WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS
Summary
Let’s nickname this episode the “finally we get some answers!” episode. Did anybody really believe that John Locke actually killed himself? Anyway, summary time.
Random guy from plane (Caesar) and Ana-Lucia clone find Locke and he says, “I remember dying.” Creepy. So we go back to the whole “what happened when Locke turned the wheel?” thing, and Locke is in Tunisia (as a subtitle helpfully fills in), because that’s apparently where the “exit” from the Island is. Some guys in a truck pick him up and take him to a hospital to take care of that whole “bone sticking out of the leg” thing.
Who shows up at the hospital? None other than Charles Widmore, who definitely remembers Locke from way-back-when they met on the Island. (Four days ago for John – like, fifty years ago for Widmore). So basically, Widmore helps John and goes into this whole shpiel about how evil Ben is. Now, we’ve been indoctrinated for so long into thinking that Widmore is the evil one, and then Ben started being helpful, but now Widmore is being helpful… it’s all very confusing, but basically Widmore goes, “There’s a war coming, John. And if you’re not back on the Island when that happens, the wrong side is going to win.”
Locke of course, asks, “How do I know you’re not the one who’s lying?” and Widmore answers, “I haven’t tried to kill you. Can you say the same for Ben?” My AP Lit training is screaming, “Foreshadowing!”
Then, the orderly that originally told Locke to go on the Walkabout way-back-when shows up and carts Locke around as he tries to unsuccessfully convince everyone to come back to the Island. (Everyone he talks to: “Are you fucking batshit crazy, Locke?”)
Finally, Locke is so disheartened that he tried to kill himself in a hotel room — but right as he’s about to hang himself, Ben breaks down the door. After Locke gets tricked into telling Ben things he shouldn’t, Ben fucking strangles him and poses it as a suicide.
We head back to the Island and learn that some people on the plane actually did get hurt in the crash — and one of them is Ben. I don’t know, this just says to me really obviously that Ben is the evil one, not Widmore — the Island clearly didn’t want him to come back.
WTF Moments
WWWWWAAAAALLLLTTT!!!!!
Someone shoots the orderly guy. WTF. Then Locke runs off and gets in a car crash. ACTION. DEATH. BLOOD. GORE. I love this show.
So, there’s like five minutes left, when’s Locke going to d—HOLY SHIT BEN STRANGLES LOCKE. WTF. It happened so fast — something about the name “Eloise Hawking” just made him go batshit crazy.
Quotes
Best Goosebumps: John Locke: “I remember dying.”
Closest to Funny: Charles Widmore: “Jeremy Bentham was a British philosopher… your parents had a sense of humor, why can’t I?”
Best Passive-Aggressive Argument for Charity Work: Sayid: “And if you change your mind, you’re welcome to come back here and do some real good. (P.S. Sayid’s Spanish is like, amazing. I love it.)
Biggest Bullshit: Ben: “I’ll miss you, John… I really will.”
Questions Remaining
Why does Eloise Hawking have a different surname than her ‘son’? Is she, perhaps, related to Stephen? Haha.
Really, though: Where’d Aaron go? Am I wrong for caring about the kid?
Is Charles Widmore or Benjamin Linus the real villain? They both seem equally tricky. Which “side” of the war should Locke be on? Which side are we rooting for? Are we actually rooting for the Others?
Why did Ben kick Widmore off the Island? I just really want to know more about that whole back-history, which we probably will since, back on the Island, we’re in the past… yay!