What's in a nickname?

It's been a long time coming. Now that Lost has been over for nearly two weeks, I'm finally getting to write about one of current TV's great bad-asses: James Ford, who you likely know as "Sawyer." Now crashing on a deserted island is always going to be rough. People are injured or dying, no guarantee of food or fresh water, and the comforts of home are a mere memory. Now you have two choices in this situation: you can whine about how terrible your life is (see: Shannon) or you can start looting everyone else's stuff. Sawyer knows what's going on, he knows he needs to take care of himself, and he is happy to cause a stir in the process.

Not only is Sawyer willing to cause tension to mount between other castaways by hoarding medicine, guns, books, and all sorts of other goodies, he's sure to throw in a condescending nickname in the process. Take Jack, for example. Hi Jack!


You just missed it, but right before this picture was taken, Jack got really intense, had a long flashback all of us could see, spoke about how his job as a surgeon has led him to make some heroic decision (e.g. "I can't let her die!"), almost cried, and then counted to 5 and was fine.

Anyways, Jack and Sawyer don't always get along. While Sawyer typically does not get anyone to side with him, he just seems to have fun getting under the "Doc's" skin. Let's have a fun look back at all the nicknames Sawyer gave to the island's resident surgeon:

- Amarillo Slim
- Chico
- Cool Hand
- Cowboy
- Daniel Boone
- Doc
- Dr. Do Right
- Dr. Giggles
- Dr. Quinn
- The Hero
- Hoss
- Jackass
- El Jacko
- Metro
- Sheriff
- St. Jack
- The Doc

But how can you blame him from enjoying making others miserable. He's lived this life for years since his "childhood tragedy" (I'll be safe in case some of you are still catching up with the show). Who else would have swiped a gun off the plane's air marshal? Charlie? Uh, not unless the gun shot delicious heroine into his mouth. Sawyer stole it, of course. And good thing, too...because guess what? He shot a bear!

Now even though he has softened up a little bit (honoring the "no nickname" bet with Hurley, becoming less selfish, getting all mushy and romantic with "Freckles," etc.), he's still got the cutting edge attitude necessary to survive on the island. And without Sawyer, there is going to be a lot of problems for the rest of the castaways. Sure, Sayid has the military background, Jack has the medical expertise, and Juliette knows the plans of the Others, but only Sawyer has the gritty determination to get things done right the first time and to test the limits of others. And that's because he's a bad-ass.

Side Note: Think I'm the only one who feels Sawyer's bad-ass mentality helps him own the island? Check out Dwight Schrute's blog from a while back where he discussed a Lost-Battlestar Gallactica crossover. My favorite part:

"Starbuck would shoot the unseen monster and Sawyer would say
something witty and sexy, like "Nice shot, blondie. Where'd you
learn to shoot a laser like that? From watching princess Leia?"

She would say, "Put a sock in it Sawyer" but the attraction would be
too much for them and they would have to start making out again."