Last week on Lost, Ben's involvement in Jacob's death was revealed, and it almost got him killed... at least until Ilana decided to adopt him. I guess she was afraid that he'd flip to Flocke's side like he initially planned to. This week, we head on over to Locke's side of the Island, where we discover a couple more things. Just a couple.

Alternate Sawyer: Good cop, bad ladies man

Over in the alternate timeline, Sawyer is conning some woman again... or not. I apologize for calling that preview clip a "miss", because it is far from one. It's a stake-out! Sawyer is a cop! Sawyer is a cop! Wait, let me change that--James Ford is a cop! And to make things cooler, his partner is a certain Miles Straume.

The next day, Miles pulls Sawyer away from calling every Anthony Cooper he can find. He's setting him up for a blind date, apparently with someone his dad works with at the museum. That girl happens to be Charlotte. Cue me screaming "frak!" to the screen. As all of Sawyer's dates go, things pan out very well. They go to his home, have sex in his bed--and then she asks him if she can borrow a shirt. She ends up rummaging through his drawer and finds a folder marked "Sawyer" in it. Inside: news clippings of his parents' death, and the stamps he collects. He sees her looking through it, gets really angry, and asks her to leave.

Another day, and we see Liam Pace, asking the police about where they brought still-druggie Charlie. He asks Sawyer. "Nope, not my department." Miles confronts Sawyer afterwards, but apparently it's not about Charlotte. He knows he's lying about going to Palm Springs, so he checked his credit card details and discovers that Sawyer went to Australia. Since they promised never to lie to each other about anything, Miles decides to storm off and ditch Sawyer as his partner. That night, he attempts to patch things up with Charlotte--that trademark single sunflower again--but she shoos him away, since he "blew it".

But they reunite anyway. Sawyer tells him everything--the deaths, the Australia trip, him killing the wrong Anthony Cooper--pretty much that he's still obsessed with finding "Sawyer". He lied because he thought Miles would talk him out of it. "Sure I will," he said, before two cars hit the car they're in. They get sucked into a police chase, and Sawyer, as always, acts the hero and catches the person they're running after... who happens to be Kate.

Locke's camp: Guess who has mommy issues too!

Locke's gang arrives at Claire's shelter after the temple bashing two episodes back, and everybody seems dazed. Kate's pretty wary of Claire, after seeing the Aaron substitute and (very creepy, this) holding her hand as Locke briefed everyone on what they'll do next. Same goes for Sawyer, but he's got a better grip of things it seems. He tells Jin of Locke's plan, and promises that they'll find Sun and bring her out of the Island. He late reunites with Kate learns that Jack and Hurley made it out in time.

Locke pulls Sawyer away, and tells him that he's "the smoke thing". I thought he should've figured it out by now? Anyway, he also explains why he killed the folks at the Temple, and says that he doesn't want to be killed. He also has a task for Sawyer: head out to the Hydra Island and observe who else is around. "You're the best liar I ever met," he says. The final plan: get out of the Island through the Ajira plane that Frank landed there earlier. Apparently it's still working, but Locke's confusing me with his abilities now.

Kate talks to Sayid, who keeps up with his "I'm not all right" speech. Now, he really is not all right. Dead eyes, pale skin... he is a zombie! Suddenly Claire grabs Kate and points a knife at her. Turns out she still wants Kate dead after taking Aaron away. Luckily Locke got there in time, giving the Aussie a slap in the face--that she disappeared, that he lied, that the situation is totally inappropriate.

Kate's visibly shaken by the attack. She's crying, although I don't really know why. Locke claims responsibility: he lied to Claire about the Temple folk having Aaron because it'd keep her sane. "Very insightful for a dead man," she answered. She demanded to know what Sawyer was doing. He brought her to the shore, and took the chance to tell her about his mommy issues. "My mother was a very disturbed woman," he says, "and it gave me growing pains." His very point: Aaron now has a crazy mother, too. Which one?

The recon: Plan after plan after plan

Sawyer arrives at the Hydra island, seeing the polar bear cages (and going emo over Kate's clothing when they got it on years ago), the plane, the misplaced luggage, the old fire Frank started... and a path, leading to a pile of rotting corpses. He senses movement, and spots someone lurking near the trees. A chase and a takedown later, we meet Zoe, who introduces herself as someone from Ajira 316 who was out for wood when something killed the rest of the passengers. He essentially asks her to go back with him to the main Island, where they can reunite with smoke monsters and zombies and crazy mothers.

But Sawyer senses that something is wrong. After what is perhaps the most ridiculous question a plane crash survivor will ask ("do they have guns there?") he calls her bluff, saying she isn't on the plane. And true enough, she isn't from the plane. She's got company--folks with guns--and they surround Sawyer, planning to bring him to their leader.

That leader? Charles Widmore. His plan, as always, is to take over the Island. They meet inside the sub--docked at the same spot the Galaga used to be in--and after the usual niceties (well, a shoutout to the Kahana) Saywer strikes a deal. He promises to tell Locke that the Hydra island is clear, so they can attack him when he does go there. In exchange, he wants safe passage out of the Island for him and his friends, without a scratch. The deal is done.

His allegiances are still with Locke, though. He tells him about Widmore and his gang, the pylons they're setting up--achingly similar to what the DHARMA folks did--and proposes a change of plans, launching a pants metaphor in the process. Oh, wait, his allegiances are to Kate. "I don't do errands from anyone," he said, before telling her of his actual plan: as Widmore fights Locke, they sneak out of the Island... through the sub. Sneaky, him.

So, yes, it may be a slow episode, but we all need set-ups once in a while, right? Next week, it seems we're getting another set-up episode--but you'll love this one: it's Richard.'s back story. Yessss! I personally wanna know where he got his eyeliner all those years ago.


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(Image courtesy of ABC)