I'd wriggle with wrathful glee if the writers had the nerve to create a character with a woobieful history and a world of pain who was still and all just plain fucked-up and unredeemed and unredeemable.

JZ is me. Please, writers, have Sawyer remain a jackhole. Despite my initial "Arr! Too gooey!" reaction to his back story, I've come around to thinking it was v. effective, because it made Sawyer's attitudes/actions *understandable* but in no way excusable. Plus, we have another character with a heartbreaking back story (Locke), who, far from being an woobie, manages to out-creep the epileptic trees.

I don't think the mysterious figure with the needles in next week's preview is from a flashback.

I don't know why I thought it was. Just assumed, I think. So looking forward to next week. It'd be cool to get a reveal of others on the island. Especially if, like, Sayid gets his memory wiped about it or something (OK, Alias creeping in again.)

I liked the ep, but I wasn't blown away. I was thinking the same thing about the scruff in the restaurant. Shave, dude. And then I started wondering how they're going to handle beard issues in the series. Are they all going to have castaway beards? Heh. I guess they'll just make the time go verrrrry slowly.

I very much like the idea of a character who isn't likeable, doesn't want to be likeable, and frankly is perfectly comfortable stewing in his own misery thankyewverymuch.

You'll notice that Sawyer was pulling a long con (a swindle that requires days or weeks, and takes in a lot of money at once), and the vast majority of long-con scenarios require at least one partner. Sawyer was working totally alone.

So far, I don't think we've seen Sawyer take much from the emergent communities -- but eventually his plane-salvage stash will run out. The twist of the island is that he will be forced to depend on others, more and more. I'll be curious to see if he approaches this dependence as another con situation: rooking the community out of whatever he can get for as little as he can give.

Has anyone mentioned that this was our first non-eye-beginning ep? I thought it was interesting that this was also the first ep where the backstory we thought we were getting turned out to be somebody else's. (Since we didn't really get Sawyer's backstory. We got NotSawyer's.)

The whole scene was very Monkey Pants.

OMG yes! Because, as pointed out above, Charlie is totally Oz.

Despite my initial "Arr! Too gooey!" reaction to his back story, I've come around to thinking it was v. effective, because it made Sawyer's attitudes/actions *understandable* but in no way excusable.

Ooh, yeah, I like this way of thinking. Let's hear it for Unredeemed!Sawyer!

Has anyone mentioned that this was our first non-eye-beginning ep?

Is it? I thought Charlie's ep began with the hole in his guitar (which, okay, could still be eye-imagery), but didn't another of the early ones--Kate's, maybe--start with another image? I've missed the very beginnings of several, though, and didn't even know about the eye motif until it was pointed out here, so I could be wrong.

I thought Charlie's ep began with the hole in his guitar (which, okay, could still be eye-imagery), but didn't another of the early ones--Kate's, maybe--start with another image?

Correct on both counts, I believe. Definitely about Charlie's ep.

I thought it was interesting that this was also the first ep where the backstory we thought we were getting turned out to be somebody else's. (Since we didn't really get Sawyer's backstory. We got NotSawyer's.)

I'm not sure what you mean here. The flashbacks were about the person on the island we know as Sawyer, who in turn had taken on the persona of a different con man named Sawyer. But the "Sawyer" in all the flashbacks was the "Sawyer" on the island.

Despite my initial "Arr! Too gooey!" reaction to his back story, I've come around to thinking it was v. effective, because it made Sawyer's attitudes/actions *understandable* but in no way excusable.

Exactly how I feel about it.

She was a reporter trying to interview Jasmine.

I think her character's name, if I'm thinking about the right person, was Tracy. Jasmine says, "Yes, Tracy, you have a question" and Tracy says, "you know my name?"

Are they all going to have castaway beards? Heh. I guess they'll just make the time go verrrrry slowly.

In one episode I saw Locke shaving with one of his knives ala Crocadile Dundee

I thought Charlie's ep began with the hole in his guitar (which, okay, could still be eye-imagery),

Maybe they're all running around in psychological circles in their mind...