Ep. 506 - "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Questions Answered

Towards the end of last week's recap, I posed a few questions (scroll down for the prior recap to see what I'm talking about). At least one of those questions was answered this week in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." To wit, what happened to the plane? As we saw this week, Captain Frank Lapidus apparently set it down in more or less one piece on Hydra island, albeit not on the runway built by Sawyer, Kate and the Others.

Aside Number 1 - Frank Lapidus can be my pilot any day. He safely brought down the chopper last season despite its being bombarded in a freak electrical storm, and now he managed to bring flight 316 to a relatively gentle landing despite getting zapped by island-magic white light energy. Sure, some people were hurt (more on this later,) but, unlike flight 815, the majority seem to have survived.

Once off the plane, Lapidus took one of three outrigger canoes, accompanied by "a woman" and the flight 316 passenger list, and paddled over the main island.

Per this week's podcast, I can tell you when another one of the new questions - what happened to Aaron, and why is Kate so upset about it - will be answered. According to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, this mystery will be solved in episode 511, in 4 weeks.

Critique

When I first saw this week's episode, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," I thought it was freaking great. But on a second viewing, I didn't think it really held up like most epsiodes do. Sure, there were plenty of reveals (or quasi-reveals), but the bulk of the action just showed us things we already knew happened, with little added by way of actually the events transpire. Furthermore, the new burning question - just how is John Locke walking and talking in his burial clothes on Hydra Island after his death a few days earlier in Los Angeles - requires one of the biggest John-Lockian leaps of faith from us the viewers of any plot point thus far on Lost.

That said, the revelations in this episode were pretty spectacular. And, having seen both of the last two episodes, I fully agree with the producers' decision to reverse their order.

The Tease

Locke's death explained! Waaaaaalt!! Abaddon returns!!! All this, plus additional insight into Charles Widmore's ideas of how he connects with the island and its history, all on "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham.

Flashback

As promised, the bulk of the action in this epsiode dealt with showing us everything that happened to John Locke between the time he fixed and turned the frozen donkey wheel, and the time he ended up in the casket at Hoffs/Drawlar. He found himself in the Tunisian desert , his leg still injured. He throws up, and sees he's being watched by security cameras on a series of posts - oddly reminiscent of the DHARMA barracks fence. Unable to get up (he still has that nasty compound fracture), he shouts to the camera for help.

Night falls, and he's still on his back. A truck approaches, with several gunmen in the back. They pick Locke up and toss him into the payload. He is taken to a field hospital. A doctor rushes him some medication. Locke looks...and sees Matthew Abaddon watching him.(Yeah, Lance Reddick really does bring the creepy, doesn't he?) The doctor sticks a biting stick in Locke's mouth, then resets the break. Pain sets in, and Locke passes out. He awakens, and Charles Widmore is sitting by his bedside. Locke's leg is in a cast, suspended in midair. Widmore says he had a specialist flown in to treat him. Widmore - "it's nice to see you again. I know you're confused. I met you when I was 17, now all these years later, here you are. You look exactly the same." Widmore clarifies who he is. John tells him it's been 4 days since they met in 1954. Widmore is impressed that so much time went by, but apparently not shocked. Widmore knew where Locke would be, he says because that's the exit. Those were his cameras. He was sure Ben would trick Locke into leaving, like he had to Charles. Charles was, he explains, the Others' pre-Ben leader. "They're not 'the Others to' me, John, they're my people." He claims they protected the island, peacefully for more than 3 decades before Ben exiled him. He can't understand why Locke would leave willingly (i.e. untricked by Ben), then surmises he was there to bring his friends back. Widmore tells him about the 3 years the Oceanic 6 have spent in the world, and how they've never breathed a word of their actual experiences to anyone else. Widmore says he'll do everything in his power to help Locke bring them back, because there's a war coming, and if John's not back on the island when that happens, the wrong side is going to win.

Locke sits outside, and inspects his new identity as Jeremy Bentham. Widmore joins him and explains that he thought Locke's parents were exhibiting a sense of humor naming him after an English philosopher, so why shouldn't he do the same? (Umm, is that condescending, or is it just me?) Widmore gives Locke an international cell phone, and says "press 2 3 to contact me" (Numbers!!!). Widmore also hands Locke a folder with his friends' whereabouts. Widmore suggests Locke not mention that he's helping, and Locke asks why he should trust his new benefector. "I haven't tried to to kill you. Can you say the same about Ben?" Locke brings up the mercenary force he sent to the island, and Widmore explains he sent them to remove Ben, so it could be John's time to lead. "What makes you think I'm so special?" asks John. "Because you are," responds Charles, authoritatively. A Range Rover pulls up. Locke tells Widmore that Richard said he'd die, but Widmore says he won't let that happen. Abaddon gets out of the car, and Widmore says Mathew will protect John from anything. (Is it just me, or this a lot of bald actors for a single scene on network TV?) Abaddon unfolds a wheelchair, and Locke seems to recognize him. They drive off, to begin Locke's quest to try to recruit the Oceanic 6, and Abbadon says he'll provide anything Locke needs, including helping him find anyone in the world he wants to tell he's alive. Locke doesn't respond.

Aside Number 2 - Let's pause and talk about the Widmore/Linus feud. Obviously, over the past two seasons, we've been meant to see-saw between our views of Charles and Ben and which, if either, of the two of them will turn out to be the good guy. Season 4 seemed to be Ben's time - he showed Locke the video of Widmore ordering a beating, and, after all, Widmore did send an army of armed murderers to the island to kill everyone. They even executed sweet, innocent teenaged Alex. Widmore was enough of a boogeyman that the Oceanic Six lied about what happened to them, and Jack even accepted Ben's help.

Now, it seems, we're meant to think that perhaps it was Widmore who was the aggrieved party, and Ben who we should be booing. After all, Ben killed his own father (or so it seemed), tricked Charles into exile (or so Charles says), promised to kill Penny, had a lawyer show up to come between Kate and Aaron, coerced Sayid into 2 years of assassinations, and, as we'll see at the end of this episode, killed Locke. To be sure, Ben is no angel, either.

But let's examine what Widmore just told John - I saw no indication that Keamey and company were trying too hard not to kill Locke when they stormed New Otherton last season. Also, didn't 17-year-old Widmore break his co-Other's neck to get him to stop talking to Locke and Sawyer? As for "peacefully" defending the island - didn't his people exterminate the military expedition who brought Jughead, then fatally gas the DHARMA initiative? And what about Widmore's claim to have been the Others' leader? Didn't he seem to be taking orders from Richard as a teen?

Finally, an observation on the points on which Ben and Charles appear to agree: both men seem to want the Oceanic 6 to return to the island. Why would two people with such opposite agendas seem to agree on such a big thing? Two thoughts. One, to the extent these big bads are playing some sort of game of ultra-violent chess, I would imagine the game can't be played until all the pieces are on the board.

I'm also thinking of the primary point of agreement between certain ultra-orthodox Jews and certain fundamentalist Christians. The Jews believe the Messiah (Moshiach) will only come when all Jews have gathered in the Biblical Holy Land - indeed, these Jews oppose the political state of Israel because they believe it is wrong to establish a Jewish kingdom before all Jews are present and Moshiach walks among us. The Christians, on the other hand, believe that the Messiah (Jesus), will only return when all Jews have gathered in Israel. Only, in the Christian belief system, the Jews would then be consumed in a massive, God-tossed fireball. In other words, two rather contradictory philosophies that nevertheless both cling to the notion that a messiah will only come when a certain group of people have gathered in one place. A bit of a reach? I don't think so, in light of the (bumbling idiot of a) messianic role Locke has clearly been put into on Lost. Now, if you feel like you're in either the Jewish or Christian group that espouses the beliefs I've tried to describe, and yet you completely disagree with how I've described them, please feel free to correct me. I only know what I think I've been told about these things. In any case, as far as Ben and Charles are concerned, I think they both feel for some reason their final victory will only come with the Oceanic 6 firmly back on the island. The big question is whether either or both of them wants or expects our heroes to survive the experience.

The next stretch of the episode was where we learned surprisingly little that we hadn't already been told about. Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley and Walt have all had conversations in prior episodes about their conversations with Bentham, and how he hadn't convinced them (for the most part) to go back to the island. The few highlights:

Sayid (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic). After whatever ended his Jason-Bourne-like employ under Ben after 2 years, Sayid had been working with "Build our World," a Jimmy-Carter-like organization building housing in third world countries. In passing, we learned both Widmore and Ben had been monitoring Sayid (and the other former 815ers), which Sayid presumably discovered shortly after Locke's visit, prompting him to spring Hurley...but, of course, we knew all that.

Walt (New York, New York). Walt hasn't seen his dad in three years, and he asked Locke if Michael was on the island. In order to spare Walt further pain, Locke lied and said the last he heard, Michael was on a freighter just offshore from the island, and then decided not to try to recruit Walt. He took his leave of his former protege, but not before hearing that Walt had been dreaming about Locke, in a suit, back on the island, surrounded by people who want to hurt him. (more on this in a bit). Also, Ben watched this whole exchange.

Hurley (Santa Rosa, California). In the funniest bit of the episode, Hurley, seeing Locke, assumed his former comrade had died (like the other former island residents who had visited him at the mental hospital). Discovering Locke was actually alive, and seeing him accompanied by Abaddon, Hurley freaked, refused to go back to the island, and warned Locke that Abaddon was evil.

Kate (Los Angeles, California) Kate is just plain mean to Locke. She says she always figures he never loved anyone, which was why he didn't want to leave the island. He tells her about Helen, and about how he screwed things up by being angry and obsessed, and Kate retorts, "look how far you've come." Ouch, Ms. Austin!

Along the way, Locke asks Abaddon to find Helen for him. He also asks what Matthew does for Widmore, to which Abaddon responds by saying he "helps people get where they need to go," and reminds Locke about how, after his "accident," it was Abbadon, pretending to be an orderly, who convinced him to go on walkabout in Australia, which led to his presence on flight 815. Later, Matthew claims to have found Helen, and takes John to a Santa Monica cemetary, shows him a headstone, and says Helen died from an anyeurism. Locke gets choked up, and thinks out loud that if he had done things differently, they could have been together, but Abaddon points out she would have died either way.

Aside Number 3 - I don't believe for a moment that Helen is dead. Rather, I think this was a fake-out by Abaddon to keep John from having any reason whatsoever not to return to the island.

Also, we get what seems to have become a recurring theme this season - whether or not different actions in the past indeed could have changed the future. We know Faraday says it can't be done - and yet he gave Desmond the message to seek out Ms. Hawking, and will (already did) try to tell child Charlotte she can't come back to the island in the future or she'll die. Looks like Daniel was 1-1. How will Locke fare?

As Matthew loads John's wheelchair back in the car on the way out of the cemetary, he is gunned down with several shots to the chest and back, and appears to have died. Locke jumps to the drivers seat, drives off, then gets into a 3-car crash at an intersection. He awakens in another hospital bed. Jack is sitting there, sporting the early stages of his crazy beard, wondering what Locke is doing there. Locke immediately launches into "we have to go back." Jack, as he always had in the past, scoffs about the notion that they have a destiny. Locke says someone tried to kill him, which Jack interprets as a delusion. Jack rails into him - "did you ever think the delusions you're so important are not real, that you're just a lonely old man who crashed on an island?"Locke tries the one move he knows he has left - "your father says 'hello'". He tells Jack about how Chrisitian told him to move the island. Jack refuses to accept this, because he put his father in a coffin. Locke pleads that Jack alone can get the others to go back. Jack again insist, "we were never imporant, so you leave, and you leave the rest of them alone."

Aside Number 4 - this, clearly, is the moment that Jack became a believer. He believes that John believes what he's saying. And how would John know about Christian? Not that Jack embraced his destiny fully. It's more like he just began to doubt his doubt.

At some point later in time, at the Westerfield Hotel, Locke writes the suicide note Jack would come to read later on flight 316. Taking his crutches, Locke positions a table under a beam, takes out and extension cord, and fashions a noose out of it. He puts his head in the loop, tightens the knot, steps to the edge, then hears a knock on the door. It's Ben, who bursts in, and finds him. He says he found Locke because he has a man watching Sayid, and someone watching all of them (leaving out the whole I watched you talk to Walt thing). Ben admits to shooting Abaddon, who he says would have killed John sooner or later. Ben insists again that Widmore was dangerous, that he moved the island so Widmore couldn't find it, so Locke could lead. "You have no idea how important you are," soothes Ben. "Nothing can happen to you."

Aside Number 5 - man, if you tell John Locke he's "special," he'll follow you around like a teenage girl you just called "pretty." Which is what's a little upsetting. His learning curve is so flat - how can he indeed be so special when he's so easily manipulated?

Locke insists he's a failure, for not being able to get any of them to come back. Ben says Jack booked a ticket to Sydney, with a next day return trip. (This, we know, is true). "If you got Jack, you can get the rest of them." Ben gets down on his knees and pleads, "you can't die, you have too much work to do. We've got to get you back on the island so that you can do it." Ben unties the cord. He stands and offers to help Locke get down. "I know we can do this, John. You haven't even been to Sun yet. Let's start with her." Locke tells Ben about Jin not wanting Sun to come back. "Jin is alive? Alright, John, a promise is a promise."

Aside Number 6 - at this point, Ben seems to already be thinking that befriending John here won't work exactly as planned. He seemed genuinely surprised to learn about Jin being alive, but about as convincing in his agreement to leave Sun out of it as he did last season when he told Kate they could leave the island.

Ben takes off his jacket, then helps John to his wheelchair. He says he can help. John says he knows where to go - to a woman in Los Angeles, Eloise Hawking. Ben asks if Locke is sure about the name. Locke asks if Ben knows her. Ben says, "yes, yes I do,"... then abruptly strangles Locke with the cord!

Aside Number 7- we've sen Ben do all sorts of despicable things, but this was the single most violent, viscious thing he's ever done. So why did he do it? Why save John's life, then, minutes later, kill him? It certainly seemed that Ben was set off by John's knowledge of Eloise Hawking. But was it really suddenly ok for Locke to die, just to conceal some sort of secret from him? I can't help but think that Ben's plan for the island required Locke to have died, but not by suicide. The way he died must have mattered. Again, very religious, if you choose to think of it that

Ben stages the suicide, then wipes down his prints. He spots Jin's ring, then pockets it, knowing he can use it to get Sun back to the island. Ben says, as he leaves, "I'll miss you, John. I really will." And you kinda have to believe him, because why else say it to the dead guy?

The Bookend - Hydra Island

As I mentioned at the outset of the post, the episode began with Lost newcomers Ceasar and Ilana poking around an office in the Hydra station. Flight 316 had been set down on this smaller sister island (which apparently has been bouncing through time and space with its larger counterpart).

Alone in the office, Ceasar breaks into a file cabinet, and finds maps of the island, and drawings eerily reminiscent of the ones we've seen before in Daniel Faraday's notebook. As you can see from this screen capture, the diagram includes vectors labeled "real time," "space-time," "imaginary time" and "imaginary space."

There is a sawed-off shotgun under the desk, which Ceasar grabs and shoves in his backpack. Ilana comes in, wants to know what Ceasar stashed. He lies and says it was a flashlight. They discuss having seen somebody, who was not on the plane, who was in the water. As they walk past Flight 316, still in predominantly one piece, they get to the beach, where the stranger introduces himself as John Locke.

Aside Number 8 - It's difficult to figure out at this point if Ceasar and Ilana knew each other before the flight. It's hard to imagine why a marshall and a random single passenger would. On the other hand, they were the only two people, other than Ben and the Oceanic 6, who managed to get seats in business class. However, given what Ceasar tells Locke at the end of the episode, they may only seem to know each other now in light of a freakish shared experience.

In the morning, Locke stands on the beach, looking out at the waves, across at the island. Ilana brings John a mango. She tells Locke about the pilot and woman who took the passenger list and one of the 3 outriggers they found while everyone slept.

Aside 9 - earlier, we saw two of these outriggers at the flight 815 beach camp. It appears one carried Frank (assuming "the pilot" is Frank) and a woman (Sun?), while they other will have followed shortly after in an attempt to find the first. Sawyer (and Locke, Juliet et al) will (already did?) take one of the two, while another group - presumably the people who will take the second one from Hydra beach - will (already did?) shoot at Sawyer and company. You follow (or lead?)

Ilana doesn't remember Locke from the plane, and Locke says he doesn't, either. Locke explains the suit he's wearing is what he was going to be buried in. "You asked what I remembered? I remember dying."

Aside 10 - I can't take credit for this observation, though I don't precisely recall where I read it - but this scene was quite reminiscent of the first season scene when, shortly after the crash, Locke shares a piece of fruit with Walt and tells him he couldn't walk before the crash of flight 815. All too trusting, this John Locke fella.

And, speaking of Walt, didn't Walt tell Locke about a dream he had...where Locke was on the island...in a suit...surrounded by people who want to hurt him? Locke seems to have taken Walt dreams/visions seriously in the past. Why ignore this one? Or could it just be that Locke is doing his full-on Jesus/Aslan/Luke Skywalker/insert mythical hero here shtick? In other words, he's already died, so what does he have to fear? If these are to be his attackers, these flight 316 strangers, perhaps he figures he might as well lean into the punch, so to speak. But, given that every single decision Locke ever makes seems to be a bungled one, I'll stand by my "stupid move, Lockester" theory.

Later, Locke goes to see Ceasar in the same office from the episode's open, and finds him reading a file with a Hydra logo on it. Locke starts to explain DHARMA. Ceasar asks if Locke was already there when they crashed, but Locke explains he had left the island before. Ceasar asks why Hurley and the others disappeared off the plane when the light hit.

Aside 11 - This at least partially explains why Jack, Kate and Hurley ended up in the lagoon with no recollection of crashing with the plane. It does not explain where Sun and Sayid are. Was Sun the woman who paddled away with Frank? Why wouldn't Sun have been taken, too, by the flash of light? For that matter, as I'm about to mention, why wasn't Ben?

Locke says he thinks he knows how he came to be there (really? Because I'm not sure I do). Ceasar tells Locke some people got hurt. He takes him to a makeshift infirmary, in the Hyrda medical area, where Locke finds Ben, one of the injured. "You know him?" asks Ceasar? "Yeah," says Locke, "He's the man who killed me."

Final Thoughts

Locke as messiah continues to bother me. He never seems to make the right move, does he? I mean, it's not just that he's unafraid of the consequences of his unpopular decisions. It's more than he makes decisions that seem destined to keep him from achieving his own goals.

Ben in this vulnerable postion is also interesting. The island clearly took who it wanted from the living on the plane...and yet, Ben was not one of them. Did he become, in a sense, unworthy, for what he did (whatever it was) after leaving Jack at Eloise's church? Or for killing Locke?

Finally, on the whole confused notion of time...Jack, Kate and Hurley did not seem to experience any time jumps from the time they woke up on the island to the time Jin pulled up in a 70s era DHARMA bus. Yet, it appeared that the Hyrda Island people arrived in the future of the island - which explains their outriggers being left at the future version of the 815 camp. Did the separation of the groups leave them in different time periods? Will this cause some of the unpredictable effects Eloise mentioned (since, after all, Walt, Aaron, and perhaps Ji Yeon did not come back?)

In any case, next week we'll return to the Sawyer/Juliet/Daniel/Miles group, and, the previews lead us to believe, see Sawyer and Kate reunited, in "LaFleur." Until then, Namaste!