While last week's episode was slow and a little disappointing, tonight had me absolutely riveted. There wasn't that much more action, and the big reveal at the end raised just as many questions as answers. So what made it a far superior episode?It's a simple, 2-word answer:
Terry O'Quinn.
He knocked this one out of the park, just as he has with all of the Locke-centric episodes. It's just so fun to watch him, especially now that he's really playing 2 different characters - LA Locke in 2004 (aka Locke Classic) and SmokeLocke back on the Island in 2007. He's just amazing to watch, and as in previous episodes you can really see how he brings out the A game in other actors. His scenes with Josh Holloway (Sawyer) tonight were great, and I also think he was the reason why Evangeline Lilly gave us her best Kate scene ever in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" last season. The man can act, and he inspires others, as well.
So, enough of the Terry love... though he definitely should submit this episode as his Emmy entry. Back to the show:
LA Locke
It's still hard to judge these flash-sideways scenes since we just aren't sure what they represent. But, again, tonight's ep proved that they don't HAVE to seem boring or pointless (like Kate's) if the focus is on a compelling character. Locke is fascinating, whether he's the messianic/manic survivalist on the Island or the long-suffering, downtrodden shlub back in the mainland. Yes, he is still having a rough time back in 2004 LA... furious and resentful about being in the wheelchair, feeling stifled at his job, with the little everyday hardships getting him down.
BUT - there's one major difference in the NEW LA Locke storyline: he's with his beloved Helen, planning to get married. (Side note, this episode perfectly demonstrated why I gave up reading episode previews 2 seasons ago... I had not seen the cast list for tonight, so I had no idea Katey Sagal would be on, and thus was really pleasantly surprised to see Helen in Locke's life.) This then raises the question... is Locke's life better for having crashed on the Island? Sure, he found purpose as a castaway, but he ended up being murdered by Ben. Is his LA life with Helen happier? He did decide against calling Jack the spinal surgeon, deciding NOT to try another round of fixing his back. Is the show hinting that these LA scenes are indeed an improvement over their past situations?
Another fun part of the LA scenes tonight... all those connections are still happening! Locke still worked at Hurley's box factory, and this time got to meet the lucky lottery winner/mogul. He still got some good life advice from the always welcome Rose, who's still suffering from her terminal cancer. (So is her appearance a signal that NOT all of their lives are better?) And... the best surprise, he ends up being a substitute teacher alongside none other than Mr. Ben Linus, European History teacher. Fun!!! I would LOVE to get a Ben flash-sideways and see what in the heck would've happened to him if he either (a) never came to the Island or (b) left as a kid before he really got in with all the Others.
Back on the Island...
How cool was it to have that scene from the perspective of Smokey, surveying the Island to check up on classic rock-listening Sawyer and tied up in the trees Richard? That was fun! It may be the closest we get to a real Smokey episode, but I'll take it!
SmokeLocke, meet Sawyer.
SmokeLocke has indeed gone recruiting, and his first target is our grieving, angry con man. Why would he choose him first? Probably a combination of access, opportunity, and the potential for setting up another Island showdown between Sawyer as Smokey's man and Jack as Jacob's. That's my guess for how things will develop.
Sawyer once again shows he's not a total himbo, as he's the first to immediately recognize that SmokeLocke is not John Locke. Not even Ben or Richard could intuit that. The scenes between Sawyer and Locke gave me a few of my new favorite Sawyer lines:
"I don't care if you're dead, or time-traveling, or the ghost of Christmas past." and
"Well, I guess I better put some pants on." (Only if it's really necessary...)
And Sawyer's setup of the Steinbeck / Of Mice and Men conversation (a throwback to his conversation with Ben on the other island) led to a great speech by SmokeLocke... When Sawyer asked "What are you?" he replied: "What I am is trapped. And I've been trapped for so long I don't even remember what it was like to be free." So WHAT is the Man in Black? He said before he was trapped here, he was a man too. Interesting....
The Four Left Behind
Sun, Ben, Lapidus, and Ilana- that's a weird grouping! Not a lot happened here, but Ilana knows a lot more about what's going on than everyone expected. She knows that the Man In Black will now stay in Locke's form, and that Sun wants to reunited with Jin. She took some of the ash from the fire where Jacob's body disappeared - to use how? And the group traveled back to their old Island graveyard to bury John's body, where Ben gave the moving - for him - eulogy: "He was a much better man than I will ever be, and I'm sorry I murdered him."
The Golden Child
There's a new little entity of some kind running around the Island now... a young, golden-haired boy who appears to be chastising the Man in Black. He appeared to him twice, and Sawyer saw him too. The boy told MIB/SmokeLocke "You know the rules. You can't kill him." And SmokeLocke channeled his host, replying "Don't tell me what I can't do!"
So what does all this mean? Is the boy a manifestation of Jacob? Or of the Island? Some sort of referee?
The Cave
And, the big reveal of the night... yet another location on the Island. Following a dramatic climb down the cliffs - which had me gasping for breath at the thought that Sawyer might plunge to his death - SmokeLocke showed Sawyer a mysterious cave that appeared to be a place where he and/or Jacob have spent a lot of time over the years. The "inside joke" of tossing the white rock out into the ocean seemed to hint that Jacob and the Man in Black may have been the original Adam and Eve... but what about one of the bodies being female? Hmmmm.
So... the ceiling of the cave has been Jacob's note pad, where he's kept numbers and lists of potential "candidates" over the years. As SmokeLocke explained it, these people have all been candidates to take over Jacob's role as protector of the Island. (Did anyone else get a Dread Pirate Roberts vibe here?) But, SmokeLocke insisted this is all pointless... there's nothing to protect the Island against. Do we believe him?? I don't... yet. So far, I'm still thinking Jacob is the good guy here.
The candidates' names we saw: Shephard, Reyes, Jarrah, Kwon, Locke, and Ford. We don't know if it meant Sun or Jin Kwon (which answers last week's question about how Jin may or may not be "one of them"), and SmokeLocke crossed out Locke's name. Perhaps most interesting? No Austin listed -- so what is Kate's purpose here? And what does being on Jacob's list mean for our remaining candidates?
SmokeLocke explained this all to Sawyer, and about how Jacob's hand has been at work in bringing them all to the Island... and gave him some options on what he could do next. Of course, SmokeLocke has been manipulating here just like Jacob. But, Sawyer chose to join SmokeLocke in leaving the Island.... just putting it all behind him and getting the hell out of there.
Do I think that's actually going to happen? Nope, but I think they're sure going to try. Richard's got to be out there making his way to the Temple, and somehow all the sides will have to come together again... and we'll see just what these candidates do, and whether one really does stay to become the new Jacob. Since it's no longer going to be Locke, this could get very interesting. (For now, I'll make a wild guess and say Jack will stay.)
Pardon the Commercial Interruption
In other news.... ABC is really trying to make the most of its ad space during our LOST hour, eh? I counted a promo for V, starring Elizabeth Mitchell (our long lost Juliet), a promo for tonight's The Forgotten featuring Tania Raymonde, aka Alex (Ben's long lost adopted daughter), a promo for Flash Forward with Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) and Sonya Walger (Penny), and an actual ad for some L'Oreal hair product with Evangeline Lilly and her hair as the spokesperson. They're really trying to target us as an audience!
Ok, friends, what did you think? Any more thoughts on the candidates???
Image source.
8 comments:
Will Richards age catch up with him?
What's the connection of the stones to Adam and eve?
I dont remember much about the skeletons.
I'm guessing Jacob and mib have only been on the island since the late 1700's / early 1800's. Clearly people from many civilizations have been lured to the island, so I'd guess there have been many dread pirate Roberts.
Do we know who jacks mother is?
I hope Richard's age doesn't catch up with him!!!! He's hot. :-)
Adam and Eve were found with a black and a white stone, and Damon and Carlton have said since the beginning that those stones were important, and that's how we'd identify those skeletons. Maybe they were earlier Dread Pirate Robertsesees?
Yes, we've seen Jack's mother... she was played by one of those 80's soap actresses from Dallas or Dynasty or something.
I too love me some John Locke. In fact, I just got my WWJLD T-shirt!
So, Kate's name isn't one of "the numbers." And what makes the candidates into candidates? Trying to find the theme is not easy.
Not sure if this matters or not but Hurley and Sayid were "chosen" and touched by Jacob after they left the island. So their first visit there they were not chosen and brought there on purpose?
Basically, I'm too scared to make any speculations. I'm confused, happy, frustrated etc.
where are Desmond and Penny?
and Charles Widmore?
and why didn't eloise get on the ajira flight? why was she not on the island anyway?
so many plotlines i wanna see.
also, why could jacob leave the island ( and how?) but fake locke can't? ( though he can with sawyer)
Kelly, I've got to see this t-shirt! Did you get it from Cafe Press? That's a great source for all Dharma baby needs, fyi. :-)
Kate's not one of the candidates - and if "Kwon" means Jin, not Sun, then that would make them all men. That's the only pattern I can see so far.
SA - I'm SO curious about Desmond and Penny! A few seasons ago, I was SURE that their story was going to be the overarching one... even though that's no longer likely, I just want to make sure they're happy and healthy. Widmore's GOT to be key to the story again soon. Was he a former candidate? And Ben?
jacob seemed very uninterested in ben.
and it seems like MIB wasn't ever seeking candidates, i guess.
i'm now wondering why widmore could never make it back to the island, but ben could come and go as he pleased.
was it because Jacob allowed that?
if thats the case, why did the freighter make it?
was it only because people like michael, charlotte and miles were on the boat?
how did the 1950's military people find it?
how did the dharma station Lamp Post work?
cuz how did they know when the island moved?
wasn't there an episode early on when Ben tells the survivors about some of them being on the list, or not being on the list?
a list that apparently jacob gives richard who gives it to ben?
i dont recall who was on that list, except jack.
At the end of Season 2 (?), I'm pretty sure that was the first time we heard of Jacob's list. Sawyer, Jack, Kate, and Hurley were captured - they were the ones Michael was instructed to bring to the Others. That was when we learned Ben was the leader. Hurley was let go, and J, K, S were taken to the Hydra.
There was another time, though, when an Other named Pickett was yelling at Tom and said something about Jack - that "Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's list."
I just rewatched.... DAMN that is still a good episode.
1. I want to know more about Ilana. Who is she? How does she know what she knows? What else does she know? Why does she follow Jacob?
2. Especially after rewatching, I am totally open to the argument that Flocke may be the good guy, and Jacob is the bad guy. Or, that neither one is bad or good and they just have different approaches... that Jacob still believes in the Island and Flocke doesn't. To this point, we've only really seen Jacob's hand at work on the Island... but maybe Flocke has the better idea.
3. After this season ends, I would LOVE to watch the spinoff comedy.... John Locke and Ben Linus, Public School Teachers. It's the new Odd Couple! :-)
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