Last night was a Sawyer-centric episode which let’s face it is never a bad thing.
Initially I did not rate Josh Holloway as an actor and in fact it’s fair to say I was fairly indifferent to him as a character in the first couple of seasons. However his journey from a wronged boy seeking vengeance for the loss of his parents to a selfish, isolated and immoral individual aping the actions of very man who ruined his life to a person capable of loving (Kate) and then loving and being loved (Juliet) has been fascinating. And Holloway, who at the start seemed to be there as moody eye candy, has proved himself an accomplished actor from playing the man initially on the outside to Juliet’s island husband and Dharma protector and now right back again.
In LA we were reminded of an earlier version of James albeit one operating on the other side of the law - not that you could really tell the difference. Here was the disconnected James yet again with Miles as his partner desperately trying to break through. He was still hell-bent on revenge but this time from the inside. A cop playing a con-artist, not very successfully as it turns out. She had him sussed from the get-go. New Locke told him on the island he was the best liar he ever met - turns out he was not so good at it in LA, the woman he was trying to sting didn’t believe him, Miles didn’t believe him and Charlotte wasn’t falling for his lines either.
Go on admit it we all hoped James’s blind-date would turn out to be Juliet! It would have been a bit too obvious but the date was bound to be one of the island alum and she was. Apparently LA Charlotte is hanging out with Miles’ dad - Pierre Chang – at the museum. Holloway seems to have a happy knack for creating chemistry with his female leads and Charlotte was no exception. However she wasn’t buying his standard lines “Bullet led me to become a cop” yeah right. She discovered his secret remarkable easy to be honest but after his outburst was unwilling to give him another chance when he turned up with the sunflower.
Just as well really as we all know who he should be bringing flowers do. Clearly Cuse and Lindelof are going to keep us guessing about sideways Juliet right up to the end. Miles had an unnamed girlfriend – it could be her.
Charlotte’s appearance seemed a little pointless to me – she came, she had a moment with James and then she left - probably for good. I don’t like the idea of the boys bringing back previous cast-members just to take a lap of honour. There really should only be back if they bring something to the storyline. But I digress.
LA James wasn’t a good liar but it also turns out that he wasn’t that good at vengeance either. He was happy to look for Anthony Cooper but seemed to be lacking the killer instinct to finish the job. “Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Miles, “because I knew you’d try to talk me out of it” responded James. Yet he told him and in doing this you feel Cooper is safe in LA. It does set up the possibility of a future meeting between LA James and LA Locke (via his da).
You can see how having the crime fighting duo of Miles and James (spin-off anyone?) will bring a lot of the LA storylines together - there was Liam in the station trying to bail out his wayward brother Charlie, Jin and Sayid are both operating on the wrong side of the law and as we saw last night they have already encountered America’s most wanted - Kate.
Meanwhile back at the ranch Smokie’s group seemed last night to be gadding about the place aimlessly. They visited Claire’s lair – to pick up Jin and James - and so the mammy could say bye to the Aaron substitute and Kate could figure out that it’s not just Claire’s hair that’s gone crazy.
Was it just me or did new Locke seem really hesitant in spots last night? He seemed uncertain how to tackle James’s questions and also in how to deal with the Claire/Kate situation. Clearly he was allowing Claire go in for the kill so he could intervene and rescue Kate setting them up to have a heart to heart of sorts. But his revelations about his crazy mother seemed spontaneous to me. Were they or was he just sending Kate a message about the damage Claire could do to Aaron if she gets him back?
I keep having to remind myself that this guy is not really Locke but I wonder if in possessing Locke’s body he has Locke’s memories? And if so can the spirit of old Locke in any way influence new Locke.
By the way what has happened to Sayid – he seemed in zombie mode last night saying nothing and not intervening when Kate was being attacked. I felt that Claire’s remorse was sincere and I wonder if this is the start of a long road back for her? Somebody give that girl a bottle of conditioner quick.
Island James despite having signed up to Smokie’s team clearly pinned his colours to the mast last night. He’s happy to let new Locke and Widmore fight it out while he slips out the back Jack on the sub. I feared the heartbreak over the loss of Juliet would see him revert to type but not so. While he clearly is out to protect himself he promised Jin last night that they would not leave without Sun and Kate is also guaranteed a place on the sub. James, in visiting the Hydra station and seeing the cage where he and Kate sealed the deal back in the day, remembered the point at which he opened himself up to another person and how that eventually led him to the happiness he experienced with Juliet. Clearly he realises that the island he had created for himself is not somewhere he wants to revisit.
Very sorry about the lateness of this but it has been a hectic day. Yet another long post and I haven’t even begun to speculate about who was in the locked room on the Sub? I’ll leave that one to you. I will also leave to you to speculate about the significance of the scene from 'Little House on the Prairie' in which pa told Laura that there’s “not much point in worrying about what’s going to happen” Perhaps we should listen to his advice and sit back and enjoy the remaining episodes.
Over to you guys
Bree Treacy
