Summary: In flashbacks, Locke wakes up in Tunisia and is found by Widmore. Widmore tells Locke he will help him bring the others back and sends Abaddon to be his driver. Locke visits Sayid, Walt, Hurley and Kate but fails to convince anyone and has his confidence shaken. Locke asks to see Helen but discovers that she died. Abaddon is suddenly shot and killed and while escaping, Locke crashes and is taken to a hospital where he meets Jack, who he also fails to convince. Distraught, and believing he is a failure, Locke decides to commit suicide but is stopped by Ben, who reveals he killed Abaddon. Ben reinforces that Locke is special and talks him out of killing himself, but after Locke reveals that he needs to go see Eloise next, Ben kills him anyways. On the island, Caesar and Ilana investigate the island where they crashed. They discover Locke who has resurrected.
The Good: This episode is the Terry O'Quinn show and he is outstanding. It feels so good to get a successful "Lost" episode that's grounded emotionally in a single character's journey, something that season 5 hasn't done yet. This episode finally gives us that through a really powerful story about Locke, detailing what he went through when he left the island. There's some really brilliant character examination done here, made even better by Terry O'Quinn's performance, and it's combined with some tremendous plot development as we finally get more insight on Ben and Widmore and their motivations. Locke's journey in this episode is beautifully written to deconstruct the faith that he has relied so much on since season 1. The past few seasons have rarely toyed with the idea that Locke might be wrong. Everything seems pointed towards Locke being special and having a huge destiny that he has to live up to an accept. But this episode focuses in the opposite direction by asking us if Locke is even special at all. What if he really is just a lonely old man that crashed on an island? The episode not only asks us this question, but it forces Locke to ask himself this question. And throughout his experiences, Locke slowly starts to believe that maybe he isn't special, and this deconstruction of everything he believes in is so tragic and powerful to watch. It starts with Locke's conversation with Sayid. Locke seems like his usual energetic self when speaking with Sayid, but the conversation doesn't go as planned. Sayid empathizes with Locke and brings up the possibility of him being manipulated (more on this later), an idea that shakes Locke to the core and reminds him of past manipulations involving his father. It doesn't change his mindset yet, but it gets him thinking, something that Terry O'Quinn masterfully articulates to us. The ensuing conversations make it worse and worse for Locke. The talk with Hurley is horrifying as Hurley seems genuinely terrified of both Locke and Abaddon, forcing Locke to really believe that he might be being manipulated. Then his talk with Kate is painful because Kate evidently pities him and doesn't even try to hide that she does. Combined with Sayid's suggestion that Locke only wants to go back to the island to have purpose, Kate's words force Locke to contemplate if he really is just being manipulated into finding some worth in his life when there isn't one. He really starts to believe that he's just some nobody that is giving into his own delusions. You get the sense that Locke had hoped that the others wouldn't have found happiness off the island, and yet they have. So he's unsure of what to do next and he questions if maybe he'd be better off without the island. Which leads to the tragic realization that Helen died, and that Locke could very well have had a good life with her had he not thrown it away for his own obsessions. It's a really sorrowful moment when Locke learns her fate, and you get the sense that Locke believes less and less that he actually is important. This leads to the final conversation with Jack, riddled with the same fire that Jack and Locke have had since the start of the show. And though he tried his best, Locke failed again. And it's Jack that gets Locke to face the cold truth that the entire episode has been building up to: what if you were just a lonely old man that crashed on an island? This takes us to Locke finally attempting suicide. Rather than Locke simply doing what he had to to bring everyone back, this scene had a very unexpected emotion to it. Echoing Abaddon's words earlier in the episode, Locke killing himself felt more like a choice than destiny. He wasn't dying because it was his destiny; he was dying because he was a sad and lonely failure who had nothing in this world to live for. It's brutal, it's sad, and it perfectly encapsulates how depressingly pathetic Locke's life is if he never was anything special. Then, as another brilliant twist, Ben shows up. Ben manages to talk Locke out of suicide, and does something shocking: he gives Locke hope. He reinforces that Locke is special and important, and that he definitely can't die. He gives Locke that hope again and for a little bit it seems like things will be okay for Locke and that his faith is justified. Then Ben gets the little bit of information he needed and he murders Locke. It's a brutal, heartbreaking twist that paints Ben as the manipulative pile of garbage that he is, while capturing real tragedy with Locke's death, having him die so suddenly right after rediscovering his hopeful faith. Locke's death raises the important question of if he was being manipulated in the entire episode, and I think that he was. We know that Ben was manipulating Locke at the end of the episode, and every word of Locke being special was a filthy lie. Ben had no intention of letting Locke return to the island. So once Ben got the information he needed from Locke, he murdered him so that he could be the unquestionable leader of the others once he returned. And Widmore seemed to have been doing the same thing. I really like the idea that Ben and Widmore are two sides of the same coin. They are ruthless, selfish and manipulative and they would do anything to anyone to ensure that they get back to the island so they can lead. Poor Locke seems to have been caught up in this battle, and I think that he spent the entirety of the episode doing Ben and Widmore's bidding so that they could get back to the island instead. That's a really sad realization and one that makes Locke's story feel hopeless and miserable. But what's even more brilliant about this episode is its suggestion that there is still hope. Locke doesn't die here. He's somehow managed to come back to life on the island! And that's where "Lost" gives us hope that the manipulative and hateful nature of Ben and Widmore will not be the successful power in the show. Despite them manipulating Locke and ultimately killing him, Locke does have a destiny. He has been given important tasks by Jacob and it looks like he does have a bigger purpose than just being a lonely old man. The episode proves that by miraculously bringing Locke back to life. I'm very excited to see how death has changed Locke and how he will approach his destiny differently, and how he will handle the forces of Ben and Widmore who will definitely oppose him. On top of this brilliant story for Locke, the episode works really well at tying up a lot of loose ends. With Locke's flashbacks, I think that we have finally seen everything we need to see about characters and their motivations prior to season 5, with all of the gaps in character's individual arcs fulfilled. The only thing I can think of that is missing is the reason why Sayid stopped working for Ben, which I presume will be addressed in a future episode. The Bad: The opening scene takes away a lot of the impact from this episode. Locke's death is well-written, fitting, and horribly sad, but its impact is somewhat nullified by the reveal that Locke comes back to life at the start of the episode. This absolutely should have happened at the very end of the episode as a glimmer of hope. Its position at the start of the episode hurts the emotional journey of the episode by making it tougher to invest in Locke's flashback sequence since we know that he's going to be alright and that his death won't be permanent. Abaddon's death was a huge disappointment. He's been one of the show's most mysterious characters for a while now, and relegating him to just being one of Widmore's guys for a single episode before killing him off is extremely unsatisfying. It also doesn't explain how Abaddon knew about Locke needing to go on a walkabout. It was nice to get answers about who Abaddon is and why he's important, but the answers we got did not live up to the mystery that this character was built up with. Some of the conversations in this episode didn't entirely work. Locke's conversation with Kate felt incredibly awkward and rushed. These two didn't have much of a relationship in the show prior to this, but I did expect more from that scene. The discussion of love aided Locke's storyline, but it should have been told in a more organic fashion. The conversation that Locke and Kate had felt disjointed and should have been longer. I also wasn't pleased with how short Walt and Locke's conversation was. They had a good relationship on the island and it would have been nice to see more from them. I think that it also would have been smart to incorporate Walt in the story a little more, especially with how he's supposed to be special. I expect we'll see more from him later. The Unknown: Who are Caesar and Ilana? Are they just ordinary people caught up in this mess? How did Locke come back to life? Was it the island? He really is special. Did death change him in any way? He doesn't seem to be as bothered by his wavering faith as he was before dying. What does he plan to do with Ben? We learn a lot about Ben and Widmore in this episode but I still have questions. Widmore claims that Ben fooled him into leaving. Why was he exiled? Did Ben set him up? What is the war that Widmore is talking about? Is it the one between him and Ben? Why does Locke have to be back on the island for that? Is this Widmore just manipulating him like Ben claims? Or does he genuinely believe that there is something special about Locke? It would line up with Widmore's motives to use Locke so he can get back to the island. However, we don't know if Widmore operates in the same manipulative way as Ben. The island did bring Locke back to life so it seems that Locke being on the island is very important. But why? And how does this connect back to Jacob? What was Walt's dream about? Was it a vision of Locke being back on the island? Why did people want to hurt him? Who were they? Abaddon said that it's his job to get people where they need to go. What does this mean? How does he knows where people are supposed to go? Is he just working for Widmore? How did he know about the walkabout and Locke needing to go on one to get to the island? There's no way that Widmore knew about that. Best Moment: Ben killing Locke was a surprise, and a nasty culmination to their scene as Ben's actions make it perfectly clear that he and Widmore are just two disgusting people trying to use Locke for their own ends, and Locke dies as a consequence of getting caught in their rivalry. Ben's cold "I'm going to miss you John" after staging the scene to look like suicide is chilling and infuriating. Any time that Ben starts to seem like a better person, he goes and does something irredeemable like this. "Lost" has created a really special character with Ben. Character of the Episode: Locke. Conclusion: After having an inconsistent start to the season with little focus on character, it feels good to see "Lost" deliver two back-to-back episodes with a lot of character focus. While this one is also flawed in a few ways, I think it's a much better experience than "316" and tells a hugely compelling story for Locke while also tying up a lot of plot threads and setting the stage for the rest of season 5. This was a terrific episode, the best of the season so far. Score: 79
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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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