The Substitute

Has there ever been a Locke centric episode that disappointed? I think not! We got a lot deeper into the mythology of the Island in this one and we might just be getting a clearer picture of the whole Jacob/Black Shirt thing. Plus I had like a thousand screen captures of those cave walls to look through meticulously for familiar names. Some of which might surprise you!

Non Crash Time – Locke Is Still A Sad Sack But At Least His Has Peggy Bundy
Yup things are looking pretty sad for John Locke at this beginning of this one. His wheelchair lift is broken, he’s laying on his yard, and the sprinklers turn on. Poor poor John Locke. But what is this? Helen comes out of the house and helps him?! They’re back together? Did they ever separate? Why does she offer a shotgun wedding with her parents and his dad? I’m beginning to think things are not as they seem in this alternaverse.

I would seriously doubt Locke would want to invite his dad to his wedding. I doubt even more that Helen would want him to since he was the reason she dumped Locke in the first place. So I’m assuming the whole kidney stealing pushing his son out of a window breaking his spine and leaving him unable to walk thing didn’t happen in this timeline. If it did people in this timeline are ridiculously forgiving!

In addition to the “my life is slightly better” version of Locke we also get some heavy flight 815 cross over action going on. First he meets Hurley which leads to him meeting Rose and finally meeting Benjamin Linus. Another Other off Island (Ethan being the other, who will be next? I’m betting the big guy, Tom), teaching European history, and being anal about coffee. Those poor students. I’m not entirely sure I like this version of Locke though. Without his faith Locke is…not Locke. I’m still not giving up on the Locke to Jack leg connection for a TD. I think that’s what will restore Locke’s faith and make him the Locke we all know from the past 5 seasons. Anyone see the parallels between Jack fixing Sarah so she could dance on her wedding day and Jack possibly fixing Locke so he can walk down the aisle on his wedding day????

I’m beginning to think that the point of all these non-crash time shifts are to show us what life would have been like for everyone if Jacob hadn’t intervened and began drawing them to the Island. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out in the finale that this time shifts are actually the post script to the show. Like Island Time will end such that everyone restarts without Jacob but instead of needing a credit sequence like the end of Animal House telling us what everyone did after their time on the Island we’ll already know because we’ll have had these time shifts that show us. One thing is for sure – the Non Crash Time is not occurring back in 2004 when the original crash happened. I’m thinking it is happening sometime after.

Island Time – Ben Is A Great Eulogizer
Ilyena, Ben, Frank, and Sun are headed to the Temple. The safest place on the Island according to Ilyena. First they have some unfinished business with Locke’s body. They bury it at the old beach graveyard which houses old favorites like Libby, Ecko, Anna Lucia, Boone, and Shanon. After a fantastic eulogy from Ben (“I am sorry I murdered him”, classic!) they head off for the Temple.

Not much happening with these guys excep Ilyena saying that Evil Locke is now recruiting and that his was stuck in the Locke body from now on. That is an interesting notion. Why is he stuck now and now all the other times he’s taken other forms? Does it have something to do with Locke’s body?

Island Time – Sawyer and the Cave of Mystery
Now that was kind of a cool intro thing where we saw through the eyes of Black Shirt as he black smoked around the Island. Then he came to rest where he had Richard tied up in a tree. They obviously have some history together and Black Shirt totally scares the piss out of Richard. It is unsettling to see the normal cool and calm Richard in such a freakout mode. Evil Locke offers Richard the chance to join him but Richard says heck no. No big deal to Evil Locke, he’s off to get Sawyer instead. Not before he, but not Richard, sees a creepy blonde kid in the jungle bleeding from his hands. WTF?

Sawyer, being in a delicate emotional state in addition to being shit canned, agrees to follow Evil Locke for the promise of the answer to the “why am I here” question. During their hike Evil Locke once again sees the creepy blonde kid. Unlike last time Sawyer sees the kid too. Double WTF. Locke bolts off chasing him. When he catches up to the kid the kid reminds him that he “can’t kill him”. At first I thought this kid was Jacob reborn. Then after that I thought it was some weird Island ref reminding Evil Locke that he can’t kill Jacob but some co-workers this morning mention that him could in fact be Sawyer not Jacob. As that I like that theory infinitely better than mine I shall take it as my own (credits to Allison and Matt). So the little kid is a Lil’ Jacob and Evil Locke is planning to kill Sawyer. Second hand somehow I’d imagine since there are rules that apply to him and killing people. Not that he can’t kill at all, he certainly has killed as black smoke (Mr. Eko, the pilot, countless mercenaries from the freighter, Brahm and his crew earlier this season).

While Evil Locke was playing hide and seek with Lil’ Jacob Richard took the time to hop out of the jungle and save Sawyer by taking him to the Temple. Only problem is Sawyer doesn’t want to go back. Richard senses Evil Locke coming back and bolts. Both Evil Locke and Sawyer lie to each other about talking to nobody and the journey continues. Sawyer quotes a little Of Mice and Men for a second but doesn’t pull the trigger on Evil Locke. Once again appeased with promises of answers. Sort of like all of us Lost viewers back during the first part of season 3. Evil Locke does mention that that book was well after his time meaning that he is very old indeed.
After a nice little climb down a rickety ladder on a sheer cliff Evil Locke and Sawyer reach the Secret Cave of Names. All of the names on the walls represent people Evil Locke says were candidates to replace Jacob as “protector of the island”. That could be the end game to all of this – getting replacements for Jacob and Black Shirt.

A lot of names were crossed off and if you check the screen captures you can see the following recognizable names: Littleton (Claire), Lewis (Charlotte), O’Toole and Lacombe (French scientists with Danielle), Jones, Mattingly, and Cunningham (all US military from the 50s), Goodspeed (Horace or Ethan?) Burke (Juliet), Pace (Charlie), Faraday (Daniel) and Straume (Miles, why is he crossed of it he’s not dead!?).

Those not crossed off have The Numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) attached to them:
4 – Locke (who is then crossed off)
8 – Reyes (Hurley)
15 – Ford (Sawyer)
16 – Jarrah (Sayid)
23 – Sheppard (Jack)
42 – Kwon (Sun or Jin)

All of which Jacob interacted with in last year’s finale. Everyone’s there except Kate Austen and she isn’t even on the wall as crossed off. What does it mean for her? Given some of those names Jacob has been pulling people to the Island for some time now.

Evil Locke gives Sawyer 3 options: he can wait and see how it plays out, he can become Island Protector, or he can come with him and get the fudge out of dodge. The key point to note is that Evil Locke needs somebody to come with him to get off the Island. He can’t, unlike Jacob apparently given the interactions off Island he had last year, leave the Island on his own. Sawyer says he wants to get the hell off. This is what I think though - he’s workin’ a long con. Yes that’s right I’m throwing that out here right now: even though Sawyer is depressed, drunk, and an emotional wreck I still think he’s working on figuring out what Evil Locke’s deal is and how he can screw him over and save everyone. He’s looking for revenge for Juliet now and he’s not going to stop until the Island itself pays.

One final note regarding Black Shirt/Evil Locke. They certainly are trying to give his side of the story and make him seem like the good guy. By him making Jacob the enemy by implying that everyone is on the Island because of him he’s making him the bad guy. It sounds like just the sort of thing the devil would do which is why I’m not on the Jacob is Evil Boat.

One final final note that just popped in my head – those two skeletons they found in the cave way back in season 1 that had a white and black rock with them? Former Island Protectors!

Let that marinate inside your brain banana for a while.