John confronts Cooper about Talbot's death. John figures that Cooper is responsible, killing Talbot to silence him before he and Locke told Cooper's intended about his real intentions. Pouring a glass of MacCutcheon's Scotch for both of them (with a slight, but visible, hesitation before filling the second glass - hmm...), Cooper tries to calm his son down, explaining that he's a con man, not a murderer. Peter's Mother has called off the wedding and now there's no profit in the game, so it's over.
John wants to confirm Cooper's story. Cooper shows him the phone. Then he shows him the quickest way to the ground floor...through the window.
Dude, whoever installed he stunt man break away shatter easily safety
glass in this window is soooooo fired.
In the hospital, the two police officers confirm that Cooper is gone and not likely to come back. He could be anywhere in the world by now.
The two cops leave Locke to the tender mercies of a medical professional who just won't take no for an answer. He's going to get Locke out of bed and into the wheelchair, regardless of Locke's protestations. When Locke whines that he can't do it, the response is a new twist on an old Locke-ism.
"John, you fell eight stories and survived. I don't want to hear about what you can't do."
And just like that, he's in the wheelchair. The experience is so overwhelming that Locke is driven to tears.
In a dark room, chained to an overhead pipe, Locke is visited by Ben and Richard, the man we know as Dr. Alpert from Mittelos. When Ben implies that Locke has done something that has put him in serious trouble, Locke responds by telling Ben that he knew all along that Ben wanted him to blow up the sub. That's why the C4 was still in Sayid's pack. Ben wanted to destroy the sub and he manipulated Locke into doing it for him.
(*Remember when I said that we should keep in mind that Ben manipulates people AND that Locke says he'll keep it in mind? Here's why:
Locke came down the dock soaking wet after planting the explosives. He was inside the sub. Why would he be soaking wet?
Two possibilities come to mind.
The first is that in his effort to destroy the sub, he was very thorough, opening the tanks that hold the ballast water (subs go up and down by regulating how much ballast water they carry with pumps) and planting the C4 in the tank to ensure that the sub would sink. Unlikely but given Locke's fascination with strategy games, it's something he might take the extra time and effort to do. Depending on your perspective, it might also be wise because by planting the explosives in the ballast tank, the damage might be repairable in the long run, as opposed to say, blowing up the sub's engine room. A little arc welding and sheet metal and you might be able to use the craft again.
The second is more devious and the one that I think more likely. I think that Locke used that strategy game knowledge and flooded those ballast tanks, sank the sub and swam to the dock. Then he set of the C4, blowing up enough of the dock to make it seem like he'd blown up the sub. That's why he's soaking wet. He had to swim out of a sinking submarine.*)
After Richard releases Locke, Ben explains that if he let Jack go, it would be a sign of weakness that would cause problems for him as the leader. Killing him was also out of the question, because Ben's word had been given and to break it in that way would also cause him serious problems. Then in rides Locke, his pack full of C4 and his penchant for destruction, solving Ben's problems without Ben lifting a finger.
"You're not gonna start talkin' about the magic box again, are you?"
"No, John. I'm gonna show you what came out of it."
Ben wonders if John misunderstood his question about the pain John experienced from his accident. He wants to know what it felt like for John to know his own Father tried to kill him. Ben figures that John destroyed the submarine because he's afraid of Cooper. He's so afraid that he's willing to stay on the island because it's the one place that Cooper can't get to him. John seems to have "Some communion with this island" which makes him very, very important to Ben.
Ben wants to help Locke.
"Why?"
"Because I'm in a wheelchair and you're not."
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Comments (36)
Gimp. Tee hee.
Interesting theories, Greybishop. Never thought of "Lost" that way.
And yeah, that "magic box" thing had better be explained soon (and by soon, I mean November), because magic doesn't exist. Miracles happening due to technological feats/failures/messups/KABOOOOMs I can take, but put Frodo and Gandalf on the show and I'm heading for the hills.
1 of 36 | Posted by JohnEDowney
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Posted on March 22, 2007 3:28 PM
so... there have been several references to time travel, etc, and increasingly recently. Especially within all the Dharma stuff... lots of references to philosophy that is one wikipedia page removed from 'Brief History of Time' and the like... which means that the "box" is likely some donnie Darko-esque portal. Which... I don't know, I feel like space portals could be more science than hobbit (referencing the post 2 above mine), and so that could be a direction that works for the show. And, it could kind of explain the impossibility of getting back to the island, somehow. Does this post even make sense? I wish I could remember more specific examples of the time travel references, help me out here if you can.
I'm really into your "he sunk the submarine" theory.
Also, you made no reference to something that I think is DEFINITELY important. When Jack was playing the piano they showed, briefly, the side of his head and he had these cuts around his ear. Then when he was going in to talk to Kate, Tom (?) said "be careful in here" and sort of pointed to the side of his (own) head... I'm thinking there's definitely something that's been implanted or whatever, so that he can't tell Kate stuff... like it's regulating his actions in some way. That's pretty vague, but I'm almost positive it's right.
2 of 36 | Posted by mallory | Posted on March 22, 2007 3:46 PM
whoa, ok clearly I have nothing to do at work right now, but if you google "Ben Linus" look at the ads that come up... HansoAdoption. So... Dharma IS the others? Isn't that what we all thought originally (like season 1)?
3 of 36 | Posted by mallory | Posted on March 22, 2007 4:11 PM
ok, I found what I was originally looking for...
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Literary_works
so Brief History of Time was actually in THIS episode, in Ben's room. Other time-travel centered books that have been shown/referenced include Hindsight and A Wrinkle in Time. Interestingly enough, these were both shown with Sawyer, which makes it seem like he's pretty important... which we knew, cuz the others wanted him. this show is so weird.
4 of 36 | Posted by mallory | Posted on March 22, 2007 4:19 PM
Gre4at recap.. love your sidenotes!
I thought this episode was amazing.
The Locke/Ben convos were the best.
As for the magic box... I dunno... it's interesting and I can't wait to see what Ben was talking about.
5 of 36 | Posted by Shollia
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Posted on March 22, 2007 4:21 PM
Love the screencaps! Especially the fact that you make no effort to conceal that you downloaded the episode (from not so legal sources) :)
Thx for the fast recap!
6 of 36 | Posted by jairocon
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Posted on March 22, 2007 4:32 PM
Another great recap, Greybishop. And a terrific episode, as well. Lost is back on track for a wonderful season.
I think that the actors who play Locke and Ben deserve an Emmy nomination for this week's performances. They were both great! Wow!
7 of 36 | Posted by Lady-in-Gray
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Posted on March 22, 2007 4:38 PM
I love your sinking the sub, blow up the dock theory.
8 of 36 | Posted by chooch850
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Posted on March 22, 2007 5:21 PM
uh, people, the "magic box" is what Locke's father was in...it was a square room, hence, "box", and it contained someone who Locke was surprised to see, hence, "magic"....at least that's what i gathered
9 of 36 | Posted by motonehi | Posted on March 22, 2007 8:03 PM
I`m sure,Locke`s Dad was not coming from a magic box,because Ben said bring me the man from Tallahasse...that means,Cooper has already been on the island....
btw,"Anthony Cooper,Adam Seward" is an anagram for"Sawyer,the con man,a poor Dad"...
The Scene where Locke told Ben that he was a navy commander was great.Remember the Show "Jag"?In that Show O`Quinn WAS a navy commander^^
10 of 36 | Posted by Henk | Posted on March 22, 2007 10:17 PM
OMG - the anagram is brilliant. I really liked this episode. I was thinking the whole time that Lost is now back on track. I also did not piece together that perhaps Locke did not blow up the Submarine. If he did not, then he has just won back a load of respect from me. If so, then not a surprise, because it looks like he has been on a downward spiral to delusional world this entire season. Basically, he has been acting like a moron - or has he... Great recap, I am looking forward to the next episode based on the scenes. Looks like Sun is going to get a little crazy. I can't wait!
11 of 36 | Posted by goobs | Posted on March 23, 2007 5:23 AM
Anonymous -
For "non-shark jumping" recaps, I refer you to my previous recaps here. This was the first time I applied the phrase in a recap, and let's be honest, a magic box?
If that doesn't worry fans, at least a little...
12 of 36 | Posted by Greybishop
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Posted on March 23, 2007 5:38 AM
Henk-
Nice work on the anagram.
Never occured to me to put the two names together like that!
13 of 36 | Posted by Greybishop
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Posted on March 23, 2007 5:41 AM
GB I love the theory about Locke not blowing up the sub, I too wondered why he was soaked when they got to the dock but it was more of a passing wonder for me. In a way it makes sense from Locke's perspective because he wants to take his turn at manipulating Ben who has done his fair share of manipulating Locke.
As for Locke's, I don't believe his father came from the magic box. The most obvious explanation for his presence is that he was also on the plane, probably in the tail section and was captured/removed before anyone was aware of his presence on the island.
As for the magic box the simplest explanation for this in my eyes is that either the magic box is where the smoke monster lives or perhaps were a portion of the smoke monster that was somehow captured or contained exists, or vice versa where the portion of the smoke monster running about the island escaped from. We've seen it change shapes once into Eko's brother and from the images we saw when the camera passed through it it's obvious it can read minds so it could easily be what is contained in the magic box. In fact if that's the case it goes a long way towards explaining the appearances of Jack's dad, Kate's horse, and maybe even Dave. I'm sure there are more strange sighting that I'm forgetting. Also given what happened to Eko it's likely that if the magic box contains the smoke monster it's fair to say that the magic box is really a trap of sorts, unless of course you take the viewpoint that Eko wanted to die at that time and the smoke was just further granting his wishes.
14 of 36 | Posted by wniffene
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Posted on March 23, 2007 7:10 AM
.... or, how about this, wniffene? It was Smokey's kidnapped (by the Others) child posing as Locke's dad....
15 of 36 | Posted by Lady-in-Gray
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Posted on March 23, 2007 7:32 AM
i don't understand why everyone is talking about the magic box so literally. when i saw the episode i assumed the magic box was the island, and anything you want appears in some way (locke standing, kate's record doesn't matter, charlie is off drugs, michael and walt bonded)...the island obviously exists to help the survivors face things they haven't been able to face or obtain before! COMON PEOPLE!
16 of 36 | Posted by isthisawkward
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Posted on March 23, 2007 8:51 AM
I thought Locke submerged sub and then swam out thru a sealed hatch, leaving the sub intact and ready and explaining why Locke was wet.
17 of 36 | Posted by Tiger | Posted on March 23, 2007 9:03 AM
who knew that the lost forum was comprised of a bunch of submarine experts! i feel my iq rising just from being in your company ;-)
thanks for the recap b/c i totally missed the whole box conversation b/w ben and john when i was watching the episode so at the end i was like, WTF?!?
missed the cuts on jack's ear as well, i'll have to check again.
luv this show!
great recap GB
p.s. are you canadian or british? i always have to catch myself when spelling behaviour/behavior
babeblue
18 of 36 | Posted by babeblue | Posted on March 23, 2007 12:02 PM
I think the box has to do with quantum theory that you referred to in the last recap.
I was just glad that Locke at least asked where the power came from which is a close to an intelligent question that anyone has ever asked on the show.
19 of 36 | Posted by Duggan | Posted on March 23, 2007 1:00 PM
Greybishop,
nice work. my first time reading your recaps, and i love the editorializing you do.
-the government official who is taking away Locke's benefits..... totally realistic! She is EVERY woman i used to work with when i worked at a VA
-did anyone notice Sayid's long manicured fingernails, as he clutched at the childrens' swings he was chained to? didn't know they had time to file and give each other french manicures in the jungle
-when the guard hit sayid in the legs after he told Alex about her mother....
sayid just crumpled to the ground - seems he's come a long way from his days as an iraqi soldier
i'm not ready to call jump the shark yet, but i appreciate your thoughts on the matter. it is eventually pertinent to EVERY show isnt it? but i still like to hang on till the bitter end
20 of 36 | Posted by lovedoctor
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Posted on March 23, 2007 1:20 PM
sooo.... am I the only one who thought that cut on Jack's ear and Tom pointing to his ear and saying "be careful" was pertinent? Maybe I am associating things that don't go together... but I feel like that could be big for Jack.
21 of 36 | Posted by Mallory | Posted on March 23, 2007 3:35 PM
When Locke fell through the window, could he have been the body falling outside when Hurley was having a meeting with his financial advisor in one of the flashbacks? I'm not sure if it fits in with the timeline, but that could be yet another connection between the losties.
22 of 36 | Posted by katybee
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Posted on March 23, 2007 4:25 PM
katybee,
nice connection! creative thinking! i'll be interested to see....
greybishop,
i am totally with you regarding your use of jump the shark. no worries!
i'm still waiting for the creepy reappearance of hurley's girlfriend that psychologist, wonder if she'll show up blair witch style inside the box as well
23 of 36 | Posted by lovedoctor
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Posted on March 23, 2007 5:23 PM
I know that Jack has the tattoo on his left shoulder, but it looked like in this episode he had a new tattoo on the inner left forearm - anyone else see?
Katybee - that was a nice catch - funny if it is true
Lastly, when we saw Locke's father on the Island, my first thought was JUMPED THE SHARK - but we'll see where they are going with this - I think that Locke's dad may be with Ben and the others and they are pretending that his Dad is a prisoner in order to con/control/manipulate Locke.
24 of 36 | Posted by Lestat1966
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Posted on March 23, 2007 10:18 PM
Lestat -
I noticed the tat the first time I watched but forgot to comment on it when doing the 'cap.
It's pretty colourful and fresh looking. Didn't see what it was, but anyone who knows tats will tell you that the underside of your upper arm is one of the MOST painful spots on the human body to get tattooed.
25 of 36 | Posted by Greybishop
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Posted on March 24, 2007 5:45 AM
Nice episode for us former Lost fans to come back into the fold with. Gettin to some serious action here now. I've always admired Terry O'Quinn's characters. He's quite the psycotic actor and fits in real good with our cast here.
26 of 36 | Posted by Fred | Posted on March 24, 2007 7:38 AM
Uh I was thinking that Locke did blow the sub up, but it was serveral feet away from the dock, so he had to swim back to it. Maybe it was just a really long dock, but I thought the explosion was pretty distant.
27 of 36 | Posted by capostat | Posted on March 24, 2007 9:36 AM
Lestat: Unless Ben paid Locke's Dad a lot of money to con Locke, I don't believe that they are working together. Besides, if Ben is "one of the good guys", as he claims, Ben and Locke's Dad could NOT be on the same side....
28 of 36 | Posted by Lady-in-Gray
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Posted on March 24, 2007 10:55 AM
Great recap! I did some Googling about the new brightly colored tattoo & apparently it's always been there. Here's a screencap from the first episode: http://gallery.lost-media.com/albums/ep-caps/season1/1x01-pilot/normal_normal-1x01-209.jpg
Weird.
29 of 36 | Posted by gillian | Posted on March 24, 2007 1:02 PM
fantastic ep, fantastic recap, fantastic new theories to think about. TErry O'Quinn is really one of the best actors on tv. i loved it.
30 of 36 | Posted by Leah3t
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Posted on March 25, 2007 10:28 AM
isthisawkward, thank you! I'm pretty sure Ben was using the "magic box" idea as a METAPHOR. We already kind of knew that very personal things appear to people - it's no big revelation. The producers have already promised that everything on the island can be explained with science or at least pseudo-science. I don't think they pulled Locke's dad/Sawyer OG/Tallahassee Man out of a damn magic wormhole. Now if I'm wrong, and they were lying, and there really is a magical box, the Dharma sharks will be leaping and I will eat my hat.
31 of 36 | Posted by carol | Posted on March 25, 2007 12:06 PM
O'Quinn was an Admiral on JAG, not a commander.
Great recap!
32 of 36 | Posted by Pappy44 | Posted on March 26, 2007 7:39 AM
Where were the cuts on Jack's ear? Is it near his earlobe or the top of his ear? I just rewatched the piano scene a few times & can't see anything & now it's bothering me.
33 of 36 | Posted by gillian
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Posted on March 26, 2007 9:05 PM
It didn't even occur to me to take "magic box" literally. He even introduced it that way, "Imagine you have a magic box..." As a way of trying to describe whatever the island's secret is. I don't think we're getting in to like, Hellraiser territory or anything. It's all good. I like how the stories are coming together lately. And Locke was a lot more Locke-y than he'd been in a long time. I liked it.
Where's my Danielle flashback episode?
34 of 36 | Posted by BucketHead Wendy | Posted on March 27, 2007 9:18 PM
Locke's dad is obviously the original "Sawyer" who was the con man that ruined James Ford's (present day Sawyer) life. Can't wait 'til present day Sawyer sees him. That'll be great!
35 of 36 | Posted by Darth Wader
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Posted on March 29, 2007 7:54 AM
Love this recap and site...just wanted to say, I don't get all the jumped the shark stuff? His dad showing up is no weirder than anything else, no?
36 of 36 | Posted by NiNny | Posted on April 15, 2007 4:28 PM