This is the best episode of LOST since its pilot. It takes your mind through this roller coaster where you don't know who or what to believe. I mean, I could never imagine that Sawyer was behind all of this. And even though you might wanna hate him in the end, I kind of felt sorry for him when he yelled at Jack, "You took my stash, when I was out there trying to get us saved," and when Kate tells him that he'd done that because he wanted to be hated. Also, it's great that Kate's really in love with him. And what's with sawyer staying at the café where Kate's mother used to work and actually being served by her? It's like he'd seen all of the survivors' parents. And of course having Kim Dickens as one of the guest stars was amazing. And how Sawyer ended up conning both her and his boss; that was brilliant. As for Charlie's little contribution in Sawyer's masterpiece, I don't know why, but for some reason I saw it coming through. But I never could imagine that he'd do such a thing to sun.In the final scene, when Sawyer tells Charlie "I'm not a good person, Charlie. Never done a good thing in my life." we realize that Kate's analysis of Sawyer's actions were correct; he feels like he's a horrible person that he feels extremely guilty when people start to like him. That's why he is constantly trying to make people hate him, so that he wouldn't feel like a hypocrite. All in all, if you have space for only one episode of lost, this should be it.
9 Reviews
A new sheriff's in town, boys. N' you better get used to it!
ranaonthenet25 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Best Sawyer episode
matiasbockerman27 November 2018
James
elsayedmido5 February 2019
A Tiger Never Looses Its Stripes
claudio_carvalho5 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Locke shares with Jack the combination of the locker of the weapons. While Jack and Ana Lucia are trying to gather people to form a defense army, the survivors believe that they are safe and have no interest to join them. When Sun is attacked apparently by The Others, Jack decides to get the guns for protection of the group. However, Locke is informed by Sawyer of Jack's intention, and moves the armament to a hidden place with serious and surprising consequences. Meanwhile Sawyer recalls his former long con against Cassidy (Kim Dickens).
"The Long Con" is a very tense episode of "Lost", with severe frictions and revenges among Jack, Locke, Ana Lucia, Kate, Sawyer and Charlie. The group of survivors is not united and lost the leadership with the mistrust in their leaders after so many bad decisions, with a complete lack of confidence among them. Sawyer shows how nasty and despicable he is, a tortured man that can not love anybody; and the naive Kate is really in love with him. The final remark of Sawyer telling her that she does not hate him without reply evidences this situation. My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): "Not Available"
Note: On 29 March 2013, I saw this episode again.
"The Long Con" is a very tense episode of "Lost", with severe frictions and revenges among Jack, Locke, Ana Lucia, Kate, Sawyer and Charlie. The group of survivors is not united and lost the leadership with the mistrust in their leaders after so many bad decisions, with a complete lack of confidence among them. Sawyer shows how nasty and despicable he is, a tortured man that can not love anybody; and the naive Kate is really in love with him. The final remark of Sawyer telling her that she does not hate him without reply evidences this situation. My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): "Not Available"
Note: On 29 March 2013, I saw this episode again.
The Long Con
ametaphysicalshark30 September 2008
There's something about the flashbacks in "The Long Con" which is really aggravating. The general atmosphere and plot provides little insight into Sawyer's character (although, bizarrely, the on-island events are well-written and revelatory in this regard), the story with Cassidy and all the conning is at best reminiscent of an 80's primetime soap, and the acting from whoever plays Cassidy is abysmal. Had this been "Alias" I might have gone with it, but I expect more from an intelligent show like "Lost". Still, the flashback scenes are watchable, just disappointing.
All that said, "The Long Con" sees a lot of action on the island, and it doesn't come at the expense of characters either. There's some classic interaction between Jack and Locke over the gun issue, and the dialogue is generally very well-written by Steven Maeda and Leonard Dick. It's a solid on-island episode with a lot going on and some memorable scenes- Charlie and Sawyer's conversation at the end, Sawyer's 'new sheriff in town' speech, the tension over the guns etc.
The episode is well-directed by a non-regular director on the series, Roxann Dawson, and is a very good, entertaining episode. It's far from being a classic, and there's not all that much worth discussing here. The first Sawyer flashback of season two is decidedly less interesting than the two from season one.
8/10
All that said, "The Long Con" sees a lot of action on the island, and it doesn't come at the expense of characters either. There's some classic interaction between Jack and Locke over the gun issue, and the dialogue is generally very well-written by Steven Maeda and Leonard Dick. It's a solid on-island episode with a lot going on and some memorable scenes- Charlie and Sawyer's conversation at the end, Sawyer's 'new sheriff in town' speech, the tension over the guns etc.
The episode is well-directed by a non-regular director on the series, Roxann Dawson, and is a very good, entertaining episode. It's far from being a classic, and there's not all that much worth discussing here. The first Sawyer flashback of season two is decidedly less interesting than the two from season one.
8/10
Very elaborate con...
the-stranded1 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
OMG! SPOILERS! NOOOO! Wow, these writers certainly knew what they were doing.
Not much on-island plot line development going on here, but if you're a Sawyer fan, this is an episode you will truly appreciate. We learn about another female victim of his many cons. The old lock-breaking trick as seen in Confidence Man, however, fails to fool this sharp-eyed lady. Cassidy realizes that Sawyer is a con man and asks him to show her the tricks of the trade. He falls in love, doesn't want to con her anymore, and winds up in a hell of a lot of trouble. But there's an even bigger conflict going on over on the island. Jack and Ana-Lucia are still recruiting for the army, but Sawyer plans this grandiose scheme that winds up in him tricking Locke to move the guns from the armory inside the Hatch. He has Charlie, fresh off of his humiliation from Locke, as one of his henchmen, helping him to gain control over the one major item next to food and water - guns. Kate believes he just wants to be hated, though. She knows it's not about getting revenge on the stuff he lost from his stash. But as he said himself... "I'm not a good person, Charlie. Never did a good thing in my life."
Not much on-island plot line development going on here, but if you're a Sawyer fan, this is an episode you will truly appreciate. We learn about another female victim of his many cons. The old lock-breaking trick as seen in Confidence Man, however, fails to fool this sharp-eyed lady. Cassidy realizes that Sawyer is a con man and asks him to show her the tricks of the trade. He falls in love, doesn't want to con her anymore, and winds up in a hell of a lot of trouble. But there's an even bigger conflict going on over on the island. Jack and Ana-Lucia are still recruiting for the army, but Sawyer plans this grandiose scheme that winds up in him tricking Locke to move the guns from the armory inside the Hatch. He has Charlie, fresh off of his humiliation from Locke, as one of his henchmen, helping him to gain control over the one major item next to food and water - guns. Kate believes he just wants to be hated, though. She knows it's not about getting revenge on the stuff he lost from his stash. But as he said himself... "I'm not a good person, Charlie. Never did a good thing in my life."
The viewer in no way feels conned
TheLittleSongbird17 February 2018
When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.
"The Long Con" may not be one of the very best 'Lost' episodes and just misses being one of the best of Season 2. It is certainly though a heck of a lot better than the major stumbling block that was "Fire +Water", while that was not an awful episode it beggars belief what the crew was thinking coming up with something as weird as that episode.
Do agree somewhat that there are more illuminating and better executed Sawyer flashbacks than in "The Long Con". It is still interesting and well written and we learn more about him, but it is not the most character advancing of flashbacks and yes Kim Dickens has grown significantly as an actress since (she is less than great here).
On the other hand, "The Long Con" far from starves us of mystery and on-island events, and they are significantly more interesting and add a lot to the characters and development of the main storyline. The tension over the gun is especially well done and all have plenty to do.
All the acting, excepting Dickens, is very good. Josh Holloway in particular, but Terry O'Quinn and Dominic Monaghan have the most memorable material after him and it shows in their intense and spirited performances.
Visually, 'Lost' continues to be stylish, atmospheric and beautiful in "The Long Con", as always making the most of the island setting. The music is as always chilling and understated, the writing is tight and smart and the direction is skilled throughout.
In conclusion, very good episode if not quite a great one (it almost was). 8/10 Bethany Cox
"The Long Con" may not be one of the very best 'Lost' episodes and just misses being one of the best of Season 2. It is certainly though a heck of a lot better than the major stumbling block that was "Fire +Water", while that was not an awful episode it beggars belief what the crew was thinking coming up with something as weird as that episode.
Do agree somewhat that there are more illuminating and better executed Sawyer flashbacks than in "The Long Con". It is still interesting and well written and we learn more about him, but it is not the most character advancing of flashbacks and yes Kim Dickens has grown significantly as an actress since (she is less than great here).
On the other hand, "The Long Con" far from starves us of mystery and on-island events, and they are significantly more interesting and add a lot to the characters and development of the main storyline. The tension over the gun is especially well done and all have plenty to do.
All the acting, excepting Dickens, is very good. Josh Holloway in particular, but Terry O'Quinn and Dominic Monaghan have the most memorable material after him and it shows in their intense and spirited performances.
Visually, 'Lost' continues to be stylish, atmospheric and beautiful in "The Long Con", as always making the most of the island setting. The music is as always chilling and understated, the writing is tight and smart and the direction is skilled throughout.
In conclusion, very good episode if not quite a great one (it almost was). 8/10 Bethany Cox
Spectacular
MrFilmAndTelevisionShow14 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Lost is good at many things, firstly at making you hate a character and thinking their iredeemable and then making them redeemable, it is also good at making a character you really like into a character you dislike. What they did with Charlie in this episode is the latter, but I know they will once again redeem him in some brilliant redemption arc, or perhaps my expectations will again be blown away and instead of dying a hero, Charlie has lived long enough to see himself become the villain.
Sawyer constantly filp flops between good and bad and his motivations are never clear, even now. This episode offers another excellent character backstory/character development and I wonder what Sawyer will do with his new found power.
The twist that it wasn't Anna Lucia behind the attempted kidnapping was the most shocking thing since Darth Vader began a sentence with "No...".
Stupid
Zedyeti1 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Just watching lost for the first time so I really don't know nothing about the show or where it's heading but judging by comments people must have loved sawyer. Well I can't stand the character. He's cliché and rather cheesy but oh well. As he walks by with the gun it's not like the ex Iraq war torturer or the guy that can throw knives with accuracy could stop him. It's stupid network tv bs and I really hope it doesn't continue.
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