LOST-Episode 45: ?

  Previously on LOST: Locke got trapped by the lockdown, Henry may or may not have pushed the button, Locke saw the blacklight map of the island, Hurley planned a picnic for Libby but forgot blankets, Jack demanded the guns from Sawyer, and Michael pulled off the most shocking swerve this season.

  At the beach, Mr. Eko is feverishly chopping wood when he is interrupted by Ana-Lucia.  He explains to her that he is building a church because he was told to in a dream.  Ana tells him that this is a dream now and turns all bloody right before his eyes.  She tells him he needs to help John.  Eko's thoughts start spinning and they are mostly Dharma related.  When it stops, he is in Station Three of the Dharma Initiative and his brother is seated at the computer.  Eko apologizes to his brother for getting him killed, but Brother ignores him and tells him that the work being done there is very important.  Eko must get Locke to take him to the question mark.  As things begin shaking, Yemi tells him to bring the ax.  This wakes Eko from his dream in a cold sweat.  Eko grabs the ax and tells Charlie that he needs to find John.

  In the jungle, Locke and friends bicker about how Ana-Lucia got the gun, but all that stops when they see Michael stumbling out of Station Three.  He explains that "some guy" had a gun, shot him and took off.  Jack helps Michael up just as Eko arrives to offer his services.  Inside, Sawyer and Kate are the first to see the gruesome aftermath of what Michael did.  Kate declares Ana-Lucia dead.  The armory is empty.  Sawyer hovers over Libby and gets a face full of bloody vomit.  Libby still being alive certainly gets Michael's attention.  It also cues the creepy LOST title screen.

  In a private moment, Mr. Eko says a prayer over Ana-Corpsia and notices Locke watching him.  Meanwhile, Jack and Kate try to keep Libby alive.  Jack decides that they need to go after Henry.  Sawyer reminds him that he is the only doctor and can't go.  Eko volunteers to go and suggests taking Locke and his tracking skills with him.  Jack agrees, but only if they come back the second they find something. 

As the two mysterious partners begin their quest,  Mr. Eko flashes back to when he was acting as a priest in Australia.  He takes confession from a man whose sin is forging ID papers for a man pretending to be a priest.  Eko meets him outside the confessional and pays the man for a passport.  The man offers to hook Eko up with some men in Los Angeles, but before they can discuss the matter further, they are interrupted by Eko's superior.  He tells Eko that he will have to postpone his trip because there has ben a miracle.  A woman explains that her daughter drowned, but then came back to life the next day.  Eko is assigned to the investigation of this miracle because of the fact that he doesn't believe it.

  Out in the jungle, Eko is in an awfully big hurry, which confuses Locke, who has seen no sign of a trail from Henry.  Eko turns around and asks Locke where the question mark is.  When Locke plays dumb and refuses to take Eko anywhere, he earns himself a disabling headbutt.

  Later, Locke wakes up and asks if Eko is insane.  Eko explains about the mission he received in his dream.  Locke shows him his primitive map and Eko uses it to determine which direction to go in. 

  Eko flashes back to his meeting with the coroner.  The man plays a tape of his autopsy where the procedure was interrupted by the horrible screaming of a girl coming back to life on the operating table.   The man gives Eko the tape, saying that he never wants to hear it again. 

  Eko and Locke have begun moving again.  Eko steps on a Virgin Mary statue and gets an idea about where they are.  They step out of the brush and see the crashed and burned plane that came from Nigeria.  Eko asks how the plane fell and Locke explains about the island demanding the sacrifice of Boone.  This perplexes Eko, so Locke drops it.  They decide to make camp and wait for their next sign.

  Back in Station Three, Jack wonders where Locke and Eko are.  Michael asks the all-important question.  Did Libby say anything?  Jack says no and adds that there is nothing he can do for her without the proper medical equipment.  Sawyer takes offense at the insinuation that he hasn't handed all the medical stuff over, but that's not what Jack means.  All he needs at this point is the heroin to ease Libby's suffering.  He insists that Kate go with Sawyer to get it.  Sawyer's dilemma is to either show Kate where his stash is or let Libby suffer.  For once, he does the right thing.

  Day has broken at the beach and as they walk, Kate can't help but wonder how Ana-Lucia got the gun from Sawyer.  Seems a little bit too soon to go back to flirting and teasing so soon or even during a tragedy, but what are you gonna do?  It's Kate and Sawyer.  He takes her into his tent and reveals that his stash has been right under their noses the whole time.  Hurley approaches and asks if they have seen Libby.  The camera pulls back so we can't hear, but we know that Kate is breaking some bad news to the big guy.

  In the jungle, Locke is sleeping and Eko sees his brother, Yemi calling to him.  He tells Eko to follow him and they begin climbing the jungle vines that the plane had initially been stuck in.  When they get to the top, Yemi tells John to wake up and Eko falls to his death.  Locke wakes up in a panic and Eko is pleased that Locke was dreaming.  This is confirmation that they needed to work together.  Locke reveals his dream and sends Eko on the dangerous climb.

  As he climbs, Eko flashes back to his visit to the not quite drowned girl's home.  The mother comes out and tells him that it is not a good time.  It is not long before Eko finds out why.  The man of the house, who just happens to be Claire's psychic, comes out and tells Eko that there was no miracle.  The coroner was a hack who couldn't recognize hypothermia and his wife is a zealot who wants to spite her husband.  When Eko asks why, the man answers that it is because he makes his living as a psychic.  The kicker is that he is a complete fraud.  Eko says he will report that there was no miracle.  All that matters is that the daughter is alive.

  Eko gets to the top of his climb and sees...a whole lot more jungle.  There seems to be nothing of importance there.  Then he looks back down at Locke and sees it.  In the brush on the ground below there is a pattern.  A pattern shaped like a question mark.

  Eko comes back down and sees that the ground that makes the mark has been salted so nothing can grow there.  Eko pokes at the ground with his ax and hits metal.  He and Locke push the plane out of the way and find yet another hatch.  This one opens much more easily than John's first hatch and soon the two menare staring at a long and dark descent. 

  In Station Three, Jack administers the heroin to Libby.  Hurley sits in sadness and tells Michael that they were going to have their first date.  Then he adds that he is glad Michael is okay.  Michael says nothing.

  Meanwhile, Locke and Eko head down the ladder.  Locke finds a lightswitch and the two enter a room filled with television screens.  Locke starts fiddling with the knobs and soon they are watching a very clear security style view of Jack walking around Station Three.  Next they see a computer with a prompt on it asking if the log should be printed.  Locke hits 'Y' and soon they have page after page of numbers, followed by "accepted".  41602108:05  accepted.  41602109:05 accepted  etc etc.  Eko opens a closet and finds a whole lot of notebooks.  Locke sees an office mail vaccuum and sends his drawing of the map up, up and away.  Then Eko finds something really useful- an orientation film.

  They watch the tape and see the same man as the first film-only he gives a different name.  They are in Station Five: The Pearl and their mission is to monitor the people in the other stations.  They are to observe a psychological experiment in progress.  The subjects believe that what they are doing is of the utmost importance.  Eko asks if they should watch it again.  Locke looks again at the screen with Jack on it and says that he has seen enough.

  Eko begins to gather up all the notebooks, thinking them to be important.  Locke scoffs at this, but Eko says the work in Station Three is more important than ever.  Locke, with his whole hatch-a-licious destiny crashing down around him, begins to whine and cry that everything in his whole miserable life has turned out to be meaningless.  He is nothing.  Eko says that the reason to push the button is not because they were told to but because they believe they are meant to.

  As Locke continues to rant and rave, Eko flashes back to the airport.  The young lady who died and was reborn has come to meet him.  She tells him that while she was between worlds, she saw Yemi and he gave her the message that he is proud of Eko.  He believes in him even if Eko doesn't.  Eko is furious, believing this to be a cruel joke, but the girl insists that one day he will believe her.  Libby makes a cameo to ask if everything is all right.

  Eko tells Locke about his brother and the almighty coincidence that put he and his brother, in seperate plane crashes, on to the same island.  He does not believe that anything that happens on the island is meaningless.  If Locke won't continue to push the button, he will.

  In Station Three, Hurley asks to speak to Libby.  In tears, he tells her that he is sorry he forgot the blankets.  Libby wakes up a little to gasp the word 'Michael'.  Jack assures her that Michael is all right, which gives Libby the peace she needs to die.  Okay, that's not quite right, but she's still dead.  In the other room, Kate bawls her eyes out and receives comfort from Sawyer.  As everyone else is busy being sad, Michael stands alone in the armory, practicing his evil glare.  The End.

  Next time: We learn how Michael was captured and what exactly happened to him, Sayid suspects that something is up with Michael, and Claire says Oh my God! as everyone stands on the beach and looks at something!