Thursday, March 19, 2009

LOST: NAMASTE...WHAT DOES SAWYER KNOW?

"I respect that divinity within you that is also within me."



That is the meaning of namaste...taken from the Sanskrit namah and te, literally, I bow to you. It is a greeting of respect. The position of the hands, palms together, fingers pointed upward, denote the feet of the divine(the right palm) with the head of the follower or devotee(the left palm). It symbolizes the concept of divinity in all, and submission to one another.



Something rather lacking in Lost, wouldn't you say?



Nothing very Eight fold path about what the Dharma people, or the "Others" have been practicing. Which leads me to...



What does Sawyer know?



That was my main question throughout, and after, last night's episode of LOST. I think it should be the most important development on the show to date...and I'll tell you why.



First of all, to those of you who are followers of the show, I want to ask you a question. How many of you have screamed at the TV at least once when one of the main characters gets some time with a character that has way more information that they do...and never asks them a friggin question? Come on now...doesn't that drive you nuts? Cherish and I have complained about that for years now. One thing either of us would do, and I think most of you are the same, is ask someone...

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?



EXPLAIN (FILL IN THE BLANK) TO ME, OR I"LL CUT YOUR (FILL IN THE BLANK) OFF.



AT LEAST TELL ME WHO THE HELL THE GUY WITH THE EYELINER IS...AND WHY HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS TO DRINK FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH?



Anybody else, or just Cherish and I? Now, back to topic.



Sawyer is in, what appears to be, the most unique position of any character on the show. He is one of the original surviving members of the 815ers. He has knowledge of the future(in particular, the Purge) that the Dharma people don't. He has jumped back and forth throughout time and seen things(like the statue), that some of the Others, and maybe even Richard, haven't. He has, over the last three years, had access to Juliet's knowledge of the Others and Richard. He has had access, as chief of security, to most, if not all, of Dharma's plans and secrets. He has also had, at least twice a year, the ability to go to the mainland on the sub.



Sawyer was a con man. The most valuable thing to a con man is information. Information leads to knowledge. Knowledge is power. What did he say to Jack?

"All you did was react...I'm thinking..."

"I heard that Churchill read a book a night...even during the blitz..."



Here are some Churchill quotes that Sawyer might have read over the last three years...

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.



A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.



Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.



Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.



Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.



For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.



History is written by the victors.



History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.



I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.



If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.



If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.



It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.



It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.



Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.



Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.



Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.



Study history , study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.



Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer.



The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.



To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.



True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.



War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.



We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.



We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.



When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.



One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!

Think about those quotes in light of the plot of LOST...then think about Sawyer. What is he? A con man. He didn't want to leave the island. He had nothing to go back to. Now he finds himself in an unusual position. What is the first thing he did in 1974? Con Horace about being shipwrecked. Remember the episode, "The long Con?" Sawyer's closing monologue?

"How 'bout you listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. You took my stuff. While I was off trying to get us help, get us rescued, you found my stash and you took it. Divvied it up; my shaving cream, my batteries, even my beer. And then something else happened. You decided these two boys here were going to tell you what to do and when to do it. Well, I'm done taking orders. And I don't want my stuff back. Shaving cream don't matter; batteries don't matter. The only thing that matters now are guns. And if you want one, you're going to have to come to me to get it. There's a new sheriff in town, boys. Y'all best get used to it."

Don't you think Sawyer would have started a plan, which he would improvise as he learned more? The return of his friends, however, might put a crimp in that plan...speed it up, or change it completely.

Think about how the barracks, where Christian met Sun and Lapidas. Do you remember there being any Dharma signs, photos, paperwork, etc...before? No. The Others had removed all traces of Dharma in "Otherville" after the purge. Why are they back? Did someone, or something alter the timeline?

I still think that Widmore is the real bad guy...more on that on another post. If so, who would Sawyer side with? Widmore's group...or the "Hostiles"?

What has he been planning?

What does he know?

Is he hiding Rose and Bernard?

What were his plans before Jack, Kate, et al arrived?

What are they now?

If you were in Sawyer's position...what would you do?

Whose side would you take?

Who

is

Jacob?





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Christopher Blake is a loving husband...devoted father...minister...crippled ex-cop...screenwriter...novelist...actor...and more than a little rough around the edges...