Lost 4.11 Cabin Fever

[selenak]

In which at last we get a Locke episode again, while things at the freighter get even crazier.



It's been a long while; up to now, Locke was presented from an outside pov this season (actually, come to think of it, the last Locke pov scene was probably his time in the mass grave in last season's finale and the Walt vision; his appearance later, killing Naomi (well, almost, but that's beside the point) started the outside pov, and it's been kept until now.

I figured Peggy Sue Emily was Locke's mother Emily, and btw, the fact Ben's mother and Locke's mother have the same first name didn't escape my attention last season, either. In a show that is so playful and intentional with names, that has to be deliberate, though I don't know whether it points to anything other than the appalled fascination the two have for each other, and the way the island plays favorites. Resident island immortal Richard Halpert showing up to visit child!Locke fits that pattern (I'm torn whether not Locke should have remembered him when meeting him again on the island, but then again, it was decades, and he has never seen him since, plus the whole thing with his father was majorly distracting at the time. Speaking of parents, despite her file (which might or might not have been faked) adult Locke sees years later, here Emily isn't crazy. Just a teenager who can't cope. In the parallels and contrasts matter between Ben and Locke, here the mother survives, unlike Ben's Emily, but absents herself anyway, and the son actually isn't looking for her. Locke wants a family, but doesn't go for mothers as much as for fathers, and Richard establishing himself as the first father figure who first promises and then dupes and rejects, even before Anthony Cooper, fits the pattern. The three items: sand, a compass and the knife. Knives have been associated with Locke from the second episode of the series onwards, and a knife was what he used when he made the irrevocable step of killing Naomi; it's the item that gets him rejected by Richard at this point, but it's actually the last item he chooses. A compass is a symbol for looking (and finding) one's way, for travel and adventure; sand - well. Far less easy. Sand could mean the island, of course, but also time (sand running through an old hour glass), or earth as in belonging. It's the first and least likely item young John Locke picks. Hmmmm.

Locke's survivalist fascination developing from being the geeky, beat-up kid at school and not wanting to be that child isn't a surprise, and again a parallel/contrast to Ben, who also was that child but still cultivates the appearance of weakness as one part of his formidable arsenal, one of the ways to surpise and defeat enemies. What as a surprise was the Haitian Matthew Abaddon showing up during his post-crippling recovery period. As Abaddon seems to be connected with Widmore, recruited the freighter people (at least the scientists among them) and is still looking for the island in the flashforwards, this does not bode well. Again, hmmm.

You have to love Hurley's matter of fact way of stating they're the craziest (and hence the visionaries) and sharing chocolate with Ben, taking all the revelations about past mass murders and more recent shootings in stride. Re: did Locke mean it when he told Hurley to leave them and be safe, actually I think I did. Not that Locke can't be manipulative himself (not on a Ben scale, but he knows his essentials, ask Boone in season one), but aside from genuinenly liking Hurley, I think he was somewhat ashamed of having brought him into this situation to begin with. Hurley not taking that opportunity but choosing to remain with the Odd Couple is interesting: curiosity about the cabin? Some kind of kinship, plus the relief of, since as he says they're all three crazy, not having to pretend anymore he doesn't have those episodes?

Claire showing up in the cabin: I called it. Did not expect her to be completely on board ship island mysticism, though, which makes me wonder whether she's still alive or one of the walking dead like Christian Shephard. Whom for some strange reason I find infinitely more watchable than his son. Keep on being the speaker for Jacob, Christian, you can stay.

Move the island, huh? I've read The Mists of Avalon, too, scriptwriters. At a guess: the island is currently already out of sync with the rest of the world, time-wise (see: the unfortunate freighter doctor and his demise), and what it wants Locke & Co. to do now is to make that gulf even larger, which they will eventually succeed in, hence Ben being convinced in the future that Charles Widmore will never be able to find it. Just how they're to accomplish that feat I have no idea, though. Dharma tech alone can't be enough. Let's hope Daniel Faraday will come in useful.

Meanwhile, we're finally clear on the who knows what on the freighter: the mercenaries know Widmore wants everyone dead (which Ben didn't lie about), the captain just thought they were going to extract Ben, then leave, the scientists seem to have assumed the same thing. Frank the pilot is making a stand and promptly gets blackmailed more successfully than Ben did but apparantly has cooked up a sneaky plan to warn/help the Castaways. Which is more than Desmond does, who so far this season has been entirely useless, sorry to say. Not that I don’t empathize with his desire to go home and reunite with Penny, but you know, given the way Charlie died, one would think he would feel obliged to take the trouble of ensuring Claire and Aaron would get off the island first. (Now Sayid, otoh, is being both competent and responsible, going back for the others, but then, he’s Sayid.)

Lastly: Horace building the cabin for himself “and the missus” was one of those touches of black humour Lost does very well indeed. And I think I’m fighting a losing battle against shipping Ben/Locke.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Favours are indeed ominous. *thinks of Lucas Buck from American Gothic*

(Which leads me to wonder who'd win in a Lucas/Ben showdown, given they're both masters of manipulation, ruthless and smart...)

I'm curious how they'll play out the fate versus choice scenario, too. I mean, Charlie's whole storyline seems to indicate that he was doomed whatever else anyone did or tried, but he chose his fate in the end. Otoh, Michael currently seems to be severely choice-limited, what with guns not working when aimed at him in lethal intention, his own or others, yet Michael got where he's now entirely because of the choices he made...

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I'm curious how they'll play out the fate versus choice scenario, too. I mean, Charlie's whole storyline seems to indicate that he was doomed whatever else anyone did or tried, but he chose his fate in the end.

My take on the Charlie situation is basically that Desmond's "visions" weren't entirely random - Desmond did get the flashes explicitly to save Charlie, up to a certain point, because without Charlie, they couldn't have turned off the blocking signal (unless Bernard is not only a morse code fiend, but also knows his musical cues). In other words, fate or the island are rather manipulative, because both Desmond saving Charlie rather than letting him die and Charlie working up the courage to sacrifice himself are very predictable outcomes of their situations. The good thing for Charlie here is that he was able to make peace with his death and come out as a hero.

That said, I don't much like this interpretation, which is why I initially had hope due to Young Locke's refusal to be pigeonholed as a scientist. Of course he still can't escape his destiny but at least he can choose his outlook. I do wonder if Locke not giving in to the island this early caused Ben to be chosen as an "interim" leader, though, and whether that had unforeseen consequences.

Lucas/Ben showdown: I knew there was something I still wanted to watch...*goes searching for AG*