James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, he first appeared in the pilot as one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 which crashed on a mysterious island, and remained one of the show's main characters.
Serving as an anti-hero since his introduction, Sawyer was initially portrayed as a selfish, conniving and sarcastic handsome flirt who hoards stashes of washed-ashore items for himself. Flashbacks detailing his past are used to depict his more sensitive side, juxtaposed against acts of betrayal and theft. For the first four seasons, he competes with Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) for the affections of Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), but the latter's love for Jack ultimately prevails. He develops a more heroic side in season four and sacrifices his chance to get off the Island so his friends can escape. In the fifth season, Sawyer quickly acclimates to his new role as the leader of the remaining survivors. When they are sent back through time, Sawyer falls in love and forms a stable relationship with Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell), with whom he moves onto the afterlife in the series finale.
Character biography
Prior to the crash Sawyer was born in 1968 in Jasper, Alabama as James Ford. When James was eight years old, his parents were conned by John Locke’s father under the alias of "Tom Sawyer"; as a result, his father killed both his mother and himself. On the day of the funeral, Jacob expresses his condolences to Sawyer, even as he is writing his 'I am going to find you' letter for the conman who took his family. At the time of his parents' death, James and his family were living in Knoxville, Tennessee according to the letter Sawyer carries. James also claims to have dropped out of high school in the ninth grade but has a "high school transcript." A major driving force in James' life is his vow to avenge his parents' deaths by hunting down the original Sawyer; as an adult, when he found himself in financial difficulty, he adopted the profession and alias of the man responsible for his parents' death, using his looks and charm to seduce wealthy married women, thus he "became the man he was hunting." One of his scams involved waking up next to his victim and pretending to be late for an important meeting; as he rushes to get ready, his briefcase will "accidentally" spill open, revealing bundles of cash the woman "wasn't supposed to see." With her interest piqued, he convinces her and her spouse to invest cash in a legally questionable, but supposedly lucrative business opportunity, before disappearing with the money. On one occasion, he runs this con up until he discovers the targeted couple has a child, experiences an attack of conscience and cancels the deal.
On another occasion, Sawyer carries out a "Long con" (large-scale con) on a divorced woman named Cassidy who is known to be less gullible than his usual victims. He sets up the usual con and spills his cash over the ground, only this time with fake bank notes. Cassidy realizes he's trying to con her from the moment he spills the money, and tells him his con wouldn't have worked because she received no money after the divorce. Instead of being mad, however, she asks him to teach her his profession. After learning a few basic tricks, Cassidy soon asks Sawyer to pull off a long con. He tells her such a con requires money, and she reveals she actually received $600,000 from her ex-husband. He pretends to begin a long con, using her money to set it up, but in fact he simply plans to take the money. However, she has begun to grow on him, and he wavers on his con. While visiting the diner of Kate's mother, his partner (played by Kevin Dunn) forces Sawyer to resume his con on threat of death. He goes back to Cassidy and tells her that he has been conning her, and warns her of a car parked outside. He stuffs the money into a bag and tells her to leave with it, and he will take the blame. When she runs off, he takes the real money (having given her fake bank notes) and returns to the car, actually empty.
Cassidy presses charges against Sawyer for conning her, and he is sent to prison. Cassidy visits him and informs him they have a daughter, named Clementine. While in prison, Sawyer befriends a man named Munson, sentenced for a white-collar crime. On behalf of the police, he cons Munson into revealing where he hid the money he stole; as a result, Sawyer's sentence is cut short, and the monetary reward he receives is deposited in an anonymous bank account for Clementine at his request. Later, as Sawyer is seducing another woman, another partner (played by Robert Patrick) informs him of the whereabouts of the original Sawyer who conned his parents. Sawyer travels to Australia to confront the man, and shoots him. Before he dies, Sawyer realizes his partner had conned him into killing someone who owed money to an important person. Sawyer also encounters and drinks with Christian Shephard at a bar. While in Australia, Sawyer is arrested, at the same station visited by Boone, for assaulting Warren Truss, an Australian politician and leader of the National Party, during a bar fight. As a result, Sawyer is deported and banned from returning to Australia; he leaves on board Oceanic Flight 815, his seat number being 15D.
After the crash
Season One
Upon crashing on the island, Sawyer almost instantly clashes with the other survivors. He initially accuses Sayid of being the terrorist who caused the crash. Despite this, he joins Sayid, along with Kate, Charlie, Boone and Shannon on a hike to send out a distress signal. Upon returning, Sawyer searches the plane wreck for anything and everything he can find and keeps them for himself, causing the other survivors to bargain with him for items. He and Jack clash over the attention of Kate on regular intervals. Kate claims to see through his attempts to make people hate him, until he shows her the letter he wrote but implies it was written to him by one of his victims; later she sees the date on the envelope and realizes he wrote the letter himself. After Jack is caught in a cave-in, Sawyer locates Kate in the jungle and eventually informs her. When Shannon experiences asthma attacks, Sawyer is immediately under suspicion of possessing her inhalers after Boone sees him with one of his belongings. After being interrogated by Sayid, he tells Kate that he doesn't have them, causing an enraged Sayid to stab him in the arm. Kate then confronts Sawyer regarding his selfish actions, and tells him to change his ways by cooperating more with the survivors. He reluctantly agrees.
In the jungle, Sawyer and Kate discover a case, carried on the plane by the marshal, and the two constantly fight over its ownership, until Jack takes it from Sawyer. Soon after, Sawyer becomes constantly harassed by a boar, and seeks Kate's help in finding it. Upon cornering it, however, Sawyer decides to let it go. After learning about Michael's plan to build a raft, Sawyer asks for a place on board, to which he is granted. However, after someone (later revealed as Walt) sets the raft on fire, Sawyer and Michael blame Jin and Sawyer takes him to the beach with the intent of beating him. Once the matter is solved, Sawyer experiences headaches and, after consulting Jack, is prescribed reading glasses, made from pairs found in the wreckage. His voice also calms the newborn of survivor Claire.
The day before the raft sets sail, Sawyer and Kate clash once more, this time over his place on the raft. While Kate placed a good argument, Sawyer revealed her past life as a criminal to the survivors, securing his space on the raft. The next day, Sawyer, Michael, Walt and Jin set sail on the raft. When a piece of the raft breaks off, Sawyer is the first in the water to retrieve and re-attach it. He also begins reading through the survivors' personal messages, kept in a bottle. That night, they encounter a small boat and begin celebrating their rescue. However, they soon reveal themselves as the Others, and demand they hand over Walt. In an attempt to prevent Walt's abduction, Sawyer is shot in the shoulder before the raft is destroyed by the Others, who leave with Walt.
Season Two Sawyer and Michael are stranded at sea with the wreckage of the raft. Sawyer removes the bullet from his shoulder prior to arriving back on the island, encountering the tail section survivors from the plane and being thrown into a pit. Once the mishap is cleared, Sawyer, Michael and Jin are released and forced into leading them to the fuselage camp. Throughout the journey, Sawyer constantly clashes with leader Ana Lucia, until he passes out from his bullet wound. He is then carried via hand-made stretcher until the death of Shannon, where he is carried by Mr. Eko into the hatch. He is cared for by Kate, until her father, Wayne, is channeled through Sawyer. Upon recovering, Sawyer reluctantly must seek Jack's medical expertise on a regular basis.
On one such occasion, Sawyer releases Jack and Locke from the armory after Michael locks them in to search for Walt alone. Sawyer agrees to join them as they follow, only to encounter the Others. After revealing to have Kate held hostage, Sawyer, Jack and Locke reluctantly hand over their guns for her safety. Unlike Jack, Sawyer sympathizes with Kate's actions. Soon after, Sawyer sets up a long con, with the help of Charlie, in order to gain possession of the camp's entire firearms and medicine, using Sun as a victim of a faked abduction attempt. Upon succeeding this feat, Sawyer is challenged by Jack to a game of poker with the medicine as the prize, which Jack wins. Sawyer later gives Sun a pregnancy test upon request, and informs Bernard and Jin about her suspected pregnancy.
Sawyer also uses his possession of the medicine to his advantage, and mocks Hurley when he admits to seeing things, only for his tirade to backfire. He also refuses to help Bernard create an S.O.S. sign on the beach. He is soon confronted by Ana Lucia, demanding he give her a gun. She seduces him, and steals his own gun from him. Upon discovering this, Sawyer, along with Jack, Locke and Kate, head for the hatch, where they discover Michael injured, Libby fatally wounded and Ana Lucia already dead. Michael asks Sawyer if he will go with him to the Others' camp, to which he agrees. After the funeral of Ana Lucia and Libby, Sawyer joins Michael, Jack, Kate and Hurley on the trek, where they are suddenly ambushed by the Others, tied up and taken to a pier. While Michael (along with Walt) leave the island, and Hurley is released, Sawyer is taken away by the Others, along with Jack and Kate.
Season Three Sawyer wakes in the Others' camp, imprisoned in a cage originally designed to hold polar bears. Karl, a teenager being held in the cage across from Sawyer's, helps Sawyer to figure out the mechanism in his cage so he can gain access to food and water. Karl then helps him to escape, but Juliet shoots Sawyer in the neck with a tranquilizer dart and he is returned to his cage. Karl is taken away, and Kate is placed in the cage vacated by Karl. Sawyer and Kate are forced to mine and haul rocks for the Others. During this manual labor, Sawyer kisses Kate, even though he gets beaten for it by Danny Pickett. Pickett, one of the Others, dislikes Sawyer, blaming him for the death of his wife.
Sawyer and Kate concoct an escape plan, but they are prevented from acting on it when Sawyer is knocked unconscious by Ben. The Others operate on Sawyer, implanting a pacemaker which will malfunction and kill him if his heart rate exceeds 140 beats per minute. He is told if he does not cooperate, Kate will be given a pacemaker too. Because of this, Sawyer does not defend himself when Pickett violently beats him up.