Editor's note: Josh is out of town this week, so I'll be covering the recap. Don't worry-- he'll be back next week with the same insightful commentary and didn't-see-'em-coming theories.
Episode Title: "The Substitute"
Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Melinda Hsu Taylor
Story: The focus this week is Locke, and hallelujah for that. On the island, Fake Locke -- Flocke --seeks recruits for some purpose... which is actually made clear by the end of the episode! More than that, a great big question-raising bomb drops in the final minutes, with half-revelations which are sure to send "Lost" theorists into raving hysterics. Meanwhile, in the parallel reality, Locke is back from Australia to his quiet life with fiancee Helen (Katey Sagal). Some questions at work arise regarding his trip to Australia, leading to an unfortunate turn of events. The resulting chain of events leads to some surprising encounters, with an Oceanic 815 passenger and... another familiar face. Very familiar.
Those Who Can't Do: The familiar face turns out to be none other than Ben Linus. Locke loses his job early on, which leads to a fortuitous chance encounter with Hurley. Sorry, that's Hugo Reyes. Parallel Hurls is cleaned up, with his hair tied back and a black blazer to accompany his jeans. Always the good egg, Hugo helps Locke out with a job: school substitute. And that's where Ben pops up. The frequently diabolical/currently contrite mastermind is a history teacher without his island followers around to hold him up. And he's kind of a jerk too.
Looked Better In Chains: Oh how the surprisingly knowledgeable and prescient have fallen. Poor Richard Alpert is in a bad state when we see him, dangling from a tree in some trap that Flocke has devised and still looking pretty beaten after his last encounter with the former Man in Black. He pops up later to give some timely advice to Sawyer or James or whatever you care to call him. Richard continues to be an enigma; he seemed to be the guy with all the knowhow, but now he's just another bruised and dirty sap, like everyone else who populates the island.
What's In A Name?: Flocke finds Sawyer and brings him along to a cave set into the side of a cliff. Inside is a scale balanced between a black rock and a white rock -- an "inside joke," Flocke says -- and a collection of names and numbers scrawled all over the walls. Just about all of them are crossed out; everyone except Locke, Reyes, Ford... I think you see where this is going. What's more, each name is paired with a number. You might recognize them. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. In a series of cutaways, we see each name/number combo being paired with the associated character's real-world encounter with Jacob in the previous season's finale.
Quote of the Evening: "Jacob had a thing for numbers." -Flocke, responding to Sawyer's question about why each name is paired with a number.
Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!: The Locke/Flocke back-and-forth this evening is peppered with parallels. We get a lot of insight into the Man in Black and what he's after. His chat with Sawyer in the cave leads to a stunning admission (if it's true, of course): Sawyer is essentially the next Jacob. He can do nothing, he can assume his role as Flocke's "Other" or he can get onboard with Flocke's plan... to just leave. Flocke wants out, and -- as we learn before the credits roll -- Sawyer does too.
"The time for questions is over.": That quote comes from the "next week on 'Lost'" bump at the end of the episode. And it looks like it's going to turn out to be a big, fat, lying lie. We're leaving F/Locke and company behind next week to presumably see the Sun/Jin reunion. Sure, it looks like we'll also find out some more about Claire. But... the numbers! New Jacob! Wtf?!?!
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LOST: Episode 6.04, 'The Substitute'
Posted 2/16/10 10:54 pm EST by Adam Rosenberg in Commentary, Reviews, TV
Episode Title: "The Substitute"
Written by: Elizabeth Sarnoff & Melinda Hsu Taylor
Story: The focus this week is Locke, and hallelujah for that. On the island, Fake Locke -- Flocke --seeks recruits for some purpose... which is actually made clear by the end of the episode! More than that, a great big question-raising bomb drops in the final minutes, with half-revelations which are sure to send "Lost" theorists into raving hysterics. Meanwhile, in the parallel reality, Locke is back from Australia to his quiet life with fiancee Helen (Katey Sagal). Some questions at work arise regarding his trip to Australia, leading to an unfortunate turn of events. The resulting chain of events leads to some surprising encounters, with an Oceanic 815 passenger and... another familiar face. Very familiar.
Those Who Can't Do: The familiar face turns out to be none other than Ben Linus. Locke loses his job early on, which leads to a fortuitous chance encounter with Hurley. Sorry, that's Hugo Reyes. Parallel Hurls is cleaned up, with his hair tied back and a black blazer to accompany his jeans. Always the good egg, Hugo helps Locke out with a job: school substitute. And that's where Ben pops up. The frequently diabolical/currently contrite mastermind is a history teacher without his island followers around to hold him up. And he's kind of a jerk too.
Looked Better In Chains: Oh how the surprisingly knowledgeable and prescient have fallen. Poor Richard Alpert is in a bad state when we see him, dangling from a tree in some trap that Flocke has devised and still looking pretty beaten after his last encounter with the former Man in Black. He pops up later to give some timely advice to Sawyer or James or whatever you care to call him. Richard continues to be an enigma; he seemed to be the guy with all the knowhow, but now he's just another bruised and dirty sap, like everyone else who populates the island.
What's In A Name?: Flocke finds Sawyer and brings him along to a cave set into the side of a cliff. Inside is a scale balanced between a black rock and a white rock -- an "inside joke," Flocke says -- and a collection of names and numbers scrawled all over the walls. Just about all of them are crossed out; everyone except Locke, Reyes, Ford... I think you see where this is going. What's more, each name is paired with a number. You might recognize them. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. In a series of cutaways, we see each name/number combo being paired with the associated character's real-world encounter with Jacob in the previous season's finale.
Quote of the Evening: "Jacob had a thing for numbers." -Flocke, responding to Sawyer's question about why each name is paired with a number.
Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!: The Locke/Flocke back-and-forth this evening is peppered with parallels. We get a lot of insight into the Man in Black and what he's after. His chat with Sawyer in the cave leads to a stunning admission (if it's true, of course): Sawyer is essentially the next Jacob. He can do nothing, he can assume his role as Flocke's "Other" or he can get onboard with Flocke's plan... to just leave. Flocke wants out, and -- as we learn before the credits roll -- Sawyer does too.
"The time for questions is over.": That quote comes from the "next week on 'Lost'" bump at the end of the episode. And it looks like it's going to turn out to be a big, fat, lying lie. We're leaving F/Locke and company behind next week to presumably see the Sun/Jin reunion. Sure, it looks like we'll also find out some more about Claire. But... the numbers! New Jacob! Wtf?!?!
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