Damon Lindelof steps in to write this one and my, oh my, he makes his presence felt. The characters jump to life in Confidence Man, one of the smoothest episodes of the first season.
Great writing doesn't have to be synonymous with plot complexity — as long the story has compelling scenarios and vibrant personalities you've got a winner. Case in point, the flashbacks with Sawyer were pretty straightforward. He pulls a long con on Jessica (no saint herself by any means), but his sickening scheme screeches to a halt when her young son steps into the living room. Suddenly there's hope that this bad boy does indeed have a human side.
Meanwhile the Losties are convinced that Sawyer has the medicine Shannon needs to fight her asthma attacks. This constant tension, a sure path toward the inevitable collision, allows almost all the characters to truly shine. Jack has his "jedi" moment with Shannon, Kate boldly penetrates Sawyer's defenses to confront him, and then Sayid follows it up with a brutal interrogation sequence. All of that... for just one kiss.
Even the tangent storylines were memorable. An insecure Jin chastises Sun for working with Michael, only to find himself getting the brush-off. Charlie accosts Hurley in hopes of finding peanut butter for Claire, resulting in a hilarious bit of dialogue involving Hurley's weight. And Locke, who only had a handful of lines, keeps Sayid guessing as to who attacked him.
It's impressive enough that all of these loose ends were woven together so neatly, but Lindelof went a step beyond that. This episode makes it known, without any ambiguity whatsoever, that assumptions are NEVER safe. Just when you think you've got a character figured out, events will challenge everything you thought you knew.
This is a Sawyer-centric and Holloway holds up his end of the bargain. Now I can't lie, the constant edge does slightly irritate me from time to time, but that's by design and Holloway deserves credit for making me buy into it — especially when you see real-life interviews and how jovial he is. His interrogation scene with Sayid, and particularly his follow-up visit from Kate, are two of his best moments.
But the two surprise stand-outs were Maggie Grace (Shannon) and Naveen Andrews (Sayid). Grace was so convincing in her asthma attack scenes that I found myself gasping and breathing right along with her. Even her plea for Boone not to leave her was an endearing and impressive dimension I hadn't seen from her before. Meanwhile, on the complete opposite of the personality spectrum, Naveen was completely unleashed in this episode. This was our first glimpse of bad-ass, take-no-prisoners Sayid. When he told Jack that he'd "do whatever he needed to do", I simply nodded my head and muttered, "Dass what I'm talkin' about."
Bonus points for a solid guest performance by Kristin Richardson (Jessica). I'm constantly amazed at how guest stars adapt to LOST and seem so comfortable so quickly.
This was the LOST directing debut of Tucker Gates, who would later turn out to be one of my favorites. I've watched the series enough times now to be able to identify a Gates-directed episode, for almost every one of his efforts share the same trademarks.
Gates is very economical with scenes much like a writer would be with dialogue. It boils down to the old cliché, "Get into the scene as late as you can, leave as soon as you can." What this translates to is a smooth, quick pace that keeps you glued to the television.
With Confidence Man, Gates does the little things to accentuate the story. Two quick examples:
1. When Locke offers his knife to Sayid, we don't just watch him hand it over. The knife is in the foreground and out-of-focus with Locke in-focus, then as he flips the knife over the focus reverses. Beautiful.
2. It wasn't enough to simply have a wounded Sawyer pinned to the ground by Jack and Kate. Gates lets us stand in between them and watch Sawyer scan the situation, knowing he's created a rift between the two.
Swift and smooth, that's Gates' signature. Storytelling on top of storytelling. I can't give him a perfect 10 for Confidence Man, but only because he clearly achieves perfection in Season 6's Ab Aeterno.
The on-island storyline doesn't get old, simply because Lindelof really brings out the best in character dynamics. Nostalgia is obviously the biggest component of longevity, and nothing says nostalgia like watching Claire and Charlie enjoy a jar of imaginary peanut butter.
One of my favorite scenes, not just from the episode but from the entire series, is right after Sawyer finally scores his kiss from Kate. The first time I heard him say, "I don't have it, I never did" my jaw quite literally hung open. It's fun to re-live that moment and remember how it obliterated my tendencies to make assumptions.
When people debate the great episodes of Season 1, classics like Exodus, Pilot, and Deus Ex Machina rightfully get a lot of votes. I certainly wouldn't argue against any of those efforts, but Confidence Man would get my pick as the wild-card episode. Every time I watch the closing montage, where Sayid bids farewell to Kate and walks off into the sunset, I smile and think to myself, "My God that was a great episode."
