Television Review: LaFleur (Lost, S5X08, 2009)
LaFleur (S5X08)
Airdate: 4 March 2009
Written by: Elisabteh Sarnoff & Kyle Pennington
Directed by: Mark Goldman
Running Time: 42 minutes
It is no surprise that many people in today's world believe that the 1970s used to be the best time to live, with the era now romanticised for its counterculture movements and aesthetic. The very same notion is apparently shared by the creators of Lost, at least judging by the content of LaFleur, Season 5 Episode 8, which puts some of the regular characters exactly in that time period when they seem happiest and most fulfilled. The result is one of the rare episodes of Lost that can serve as something of a nostalgic period piece, offering viewers a break from the show's usual dense mythology.
The episode, however, begins with five regular characters – Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Jin and Faraday – roughly before the effects of whatever Locke was doing with the donkey wheel have taken place. This quintet experiences another disturbing time shift, with still intact stone statue in the distance suggesting that they went way far into the past. The next time shift, however, seems to have stabilised things and characters stop feeling dizziness or having nosebleeds – symptoms that took Charlotte's life. Faraday confirms that the time shifts have stopped, but the quintet now has to determine the exact time in which they are. This is accomplished when they travel to the beach, where they see the aftermath of a violent encounter between two men on one side, and a man in a Dharma Initiative uniform and a woman (played by Reiko Aylesworth) on the other. The man in the Dharma uniform is dead, and the woman, later named Amy, is captured only to be liberated after a shootout during which Sawyer and Juliet kill two men. Amy describes the dead man as her husband and insists that the bodies of the two men are buried, with her husband's body carried to the Barracks. Amy tricks the quintet into passing between pylons when they are temporarily disabled via sonic booms.
When Sawyer wakes up in the Barracks, he is interrogated by Horace Goodspeed, leader of the Barracks. Sawyer, who uses the false name "Jim LaFleur", successfully sells the story about his team being treasure hunters searching for the wreck of the Black Rock, but Horace insists that all five would have to leave the Island. This is something Sawyer doesn't want to do, because he wants to search for other survivors. Fate intervenes when Richard as representative of the Others comes to the Barracks to parley about apparent breach of truce between the two factions. Sawyer volunteers to smooth things over and not only negotiates with Richard, but reminds him of their time-traveling adventure in 1954. Richard is convinced and the truce is maintained. "LaFleur" wins the right to remain in the Barracks, and Juliet, who wanted to leave on a submarine despite being stuck in 1974, agrees to stay for at least two weeks. Sawyer promises that he would use that time to try searching for other survivors that might have travelled in time with them.
The next segment, taking place three years later, shows that Sawyer and his friends not only won the right to stay, but actually became Dharma Initiative staff. "LaFleur" even advanced in rank, becoming the head of Dharma security. Juliet works as a mechanic, but allows her old skills of fertility doctor to show by making an emergency delivery of Amy's baby – a success that evaded everyone on the Island by that point. Sawyer and Juliet are also revealed to be a couple. Yet at the very end of the episode, Sawyer is informed by Jin about arrival of a van carrying Jack, Hurley and, most importantly, Kate, for whom Sawyer carries a torch despite his relationship with Juliet.
Written by Elisabeth Sarnoff and Kyle Pennington, LaFleur is one of the simpler episodes of the series, reducing its complex narrative mechanism to mere two segments set in 1970s. Viewers can easily follow the plot and understand the consequences of time travel.
Characterisation is also very good throughout the episode, with Sawyer enthusiastically embracing his new identity of "LaFleur" and even finding his new life as something akin to "sheriff" – a long way from his lifetime as a criminal. He successfully convinces Juliet to stay on the Island, pointing out that the outside world in 1974 is more alien to her than the world on the Island. This transformation of Sawyer from James to LaFleur is often described as one of the best twists the show ever deployed.
The Island in 1970s, at least the Barracks, is shown as much happier, gentler and kinder place than in other periods. Horace Goodspeed is shown as relaxed and laid back leader, and same goes for employees like Phil ( Kevin Rankin) and Jerry (Patrick Fischler) who look like hippies. Phil, despite being part of security, can even allow himself to listen to music and dance with a female Dharma employee named Rosie (Molly McGivern). This Dharma security centre is depicted as one where Jerry puts on music and begins dancing with Rosie, creating a much warmer atmosphere than the typical Lost setting. Interestingly, Phil and Jerry, brownie eating 1970s hippies, seem to be references to Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
In any case, LaFleur is a well-made episode that, despite references to past and future tragedies and occasional acts of violence, remains one of the few optimistic and generally light-hearted pieces of Lost in its latter stage. For all its simpler narrative approach, LaFleur delivers an emotionally-charged adventure story that keeps the geeky mysteries in the background rather than letting them overwhelm the drama^9^. This makes it a standout episode that fans have often considered voted as one of the best of Season 5.
Ultimately, LaFleur represents a successful experiment in Lost's narrative structure. By taking the characters and placing them in a different time period where they can establish a normal life, the show creates an intimate, character-driven episode that stands out from the surrounding episodes. The three-year time jump provides a comfortable flashback/flashforward device that almost makes LaFleur feel nostalgic. The episode's central three-year time jump juxtaposes Sawyer's struggle to step up in 1974 with his full-blown leadership as Head of Security in 1977, creating a narrative device that works on multiple levels. It shows series' ability to balance its complex mythology with genuine character moments that matter to viewers.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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