This week's opening eyeball belongs to Locke. He is bloody and beaten, but alive. He finds himself lying in the jungle brush- similar to the way Jack found himself after the plane crash. Jack didn't get to see Desmond running around naked, though. Locke tries to say something to Des, but no words come out. Desmond takes off without noticing Locke. Locke stands up and almost gets nailed in the head by Mr. Eko's Jesus stick falling from the sky.
Locke returns to the beach and starts tearing down his tent. Charlie tries to talk to him, but for one, Locke is pretty focused on whatever he is building and for two, Locke has gone mute. They play a game of charades, which Charlie is not too good at, but eventually he figures out that Locke needs to speak to the island. Okay...cue creepy LOST title screen.
When Locke is done building his new little hut, he approaches Charlie and asks him (with paper and a marker) to stand guard. Charlie points out that he detests Locke, but Locke pays him no mind and asks him again to guard the "sweat lodge."
Locke flashes back to driving a pickup truck down the road in the pouring rain. He picks up a young hitchhiker on his way to Eureka. The man's name is Eddie and he is trying to get away to start a new life. His mom is dead and his dad is a drunk. Locke is almost smiling, sharing an instant bond with the stranger who, like him, has no real family. Just as the rain stops, a police officer pulls them over. Locke has guns in the back of the truck, but it's all legal so the cop has to let him go. He thinks about taking Locke in for picking up a hitchhiker, but Eddie claims that Locke is his uncle. As they get back in the truck and head off, Eddie wonders what all the guns are for.
In the present, Locke makes sure that Charlie will stand guard one last time and heads into his little tent. Once inside, Locke sits by a fire, eats some of his hallucinogenic paste that he gave to Boone in Season One and pours some hot water on his head. Almost immediately, the vision begins. Boone puts his hand on Locke's shoulder and says hi. He has a different hairstylethan when John knew him, so we know this is some crazy dream. Locke is still mute, but Vision-Boone can read lips and accepts Locke's apology for sacrificing him to the island. He tells Locke that he will be able to speak when he has something worth saying. Locke tries to stand, but his legs won't work either. Boone points to the wheelchair sitting by the fire and tells him that he will need that.
With a flash, they are at the airport. As Boone wheels Locke around, he tells him that someone is in serious danger. They begin to see the crash survivors getting ready to board the plane, only they're in bizarro world. That is, the relationships developed on the island already exist here. Charlie and Claire are together, but they are not the ones in danger...yet. Sayid can take care of Jin and Sun. Desmond can take care of himself. There's nothing Locke can do for Jack and company...yet. No, first Locke has to clean up his own mess. Boone teleports to the top of an escalator and summons Locke to crawl up there. When he does so, he sees Eko's bloody walking stick as a now bloody Boone tells him that "they've got him". Locke returns to his tent and a polar bear jumps out at him from within the fire. Locke is obviously startled and bolts out of the tent. Charlie asks him what's going on and Locke is finally able to speak. He has to save Mr. Eko.
Locke and Charlie head through the jungle, following Eko's trail of blood drops. Locke says that a polar bear dragged Eko away as they find Eko's cross. Charlie rejects the notion that Locke should go on alone. Locke, with Boone still fresh on his mind, warns Charlie that bad things happen to people who hang around with him. This statement also triggers a flashback. Locke has brought his new friend back to the cult-like happy family community where he now lives. They walk past a small tent which Locke explains is a sweat lodge. You can go in there and figure out what to do with your life. He introduces Eddie to Mike and Jan, leaders of the cult and big Geronimo Jackson fans. (You know, one of the obscure records found in Station Three on the island) John then says grace and mentions how this family is better than his real one.
Back in the present, John and Charlie find what's left of the hatch. It's a gigantic smoking hole in the ground. Not even the Geronimo Jackson album survived. There's nothing. They move on and Locke finds some polar bear hair and a fresh kill. They hear some roaring. so Locke tells Charlie to run. They take off with the bad CGI/puppet head of a polar bear right on their heels. When they stop, they hear some rustling so Locke takes out his hunting knife and throws it. He hits the canteen that Hurley is holding up to his lips. Close one. Definitely worth the first "Dude..." of the season.
As they start walking, Hurley explains what happened on the Walt rescue mission, including the fact that "Henry" is the leader. Locke tells Hurley to go back to camp and do what the Others instructed him to do. Hurley is surprised, so Charlie pulls him aside and tells him about Eko and the Bear, which is a much more dangerous situation than Echo and the Bunnymen. Of course, this only serves to frighten Hurley about the prospect of continuing on alone.
Locke and Charlie continue to follow the trail of white hair, which leads them to a cave. Locke flashes back to community life, which Eddie has become a full part of. The only problem is he asks way too many questions about the secret greenhouse he must never enter. Eddie keeps pressing about it until Locke agrees to talk to Jan and Mike.
In the present, Locke puts mud all over himself so that the Predator can't see him and instructs Charlie to stay outside. Then he lights his torch and enters the cave of destiny. You just know when he chops Vader's head off, it's going to be his own face he sees inside the helmet.
Hurley is also continuing on his journey but is getting scared at every little noise. "Bear, is that you?" he asks nervously. But it's not. It's Naked Desmond- which is more disturbing than scary. Hurley offers him a XXXL shirt and wonders how the hatch implosion blew off Desmond's underwear. Desmond doesn't have answers- he just woke up like that.
In the cave, Locke proceeds cautiously, passing the time by flashing back. He enters the greenhouse to find Mike and Jan frantically packing up all the marijuana and stolen money they can. They are pretty mad at John for bringing Eddie the Undercover Cop into the fold. Locke is confused even as he sees the physical evidence that he has been duped. He says it's not too late to fix the mess and convinces Mike and Jan to not run away. For the moment.
Deeper in the cave, Locke finds a lot of animal bones as well as a bloodied and battered Mr. Eko. The polar bear is there to guard his captured prey, so Locke uses hairspray to blow his torch flame into the bear's face and win the day. He drags Eko out of the cave and gets Charlie to help carry their unconscious friend away.
Elsewhere, Desmond explains about the failsafe key. Hurley explains about what happened to the island when Des did that, like the big noise and bright lights. When he mentions Jack, Desmond says not to worry because Locke is going to save them, as he mentioned in his big speech. Hurley is confused since Locke didn't say anything like that, which makes Desmond confused as well. Confusion abounds.
As they carry Eko on their shoulders, Locke tells Charlie how he saw Vision-Boone and about how he was told to clean up his own mess. This causes Locke to flash back to a the big confrontation with Eddie. They are in the woods under the guise of going hunting, but soon Locke is pointing a gun at his former friend. He forces Eddie to admit that Locke was the target mark because he is amenable to coercion. Fancy words for "you're a sucker." (Tell us something we don't know!) John is upset, but no matter how many times he is deceived in life, he is still not a killer. Eddie is able to walk away from the standoff as Locke just stands there with tears in his eyes, unable to pull the trigger.
In the present, they stop to rest and Charlie goes off to get Eko some water. Locke uses the alone time to apologize to the unconscious Eko for losing his faith in the island. He blames himself for the capture of their friends because if he had let Eko push the button, he could have gone on the Walt mission and protected and saved them. Eko is awake now and tells him that there is still time to protect and save them. Charlie returns to the good news that Eko is awake, but when they turn back to him, Eko is not awake in any sense. More island trickery.
They return to camp and are greeted by Claire and two people who have speaking parts, but no names yet. Must be the names in the opening credits that I didn't recognize. Hurley bears the bad news (no pun intended) that Jack is not coming back. This is when Locke stands up to make his big speech about how he is going to go out and rescue them. Hurley stares at Desmond off in the distance and is stunned into silence by the eerie premonition his new friend made. Charlie wonders what's going on and Hurley explains it as deja vu. I wrote this while watching the internet stream and it wants me to remind you that Deja Vu is coming soon to a theater near you.
Next time on LOST- It turns out that the Others are really just a bunch of hardcore Kate/Sawyer shippers who want some answers, damn it!
3 comments:
Charlie is dumber than I originally thought. Proof: the entire charade scene.
I cringed at the "Dude!" I didn't miss him at all and it really ticked me off to have that be the first thing he said.
I think Tatanka sold out.
Ok, I read it and I'm still confused. :\
~Tricia
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