5x08 Pre-Thoughts

Something from the last episode that people have been wondering about is that when Bentham visits Jack, Jack is completely unreceptive to his pleas to return to the island. As Bentham tries to hang himself, Ben tells him that Jack had booked a ticket on a trans-Pacific flight as evidence that he was coming around. But Jack had apparently been doing it for some time as shown in “Through the Looking Glass”. Why the discrepancy?

Well, there apparently is no discrepancy. First, the episode did not make it clear how much time elapsed between Jack and Locke’s chat in the hospital and Locke’s death. But in “There’s No Place Like Home”, Jack tells Ben that it’s been “about a month” since Locke visited him. And so the logical conclusion is that Locke’s mention of Christian, coupled with Jack’s semi-recent encounter with an apparition of Christian and breakup with Kate, gave a sufficient jolt to Jack to devote the next month to the idea of going back.

Where I would theorize a bit is that Jack was building up his courage (or trying to sufficiently swallow his pride) before re-establishing contact with Locke; it would be tough for a man like Jack to tell Locke he had changed his mind face-to-face. And that is why Locke’s death caused Jack to completely lose it--because he felt that his chance was gone, and it probably brought on another round of self-loathing. Poor Jack.

The last two episodes have caused a lot of disagreement and debate amongst LOST fans. I understand the mixed reaction to “316”, but am a little puzzled at the mixed reaction to “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”. But of course people are entitled to their opinions.

I would like to address one complaint about the most recent episode, which is that Locke was such a pathetic figure. I wouldn’t want it any other way. John Locke is a pathetic figure and has always been a pathetic figure. I think Jack gave the best diagnosis of Locke’s psyche in the last episode, although Sayid and Kate also made eloquent points. John Locke was pathetic when we first met him as a young man(chronologically)--stuffed in a locker, unable to recognize that he wasn’t a star quarterback/movie star/whatever the heck his delusional mind expected to be. He was pathetic when he was so desperate for a father figure that he did anything Anthony Cooper wanted--even after he had taken his kidney, he allowed him to ruin his one normal relationship. He was pathetic when he lived on a cultish pot farm. He was pathetic when he role-played that relationship as “just friends” on a phone sex line, and when he thought that telling his boss “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” as he walked out the door was some kind of great tell-off. He was pathetic when he crashed on the island and attacked those who wanted to get off. He was pathetic when he became a slave to the hatch and was blinded by Ben’s true nature as a prisoner. He was pathetic when he continued his rampage of destruction against any possible mean to leave the island, and when he knifed a woman in the back in cold blood. He was pathetic when he led half of his people on a suicide mission, and he was pathetic when he allowed Ben to manipulate him into letting Ben move the island. John Locke is a pathetic person.

Sure, we’ve seen some flashes of something better out of him, but he at his core a sucker who refuses to accept that he’s not some kind of superman, and that he’s just a regular guy. That’s not to say that he may not be capable of achieving great things, but he needs to attempt to do that as normal people do--through a successful career, a loving family, a passionate hobby, etc.

And certainly LOST is about character growth and development, and ideally we’d like to see our characters grow and evolve and improve, and many have throughout their time on the Island. But there was no way that Locke’s “bring everyone back to the island” campaign could possibly be the impetus for that growth.

Why do I say that? Because the whole nature of it was intertwined with Locke’s delusions--heroism, destiny, fate, what was supposed to happen, all of the claptrap that has led Locke astray almost all of his life.

I believe that the true character breakthrough for Locke would have to occur near the very end of the series. Imagine him sitting down for a chat with Jacob, and Jacob explaining how special he is and about how his whole life has been a runup to this particular moment when Locke can save the Island. And Locke looks him straight in the eyes, and calmly says “Screw you. I don’t need this silly island or you or anything to make my life meaningful. I am my own man and I will live on my own terms and you can fend for yourself.” Now THAT would be character growth.

I have been slowly working my way through Season 1 on DVD throughout the course of Season 5. This week I watched “Walkabout”, so as you can see I’m well behind the season 5 pace. Anyway, “Walkabout” is widely regarded as one of the greatest episodes ever, and with good reason. A lot could be written about it, but the one thing that struck me in retrospect was the first real conversation between Jack and Claire (Jack helped her in the aftermath of the crash, but that doesn’t really count). Claire asks Jack to organize a memorial service, and Jack says “it’s not my thing.” Of course, it really isn’t Jack’s thing, but at the time it is particularly painful to Jack we know as he had been preparing for his father’s funeral. And of course we now know that he was Claire’s father as well, making it all a bit more poignant.

What is going to happen in tonight’s episode? It’s as wide open as it’s been since the premiere. Will we focus on Jack, Kate, and Hurley? On Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Faraday (which may well be the same thing as the first, but you never know). Or the Ajira castaways? Or Frank and the mystery woman, and what happened to Sun and Sayid? Or some combination thereof? (Most likely.)

The episode title does give me some inkling about what we’ll see, but if I’m wrong I’ll explain what I was expecting.