Y'all - it's a good and exciting episode this week, partly because there's only about 30 seconds' worth of Jack, but also because there's lots of Ben and Locke and Hurley and eyeliner and the cute Australian captain and some Desmond and Sayid and weird guys in the jungle and absolutely no moping. You can't tell me this show isn't better when Jack is limited.
Flashback: A 1950s-esque girl ("Emily") bops around her room to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Her mother comes in and tells Emily that she can’t date this guy she’s been seeing: he’s twice her age. Emily defies her mom, runs out into the rainy street and gets promptly hit by a car. As they wheel her through the hospital, she tells the nurse that she’s six months pregnant. The premature baby is born – a boy – and the nurses take him away. Emily shouts out after them: “Name him John! His name is John!”
On Island: Hurley wants to know who the heck builds a cabin this far out into the jungle. They’ve been walking all day and haven’t gotten there yet. There’s a funny little bickering exchange among Ben, Locke and Hurley as to who’s leading this expedition since no one has any idea where Jacob’s cabin is, until Locke, frustrated, says they’ll just build camp. Hurley also wonders what will happen when the Boaties come back. Locke doesn’t know – yet.
On the freighter: Sayid wakes Desmond up as the helicopter comes back. Dr. Ecklie (still alive) checks on the wounded mercenary who has had his guts ripped out by the Smoke Monster. Keamy first demands that Sayid tell him what the exact situation is on the Island but Sayid thinks he won’t be helping Keamy with any information. When the handsome Aussie captain comes up, Keamy jabs a pistol under his jaw, accusing him of giving information about him to Ben. The captain denies any involvement but know who to blame. Next: the Captain and Keamy pay a visit to Michael, who is handcuffed to a pipe in a cell. Michael admits to giving Ben information on the Boaties. Keamy thinks now would be a good time to shoot Michael in the face (over the captain’s protests) but even though Keamy pulls the trigger again and again, the Island won’t let him kill its agent. Plus, the captain points out, they need Michael to fix the engines … since he’s the one who busted them up. Keamy considers this, then whacks Michael in the face with his gun. Ouch. And, good start to the episode (largely because there hasn’t been any Jack).
On Island: Locke wakes up (it’s full daylight – wouldn’t he have awakened before?) to the sound of an axe. Ben is still sleeping so he goes to investigate. It’s Eugene Tooms from the first season of the X-Files. He introduces himself as “Horace” and goes on with some nonsense about building a cabin for him and the missus, needing a little time away from the Dharma Initiative. At Locke’s bewildered look, Horace says, “I’m not making any sense, am I? That’s because I’ve been dead for twelve years.” And his nose is bleeding. WTF? Locke watches him cut down another tree – the same tree he just cut down – and Horace says, “You gotta find me. And then you’ll find [Jacob] – we’ve been waiting for you a real long time. God speed, John.” Then he wipes his bloody nose, cuts down the same tree again and Locke wakes up to find Ben staring at him. Locke gets Ben and Hurley going and Ben muses that he used to have dreams too. [Note: Interesting that Horace tells Locke "God speed" when the character's full name is "Horace Goodspeed." These crazy Lost writers.]
Flashback: Emily and her mother, Mrs. Locke look at little John, the youngest and toughest preemie to have ever survived in the hospital - a “miracle” baby. Emily starts crying and runs away; her mother wants to know who to talk to about adopting. A man staring into the nursery window distracts her. It’s Richard Alpert! Damn – his eyeliner still looks good in the 1950s!
On Island: Locke tells Hurley that he’s special because he can see the cabin. Hurley has a theory as to why he, Locke and Ben are the only ones who can see it: because they’re the craziest. Nice – he’s been reading the fan-forums. Locke says that they have to make a pit stop first: at the ditch where all the dead Dharma folk have been thrown. Get it? Pit-stop - because they're stopping at the pit. Ben shoots Locke a dirty look. At the ditch, the three of them stare down at all the Dharma bodies. “What happened to them?” asks Hurley. “He did,” sniffs Locke, pointing a thumb at Ben.
I like that newest iPod commercial. Very peppy.
Flashback: Pre-teen John is setting up for backgammon and his foster/adopted mom says someone is here to visit him. It’s Richard Alpert. Richard runs a school for extremely special kids and he thinks John might be one of them. (I knew it - Locke is one of the X-Men!) Richard notices a drawing John has done of the Smoke Monster. I am distracted by the fact that Richard really is quite a handsome man. He brings out some ordinary objects and asks John to think about them: a comic book, baseball glove, knife, etc. He asks which of these things already belong to John; John picks out a vial of sand (?) and a compass – which makes Richard happy. But when young John picks up the knife, Richard gets upset and leaves abruptly.
On Island: Locke is in the disgusting pit, pawing through the dead Dharma-ites. Hurley notes that this must be where Ben shot Locke and left him for dead. This is true. Ben goes on to say that while the Others did in fact kill all the Dharma-ites, it was not at his behest. Hurley says he thought Ben was the Others’ leader. “Not always,” says Ben. Down in the pit, Locke has found Horace’s body (his jumpsuit reads “Mathematician”). All of a sudden, Ben gets interested in what Locke is doing down there. Locke finds blueprints to Jacob’s cabin in Horace’s pocket.
On the boat: Keamy wants the key to the safe from the captain. He also tells Frank to gas up the chopper – they’re going back to the Island. The captain fills Keamy in on the psycho-sickness that has been decimating the crew, thinking the mercenary has perhaps been affected as well. Keamy is not interested in anything but the “secondary protocol” locked in the safe which outlines where Ben is going to go when Keamy torches the Island. First the captain wants to know how Widmore knew where Ben was going to go. Then “What do you mean, ‘torch the island’?” The captain thought this was an extraction mission. Keamy is done answering questions.
Topside, the flustered captain tells Desmond and Sayid that they need to hide in a compartment he’s gotten ready for them. At Sayid’s question, he says that Michael is not dead – not for lack of Keamy’s trying – but they need to hide before Keamy comes up on deck and sees them. Hiding is pointless, says Sayid. He wants a zodiac raft so he can start ferrying Losties from the Island to the boat. Grimacing, the captain agrees – because he knows that Keamy is going to try to burn the Island down. He does not, however, impart this knowledge to them, unfortunately. As they walk away, Desmond grins at Sayid, impressed with his bargaining abilities.
On Island: Locke is poring over the cabin blueprint. He tries to send Hurley back to the beach for his own safety, apologizing for hijacking him at gunpoint. Hurley decides that sticking with the crazy armed guys is a better bet than wandering through the jungle alone. Ben thinks that Locke has manipulated Hurley into staying with them; Locke denies it.
Flashback: A beaten-up teenaged John Locke is freed from a high school locker by a teacher. The teacher says that he got a call from a Dr. Alpert at Mittelos (?) Labs in Portland, Oregon (where Juliet went when she was recruited), who has heard about John and wants him to attend science camp at the Labs this summer. John complains that things like science camp are what get him stuffed into lockers. Heh. John insists that he is not a scientist - he likes boxing and fishing and sports – but his teacher insists that John is in fact a science guy – not the prom king, not the quarterback, not a superhero. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do,” snaps John. Remember hearing that from him before, sometime around S1?
On the boat: Michael is looking bad when Frank pays him a visit. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a survivor of 815?” Frank wants to know. Ooh – Michael has an ally! Michael gets all intense and tells Frank that he cannot fly Keamy back to the Island as the mercenary is planning to kill everyone there. Frank springs Michael from his cell and as they leave they catch a glimpse of Keamy getting something – a radio? a remote trigger? – strapped to his arm by another mercenary. It’s slightly homoerotic what with Keamy being half-naked and all.
The Captain meets Desmond and Sayid and tells them the exact heading to take to get back to the Island. Desmond refuses to go back, saying he’s been there for three years and is never setting foot on it again. Sayid understands, promising to bring folks back soon, and heads out alone. I hope Desmond hides so Keamy doesn’t get him.
On Island: Locke, Ben and Hurley are STILL walking through the jungle. It’s nighttime now. Locke is sure they’ll find it this time because he was told they would. Ben: “I was told a lot of things too – that I was chosen, that I was special. I ended up with a tumor on my spine and my daughter’s blood all over my hands.” He goes on to tell Locke that there are consequences to being chosen: “Destiny, John, is a fickle bitch.” Cue Hurley finding the cabin. That was a little un-subtle, writers.
Flashback: Adult Locke, doing physical therapy. Boy, he hates that wheelchair. The orderly, whose face we can’t see yet, tells him not to give up. Locke gets all gloom and doom but the orderly is not dissuaded, calling him a miracle. The camera pans up: it’s the guy who told Hurley he was the Oceanic lawyer in the flashforward after Hurley got off the Island (anyone remember his name?). He tells Locke that he should go on a walkabout, and says that when they meet again, Locke is going to owe him one. The wheels in Locke’s brain start turning.
On the boat: Keamy’s mercenaries are loading up with lots of guns. Desmond watches surreptitiously from the shadows. One of the mercenaries takes Dr. Ecklie aside, saying that he got a curious Morse code message from their people on the Island, which said that the doctor washed up on shore with his throat cut. “But I’m the doctor,” Ecklie says, not really paying attention. Frank walks up, wanting to know what Keamy is doing with all those guns. He then refuses to fly Keamy back to the Island, despite Keamy’s threats to kill him. Nonplussed, Keamy walks over to Ecklie, slits his throat and tosses him over the side of the boat. He tells Frank that he’ll keep killing people until Frank changes his mind. A gun is fired: it’s the gorgeous Aussie captain and he’s aiming right at Keamy. A short distraction later and the poor captain is dead. Frank decides that they’ll fly right back to the Island. He manages to turn on a sat-phone and stuff it in a dufflebag without Keamy seeing, and then they take off. RIP, Captain.
On Island/beach: Juliet chastises Jack for leaving his tent and putting himself at risk for tearing his stitches, etc. He apologizes and then the sound of the helicopter is heard. Everyone runs out onto the beach to watch. The ‘chopper flies over low and something is thrown out: it’s the bag with Frank’s sat-phone, the GPS up and running. “I think they want us to follow them,” says Jack.
At the cabin: Locke is ready to go in the cabin but Ben says he’s not going in. The Island made him sick and it’s just not his time anymore. Hurley says he’s cool with Locke going in alone too. Hee hee. Locke thinks they’re being wimps and forges ahead, lighting one of the lamps that is on the porch. Inside, someone is sitting at the table. “Are you Jacob?” asks Locke. “No, but I can speak on his behalf,” is the reply and it sounds like Jack’s dad Christian. He moves into the light: it is Christian. What the fuck is going on with this show? Locke pulls up a chair, saying he is here because he was chosen to be. Then, hearing a creaky floorboard, Locke turns to find Claire sitting in the dark on the other side of the cabin. “Don’t worry, John,” she says, “I’m with him.” She looks strangely smug. Locke is confused, as am I. Christian says that Locke is not to tell folks that he saw Claire here, plus the Boaties are on their way, so Locke needs to get down to what’s important. Locke asks, “How do I save the Island?” Apparently that was the right question because now both Christian and Claire look extremely smug. I repeat, WTF is going on?
Outside, Ben and Hurley sit and wait. Why hasn’t Hurley lost any weight in the months since he’s been on the Island? Oh, because he keeps chocolate bars in his pocket. At least he shares with Ben. It’s cute. They look up as Locke comes back outside. So, what are they supposed to do? Locke: “He wants us to move the Island.”
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