Why 'The Vending Machine' Scene Was So Magnificent by James Hughes

In one my earlier postings "WHY 'THE END' WAS THE GREATEST FINALE OF THE MODERN ERA' which was fortunate enough to be read out during the final lostcasts podcast, I mentioned The Vending Machine scene as one of Lost's absolute finest moments. It seems that a lot of people didn't understand why. So I am clarifying it for you now:

1) Sawyer takes the plug out and all the lights go out. What's just happened on the Island? Desmond has taken the plug out and 'the light' has gone out. But this doesn't make Sawyer remember....

2) Then Sawyer looks at Juliet crouching down offering him a candy bar. The very first time he connected with her, was at the end of Season 4 when he swims back to shore and she is below him holding out a whisky bottle. We get a real sense that they are meeting for the first time in that scene. And same again in the Vending Machine scene and this time it is a candy bar. But still Sawyer doesn't remember...

3) Only when they physically connect and touch hands does he remember. Proving once again that Lost is about connection.

4) Then we get the dialogue about "we could go dutch" showing us that this scene was conceived way back in the Season 6 opener LAX. And it is very hard to make two scenes have such resonance when they are 15 episodes apart.

5) Sawyer's last line 'you got it Blondie' was the last thing he said to her when she dies in the LAX season opener....which made Juliet remember...that she too had died.

Magnificent scene because of all the subtext. Unfortunately a lot of people missed the subtext and took it at face value. But make no mistake this was one of the greatest scenes Lost has ever done.