Ah, John Locke, we’ve always loved you as a character, but something’s been different about you lately. This week’s episode of LOST, “The Substitute”, fills us in on who (and what) Locke has become and what his real destiny might be.
Scott
Though last week’s Kate-centric episode was frustratingly water-treading, I think we all knew this week’s Locke entry would recover nicely. And boy, did it. Sure, it didn’t give us every answer we’re waiting for, but it was LOST at its most urgent (Smokey’s “recruitment”), adventurous (Sawyer’s ladder problems), darkly comic (Ben’s comic genius and Smokey’s in-joke) and emotionally affecting (alterna-Locke).
We got a pretty big answer with the revelation of Jacob’s List, a big part of the show since Season 3, and maybe larger ramifications for the series as a whole. Apparently, one of Jacob’s chosen “candidates” has to assume the role of the Island’s protector in his stead, which possibly means Sawyer saved the world by deciding to stay behind when the Oceanic 6 bailed in Seasons 3 and 4. Sure, we don’t have the full picture yet, but we’re only a quarter of the way through the season and larger issues are coming into sharper focus.
This is the first time I’ve given a shit about anything in the flash-sideways. I think LOST is best seen as a series of novels that take place in the same world as opposed to a single continuous story, and if this was actually was the last of six sci-fi/adventure novels, you’d definitely be getting some kind of an alternate future or epilogue. So it’s interesting to see a different path for Locke, in which his anger has manifested itself as regret and disappointment instead of an all-encompassing obsession that drove away Helen, leading to a very human and reasonable acceptance of his disability, further leading to a content existence as a substitute teacher. We’ll see if these flash-sideways lead to anything larger, or if they link together or merge in some way, but I at least found myself involved in Locke’s other path.
If Smokey was out “recruiting” according to Ilana, I definitely think he recruited Sawyer. I think he’s trying to lure everyone on the list off the Island by convincing them that it’s just a meaningless rock so he’ll have dominion over it, sort of like Satan convincing everyone that God doesn’t exist so he’ll have dominion over Earth. If they’re going for religious allusions, Earth is just a speck in the universe the way that the Island is just a speck on the Earth. I’m wondering what his sales pitch will be to Jack, perhaps leading to one of the series’ biggest payoffs: the man of science redeemed as the man of faith.
Robert
In the week between “What Kate Does” and “The Substitute”, I think I’ve come to better understand how this season is going to play out. Last week, we saw Kate fulfill what seemed to be her “true” destiny by landing in Los Angeles and escaping custody, only to risk being caught again while tending to Claire as she gave birth to Aaron. We also find out that she might actually be innocent of whatever crime she was being accused of. I’d call that a morally satisfying ending for her character and if we never see her alternate/future life again, I’d be content with leaving it at that.
The same goes for Locke with this week’s episode, we find out that not only is his life different after Oceanic 815 landed safely at LAX, but it was also radically different before the flight ever happened. Helen was still a part of his life and maybe more importantly, Locke’s father (the real Sawyer) apparently wasn’t the cause of his paralysis. I say this because a) Helen left Locke back in Season 2 because of his obsession over his father’s chicanery and b) Helen suggests that Locke’s father would be welcome at an impromptu Vegas wedding. Those are both key differences that have yet to be explained, just like Kate’s aforementioned “innocence”, and it makes me wonder even more what was the significant event that changed everyone’s lives because it clearly wasn’t based on whether Oceanic 815 crashed or not. My best guess at the moment? Jughead.
On the other hand, we have New Locke working his way under Sawyer’s skin to find a way off the island—presumably to go “back home”—and we also learn where Jacob might have really been hiding out all this time. For me, all this Jacob/Man in Black stuff is still too wishy-washy and I’d like to see some hard truths start to come out of it. Whether it’s with Locke and Sawyer or Sun and Ben or even with the Jack and Sayid situation at the temple, I’m starting to not care what happens on the island at all any more.
I want to follow the characters and not what’s becoming an increasingly convoluted adventure. I get that New Locke is now someone/something to be feared and that Old Locke is gone forever. I get that Sawyer is a man with a wounded heart who’s setting up another long con just because. I also get that there’s supposedly larger stakes involved now like the fate of the world or something or other. But all that seems like a bunch of running-off-the-rails, pie-in-the-sky hooey now, especially compared to show’s new alter-ego that’s firmly grounded in reality.
If you’re keeping up, that’s a complete turnaround from how I felt coming out “LA X” and I think I know why. Seeing the characters find solace or some sort of resolution in the alternate timeline is I think viewers have been looking for all along, even since way back in the first season when the question was simply “how will they get off the island?” That’s an important aspect that never really happened with LOST, even when the Oceanic 6 were rescued only to find a life of despair, confusion and treachery was all that awaited them. We’ve wanted answers—real answers—and this is the closest we’ve gotten yet. I expect that we’ll continue to see all of the key characters reach not necessarily happy but satisfying endings to their stories. My only gripe right now is that these two distinct paths we’re following don’t seem to be getting any closer to converging than they were before.
Chris
One of the more interesting components of the show now is the sort of “game” that has come into focus between Jacob and Smokey (or Man in Black, or Fake Locke, or whatever you wanna call him). The whole black/white, good/evil thing has become an incredibly interesting dimension to the show, just like the whole science/faith and 815ers/Others conflicts were in earlier seasons. And it’s interesting to look back at that initial game of Backgammon Locke played with Walt in Season 1 while sort of keeping an eye on the game that’s going on here between Jacob and Smokey. Both Jacob and Smokey are using the inhabitants of the island as pawns in their own little game.
After watching this episode I went back and watched the opening of the Season 5 finale. The line “It only ends once, everything else is just progress” strikes me as becoming ever-important to the series as a whole. Though how…I dunno, I guess we’ll see. Are we going to see the one ending? Hm. The re-emergence of the numbers and the whole Jacob’s List thing, too—awesome. Loved seeing all that get dredged up again. Even if the numbers themselves are never explained, it’s great to see them pop up when you don’t expect it. Gotta wonder if Hurley played the same numbers or if perhaps one of those numbers has changed.
Perhaps my favorite moment of the episode was when Sawyer identified Smokey as “not Locke.” He knows a con when he sees one. Or, I guess as we saw later in the episode, maybe he doesn’t ‘cuz it looks like he’s going to help Smokey. Damn.
As you can see, we’ve had some surprising new reactions to the direction the show has taken, not only with Locke as a character but with the on-island happenings versus the flash-sideways reality. What’d you think?
Pingback: uberVU - social comments