Thoughts on The Long Con
2 years, 9 months ago by AndreasRead more: Charlie, Episode Thoughts, Sawyer, Sayid
Spoilers if you haven’t seen “The Long Con”
First of all, wow, talk about intense LOST episode. I really enjoyed the Sawyer flashbacks and the dramatic twists on the island where even better.
I honestly didn’t see the twist coming, even if it made perfect sense and tied in really well with the flashbacks. Since I am one of the few who still believes Charlie is a good person, I was a bit surprised to see him doing something which hurt an innocent person such as Sun. Wanting to get revenge on Locke on the other hand, I can definitively understand.
Notice that when Charlie appears at the end, he has the hood on, hiding in the darkness of his sins. It feels like the hood is a sign of him being “evil Charlie” so to speak. I believe and hope that Charlie’s acquaintance with the darkness is just temporary though. When he is talking to Sawyer at the end, it really feels like Sawyer manipulated him by playing on Charlie’s newfound hatred against John Locke.
Sawyer also takes an interesting turn by outplaying everyone. But for what purpose? Like Kate said, I don’t think this has much to do with the guns or with Sawyer’s stash for that matter.
Enough with Sawyer and Charlie, something else very interesting happened in this episode. Besides joking about songs, Hurley gave Sayid a shortwave radio. At the very end of the episode Sayid manages to pick up a quite clear signal. Where (or when..) the music comes from we do not know, but I’m pretty sure we will see more of the shortwave radio in the next episode.
I did some research on shortwave radio and it turns out there is something known as “numbers stations”. These stations of unknown origin often broadcast series of numbers, much like Rousseau’s transmission. Supposedly, the transmissions are encrypted messages sent between governments and their spies all over the world…
Besides the obvious drama, there where some interesting details in this LOST episode:
How did Ana-Lucia know about Scott? The Others killed him long before the tail section people showed up. Maybe the writers are having fun, maybe Ana-Lucia knows more than she should…
I hope everyone noticed the waitress in the diner being Kate’s mother Diane.
Two new “books” appeared in this LOST episode - the real “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and the made up manuscript “Bad Twin”. More on these in a later post.
If you want to discuss the LOST episode “The Long Con” please feel free to do so in the comments.
Comment 1, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
I didn’t notice Kate’s mother…good catch.
I loved the episode. I was afraid that Sawyer was going to become too “nice” and lose some of what made his character great. So I was very happy to see him back to his dirty ways :D
Comment 2, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
Because of a family crisis, I missed a couple of scenes during the Long Con episode. I heard Sawyer tell Cassidy to take the money and leave and then the next thing I saw was him getting in the car with the bag, and counting “one mississippi”, etc. He looked over at the driver’s seat and no one was there. What was all this about? Also, I now that Charlie and Sawyer planned the whole gun thing, but what was the purpose of him assaulting Sun?
Comment 3, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
I belive that the purpose of assaulting Sun was to induce fear and panic among the losties. They would believe it was The Others attacking them and would then grab the guns to defend themselves. John Locke did not want that to happen, but at the moment, Jack did. Sayer and Charlie played them against each other. As for why Charlie attacked Sun, my bet would be that she simply was the easiest target.
In final scene of the flashback, what happens is that Sawyer gives Cassidy some of the money (she believes it’s all of it) and tells her to go. He goes to his car and waits, and then he goes back to get the large part of the money.
As we see, there is no person sitting in the car waiting to kill both Sawyer and Cassidy if he doesn’t walk out with the briefcase. My view of this is that Sawyer is giving in to Gordy’s treats to kill them and conns Cassidy because he either knows he can’t escape from Gordy or he is simply to afraid to do “the right thing” and make a run for it with Cassidy eventhough he really loves her. That would be why he says “I’m not a good person” at the very end. He is ashamed of conning the girl he loved.
I’ve read theories about Gordy being a creation of Sawyer’s imagination (since Sawyer orders two beers and since the car is empty) and other theories stating that Sawyer conned both Cassidy and Gordy, but I don’t believe those ideas. I feel that the central part is the shame and sadness Sawyer feels because of the actions he has taken, just like Charlie. That’s what connects them.
Comment 4, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
Yup, caught all of those things.
Re: AL’s comment about Scott/Steve — people on the Fuselage forum have been speculating about this, but I, personally, feel it was little nod to us devoted fans who have followed this running joke since its inception in season one. I don’t think, in this case, that there was any deeper meaning behind it.
Comment 5, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
You’re probably right Heather, but then again… “it’s all in the details”
Comment 6, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
My view is the Long Con is the first step for Sawyer the redemer. Sawyer is a professional Con Artist. His next victim(s) will be The Others. Con them out of what you ask? The island, of course.
In the episode where Jack, Sawyer and Locke meet up with The Others and kidnaped Kate, the leader states that the Island is theirs.
Comment 7, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
Haha, Sawyer conning The Others out of the island would be a fun twist Stan. I wouldn’t be suprised if you are on to something though.
Comment 8, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
Now, the idea that Sawyer will con the others and the main dude of “the others” is a great thought. Personally, I feel that Sawyer knows the main guy of the others, who is also known as “Mr. Friendly.” Possibly Mr. Friendly is the guy who conned Sawyer’s parents, which would actually make a lot of sense considering everyone on the island is somehow connected. This would be a good twist. Plus if you listen to the way sawyer and mr friendly talk to eachother from the end of first season on the boat, till now they have a connection
Comment 9, posted 2 years, 9 months ago - Quote and reply
The music playing in this episode was by Glen Miller. Glen died in a plane accident and the plane and his body were never found… In case you didn’t know.
Comment 10, posted 2 years, 7 months ago - Quote and reply
i know this was a long time ago, but i was rewatching it and noticed that sawyer counts to 5, just like jack told kate to do for fear. it is probably nothing, but i thought i’d bring it up(i have too much free time).
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