I've been stalling writing about this episode, mainly because I'm not sure what to say. It was solid and moving but I think we were all kind of expecting a Walkabout or Cabin Fever level episode. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" was not as series-defining as either of those Locke outings, but a strong ending kind of redeemed it.
We start on the tiny island with the Hydra station on it, where it turns out that Locke is alive again. How? Why? We don't really know, because the last thing Locke remembers is dying. With that, its flashback time and it begins with Locke turning the wheel again and, like previous wheel-turners, he lands in Tunisia. This time, however, there's a camera at the exit. Soon there's a bunch of people there too who rush Locke to a local hospital to fix his leg. It turns out that this was all orchestrated by Charles Widmore. Widmore reminisces about their last meeting, circa-1955, and then tells Locke his origin story. If we can believe him, Widmore was once the leader of the Others, until Ben Linus came along and took them over. He tricked Widmore into leaving the island, so now Widmore won't stop until he can get it back. Apparently, that may happen sooner than we thought because, "there's a war coming" and Locke needs to be back on the island for Widmore to win? My big problem with Widmore's story is that Ben had the chance to get Locke off the island in the finale and instead Ben turned the wheel himself. Also, its not news that its easy to manipulate Locke, but God, that man is so naive. Literally anyone can just tell him he's special and he'll do whatever they tell him.
So Widmore also wants the O6 to come back and he happens to know where they all are. To help the once-again-wheelchair-bound-Locke, he also gives him a driver: Matthew Abaddon. Yes, it turns out that Abaddon works for Widmore. First, they visit Sayid, who wants to do good and has no interest in going back (this is clearly post-falling out with Ben). Then he goes to see WAAAAALT. As far as disappointments go, this was one of the biggest. While they reiterated Walt's specialness (they wouldn't have reminded us that he has psychic dreams if they didn't intend to resolve that at some point), the interaction basically amounted to "what's up" "nothing much" "cool, see ya." As far as why Walt didn't go back, well it seems that it was just because Locke couldn't bring himself to do it. Whatever.
Next was the Kate scene and allow me to just take a moment and say that Kate may be the worst character in television history. Its like she's on a completely different show. "You've never been in love?????" Really, Kate??? Oh, and a note to the ABC promo people, Kate and Sawyer reuniting is most definitely NOT the moment I've been waiting for. I'm about as excited for that as I was to find out the origin of Jack's tattoos.
So its here that things kind of picked up a little. Abaddon showed Locke Helen's grave, apparently she died of a brain aneurysm. I know some people think it was a fake, but I personally think its legit. This may be the last chance they get to tie up that loose end, and it makes sense and fits. Speaking of tying up loose ends, after discovering a little about Abaddon (he gets people where they need to be), we bid farewell to the guy forever when Ben shot him, presumably leaving Lance Reddick free to continue on Fringe without being hassled with questions about Lost. Locke escaped from the gunman and plowed right into another car, putting him at a hospital with none other than Dr. Jack Shepard.
Here we got to see Jack and Locke reunite to play their old hit, Faith vs. Science. Snarkiness aside, this was a good one, with Jack getting in some pretty nasty digs at Locke ("you're just a lonely old man who crashed on an island") and Locke telling Jack that he saw Christian Shepard on the island. I imagine that fact may have been what sent Jack over the top, although interestingly enough, watching this scene from Locke's perspective makes it seem like it was really a much worse conversation for Locke than Jack. And yes, as some fans have pointed out, the timing doesn't really work out here (Locke died just a few days before "Live Together, Die Alone," but Jack told Kate that he had been flying on planes for weeks), but I'll roll with it for now.
Because this next-to-last scene of the episode was everything I hoped it would be and more. John Locke, consigned to failure and trapped again in a wheelchair, abandons hope and prepares to hang himself when he gets a visit from our good friend Ben Linus. Ben tells Locke about how special and important he is, even kneeling before him, and gets Locke to come down. But then he hears that Locke has Jin's ring to give to Sun, and that Locke has to visit Eloise Hawking. One of the other of these facts convinces Ben that Locke actually had to die, so he goes ahead and kills him. It was a pretty shocking moment and everything that led up it was awesome. Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn are easily the best actors on the show and this may have been their best moment together. So then we came back to the island, where Locke stumbled upon the bashed-up, unconscious body of Ben Linus, a rare moment of triumph for the island's favorite punching bag.
As a whole, this episode was kind of uneven. It reminded me a lot of "Meet Kevin Johnson," both in terms of structure (one big flashback bookended with a couple on-island scenes) and in terms of the fact that it didn't really tell us much that we hadn't figured out already. That being said, it definitely got better as it went along and ended with a bang that was kind of redemptive.
A-
The Theory-Down:
5. So I'm sure you've all heard the big casting related rumor by now, but it looks like that's not true. I can't imagine the show ever dumping her, because that would pretty much means its abandoning all of the not crazy stuff. But really is anyone still watching to find out if Kate will end up with Sawyer or Jack?
4. So, with the coolest episode title out of the way, which ones doe we have to look forward to? Well, we're two weeks away from "Namaste," which could be packed full of Dharma goodness. Also, in April, there's "The Variable," which could turn out to be a direct sequel to the definitive Lost episode (that would be "The Constant"). And for fans of Star Wars related puns, there's "Some Like It Hoth." What?
3. I didn't mention it in my recap, but there was that business where it turns out that the pilot and "a woman" took one of the canoes to row to the island proper. That woman? Clearly Sun and boy does that suck, because I think that means that she's not in the Dharma Initiative time with Jack, Kate, Hurley, and of course, Jin. So why did some O6ers go back in time, while others did not? What are the people who are in the present going to be doing and how does that relate to the war that's coming?I had assumed that the war was going to involve replaying the old Dharma story, but maybe that's not the case, since Locke isn't around?
2. Changing the future, week 6. Its been a while, but I'm wondering about Widmore and the cameras this week. How did he know Locke was coming? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Widmore suddenly had this memory of meeting John Locke, just like how Desmond suddenly remembered Faraday. I wonder if this lapse in time between the event happening on the island and remembering it in the world relates to the gap in time that Locke and Ben experienced when they landed in Tunisia? And does this mean that Locke's meeting with Widmore and the entire "Jughead" adventure did involve changing the past?
1. So what do we make of the Widmore-Ben rivalry? If Widmore is to be believed, then maybe Ben's not the good guy. I'm guessing that it'll turn out to be a little greyer than that. Either way, I think they need to explain this one this season. Its going to be difficult to care about this "war" if we don't know exactly what the stakes are and why we're fighting it.
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