The Long Con

Season 2, Episode 13, Aired
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Episode Summary

When Sun is attacked by an unknown assailant, Sawyer and Kate disagree with claims that the Others were responsible, beginning to suspect a wider orchestrated plan. Meanwhile, flashbacks reveal more of Sawyer's past.
9.2
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Superb
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Fan Episode Reviews (110)

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  • Awesome.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Sarah_LOST, Oct 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    When Sun is attacked, tension builds between Jack, Locke, Kate, and Ana Lucia regarding the guns. It is revealed that Sawyer and Charlie had conned them all for Sawyer to gain control of the guns and Charlie to get revenge on Locke. In flashbacks, Sawyer reluctantly cons a woman he develops feelings for. I love the start with John and Jack I just love the way they are. I love the scene with Sawyer and Charlie h e is so funny and then the Sawyer and Jack scene straight after it. I love Sawyer's back story and then he brings his back story onto the island - awesome! I love it when Kate is reading to Sawyer. Oh and Sun being dragged away was awesome. The Sawyer and John scene is brilliant aswell, and then Sawyer comes out the jungle with the guns - amazing!moreless

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    1 3

  • clever

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By hippy_91, Oct 06, 2010 Report Abuse
    This was a very cleverly written episode. It shows how smart and clever Sawyer can actually be.

    The episode starts with Jack going through Sawyers tent taking his stuff. Sawyer gets mad and asks what he's doing and Jack says Sawyer stole the stuff. Sawyer looked so mad I thought he was going to beat the crap out of Jack. But he holds it in. Then the "long-con" starts.

    Sun almost gets kidnapped in the jungle but Sawyer and Kate come to her rescue. Everyone is thinking it could be the others or it could be one of them. Sawyer plays the whole thing smoothly. He gets everyone's minds thinking. And then there are problems. Kate thinks it was Ana-Lucia because she wanted the guns and Jin wants a gun because of what happened to Sun. Jack says ok and they make their way down to the hatch to get a gun. But Sawyer gets there first to warn Locke that Jack's just going to be handing out guns. Sawyer basically talks Locke into hiding them.

    At the end they're all on the beach at night. Jack confronts Locke and they start verbally fighting. Then there's gunshots and Sawyer walks out. Jack asks Locke, "you gave him the guns" and Locke replies, "no?" and then one of the greatest lines ever.

    Sawyer: That's right, Jack. He's as stupid as you are. You were so busy worrying about each other you never even saw me coming, did you?

    and then...

    Sawyer: There's a new sheriff in town boys! Ya'll best get used to it.

    That proves to me that Sawyer is the baddest and smartest person on the island. In his FlashBack a women wants to learn how to long-con. Sawyer says yes, but actually long-cons her and gets all her money.moreless

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    2 1

  • James Smart

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By napen, Oct 06, 2010 Report Abuse
    Generalmente no disfruto cantidades con los flashbacks de los personajes pero esta es una de las pocas excepciones. James nos deja ver su lado maligno, su verdadera cara, lo inteligente que es quien pensamos un malechor y nada ms. Y bienvenido sea, disfrut mucho de su historia analogada (sic) con el complot que l y Charlie (ideado por Sawyer, obviamente) llevan a cabo abducting Sun y todo lo dems. Divertido ver como Kate y John caen en sus redes y como nadie siquiera se atreve a sospechar de nuestro acaparador de episodio. Brindo por el escritor de este captulo y le pido repita este tipo de flashbacks.moreless

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    1 1

  • A Movie Style Episode!!!! One of my FAvourites!!!

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Dante_Edy, Oct 06, 2010 Report Abuse
    From the Writers/Producers Perspective:

    Like other characters flashbacks, the prodution staff decided to bring another flashback sequel, this time for Sawyer and how he cons people. Is what he knows to do best, right?

    So the base idea, brillant by the way, is that when you present how he con people, the writers could con you either. That is exactly the mentality for this epiosde, and that works great.

    This is very well executed, even Charlie bad participation in the last episode gains it is meaning in this episode.

    The flashbacks provide a brillant long con, but what is unexpected is what he did on the Island, also very well done and written.


    My Point of View:

    What I liked in this episode, is how complex and at the same time simple this was written. YOu may think something now, and then you change you midset and then you change it again. For both: flashbacks and the event in the Island.

    How the writers play you is brillant.

    This type of turning point is brillant and allows the episode be special and unforgettable.

    At least, for me.

    Overall, one of the best episodes for this season, that has a simple story, that is more complex that it seems, and you will played until the end. Very good.moreless

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    1 1

  • Definite improvement, but not one as long as you'd think

    8.0
    "Great"
    By DavidB226Morris, Oct 06, 2010 Report Abuse
    By now, we've realized that every character on the island has a past that they're trying to get away from. Whether they came from the front end or the tail section, these people desperately want to leave their past behind. There is on exception to this rule--- Sawyer. Even stranded on a island thousand of miles away, he still thinks that he has to be this bad, despicable human being just like the one who conned his mother and ended up killing her and his father. From the moment he landed on the island, he has been doing his best to maintain hat reprehensible attitude, even though there is a good person there, buried deep within. (He'll even get to a point where he wants to find, though it's going to take a lot more trauma then this.)

    Sawyer is very good at reading people, though not nearly as well as he thinks he can. He can recognize it in fellow pariah-- his comment to Charlie about being the most hated is almost identical to one he said to Boone when he tried to take the water supply nearly two months ago, and he knows how to play on that. He also recognizes when people care about him, and if he didn't know that Kate was sweet on him before, he knew about it when he was recuperating. He takes what information he has been reading off other people--- Jack, Locke, Ana Lucia, and files it away. But more important then all of this is how people see him. For several weeks he was viewed as a contemptible scoundrel, until he took the raft off the island to get rescued. When he came back, people started looking at him differently--- not just Kate, but the others like Hurley and Michael. And this is anathema to him, because he still thinks that he's trying to make sure that he is the real Sawyer, and that he is regarded with nothing but contempt. Some might argue that his actions in this episode are part of his true nature shining through, I think that Kate is far closer to the mark when she confronts him in the en, and tells him: "This is about making people hate you!" The expression on his face speaks volumes.

    What he does is bad enough. When Sun is attacked, apparently by the others, Sawyer uses his relationship with Kate to make it seem that spot that her holes in the story. He watches Jack and Ana's behavior to make it seem like this an attempt to begin recruiting for this army that they're creating. Then he goes to Locke, whose alliance with Jack about storing the guns is tenuous, and Sawyer knows won't take much to dissolve. A little maneuvering, and suddenly Sawyer is control of the weapons. The way he's played off so many of the others is bound to make him hated, but the speech that he gives immediately following seals the deal. Sawyer has no interest in being" the new sheriff"; that's too heroic. And later episodes will show that he ahs no problem just giving the guns away when needed. This is all about him being the con man who "never did a decent thing in his life"

    The back story that appears involves a 'long con' that he was doing with a woman named Cassidy, and this has more resonance to it, not only because of what he does, but to who. There was fan speculation by some sites that Cassidy might be a con artist herself, and given the way that she acts around Sawyer a lot of the time, there is evidence of this. However, unlike many of the characters in these flashbacks, we will see her a couple of more times, and it does seem that some of her actions were genuine. Sawyer says otherwise, and he lies to her so many times in hard to tell, but it's clear he felt something for this woman. This was not just a con; it was evidence of what a bad person he is, and we see that in the last little segment of his flashback. (Nor was she the only person we've seen before; when he's having a meeting in a restaurant, the waitress who takes his order is Diane, Kate's mother. Her hairstyle's and this is a different diner than before, so maybe this is probably before Kate killed her husband.)

    This is also the first episode that we see Sayid in awhile, and it's clear that he still in the mourning for Shannon (which does make sense, it's only been a week since her death) Hurley tries to bring him out of his shroud by giving him the shortwave radio that we saw Bernard and the other tailies use in 'The Other 48 Days". This does pique him a little because by episode's ends, he's worked on the radio and now it's picking up another transmission--- and I recognized the music. It was Glenn Miller, the jazz composer who died in the 40's--- when his plane crashed in the Pacific. Now it's possible that they picked this up from a radio station somewhere out in ocean, but given what we later learn about the island, is it possible that the signal is live, but coming from another time. We know that there's a power source somewhere in the island it is possible that's where it was intercepted from? Or am I crazy?

    The radio is symbol of a lack of communication between the survivors. Locke, Jack and Sawyer encountered the Others together, but rather than work together to form a proper army, Jack went to Ana and talked with her, Locke started fiddling around with the combination (and it didn't help matters when he learned about Charlie's possible relapse) and Sawyer found a way to outmaneuver them both to make a power play of his own. They have the makings of what could be a real force here, but instead, they're all moving in different directions. It's no wonder that the Others have been able to run roughshod over them; they're so messed up in their own stuff, they can't find a way to work together. Despite that long ago admonishment from Jack, it does seem like were coming up on 'every man for himself' here.

    This episode is a shocking one not only because of Sawyer's attitude, but because what we learn about Charlie near the end. Despite what he tells Sawyer, it's obvious that he's back on the drugs again--- hoods on, after all. Though this is a very well done episode, it's not quite as good as some of the earlier ones this seasons, or the one's that have involved Sawyer. There is a major disconnect between the survivors still here, and it's going to take an outside force to bring it. That force is going to show very soon. Till then, it seems a little like marking time.
    My score:8.2moreless

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    4 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • When Sawyer shot the gun in the air, to get everyone's attention, he shot 4 times. 4 is one of "The Numbers". Edit
    • Island events in this episode take place on November 17th 2004. Edit
    • At the beginning of the episode, Jack tells Ana-Lucia that Sayid told him she was a cop and asks her how long it would take to train an army. Surely, Sayid himself would be a better person to ask, given that he served in the Iraqi army's Republican Guard for several years. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Airdates: - Denmark: April 12, 2006 on Kanal 5 Edit
    • Polish premiere was October 19, 2006 on TVP1. Edit
    • Although he is credited, Michael (Harold Perinneau) does not appear in this episode. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko) and Cynthia Watros (Libby) appear briefly but do not have any lines in the episode. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Kate: Jack, how well do you know Ana Lucia? (He only gives her a look without saying a word) It's just, the Others - I was out there with you, heard that man say that if we stayed away they'd leave us alone. And we've left them alone, so why would they attack us a few days later? Jack: If it wasn't them, then who was it? Kate: (carefully) Like I said, how well do you know Ana Lucia? Edit
    • Sawyer: What kind of person do you think I am? Kate: What kind of person do I think you are? I don't think this has anything to do with guns, or with getting your stash back. I think you want people to hate you. Sawyer: Good thing you don't hate me Freckles. Edit
    • Sawyer: (Cassidy just told him she has 600 grand) Well hell baby, with that kind of money let's just sit out on some beach and drink mojitos 'til we go toes up. Cassidy: Sawyer, for the first time in my life I'm actually happy. Come on, one long con? Then the mojitos. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Sawyer calls Sun "Tokyo Rose". This was a generic name given by Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of approximately twenty English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. Edit
    • The song heard on the radio by Sayid and Hurley is "Moonlight Serenade," a big band hit recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Glenn Miller and his orchestra went missing and were presumed dead when their plane "mysteriously disappeared" over the sea. Edit
    • Sayid: Radio waves at this frequency bounce off the ionosphere. They can travel thousands of miles. It could be coming from anywhere. Hurley: Or any time. Allusion to the movie Frequency where a father and son talk through time via short wave radio. Edit

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