Saturday, February 16, 2008

1.19 Deux Ex Machina

Locke and Boone have built a trebuchet device in an attempt to break the glass on the capsule, but it bounces off the glass and falls to pieces. A piece of the splintered trebuchet rams itself deeply into Locke’s leg, but he doesn’t even realize it is there until Boone tells him. Later, Locke pinches and burns his legs and feet and realizes that he has no sensation there.

Sawyer holds two similar leaves and asks Sun: which one? She confirms it is the one he has been taking. He slinks away as Kate arrives. Sun says that Sawyer has headaches that his stash of aspirin did not help. Kate tells the headache story to Jack, but Jack has no interest in trying to help Sawyer just to get more abuse.

Boone and Locke argue over whether they will ever open the capsule (with Boone taking the ‘never’ argument). Locke says the island will send them a sign. Just then, a small plane heads for the island, smoke puffing from it, and crashes somewhere. Locke asks Boone if he saw it, and suddenly, Locke is having a strange dream. Boone, injured and bloody, keeps repeating, "Theresa falls up the stairs; Theresa falls down the stairs"; Locke’s mother is pointing at the plane (and is wearing a fur coat); Locke is in a wheelchair, stumbles out, and awakens.

Locke, inspired and/or obsessed, wakes Boone before dawn, heads toward the jungle,  and tells Boone to follow. Locke tells Boone how his dream has told him where to look for what he needs to open the capsule. Boone is skeptical until Locke mentions Theresa – then Boone, who must know or have known someone by that name, starts to believe. They head out to find the crashed plane.

Jack stops by the raft, to check on progress, and notices Sawyer leaning against a tree, holding a cloth over his forehead and eyes, and obviously in pain. Jack gets the typical smart answers, but Sawyer does manage to get civil enough for Jack to determine that it probably isn’t a brain tumor.

Deep in the jungle, Locke and Boone find the long-dead remains of a priest. They determine that the corpse is somewhere between two and ten years old. They also find Nigerian money and a gun.

When Sawyer starts yelling at nearby castaways to shut up, Kate tells him to get up and literally pushes him toward Jack. Jack does a thorough investigation which ends abruptly when Sawyer deems that the questions are getting too personal – but not before Jack determines that Sawyer needs glasses.

Locke’s legs are getting worse and worse, and, finally, he collapses. He explains to Boone that he was in a wheelchair and paralyzed for four years – until they crashed. He emerged whole. Despite his state, Locke convinces Boone that they must keep going. Boone drags Locke to his feet and supports him as they continue. Boone explains to Locke that Theresa was his nanny who he abused as a little boy by making her climb up and down the stairs – until one day, when she slipped and broke her neck. Locke laughs, not at the story, but at the plane that he sees over Boone’s shoulder. The plane is suspended at the edge of a cliff, supported only by vines and treetops. Locke tells Boone that something is important is inside it.

Jack visits Sawyer with a diagnosis and a box full of prescription glasses for him to try. Sayid cleverly melts two pairs to make a pair that works for Sawyer.

Boone finds a map of Nigeria in the plane, along with another corpse, and hollow statues loaded with heroin. But there is something else: Boone discovers that the radio still works. He sends a message, and is received. Boone races to give details of who they are as the plane creaks and shakes ominously, and then falls with a thud deep into the valley below. Locke crawls to the plane, drags the bloody and unconscious Boone out, and somehow, despite his recent crippled state, hoists Boone over his shoulders and limps through the jungle.

Kate thanks Jack for helping Sawyer; Jack says he didn’t do it for Sawyer. They are interrupted by Locke, who carries the badly injured Boone to Jack. When Jack turns to ask Locke exactly what happened, he has disappeared.

Back at the capsule, Locke is yelling at the window, asking why. Suddenly, a light appears from within.

Locke’s backstory flashback:

A much younger Locke is working in a toy store, demonstrating the game Mouse Trap to a boy. A middle-aged woman is staring at him. She asks a generic question about where to find footballs, but seems to have something else on her mind.

The next day, Locke sees the woman staring at him in the parking lot. When she moves away, he follows her and is hit by a car – but just gets up and keeps going. He catches her and she says she is his mother. She tells him that he was immaculately conceived and is special.

Locke has confirmed with a DNA test that the woman who visited him is his mother. He finds out from a PI that she has been institutionalized for schizophrenia. Locke also wants to find out about his father, even though the PI warns him it will not have a happy ending. Locke visits Anthony Cooper, his father. His dad is embarrassed but friendly, and invites Locke to go hunting with him on the weekend.

Locke returns for another hunting expedition a little early and finds his father receiving dialysis. Later, they hunt and bond, with both accepting that they are father and son.

Locke has agreed to donate a kidney to his father.

After the operation, Locke discovers that his father has already checked out. His mother arrives to tell him that it wasn’t really his father, just a man who needed a kidney and had agreed to pay Locke’s mother to get one. Locke cannot believe what has happened and goes to visit Anthony but is turned away at the gate.

Comments

Swoosie Kurtz guest-stars as Locke’s mother.

They did a great job with Locke’s makeup to make him look 15 years younger.

Is there some parallel being drawn between the Mouse Trap game and the capsule?

Key point: Locke doesn’t tell Jack and Kate anything about the plane – he just says Boone fell off a cliff.

I think one of my guilty pleasures with Lost is that I really enjoy women who don’t wear a lot of makeup – and because they are stuck on an island, Kate and Sun look great. Shannon still looks like she just stepped away from her makeup mirror, however.

Memorable Moments

  • Sawyer trying on women’s glasses

Quotable Quotes

Boone: I don’t think that glass is gonna break, man. Whatever it’s made of -
Locke: Everything breaks if you apply the right force.
Boone: So we’re just gonna build another one of your inventions, hope it works this time.
Locke: That’s right.
Boone: What if it doesn’t?
Locke: Then the island will tell us what to do.

"Look, Kate, I’d love nothing more than to check the guy out and make sure he’s okay, but we both know all I’m going to get for my trouble is a snappy one-liner – and if I’m real lucky, a brand new nickname."
- Jack

Jack: Pickin’ up on a little Korean there, Michael?
Michael: Yeah, pretty sure I know how to say ‘faster’ and ‘idiot’.

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