i really liked the observation that they knew Syd was more vulnerable to empathetic suffering than physical pain -- and I thought they were using the cellmate for SOMETHING but didn't call that it was going in that direction.

I've got a vague idea of what the retcon entails, but if it's what I think it is, i'm not sure there's any way to reconcile it with her behavior in these shows. the moment i decided I liked her was when she and Sydney got pulled into the car chase, and Syd kept ragging on her about not being field rated, but instead of falling apart Lauren hung in there -- and not only that, she smiled. Like she was secretly getting off on the chase, and being a field agent, and doing all the stuff the others did that she only heard about. I've got no idea if that was even the intention of the scene, but the look on MG's face in that scene made me love her a little *g*