentally avoided a possible problem two seasons ahead of time.
Horace’s feeling over living in the shadow of his wife’s dead husband parallels the Kate/Sawyer relationship. Obviously Sawyer loved Kate, but with her out of his life for three years and living in a perpetual holding pattern of a return that as far as he knew may never happen, he grew close to Juliet, and like many others, I became a fan of this pairing. (A quick note: while I’m not a big fan of shipper nicknames, I prefer Juiler (pronounced jeweler) for the Sawyer and Juliet pairing.) Horace wondering if someone could move on after three years is an obvious connection between the pairing. Sawyer claims you can, although he really only convinces Horace, because his look at the end suggests otherwise.
The big story of the 1977 side is Amy’s birth, which has some huge ramifications. This is the earliest known birth on the island, but with the circumstances, it is the first where conception likely occurred on island. This could mean that whatever happened that kills all other pregnant women on the island (except for Claire) hasn’t happened yet, but they do mention that usually women are sent off island to give birth in Dharma. It’s also a turning point for Juliet. For three years with The Others her profession of giving life ironically turned into one drowning in death, one she gladly moved away from when they joined Dharma. To have a successful birth was obviously a major moment for her that it seems odd that it isn’t explored much here.
Another big character piece of the Island Five is Daniel coping with Charlotte’s death. He lost her in several ways: her death kept her from shifting, so he didn’t even get the closure of a funeral on top of having no idea where in time her body is. His loss is compounded when he runs into the 3 year old version of her. He’s also noticeably absent in the 1977 sections of the episode.
Controversy arose over the retcon that made Charlotte 8 years older than stated a season ago. It even resulted in a public relations fiasco between Rebecca Mader and the producers over how the original error made it to the final cut. While many people have complained that the timelines were often really confusing this season, the part that bugs me more this season is that the writers aren’t good at math. Charlotte doesn’t look like she’s in her mid-thirties. They stated that originally she was going to be much older, but they had to rewrite that when they cast the role. So while this piece may add more evidence to a bigger plan, sticking to it after that first plan was altered is just a nerd headache.
Effectively this is the final episode in a trilogy bringing the characters back to the same time line, as well as the last episode of the refresher era. Adding the flash forward element helped rejuvenate a formula many people felt had grown stale as season three progressed. Now the present has caught up with the future, which is fitting as there is only a season and a half left. It’s a fitting halfway point for the season, one many people expected would take an entire season to do. If only they had more time for these three years.
Although he is one of the more compelling & integral characters of the series, Sawyer hasn’t had a centric episode since the “mini-season” at the start of season three. To put it in perspective, Locke & Jack have each had four centric episodes in that gap (not including Jack sharing the centric stage with the Oceanic Six), and most of the central cast have had two to three. This gap is due in part to those left behind taking a back seat to the Oceanic Six last season, but now with those cards finally revealed, it’s about time to return to this character.
Sawyer’s progressed a lot since his last episode. After facing and killing the real Sawyer in “The Brig”, it was suggested late in season three that he was heading down a dark path. Instead he has become the selfless hero, retrieving Claire during the ambush, jumping out of the helicopter so the Oceanic Six could be rescued & being the glue keeping the Island Five together during this ordeal. So this episode continues that trend as the former drifter settles down with a real job and adult responsibilities.
The final temporary shift takes them to the earliest known period, as they are in viewing distance of the statue. That brief moment certainly flared a lot of frustration among viewers awaiting any type of follow up with this hint for two and a half seasons. It has little to do with the current action, but since the time jumps are over, this was likely slipped in here as a reminder that they haven’t forgotten that tangent and it will be followed up on in the future. It also ties to the mirror of season two, the only time the statue (or at least a foot) was seen before.
The shifts stop in 1974, where they encounter some Others ambushing a couple on a picnic in hostile territory. Surprisingly they can alter this moment, killing the two Others and freeing a woman named Amy (Reiko Aylesworth, always nice to see former 24 alum getting work) who works with Dharma. As mentioned in my “316” review, it makes sense with the mirroring themes from seasons past that Dharma would come back in a big way, and having them go back is a great way to tackle that as the hatch told as much as it could in season two.
The aftermath reveals another layer to the Dharma/Others relationship: a truce. Presumably since they didn’t have nuclear weapons, The Others decided not to eliminate them from the jump like the US Army in 1954. However, they do 15 years from where the castaways end this episode. So what happened that caused The Others to abandon the truce? All we know is that Ben denies making the call when The Purge happened. Unless they’re really slow to react in retaliation for what happened in 1974.
When Richard confronts Sawyer, they reach an agreement to stop the bloodshed if they claim Paul’s body. I’ll be brief because I don’t know if there’s any explanation for why they did this. It may be related to the Smoke Monster, it could be some incidental element to the story.
The Island Five and Oceanic Six’s last three years have interesting comparisons and contrasts. Both lied to assimilate or re-assimilate into a larger culture, but from what little is shown, the Island Five’s three years play out much better than the Oceanic Six’s. They fit in superbly and the only known danger at this point is the Purge, which according to Vision Horace doesn’t happen until 1992. So whatever event the Oceanic Six needs to prevent to save the leftover 815 survivors hasn’t happened yet or it was a long con to get them back.
Sawyer, while he could use his real name or the Sawyer moniker, takes the name LaFleur (for sake of consistency he’ll continue to be referred to as Sawyer). Nicknames and aliases are key parts of Sawyer’s character in a way of cloaking the reality of those around him as well as himself. Unlike taking the name of the man he credits for ruining his life to be bad, Sawyer as LaFleur continues the trajectory he’s been on by becoming the friendly, but no nonsense head of security in the Dharma Initiative. Ultimately, Sawyer’s arc for the rest of the series appears to be with him resolving who James Ford is: Sawyer, LaFleur, a combination of either, or neither.
Amy is effectively the gateway for the Island Five to the world of Dharma. Saving her life definitely helps their standing, although they are quick to get them ready to be shipped out, an event that obviously doesn’t happen. Since it is Lost and there is always room for speculation for anything not explicitly said, there was a lot of theorizing over why their two week stint turned into one where they worked for Dharma for 3 years. Despite them making peace with the Others, Horace still is ready to ship them off when the sub returns, so why did they stick around? Whether this will ever be answered is unlikely.
After Paul’s passing, Amy and Horace fell in love and got married. This caused a lot of discussion about Olivia Goodspeed. A lot of people, including myself, assumed the two were married and thought Amy & Horace would have some scandalous implications. However, looking through the transcript to “The Man Behind the Curtain”, at no point do they mention that Horace & Olivia were married. They could be siblings. I’ve heard rumors that the actress who played Olivia didn’t want to come back, so they accidentally avoided a possible problem two seasons ahead of time.
Horace’s feeling over living in the shadow of his wife’s dead husband parallels the Kate/Sawyer relationship. Obviously Sawyer loved Kate, but with her out of his life for three years and living in a perpetual holding pattern of a return that as far as he knew may never happen, he grew close to Juliet, and like many others, I became a fan of this pairing. (A quick note: while I’m not a big fan of shipper nicknames, I prefer Juiler (pronounced jeweler) for the Sawyer and Juliet pairing.) Horace wondering if someone could move on after three years is an obvious connection between the pairing. Sawyer claims you can, although he really only convinces Horace, because his look at the end suggests otherwise.
The big story of the 1977 side is Amy’s birth, which has some huge ramifications. This is the earliest known birth on the island, but with the circumstances, it is the first where conception likely occurred on island. This could mean that whatever happened that kills all other pregnant women on the island (except for Claire) hasn’t happened yet, but they do mention that usually women are sent off island to give birth in Dharma. It’s also a turning point for Juliet. For three years with The Others her profession of giving life ironically turned into one drowning in death, one she gladly moved away from when they joined Dharma. To have a successful birth was obviously a major moment for her that it seems odd that it isn’t explored much here.
Another big character piece of the Island Five is Daniel coping with Charlotte’s death. He lost her in several ways: her death kept her from shifting, so he didn’t even get the closure of a funeral on top of having no idea where in time her body is. His loss is compounded when he runs into the 3 year old version of her. He’s also noticeably absent in the 1977 sections of the episode.
Controversy arose over the retcon that made Charlotte 8 years older than stated a season ago. It even resulted in a public relations fiasco between Rebecca Mader and the producers over how the original error made it to the final cut. While many people have complained that the timelines were often really confusing this season, the part that bugs me more this season is that the writers aren’t good at math. Charlotte doesn’t look like she’s in her mid-thirties. They stated that originally she was going to be much older, but they had to rewrite that when they cast the role. So while this piece may add more evidence to a bigger plan, sticking to it after that first plan was altered is just a nerd headache.
Effectively this is the final episode in a trilogy bringing the characters back to the same time line, as well as the last episode of the refresher era. Adding the flash forward element helped rejuvenate a formula many people felt had grown stale as season three progressed. Now the present has caught up with the future, which is fitting as there is only a season and a half left. It’s a fitting halfway point for the season, one many people expected would take an entire season to do. If only they had more time for these three years.
Overall Score: 9/10
posted by Matt @ 1:44 AM
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