Continuing the show's balancing act, the mythology-heavy Homecoming is followed by a character piece, the intriguingly titled Outlaws, a genuine class act that boasts two regular Abrams collaborators behind the camera (director Jack Bender and writer Drew Goddard, who later came up with Cloverfield) and fine work from Josh Holloway, whose portrayal of Sawyer is the focus of the episode.
The edgy conman has a good reason to be angry this time, as a wild boar came into his tent during the night. When he goes after it, he hears a whisper: "It'll come back around." He's joined by Kate for another expedition, during which each of the two discovers some of the other's dark secrets.
These are partly covered in the flashbacks, which expand on the revelation in Confidence Man that Sawyer got his alias from the man who ruined his family (both his parents died, although the other Sawyer wasn't directly involved). Determined to find him, Sawyer is contacted by a former associate (Robert Patrick), who tells him the man he's looking for is currently in Australia. While waiting to finish the job, Sawyer has a chance encounter with a man in a bar and starts a conversation about fixing mistakes and how some men deserve to suffer. The man in question is none other than Jack's father, Christian.
While character development is the primary focus of the episode, the presence of John Terry in the flashbacks adds to the notion of destiny that has featured in previous episodes (most notably Claire's back-story), while simultaneously allowing for truly great Sawyer material, with Holloway getting another welcome chance to relish the character's darker side, even in a supposedly harmless scene like the drinking game with Kate. Also, it's nice to see Robert Patrick on villainous duties again after his more sympathetic turns in The Sopranos and The X-Files. Too bad it's his only appearance on the show...
The edgy conman has a good reason to be angry this time, as a wild boar came into his tent during the night. When he goes after it, he hears a whisper: "It'll come back around." He's joined by Kate for another expedition, during which each of the two discovers some of the other's dark secrets.
These are partly covered in the flashbacks, which expand on the revelation in Confidence Man that Sawyer got his alias from the man who ruined his family (both his parents died, although the other Sawyer wasn't directly involved). Determined to find him, Sawyer is contacted by a former associate (Robert Patrick), who tells him the man he's looking for is currently in Australia. While waiting to finish the job, Sawyer has a chance encounter with a man in a bar and starts a conversation about fixing mistakes and how some men deserve to suffer. The man in question is none other than Jack's father, Christian.
While character development is the primary focus of the episode, the presence of John Terry in the flashbacks adds to the notion of destiny that has featured in previous episodes (most notably Claire's back-story), while simultaneously allowing for truly great Sawyer material, with Holloway getting another welcome chance to relish the character's darker side, even in a supposedly harmless scene like the drinking game with Kate. Also, it's nice to see Robert Patrick on villainous duties again after his more sympathetic turns in The Sopranos and The X-Files. Too bad it's his only appearance on the show...
