LOST: THE REWATCH COLUMN: SEASON 5 EPISODES 7 & 8

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham & LaFleur (S5, eps. 7 & 8)

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham (S5, ep. 7)

Locke: “I remember dying.”

Some brief housekeeping/shameless self-promotion:

One week to go.

Can you feel it? That excitement? Savor it, folks. This is our last Christmas Eve as fans of this show – the last opportunity to feel the sense of growing (agonizing) anticipation that sets in before each season of Lost begins.

Writing these columns has helped me to whet my appetite for the final season, kept me from seeking out spoilers, and preserved that sense of anticipatory excitement for me so that it’s manageable (sad, but true). I hope that reading along with me has helped you in a similar fashion. At the least, I hope it’s been fun. But times a wasting, so let’s get crack-a-lackin’ and wind things up. This week we’ll cover the majority of the rest of Season 5. On Tuesday morning I’ll release the double-column for The Incident (Parts I & II) just in time to link it up with the Season 6 premiere on Tuesday night.

Chud.com’s staff has kindly offered to let me extend this column into Season 6, where it’ll undergo a name change from “Lost: The Rewatch” to “Lost: The Recap.” If you’ve enjoyed these columns I invite you to follow along with me as we talk about Lost’s final season week-by-week. The Chud.com message boards will be hosting a thread exclusively dedicated to Season 6, and I invite you as well to join in and participate in the discussion. There are a lot of terrific sites out there on the internet, but Chud remains my preferred meeting place to talk about what’s swiftly become my favorite television show. I encourage you to make it your preferred hang out as well.

Depending on the premiere’s density (and judging from what I have heard about the first show’s script, there’s going to be the opportunity for some serious discussion and analysis afterward) there’ll be a Lost: The Recap column up by late Wednesday/early Thursday to discuss it, and that pattern will continue through the season.

Finally, thanks for your patience as the final season approaches. Much as I’d like to spend all of my free time writing these things, ‘real life’ sometimes gets in the way. Your thoughts, kind words, and genuine enthusiasm are the payment I receive for doing this – and it’s worth every minute.

With all of that blather out of the way, let’s jump back in.

Thoughts:

• We open, rather confusingly, on new character Caesar, who is rummaging through what turns out to be Ben’s office on Hydra Island. As he’s looking through things, Caesar rifles through an old issue of Life magazine with a cover story about Hydrogen bomb tests. The bomb that Daniel ordered the Others to bury was a hydrogen bomb, and the date of the magazine places it in the same year as Locke and Co.’s time-travel trip to the Jughead-era. Is this another hint that the Others (or Ben specifically) have been gathering information relevant to the Island’s history? Or is it just a cute meta-reference to the events of Jughead?

• In his rummaging, Caesar also discovers what looks to be a photocopy of one of Daniel’s journal pages. What does this suggest? It suggests that upon getting the journal from Daniel in the 1970s, some of the Others made use of it. They copied it, maybe studied it, and filed it away. There’s no other apparent explanation. And its presence in Ben Linus’ office suggests that he (or Eloise, prior to her leaving the Island) may have been using Daniel’s journal in some way. We know that Ben has a runway constructed back in Season 3 that will eventually serve as the runway for Ajira flight 316 in Season 5. Did he plan that with the help of Daniel’s journal? Or was he told by Jacob to build the runway?

• Locke’s initial reappearance comes complete with a Darth Suspicious-style black cloak. We know from Charlie’s brush with the dark side that the wearing of dark hoods is never a good sign for a character on this show.

Locke: “I think this is the best mango I’ve ever tasted.”

• That line may be more than we think it is. On first viewing it comes across as the sound of Locke savoring his return to life. But on Rewatch we know that this person isn’t John Locke at all – he’s the mysterious Man In Black in Locke’s form, who I’ll be referring to as “Anti-Locke” here in the column to hopefully avoid confusion.

Notice that Anti-Locke takes a mango from Ilana; something that we haven’t seen a ‘ghost’ do on the show (to my recollection). We’ve seen the Island’s ‘ghosts’ talk to the castaways, we’ve seen some of them (like Christian) manipulate objects like lanterns and rocking chairs. We’ve even seen one ‘ghost’ – Charlie – slap Hurley in the face (“Dave” does this too, but I’m not sure if Dave was a ‘ghost,’ or a manifestation of Hurley’s guilt. Granted, on this show those two things tend to be one and the same).

All of those instances can be explained away as some form of mental projection or hallucination – it’s even possible that Charlie’s slap was “all in Hurley’s head,” so to speak. However, when Ilana hands Locke a mango, she’s passing something that has an established external reality, something that exists independently of any ‘ghost.’ And Locke takes it, and eats it. On a basic, obvious level then, “Anti-Locke” is real. He’s not a ‘ghost.’ He can touch people. He can take things from them. He can eat fruit.

I wonder then: does Anti-Locke’s appreciation for his mango hint that this being, otherwise known as the MiB, hasn’t been able to eat in a long time? Is this the first time that he’s been ‘solid’ in centuries? Or have all of the ‘ghosts’ been able to eat and take their shoes and jackets off, leaving them on the beach while they stand in the surf?

• And what of the shoes and jacket, for that matter? They’re presumably ‘solid’ as well, right? We’ve see the ‘real’ Locke dressed identically, and we know that his shoes were Christian’s shoes. So are these shoes and this jacket then solid duplicates of the ‘real’ Locke’s clothing?

• When Locke lands in Tunisia after exiting the Island he’s being filmed by security cameras – cameras that weren’t there when Ben turned the Wheel and showed up in this exact spot. Why are they there now? Is Widmore anticipating Locke’s arrival because he already knows its ‘destined’ to occur? Is Widmore working for/with the MiB? Jacob?

Widmore: “Tell me, John. How long has it been for you since we first met – since you walked into our camp and you spoke to Richard?”

• I don’t know that the time-travel shenanigans of Season 5 ever feel as satisfyingly kooky and cool as they do in this moment, where we see how four days have passed for Locke while many decades have passed for Widmore. Props to Alan Dale for grounding his wonder believably in that scene.

• We learn here that Matthew Abaddon is a Widmore employee – and that he may have been in Widmore’s employ when he came to Locke and suggested that our favorite would-be-savior go on walkabout (further suggesting that Widmore may be working for the MiB or Jacob, whether knowingly or not). The fact that Abaddon dies messily in this episode makes me think that we may never learn about the ‘miracle’ he claimed to have experienced, which is a little disappointing. But the death of a character on Lost doesn’t mean that we won’t see them again. Abaddon may resurface in Season 6. If he does, I have a sneaking suspicion that he may have been the Alpert of the Island before Richard’s time.

Locke: “Jeremy Bentham”?
Widmore: “He was a British philosopher. Your parents had a sense of humor when they named you, so why can’t I?”

• The fact that Locke shares his name with an Enlightenment philosopher has never been directly addressed on the show before. And in a show as dedicated to the notion of “mirroring” ideas, characters and scenes, it makes sense that the name “Jeremy Bentham” is in a kind of Looking-Glass-opposition to the name John Locke.

Bentham’s philosophical ideas were directly influenced by the historical John Locke, although Bentham soundly rejected Locke’s Enlightenment ideas of “natural rights” and “natural law.” That’s the joke which Widmore refers to.

Bentham’s lasting contribution to the world, outside of his ideas, was the “Panopticon” – a prison designed to allow one guard to keep watch over a multitude of inmates without those inmates knowing whether they were being observed at any time. I’ve discussed the Panopticon before, during Season 2. The design of the Swan and Pearl Stations creates a modern Panopticon, and indeed most of the Island’s Stations are designed in a Panopticon fashion, with security cameras giving Ben and the Others (and Dharma before them) the ability to watch people without those people being certain that they’re watched.

Bentham theorized that this state of uncertainty would help to keep people from acting out or misbehaving, creating a kind of social experiment in control. Experiments in control have been a firm, underlying theme of this show since Season 2 began, and given that Lost’s seasons tend to mirror each other, the invocation of Bentham’s name seems both purposeful and meaningful.

Finally, Bentham was a famous Economist – and the identity of The Economist from Season 4 has yet to be revealed.

• Notice that Bentham’s passport is Canadian. I’m still not sure why Canada is the country used for the majority of alibis on this show (The Looking Glass women were supposed to be on assignment in Canada, Ethan claims to have come from Canada, etc., et al.).

• All of the cities that Locke visits during this episode are named after saints – except for Los Angeles, the “city of angels.” The hardware store that Locke gets his hangin’ cord from is “Angels Hardware.” Weird coincidence?

• I’m sort of torn on this episode as a whole. I applaud its conceit and its ambition, and I think that the final sequence between Ben and Locke ultimately makes it something of a ‘classic’ episode – but I also think that the episode as a whole feels unduly rushed and/or undercooked. The encounters that Locke has with the O6 are all sort of duplicative. They take place in different locations, sure, but all of them involve Locke appearing to one of the O6, telling them they have to go back, being roundly insulted and/or verbally raped (in Kate’s case), leaving, then repeating the process. Locke is ultimately painted as ineffectual enough to deserve his self-pity (though not, obviously, his suicide). If I’d half-assed things the way that Locke does here I’d be pretty upset with myself also.

So, there are two explanations for this: (a) the writers failed to make Locke’s attempts as compelling and dramatic as they easily could have been, or (b) we’re supposed to be feeling these things as we watch the episode – we’re supposed to wonder at why it is that “Mr. Locke” is such a laughable recruiter. If this were another character, I’d pick choice a, because I frankly want to see the character doing a better job of tempting the O6. But this is Locke, and because its Locke I’m honestly wondering if this is supposed to show the audience Locke’s actual leadership abilities in action – to perhaps blatantly show (without telling) that Locke isn’t fit to lead this group.

If that’s the case, The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham succeeds brilliantly. What this episode does, incredibly well, is highlight the utter confusion and desperation of John Locke. Season 5 makes Locke into a profoundly tragic figure, and so much of the reason for that boils down to the fact that Locke has no way to know who to believe about anything. His father lied to him and stole his kidney, he’s been told again and again that he’s special, but not how, or why, or what that means. Most damningly, the two men we’ve come to regard as mortal enemies on this show – Widmore and Ben Linus – both tell Locke during this episode that all they want is to get him back to the Island so that Locke can ‘lead.’ Let’s talk about this a little further down.

Walt: “I’ve been having dreams about you. You were on the Island, wearing a suit, and there were people all around you. They wanted to hurt you, John.”

• Is this a vision of things yet to come? We don’t witness this in Season 5, unless you count the opening scene in which the survivors all seem sort of fearful in his presence. This is a nice scene, but it’s another perfect illustration of how rushed this episode is. Locke and Walt touch base, shake hands, Walt offers his foreboding premonition, and Locke decides not to tell Walt that his father is dead – all in the space of about a minute. Economy admired, Lost. But after a period of three years, wouldn’t it have been nice to let this breathe a little? Take place in a coffee shop, maybe, instead of a street corner? If time was an issue, we could easily have lost one or two of the Locke-O6 scenes and replaced it with a line of expositional dialogue – because those scenes are all the same. It’s Monday morning quarterbacking, I know, but I can’t help thinking this way.

• And speaking of Monday morning quarterbacking – allow me a brief moment of silence for the Minnesota Vikings. I’ve been waiting for the men in purple to make it to the Super Bowl for as long as I’ve been a functional adolescent. I guess I’m going to have to keep waiting. 

• The revelation that Helen is dead makes this whole episode exponentially sadder. Jesus, Lost. The only way to make this episode more depressing would have been to include some extraneous footage of puppy-strangling.

Ben: “John, you can’t die. You’ve got too much work to do.”

• There are those magic words again.

• I love the shots of Ben kneeling before Locke. It evokes something darkly iconic/spiritual to me – a kind of dark-mirror version of Christ and Judas.

• Ben keeps Locke alive long enough to learn two things: (1) Jin is alive, Locke has his ring, and Locke has promised not to take Sun back, and (2) Locke is supposed to bring everyone to Eloise Hawking, which Widmore instructed Locke to do. Presumably, Ben didn’t know of Hawking’s involvement before this.

• Contrast these snippets of conversation:

Locke: “Why would you help me?”

Widmore: “Because 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”

Widmore: “I needed Linus removed… so it could be your time.”
Locke: “Right.”
Widmore: “The Island needs you, John. It has for a long time.”

With this snippet of conversation:

Locke: “No! Widmore came to me. He saved me.”
Ben: “No, John, he used you. He waited till you showed up so that you could help him get to the Island. Charles Widmore is the reason I moved the Island! So that he could never find it again, to keep him away so that you could lead.”

Is it any wonder that Locke is suicidally-confused, really? Two men – supposed sworn enemies – are both telling Locke the same thing: you are meant to lead, and don’t trust the other guy.

• Here’s where my own confusion sets in: Widmore sent a team of armed men to the Island, supposedly to remove Ben from it so that it could be “Locke’s time.” Ben left the Island as a result of Widmore’s men, and now he’s trying to engineer his return to it, with the help of Eloise Hawking. This is also supposedly because it’s “Locke’s time.”

Only, Eloise Hawking and Widmore share a past, and Widmore tells Locke directly that he’s to go to Hawking. So, why is Eloise working with both men? How does Widmore not know that Ben is plotting to return to the Island using Hawking’s calculations? Are they all working together in some fashion?

My theory: Ben is the fly in the ointment that will not leave. Hawking isn’t working with him, but he’s so attached himself to the other members of the O6 that she’s forced to include him.

Ben: “I’ll miss you, John. I really will.”

• Such a strange line, and one that echoes Ben’s apology to Locke in Season 4 (“I’m sorry I made your life so miserable”). Is that actual regret on Ben Linus’ face? Why on earth would Ben miss the man he’s been trying to murder and/or manipulate since day one? Is it just that he’ll miss screwing with Locke?

• Anti-Locke looks genuinely concerned when Caesar tells him about Hurley disappearing from the plane. Is this because he’s pretending to be Locke, and pretending to be concerned? Or does Hurley’s disappearance alert Anti-Locke to the possibility that Jacob might be trying to move against him?

• Anti-Locke also seems pointedly interested in the passenger manifest – he mentions it twice. Why would Anti-Locke want a list of passengers? Could it be so that he can know if any of the survivors is actually an “Other”?

• Check out the recap for LaFleur after the page break!