I was going to make my first ever plane trip one of my New Year's Resolutions anyway...and I've always wanted to go to California....

Thinks.

Here's a little mini-rant I posted at TwoP in response to people arguing that Saint Sawyer of the Piercing Blue Eyes was blameless in "Confidence Man" because he's a handsome Bad Boyjust misunderstood:

Sorry, I'm not buying the "poor, misunderstood schnookums Sawyer, if only they'd asked him nicely using literal one-syllable words all would have been well" line of reasoning.

In this episode he was the first to bring violence into the equation, beating up someone who was rifling through his stash of non-essential luxury items that shouldn't be worth endangering anyone's health over, even if he didn't believe (or get told in the first place) Boone's motivation for looking. Continuing his pattern of physically attacking other people, I might add. If he was unclear on what was being asked/assumed, a simple "what the hell are you talking about, Jackass?" would have gotten him the info and preserved his too cool for school image. We'll never know whether telling the truth would have spared him all that needless suffering, because it apparently never occurred to him to try it. And although he lacked the materials to help Shannon himself, his little martyrdom psychodrama drew away the attention of the one person who'd shown any ability to mitigate her condition up to that point.

Not that I hold Sayid and Jack blameless by any means for what they did. I certainly think an extensive search in force earlier would have been a more productive and excusable approach than torture. And Sayid clearly lost it at the end and was acting out of bloodlust rather than concern for Shannon's wellbeing.

I also think, for the record, that someone whose pride/masochistic urges prompt them to work against group survival in as dicey a situation as they occupy is probably a liability that the castaways can't afford at this point. If it happens again, I think Sayid, Locke, or whoever would be justified in making sure it's for the last time.

I'm pretty sure nobody on That Darn Island has realized that they're operating on lifeboat ethics now. (Heck, Sawyer may be the only one there who recognizes the concept.)

I'd say Locke handing that knife over shows he has a pretty clear idea of how desperate their situation is, even if he's manipulating it himself.

They're so desperate a kid needs knife lessons? Not seein' it.

Oops! I meant the knife he handed Sayid in "Confidence Man." Just in case.

I also think, for the record, that someone whose pride/masochistic urges prompt them to work against group survival in as dicey a situation as they occupy is probably a liability that the castaways can't afford at this point. If it happens again, I think Sayid, Locke, or whoever would be justified in making sure it's for the last time.

I'm with Matt on this one. Don't waste time on the fingernails when the carotid is right there. Also, I'd damn well enforce the communist pooling of resources the day after everybody woke up from the wreck. Sawyer and his stash would've been brain-bashed well before that. No hoarding!

Remind me not to piss Hec off, particularly under confined circumstances.

They're so desperate a kid needs knife lessons?

The only problem I have with Locke teaching Walt how to handle a knife is that he should have okayed it with Michael.

They are in a survival situation and *everyone* should be lining up for knife handling and weapons making. Walt is older than I was when I learned the proper respect for knives. What he learns from Locke could save his life, and indeed the lives of others on the island. Even Shannon.

In the situation they are in, it's not a matter of specialization of skills, it's a matter of sharing what you know, so that the group can be as strong as possible.

Exactly. First order of business should be that each day, once their essential food needs are met, Jack should be teaching EVERYONE on that island the basics of first aid. Hunting, knife handling, and general wilderness survival lessons from Locke should be a high priority too.