Thursday, February 26. 2009
LOST: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
Sigh. Afraid I'm not going into too much detail on the recap part of this. There really isn't a lot of point to it, I'm afraid. As you can probably guess from the title of the episode, we follow Locke's adventures as he leaves the island, and apart from a couple of interesting tidbits the details aren't that important, so....
It looks like the rest of Ajira Air 316 did in fact crash, or at least was set down rather well on the Hydra island. Caesar and Alana, the mysterious dude from the plane and Sayid's escort respectively, are rifling through one of the Hydra station offices looking for something. Caesar finds a shotgun and hides it away.
They've found Locke, and of course nobody remembers him on the plane. He doesn't remember anything either. Except dying.
Flash back to him fixing the frozen donkey wheel, and he winds up in the desert at the same place we found Ben. This time, though, somebody's put up a camera, and after lying there for who-knows how long with his still broken leg, Locke is picked up and taken to a medical facility. Abaddon is there hiding behind a curtain. Locke passes out after they set his leg (OW!)
When he wakes up, who should be there but Widmore. He was the one who set up the cameras. They chit chat for a bit, about the island, and about Locke. Seems Widmore was at one time "the leader" of the Others the same as Locke and Ben are, and he tells Locke that he's there to help him get back to fulfill his destiny and all that. He offers up Abaddon to Locke to help him find everyone, and one of the first he wants to find is his old flame, Helen.
Well they find Sayid in the DR, Walt in NY (bummer nothing much came of that, except the reveal that Ben is watching), Hurley at the looney bin (that was funny), and of course Kate in LA. Abaddon reveals that he was sent way back when to nudge John out the door and send him on walkabout, at Widmore's behest....
After another request to find Helen, he's taken to a cemetary where its revealed she died a couple of years ago, and that's about all there is to that. On the way out, Abaddon is gunned down by unknown (well, we can guess) persons. Locke takes over the car and speeds away, getting in a nasty wreck and going unconscious.
He wakes up in Jack's hospital, with Jack at his side. Bearded strung out Jack by the looks and sounds of it. Of course he can't convince Jack either, despite telling him about Christian in the well.... and Jack leaves.
Convinced he's failed in his endeavour, Locke writes the suicide note from 316, and prepares to hang himself. Just as he's about to jump off the table, there's a knock at the door. It's Ben, who breaks down the door and talks John down and unties the cord. Seems he did indeed kill Abaddon, and informs Locke that Jack bought a ticket to Sydney.
Locke tells Ben about Jin and the ring, and about how he must find Eloise Hawking. "Yes, John, I know her." And Ben grabs the cord and quite frankly strangles Locke with it.
Ben cleans up the scene, and hangs Locke up to make it look like he went through with it. He takes Jin's ring and leaves "Jeremy's" passport lying on the table. "I'll miss you John," he says as he leaves.
Back on the island, we pick up where we left off with Locke and Alana(?) He's questioned about the people who vanished from the plane, and he tells her that he spent 100 days here, and that he needs to find his friends.
He's taken to the place where they've taken the injured from the crash, and lying unconscious on one bed is, of course, Ben.
"Do you know him?" "He's the man who killed me."
BONK.
Widmore
OOOOOOOOKay. So. A big question pops into my head for this episode, and one that should have popped into yours as well. Who is really the bad guy/good guy here? Ben or Widmore? On the surface at least it would appear that we may have misjudged ol' Widmore's intentions. And quite possibly Ben's. Interesting also that Widmore was once "the leader" the same as Ben and Locke.
Ben
The bigger question is: Why would Ben kill Locke if he knew he needed him to get back? Was it providence that Ben kills him and "fulfills the prophecy" or intentional? Just a bit confusing if you ask me.
Futhermore, it would also seem that the island isn't interested in getting Ben back, or he'd have been "taken" like the Oceanic Six, er Five I mean. But then why wasn't Locke "taken" also?! Argh.
Can't wait for the confrontation between Locke and Ben, though. This should be good.
Walt
Really, I was hoping for a bit more out of that meeting. Apart from "hey how's it going? Just checking up on you." Sure he kindly doesn't tell Walt that Michael is dead, but that's not really relevant.
The Hydra
Sooo.... I think its safe to assume that Locke and the Hyrda folks are in a different time than the Five? Judging from the carved out canoes (think Alex and Karl) and the empty facility they've arrived at post-freighter time.
Caesar
Alana seems fairly harmless so far, but I'm still up in the air about this guy. Is he a Widmore lackey or what? He's shown rifling through some files and maps and such, but we really can't tell if he was looking for something particular or just looking....
Abaddon
Yeah, I know it was inevitable he'd be leaving the show. What with his contract for "Fringe" and all. Too bad, as there could have been some interesting stories there.
Still, his visit with Hurley and his misrepresentation therein is still a thorn.
Frank
What's up with Frank? Where's he gone running off to?
The Name
And according to Widmore, the identity Jeremy Bentham was given to him just to be funny. Ha. No!
Important
Also I have to take issue with the writers here, that Locke's sole purpose in life was to "be important." Over and over again here that point was drilled that he's not, and that he was going to kill himself because he wasn't, etc. etc.
So, I wish I could say there was more to discuss, but I just didn't see it. I was kind of disappointed actually. It also seems like things are being rushed along a little, with entire possible story arcs reduced to one episode like this one. I get that there's a story to be told, and they've got to tell it before everyone loses interest... I dunno. Maybe I'm just having a bad morning
!!
They've found Locke, and of course nobody remembers him on the plane. He doesn't remember anything either. Except dying.
Flash back to him fixing the frozen donkey wheel, and he winds up in the desert at the same place we found Ben. This time, though, somebody's put up a camera, and after lying there for who-knows how long with his still broken leg, Locke is picked up and taken to a medical facility. Abaddon is there hiding behind a curtain. Locke passes out after they set his leg (OW!)
When he wakes up, who should be there but Widmore. He was the one who set up the cameras. They chit chat for a bit, about the island, and about Locke. Seems Widmore was at one time "the leader" of the Others the same as Locke and Ben are, and he tells Locke that he's there to help him get back to fulfill his destiny and all that. He offers up Abaddon to Locke to help him find everyone, and one of the first he wants to find is his old flame, Helen.
Well they find Sayid in the DR, Walt in NY (bummer nothing much came of that, except the reveal that Ben is watching), Hurley at the looney bin (that was funny), and of course Kate in LA. Abaddon reveals that he was sent way back when to nudge John out the door and send him on walkabout, at Widmore's behest....
After another request to find Helen, he's taken to a cemetary where its revealed she died a couple of years ago, and that's about all there is to that. On the way out, Abaddon is gunned down by unknown (well, we can guess) persons. Locke takes over the car and speeds away, getting in a nasty wreck and going unconscious.
He wakes up in Jack's hospital, with Jack at his side. Bearded strung out Jack by the looks and sounds of it. Of course he can't convince Jack either, despite telling him about Christian in the well.... and Jack leaves.
Convinced he's failed in his endeavour, Locke writes the suicide note from 316, and prepares to hang himself. Just as he's about to jump off the table, there's a knock at the door. It's Ben, who breaks down the door and talks John down and unties the cord. Seems he did indeed kill Abaddon, and informs Locke that Jack bought a ticket to Sydney.
Locke tells Ben about Jin and the ring, and about how he must find Eloise Hawking. "Yes, John, I know her." And Ben grabs the cord and quite frankly strangles Locke with it.
Ben cleans up the scene, and hangs Locke up to make it look like he went through with it. He takes Jin's ring and leaves "Jeremy's" passport lying on the table. "I'll miss you John," he says as he leaves.
Back on the island, we pick up where we left off with Locke and Alana(?) He's questioned about the people who vanished from the plane, and he tells her that he spent 100 days here, and that he needs to find his friends.
He's taken to the place where they've taken the injured from the crash, and lying unconscious on one bed is, of course, Ben.
"Do you know him?" "He's the man who killed me."
BONK.
Widmore
OOOOOOOOKay. So. A big question pops into my head for this episode, and one that should have popped into yours as well. Who is really the bad guy/good guy here? Ben or Widmore? On the surface at least it would appear that we may have misjudged ol' Widmore's intentions. And quite possibly Ben's. Interesting also that Widmore was once "the leader" the same as Ben and Locke.
Ben
The bigger question is: Why would Ben kill Locke if he knew he needed him to get back? Was it providence that Ben kills him and "fulfills the prophecy" or intentional? Just a bit confusing if you ask me.
Futhermore, it would also seem that the island isn't interested in getting Ben back, or he'd have been "taken" like the Oceanic Six, er Five I mean. But then why wasn't Locke "taken" also?! Argh.
Can't wait for the confrontation between Locke and Ben, though. This should be good.
Walt
Really, I was hoping for a bit more out of that meeting. Apart from "hey how's it going? Just checking up on you." Sure he kindly doesn't tell Walt that Michael is dead, but that's not really relevant.
The Hydra
Sooo.... I think its safe to assume that Locke and the Hyrda folks are in a different time than the Five? Judging from the carved out canoes (think Alex and Karl) and the empty facility they've arrived at post-freighter time.
Caesar
Alana seems fairly harmless so far, but I'm still up in the air about this guy. Is he a Widmore lackey or what? He's shown rifling through some files and maps and such, but we really can't tell if he was looking for something particular or just looking....
Abaddon
Yeah, I know it was inevitable he'd be leaving the show. What with his contract for "Fringe" and all. Too bad, as there could have been some interesting stories there.
Still, his visit with Hurley and his misrepresentation therein is still a thorn.
Frank
What's up with Frank? Where's he gone running off to?
The Name
And according to Widmore, the identity Jeremy Bentham was given to him just to be funny. Ha. No!
Important
Also I have to take issue with the writers here, that Locke's sole purpose in life was to "be important." Over and over again here that point was drilled that he's not, and that he was going to kill himself because he wasn't, etc. etc.
So, I wish I could say there was more to discuss, but I just didn't see it. I was kind of disappointed actually. It also seems like things are being rushed along a little, with entire possible story arcs reduced to one episode like this one. I get that there's a story to be told, and they've got to tell it before everyone loses interest... I dunno. Maybe I'm just having a bad morning
!!
@Joe - good guess on Sun, although I'm not convinced that she didn't flash out of the plane like the rest of the five, but if I'm right, it begs the question of who the woman was who left with Frank.
I think that Ben has perfected being near enough to the action to try to usurp power from those who are supposed to have it. He needed to know what Locke knew about how to get back, then he killed him so he could do it his own way. Did he bank on the island bringing him back or did he think that he only needed to have the physical parts of the O5 on the plane? I think Ben does a lot to keep his options open and really flys by the seat of his pants most of the time. But I've never liked him, so this episode felt like confirmation for me.
Does Eloise Hawkins know about John Locke and his purpose?
Barrus: I think Eliose is 'Ellie' from the 50s and she was there when Locke was there, but Ben had no idea this was happening to Locke and he met all these people previously
Here is another thought, how did she get off island. Was she outed like/with Widmore. If so that would make Eloise on Widmore's side. She definitely had insight on how Ben manipulates people for his own goals. There was an undercurrent of dislike between both Ben and Eloise.