Lost: The Confidence Game

"Everyone's scared. And the thing they're scared of most is missing an opportunity." - Sawyer

A trend I've noticed throughout the Lost series is the confidence game. One of the first stories introduced is that of Sawyer, a brilliant con artist who became such during his hunt for an even smarter confidence man. The majority of Sawyer's flashback ordeals has to do with cons so cool and smart and complex that I'd swear they were written by David Mamet. None more superb is the episode in which he pulls "a long con" in both the past and the present, and both of which catch you totally off guard. Yep, the guy who at first came off as a cocky redneck with a dark past turned out to be something different: a cocky redneck with a dark past who could outsmart us and make us feel like total fools.

But cons were essential plot points in the backstories of other characters as well. Kate frequently conned people to get what she wanted (namely that bank robbery that was all for a freakin' toy.) And then of course there's Locke. Oh god, there was Locke. He, as usual, got the short end of the stick when it came to cons. Locke's life was destroyed by his father Anthony Cooper (aka Sawyer's life long prey), who manipulated his emotions, stole his kidney, made him feel worthless, ruined any chance he had at true love, and then pushed out of an eighth story window...in the words of Sawyer, son of a bitch!

Then in the future on the Island, cons were often pulled on friend and foe alike. Of course Sawyer did his fair share, but so did Ben and the Others, and even Locke himself to orchestrate the killing of his much hated father. Then we know recently the biggest con yet. The Man in Black's century stretched planning of killing his rival Jacob finally came full circle when he conned Ben Linus into doing it for him. Cons, cons, cons, cons, cons! What does all of this mean?

I could be very wrong, but maybe this repeated use of confidence scams is a metaphor. A way of telling us that there is a much bigger con going on here. The conning of the audience. Maybe whatever has happened and is happening on the show is just something that is leading us along, something that is building up momentum and getting our hopes up only to turn around and surprise with something that we never even considered. But what could it be? Could it be the Island is the small patch of purgatory between what could be heaven and what could be hell? Could it be that it is all figments of some polar bears imagination? Could it be that John Locke will be resurrected and deemed ruler of all things Island and possibly beyond? Could it be that I am just rambling like a nerd and my speculation is pointless as the show is already past the halfway point of its last season and all of the questions that have lingered for my four years of dedication to this show are being answered even as we speak? Yeah, probably. But still, how about that confidence game. I just thought it was interesting that that whole theme has gone on for so long in this show but has never really been addressed. Oh well, time will tell WHAT IT ALL MEANS, until then I will talk about other things that are just kind of interesting but don't contain much speculation as to how the show will end.

I really want to get to bed now, so I hoped you've enjoyed and goodnight. Oh yeah, and keep watching Lost and keep reading if you please.