Summary: Flashbacks show Locke's mother finding him at his job. After meeting her, Locke hunts down his father Anthony and they get to know each other and grow close. However, Anthony needs a kidney transplant or he will die, so Locke gives him his kidney. But it turns out that Anthony orchestrated everything to get Locke to donate his kidney and he abandons Locke immediately afterwards. On the island, Locke fails to get into the hatch and notices that he is losing feeling in his legs. Locke has a dream of a Beechcraft crashing on the island, so he takes Boone and they go looking for it. Locke continues to lose motion in his legs but they find the plane. Boone goes into it but doesn't find anything of note. The plane falls while Boone is attempting to make a transmission and he is seriously injured. Locke lugs him back to Jack before angrily banging on the hatch, betrayed. A light turns on in the hatch. Meanwhile, Sawyer deals with headaches so Jack goes to check him out. Sawyer has myopia and now needs glasses to read.
The Good: Once again, "Lost" knocks it out of the park with an amazing episode. Like "Numbers" before it, this episode increases the emphasis on the mythology of the show while simultaneously telling a meaningful story that sticks with you after watching the episode. Throughout the episode, tension is built beautifully. The episode starts with the huge surprise of Locke losing feeling in his legs. Whatever the island did to him is going away, and that is a fascinating mystery to center the episode around. It raises so many questions and got me invested in the episode immediately. Furthermore, my interest in the mystery of this show has never been higher coming off of the outstanding "Numbers". Instead of putting in a slow transition episode, the show capitalized on its momentum and delivered another huge episode that develops its mythology in an excellent way. The show continues to explore its mystery with a spectacularly edited dream sequence as Locke has a cryptic dream that sets up the plot in an intriguing way. The scene is done superbly well and it is extremely creepy with the jarring cuts, sudden flashes of information and Boone's increasingly creepy voice. It's a damn good scene which ensures that anybody watching the episode will be unable to leave their seats. Boone and Locke's mission is tremendously enjoyable and it gives us some very important moments. The discovery of the Beechcraft is huge as it confirms that Locke does have a legitimate connection to the island somehow, while also adding another mythological mystery to the show (who were the people on this plane). This is also a great episode for Boone who gets to experience the reality of the island's supernatural properties firsthand as Locke tells him about Theresa and also reveals that he used to be paralyzed. Boone becomes a believer and it's exciting to see him and Locke eagerly trying to discover what was hidden in the plane. Locke gets confused when he finds nothing, but Boone is proactive. He sees a chance for rescue, and true to the instinct we have seen from him in episode 1, he selflessly takes the risk of staying in the plane in hopes of rescue. And true to form with how Boone has behaved since the start of the show, his attempts go down in vain and he doesn't end up accomplishing anything, ending up in a critical condition which sets up the story for the next episode. The flashback story is superb. It ends up being unexpectedly emotional once Anthony's con is revealed and it is impossible not to feel bad for Locke who finally got to have a father who cares for him for a short amount of time, only for it to be ripped away yet again. It's no wonder that Locke is so happy to have a meaningful connection with the island, since it seems that he has never had any kind of emotional attachment with anybody or anything before the crash. It's very sad storytelling, but it is consistent with the character of Locke. As a last note, I think the ending twist is set up really well. When rewatching the episode, it's extremely obvious that Anthony is conning Locke. It's very impressive that the writers make this seem so obvious without giving it away in the first watch of the episode. Locke's character journey in this episode is something really special. The storytelling in this episode is incredible. Like all of the best "Lost" episodes so far, this episode had a brilliant connection between past and present. Both stories are about Locke putting his faith into a greater entity, one that he feels he can trust in more than anything else. But both times he feels betrayed. The end of the episode is so heartbreaking because it's a case of history repeating itself. Locke is utterly shattered in the flashbacks when he is conned, paralleled by Locke feeling betrayed by the island when it gave him nothing in exchange for Boone's grievous injuries. But the episode is careful not to end off on a depressing note. The final moments of the episode are beautiful as the island seemingly reaches out to Locke, giving him a sign that his faith is rightfully placed this time and that Locke was simply being tested; there is a greater purpose to what he is doing, and Locke isn't being made a chump this time. The side story was pretty good as well. There was a nice amount of character development given for Sawyer in this episode. Nobody seemed to be particularly mad at Sawyer in this episode, and it seems that people are getting used to him. Sawyer is starting to soften up a bit and it seems like his shtick of trying to make people hate him is starting to wear off. Plus we get some really funny moments from this story like Jack questioning Sawyer on a number of embarrassing things. As an aside, I really loved the subtle foreshadowing in the first flashback scene with the Mouse Trap game. It's clever scene editing to end off the scene with a mouse being caught in a cage directly after Locke interacts with Emily for the first time. The Bad: Nothing I can think of. The Unknown: Why was Locke losing feeling in his legs? Was it just a test of faith? Or could it be something else? What was with that dream? Why did Locke get that dream? Why did the island direct him to the Beechcraft? Boone was shown to be hurt in the dream, so was Boone's fall supposed to happen? What will it lead to? Why was it necessary for the island to push Boone to getting this injury? Why is the Beechcraft on the island? What's the story behind the Nigerian drug smugglers? Were they more than drug smugglers? Who was that communicating with Boone? What were they saying on the broadcast? It was difficult to hear. What is the light that turned on in the hatch? Was it a message from the island? Why did the island send a message to Locke? Can it really just turn lights on at will? Will Boone survive his injuries? Best Moment: The final few minutes were some of the best television you can see. The con reveal is absolutely heartbreaking and it brilliantly parallels the story on the island. The final moments of Locke banging on the hatch and screaming are very powerful, and they end off the episode on a memorable, emotional note. Character of the Episode: Locke. Conclusion: That's two in two for outstanding episodes. This episode had the exact same impact as "Numbers" only it managed to be even better with its emphasis on tension coupled with a much more powerful story for Locke. This is spectacular television on every level. Score: 86
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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