Lost: Season 5, Episode 8 "LaFleur" Review

 "The record is spinning again.  We're just not on the song we wanna be on."

-Daniel Faraday

"LaFleur" picks up just after Locke (Terry O'Quinn) leaves the Island and stops the time flashes.  Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Miles (Ken Leung), and Daniel (Jeremy Davies) decide to go back to the beach to wait for Locke to return, but come across a skirmish between the Dharma Initiative and the Others and eventually realize they are stuck in 1974.

They kill the Others and save a Dhama member, Amy (Reiko Aylesworth), but not her husband, Paul.  Suspicious of her saviors, Amy walks through the sonic fence with earplugs in, which knocks out the rest of the group when they follow her.  Sawyer is met by the leader of the Dharma Initiative, Horace Goodspeed (Doug Hutchinson).  Sawyer convinces him that they were the crew of a shipwrecked salvage ship and were looking for the rest of the crew.  Horace buys this, but plans to send them on the submarine off the Island the next morning.  At the same time, Daniel notices a young Charlotte living at the Barracks.

The Barracks enter lockdown when Richard (Nestor Carbonell) infiltrates the compound wanting to know where his missing men are.  Sawyer talks to Richard and reveals his connection to Locke.  To save the truce between the two factions, the Dharma Initiative gives Richard Paul's body.  Horace allows Sawyer and his group to stay for two more weeks to find the crew.  Juliet still wants to leave the Island, but Sawyer convicts her to stay for the two weeks.

Three years later, Sawyer is now the head of security for the Dharma Initiative with Jin and Miles working for him as they secretly search the Island for Oceanic 815 survivors.  Juliet is now a mechanic and she and Sawyer are in a relationship.  One night, Horace is out getting drunk and blowing up trees with dynamite, so Sawyer and Miles head out to retrieve him.  While he's passed out, Amy, who is now in a relationship with Horace, goes into labor with their baby.  With Horace out of commission, Juliet has to help deliver the baby and is successful.

A couple of days later, Sawyer gets a call from Jin and they meet away from the Barracks.  Sawyer is stunned to see that Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Jack (Matthew Fox), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) have returned to the Island.

What Works:

It's been a long time since we've gotten to see Sawyer use his conman powers on this show.  I think the last time was in season 3's "Every Man for Himself", where he was completely shown up by Ben (Michael Emerson).  We get to see Sawyer lying his ass off to the Dharma Initiative for three years and it's awesome.  This is a major turning point for the character and this episode sees him fully transition out of being the group's jerk with a heart of gold to their leader and a genuine hero.  It's some great work for the character and an awesome performance from Josh Holloway.

Throughout the rest of the season, we're going to get a good look at the Dharma Initiative and I really enjoy it.  All of that starts here.  I just find it fun that the show goes full 70's for awhile.  The dialogue from some of the character along with the hairstyles crack me up.

The conversation between Sawyer and Richard is another highlight.  It's nice to have such a frank and straightforward conversation, particularly between two characters who are typically mysterious and play their cards close to their chests.  It's very refreshing.

I loved seeing Juliet finally succeed in delivering a baby on the Island.  This character has had to deal with so much crap and trauma that it's a huge relief to see her get a win.

Finally, my favorite romantic relationship in all of Lost starts here with Sawyer and Juliet.  It had never even occurred to me that they might end up together before I actually witnessed it.  Sawyer was threatening to torture Juliet just back in season 3.  They have fantastic chemistry and they are the relationship I root for the most alongside Desmond and Penny.

What Sucks:

My only problem with this episode comes from the weirdness surrounding Paul's body.  Why do the Others want the body?  What are they going to do with it?  It's kind of a weird way to keep the peace.  This is a question that never gets answered, but it's always stood out to me as weird and I can't really think of a good theory on my own.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Lafleur," I had pretty much the easiest decision I've ever had doing these reviews.  It's Sawyer with a bullet.  He brilliantly cons Horace, pulls his group together, negotiates peace between the Dharma Initiative and the Others, becomes the Head of Security, and gets into a relationship with Juliet.  Good for Sawyer.  This is his 5th time winning this award, which ties him for 5th place with Mr. Eko and Desmond.

Verdict:

"LaFleur" is a very refreshing episode of Lost, for both the character of Sawyer and the conversation he has with Richard.  Plus we get some fun Dharma stuff, a win for Juliet, and an excellent romantic pairing.  Even if I don't love the stuff with Paul's body, this episode has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great