Season 1 - Episode 07 (The Moth) and Episode 08 (Confidence Man)
Episode 07 (The Moth)
This is Charlie's guitar. This is Charlie's guitar off drugs. Any questions?
I've been waiting seven episodes to use that.
The episode, entitled "The Moth" which refers to a great scene between Locke and Charlie (More on that later) opens with Charlie trying to get his groove back while detoxing. Locke comes along and suggests they take a walk, since the fresh air will do Charlie good. Apparently, Locke thinks that a good run will do Charlie more good, leaving the poor, heroin deprived hobbit alone in the jungle at the mercy of one of the island's Big Bad's.
Flash to Charlie giving his rather racy confession to a wise old priest. It seems that poor little Charlie has had too many relations lately. I had no idea you could O.D. on nookie, but Charlie feels that he has. He has decided to quit the band, put Temptation behind him and go forth to live a good Christian life. Temptation decides that it prefers to be in front of him, so it sends his brother with the staggering news: Driveshaft has just been signed. Charlie is going to be a Rock God.
He's also going to end up as bait in Locke's boar hunt. In return for his services in the bait capacity, he wants Locke to return his drugs to him. Locke figures that Charlie is a lot stronger than he knows, so he proposes a deal. Charlie will get his drugs back if he asks for them three times (Does that feel like a backdoor Biblical reference to anyone else?), which will force him to make a choice about his addiction rather than working on pure instinct. Neither the captured boar nor Charlie enjoy Locke's speech very much.
On the beach, the ever practical McGuyver...er, Saayid has developed a plan to triangulate the French signal they picked up during expedition alpha. It seems that the Professor...er, Saayid has been able to craft three antennas with power cells grafted on to them. Between that and the transmitter that they have from the cockpit, he figures he can locate the source of the distress call and possibly use the equipment to send out a signal of their own. Since the three antennae need to be placed several kilometers apart, he recruits Mary Ann and Gilligan...er, Kate and Boone to help him position them around the island. He also has two major problems. One, the three antennae have little power, so they may only work for a short time. Scotty...er, Saayid finds three (How convenient is that?) bottle rockets in the salvaged wreckage, apparently brought on the plane by fireworks smugglers(???) which they can use to communicate that they are all in position. Two, he needs power for the transmitter. According to Rodney McKay (That's a "Stargate Atlantis" reference which, to those that get it, is a scream...)...er, Saayid, a laptop battery will do the job. Now, I fix phones and two-way radios for a living, and I can tell you that since he has NO tools, making the battery that Kate guilts Sawyer into giving them work with THAT transceiver would be just this side of miraculous. Never mind that the volts and amps would be WAY off, just the size and shape alone make it almost beyond possible even WITH a soldering iron. Being TV, we'll give Professor Frink...er, Saayid the benefit of suspended disbelief. This time.
During the negotiation for the battery, which takes place in Jack's old beach digs, now inhabited by Sawyer and his stash, Kate has a line of dialogue that stopped me in my tracks:
"I don't feel sorry for you. I pity you."
Obviously Roget's Thesaurus didn't wash up on the beach along with "Watership Down".
Back at the caves, Charlie is looking to distract himself from his withdrawal by helping set up camp. He succeeds only in getting in the way and causing more trouble than he solves. On the up side, his clumsiness does give him a chance to rummage through the camp's drug supply. Darn it, no heroin!
Sherlock Jack notices that Charlie is looking a little under the weather. He's a doctor you know. He's trained and educated to notice these things.
Flash to the church yard, where we see Charlie and his brother Liam make a pact. If Charlie decides that band guy existence gets too crazy and he says "We're done" then they walk away. Since Charlie is the Rock God, Liam readily agrees.
Speaking of the God of the Rocks, Hurley should no better than to tell a Rock God that his guitar is in the way. This angers the Rock God. Charlie storms up to Jack and uses his Rock God powers to bury the poor doctor in a cave in. Naturally, Charlie escapes unscathed, since Rocks don't hurt those they worship...
Charlie, go get help.
Get help. Right. I'm on it.
Charlie runs to the beach to get help. He grabs Boone, Michael and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...er, Scott and Steve. Sawyer volunteers to get word to Kate that Jack is in trouble. Boone passes the responsibility of turning on the antenna to Shannon.
Boone knows first hand that Shannon can turn things on.
Flash to a Driveshaft Gig.
"You, All, Everybody. You, All, Everybody.
Acting like it's (you're?) stupid people, wearin' expensive clothes.
You, All, Everybody. You, All, Everybody.
You, All, Everybody."
Charlie and big brother Liam are in the beginning stages of Band Meltdown.
Michael uses his construction skills to direct the rescue operations in the cave.
Sawyer finds Kate and Saayid in the jungle and instead of passing the word about Jack, he changes the subject and joins the effort to find the mysterious signal.
Locke is skinning the boar he caught with Charlie's assistance when Charile brings him the news of the cave in. Charlie asks for his drugs for the second time, which gives Locke an opportunity to once again show us why he is the coolest guy on the island. Give that man a knife, a cocoon and a basket case and he'll turn them into pure cinematic gold.
Michael and his team have created an opening in the rubble, allowing them to determine that Jack is still alive, but he's pinned and can't move.
Kate, Saayid and Sawyer have found a place to set the first antenna they brought. Saayid heads off alone to set the last antenna, leaving Kate to "handle" Sawyer.
Michael realizes the they are going to have to send someone hobbit-sized in after Jack, since they can't safely make the opening any wider. Charlie volunteers to go in after Jack since Sun has a husband, Boone has a sister and they don't have time to wait for Hurley to finish the diet.
Sawyer finally, gleefully, imparts the bad news to Kate about Jack and his new, intimate relationship with the island's geology. Without a second thought, she rushes off to offer her assistance, leaving Sawyer in charge of the antenna deployment. Seems that Jack is more important than getting off the island after all. Well, well, well.
As Charlie begins his spelunking expedition, he flashes to another Driveshaft gig.
Liam has missed soundcheck, since he was busy being high and O.D.ing on nookie. Charlie tries to "walk away", but Liam is having none of it. By the looks of things, getting told to piss off by his brother is enough to drive Charlie into the waiting arms of Temptation, who is conveniently stationed in front of him.
Back in the cave, he manages to get to Jack just as the opening collapses behind him. Kate arrives and restarts the digging effort. You have to wonder how long they would have stood around chatting if she hadn't come along.
Charlie helps Jack pop his dislocated shoulder back in, but Jack is still to incapacitated to be of much help getting them out. It's all up to the Rock God.
Speaking of the Rock God, he's trying to get the now defunct band back together for one last kick at the proverbial can. In an ironic twist, the hard living Liam has cleaned himself up, had a baby and moved into a good upstanding life that appeals to him far more than returning to the band (Liam lives at 52 whatever street. For some reason, I was expecting him to live at 42 whatever street...) while Charlie has sunk into the bump to bump existence of the hopelessly addicted. The Rock God blames his big brother for turning him into the addict he is today.
Jack, the highly educated, well trained doctor has deduced that Charlie is a junkie. But a useful, brave junkie. While the junkie and the doctor discuss the finer points of confession, Charlie spies a moth (!) that has found its way into the cave with them. This is obviously some sort of sign, since you never, ever find bugs in caves. The metaphor stretching moth leads them to light coming in to the cave through a small hole, out of which Charlie struggles, stretching that metaphor right to the breaking point. If he starts spinning silk out of his butt, I'm never watching this show again.
On the beach, Shannon sees the first bottle rocket go up. Saayid watches for rocket number three and once he sees it, fires up the transceiver, getting a signal he can triangulate. Of course, the blunt force trauma to the back of his head makes it pretty tough for him to pin down the location.
Jack covers for Charlie when Hurley too notices that he looks rather crap-tastic. Walt thinks the caves are cool and he wants live in them. I wonder if he'd have that same burning desire if someone were to find a way to get him off the island? Kate, sewer of drapes and gaping wounds, gives Jack a sling she made for him. They discuss the cave and we learn that Michael has certified the rest of the cave as safe. Where exactly do you go to school to get your Deserted Island Cave Safety Certification Training anyhow?
Charlie asks Locke for his drugs for the third time. With astonishing resolve, he takes what's left of his stash and throws it in the fire. Good thing that there isn't any more heroin on the island or Temptation might try to get back in front of him again...
Discussion
Episode 08 (Confidence Man)
Kate is taking her bananas for a walk on the beach when she comes across Sawyer's book, his smokes and his clothes. When she picks up the book, we hear Sawyer say that it's a helluva book. It's about bunnies.
Pan out to the ocean where he's swimming and we watch him stand up in the water, naked.
At this point, somewhere in the States, Celeste Hutsonpillar's clothes fell off.
Sawyer emerges from the surf, and there is shrinkage related banter.
Flash to Sawyer and a blonde woman. Shrinkage is apparently not an issue at the moment. To say that he has this woman wrapped around his finger might be an understatement, and probably references the wrong body part.
He has a meeting and in getting ready for it, his briefcase full of money falls open. Blondie doesn't find this suspicious at all.
On the island, Sawyer comes across Boone rummaging through his stash. He does find this suspicious.
Jack is patching up Saayid who is relating how he was ambushed while trying to find the French signal. Shannon hauls Boone into Island ER, the victim of a Sawyer related fist meets face accident. Turns out that Boone was looking for Shannon's asthma inhaler that he believes Sawyer has, since the hillbilly has his book which was in the same luggage as the inhaler refills.
Jack confronts Sawyer about the meds. Near fisticuffs are interrupted by Kate.
Flash to Sawyer and Blondie, who are discussing a business proposal that sounds dubious to say the least. Supposedly, if you have three hundred thousand dollars, the government will take your money and return it threefold within a few weeks. Sawyer has One Hundred and Forty Thousand. Blondie offers to kick in the balance through her husband. Husband? I think we're back to the shrinkage issue again.
On the beach, Jack is ready to kill Sawyer over the hoarding of the medication. Since he hasn't actually done anything, Kate wonders what's stopping him. Personally I'm thinking a case of decision-itis, but Jack trumpets the fact that they aren't savages. Not yet. Pesky foreshadowing.
Kate volunteers to try to get the meds back with charm. She finds Sawyer cutting wood and opens the negotiations. He proposes that a kiss from Kate would be sufficient payment for the medication. An unexpected angle develops when Kate tries to find his humanity by bringing up the letter that Sawyer carries with him. Turns out that this letter is written to Sawyer by the child of someone he conned who was then killed by an irate and eventually suicidal husband. The child plans to one day find Sawyer give him the letter to remind him that his con artist ways have killed the boy's parents.
Kate still doesn't pony up the lips.
Saayid is on the hunt for whoever whacked him with a big stick. The first interviewee we see him with is Locke. The only witness to Locke's whereabouts at the time of the assault is the boar that Locke was skinning for their dinner. Locke deftly changes the subject from who to why and suggests that whoever did the deed would be someone who was profiting from the groups situation, implicating Sawyer. Of course, he doesn't mention his miraculously returned from market piggies since that too is a form of profit...
Shannon is having an asthma attack, with no meds in sight. Jack takes a slightly more direct approach with Sawyer, this time trying to beat the medication out of him. Unsuccessfully.
Back in the world, Sawyer is having dinner with Blondie, who we learn is "Jess" and her husband David. David is extremely skeptical of the whole "Louisiana will kick in two thirds of the drilling costs" loophole that Sawyer plans to use to triple his money. To cement the bonds of trust, Sawyer proposes leaving the cash with David overnight. After a little dose of reverse psychology, David agrees.
Charlie and Claire are discussing cravings. Since Charlie wants Claire to move to the caves, he suggests that if he can find her some peanut butter, she will move to the caves. Bargain struck.
Shannon's asthma is getting worse. Jack talks her down and gets her breathing again. Hurley sums it up. "I mean, that was like, a Jedi moment."
Saayid seems concerned about Shannon. Turns out that he has some expertise in getting the enemy to communicate. Jack approves the idea. Savage.
Charlie is pestering Hurley for peanut butter. He points out that Hurley is a bit bigger than the rest of them. "For the record, I'm down a notch in my belt. I'm a big guy. It's gonna be while before you're gonna want to give me a piggy back ride, OK?"
Sun thinks she might have a remedy for Shannon's asthma. Oddly, her solution doesn't involve beating, binding or torturing anyone. Saayid's solution, on the other hand, involves a lot of those things. After one last appeal from Jack to Sawyer for him to give up the goods, Saayid goes to work on his prisoner. Nothing pretty happens from this point on. Eventually, Sawyer agrees to tell them where the medication is, but he'll only tell Kate.
Flash to a seedy bar and Sawyer explaining his grift to someone else who know something about making people suffer. Turns out that the money Sawyer left with David and Jess isn't his. If he doesn't return it plus fifty percent Sawyer will learn just how much he knows about the subject.
Kate can't believe that Sawyer is still demanding the kiss in payment for the secret of the medication's whereabouts, but at this point, tied to a tree in the jungle of mystery and having been tortured by a spinal surgeon and a genuine Iraqi, what does he have to lose?
Kate finally agrees. Sawyer gets his (very hot) kiss. Greybishop is left with feelings of extreme jealousy.
Kate is left with tingling lips and no medicine. The book that Boone saw Sawyer with didn't come out of his luggage, it washed up on shore, unlike Roget's Thesaurus.
Sawyer gets another bruise when she finds this out, but hey, he got the kiss.
Saayid doesn't buy Sawyer's story and plans to cut the information out of him. He also believes that Sawyer is responsible for the broken transmitter. Fortunately for the hillbilly, he gets himself untied before the knife fight starts. One severed artery later, they still have no medication.
Michael brings Sun a plant. Jin isn't impressed by the gesture. Yet another fight is averted by the narrowest of margins.
Despite Sawyer telling him that he wouldn't return the favour if Jack saves him, Jack patches him up.
Sawyer is about to take David's money. Just as he's ready to skip out with the dough, David and Jess's son enters the picture. Sawyer spontaneously grows a conscience and puts the brakes on the deal.
Kate confronts a patched up Sawyer about the letter. She has deduced that Sawyer wrote it, not a child who's parent Sawyer had conned. Despite his history, Sawyer ends up emulating the man who was ultimately responsible for the tragic death of his parents. He became the man he hunted.
Back in Island ER, Sun has managed to cure Shannon's asthma with eucalyptus leaves. She didn't even have to tie anyone up.
Charlie brings Claire imaginary peanut butter. She finds the gesture so sweet that she instantly agrees to move in with him. Funny, I usually have to buy a lot of dinners and jewelry before I can get a girl to move into my cave. I never tried imaginary peanut butter...
Saayid's guilt drives him to leave the beach. As an excuse for leaving, he plans to walk the shore and map the island.
Cue the closing montage:
"Hallowed and torn, still I can see the light.
Battered and worn, but I must kneel to find." Charlie and Claire moving to the caves.
"Friend of mine, what can you spare?" Boone and Shannon share water and a private smile.
"I know some time, it gets cold in there." Sawyer reading his letter.
"When my hands no longer carry, and the warm wind chills my bones," Sawyer contemplates burning his letter.
"I just reach for Mother Mary," He decides not to burn it. (I wonder if Charlie heard that part?)
"And I shall not walk alone..." Saayid leaving, alone.
Discussion
This is Charlie's guitar. This is Charlie's guitar off drugs. Any questions?
I've been waiting seven episodes to use that.
The episode, entitled "The Moth" which refers to a great scene between Locke and Charlie (More on that later) opens with Charlie trying to get his groove back while detoxing. Locke comes along and suggests they take a walk, since the fresh air will do Charlie good. Apparently, Locke thinks that a good run will do Charlie more good, leaving the poor, heroin deprived hobbit alone in the jungle at the mercy of one of the island's Big Bad's.
Flash to Charlie giving his rather racy confession to a wise old priest. It seems that poor little Charlie has had too many relations lately. I had no idea you could O.D. on nookie, but Charlie feels that he has. He has decided to quit the band, put Temptation behind him and go forth to live a good Christian life. Temptation decides that it prefers to be in front of him, so it sends his brother with the staggering news: Driveshaft has just been signed. Charlie is going to be a Rock God.
He's also going to end up as bait in Locke's boar hunt. In return for his services in the bait capacity, he wants Locke to return his drugs to him. Locke figures that Charlie is a lot stronger than he knows, so he proposes a deal. Charlie will get his drugs back if he asks for them three times (Does that feel like a backdoor Biblical reference to anyone else?), which will force him to make a choice about his addiction rather than working on pure instinct. Neither the captured boar nor Charlie enjoy Locke's speech very much.
On the beach, the ever practical McGuyver...er, Saayid has developed a plan to triangulate the French signal they picked up during expedition alpha. It seems that the Professor...er, Saayid has been able to craft three antennas with power cells grafted on to them. Between that and the transmitter that they have from the cockpit, he figures he can locate the source of the distress call and possibly use the equipment to send out a signal of their own. Since the three antennae need to be placed several kilometers apart, he recruits Mary Ann and Gilligan...er, Kate and Boone to help him position them around the island. He also has two major problems. One, the three antennae have little power, so they may only work for a short time. Scotty...er, Saayid finds three (How convenient is that?) bottle rockets in the salvaged wreckage, apparently brought on the plane by fireworks smugglers(???) which they can use to communicate that they are all in position. Two, he needs power for the transmitter. According to Rodney McKay (That's a "Stargate Atlantis" reference which, to those that get it, is a scream...)...er, Saayid, a laptop battery will do the job. Now, I fix phones and two-way radios for a living, and I can tell you that since he has NO tools, making the battery that Kate guilts Sawyer into giving them work with THAT transceiver would be just this side of miraculous. Never mind that the volts and amps would be WAY off, just the size and shape alone make it almost beyond possible even WITH a soldering iron. Being TV, we'll give Professor Frink...er, Saayid the benefit of suspended disbelief. This time.
During the negotiation for the battery, which takes place in Jack's old beach digs, now inhabited by Sawyer and his stash, Kate has a line of dialogue that stopped me in my tracks:
"I don't feel sorry for you. I pity you."
Obviously Roget's Thesaurus didn't wash up on the beach along with "Watership Down".
Back at the caves, Charlie is looking to distract himself from his withdrawal by helping set up camp. He succeeds only in getting in the way and causing more trouble than he solves. On the up side, his clumsiness does give him a chance to rummage through the camp's drug supply. Darn it, no heroin!
Sherlock Jack notices that Charlie is looking a little under the weather. He's a doctor you know. He's trained and educated to notice these things.
Flash to the church yard, where we see Charlie and his brother Liam make a pact. If Charlie decides that band guy existence gets too crazy and he says "We're done" then they walk away. Since Charlie is the Rock God, Liam readily agrees.
Speaking of the God of the Rocks, Hurley should no better than to tell a Rock God that his guitar is in the way. This angers the Rock God. Charlie storms up to Jack and uses his Rock God powers to bury the poor doctor in a cave in. Naturally, Charlie escapes unscathed, since Rocks don't hurt those they worship...
Charlie, go get help.
Get help. Right. I'm on it.
Charlie runs to the beach to get help. He grabs Boone, Michael and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern...er, Scott and Steve. Sawyer volunteers to get word to Kate that Jack is in trouble. Boone passes the responsibility of turning on the antenna to Shannon.
Boone knows first hand that Shannon can turn things on.
Flash to a Driveshaft Gig.
"You, All, Everybody. You, All, Everybody.
Acting like it's (you're?) stupid people, wearin' expensive clothes.
You, All, Everybody. You, All, Everybody.
You, All, Everybody."
Charlie and big brother Liam are in the beginning stages of Band Meltdown.
Michael uses his construction skills to direct the rescue operations in the cave.
Sawyer finds Kate and Saayid in the jungle and instead of passing the word about Jack, he changes the subject and joins the effort to find the mysterious signal.
Locke is skinning the boar he caught with Charlie's assistance when Charile brings him the news of the cave in. Charlie asks for his drugs for the second time, which gives Locke an opportunity to once again show us why he is the coolest guy on the island. Give that man a knife, a cocoon and a basket case and he'll turn them into pure cinematic gold.
Michael and his team have created an opening in the rubble, allowing them to determine that Jack is still alive, but he's pinned and can't move.
Kate, Saayid and Sawyer have found a place to set the first antenna they brought. Saayid heads off alone to set the last antenna, leaving Kate to "handle" Sawyer.
Michael realizes the they are going to have to send someone hobbit-sized in after Jack, since they can't safely make the opening any wider. Charlie volunteers to go in after Jack since Sun has a husband, Boone has a sister and they don't have time to wait for Hurley to finish the diet.
Sawyer finally, gleefully, imparts the bad news to Kate about Jack and his new, intimate relationship with the island's geology. Without a second thought, she rushes off to offer her assistance, leaving Sawyer in charge of the antenna deployment. Seems that Jack is more important than getting off the island after all. Well, well, well.
As Charlie begins his spelunking expedition, he flashes to another Driveshaft gig.
Liam has missed soundcheck, since he was busy being high and O.D.ing on nookie. Charlie tries to "walk away", but Liam is having none of it. By the looks of things, getting told to piss off by his brother is enough to drive Charlie into the waiting arms of Temptation, who is conveniently stationed in front of him.
Back in the cave, he manages to get to Jack just as the opening collapses behind him. Kate arrives and restarts the digging effort. You have to wonder how long they would have stood around chatting if she hadn't come along.
Charlie helps Jack pop his dislocated shoulder back in, but Jack is still to incapacitated to be of much help getting them out. It's all up to the Rock God.
Speaking of the Rock God, he's trying to get the now defunct band back together for one last kick at the proverbial can. In an ironic twist, the hard living Liam has cleaned himself up, had a baby and moved into a good upstanding life that appeals to him far more than returning to the band (Liam lives at 52 whatever street. For some reason, I was expecting him to live at 42 whatever street...) while Charlie has sunk into the bump to bump existence of the hopelessly addicted. The Rock God blames his big brother for turning him into the addict he is today.
Jack, the highly educated, well trained doctor has deduced that Charlie is a junkie. But a useful, brave junkie. While the junkie and the doctor discuss the finer points of confession, Charlie spies a moth (!) that has found its way into the cave with them. This is obviously some sort of sign, since you never, ever find bugs in caves. The metaphor stretching moth leads them to light coming in to the cave through a small hole, out of which Charlie struggles, stretching that metaphor right to the breaking point. If he starts spinning silk out of his butt, I'm never watching this show again.
On the beach, Shannon sees the first bottle rocket go up. Saayid watches for rocket number three and once he sees it, fires up the transceiver, getting a signal he can triangulate. Of course, the blunt force trauma to the back of his head makes it pretty tough for him to pin down the location.
Jack covers for Charlie when Hurley too notices that he looks rather crap-tastic. Walt thinks the caves are cool and he wants live in them. I wonder if he'd have that same burning desire if someone were to find a way to get him off the island? Kate, sewer of drapes and gaping wounds, gives Jack a sling she made for him. They discuss the cave and we learn that Michael has certified the rest of the cave as safe. Where exactly do you go to school to get your Deserted Island Cave Safety Certification Training anyhow?
Charlie asks Locke for his drugs for the third time. With astonishing resolve, he takes what's left of his stash and throws it in the fire. Good thing that there isn't any more heroin on the island or Temptation might try to get back in front of him again...
Discussion
Episode 08 (Confidence Man)
Kate is taking her bananas for a walk on the beach when she comes across Sawyer's book, his smokes and his clothes. When she picks up the book, we hear Sawyer say that it's a helluva book. It's about bunnies.
Pan out to the ocean where he's swimming and we watch him stand up in the water, naked.
At this point, somewhere in the States, Celeste Hutsonpillar's clothes fell off.
Sawyer emerges from the surf, and there is shrinkage related banter.
Flash to Sawyer and a blonde woman. Shrinkage is apparently not an issue at the moment. To say that he has this woman wrapped around his finger might be an understatement, and probably references the wrong body part.
He has a meeting and in getting ready for it, his briefcase full of money falls open. Blondie doesn't find this suspicious at all.
On the island, Sawyer comes across Boone rummaging through his stash. He does find this suspicious.
Jack is patching up Saayid who is relating how he was ambushed while trying to find the French signal. Shannon hauls Boone into Island ER, the victim of a Sawyer related fist meets face accident. Turns out that Boone was looking for Shannon's asthma inhaler that he believes Sawyer has, since the hillbilly has his book which was in the same luggage as the inhaler refills.
Jack confronts Sawyer about the meds. Near fisticuffs are interrupted by Kate.
Flash to Sawyer and Blondie, who are discussing a business proposal that sounds dubious to say the least. Supposedly, if you have three hundred thousand dollars, the government will take your money and return it threefold within a few weeks. Sawyer has One Hundred and Forty Thousand. Blondie offers to kick in the balance through her husband. Husband? I think we're back to the shrinkage issue again.
On the beach, Jack is ready to kill Sawyer over the hoarding of the medication. Since he hasn't actually done anything, Kate wonders what's stopping him. Personally I'm thinking a case of decision-itis, but Jack trumpets the fact that they aren't savages. Not yet. Pesky foreshadowing.
Kate volunteers to try to get the meds back with charm. She finds Sawyer cutting wood and opens the negotiations. He proposes that a kiss from Kate would be sufficient payment for the medication. An unexpected angle develops when Kate tries to find his humanity by bringing up the letter that Sawyer carries with him. Turns out that this letter is written to Sawyer by the child of someone he conned who was then killed by an irate and eventually suicidal husband. The child plans to one day find Sawyer give him the letter to remind him that his con artist ways have killed the boy's parents.
Kate still doesn't pony up the lips.
Saayid is on the hunt for whoever whacked him with a big stick. The first interviewee we see him with is Locke. The only witness to Locke's whereabouts at the time of the assault is the boar that Locke was skinning for their dinner. Locke deftly changes the subject from who to why and suggests that whoever did the deed would be someone who was profiting from the groups situation, implicating Sawyer. Of course, he doesn't mention his miraculously returned from market piggies since that too is a form of profit...
Shannon is having an asthma attack, with no meds in sight. Jack takes a slightly more direct approach with Sawyer, this time trying to beat the medication out of him. Unsuccessfully.
Back in the world, Sawyer is having dinner with Blondie, who we learn is "Jess" and her husband David. David is extremely skeptical of the whole "Louisiana will kick in two thirds of the drilling costs" loophole that Sawyer plans to use to triple his money. To cement the bonds of trust, Sawyer proposes leaving the cash with David overnight. After a little dose of reverse psychology, David agrees.
Charlie and Claire are discussing cravings. Since Charlie wants Claire to move to the caves, he suggests that if he can find her some peanut butter, she will move to the caves. Bargain struck.
Shannon's asthma is getting worse. Jack talks her down and gets her breathing again. Hurley sums it up. "I mean, that was like, a Jedi moment."
Saayid seems concerned about Shannon. Turns out that he has some expertise in getting the enemy to communicate. Jack approves the idea. Savage.
Charlie is pestering Hurley for peanut butter. He points out that Hurley is a bit bigger than the rest of them. "For the record, I'm down a notch in my belt. I'm a big guy. It's gonna be while before you're gonna want to give me a piggy back ride, OK?"
Sun thinks she might have a remedy for Shannon's asthma. Oddly, her solution doesn't involve beating, binding or torturing anyone. Saayid's solution, on the other hand, involves a lot of those things. After one last appeal from Jack to Sawyer for him to give up the goods, Saayid goes to work on his prisoner. Nothing pretty happens from this point on. Eventually, Sawyer agrees to tell them where the medication is, but he'll only tell Kate.
Flash to a seedy bar and Sawyer explaining his grift to someone else who know something about making people suffer. Turns out that the money Sawyer left with David and Jess isn't his. If he doesn't return it plus fifty percent Sawyer will learn just how much he knows about the subject.
Kate can't believe that Sawyer is still demanding the kiss in payment for the secret of the medication's whereabouts, but at this point, tied to a tree in the jungle of mystery and having been tortured by a spinal surgeon and a genuine Iraqi, what does he have to lose?
Kate finally agrees. Sawyer gets his (very hot) kiss. Greybishop is left with feelings of extreme jealousy.
Kate is left with tingling lips and no medicine. The book that Boone saw Sawyer with didn't come out of his luggage, it washed up on shore, unlike Roget's Thesaurus.
Sawyer gets another bruise when she finds this out, but hey, he got the kiss.
Saayid doesn't buy Sawyer's story and plans to cut the information out of him. He also believes that Sawyer is responsible for the broken transmitter. Fortunately for the hillbilly, he gets himself untied before the knife fight starts. One severed artery later, they still have no medication.
Michael brings Sun a plant. Jin isn't impressed by the gesture. Yet another fight is averted by the narrowest of margins.
Despite Sawyer telling him that he wouldn't return the favour if Jack saves him, Jack patches him up.
Sawyer is about to take David's money. Just as he's ready to skip out with the dough, David and Jess's son enters the picture. Sawyer spontaneously grows a conscience and puts the brakes on the deal.
Kate confronts a patched up Sawyer about the letter. She has deduced that Sawyer wrote it, not a child who's parent Sawyer had conned. Despite his history, Sawyer ends up emulating the man who was ultimately responsible for the tragic death of his parents. He became the man he hunted.
Back in Island ER, Sun has managed to cure Shannon's asthma with eucalyptus leaves. She didn't even have to tie anyone up.
Charlie brings Claire imaginary peanut butter. She finds the gesture so sweet that she instantly agrees to move in with him. Funny, I usually have to buy a lot of dinners and jewelry before I can get a girl to move into my cave. I never tried imaginary peanut butter...
Saayid's guilt drives him to leave the beach. As an excuse for leaving, he plans to walk the shore and map the island.
Cue the closing montage:
"Hallowed and torn, still I can see the light.
Battered and worn, but I must kneel to find." Charlie and Claire moving to the caves.
"Friend of mine, what can you spare?" Boone and Shannon share water and a private smile.
"I know some time, it gets cold in there." Sawyer reading his letter.
"When my hands no longer carry, and the warm wind chills my bones," Sawyer contemplates burning his letter.
"I just reach for Mother Mary," He decides not to burn it. (I wonder if Charlie heard that part?)
"And I shall not walk alone..." Saayid leaving, alone.
Discussion
posted by Greybishop at 1:59 PM
