Season 2, Episode 13: The Long Con

Ah, Sawyer. How can you not love this guy? Unless, of course, you're the one he swindled during his days as a con man before crashing aboard Oceanic 815. As the trust issues within the group of survivors get worse, Sawyer plots revenge against Jack and Charlie aims to get back at Locke.

MAJOR PLOT POINTS

The episode opens with Jack adding the 9mm case to the armory's collection. Locke suggests it might not be a bad place to keep the medication either. Still recovering from being shot in the shoulder, Sawyer has walked off with some pain pills, which Jack takes back after rifling through his tent. Sawyer vows revenge, and he'll get it.

Tensions continue to heat up as Jack and Ana Lucia talk of starting of an army, but recruitment isn't going so well. People start to pay more attention when Sun is abducted and roughed up while working alone in her garden. Ana Lucia thinks it was The Others, but Sawyer has cast suspicion back on her (and perhaps Jack) as a way to help convince the survivors to prepare for war.

Bolstered by Sawyer's suspicions, Kate questions Jack about whether it's the kind of thing Ana Lucia might try. Jack, in turn, questions Ana Lucia, but is satisfied she had nothing to do with Sun's abduction. Still, Jin wants a gun to protect his wife now and people are joining the army. Sawyer then goes to Locke and tells him to beware of Jack, who will make a play for the guns soon. Locke, in response, decides to move them.

When Jack shows up with Jin to get one of the 9mm, they find the armory empty. That was Sawyer's way to get back at Jack, who then angrily confronts Locke about moving the guns. Locke swears they are safe, but only because he didn't realize Charlie, who had attacked Sun to get the whole thing rolling, followed him and then stole them from the hiding place and gave them to Sawyer. Now, Sawyer has all the guns — and he doesn't intend on taking orders from Jack or Locke anymore.

Away from the island, we flash back to Sawyer's long con of a woman who was handed $600,000 in a divorce settlement. He uses a familiar move — a briefcase full of cash opening as he leaves a one-night stand — to reel her in, which she doesn't immediately fall for. Cassidy does, however, want Sawyer to teach her how to con people. He starts with a simple jewelry con and the two form a quaint relationship over the next six months. But Sawyer's partner, Gordy, who set him up with Cassidy to con, is getting anxious for him to get on with the swindle.

Insisting he is now in love with Cassidy, Sawyer says he won't go through with it. Naturally, Gordy threatens harm to the happy couple. But, as it turns out, Cassidy was the long con in the first place. But Sawyer convinces her that he's changed and gets her to flee to Sioux City (with a duffel she thinks contains her cash but, in fact, does not). Sawyer then saunters out with her $600,000, having no intention any longer to share the spoils with Gordy.

Sayid is still understandably miffed about Shannon's death. Hurley, who got the short-wave radio from Bernard, tries to cheer him up with a present to tinker with, but Sayid isn't interested. He relents and eventually fixes the handset so he and Hurley can spend an evening on the beach listening to big band sounds.

QUOTABLE

"There's a new sheriff in town, boys. You all best get used to it." — Sawyer after partnering with Charlie to steal all the guns

"It could be coming from anywhere." — Sayid, explaining the radio signal he is listening to with Hurley
"Or any time. Just kidding, dude." — Hurley's response, which hints at the time jumping to come in future seasons