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February 26, 2010

Lighthouse

Let's talk about LOST!    Lighthouse.

Jack enters his apartment.
Photos of a happy family. {Awful Photoshop of Christian, Mom and Jack, Dr's Jack and Dad. His apartment has black/white artwork/pictures, a bike, exercise bike, mirrors. I think the clock shows 2:51 when he heads into the closet.}





Jack changes, looks in the mirror at his scar seemingly confused and the phone rings.








It's his mom asking if they found him yet.   Jack tells her no and that he called a couple of hours ago, and they think the coffin was checked in through Berlin.    Margo wonders how you can lose a body.   Jack doesn't know but says all they can do is wait for more info.  
Margo doesn't want to wait, "I can't get anything done. I can't even find his will, there's papers everywhere."
Jack calmly tells her he'll go over in a couple of hours and they'll find it together.   He also asks mom when he had his appendix taken out.  {If the scar is real wouldn't Jack have seen it every time he was naked and been reminded of it?}
Margo-"You were seven, or eight, maybe{Maybe?! Wouldn't she know?!}  You collapsed at school.   Your father wanted to do the procedure himself, but they wouldn't let him.  You don't remember that?"


Jack-Yeah, I... I guess I do." 
Jack sees the time {2:51}, cuts Margo off {"Well don't forget to cal..."} and hangs up.

Jack drives his crap Bronco to St. Mary's Academy.   He apologizes to the young boy sitting there waiting on the steps with his backpack. "I'm sorry I'm late.  Thought I had enough time to go home and change after work." 


The annoyed kid tells him not to worry about it.

{You can see Jack has feelings for the boy and is trying to connect to him, but the kid is distant.}
Jack apologizes again to "David".  
David-"Okay, dad."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack stares at his reflection in the rippling water.  
Dogen shares with Jack that he was afraid he left. 
Jack-"Is leaving an option?"
Dogen informs him everything is an option but he would have to stop him.   Jack appreciates Dogen's honesty.

Dogen inquires about Kwon, Austen and Ford not coming back and Jack admits he doesn't think they're coming back.  Dogen now appreciates Jack's honesty

Hurley and Miles are involved in a game of Tic Tac Toe.  It's a tie again; to which Miles feels is a "shocker".
{Hurley is O. Miles is X}

Miles is done with the game.
Hurley asks Miles if he's hungry.
Miles-"Are you?"
Hurley could eat.

Hurley enters the temple and asks the guy sitting on the steps at the spring, and {swirling a stick} in the water, if he knows if there's a kitchen in this place.

Dead pan Jacob tells him it's all the way down the hallway.   Hugo is surprised to see Jacob.  Jacob appears to Hugo again because he needs him to do something and suggests he get a pen to write a few things down.
Nervous Hugo asks, "What kind of things?" 
Jacob-"Someone is coming to the island. I need you to help them find it." 

David enters his room at Jack's place; Headphones still in his ears. {Flat screen TV, stereo, pic of baseball stadium}
Jack tells him "I hooked up the cable in here so you can watch the Red Sox. If you want."    Headphone/earbud wearing David thanks him and hits the books.

Jack picks up at book and asks David if he's reading this.
David is.
Happy Jack confesses he used to read it to David when he was little. {Like Christian used to read it to Jack?}

Jack-"Always wanted to hear about Kitty and Snowdrop. And they were Alice's...."
Uninterested David walks out of the room.
Jack calls out to David, sort of chasing him down the hallway, but David ignores Jack by blocking him out with whatever is playing in the headphones.  David takes the headphones out at Jack's request.  Interested Dad asks the kid what he's listening to.
David-"You haven't heard of them."
Jack is just trying to have a conversation with him and David wonders why. 
David-"We see each other like once a month, can't we just...get through it?"    
On cue Jack's cell rings and this seems to bother the kid.
David opens up cookies to eat.
On the phone is Margo wondering when Jack is coming over.    Jack tells David he has to head over to his grandmother's house and asks the kid if he wants to go.
David declines.   As the kid literally keeps Jack at a distance Jack tries to lovingly tell him he'll be back in an hour and then they'll eat.
{You can see Jack is troubled by the distance.}
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Sayid approached quiet Jack asking why the people of the temple are staring at him.
Jack- "Just ignore them."
Sayid-"Look.  You told me these people think I have an infection.  That they wanted to give me some mysterious pill that you instructed me not to take.  And then you disappeared.  What are you hiding from me?"
{Why does Sayid's accent sound different?}
Jack comes clean admitting the pill was poison, "They wanted me to kill you." 
Jack explains whatever they think happened to Sayid they say happened to somebody else.   When Sayid asks who it happened to Jack doesn't answer.

Armed ratty Claire comes to Jin's rescue and checks on "dead" Justin.
Claire releases Jin from the trap.
Jin asks Claire how long she's been out there.
Claire-"Since you all left. How long ago was that?" 
Jin-"Three years."
Claire-"I gotta get you somewhere safe."
Claire helps Jin but he unable to walk and he collapses.

Hugo walks down the windy and howling hallway carefully following the directions Jacob dictated to him.  The instructions are written on his arm {Crib notes/cheat sheet}

He's looking for a specific hieroglyph.   When he finds "the one" he is interrupted by Dogen who wants to know what he's doing.
Hugo claims he isn't doing anything,  "Just looking...Cause I'm a big fan of temples and like history...Indiana Jones stuff."
{He averts his eyes from Dogen}
Dogen-"You shouldn't be here. Go back to the courtyard."
Jacob appears and instructs Hugo, "Tell him you can do what you want. Tell him you're a candidate."
Apparently Dogen doesn't see him/acknowledge him there.
Nervous Hugo tells Dogen, "I'm a candidate and I can do what I want."
Dogen seems shocked and asks who told him that.  Hugo looks at Jacob but he doesn't offer any help so Hugo replies with confidence, "It doesn't matter. Why don't  you go back to the courtyard?"
Dogen seems a bit offended by Hugo's "Jedi mind trick", says something in Japanese and leaves.  Curious Hugo asks Jacob what he said but Jacob just tells him, "You don't wanna know."
 Jacob wonders what Hugo is doing there.
Hugo-"Going through the secret passageway like you told me."
Jacob told him to bring Jack.
Hugo-"Have you ever tried to get Jack to do something, it's like impossible. I can just go myself."
Jacob insists Hugo has to bring Jack with him.
Hugo-"Okay. It's bad enough you already made me write down way too much stuff and I just lied to a Samurai.   Look, if you have any idea on how to Jack to go on your little adventure I'm listening, dude."
Jacob smirks.

Hugo walks over to Jack {who is peeling fruit} and tells him to be cool, act natural and to keep his voice down. He instructs Jack while he uses the art of distraction {by tying his shoe} to the Others, "I'm gonna get up and go, wait 10 seconds and then follow me."    He tells Jack he found a secret tunnel that leads out into the jungle.
Jack-"You found a secret tunnel."
Hugo-"Well, Jacob told me about it."
Jack isn't going anywhere, which Hugo expected him to say so Jacob gave Hugo some intel on how to get Jack motivated.
Hugo-"He told me to tell you. You have what it takes." {Listen to his voice there!}
Jack is shocked, "What did you just say?"
Hugo repeats the line mentioning Jacob said he'd know what that meant.  Jack is now motivated on getting to Jacob, "Where is he?" 
Hugo- "He's kind of...dead. Turns up whenever he wants like Obi-Wan Kenobi.  But...if you wanna talk to him...he's where we're going dude."
Jack-"Well then let's go see Jacob."

Jin wakes up in Claire's digs which looks more like a birds nest.  {It contains a blue bassinet, child's books, medical instruments, explosives, wires, Dharma scraps}

Jin uses an oar as a crutch to check out the bassinet that is covered with a brown net {Veil}.
He removes the net/veil to reveal a figure made out of bits and pieces of items but resembling a being.
He hears Claire and covers the thing with a blue blanket and hurries back to the mat he was sleeping on.
It's Claire marching un-dead Justin in. {Hands tied behind his back}
Proud Claire announces, "Look what I found. One of the men who tried to kill you. He was just pretending to be dead but he wasn't.  Now we get to talk to him."     
Talk about where they're hiding her son.   She ties him up by the bassinet. 

Claire prepares to clean up Jin's open wound, "There's one thing that'll kill ya around here, it's infection."
Jin asks Claire if she's been out there all that time by herself.  She reveals she is not by herself.

Once she leaves Justin tries to persuade Jin to untie him so they can get out of there now.  Jin feels everything's okay because he knows Claire.   Apparently  Justin knows her better and feels if they don't get out of there now she's gonna kill them both.

Hugo and Jack stop on their trek.  Jack asks, "Which way?"
Hugo covertly checks his notes on his left arm {Does Jack not see the notes?} and directs Jack.   They just happen by a blue backpack, which gets Jack's attention, which happens to reveal that Kate is  filling up her water bottle in the stream.  She automatically pulls a gun on him but Jack puts his hands up, "It's me."
Kate is happy to see him, "Jack! I almost shot you!"  
She informs him Jin went back to the temple and Sawyer is on his own.
Hugo-"Hey Kate. There's a secret door to get back into the temple on the north wall behind the big tree."
Kate isn't going back to the temple; she's going to the beach camp to find Claire.  Jack informs her Claire isn't there "The people at the temple said that something happened to her."  and of course they didn't say anything else.
Concerned Kate is focused on finding her.   Jack suggests she go with them and then they'll all go to the temple together...
Hugo quietly tells her as per Jacob Kate isn't invited because it's just supposed to be him and Jack.  Jack wants to invite her but  Kate doesn't mind. "Jack, it's OK. It's all right. I hope you find what you're looking for."
 And she walks off alone.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack drives his crappy Bronco to a lovely large white home with a red front door.
Margo and Jack are looking through files, file boxes and papers. Margo feels they're never going to find it.
Jack-"Take it easy, mom.It's somewhere in here and we'll find it."
Margo-"It's like a needle in a damned hay stack. Why your father just wouldn't give his will to his lawyer is beyond me."
Jack feels why would he make it easy on them now.
Margo offers Jack a drink and Jack declines the offer.  Mom is pleased. 
Margo asks how David is holding out.  He was really upset at the funeral.
Jack seems surprised by that. Margo-"He didn't tell you?"
Jack-"Communication is not one of his strong suits.
Margo-"Well it runs in the family. When you were David's age your father was lucky if he could get more than one word out of you at a time."
Jack-"That's because I was terrified of him, mom."

Margo- "How do you know David isn't terrified of you?"
Jack-" Why would he be?"
Margo-"I don't know, Jack . Maybe you ask him."     Evidentially Jack needs to soul search. With that...

Margo finds the envelope containing the will.


Red nailed mom reads it over and asks Jack if his father ever mentioned a Claire Littleton.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Claire sterilizes her medical instruments and sharpens her ax.
While inside Justin still tries to coax Jin into untying him.
He even wonders if Jin isn't listening to him.  Justin offers to snap Claire's neck and for a split second it looks as if Jin was getting up but Claire appears.  She's really sorry Jin got stuck in her trap.
She cleans up his wounds and shares, "At least you don't have to stitch yourself up.  I had to do that once. They shot me right here." {Leg}    She also shares she had to move around a lot to hide from them.  She gives Justin a nasty look and says, "Lucky I'm still alive."
She still wants Justin to tell her where they've got her baby; Aaron.   Justin insists they don't have him, never took her kid  and she's crazy.  Claire says he lying.
Jin wonders how she could be so sure they took him.
Claire-"How can I be so sure?  Well first my father told me, and then my friend told me so I'm pretty damn sure." 
Jin wonders about her friend.  Claire asks Jin if he's still her friend and he confirms he is.  Claire is glad.  She'll all done with his leg, "Good as new."    She takes the ax, walks over to Justin and tells him, "Now it's your turn."
Jin is nervous.

On their trek Hugo apologizes to Jack for what happened back there, for wrecking his game with Kate.  Jack feels there was nothing left to wreck.  They are making their way up a rocky hill.
Hugo-"Whatever happened to you guys? I thought you were gonna get married,  have like a dozen kids."
Jack guesses he wasn't cut out for it.  This surprises Hugo because he thinks he'd make a great dad.
Jack-"I'd make a terrible dad."
They end up on a path where Jack finds Shannon's asthma inhaler.
Jack-"We're at the caves."
Hugo-"The caves we used to live in?"   {COME ON!}

Hurley forgot these were in here. {The two skeletons. Don't things look different to you?}

Hugo-"Wait a sec. What if we time traveled again, to like...dinosaur times.  And then we died and then we got buried here? What if these skeletons are us?"
Jack is only focused on the wreckage that's already inside of this cave and contains the coffin that he broke apart.

Hugo-"What's that?"  {I call fucking shenanigans! In all the time they were in the caves did he not see this stuff?  Maybe Hugo wasn't in the caves. Maybe just maybe Hugo never had to see Jack's huge baggage}

Jack-"Ever tell ya how I found this place?"
Hugo-"You were looking for water, right?"
Jack-"No. I was chasing the ghost of my dead father. He led me here. That was his coffin... until I smashed it to pieces."
Hugo-"Why'd you do that?"
Jack-"Cause he wasn't in it."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack enters his apartment bearing pizza and soda. David isn't home and Jack can't find him; No sign of the kid.
Jack sits in front of a large picture window with a beer. He calls and leaves a message on David's voice mail/answering machine again. "David. It's me again. Listen...If I did something uh, to upset you I am really, really sorry. I'm gonna drive over to your mother's house, I know that she's out of town so if you are there... just... don't go anywhere. Okay? Whatever I did...I'm sorry."

Jack pulls up in his crappy Bronco and knocks on the door but no one is home.  He takes a  hidden key out from under a fake rabbit and lets himself in.

He makes his way into David's room where it is an obviously musical atmosphere. {Nod to Meat Coat. Charlie Pace. The Who. Music from classical through current. Magic 8 ball.}


 The red light blinks on the answering machine and Jack plays it.



It's The Williams Conservatory confirming David's slot for next Friday the 24th at 7pm.   "We look forward to seeing you, and good luck."  {Not, Namaste and good luck?}
Jack checks his watch.

As Jack writes something down the machine beeps and Jack hears his own voice.  "Hey David. It's dad. I'm a...I'm in Sydney Australia...something...something happened and I...I just needed to hear your voice. I'm...I guess I'll try you again later. I love you."

Jack is emotional and heads out.
Beep.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
On their trek Hugo tells Jack this is cool, "Very old school...You know, you and me trekking through the jungle... on our way to do something that we don't quite understand. Good times. You mind if I ask you something?"
Jack-"Sure."
Hugo-"Why'd you come back...you know, to the island?"
Jack-"Why'd you come back?"
Hugo-"Back in L  A  Jacob hopped in the back of my cab and told me I was supposed to so I came. {Jack scoffs} What? So if you have a better reason for coming back, let's hear it, man."
Serious Jack reveals- "I came back here because I was broken.  And I was stupid enough to think this place could fix me."
Hugo is really sorry. They don't have much further to go.

Hugo leads him to the reveal of a lighthouse and they both wonder how they never saw it before.
Hugo-"I guess we weren't looking for it."

Ratty Claire interrogates Justin regarding the whereabouts of her son. She feels Justin is covering for them. We learn Claire was taken to the temple, tortured, stuck her with needles and then branded. Justin claims they captured her because she was out there picking off their people.  As she's about to strike Justin with the ax Jin tells her to hold on.  Claire explains if she wasn't able to escape from the temple they would have killed her. Justin tells her she's not remembering things right.  After Claire gives Justin one more chance Jin blurts out that Kate took him when she left the island; for the past three years.
Upset Claire listens to Justin say Jin is telling the truth and that if she lets him leave he'll never tell anyone he saw her. He wants to be untied so Claire ax's him.

Hurley thinks it's pretty cool and assumes Jacob will be in there. But first they have to go upstairs and turn this thing on. The door is locked. {I guess Jacob isn't in there.}
Jack-"Doesn't it say anything on your arm about the door being jammed?"
Nope, so Jack kicks it in.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack arrives at the Williams Conservatory. {Youth Concert Series.}

He enters the hall. {The poster on the back "Spring"}
Jack watches David play piano on stage as he is being judged.  Jack is hypnotized and moved. When David is finished playing he looks "doubtful".
A young Asian boy asks Jack, "Is that your son?"
Jack smiles and proudly says, "Yes."
The boy says he's really good. The boy walks over and gets a hug from an Asian man with a ponytail. It is Dogen, standing in the light wearing a handsome gray suit.
Dogen mentions to Jack that they're too young to have this kind of pressure, "It's hard to watch and be unable to help. Your son has a gift. How long has he been playing?"
Jack-"I...I don't know." and he walks away.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Hurley is out of breath from the climb up the lighthouse.
He sees the mechanics of the lighting mechanism {Mirrors-"lens/optic". Lamp.} and feels it's cool, "The must have built this to help ships get here and stuff. I guess they used a mirror cause electricity hadn't been invented yet."
Jack walks around the circular navigation compass and asks, "Where's Jacob?"
Hugo-"Oh, he's not here yet. Let's get started."
He looks at the instructions on his arm.
Hugo-"Tell me when it gets to 108 degrees." {Direction or fever/temperature?}


So Hugo pulls on the chains and this moves the wheel. {Makes nice familiar sounds!}

The arrow indicator points at the degrees and names along the wheel.



As it makes its way around the wheel and the mirror moves in conjunction, Jack catches a glimpse of something in the mirror;  the place {Temple} representing Sun and Jin.   Jack looks back to see if its behind him but it is not.

Jack looks into the mirrors seeing his own reflection and the image of a white steeple church. He has Hugo stop,"I saw something in the mirror!"
But Hugo doesn't see anything; just ocean.
Jack tries to get a better look.  Hugo continues pulling the chains and Jack notices names on the wheel.    He sees the name Shephard and instructs Hugo to turn it to 23 degrees.
Hugo-"I don't think Jacob wants..."
Jack takes control of the chains, gets to 23 and stands in front of the mirror, where emotional Jack sees, "My house. It's the house I grew up in."
Hugo seems unimpressed and only finds it weird.

Emotional Jack claims he hasn't lived in that house since he's was a kid. "He's been watching us. The whole time, all of us. He's been watching us."
Jack is focused on wanting to know where Jacob is.  Hurley only assumed Jacob would be there.  Jack wants to know why he was watching him, "I wanna know. So you're gonna ask him right now."
Hurley-"It doesn't work like that I told you...he just kinda shows up whenever he feels like it."
That answer isn't good enough for Jack so hotheaded Jack takes the hand held telescope and angrily demands answers from Hurley. "Why was he watching me? Why is my name written down on this thing? What does he want from me? What does he want from me?!" 
Scared Hurley doesn't know. 
Jack breaks all the mirrors with the telescope.

David exits the school and heads over to unlock his bike. Jack appears and tells him he was great in there.

David-"You saw me?"
Jack smiles.

David admits he missed a couple of notes but according to Jack it sounded perfect from where he was standing.
Jack tells blue eyed David that he scared the hell out of him. David thought he could get back to Jack's place before he got home.
Jack-"I didn't know you were still playing."
The kid made his mother promise not to tell Jack.   Apparently it was because it was always such a big deal to Jack.  He used to sit and watch him practice; he was so into it.
David-"I didn't tell you I was coming here cause...I didn't want you to see me fail."  {Who the fuck is having this conversation?!}
Jack shares that when he was his age his father didn't want to see him fail either. "He used to say to me that...he said that I didn't have what it takes. I spent my whole life carrying that around with me. And I don't ever want you to feel that way. I will always love you...no matter what you do...in.in my eyes you could never fail. I just wanna be a part of your life."
David is relieved and happy. The hungry guys will go back to the house for pizza.
Jack-"Good. Let's go home."
David unlocks his bike and the leave together.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Jack sits alone on a cliff staring out to the ocean.
Hugo sits by the lighthouse waiting. He wipes his forehead.
Jacob appears, startling Hugo, and asks how it went. Hugo asks where he was.
Jacob feels it doesn't matter as Jack wouldn't have been able to see him anyway.
Hugo feels if he was told more info then maybe Jack wouldn't have freaked out and smashed Jacob's mirrors. "Thanks for the seven years of bad luck, by the way."
Jacob only informs Hugo he has ink on his forehead and this pisses Hugo off.
Hugo-"Jack broke your lighthouse, dude! Mission un-accomplished!  Whoever you said we needed to help get to the island is totally screwed."
Jacob nonchalantly replies, "I'm sure they'll find some other way."
Hugo thinks that everything that Jacob needed him to do didn't get done and Jacob doesn't care. They both look over at Jack.
Hugo-"Wait a minute. Did you want Jack to see what was in that mirror?"
Jacob-"It was the only way for him to understand how important he is."
Hugo feels Jacob's plan backfired.
Jacob-"Jack is here cause he has to do something. He can't be told what that is he's gotta find it himself. Sometimes you can just... hop in the back of someone's cab and tell them what they're supposed to do. Other times... you have to let them look out at the ocean for a while."
 Hugo suggests that next time Jacob tells him everything up front because he's not big on secret plans. Jacob couldn't risk Hugo not coming. He had to get them as far away from the temple as he possibly could. "Because someone's coming there. Someone bad."
Hugo wants to warn the people at the temple but Jacob says he can't as it's too late.

Jin looks at dead Justin. Claire enters her nest and explains if she didn't kill him he would have killed her. She's glad Jin didn't untie him. Claire asks why he said Kate was raising Aaron.  Nervous Jin says he lied because he wanted to save Justin's life. He tells her she was right; the Other's have her baby, "Aaron is at the temple. I know because I saw him there. But you'll need me to get to him."
Claire looks suspiciously at him but then asks how do they get in.
Jin-"There's a secret way. No one will see us."
Claire thanks Jin and shares that she's so glad to know he was lying about Kate raising Aaron because, "If Kate was raising Aaron...I'd kill her."    {Cat fight!}
Just then Locke shows up asking if he's interrupting. The men look at each other and surprised Jin says, "John?"
Claire-"That's not John. This is my friend."
Locke and Claire smile.




The Looking Glass, uh, I mean Lighthouse is a GREAT episode!
We are shown definitively that Jack, Locke and the rest are indeed lost in many ways.
They are trapped, imprisoned and fighting the two sides of themselves as well as the forces on the Island. 
But, I must admit I had a sense at times that although we are shown individuals who are lost, I again felt when Jack was talking to Sayid about the poison pill that he was really trying to rid/kill a part of himself and not necessarily Sayid (the person).
Who is David? Could David be Jack?  Is Jack looking at reflections of himself in the boy or is David a son born into Jack’s life?
Jack and David shared many emotional similarities, Jack and his feeling about Dad's role in how he was raised and the fears he felt, musical and academic traits, and they even wore the same colors in the flash.  David's room in Jack's house is not like a young boy’s room at all.   Of course the eye color was obviously different.   If David is the son of Jack, who is his mother?   Is it someone we’ve seen in Jack’s life or someone completely new to the story like David was?

Things to note...Questions to ask...
* BAD Photoshopping! lol.
* "Island" and off "Island" things crossover and blur.
* When are all of these events from? {"Island" and off "Island"}
* Faked/pretended being dead.    "He's kind of...dead."
* Branded.  Was Jack branded?   Were the Oceanic 6 branded?
* Circles.  Loops.
* Mirrors.
* Water.
* Black.  White.   Light.  Dark. 
* Emotionally broken.   Broken heart.
* Write. Read. Compose.
* Hooked up cable. Wires. Key. Headphones.  Net.  Cookies. {Yes, cookies}
* Languages.  Japanese. Music. Communication.
* Dogen doesn't use a translator now.
* Academy. School.  Old school.  Exercise.
* Games. Baseball. Tic Tac Toe.  Golf.   Risk.  Tie.   Cheat
* Mysterious.  Magic 8 ball.  Fantasy.   Adventure.  Appear. Disappear.
* Hidden Key.  Music Key.
* The sheet music was very telling for me but also seemed to literally give instructions/info to Jack.
* Exit. Escape.
* Hurley is O
* Miles is X
* Head. Hear. Heard. Listen.  Stare.  Temple.
* 2(?): 51=Kate
* Jack is still driving that crap Bronco.
* Missing -will
* ”We weren’t looking for it.“
* Metaphor.  Manifest things.
* In the mirror Jack sees a temple, church and his home.  "The house I grew up in."    Sawyer claims to have grown up in the 3 years he spent with Juliet in the Dharma house.
* Jack smashed Christian's coffin and Jacob's mirrors. Hmmm...
* Jacob suggests Hugo get a pen to write it down.  He gave a pen to young Sawyer.  Charlie had Hurley write down a message in Something Nice Back Home.
* Jacob and his opponent seem be to utilizing cheats and loopholes to outwit each other.
* Where's Desmond, Waaaaaalt, Penny, Widmore?
* Charlie.
* Who is 108 cause it sure as hell isn’t me!
* Everyone appears confused and seems to be trying to remember/place things at times.
* Is Hugo a direct author in this adventure somehow?  There's ink is on him.   He should have been all over those numbers at the lighthouse but he wasn't. Why would that be? Either he didn't see them because he wasn't meant to see them, or it wasn't Hurley or he's in on the whole thing. I feel Hurley will be very important to the end game.  Hugo can do what he wants.   We learned over the past couple of weeks that Hurley is in a role of leadership, so that could be important info to keep close at hand.
By the way Hugo mentions a secret passage, a secret tunnel, a secret door, secret plans, then Jin mentions a secret way.
* Claire: She tells Jin "First my father told me" about them taking Aaron, yet when Claire is in the cabin with Christian he claims the baby is where he's supposed to be. 
Claire was shot her in the leg, taken to the temple, branded and tortured her like Sayid.  They say she is infected and then she escaped.  Does she know the secret way in and out of the temple too?  Justin said she was remembering thing wrong.
Weren't you brought back to Claire's dream about her responsibility with Aaron?  In Raised by Another, Locke playing the role of the psychic in her dream told her  "He was your responsibility but you gave him away. Everyone pays the price now."
* Margo only refers to Jack's father as "Your father". 
Jack: In this episode I am brought back to Christian and young Jack’s dialogue about dad telling him, “Don't choose, don't decide. You don't want to be a hero. Don't try and save everyone, because when you fail - you just don't have what it takes."   Jack is still chasing ghosts.   But could he also be chasing his own shadow?
Christian-Jacob-Jack...?
* What the hell is going on with the women on this "Island"?!
* If someone "bad" is coming, why not just move the Island again?  Or is this someone already on the "island"?

Vocabulary and Research...
* Infection anagrams to= Confine it
* Water is a life force.  It is also reflective.
* Lighthouse: is a tower aiding marine navigation.
- Lighthouse: The Dark Being is an adventure game.  Outwit evil in a supernatural mechanical world.
* In BioShock the only way to enter Rapture in BioShock is via the Lighthouse.
* Ensō:  The Zen Circle symbolizes enlightenment, strength, elegance, the Universe, and the void.
* Yin-Yang - the famous Taoist symbol of balance.
* On a maala, or set of mantra counting beads, there are generally 108 beads.
* In Zen: Walking Meditation and the Labyrinth.
There are three stages of the walk:
Purgation (Releasing) A releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. This is the act of shedding thoughts and distractions.   A time to open the heart and quiet the mind
Illumination (Receiving)  When you reach the center, stay there as long as you like.   It is a place of meditation and prayer.   Receive what is there for you to receive.
Union (Returning)  As you leave, following the same path out of the center as you came in, you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher Power, or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for.
Guidelines for the walk: Quiet your mind and become aware of your breath. Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to go. The path is two ways. Those going in will meet those coming out. You may "pass" people or let others step around you. Do what feels natural.
* A bassinet or bassinette is a bed  specifically for babies from birth to about four months, and small enough to provide a "cocoon"  that small babies find comforting.
*"Looking glass" is another term for mirror.

Looking glass self: an integrationist sociological concept
- Looking Glass servers: publicly accessible servers for performing routing queries, used to troubleshoot routing issues across the Internet
- Project Looking Glass: a project aiming to create a 3D desktop, conducted by Sun Microsystems










* Mirror:  is an object whose surface reflects an image.  Metaphorically shows the truth.
- Mirror stage: a psychological development step
- (computing): an exact copy of a data set, e.g. a website
- Mirror twins: identical twins where the features on one twin is reversed on the other twin
Mirror  by Sylvia Plath
* Navigation: Compass-Charts-Satellites-Radar-Radio-Pilotage-Celestial-Marine Chronometer-Sextant-Dead Reckoning/Inertial navigation-Echo sounder.




Are you enlightened yet? This episode was great.  It was totally significant and moving on all levels.
Jack has to literally face himself and the issues that brought him to "this place".
Jack's place.
But why did he break the mirrors? Was he just angry that he was being watched or is it that he didn’t like facing himself?  Maybe he's still having trouble letting go.     I feel Jack will step up his game but is to inch closer to “Home” or take Jacob’s place?  What does Christian want Jack to do?

"This place" has been referenced countless times within the story by just about everyone.   Emotionally "this place" is the place or state that you are in, where your broken self goes to try and find some refuge, protection from all the pain, a safe harbor…a place to go to find your lost self, to learn lessons, to face the truth, fight addictions, to learn to love and forgive yourself, to heal  and grow.

Watching this episode personally hit very close to home for me.    I can say as someone who battles with feeling broken, the saying "scars remind us that the past is real" tells you every day that all sorts of pain can take over, but you have to find the will within yourself to grow from each experience into the person you are meant to be.
With that I think it's pretty safe to say that we got total confirmation on Jack and the Castaway's being lost and they must find what they are looking for, themselves. They are on a path to enlightenment.

Two sides are indeed gearing up for an ugly battle.   But is it to “win” the island or to bring peace back to the island under the leadership of the rightful leader.   I say this because it is very possible the people of the island have been following false gods or in other words the wrong guy, for a very long time.   After all there can only be one leader at a time. The reason I ask this is I go back to Eko telling the story of Josiah.
“At that time the temple where the people worshiped was in ruin. And so the people worshiped idols, false gods. And so the kingdom was in disarray.”

The numbers could indeed be the combination of a "lock".    Locke was always changing the damn combination on the armory door during season 2.    It seems as I connect things that Locke is trying to unlock the door so he can go home and may still be in the running to not only save himself but save them all.
Where are they? Where is the “Island”? With all the clues from the past five years at this point  I'd still have to say there's a ship and city involved {and computers}.   That’s all I’ll say about that at this time.

Maybe you’re wondering if Karen still feels like the Island residents are trying to find themselves under the guise of this experience, of this adventure game and my answer  is…You bet your damn ass I do!

Love to all who are "LOST"™


Video clip-LOST and abc.com




Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode, we all know what they are. Understood? Good! Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance! It will get very exciting as we progress into the story.

February 23, 2010

Getting chatty about Kate and Locke

Hi Losties!

Happy LOST day!

Here are a couple of The ODI pod casts to catch you up on What Kate Does and The Substitute.

Also, for fans asking how to help out fellow Lostie Vozzek, who lost his home in a fire, it would be a great help to go and purchase his book. It will help him raise a few bucks and keep him in the LOST spirit!
Here's the link for Vozzek's site to order his book "Things I Noticed about LOST".

Enjoy!

Don't forget to subscribe to iTunes, but for those of you that do not use iTunes below is an audio player and download link.


ODI LOSTcast 50 - 6x03 Recap WHAT KATE DOES and 6x04 Preview


Podcast Breakdown:
1) Intro and LOST News
2) Episode 6x03 Recap - 9 Minute Mark

3) Spoilers begin at 125 Minute mark - Episode 6x04 Preview and more



Click Here to Download This Podcast | Click Here for all ODI LOST Podcasts | Click Here to View Podcast and Subscribe on iTunes | Click Here to View Podcast XML Feed



ODI LOSTcast 51 - 6x04 The Substitute Recap and 6x05 Preview

Podcast Breakdown:
1) Intro and Update from Vozzek
2) Episode 6x04 Recap - 10 Minute Mark

3) Spoilers begin at 128 Minute mark - Episode 6x05 Preview and Spoilers



Click Here to Download This Podcast | Click Here for all ODI LOST Podcasts | Click Here to View Podcast and Subscribe on iTunes | Click Here to View Podcast XML Feed

February 17, 2010

The Substitute

Let's talk about LOST! The Substitute.

(Click the pics!)

Locke drives down the street of his little happy neighborhood. Paralyzed Locke loads himself in the wheelchair onto the chair lift, lowering himself to exit the van but it gets stuck.



He uses the red joystick trying to jar the mechanism but to no avail. Locke then pushes the chair off the lift in hopes of a smooth landing but he is thrown from his chair. Then the lawn sprinklers turn on. John is not angry about the comedy of errors, as a matter of fact he seems a bit amused. Helen comes out and turns off the water. She takes soaking wet John inside.

John is in the bath looking at two color swatches for the backs of chairs for their wedding. We hear Helen is on the phone asking someone “How long will that take?” as the wedding is in October. Helen tells John she’s sick of caterers and bands and picking out fabrics for chair backs, “What do you say we just get my parents and your dad and do it shotgun style in Vegas?”
John-“No, you deserve better than that, Helen. We can do this. I know we can.“
John shows Helen the choice he made in fabric color {green} then Helen remarks, “That one?”


John- changes his mind, “I meant this one.” {Blue}
Helen feels he’s a very sweet man; which John already knows.
Helen inquires about the conference.

John takes a sip of his coffee and tells her it was boring. {mug} Helen looks at a business card she found in John’s pocket and asks who Dr. Jack Shephard is.
John-“Oh, I met him at lost luggage when I went to fill out the forms. He... he lost something too.”
Jack offered a free consult too. Helen gets excited that he’s a spinal surgeon and suggests John call him but John feels the doctor was just being polite.
Helen-“So what? I mean... what are the odds of you just running into a spinal surgeon? I mean, who knows? Maybe it's destiny.”
John smiles-“Maybe it is.“
John seems to think.

{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}

The smoke monster operates quickly, clicking, ticking, cranking, moaning, flashing and rushing high and low on its way across the “Island”.   Its sequences are glitched and seem to jump from one terrain to another until it arrives at broken down Dharmaville where it navigates its way through the tiny village and stops at its desired destination, Sawyers house. Sounds of breaking glass and loud music are heard.   Smokey hovers outside the window for a few seconds and then flashes, cranks and hurries high and low through the jungle until it comes upon the knife it was looking for and Locke acquires it.

Locke uses the knife to cut down a hanging canvas cradle that contains frightened Richard.
Locke-“Alright Richard, time to talk.”


Locke sits in the wheelchair waiting in an elevator to arrive at his level/floor. {Note No Smoking} The elevator dings and Locke exits, wheeling himself to his cubicle. At his desk he looks troubled and sad.


Randy enters, welcomes the Colonel back and compliments the nice tan John got while at the conference in Australia.



Randy asks if he “missed us”.
John-“Sure I did, Randy.” Randy asks about the conference.
John-“It was okay. I didn't really learn anything."
Randy-“No?"
John-“But um... I made some good contacts, though."
Randy-“Really? That's interesting. See uh... Ken Fisher called and said you had to cancel your lunch with him."
John-“Right, right... I was a little under the weather that day. Probably jet lag. {He grabs a green binder on his desk.}
Randy-“Really? Cause then the seminar people called and said you hadn't picked up your credentials. I did some checking... and it seems you didn't attend a single event. Since we sent you to Sydney on the company's dime... where the hell were you?"
John-“Look, Randy... I'm really sorry. Why don't we just call it my vacation week?"
Randy-“I thought you wanted that vacation week in October. You know, for your wedding."
John-“Please, Randy... look, I know I shouldn't have lied. But where I was... it's personal. And I... and I really don't want to talk about it."
Randy-“Okay, John. Hey... you're fired.” He salutes John and walks away.

{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}

Locke gives Richard some water and apologizes for hitting him in the throat and dragging him off the beach but he had to do something.   Richard just wants to know what he wants.
Locke-“What I've always wanted. For you to come with me.”
Richard-“Why do you look like John Locke?”
Locke-“I knew he'd get me access to Jacob. Because John's a candidate. Or at least he was a candidate... “
Richard struggles to stand up; he doesn’t understand what a candidate means.
Locke-“Didn't Jacob tell you any of this?”
Richard-“Any of what?"
Locke-“Oh, Richard... I'm sorry. You mean, you've been doing everything he told you all this time and he never said why? I would never have done that to you. I would never have kept you in the dark.“
Richard-“And what would you have done?”
Locke-“I would have treated you with respect. Come with me and I promise I will tell you everything.”
Richard won’t go with him.
Locke-“Are you sure about that, Richard? Because people seldom get a second chance...”
Richard-“I'm not going anywhere with you.”


Locke sees a young blond boy a few feet away. He is dressed in Other’s garb, no shoes and blood on his arms.
Richard doesn’t seem to see the boy.
Locke is now nervous, “I’ll be seeing you Richard. Sooner than you think.” And he walks away.

Ben enters the statue {fire pit is illuminated and white} notes the covered dead men and Ilana who is alone and crying. Ilana wants to know what happened.
Ben, who feels there’s a chance she won’t believe him but still shares with her that John Locke killed them, turned into a pillar of black smoke and killed them and Jacob right before his eyes. Ilana asks where Jacob’s body is.


Ben-“Locke kicked him into the fire and he burned away.”


Ilana walks over to the ashes, takes a small sack {Similar in color to one of Helen's swatches} and gathers ash to put in it. Ben asks if she knows why Locke carried Richard out into the jungle and Ilana replies, “He's recruiting.”





Locke walks through Dharmaville {Not smokies his way through} and walks into Sawyer’s destroyed house.
A record is playing Search and Destroy. Locke enters Sawyer’s bedroom where he finds him dispirited and drinking. Sawyer thought Locke was dead to which Locke replies, “I am.”
Sawyer pours two sloppy drinks and shoves one at Locke {who only licks the spilled drop from his finger but doesn’t drink} Sawyer toasts to being dead. Locke feels Sawyer’s taking it extremely well. {What, that he/they’re dead?}
Locke-“That I’m here.”
Broken and drunk Sawyer replies, “I don't give a damn if you're dead. Or time travellin' or... the ghost of Christmas past. All I care about is this whiskey. So bottoms up! Get the hell out of my house.”

Locke informs him it isn’t James’ house; he just lived there for a while but it was never his house.
James-“Who are you? Cause you sure as hell aint John Locke.”
Locke wonders what makes him say that.
James-“Cause Locke was scared… even when he was pretending he wasn’t. But you…you aint scared.”
Locke seems intrigued by James’ observation and doesn’t admit or imply he’s anything other than “Locke” or not, he only says, “What if I told you I was the person who could answer the most important question in the world?”
This amuses James and he wonders what question would that be.
Locke-“Why are you on this Island?”
James-“I'm on this Island… because my plane crashed. Because my raft blew up. …cause the helicopter I was on was ridin' one too heavy.”
Locke tells him that’s not why he’s there and if he goes with him he can prove it. Curious James is interested so he’ll go put some pants on. {Fine, but leave the shirt off! Can I get an Amen, ladies?!}
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Locke wheels himself with his box of office effects to his car in the parking lot. Locke does not park in a handicap space and gets upset when the yellow Hummer is parked too close to his car making it impossible for him to get to mechanical side door and chair lift for entry. In frustration Locke throws the remote control key fob on the ground. He bangs on the Hummer causing the alarm to trigger. Hugo comes along with his remote control key fob, cancels the alarm and asks Locke what he’s doing. Locke is a bit fired up.
Locke-“What am I doin'? What the hell are you doin'? Did you ever park a car in your life? You're practically in my spot!”
Hugo apologizes and shows him there’s a handicap spot over there.
John-“Yeah? Yeah, okay... but I don't have to park there! I can park anywhere I want! You need to stay inside the lines!”


Hugo-“I'm really sorry. They were supposed to reserve a spot for me, so... you know, I just... parked here.”
John-“I haven't seen you before. Do you work here?"
Hugo-“Actually, I own the company.”
They laugh, introduce themselves to each other and shake hands. Hugo asks John what he does there.
John-“Actually... nothing. My boss just fired me."
Hugo-“Oh? Who's your boss?"
John-“His name is Randy. But uh…”
Hugo-“Randy Nations? Yeah... that guy is a huge douche. Want me to talk to him for you?” John declines the offer.
Hugo-“Tell you what, John. I own a temp agency too... {takes a pen and paper from the box and jots something down} Call this number and tell them that Hugo said to hook you up with a new job, pronto. And chin up. Things are gonna work out.”
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
The body of dead Locke lays on the beach. A spider {Bug} is on his head and crawls away.

Armed Frank remarks that Locke’s getting pretty ripe. {For picking or what?! lol.} Sun informs Ilana that everybody went to the temple.

Ilana feels that’s the safest place on the island and they should go there too. Sun shows concern for Ilana but doesn’t want her to assume she’s going with her. Ilana knows Sun wants to find Jin.
Sun-“What do you know about my husband?"
Ilana-“I know that if he's on the island... and if he's alive... then he'll be at the temple. Let's get moving!”
Sun-“What about John? We need to bury him.”
Ilana sighs.

On their trek through the jungle Locke asks James what he was doing alone in that house. James admits he was drinking.

Locke wonders where are the rest of his friends are and James tells him they’re at some temple somewhere. Locke asks why he isn’t with them. Sawyer stops the questioning and suggests they don’t talk anymore. They both hear something and see the blond boy standing in the jungle.
James-“Who the hell's that?"
Locke-“You can see him?"
Sawyer-“The kid? Hell yeah I can see him.
The kid runs off and Locke chases him. Locke trips on a roots/vines and falls. The kid stands over him and tells him, “You know the rules. You can't kill him.” {Who?!}
Locke-“Don't tell me what I can't do...{the kid shakes his head no and walks away} Don't tell me what I can't do!

Purple shirted James calls out for, “Locke! Locke! Look, whoever you are, you got about twenty seconds and then I'm outta here!“
Petrified Richard pokes out of the jungle with both hands up and asks James “Where is he?”
Sawyer wonders what the hell he’s doing there.
Richard-“Where is he?”
James-“Locke? He ran off into the jungle after some kid.”
Richard-“We need to go! Now!”
James-“Go where?“
Richard-“To the temple! Let's go! Let's go!”
Sawyer-“You know what? I've been to the temple and I think I'm stickin' with Locke.”
Scared Richard tells him that man is not John Locke! Sawyer already knows that.
Richard-“Then why are you with him?”
Sawyer-“Because he's got answers. He says he knows why I'm on this island. Unless you wanna tell me why I'm here, Richard..."
Richard-“Don't be naive! He's not gonna tell you anything, he's gonna kill you!”
Sawyer-“If he wanted to kill me he could have done it a dozen times already...”
Richard-“You don't understand what you're dealing with! He doesn't just want you dead, he wants everyone dead! Everyone you care about! All of 'em! And he won't stop…”

Richard hears footsteps in the jungle and runs away. Locke shows up asking James who he was talking to.
James-“Nobody. You ever catch up to the kid?”
Locke-“What kid?”
James-“Right... let's get on with it, shall we?”
Locke agrees.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
A bizarre purple shirted woman sits behind a desk and asks Locke “What kind of animal would you describe yourself as?”

{Note the posters use the word "DREAM"}

John-“Excuse me?”
The Woman-“What kind of animal would you describe yourself as?”
Confused John doesn’t know what that has to do with this. The woman tells him to just say whatever comes to mind but John doesn’t answer.
The Woman-“ Would you describe yourself as a people person?”
John is confused and uncomfortable and asks to speak to her supervisor. The woman leaves to get her and Rose walks right in. {This woman walks out of the room kind of droid-like. lol}
Rose-“I'm Rose Nadler, the office supervisor. What can I do for you?”
John-“Uh... what you can do, Mrs. Nadler, is spare me the questions about what kind of animal I am and hopefully place me in a job."
Rose-“Absolutely. What kind of placement are you looking for?”
John-“Well, I see here that you have a listing for a site coordinator...“
Rose-“Construction site coordinator. Uh... I'm not sure that's a good match.”
John-“Well, if experience is the issue, I have…”
Rose-“Experience isn't the issue.”
John-“Look... Mr. Reyes told me if I came down here I would be taken care of.
Rose-“And Mr. Reyes is my boss, so if he said that, I can make it happen for you. If you want to work construction, you got it. “ John thanks her.
Rose-“I'm not finished. I will send you down there tomorrow and then, the day after, you will be back in my office. Look, Mr. Locke... let's try to be a little more realistic.
John-“And what do you know about realistic?”
Rose-“I have cancer. Terminal cancer.”
John-“I'm sorry... “
Rose-“When the doctors first told me, I had a hard time accepting it. But eventually... I got past the denial part and I got back to living whatever life I've got left. So, how about we find you a job you can do?”
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
On their trek through the jungle James asks Locke if he reads book.  Sawyer and Locke walk through the jungle. Locke does read.
James-“My favorite's Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men. You know that one?”
Locke-“Nope. A little after my time...” {Published 1937}
James-“It's about these two guys, George and Lenny. Lenny's kinda slow... causin' George problems... so George walks him into the woods and tells him to look out yonder and picture the pretty little house they're gonna live in one day. Then he shoots Lenny in the back of the head.“
Locke feels that’s not a happy ending and James agrees. James points a gun at Locke.
Locke-“What's on your mind, James?
James-“I'm wonderin' what would happen to you if I put a bullet in your head.“
Locke doesn’t even falter,” Why don't we find out?”
James-“What are you?
Locke-“What I am is trapped. And I've been trapped for so long that I don't even remember what it feels like to be free. Maybe you can understand that. But before I was trapped, I was a man, James. Just like you.”
James is having a hard time believing that.
Locke-“You can believe whatever you want, that's the truth. I know what it's like to feel joy... to feel pain, anger, fear... to experience betrayal. I know what it's like to lose someone you love. So if you wanna shoot me, shoot me. But you're so close, James. It would be such a shame to turn back now.”
Locke walks into the jungle. Sawyer concedes and follows Locke.

Ben and Ilana carry Locke’s body in a fabric cradle to the Lostie’s beach camp cemetery. 
Ben asks her why she had to bring him to the statue in the first place. Ilana felt the people there need to see the face of what they're up against.
Ben-“And what’s to stop what they're up against from changing his face?”
Ilana-“He can't, not anymore. He’s
stuck this way.”
They arrive at the overgrown Castaway cemetery and Ben and Frank dig the hole while Sun and Ilana tend to Locke’s body.
Once they put Locke in the ground Ilana asks if anyone wants to say anything, “Didn't any of you know him?
Ben steps forward, “Alright, I know him. John Locke was a… A believer, he was a man of faith, he was… a much better man than I will ever be. And I'm very sorry I murdered him.”
Sun looks a bit surprised at his last remark. This is the weirdest damn funeral Frank has ever been to. They toss dirt into the grave.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Locke is laying on the bed; the alarm is going off. It’s 6:15.  John quietly goes through the motions of his daily routine as a paralyzed man.







He sits in front of his small circle mirror looking a bit lost in thought and dials up Dr. Shephard’s office.




The woman-"Hello, Dr. Shephard's office? Hello? Can I help you?"
Locke has second thoughts about making the call, "No, no you can't." And hangs up.
John tries to fluff off who he was on the phone with to Helen but then reveals he was calling Dr. Shephard. {Which one?} This pleases Helen and she asks when John will see him. John is not going to see him and blurts out that he got fired. The doorbell rings. {The home is filled with images and representations of flowers; orchids, roses, etc.}
It's the Oceanic courier to bring the lost luggage.
"Sign here to accept your delivery."
As Helen wheels over the silver case she wants to know how John got fired. {Helen's shirt is pink/rose with sentiments of Dharma: Peace, Karma, Joy, Tranquility, lotus flower and Asian characters.
Locke-"I lied to Randy, I didn't go to the conference in Sydney."
He has Helen open the case, she sees the knives and wonders what they are for.
Locke-"My walkabout."
He goes on.
Locke-"My walkabout. An adventure in the outback. Man against nature. But they wouldn't let me go. And I sat there yelling at them, shouting at them that they couldn't tell me what I can't do. But they were right. I'm sick of imagining of what my life could be out of this chair, Helen. What it would be like to walk down the aisle with you because it's not gonna happen. So if you need me to see more doctors, have more consults, if you need me to get out of this chair, I don't blame you. But I don't want you to spend your life waiting for a miracle because there is no such thing."
Helen-"There are miracles, John. And the only thing I was ever waiting for was you. " She tears up Dr. Shephard's card and kisses John.
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
James and Locke arrive at a high cliff that literally overlooks the ocean. James compliments the view.
Locke-"Now we go down."
Sawyer wonders, "Down where?"
Locke-"Down there."
Sawyer-"No offense, but you already died. So this is great that this isn't a big deal for you. But if you think I'm climbing down there first, you're off your damn mind."

It's no problem, confident Locke with his backpack on will go first. And so he does. Locke quickly and swiftly climbs down the narrow ladder handmade from bamboo, tree limbs and rope. Very cautious James starts down the ladder.

Locke switches over to a different ladder to the right. {Tell me that doesn't feel like a video game/Donkey King move.}
James' ladder breaks and it falls but he holds on, ending up hanging right next to Locke on his other ladder. Locke saves James.

They arrive at their destination; a hole in the side of the cliff. {Cave}
James-"What is this place?"

Locke walks over to a work table that has a scale that is (somewhat) in balance (actually a little heavier on the black rock side) with the use of one light/white rock a one dark/black rock.




Locke throws the white rock out of the cave and claims the action to be an inside joke.
James-"So this is what you wanted me to see? A hole in the cliff with some rocks on a scale, that's why I'm here?"
Locke-"No. {Locke smiles, lights a torch and leads James into another cave.} That's why you're here. That, James, is why you're all here."
Locke illuminates the ceiling and walls revealing many names and numbers, many of which are crossed out.





{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}





Switch scene to show Locke sitting in his wheelchair and coaching girls running sprints to speed it up and advising them not to cheat
Then switch to Locke is sitting behind a desk in a classroom full of students.  He instructs them to "Open your textbooks to chapter four. Today, we are going to talk about the Human reproductive system."
The Bell rings.

Locke is wheeling himself {brown paper bag on his lap} through the exterior school corridor and asks a student for directions to the teacher's lounge. In the lounge we hear the familiar voice of Ben.
Ben-"Alright, I know I sound like a broken record, but how many times do we have to go over this? If you have the last cup of coffee, you remove the filter and throw it away. Fear not. I will make a fresh pot."
Locke-"Actually, I was just hoping for some Earl Grey."
Ben-"Tea? Now there's a gentleman drink. I don't believe we met. Ben Linus, European History."
Locke-" John Locke, substitute."
Ben-"Well, Welcome."
{Air plane engine/sounds-rumble}
Locke watches James check out the writings.
James asks, "Who wrote all this?"
Locke shares "His name was Jacob." and explains the "was" means he Jacob died yesterday. James noted Locke doesn't seem too upset about and that's because he's not. James asks why all the names are crossed out. Locke indicates they're not all crossed out and shows him a name on the wall. 23-Shephard.
James- "Shephard. That'd be Jack Shephard?" {scene of Jacob touching Jack at the vending machine.}


Locke-"He's not the only one."
James-"Reyes. That's Hugo, right? What's the eight about?" {Jacob touches Hugo in the taxi}
Locke-"Jacob had a thing for numbers. 16 Jarrah. 42 Kwon. I don't know if its Sun or if its Jin. And here, 4 Locke. I think we both know him. Last but not least, number 15 Ford. That would be you."

James wonders why  Jacob would write his name on this wall as he's never even met the guy.


Locke assures him he did meet Jacob, {scene of Jacob touching James at the funeral} "At some point in your life, James, probably when you were young, when you were miserable and vulnerable. He came to you, he manipulated you, pulled your strings like you were a puppet. And as a result, choices that you thought you made were never really choices at all. He was pushing you, James. Pushing you... to the island."
Jacob did this because James was a candidate.
James-"Candidate for what?"
Locke-"He thought he was the protector of this place. And you, James, have been nominated to take that job."
James-"And what does that mean?"
Locke-"It means you have three choices. First, you can do nothing and... see how all this plays out. And possibly, your name {crosses out Locke's name} will get crossed out. Second option: You can accept the job, become the new Jacob, and protect the island."

Sawyer-"Protect it from what?"
Locke-"From nothing, James. That's the joke, there is nothing to protect it from, its just a damn island. And it will be perfectly fine without Jacob or you, or any of the other people, whose lives he wasted."
James-"You said there were three choices?"
Locke-"The third choice, James, is that we just go. We just get the hell off this island. We never look back."
James-"How do we do that?"
Locke-"Together. So what do you say, James? Are you ready to go home?"
James thinks-"Hell yes."













The Substitute is a GREAT episode!!
In  "2004" John Locke is alive and “somewhat” well, and we're seeing a version of things "as if" Oceanic didn't crash or in other words a "substitute" version, but in 2007 he is "dead" on the "Island". {Actually isn't it Jeremy Bentham that died?!} What are we really seeing and what is the purpose of seeing it laid out this way? Is it three completely different time lines from three completely different spaces in the universe or is it a glimpse into three go-around's on the "Island" for John Locke, Jack and the rest?

I think all of the "Oceanic" events are also included in the other experiences that I consider happening in “confines” of the “Island”.     I mean come on we're still seeing a Locke “Flash” that connects/blurs with "Island" events, so it has to be there for a damn reason!!
If Locke is dead there would be no reason for us to see a "Flash" of him in a "what if" scenario. The "Oceanic" Locke admits to not learning anything and seems pissed at Hugo for practically being in his spot, literally. Is Hugo in a position that Locke was vying for?

Locke and "Smoky/Locke" share memories, feelings, emotions, language, {Smokey/Locke} even trips and falls chasing the blond boy, so isn’t it possible it still is Locke just on a whole other level or at least Locke is still in there somewhere.   Maybe the "smoke" feature isn't completely understood by all of us yet.
Speaking about levels, it could seem that Locke didn't see himself paralyzed on some level as he does things like not parking in a handicap spot or jumping the wheelchair off the lift and going on a walkabout.  The current on "Island" version of Locke is no longer afraid. That is a very important thing to note.

I do still think people and things are not what you think.



(The Bagua is posted so you can see if the colors pertain to the story)









Things to note…Questions to ask…
* Could the “X” in LA  X mean experience or that names are "crossed out"?
* Reyes is the boss-Rose is Manager.
* Games. Gambling/Vegas. Odds. Rules. Cheat.
* Bug.
* Drills. Colonel. Military.
* Machine. Mechanical sounds. Ring. Buzzer. Alarm. Clock/timer.
* Purple. Green. Blue. Rose.
* The color blue swatch and the little blue bag Ilana uses to pick up ask look very similar. {according to my TV}
* Locke lies.
* Will the dead and buried Locke stay buried?
* Jacob burned up in the fire. Locke gets fired.
* "You need to stay inside the lines!"
* Death. Rebirth. Karma. Letting go. Destiny.
* Dreams. Imagining.
* Terminal.
* Joystick. Remote control.
* Recruits. Candidates. Lists. Credentials.
* Cards-Business card. {John/Jack} Credit card {Claire/Kate}
* Company.
* Sawyer sees the blond kid but Richard doesn’t seem to see the blond kid. Who is the blond kid in the jungle? Is John chasing himself or someone else in child form? Is the kid just there to remind Locke of the boundaries of the game?
* Rose is married, living in L.A.
* Learn. School. Lessons. Student. Teacher.
* Mind. Head.
* Body. Human reproduction.
* Hugo=ATE=8
* 4 = Four/for Locke
* Jacob touched Jack when he was older but Jack still had choice issues and situations in earlier years that shaped his life as did Sayid, Locke, Jin, Sun and Sawyer.
* Drinking. Drunk. Jack and Christian.
* Christian was on the "Island" in Missing Pieces...what's that about? It must mean something.
* Locke tells James he has three choices and Rousseau told the Castaways' in Exodus part 1 they have three choices: run, hide, or die.
* Richard won’t go with Locke so Locke approached broken Sawyer.
* Have the people on the island been following Jacob blindly?
* Ben controlled the "smoke monster". It did get out and wander the "island". So was he held prisoner in the cabin?
* It's a joke. The island doesn't need protecting.
* How is Ben really playing into the other part of the game duo?
* Hugo and his important role in the entirety of the adventure!
* Are candidates on the "white"/light side?
* The numbers: We see they're associated with certain Castaways, but what does that mean? Okay, they equal 108.
Does this mean there is no Valenzetti equation?
The numbers were broad casted at least for the 16 years prior. {Prior to what? I don't friggin' know!}
Lenny repeated the numbers.
Hurley always seemed directly connected to the numbers.

In the cave:
4 – Locke
8 – Reyes
15 – Ford
16 – Jarrah
23 – Shephard
42 – Kwon {Jin or Sun? Both?}
313 – Littleton {Claire? Aaron?}
Although all of the above could correlate to only the males.
Gone:
195 – Pace

Vocabulary and Research…
* Substitute: Proxy-
alternate, agent, alternate, assistant, auxiliary, backup, changeling, delegate, deputy, double, dummy, equivalent, expediency, fill-in, ghost writer, locum, makeshift, pinch-hitter, procurator, recourse, refuse, relay, relief, replacement, representative, reserve, stand in, standby,sub,successor, supply, surrogate, symbol, temp, temporary, understudy, vicar.
Acting, additional, another, artificial, counterfeit, experimental, false, imitation, mock, near, other, provisional, pseudo, second, sham, simulated,tentative, vicarious.
* Scale (weighing scale)
- symbol of justice. metaphor of matters being "held in the balance.
- Libra is represented by the balanced scales- September 23- October 22.
* Buddha(from the ancient Indian languages of Pali and Sanskrit) means "one who has awakened".
* Dharma's two meanings-
1). the teachings of the Buddha which lead to enlightenment (The Universal law of nature)   
2). the constituent factors of the experienced world (The characteristic of elements)
* Chakras: There are 7 primary Chakras
- Muladhara-Base or Root Chakra (ovaries/prostate)
- Swadhisthana- Sacral Chakra (last bone in spinal cord *coccyx*)
- Manipura- Solar Plexus Chakra (navel area-gut)
- Anahata -Heart Chakra (heart area)
- Vishuddha- Throat Chakra (throat and neck area)
- Ajna-  Brow or Third Eye Chakra (pineal gland or third eye)
- Sahasrara- Crown Chakra (Top of the head; 'Soft spot' of a newborn)
* "Candidate" is a derivative of the Latin "candida" meaning White.
* Conference (sports), a grouping of geographically-related teams.
*  Boss an employee's supervisor, a leadership or executive position in an organization or group.
- In video gaming, is an enemy-based challenge, a particularly powerful enemy or opponent in a video game.
- Boss: a character in the Transformer universe.
- Yahoo! Search BOSS (Build your Own Search Service)
* A credential is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant de jure or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so.
* “Search and Destroy” by The Stooges
* “Search and Destroy” also known as 'Seek and Destroy', is a military strategy.

* Reminder- John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704), widely known as the Father of Liberalism was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Locke's theory of mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self. Locke was the first to define the self through a continuity of consciousness. He postulated that the mind was a blank slate or Tabula Rasa. He maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception. The Lockean self is a self-aware and self-reflective consciousness that is fixed in a body.







Something I feel is important to touch on is we learn that Jacob took away their free will and we're led to believe that "Locke" gives people choices.
This season we learned "Smoky" took Locke's form so he could gain access to Jacob. But couldn't it be that Locke "believes" he assumed that role. That's important!

I feel we may have seen this "not scared" John Locke before, possibly going back to season one but more specifically the example I'll use here is from season 3...
In episodes like The Man behind the Curtain Locke wants to be brought to Jacob. Locke even calls out Ben {who by the way poured two glasses of whiskey for him and John} about not having access to him and threatened to get Richard to take him to Jacob.

With The Substitute I want to believe Locke when he is talking to James about joining him but I am very cautious because I remember back in the episode  The Brig,  Locke used Sawyer as a loophole/cheat to kill Anthony Cooper and get what he wanted...access to Jacob.

Two sides, one light, one dark, both on a quest to win the game and find balance.  This war game is going to get ugly and I still have to wonder who is coming to get in the middle of all of this.

Did the con man James just get conned by the con man Locke?  Is it possible that Locke is truly trying to align himself with a team that can help him regain his freedom?
Locke may just be "changing the combination" again. It is obvious Locke wants to be done with all of this and go home.  Hell at this point he could be a friggin' ET or a Prawn or maybe a hybrid of some kind and wants to go home.

This episode showed yet again the principles of enlightenment and Dharma. It was all over the place. I'm still puzzled by how that layer of the story is almost never addressed by the fans.
Learning to let go of the old you and discovering a way to live life as the new you...Finding peace and tranquility between your mind, thoughts, challenges, heart and body...You seeking balance on all levels...isn't that all we ever really want?

Love to all who are “LOST”™

Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode, we all know what they are. Understood? Good! Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance! It will get very exciting as we progress into the story.