Before I begin, a few words about the central figure of this week’s episode, John Locke:
John Locke is probably the most tragic character on the show. He was born premature and survived....only to be abandoned by his mother. He grew up in foster care and was later an outcast in high school. John thought he found a “family” living in a Orgeon commune....only to be rejected by them too (his trusting nature betraying them). Eventually John’s mother found him and told him about his father. John was thrilled to enjoy the attentions of his father. Little did he know, that his father only lured him in (using Locke’s mother) to con him out of a kidney. John was angry and depressed. At an anger management group therapy session, he met Helen and fell in love. This relationship was however destroyed by John’s uncontrollable obsession with his father. John’s father wasn’t done with him though. When John finally found the courage to push his father away for good, he was pushed out a window and confined to a wheelchair. John always dreamed about being a leader, a fighter, a hunter....but he was none of these things...only a victim.
Then John crashed on the island. A place where all his dreams came true. He became a leader. The island provided him with a purpose he never had before. But in the end, was the island really any better than his father? It gave him the illusion of everything he wanted, only to take it away. John Locke was just a pawn, manipulated by the island and eventually sacrificed to it.
This week’s episode provided us with the backstory of Jeremy Bentham (aka John Locke). I had high hopes for this week’s episode, and I am thrilled to say it was much better than I expected.
When the episode opened on the island, I knew we were going to be in for a great ride. While it is tough to be sure, my assumption is that they are actually on Hydra Island and not the main island. This works with my theory from a few weeks back of using the runway on Hydra Island. It also explains why the pilot (Lapidus) and a woman (I’d guess Sun....but why wouldn’t she have “flashed” to the island?) took one of the boats. And these boats now explain who was shooting at the time skippers from a few episodes back. Clearly, it was some of the Ajira survivors. Speaking of which, we now know the names of the two other first class passengers....Ilana and Caesar. It seems to me though, that these two are more than just passengers. I think they’ve each got some back-story tied to the bigger picture.
The reveal of Locke alive on the island was quite a shock. I knew he would remain part of the story, but to see him “resurrected” was not quite what I expected. Then again maybe I should have. It has been pointed out on some of the internet fan sites that the writing on the side of the van Ben’s been driving around LA is "Canton-Rainier Carpet Cleaning"...."Canton-Rainier” is an anagram for "reincarnation." Also, last week I said in response to a question that if Jack was Doubting Thomas, then Locke was Christ. Well, just like Christ, Locke was resurrected (and it probably happened 3 days after his death). All this makes sense, but I guess I was expecting something more like Locke returning as a spirit (like Christian). Then again, Locke is “special”.
Ben's Van
The next thing of interest was Locke’s arrival in Tunisia. I pondered previously how Locke could survive in the middle of a desert with a broken leg. Well, Widmore solved that problem. My guess is he figured out the location of the “exit” after Ben’s arrival. As part of this section of the story we learned another seemingly important piece of information....the mysterious Matthew Abaddon works for Charles Widmore. However, if he was really important, why was Abaddon killed? (And by the way, when Abaddon was taken out, I thought that was a complete shocker!) Abaddon has translations in both Greek and Hebrew that are synonymous with Hell or destruction. Abaddon is also referenced in Revelations as an “angel of the abyss”. There is probably still more to learn about Abaddon, but I think, if nothing else, his ties to Widmore mean that Widmore is in fact “the bad guy.”
Matthew Abaddon
Speaking of Widmore, I found his side of the story he told to Locke to be very interesting. While I believe he is correct about a war coming, I am not buying that he was once the leader of the people of the Island. The way Richard (who seems to be the one to choose the leaders of the Others) treated the young Widmore, I don’t think he was ever the rightful leader. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t in charge at some point. While we are being led to believe that Widmore is good and Ben is bad, I believe the opposite will turn out to be true. Well....maybe not the exact opposite as it is hard to consider a pathological liar and murderer “good”.
While I found each of Locke’s meetings with the Oceanic-6/Walt enjoyable, I didn’t notice any important information revealed during them. I also was bothered that Locke didn’t introduce himself as Jeremy Bentham to them, but they all seemed to know Bentham’s name in the final episode from season 4. I’m sure this is just a continuity error, but it was bugging me.
That brings me to the last scene I really want to talk about....the death of Jeremy Bentham. I loved the way the scene was allowed to develop slowly, letting us watch the anguish as Locke inched closer to suicide. Then, just as Locke is about to end it, who should arrive, but Ben. I loved that as Ben was talking John out of his self-crucifixion, he kneels before him (kneeling before Christ). But as always seems to be the case, Ben’s actions were not out of goodness, but rather ruthlessness (I know I am contradicting my earlier statements about Ben being good, but what can I say....he is a complex character). Once he got his information (Eloise Hawking’s name), Ben acting swiftly and without mercy. While I knew Locke had to die before the episode was over, I certainly wasn’t expecting Ben to be the one to kill him....that was just plain shocking. But yet, Ben was the one to insist that Locke’s body had to return to the island. Ben was the one protecting Locke’s body. My head hurts just trying to figure Ben out.
While the episode told us what happened to John Locke during his off island adventures, I’m not sure we’ve learned a lot about the bigger picture. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was a great episode. But in an episode that I anticipated answering some mysteries, I think it just made them even murkier. But this is what makes Lost great....it can tell a compelling story and still leave you with plenty to ponder before the next episode.
As I am traveling, I was only able to watch this week’s episode once. After I view it a second time, I reserve the right to comment more on this episode.
