Sawyer's No Coward

There's a scene in "Whatever Happened, Happened" where Kate and Cassidy are sitting in the kitchen chatting. Kate had told her old friend - and Sawyer's old flame - the truth about what she and the rest of the passengers of 815 had gone through during those 108 days on the Island. She told her about all the struggles they went through trying to get home. And she told her how Sawyer heroically jumped out of the chopper so the rest of them had a chance to make it home.

But Cassidy is having none of it. She calls Sawyer a coward, says all he was doing abandoning Kate and any commitments he made to her.

Now, Cassidy sure has plenty of reason to hate Sawyer's guts. He stole all her money away and left her with nothing but a bun in the oven. So I can see why she'd despise him more than a fish biscuit for breakfast. But I'm not buying that Sawyer had anything but selfless motives for jumping out of that helicopter. At that point in the series - the season 4 finale - the swashbuckling conman was gone. Enter Jim LaFleur.

We've seen many versions of James Ford. He started off as a selfish, smart alack jackass, nothing more than a thorn in the collective side of the camp. He hoarded supplies, defied Jack at every turn, and kept secrets just for sport - even when he didn't have a secret to keep (See inhalers, Shannon). As he, Michael and Jin pushed off on the raft at the end of season 1, Michael turned to him and said -

"Why does a guy who only cares about himself want to risk his life to save everyone else? The way I see it, there's only 2 choices -- you're either a hero or you want to die." Sawyer coolly responded, "Well, I ain't no hero, Mike".

And he sure wasn't.

But slowly, the rest of the camp's perception of Sawyer - and Sawyer's perception of himself - began to change. He returned from the raft expedition as a person who had put his own well being on the line with a chance at helping the group. Whether intentionally or not, Sawyer became a hero in the eyes of a lot of people, including Kate. She might have hated herself for the way she felt about him - he sure was no Jack - but the feelings he had for her became his saving grace. He fell in love.


Sawyer's affection for Kate became the driving force behind most of his actions. As a prisoner of the Others, he stood up for Kate at the cost of vicious beatings. He waited like a nervous wreck for her to return from her quest to rescue Jack. He pushed her away when she tried to convince him to go back to the beach to ensure that Sayid, Jin and Bernard's surprise assault on the Others had gone as planned, only to propose the same plan himself moments later except with her excluded for her own safety. And finally, in the greatest of all his grand gestures of love and protection, Sawyer leaped from the sputtering helicopter so Kate would have a chance to leave the Island.

This wasn't some Chandler Bing-esque moment of terror when Sawyer realized, "Oh shit, this girl's got me locked down. I better get the hell out of here!". He had already tried to get Kate to stay on the Island with him. When Sawyer jumped out of that helicopter, he wasn't just saving Kate, he was leaving behind his former self, a man consumed by avarice and revenge. As he dove into the ocean, he washed away those old sins. A baptism, if you will. His troubled past was officially behind him.

Redemption. It's one of my favorite themes of the show, and that moment typified redemption for Sawyer more than any other has for any character.

All that and I haven't even accounted for the smattering of selfless, non-Kate acts that would have been entirely foreign to Cassidy's pre-plane crash Sawyer. Dodging bullets with Bugs Bunny-type skill to rescue Claire, protecting Hurley from Locke and Ben, caring for Aaron without hesitation when Claire wandered off in the middle of the night - no way he does these things during the first 50 days on the Island.

Through the first five seasons, Jack as played the role of the typical protagonist. He's the leader. He's concerned with the well-being of the entire group, often saying so explicitly. He's the center of attention. The narrative frames Jack as the hero of this tale. But really, over the past three seasons, Sawyer has been evolving into one of the greatest forces of leadership and protection among the 815ers. He protects his friends for what appear to be entirely altruistic reasons. He doesn't do it to feed his ego or to mask his insecurities. Sawyer does these things because they need to be done and because he feels genuine affection for his friends. Those instincts made him a loving partner to Juliet and successful as the DI's head of security. His thoughtful approach in that position stood in stark contrast to Jack's reactionary and hardheaded mania. I'd have hard time believing many of the characters would elect Jack over Sawyer as leader of the group if a vote were held today (or, I guess more accurately, 1977).

This is exactly why I so desperately hope that the Jughead explosion does not result in a reset. Jack wants redemption (or at least a second chance) the easy way; he does not want to fix himself. It's hard work to take a look at yourself, flaws and all, and make the necessary adjustments. Well, Sawyer put in that hard work, and I could not bear to see it all wiped away by someone else's selfishness. For once, just let Sawyer be happy that "what's done is done".