(S03E19) The twists just keep on coming, don't they? A major mystery from Season One was solved, and even more mysteries were introduced. We got a closer look at the many layers of John Locke, who is smarter than his recent behavior might have indicated.
The Flashback
This was sort of a mini-flashback, with a structure similar to "The Other 48 Days." Locke's story picked up where "The Man From Tallahassee" left off, just as John discovered that Cooper was on the island. It didn't take much effort on Ben's part to convince Locke to join the Others on their journey. Not a good sign.
A few days later, Ben summoned Locke to his tent, just as he was done listening to Juliet's "D.O.C." message. I was amazed at how readily Ben gave up the Others' kidnapping plot to John. Isn't he supposed to be a diabolical genius? After promising Locke that no one would get hurt in their little abduction attempt, Ben showed off his new walking stick (and his walking). Somehow Locke's presence had an accelerated healing effect on Ben, which I'm sure we'll hear more about.
Ben expressed his willingness to show John the truth about the island, but asked for a "gesture" of commitment: killing Cooper. Later that night, Ben dragged John out of his tent and tried to force him to murder his father in front of everyone. Cooper and Ben both took their turns messing with Locke, calling him spineless and pathetic. Ultimately, John couldn't murder Cooper, and Ben took the opportunity to take him down a peg. Now that Ben is healed, his tone with Locke is far less friendly than it used to be.
I was surprised when Richard Alpert wandered over to Locke, and told him that Ben meant to embarrass him. For some reason, Ben wanted to show the Others that Locke wasn't special after all. The Others really do like collecting special people, don't they? First Walt, now Locke. Richard suggested that Locke enlist Sawyer's help in killing Cooper, using Sawyer's desire for revenge as motivation.
As the Others left camp, Ben told John not to follow them until he could commit. I wonder if Ben ever really thought that John would kill his father, or if he was hoping Locke's weakness would get the best of him? If there is a faction of dissatisfied Others among the group, perhaps having Locke around wasn't in Ben's best interest. He didn't have much use for Locke once he was able to walk again. Is Locke a threat to Ben?
The Beach
The campers had quietly returned to the beach in the middle of the night, with Naomi in tow. The 815ers' distrust for Jack continues, since the group decided to confide in Hurley first. Jack will have to make his own gesture of commitment if he wants to earn back the trust of his peers. Sayid was the next person allowed in the "circle of trust," and for good reason. Sayid asked Naomi all the right questions, and was smart enough to be suspicious of her.
Naomi Dorrit had even more news for the crash survivors. Supposedly, the entire plane was found underwater off the coast of Bali, complete with corpses. She was part of a search-and-rescue group that was hired by Penelope Widmore to find Desmond. Naomi also claimed that she was the helicopter pilot, and that the helicopter made the splash that the campers heard. Like I said in my "Catch-22" recap, Wouldn't a helicopter crashing into the ocean be a bit louder?
Sayid made a rare mistake by not having a lookout while he tinkered with the satellite phone. Once Kate found out about Naomi, she immediately spilled the beans to Jack and Juliet. Those two also had a little secret of their own, which was only hinted at. What is it that Juliet wanted to tell Kate?
The Jungle
Sawyer and Kate are still knockin' boots, but Kate prefers to sleep back at her place. I'm starting to think that Kate is the man in this relationship. Locke sneaked up on Sawyer as he was taking a post-coital leak, and convinced Sawyer to follow him into the jungle. At the time, Locke claimed that he had kidnapped Ben as part of his infiltration of the Others, and needed Sawyer to kill him. It's safe to assume that everyone saw through this.
John took a page from Ben's book by manipulating Sawyer with questions about his past. By the time they got to the Black Rock, Sawyer was as revenge-starved as ever. Well played, John. You may lead the Others yet. Naturally, it was Cooper in the Brig, not Ben. Once Sawyer and Cooper were locked up together, the ugly truth came out. Cooper was extremely cruel during his confession, taunting Sawyer about his "revenge kick," and professing ignorance about "the old murder-suicide." Cooper already believed that he was in Hell, and Sawyer sent him there by strangling him with the Black Rock's chains.
Locke double-crossed his old beach friend one more time, admitting that he was never undercover. His journey lies with the Others now. John is a great liar, but I have a feeling that he's in over his head with Ben. He was kind enough to send Sawyer off with a parting gift, though. Sawyer returned to the beach with the knowledge that Juliet is a mole, and the tape recording to prove it. Let's see her weasel her way out of this one!
Final questions/comments:
- After Locke agreed to go away with the Others in the "8 Days Ago" flashback, Ben told him to say goodbye to Kate. What about the "strong case" Locke supposedly made for her? Why would he bother lying to Kate about that?
- Is the pillar that Cooper was tied to somehow related to the ancient foot statue?
- Cooper can talk some serious trash; he even called Ben "bug-eye."
- What was Sayid digging before Hurley confronted him?
- This division within the Others fascinates me. I wonder who else is on Team Alpert?
- Will all the Purgatory theorists jump on the Hell bandwagon now?
This episode deserves a 7 out of 7. The Sawyer mystery was put to rest, and Locke is back to his old self. See you next week for "The Man Behind The Curtain." If the previews are any indication, we should get even more answers!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
5-03-2007 @ 2:01AM
Landon said...
As someone who grew up in Jasper, Alabama (I live in Seattle now) I'm a little intriqued as to why Jasper? Anybody reading into this location?
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5-03-2007 @ 2:06AM
Black Circles said...
Fantastic episode!!! Is it me or did LOST start gaining momentum once HEROES came out...they seem to really be pushing the story forward now...these are 2 of the best shows on TV right now..glad i started from the beginning...can't wait to see the final few episodes...
Sawyer kicked ass this episode...i really like his recent character development...keep it up guys!!!
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5-03-2007 @ 2:11AM
Nick said...
Agree with the review. An excellent episode that reminded me of the good ol' days (a.k.a. Season 1).
Hurley is consistently funny every episode. When asked what the hell he was doing, he responds with "What the hell are you doing?" Sawyer: "I'm taking a pee." Hurley (with Jin beside him): "So are we." Too funny.
Did Ben's walking stick and knocking out of Cooper remind anyone of Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I thought there was a cool parallel between the two.
Jack seemed less irritated that he was not told and more irritated about how exactly Naomi would contact the outside world. Another sign he is in line with Juliet/The Others in some way.
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5-03-2007 @ 2:12AM
Joseph said...
I think the producers wrote themselves into a conundrum... I bet you anything they were originally going to go with an "It's all the Dharma Initiative" approach, and now they're trying to play up the purgatory angle. I bet you anything they messed up along the way, and we're seeing their "second chance at the story" play out.
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5-03-2007 @ 2:12AM
MrZ said...
Got to say, I love it when a theory that I've long had is revealed to be true. Great show all around
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5-03-2007 @ 2:15AM
Michael B. said...
I didn't think of Splinter, I thought of Yoda. And then Sawyer using the chain reminded me of Jabba getting choked out... maybe I've just seen Star Wars one too many times.
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5-03-2007 @ 2:17AM
Black Circles said...
Fantastic episode!!! Is it me or did LOST start gaining momentum once HEROES came out...they seem to really be pushing the story forward now...these are 2 of the best shows on TV right now..glad i started from the beginning...can't wait to see the final few episodes...
Sawyer kicked ass this episode...i really like his recent character development...keep it up guys!!!
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5-03-2007 @ 2:20AM
hot zizzy said...
That was an awesome episode - 4.5/5. It's about time they wrapped up Locke and Sawyer's stories, and so much happened in this episode. Anyway, here's my review:
http://www.arrogantics.com/2007/05/03/lost-season-3-episode-19-the-brig-review/
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5-03-2007 @ 2:23AM
Losties said...
3.20 trailer
http://www.dharmasecrets.com/forum/index.php/topic,10933.0.html
gonna be another awesome episode
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5-03-2007 @ 2:23AM
Akbar Fazil said...
For the 1000th time. THEY ARE NOT IN PURGATORY OR ANY LEVEL OF HELL. The producers again and again have shot this down.
Locke's dad thinking that is because he doesn't know any better.
What I want to know is when exactly did Locke bring him to the island?
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5-03-2007 @ 2:28AM
hot zizzy said...
I think that Juliet's secret is that Kate is pregnant. It makes sense.
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5-03-2007 @ 2:31AM
BigTed said...
I'm glad they gave us some more information in this episode, with more promised in the coming weeks. But there were still a lot of times where the Losties could have found important things out and, infuriatingly, didn't bother trying. Like when Richard Alpert told Locke he thought the Others should be spending their time on other things than fertility experiments.... Like what things, exactly? Locke didn't even ask. Or when Juliet and Jack had a secret to tell Kate, but he didn't think it was the right time. Why didn't Kate push to find out anyway?
And while Locke may have borrowed up some of Ben's cunning, he also picked up the annoying habit of lying and manipulating people into doing things that they probably would have done anyway if they had been given the truth. If he had told Sawyer, "I'm holding someone from the outside world captive, and you're really going to want to talk to him," I'm pretty sure Sawyer would have agreed to go check it out.
Last, wasn't Locke's father's story of how he got to "hell" -- that he was run off the road, crashed, given an injection and woke up on the island -- a pretty clear indication that the Others brought him there, whatever they might have had to say about the "magic box"? You'd think Locke would have wanted to ask either him or Ben more about that (of course, Ben would have lied, but his story might still have given Locke more information). But, again, I guess asking questions would have taken too much effort.
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5-03-2007 @ 4:26AM
lawstud said...
everyone coming to the Island thinks they are dead because there was a cover up.
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5-03-2007 @ 3:04AM
Nick said...
Star Wars is definitely a better parallel Michael B, especially since it's known that Lindelof is a huge fan (wore a Star Wars fan to pilot meeting with J.J.).
I think it's interesting again how the writers are incorporating fans' thoughts into the show. The Sawyer/Sawyer scene featured the words 'heaven' and 'hell' and basically asked where they are now, which really will provoke more purgatory theories (even though they're innaccurate). There was another example that I can't recall, but it seems Darlton are just egging on the conspiracy theorists.
Finally, I was watching the Special Features on Lost Season 2 and it ended with a Damon Lindelof quote that I found very intriguing yet was puzzled by it. Here it is:
"The second half of season three we think is going to be incredibly exciting in terms of opening up the show in a whole new way that I don’t think anybody sees coming."
What does everybody think this "whole new way" is/has been?
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5-03-2007 @ 3:30AM
Brian said...
The only thing I could think of regarding the "whole new way" is the divergence of characters from the "core" group. Locke wants to be an Other. Jack is now removed from things. Desmond, by virtue of his power, has become an icon of sorts. Things like that complicate the show, because they consequently can no longer focus purely on getting off the island (season one) or The Others (season two).
The "are they dead" aspect can't possibly be a "new way" because it's pretty much been the obvious "twist" from day one.
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5-03-2007 @ 5:14AM
Paul Little said...
What Alpert told Locke was just a lie to really convince him to kill his father. Ben was definitely in on that, and Locke once again took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
And also, Hurley wasn't confided in before Jack -- Hurley was there on the "camping trip" himself, so he knew everything right from the get go! Sayid was the first one they told, and then Kate had to go and open up her big mouth to Jack. Damn, these Losties are stupid sometimes.
This was a really, really strong episode though. I'm glad to be getting more answers and story resolutions, and am very excited to see what the big reveal that opens up the whole show will be!
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5-03-2007 @ 5:20AM
Dan said...
I'm gonna call it right now. After tonights episodes little hillside chat I get the strange feeling that Alpert is Jacob. Being hidden in plain sight etc.
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5-03-2007 @ 5:39AM
Paul Hillsdon said...
Awesome episode! I don't think Jack is in on Juliet's plan, but the two have been talking about the possibility of a pregnant Kate. And, man, like Michael B. mentioned, did that choke scene remind me of Jabba's death in ROTJ!
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5-03-2007 @ 6:08AM
Bill said...
Speaking of Star Wars, the whole scene where Ben was trying to talk Locke into talking out his father reminded me of the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. "Strike him down with all your hatred, and your journey to the Others' side will be complete."
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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5-03-2007 @ 6:11AM
Mark said...
It's official.
Lost drove the Harley through the stadium doors.
Lost drove it down the long running strip.
Lost drove it right up the ramp.
Lost drove the Harley right to the tip of the ramp.
Lost looked down at the tank, looked at the shark swimming around.
And Lost said. "No, I think there's just a few other things I can do first before taking on this task".
Freakin' awesome episode.
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