Although Jack wasn't in this episode, I can't help but contrast him with Sawyer. Historically, Jack's flaw has been that he thinks he can, and therefore must, fix everything. This is not uncommon among adult children of alcoholics. Jack's heroic nature has been in overdrive for most of his life. His first hero -- his daddy -- turned out to have feet of clay. His other first hero -- his mommy -- stood by and (at least in Jack's eyes) did nothing to fix it. Small children view their parents as nearly omnipotent, right? Jack's long-standing inability to accept his folks in all their frailty has been wreaking havoc on his psyche for most of his life.

Meanwhile, Sawyer is, I think, a fatalist. His first hero -- his daddy -- didn't just have feet of clay. He turned out to be the super-villain of his son's lifestory. James Ford can blame Anthony "Tom Sawyer" Cooper all he wants, but the person he really wants to kill has been dead since 1976. Make that -- persons. After all, by betraying her family for a roll in the hay, Mommy Ford let down her baby boy in ways he won't even let himself think about.

Sometimes giving up, giving in, or not bothering is the sane choice. Other times, it's a weakness -- a deadly one. Some of Sawyer's longstanding irritation with Jack is well-reasoned, but much of it comes, I think, from Sawyer's own insecurities, his own flaws, and from a deep, deep well of envy. It's sort of: I hate you for trying, because it makes me feel like I should try, but there's no sense in trying, because look at this world -- look at my life -- look at me.

Finally, and apropos of basically nothing in this episode, other than, perhaps, Claire's remorse, I keep thinking about Claire and Aaron being baptized by Mr. Eko. Do you think that has any significance, or is it another Annie, i.e. something that seemed important at the time, but turned out just to be an interesting detail? Does it explain any of the difference between Claire and Sayid, today? Is it why she's just a confused girl being manipulated by a bad man, while Sayid is suffering from terminal cancer of the soul? Just food for thought.