LOSTCasts 17: The Long Con

This latest podcast focuses on season 2 episode 13 of LOST, The Long Con. In this podcast we talk about Sawyer and his motives, Charlie and his motives, The "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" book that Locke finds, Hurley and Sayid's romantic radio station moment, the "Bad Twin" manuscript and as always, our spoiler and next time on LOST section.

Download podcast #17 here

Here are some links related to the podcast:
Analysis of Pink Floyd's "Animals"
Link to "Bad Twin" book on Amazon
Wikipedia article on Glenn Miller
Wikipedia article on Owl Creek Bridge book
Wikipedia article on Twilight Zone Owl Creek episode
Wikipedia article on Ambrose Bierce
Dwight's blog from "The Office" on LOST
Lost-forum thread on the different timers

Got comments about this latest LOST podcast? Get them to us by posting here on the site, sending us an email or calling our automated audio comment line at 206-666-2278.

Stay LOST.

Comments

[Cameron]

Thanks guys!!! Just in time for me to listen to on the way to work (Monday morning Sydney time). Sorry about all the grief about 'when is the podcast coming, when is the podcast coming'. You know its because you guys are #1.

[David]

Damn, I'm watching 24 in the UK, so I won't be able to listen to it until 11pm!!

:D

[Jennifer Cochran]

Didn't Charlie say he DIDN'T want the drugs? He said something along the lines of if he wanted them he could have taken them when he followed Locke to the guns. I really thinking (and hoping) that Charlie is done with heroin. (And then I read an interview with Dom that made me not sure, but I still have faith!)

[alex gonzalez (LurfyBoy)]

Hey I love the show but I think it would help if you guys would make bookmarks in your podcast between sections, don't take it as anything just a suggestion for easier navaigation.

[Cihan]

1] Woo, I got a mention on my favourite podcast, thanks guys. By the way my awkward sounding name is actually pronounced 'jee-han'. ;)

2] I think everyone has been thinking too much about Sawyer like he's a mastermind or something. I think the con was thought up on the spot, and played out in pretty simple fashion: sometime after Sawyer and Charlie's first encounter in the episode they have an off-screen discussion about getting revenge on Locke and Jack, the events happen and in the end there's a clear expositional scene for the audience about why they did what they did. I don’t think Sawyer had planned this move for ages or has some noble reason to infiltrate the Others or anything like that. He just loves to be hated, he hates people like Jack and Locke, he's just a 'bad man'...(remember he wouldn’t even help look for Michael the first time he ran off looking for Walt). I think people should also take into account how some characters represent political concepts, with the island ‘nation’ (the lostaway half anyway) now under the control of Sawyer's ethics. (A more extreme version of Locke's perhaps? i.e. - he wont tell people what to do as long as he can get what he wants out of them, as opposed to Locke's more pacifistic "you cant tell them what to do" approach where he doesn’t expect much (although lately he's gone a bit nutty with the Charlie situation))

3] In defence of Charlie: a) he didn’t technically kidnap Sun. b) He put a hood over her head, tied her hands, let her go and she ran and bumped her head herself, so its not like he hit her. Not to take away from the terrible act he was involved in but it’s not as bad as people have made out. (Least I'm assuming he didn’t hit her!)

4] I honestly don’t think anyone is going to be defecting to the Others anytime soon. The Others are exactly that to our Lostaways, they'll always be dangerous and alien as long as they're in the jungle with no explanation for their existence. Also, the Others don’t look like they want defectors either, things would have to change rapidly in the show for any of our main protagonists to join with the Others. I wouldn’t rule it out but I think its way too early to assume anyone would go and join them, not even Charlie or Sawyer. Maaaybe Locke would go (or accept an invitation) out of curiosity to learn more about the island.

5] Sorry for the long post. Thanks for the podcast. :)

[andrew]

hey, i think if you listen to the official podcast again, what they actually meant was not that danielle's child was the alex of the others, but merely that alex was a female, not a male.

[driveshaft13]

i know that there is some contrversy over the time setting in lost. recently i was watching the first season and during kates first backstory while she is in the cupboard in the background there are jars of peaches that say "peaches 2002" which leadsme to believe the show takes place recently and also sawyers crak about sayid being "osama" love the podcast stay lost

[John]

I think Jennifer is right... Charlie does turn down the drugs, doesn't he?

[MikeRussellNJ]

Okay, I've been thinking about this for a few weeks now, so sorry if this seems dated. So think back to Man of Science, Man of Faith, Jack is convinced that he did not help Sara and goes for a run. He meets Desmond who pretty clearly tells him to expect a miracle. And that miracle happens. Sara and Jack get married, she hooks up with someone else and leaves him and Jack continues to try and fix everything around him eventually leading to Sawyer getting all the guns. BUT before that happens there is an Italian (or some kinda European) man (that I don't think is Hanso) who needs an operation. He goes to Jack because Jack works miracles. But Jack fails. So maybe Jack had nothing to do with Sara being able to walk. Maybe it was Hanso / DHARMA / Desmond that caused her miracle. Because we've seen their island work the exact same miracle; it would take a miracle to make Locke walk too. Am I nuts for thinking there is far more to Sara's recovery than Jack being the best doctor ever?

Also, the purgatory story seems to have some things going for it now that I've just finished reading The Third Policeman. Also in TTP there is a mechanical contraption that must be constantly tended to designed to keep people busy. Sound like our friend the button?

Real quick, you raise the point that everyone on this side of the island has some evil in them. But what about Rose and Bennard? They seem like good people? And what was Sun's evil? Maybe leaving her jerk husband? I guess there is more backstory, but I also have thought that everyone we've seen backstory for is pretty much a bad person. Even Jack saving the hot girl over Shannon's dad was messed up since he just totally ignored the dude.

Finally, thanks for keeping the sickness in conversation. I too think that Charlie's visions were either the sickness or Locke's magic paste. If the science expedition is a gauge we should start to see more weirdness soon.

Stay LOST, Mike

[Rohan Venkat]

Great work on the Podcasts.

Some very interesting stuff flying around the 'net that I miss cause of lack of time, Now all i have to do is come here. Again, good work.

It was great to see the LOST nod on Veronica Mars, especially since they are on at the same time, and two equally smart shows (to some Mars is better because even though it may not be as exciting, it's still much more consisten considering the recent performance of Lost, though i disagree) don't have the chance to get equal exposure because they play at the same time. So a shout out to their biggest competitor there.

Stay Lost.

(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b82/ormistonjames/veronicalost.jpg)

[CJ]

Veronica Mars is a UPN show that plays in the competing time slot from 9 - 10 on Wednesdays. It's funny they mention that because if you're watching Veronica Mars and happen to notice the numbers, then you're probably not watching Lost at that moment. Classic! Or it's TiVo'd, in which case, who cares. Still funny though.

[Korrinn]

my roomate is addicted to veronica mars and its weird that they would give lost a shout out because theyre on at the same time....

another lost shout out was given on last season's according to jim, there was something and it went through the week and stuff that he missed, and one was "Wednesday, missed Lost"

thats all
korrinn

[korrinn]

its me again...theres a really funny thing on ifilm that is a lost musical....it was on the jimmy kimmel show, just search www.ifilm.com for lost musical....it is soooooo funny!

[lithaborn]

So, we had Jack and John squaring up to each other, vying for posession of the guns in order to do something about the Others - attack them, join them, whatever. What Sawyer's done is defuse the whole situation. Now the two hothead leaders have to cool down and listen to Sawyer, who has more cunning in his little finger than anyone else on the island.

If I had to fight against a superior opponent, I'd want Sawyer planning my strategies, not the Doc or the wannabe survivalist.

Saying that, the Nigerian warlord would be damn handy, too...

And after he Washing Machine scene, and the radio scene, I'm convinced that they've turned Hurley into a mouthpiece for the writers to talk to their uber-fans.

Excellent podcast this week, guys. LOVED "Moonlight serenade" at the end, good touch!

[Cihan]

The latest official podcast reaffirms my take above on the Sawyer con. It was pretty basic with a simple reason behind it: Dont take Sawyer's shaving cream!!!

It was also nice to hear Carlton confirm the ties between Lost and Darren Aronofsky's 'Pi', although it was pretty obvious by this point anyway.

It was ALSO nice to know we'll actually find out why the plane crashed this season!!!

[Blaine]

Are these the fourms because I cant seem to find anything else.

[Joe Green]

Great podcast.

You mentioned that you weren't sure how Sawyer got the drugs. Well he was in the hatch with Locke when Locke took all of the guns. I can't remember wether or not he changed the code for the safe, but either way he had to enter the combination and Sawyer could have easily seen it.

Keep up the good work.

[Nathan T-Smith]

I think that the writers are trying to make something happen without anything really happening. ie Charlie going evil etc. I think this is a stalling tactic by the writers so that they can draw the show out more. I think we all want lost to continue and some of these tactics must be used at some stage. I think the only interesting character change we have seen recentlt in lost is Locke, it is intresting that at the start of serues 1 it wsa unclear about if lock was evil or not, and its intresting that the writers have lead you to belive something and then challange your ideas on a character. In a way they have done this with Sawyer but I dont think this is for the long term. In terms of island secrets, I think for lost to evolve in a satisfying way that it is important the characters move distinctly forward. eg they could get of the island completley (in later series) I think this would enable the show to constanly move and to give the audience answers while giving them new ones about the state of the world and the future of the human race. Cheers for your work you put into lost, ill be listening.

[AmyMay]

Hi guys, I LOVE your podcast, its the only one I listen to ever. Something I thought I would have heard about by now is how the Losties seem to be giving in to their past lives, they're maybe trying to become better people but at this point they're all giving up and just being who they are. As in, Locke thought there was a reason for him to be on the island, but seems to be getting more confused and purpose-less as time goes on, and Jack stepped in to be the leader of the group (after some resistance in the beginning) but now maybe is loosing his followers' respect. Hurley's getting back to being the fun-time guy, Charlie's acting like an addict, Sawyer cons, Kate runs (she's always running from Jack and Sawyer, whoever she's getting closer to at the moment, runs away to the other one). And as we see in the preview for next week, Sayid was a torturer, felt bad after he did it to Sawyer and tried to redeem himself, and now looks like he's returning to it. So now its just a matter of time until we see everyone's true nature, not what they think they can become, and how that's going to play out.
Thanks again for the great podcast, love you guys!!

[David]

The official podcast stated that Darren Aronofsky would be directing an episode soon, i found this on imdb:

"Lost" (2004) TV Series (episode 2.17)

[John]

Yeah... Aronofsky had better do an episode about the numbers!

[Lostaway]

Great podcast guys, keep up the great work!

[Square]

Charlie did refuse the drugs. Sawyer offered and Charlie said he didn't want them. He never asked for them. Watch the end of the episode again. I was so glad Charlie refused them so that we can't blame the drugs for his heel turn. But He did say no.

[andrew]

one other question, would you guys ever consider adding torrents for your podcasts? maybe even torrents of higher quality mp3s? there are some archive.org (at least for me) speed issues from time to time.

[andrew]

one other question, would you guys ever consider adding torrents for your podcasts? maybe even torrents of higher quality mp3s? there are some archive.org (at least for me) speed issues from time to time.

[Blaine]

ARE THESE THE FOURMS?

[Cihan]

Totally off topic but I was thinking lately how much I want the writers to totally surprise us all with a story that noone has anticipated yet. It would be very cool if the whole Dharma thing is fake, even the Hanso website was just created to play with us, the real story is something so different and leftfield it'll just make us go "Woah!". At least thats what I would be aiming for now anyway, not that I dont like the whole Dharma angle, its very cool, but there's nothing like surprising your audience with shockers now and then...

And I dont know if these are the fourms. Maybe the forums though, who knows! :D

[Christina Vallier]

SAWYER IS THE ONLY PERSON I WANT TO HANG AROUND WITH IF I WAS TRAPPED ON THAT FREKKEN ISLAND! HE'S GOT EVERYTHING. PERSONALLY I CAN CON PEOPLE MY SELF AND AM PRETTY GREAT AT IT BUT I NEED TO BE TAUGHT HOW THE LONG CON WORKS PERFECTLY! SAWYER AND ARE ACTUALLY ALIKE EVEN THOUGH I'M A GIRL, BUT I HAVE THE SAME HAIRSTYLE, PERSONALITY, I'M A CON ARTIST-BECAUSE I LEARNED FROM HIM, I ALSO KNOW HOW TO SHOOT 9MM. GUNS AND BEWARE: I KNOW HOW THE SAWYER SEX THING WORKS TO BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH I'M 18 I ACTUALLY HAVE HAD SEX SORTA WITH THIS GUY! UNBELIEVABLE MY GUY RESEMBLES SAWYER IN A TON OF WAYS! EXAMPLE THE HAIRSYLE AND HE ALSO KNOW HOW TO CON-BUT I'M BETTER THAN HIM.I ABSOLUTLEY THINK SAWYER IS THE BEST THING THATS EVER HAPPENED TO ME ! I ALSO KNOW THAT HE IS SO IN LOVE WITH KATE AND KATE IS IN LOVE WITH HIM TOO! SAWYER THOUGH ADMITTED HE WAS IN LUV WITH KATE TO JACK !

SAWYER STAY ALIVE IN LOST I LOOSE YOU I LOOSE MY INSTINCT! YOUR THE MAN MY MAN!

[Christina Vallier]

SAWYER I LUV YOU! YOU ROCK BUT GO A LITTLE EASY ON KATE SHE LOVES YOU! KILL THE OTHERS FOR US! I DON'T REALLY CARE IF YOU RUN THEM OVER PERSONALLY! JUST KILL THEM CUZ YOU NEARLY DIED GETTEN SHOT AT BY THEM! GO AFTER YOUR OWN REVENGER-KATE NEEDS TO BE YOUR ONLY BACKUP CUZ JACK IS BLOODY USELESS HELL HE'LL ONLY PROTECT KATE AND PROPABLY SAVE YOUR ASS BECAUSE KATE WILL KILL HIM IF HE DOESN'T! I DON'T TRUST JACK ANYMORE NOR DO I TRUST ANYONE ELSE ON THE ISLAND WELL MAYBE SOME PEOLE BY LOCKE AND JACK NO WAY DO I TRUST THEM! I DIDN'T EVEN TRUST OR LIKE ANAN-LUCIA! I HATED ANA-LUCIA FOR KNOCKEN SAWYER AROUND ALL THE TIME! SAWYER IS A CON ARTIST AS I AM WHILE KATE IS HIS GIRLFRIEND/FIANCE CUZ OF THE LOVE MATCH THANG BETWEEN THEM/SORRY JACK BUT SAWYER GETS KATE WHILE YOU HAD ANA-LULU! SAWYER AND KATE WILL PROBABLY KISS AGAIN! PORR GUILTY JACK HE DIDN'T GET TO HER IN TIME HA HA HA HA! (L.O.L.) SAWYER WON LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES! iF I COUD PICK BETWEEN SAWYER OR JACK TO LOVE AS A BROTHER SAWYER WOULD BE 100% YES AND JACK CUZ OF HIS DOC SKILLS WOULD BE 5%MAYBE

[Mark Vane]

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