Lost: Recon

James Ford is a cop, a really good one, and Miles is his sympathetic yet appropriately masculine partner. I'd watch that movie. Anthony Cooper still caused the death of James' family but he was able to turn that horrible tragedy into a force for good in his own life. Unfortunately, James Ford has not completely eradicated the being that is inner Sawyer. However, I think this version will be strong enough not to kill Anthony Cooper and I doubt he murdered Meredith Grey's (my wife makes me watch Grey's Anatomy... you now know my secret shame) father in Australia.

It was pleasant to see Charlotte Staples Lewis again though I was seriously hoping to see Juliet in a coffee shop when Miles wanted to set James up on a date. Give credit to the writers for cluing us in again that the island existed in the flash sideways time line at some point pre-1977. Miles told Sawyer that Charlotte was a family friend and we all know that they were both young children on the island in 1977.

I have got to believe that this incarnation of James Ford is the happiest version possible. His life is not perfect, but he is not a petty criminal. More importantly, he is not repeating the sins of the beast he is hunting in order to hunt it. James Ford is a productive member of society that happens to be permanently scarred by the events of his youth, but not defined by them. Of course, both James Ford and Sawyer both have a thing for the name LaFluer and love wasting time watching "Little House".

On the island Smokey the Nemesis confided in Kate and Sawyer. He told Sawyer that he was the smoke and sent him on a mission to Hydra Island. Smokey then saved Kate's life from Claire and had a moment where I thought he over shared quite a bit. His mother was crazy and that led to a lot of problems that he still deals with today. Are Smokey and Jacob brothers? Was Smokey ignored while Jacob was the golden child?

I guess it is time to see what Charles Widmore is truly made of in this series. Is he nothing more than the man Ben was able to con off the island? If that is the case he is in for a world of trouble when he faces Smokey who has reduced Ben from leader of the island to Illana's follower. Is Widmore someone that Jacob kicked off the island? If that is the case Sawyer is in for a world of trouble when Smokey and Widmore join forces. Is Widmore an independent wealthy power with with a vested interest in the island? If so I'm guessing he will play Ross Perot to Jacob's Bill Clinton and Smokey's George H.W. Bush.