Summary: In flash-sideways, Locke is living happily with Helen. He gets fired after skipping his work meetings on his trip to Australia and ends up getting a new job opportunity thanks to Hurley. Locke takes a new job as a substitute teacher and debates calling Jack for the consult. On the island, MIB visits Sawyer and offers to take him somewhere where he can find out why he's on the island. Sawyer runs into a terrified Richard and doesn't trust MIB. He still agrees to go along but is wary. MIB takes Sawyer to a cave where several names have been written on the wall and scratched out. The names correspond to the people Jacob met in "The Incident". Sawyer is perturbed by this and agrees to help MIB leave the island. Meanwhile, Ilana's group head to the temple and they bury Locke at the beach camp on the way.
The Good: An episode centered around MIB is always welcome, and I thought that we got a lot of good content here. MIB's story was so mysterious and full of tension and suspense, expertly brought on with a few key choices. The partnership with Sawyer was one of those excellent choices. Sawyer is completely disinterested in island mythology, which should feel frustrating because everyone watching wants to learn more. But it actually works brilliantly because Sawyer ends up purely acting out of self-preservation in his interactions with MIB, making his actions feel more realistic and immersive overall. He doesn't ask the nitty-gritty questions, but he asks reasonable questions when he's confronted by MIB. Sawyer, like us, is unsure of if he should trust MIB, and confronts him numerous times about this. Their dynamic is really engaging to watch and their conversations are extremely well-written throughout the episode, culminating in an outstanding scene in the cave (see: Best Moment). MIB himself gets some really interesting moments. We see him get confronted by a mysterious kid (see: The Unknown) multiple times in the episode, seemingly stopping him from murdering both Richard and Sawyer. Not only does this hint at more answers about MIB and Jacob, but it also draws a curious parallel between MIB and Locke when MIB angrily shouts "don't tell me what I can't do!" in a terrific moment. Perhaps they are more similar than MIB lets on. I really liked the POV shots of MIB when he's in his smoke monster form. That was some really clever and inspired camera-work, which we don't usually see a whole lot from "Lost". Lastly, I really enjoyed MIB's "inside joke" as he threw the white rock symbolizing Jacob into the ocean. A pleasant surprise of this episode is that it gives a proper send-off to Locke. Locke finally gets buried and is eulogized by Ben in a great scene. Ben's words are heartfelt and filled with remorse, but also hilariously awkward as Ben gives a powerful eulogy to the man that he murdered. Frank's comment at the end about this being "the weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to" is really funny. But more than just this burial, the send-off for Locke comes in the flash-sideways where we see Locke living happily with Helen, seemingly at peace. We can see the difference immediately. Locke merely laughs after the humiliating scene where he falls into his lawn and the sprinklers go off, an incident that likely would have frustrated the Locke that we knew on the island. It's surprisingly fulfilling to see Locke live happily with the woman he loved, especially considering his devastatingly tragic fate. A story of Locke living with Helen while accepting the reality of his situation as a cripple by becoming a substitute teacher is heartwarming. In this world, Locke has found the inner peace that he never had in 5 seasons of "Lost", and I think that this is as good of a send-off for Locke as we are going to get. As is typical of season 6 so far, there were plenty of Easter Eggs here. Sawyer gets to talk about Of Mice and Men again, after he brought it up previously in "Every Man for Himself". This connection to season 3 also draws a parallel between Sawyer's journey with MIB in this episode with Sawyer's journey with Ben in "Every Man for Himself". There's another clever reference in the flash-sideways with Locke's alarm, which is the same sound that the alarm made in the hatch when there was less than 4 minutes left. Lastly, this one isn't technically an Easter Egg, but it is an absolute delight to see Ben as a European history teacher complaining about coffee. The Bad: I find it hard to believe that Locke's body was carried all the way back to the beach camp to be buried. That seems like a lot of work. Also Locke must have been dead for several days now at least, and his body hasn't been preserved since it came to the island. That body should be rotting a lot more than what is shown. I'm still feeling uncertain about the flash-sideways world. Locke's story was far more interesting and emotionally powerful that Kate's in the last episode, but I still struggle to fully invest in these alternate versions of the characters we already know. And I still can't help but wonder what the point of it all is. The Unknown: So are the candidates the people who are being considered to replace Jacob? How is somebody selected to be the replacement? Who is the little kid that MIB keeps seeing? Is it younger Jacob? What are the rules that are mentioned here? Curiously, this parallels the Ben/Widmore relationship with these mysterious rules. Are these rules somehow connected? What is MIB recruiting for? An army to help him get off the island? Who else will he get to join him? Why is MIB only able to impersonate Locke now? Were his abilities to be other people somehow tied to Jacob? Was MIB Christian this entire time? It sounds like Locke is on good terms with his father in the flash-sideways. What is he going to be like? Will we get to meet him? Best Moment: MIB and Sawyer in the cave. Terry O'Quinn continues to be outstanding, and he once again stole the show in this episode. His performance, combined with big reveals, memorable dialogue, and a huge decision for Sawyer made for a tremendous climax to the episode. The scene starts off mysteriously and builds to huge revelations as we discover that Jacob wrote countless names on the wall, presumably all candidates that he brought to the island. MIB reveals to us exactly what a "candidate" means, and I think this is an excellent choice because it grounds the reveal in reality. Instead of being this huge, mythical moment, MIB points out the absurdity of it all, claiming that Jacob ruined lives by bringing people to the island. It's likely that he's manipulating Sawyer here, but he makes an excellent case, and you can't help but get the feeling that MIB himself has had his life ruined by Jacob, who is presumably the reason that he can't leave the island. The scene has an emotional intensity to it, elevating this big reveal to something more. MIB's list of choices for Sawyer is also excellent, and it builds to a stellar closing scene as Sawyer agrees to help MIB leave the island. The whole sequence is a brilliant piece of drama. Character of the Episode: MIB. Conclusion: This was an excellent hour with excellent performances, big reveals and a lot of well-written scenes. The flash-sideways story still feels a little awkward, but everything else worked really well in this episode. I've got very little to complain about with this one. Score: 72
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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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