Who's Gonna Get My Back?

Welcome to a rant about the beautiful love story that is Sawyer and Juliet. Tonight must be a night filled with expressions of feelings over TV couples; first Barney and Robin, now Sawyer and Juliet, and coming soon, Michael and Sara. But I haven't talked about Lost in a while and I really miss it, so here comes an expression of love for one of the greatest TV romances, in my humble opinion of course, ever. That is, of course, the two subjects of this entry- James "Sawyer" Ford and Juliet Burke.

It all started here, folks- the season four finale, where everyone tried to get to the freighter because it was supposedly their only chance of rescue. However, the freighter explodes, the helicopter crashes into the ocean, and Sawyer, who has recently jumped from the copter, swims up to shore to find Juliet drinking straight from a bottle of rum. He asks her what she's celebrating and she tells him she isn't celebrating, pointing towards the billowing black smoke out on the horizon where all of their friends have seemingly just perished. "Is that our boat?" Sawyer asks, looking sexy as hell coming out of the water dripping wet. Juliet drinks some more rum and replies, "It was." And thus begins the epic tale of love that is Sawyer and Juliet.

Now I know what you're thinking- that's it? That's their big beginning?! And slow your roll, pacha, they don't immediately start rolling in the sack. Season five begins the oddest season of television I've seen thus far- though it's still fabulous, so no complaints- and Sawyer and Juliet are forced to command the other three they're time-traveling with, Miles, Daniel, and Charlotte, through flashes and jumps to different time periods. Yeah, it's super weird. But this is where Sawyer and Juliet bond- they have adorable bantering conversations and have each other's backs no matter what, whether it's agreeing to decisions made by the other ("Thanks for having my back on the whole beach thing." "You should thank me. It was a stupid idea.") or shooting up crazy islanders trying to murder them ("You still got my back?" "Absolutely."). These two are freaking made for each other and though at first I was surprised the writers put them together, after "LaFleur" I could clearly see why.

So these beautifully broken individuals continued to fight their way through the troubles season five and time travel brought them and along the way, they became companions. They were almost like BFFs in a way no one really was on this show. Sure, people developed friendships- Hurley and Charlie, Kate and Claire, Jin and pretty much everyone- but Sawyer and Juliet just understood each other, you know? It was unspoken that they became each other's right hand and so I guess I should have seen it coming, their relationship. But yet, I was delightfully surprised.

Okay, cut to LaFleur. Charlotte has recently died and Daniel is a hot freaking mess when the four of them, now, are traipsing through the jungle when they come upon Amy, a member of the Dharma Initiative, being held by members of the Others. Long story short, Sawyer and Juliet kill her captors and then get trapped by the DH when they try to be nice and return her to her group. Meh. Anyway, Sawyer comes up with an elaborate story about a shipwreck and a new name, LaFleur, that he now goes by and the DH tells him they can stay for two more weeks.

And this beautiful scene is where it all really began. Because I can't even tell you how many times I've seen this scene and, honestly, it still gives me goosebumps the way they look at each other. He tells her they can stay another two weeks, but Juliet wants nothing more than to leave the damn Island. Sawyer resists and says, "You're really going to leave me here with the mad scientist and Mr. I Speak to Dead People? And Jin, who's a hell of a nice guy, but not exactly a great conversationalist." So great. So she tells him he'll be fine, and his adorable response is, "Maybe... But who's gonna get my back?" Like... so cute, I can't even handle it. It's so unlike Sawyer to show any kind of vulnerability or a need for someone else, but you can see how much he needs Juliet and how much he wants her to stay, and because of that, she agrees to stay for two more weeks.

He asked her stay for two weeks and she stayed for three years. :)

Alas, we have the end of LaFleur and the beginning of a new love. These two are just... ugh. So freaking perfect. So, so perfect, in fact, that I honestly don't know who I love more- Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Juliet. And that is absolute craziness, because I freaking love Jack and Kate... But these two just get me, every time. He's a con man who's life has never been easy and she'd just escaped a verbally abusive marriage before being forced onto the Island and the two just need each other. He needed someone a little more rationally-thinking and she needed someone to loosen her up a bit. And... well, they found these things in each other.

And then, tragedy struck. Just as I was falling in love with these two, and falling fast, Jack decides to fuck everyone's lives up and set off a hydrogen bomb because Daniel said that would make everything go back to normal. Like... really? Ugh. Anyway, Jack didn't always make good decisions, but this isn't about Jack. This is about how Sawyer and Juliet suffered because of said decision. When Jack dropped the bomb, anything metallic got sucked into that gigantic hole. A giant chain was wrapped around her legs and lower torso and thus, sucked her into the hole. And just as I was panicking, thinking Juliet was going to die, Kate called for Sawyer and hurray! He caught her hand and Juliet was saved!! ... Right?

Wrong. He caught her hand and screamed for Kate to help him get the chains off, but neither of them could reach Juliet's waist. The chains pulled and pulled on her and all of the metallic beams started to cave in from the pressure. Juliet knows that if she doesn't let go, they're both going to die, so, with all the difficulty in the world (I can only assume, but if you're watching, you can tell), she glances around and says, "I love you James." Of course, he's taking this as a goodbye and replies, "Don't you leave me. Don't you dare let go." And that's when I lost it. It felt like my heart broke in half. She tells him, "I love you so much!" before falling to her death and Sawyer is left to scream after her, breaking down in sobs as I, watching this gut-wrenching scene, do the same.

And it's just so incredibly sad. I spent the next ten, fifteen minutes at least reeling from the emotional shock this freaking show put me in. Sawyer is heartbroken and I'm crying just as much as he is. It's revealed that the fall didn't actually kill her, so for a moment we're offered a bit of hope, but then she detonates the hydrogen bomb and the entire screen goes white. Boom. End of season five. No, seriously. That's really how it ends. You're left wondering all summer what happens next. Well actually, I wasn't, because I was watching it on Netflix. Therefore, I used up a box of tissues, composed myself, and clicked 'next episode.'

And what the actual fuck? Juliet's alive?! Why yes, folks, she detonated the bomb and nothing happened. Jin, Kate, Jack, and Sawyer clear all the debris and Sawyer climbs down into the hole to find her unconscious. When she wakes up, she's thoroughly upset that the bomb didn't go off and when Sawyer asks why, she tells him, "I wanted you to be able to go home. I wanted to make it so that you never came to this damn Island!" Oh my god, break my heart a little more, why don't you? He manages to clear the debris off her broken body and the two snuggle a moment in their dark environs. Then she starts rambling and saying things that make no sense in the context of their conversation- signs that she's, to put it modernly, going into the light. He panics and looks at her, and she says, "James, kiss me." His tearful response? "You got it, Blondie." The two kiss and afterwards Juliet tells Sawyer she has to tell him something very important... and promptly dies in his arms.

Then we- and by we, I mean Sawyer and I- begin to sob violently once more. Guys, you don't understand- he loved her so freaking much. It was just absolutely heartbreaking to watch him watch her die. And then later, two episodes in advance, when he's on the dock crying and Kate tries to comfort him, he tells her, "I was going to ask her to marry me." UGH. Another knife to the heart!! These two just... I can't. I love them so much. Like even this blog post can't do them justice. Even everything I'm saying cannot express my undying love for them. And Sawyer's crying and Kate's crying and I'm crying all because of Juliet, who, at first, I didn't even like. This is the power of great television, ladies and gentlemen.

BUT WAIT- THERE'S MORE. They have a happy ending... kind of. When it's revealed, in the series finale, that the flash-sideways is actually a type of purgatory that the characters have entered upon dying and now have to find each other and reunite, every little side couple gets their moment. Claire and Charlie remember, Shannon and Sayid remember, and Jin and Sun do, too. But without a doubt, hands down, the best "remembering" sequence, even better than Jack and Kate's, is Sawyer and Juliet's. In my opinion, it's honestly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on television. My words cannot do it justice, but I'll do what I can.

Sawyer's a cop and Juliet's still a doctor. They meet by the vending machines and she makes a joke about reading the failed machine its rights. They laugh, she manages to pull a few tricks that gets him his candy bar, and when she hands it to them and their hands touch, they feel a spark and see a few memories they had on the Island. They're confused, they don't know what's going on, so they touch again and this time, a whole slew of memories flash before their eyes. It's then that they remember each other and Sawyer, tentatively says, "Juliet? Juliet, it's me! It's me, baby!" They hug in the most epic hug of all hugs and she begins to cry with happiness and relief. Sawyer, in equal amounts of relief and happiness, assures her, "I got you. I got you, baby." They're laughing, they're grinning, they're touching all over until Juliet says, "Kiss me, James!" and Sawyer, in typical Sawyer fashion, replies, "You got it, Blondie." And they embrace and once more the two are happy.

And, well, there you have it. I've nearly exhausted myself with all of my feelings for these two. But their love is just something I've never seen before on television. The complications and the drama that follow Jack and Kate just don't seem to exist with these two. They have a beautiful, full understanding of the other and the thought of losing the other- or, in Sawyer's case, the terrible reality- is absolute unfathomable. Sawyer and Juliet are two of the broken, damaged, lost members of the Island crew, but together, with each other, they are finally found.