Lost: Season 6, Episode 8 "Recon" Review

 "I'm the smoke thing."

-The Man in Black

"Recon" picks up with Sawyer (Josh Holloway) taking care of Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) at Claire's (Emilie de Ravin) camp.  The Man in Black (Terry O'Quinn) returns with his group, which includes Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Claire, and many Others.  The Man in Black then sends Sawyer over to Hydra Island to do some reconnaissance on the Ajira survivors, with the ultimate plan being to take the plane and fly away from the Island.

Sawyer finds the remaining passengers of the Ajira flight all dead, but encounters a woman named Zoe (Sheila Kelley), who claims to be the sole survivor.  Sawyer figures out she is lying and pulls a gun on her, but she calls out for reinforcements who capture Saywer.  He is brought onto a submarine and meets Charles Widmore (Alan Dale).  Sawyer offers to lure the Man in Black to Hydra Island so Widmore can kill him.  In exchange, he wants safe passage off the Island for everyone else.  Widmore agrees.

At the Man in Black's camp, Claire tries to kill Kate for taking Aaron (William Blanchette) away from her.  The Man in Black breaks it up and tries to comfort Kate.  He tells her he will protect her and that he is worried for Aaron's safety because of Claire's instability.  Claire later apologizes and thanks Kate for protecting Aaron.

Sawyer returns and tells the Man in Black everything that happened, including the deal he made with Widmore, that way the Man in Black will have the advantage in the coming conflict.  Later, he reveals to Kate that he intends to let Widmore and the Man in Black fight it out while they escape the Island on the submarine.

In the flash-sideways, Sawyer is actually a detective and his partner is Miles (Ken Leung).  Sawyer has recently returned from Australia in his search to track down the con-man who stole his parents' money, but told Miles he was just on vacation in Palm Springs.  Miles sets Sawyer up on a date with his friend, Charlotte (Rebecca Mader), and it goes well, at first.  They sleep together, but when Charlotte finds Sawyer's binder of information on Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe) and Sawyer angrily kicks her out.

Miles confronts Sawyer about his trip to Australia and Sawyer tells him to stay out of his business.  Miles quits being Sawyer's partner.  Sawyer tries to apologize to Charlotte, but she slams her door in his face.  Later, he tells the whole truth about Anthony Cooper to Miles and his plan to kill Cooper.  A car slams into Sawyer's car and they chase down the driver, who turns out to be Kate, who Sawyer recognizes from LA X.  

What Works:

The flash-sideways storyline is the best part of the episode for me.  I love the idea of Sawyer and Miles being cops together.  I would watch the hell out of that show.  Their scenes are a lot of fun, plus the return of Charlotte is great.  Josh Holloway gets to return to Sawyer's roots and gives an excellent performance.  This is easily the strongest stuff in this episode.

I also really like Terry O'Quinn's perfromance.  He really gets to humanize the Man in Black here.  He seems to show genuine concern for Kate and I like that we actually get part of his backstory and how it relates to Claire and Aaron.  Plus, having seen "Across the Sea," we know this is actually true.  While "Across the Sea" is a problem-filled episode of Lost, it does at least make "Recon" stronger.

Finally, Emilie de Ravin does a good job of playing Claire as completely unhinged.  I just like the wide range of emotions she gets to showcase in the episode.  It's a lot different from the Claire of old.

What Sucks:

The big problem with this episode comes from Sawyer's on-Island story.  It's just not very interesting.  He goes to Hydra Island, hangs out with Widmore and Zoe for a bit, and then comes back.  Very little of note happens, and most of what does happen annoys me.  I'll get into that stuff later on.  This whole storyline feels like the season is stalling and it doesn't really pay off in a meaningful way.

This episode introduces us to Zoe.  We've had some awesome henchmen on this show.  Ethan, Tom Friendly, Mikhail, and Keamy are all elite.  Even some of the Dharma folk were pretty despicable.  In season 6, we get...Zoe.  She never works on this show and may be the worst character of the series.  This is really the best we could do?  I don't know if it's the character, the actress, or both, but she falls completely flat.

As for the rest of Sawyer's adventure, it's annoying that the Ajira survivors get unceremoniously wiped out.  It feels like a bit of a waste.  Also, it's always annoyed me that Sawyer finds Kate's Hydra Island dress in the bear cage.  She wore that in their escape from Hydra Island.  How is it here?  That makes no sense.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For "Recon," this award goes to Sawyer for effectively pitting the Man in Black and Widmore against one another and not believing either one of them.  This is Sawyer's 9th time winning this award, which ties him for 4th place with the Man in Black.

Verdict:

"Recon" is a pretty mediocre episode of Lost and easily Sawyer's worst episode.  The flash-sideways is good, as are the performances of Holloway, O'Quinn, and de Ravin, but Zoe is terrible, the Hydra Island plot is dull, and there are a few minor things that have always bugged me.  It's not a bad episode, but I wouldn't call it good either.

 6/10: Meh