Saturday, February 27, 2010

Locke's body is buried at the island graveyard by Ben, Ilana, Frank & Sun

Back with the statue gang, Ilana and Ben are carrying Locke's body across the island towards the graveyard where other 815 survivors are buried. Ilana tells Ben that the smoke monster is nowstuck in the form of John Lock and can no longer change.

Once they reach the graveyard, Ben and Frank dig the grave and all four of them lower Locke's body into it. Ben gives a brief eulogy, saying that Locke was a better man than he'll ever be and he's sorry that he killed him. The sadness in his voice and on his face is very honest. This also gives Frank an opening for a great one liner "Weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to."

So why is the smoke monster now stuck in the form of Locke? Did Jacob's death affect his abilities?





Locke/Smokey says he was once a man & is trapped

Here's a short one, but it had some hefty dialogue. Sawyer asks Locke if he reads and tells him his favorite book is Of Mice and Men. Locke says that it's after his time, confirming that he at least predates 1937 when the book was published.

Sawyer recalls part of the book where George shot Lennie in the back of the head and mirroring the book, pulls a gun Locke. Locke is clearly not afraid and tells him to shoot if he wants. We already saw that bullets don't harm him when Bram shot at him in the temple.

Locke says that he "was" a man man just like Sawyer and has been trapped for so long that he doesn't remember what it feels like to be free. His speech convinces Sawyer to push forward with him.

So how and when did the man who became Smokey come to the island? How did he become the smoke monster? There are so many questions about Locke/Smokey.



Thursday, February 25, 2010

Rose helps Locke find a job + Hurley's fortune teller now works at temp agency

At the temp agency, Locke is being interviewed by Lynn Kamoff, the same woman who was Hurley's fortune teller in the season three episode "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead." John gets frustrated when she asks him what kind of animal he would describe himself as and he asks to speak to her supervisor.

The supervisor is none other than Rose Nadler. When Locke starts his stubborn ways and says he wants to work in construction, Rose gives him an earful about having realistic expectations. When she tells him that she has cancer, Locke stops being stubborn and accepts his limitations.

So Rose still has cancer, meaning at least that part of her life is the same, but I wonder what if anything else is different?





Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mysterious boy appears to Locke & Sawyer, says "You can't kill him"

As Locke and Sawyer are making their way through the jungle, the mysterious boy appears again, but this time he's not bloody. Sawyer sees him first and then Locke chases the boy as he runs away.

Locke trips and falls, then looks up to see the boy looking down at him. The boy says "You know the rules. You can't kill him." Locke screams his classic catch phrase at him "Don't tell me what I can't do" as the boy walks away.

So who is this boy? The way he sauntered away from Locke, he seems like Jacob. There are also some visual similarities between he and Jacob. It could certainly be someone else though. What do you think?





Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Locke meets Hurley in new timeline, Hurley helps him

As Locke is leaving his job after being fired, he returns to his van to find that familiar, gaudy yellow Hummer parked so he can't get in his van. He tries to lower his wheelchair lift to hit the Hummer, but it stops just shy of it. Presumably, this happens because it's Hurley's Hummer and he's the luckiest guy in the world.

Locke, being Locke, refuses to park in the handicapped space and briefly berates Hurley until he reveals that he owns the company. Hurley helps him out by giving him a reference to get a new job from the temp agency he owns and tells him that things are going to work out.

Confident and assertive Hurley takes some getting used to, but it's fun to watch.





Sawyer listens to Iggy & the Stooges, knows Locke is not Locke

Locke/Smokey makes his way to the Dharma barracks where he goes to Sawyer and Juliet's old house. The song blasting on the record player is "Search & Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges which features the lyric "I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb," seemingly a reference to the bomb detonation in "The Incident."

Locke finds Sawyer in the bedroom drinking Dharma whiskey. Sawyer doesn't care that Locke is supposed to be dead, but he does realize that the man is not John Locke. Sawyer says that John Locke was always scared, but the man he's looking at is not scared. Locke says that he can tell Sawyer the answer to the most important question in the world which is why Sawyer is on the island.





Ilana takes ashes where Jacob burned + Ben lies about killing him

At the four-toed statue, Ilana is sitting inside crying when Ben enters. She asks him what happened to Bram and the rest of her team. Ben tells her that Locke turned into a pillar of black smoke and killed them, but he lies and tells her that Locke killed Jacob too. When he tells Ilana that Jacob was kicked into the fire, she goes to the pit and scoops out a handful of ashes and puts them in a small pouch, much like the one Bram had. When Ben asks why Locke carried Richard into the jungle, Ilana says that he's recruiting.

So what exactly is Ilana's connection to Jacob? She not only seems concerned, but emotionally devastated by his death.





Mysterious bloody boy appears to Locke/Smokey + Richard refuses to join Locke

After Locke/Smokey frees Richard Alpert, Locke tries Richard convince him to join him. He says that he took the form of John Locke because he needed access to Jacob and Locke was a candidate. Richard reveals that he seems to know nothing about the candidates and Locke tells him that unlike Jacob, he would not have kept Richard in the dark.

Richard is clearly scared, but when Locke asks him to join him, he stand firm and says no. At that moment, Locke sees a young boy standing in a pool of sunlight with blood all over both arms. He is wearing a vest, similar to the ones the others wear. The boy clearly spooks Locke, but when Richard turns around and looks, the boy is gone. Locke then leaves Richard and says that he'll see him soon.

We'll see more screens of the boy when he makes another appearance later in the episode, but why is Locke/Smokey so scared of him?





Locke gets fired by Randy Nations + pictures in cubicle of Anthony Cooper & Helen

Locke returns to work in his cubicle at the box company, when his jackass boss Randy Nations starts quizzing him about his trip to Australia. Locke tries to lie, but Randy calls him out on the fact that he didn't attend any of the conference events while he was there. Randy then fires Locke.

In Locke's cubicle, there are two photos. One of him and Helen and one him and Anthony Cooper hunting. This is another confirmation that Locke and Cooper have a good relationship in this timeline, so again, what other major changes took place in Locke's past?





Monday, February 22, 2010

Smoke monster's point of view + Richard Alpert hanging in tree

On the island, for the first time we see the smoke monster traveling across the island to the barracks. He/it stops briefly at Sawyer's house where the song "Search and Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges can be heard. We can see the smoke monster's reflection in the window of the house.

It then moves on back through the jungle, where it changes back into John Locke once it comes across a machete. He cuts Richard Alpert down, who is hanging in a sack from a tree. Richard looks terrified, which is something we really haven't seen before. Locke tells him that it is "Time to talk."





Locke is engaged to Helen in the new timeline

"The Substitute" starts in the new/alternate timeline with John Locke arriving home from LAX. As he is lowering himself from his van using the motorized wheelchair lift, it stalls. He opts to jump for it and lands face down on the front lawn just before the sprinklers turn on. In quite shocking moment, Helen Norwood (John's girlfriend we haven't seen since the season 2 episode "Orientation") emerges from the house to help him up.

Inside, Locke is in the tub drinking from a mug that somewhat half dark and half light while looking a fabric samples. Helen says that she is tired of making wedding plans and suggests that they just get her parents and Locke's father and do it shotgun style. So what major changes occurred in Locke's past that he seemingly has a decent relationship with his father? Also, if he never went to anger management, how did he meet Helen in the first place?

Moving on, Locke insists that they should continue with their wedding plans. Helen asks him how the conference was, ad his says "boring," but we later learn that he didn't go attend it. She then finds Jack's business card in her pocket and proceeds to take the role of the woman of faith saying maybe is was destiny that Locke met a spinal surgeon. Locke appears to humor her, but seems very skeptical.

This scene shows major changes in Locke's past and its just the tip of the iceberg. There's much more to come.





Sunday, February 21, 2010

Claire returns on island to save Jin from Aldo & Justin

Back in the jungle, Jin stops for water and gets ambushed by Aldo and Justin, who aren't too happy about Kate's escape. Aldo, who quickly became as obnoxious as Pickett, suggests that they should kill him, but Justin objects saying "he's one of them," possibly referring to a candidate.

Jin tries to make an escape, but gets caught in a bear trap. As Aldo catches up to him and aims his gun, Claire shows up shooting Aldo twice and then Justin once. Jin looks up and notices it is claire. She looks back at him and looks bewildered.

So where has Claire been all of this time? Why has she taken to setting traps like Danielle Rousseau? Is she really claimed like Dogen says she is? I guess we'll find out soon enough.





Dogen gives Jack tea, tells him Sayid is claimed like Claire

At the temple, Dogen gives Jack some tea after he attempted to swallow the poison pill. He explains that Sayid has been "claimed" and if the infection reaches his heart, everything about him will no longer exist. Dogen then tells Jack that the same thing happened to his sister, Claire.