I could watch this episode a hundred times and still fight back the tears at the end. An absolute masterpiece that is criminally underrated
7 Reviews
Foreseeable, but beautiful
shaun-35215 August 2020
"Sonic fence? Didn't I say let me do the talking?"
gridoon20246 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"LaFleur" has been described as a "game-changing" episode, and the term is pretty accurate: gone are (permanently?) the time flashes/jumps, now the remaining on-island survivors (of the original flight, that is) are stuck in a specific time period: the mid 1970s. This episode expands on the cliffhanger at the end of "316", and also gives you a general idea of how Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Daniel and Miles spent those three years that it took the Oceanic Six to decide to come back to the island. It's a fascinating episode with some great moments: Juliet has not been better as a character for a long time, and Elizabeth Mitchell looks more radiant than usual; the late-night conversation between Sawyer and Juliet near the sub is a truly wonderful scene; the entire "sonic fence" part is surprising in typical LOST fashion; Miles has some of his funniest lines so far; Daniel watching the little red-haired girl is a bittersweet moment; and a new character whose significance remains to be seen is introduced. The weakest part is the ending, which kind of spoils the chemistry that the whole episode had built between Sawyer and Juliet. *** out of 4.
Mistakes from the past
TheLittleSongbird26 July 2018
When 'Lost' was in its prime, it was must-watch television. Remember first watching it, found it remarkably easy to get into, was hooked from the start and was on Season 3 by the end of one week. The general consensus is that the final season is a disappointment and cannot disagree.
Season 4 was a solid season, with high points such as "The Beginning of the End", the three part finale and particularly "The Constant" and the only disappointments (though they were still decent) being "The Other Woman" and "Eggtown". "Because You Left" couldn't be a better way to start Season 5, definitely among the stronger 'Lost' season openers and one of the most confident and most settled. The episodes between that and this were also good to great, with the weakest "Jughead" still having a lot of great values.
"LaFleur" is a great episode, albeit not one of the show's best. It's taut and thought-provoking, providing new mysteries and questions while also providing answers. The on-island events are tense, emotional and above all gripping.
On top of all that, it advances characters, shows plot progression rather than repeating itself or being filler. There are surprising moments and also illuminating ones. Having more focus on Sawyer was appreciated hugely, after much focus on other characters, making for an entertaining, interesting and investable story that doesn't waste him at all and doesn't reiterate what is already known.
Found "LaFleur" to be an episode full of entertainment value, tension and emotional moments. The more dialogue-driven parts is a case of it being thought-probing, relevant and adding a lot rather than slowing things down and rambling. The character relationships have emotional impact and tension, never feeling unnatural or juvenile, and the time travelling structure is thankfully not as hard to follow as one may fear.
Can't fault the performances, particularly from Josh Holloway giving some of his best acting of the season. The Sawyer focus and that he had more to do compared to previous Season 5 episodes helped greatly.
Nor the stylishness and atmosphere of the visuals, nor the effectively understated and chilling use of music, taut writing and the tightly controlled direction.
It is agreed though that the episode ends on a slightly odd note where it doesn't flow as much as everything before it. The Bernard and Rose loose end is a frustratingly perplexing one.
Season 4 was a solid season, with high points such as "The Beginning of the End", the three part finale and particularly "The Constant" and the only disappointments (though they were still decent) being "The Other Woman" and "Eggtown". "Because You Left" couldn't be a better way to start Season 5, definitely among the stronger 'Lost' season openers and one of the most confident and most settled. The episodes between that and this were also good to great, with the weakest "Jughead" still having a lot of great values.
"LaFleur" is a great episode, albeit not one of the show's best. It's taut and thought-provoking, providing new mysteries and questions while also providing answers. The on-island events are tense, emotional and above all gripping.
On top of all that, it advances characters, shows plot progression rather than repeating itself or being filler. There are surprising moments and also illuminating ones. Having more focus on Sawyer was appreciated hugely, after much focus on other characters, making for an entertaining, interesting and investable story that doesn't waste him at all and doesn't reiterate what is already known.
Found "LaFleur" to be an episode full of entertainment value, tension and emotional moments. The more dialogue-driven parts is a case of it being thought-probing, relevant and adding a lot rather than slowing things down and rambling. The character relationships have emotional impact and tension, never feeling unnatural or juvenile, and the time travelling structure is thankfully not as hard to follow as one may fear.
Can't fault the performances, particularly from Josh Holloway giving some of his best acting of the season. The Sawyer focus and that he had more to do compared to previous Season 5 episodes helped greatly.
Nor the stylishness and atmosphere of the visuals, nor the effectively understated and chilling use of music, taut writing and the tightly controlled direction.
It is agreed though that the episode ends on a slightly odd note where it doesn't flow as much as everything before it. The Bernard and Rose loose end is a frustratingly perplexing one.
A pleasant surprise
ametaphysicalshark4 March 2009
What a pleasant surprise. "LaFleur", written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Kyle Pennington, whose only previous episode together was the mediocre disappointment "Cabin Fever", and one of whom doesn't exactly have the best track record as a writer on "Lost" (in fact, she is responsible for a large number of the show's worst moments), ended up being another great episode, not that this season is lacking for great episodes- all but two of them have been, but none as unexpectedly good as "LaFleur".
"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" picked up right where "This Place is Death" ended from Locke's perspective, and "LaFleur" shows us what happened to Juliet, Sawyer, and company right after the second-to-last flash left them in a time when the Orchid well didn't exist. They only stay in this time for a very short while, but they stay there just long enough for us to catch a glimpse of something we've been waiting to see for a very long time: the four-toed statue. Well, A statue, presumably one with four toes. Still quite rewarding. Then, after Locke turns the wheel the final flash occurs and Sawyer and company end up three years before the time during which most of the rest of the season is going to take place, presumably (aside from the scenes with Locke, Ben, and the rest).
The episode then alternates between this time and 'three years later'. It's pointless describing in detail what happens in the episode, as that information is easily available, but I will say that I felt that this episode did the best job possible in introducing us to the Losties-in-DHARMA storyline, and that Horace seems more interesting than before, and Amy might end up being an intriguing character. There are a lot of loose ends though, the most frustrating of all is the question of what happened to Rose and Bernard. I understand the actors are guest actors, not regulars, but seriously, did the writers forget about them or think we wouldn't notice or what? All in all an excellent episode which sets the latter half of this season up very well, brings to an end the 'flashes', which were becoming increasingly annoying, and even gives us an oddly touching conversation about loves from long-ago with Horace and Sawyer. Good stuff. Even the Sawyer/Juliet relationship feels surprisingly natural, and is thankfully devoid of juvenile flirtation and games. I'm disappointed in the writers for choosing to do this now, considering the ending to the episode, where Sawyer meets Jack, Kate, and Hurley again, means that we'll surely see some love quadrangle nonsense soon enough.
But who cares? Sawyer actually got to do something this season, we saw the four-toed statue again, and the Losties-in-DHARMA storyline holds a hell of a lot of promise.
"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" picked up right where "This Place is Death" ended from Locke's perspective, and "LaFleur" shows us what happened to Juliet, Sawyer, and company right after the second-to-last flash left them in a time when the Orchid well didn't exist. They only stay in this time for a very short while, but they stay there just long enough for us to catch a glimpse of something we've been waiting to see for a very long time: the four-toed statue. Well, A statue, presumably one with four toes. Still quite rewarding. Then, after Locke turns the wheel the final flash occurs and Sawyer and company end up three years before the time during which most of the rest of the season is going to take place, presumably (aside from the scenes with Locke, Ben, and the rest).
The episode then alternates between this time and 'three years later'. It's pointless describing in detail what happens in the episode, as that information is easily available, but I will say that I felt that this episode did the best job possible in introducing us to the Losties-in-DHARMA storyline, and that Horace seems more interesting than before, and Amy might end up being an intriguing character. There are a lot of loose ends though, the most frustrating of all is the question of what happened to Rose and Bernard. I understand the actors are guest actors, not regulars, but seriously, did the writers forget about them or think we wouldn't notice or what? All in all an excellent episode which sets the latter half of this season up very well, brings to an end the 'flashes', which were becoming increasingly annoying, and even gives us an oddly touching conversation about loves from long-ago with Horace and Sawyer. Good stuff. Even the Sawyer/Juliet relationship feels surprisingly natural, and is thankfully devoid of juvenile flirtation and games. I'm disappointed in the writers for choosing to do this now, considering the ending to the episode, where Sawyer meets Jack, Kate, and Hurley again, means that we'll surely see some love quadrangle nonsense soon enough.
But who cares? Sawyer actually got to do something this season, we saw the four-toed statue again, and the Losties-in-DHARMA storyline holds a hell of a lot of promise.
Good Episode
richenstony5 March 2009
This episode is a lot slower than the rest of them , but it focus's 3 years ahead of time when John decided to go and bring the others back to the island. All the acting in this episode is amazing , and at times truly emotional , its not the best episode of the season but its a pretty dam good one. Im sure there will be yet more amazing episodes to come soon enough and we may just discover the hidden mystery's of that amazing island. Im a huge lost fan myself , and i for one believe we will find out soon enough. :)
If your a die hard fan like me , this episode will fill your eyes with tears and make you full in love with the characters all over again.
7/10
If your a die hard fan like me , this episode will fill your eyes with tears and make you full in love with the characters all over again.
7/10
Time Travel Paradoxes
claudio_carvalho19 April 2013
Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, Miles and Daniel see a hooded woman ready to be executed by two men and Sawyer and Juliet kill the men and save the woman. She asks them to bury the men and bring the victim, Paul, who was her husband, with her. Soon they learn that the year is 1974 and Amy and Paul belong to the Dharma Initiative. They head to the facility and Sawyer tells to their leader Horace that they are castaways and their ship sank while sailing to Haiti. When Richard Alpert arrives in the Dharma Initiative facility, Horace explains to Sawyer that they have a truce with The Others and now it was broken. However Sawyer offers to explain to Richard what happened. Three years later, Sawyer is the security chief of Dharma Initiative and Juliet, Jin and Miles also work there. Out of the blue, Sawyer receives a phone call from Jin and has a huge surprise.
Movies about time traveling need to be very careful to avoid time travel paradoxes. Unfortunately the writers of "Lost" do not care to this type of inconsistency and seem to be more worried in the shallow action entertainment and charisma of the characters than in writing a consistent story with care to paradoxes. Based on the IMDb Rating, the result seems to please a sort of viewers. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "LaFleur"
Movies about time traveling need to be very careful to avoid time travel paradoxes. Unfortunately the writers of "Lost" do not care to this type of inconsistency and seem to be more worried in the shallow action entertainment and charisma of the characters than in writing a consistent story with care to paradoxes. Based on the IMDb Rating, the result seems to please a sort of viewers. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "LaFleur"
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