Okay, so last week’s analysis plum never happened. Sorry. It was a cra weekend. Let’s just leave it at I adored how much shirtless Jack there was. And did you notice the Johnny-Castle-emerges-naked-from-the-bed in-Dirty-Dancing-esque scene where Jack MAY have flashed a little bit of somethin’ somethin’? (You and I both know my friends and I weren’t the only ones who rewound that part of Dirty Dancing ad nauseum).
Last night’s LOST episode catered to the obsessive cultists out there. And by obsessive cultists, I mean me. Locke episodes are always so packed with symbolism. I have to discuss this one with bullets. There’s no other way. I’m simply not that organized today.
*Love the 50s regalia in the first scene. That was my FAVE era. I’m so sad I missed it. It’s so Lorraine McFly meets Pleasantville infused with some Mad Men. Pass me my POODLE SKIRT.
*The Geronimo Jackson poster in Locke’s locker is significant. Geronimo Jackson has now come up in three Locke episodes.
*The oft repeated phrase “Don’t tell me what I can’t do.” made a cameo.
*Poor John Locke. He’s such a character straight out of a Balzac novel, even from childhood. How sad was it when adolescent Locke got locked in a locker.
*Portland’s Mittelos Labs wants to recruit young Locke for Science Camp, but Locke must have had a psychic screening of Mean Girls because he pretty much declared it social suicide (like Damian says with regard to the Mathletes club).
*Abaddon!! What’s up with his nearly shoving John’s wheelchair down the steps? Abaddon told him to go on the walkabout further reinforcing that all the survivors of 815 were lead to this island on purpose; that all this is all predetermined. Abaddon creepily tells John “you’ll owe me one.” When you and “me” run into each other again. While I loathe the structure of that sentence, it’s pregnant with meaning, I’m sure. I’m working on that one.
*The doctor washed up already ON-island due to the time delay on the island.
*Horace introduces himself and goes through the whole scene twice. That whole scene was reminiscent of the fish meeting each other scene in that Monty Python movie.
*The ornery captain is killed by Power Trip Keamy.
*Car accidents are a major theme of LOST: Emily Locke gets hit by a car which precipates John Locke’s entrance into the world 3 months early… just the first thing of many he’s forced to survive. Also, it’s a car accident in the RAIN. Rain is always the harbinger of death or dark and twisty events. A bizarre theory: could Emily have actually died in that accident and this reality where Locke exists is an alternate one? Perhaps Eyeliner Richard (whom I totes think is a dead relic from The Black Rock, BTW) is some kind of Grim Reaper…
*Love the “pit stop” Locke and co. make. Hilar.
*Was Eyeliner Richard testing Locke to see if he remembered his items from a past life? That’s the way the Tibetan monks determine who the next Dalai Lama is (and regular lamas, as well). From wikipedia: “Upon the death of the Dalai Lama and consultation with the Nechung Oracle, a search for the Lama’s reincarnation, or yangsi (yang srid), is conducted. Familiarity with the possessions or attributes of the previous Dalai Lama is considered the main sign of the tulku. The search for the reincarnated mindstream typically requires a number of years. The reincarnated being is then installed and trained by the other Lamas.”
I once watched a documentary on how they determined Gehlek Rinpoche was a lama. His book Good Life Good Death is fab, read it. Lama, by the way, is the title for a Tibetan teacher of Dharma. Coincidence? I think not.
*John plays backgammon even as a child, in keeping with the games theme within the show. He is also seen in season 1 playing backgammon with Walt. Also, note the black and white colored pieces in the game, representing the dark/light theme heavily prevalent in the show.
*Comic books have appeared on LOST before, and this one is about a “Hidden Land.” The whole scene was kind of Sixth Sense-y as well. Hurley was shown reading a Spanish comic book on the plane and later, Walt was seen reading the same comic book on the island.
Could Locke and Ben be the same person? Jeff Jensen notes in his EW article that both men were born prematurely to women named Emily. Also interesting: both men were born in the second trimester… remember, no pregnant women on the island made it to the third.
I’m DREADING the upcoming 8 month hiatus. Destiny’s a fickle bitch, n’est-ce pas?
