Wednesday, May 02, 2007

"The Brig" Instant Reactions

Brian's One Word Review: Heavy.

Sawyer totally went Jack-Bauer-on-Fayed style on Anthony Cooper, aka "Tom Sawyer", and we found yet another uncanny connection between two of our Survivors. This episode was well written and dealt with some pretty heavy subject matter, including the morals of murder and redemption. Surprisingly, it managed to give the flashbacks of Locke's time with the Others without giving away too much - only hints at some much deeper things. Points to ponder...

  1. Purgatory. While Anthony Cooper's comments, along with those from Naomi (the parachutist) both last week and this week would seem to indicate that the Island is Purgatory, you are going to have to trust me when I say it's not. If not me, how about the producers of Lost, who have flat out promised us that the Island is not purgatory? Rather, this would seem to indicate that the Others / Dharma / Hanso have the power to stage a fake plane crash at the bottom of the ocean (complete with fake bodies) and cause a car accident (hey, they did it to Juliet's husband too) and then kidnap someone in an ambulance all for the purpose of keeping their Island secret, and continuing whatever game they are playing.
  2. Magic Box. So if Cooper was brought to the Island by "normal" means, that would seem to mean that the big secret of the Island isn't that it grants wishes (which, I admit, was pretty far out there, even for pseudo-science). But that doesn't change the fact that there is something "magic" about the Island, something more important than baby making, as Alpert hinted at. After Patchy's amazing reappearance last week, the smart money is back on "Fountain of Youth" or "Eternal Life".
  3. Ben. It seems that Ben has begun to heal once he (and the Others) moved out of their Dharma Barracks and get back to the nature of the Island, living in tents. It's clear that the Others view Locke as some sort of "savior", someone who has stronger communion with the Island than any of the rest of them... and that is precisely why Ben wanted to humiliate Locke, to show that he was weak, and wasn't able to overcome his past and fully embrace Island life.
  4. Letting Go. The Others seem concerned with getting Locke to "let go" of his past demons / baggage, ironically similar to what Locke was so concerned with helping people out with during the first season. Although this episode confirmed that Locke hasn't really been in cahoots with the Others all along, it does seem more and more that their goals have been the same from the start. You know how I referred to Locke as being a member of "Team Island"? Well, it looks like the Others used to be members of this team as well, and are now working on returning to their roots after a brief flirtation with the modern luxuries of Dharma.
  5. Cooper. So it turns out the suspicions that people have had for almost two years turned out to be true. Locke's Dad turned out to be the Con who ruined Sawyer's life. Between this and Claire and Jack being brother and sister, a good rule of thumb for the future is "whenever two characters have anything slightly in common, assume there is a deeper connection between the two of them". It's a little out there, sure - but it made for great television, and it worked from a storytelling perspective.
  6. Temple. Lastly, at the Others' first camp, Cooper was tied to what looked like the remains of some sort of ancient stone temple / building, which goes right along with the four-toed statue from last season's finale. The Others definitely seem to be decendents of these ancient Island people, moving from old campground to old campground now that they have abandoned the Dharma Barracks.
  7. Jack and Juliet. I get the feeling that Jack and Juliet are pulling some sort of "double con" on the Others, but can't reveal their true intentions to the Survivors without ruining the chances of tricking the Others. No idea what their goal is (other than ultimately getting off the Island), but they're up to something... It seems that each week makes me question if they're truly good or evil. This week, I come down on the side of "good, but we don't understand their plan yet." Who knows what next week will bring.

Well, that's way too much writing for this late, especially since my body is still pretty exhausted from my travels. Full analysis coming soon.

You know the drill. Those who want super in-depth discussions and fancy, easy-to-read chains of thought, hit up the Official Message Board through the following link:

Official "The Brig" Instant Reactions Message Board Post

Those who like it simple and to the point, the Comments section awaits.

(Man, it's good to be back to Blogging!)

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

First? :)

4kids4me

Anonymous said...

Yes! Welcome back, Brian, btw. :) Looking forward to this week's analysis.

4kids4me

Anonymous said...

Welcome back to this side of the pond. This was a great episode, plain and simple. Can't wait to the full report and next week's offering.

Unknown said...

If Locke really wanted to, he could have just left Cooper tied up. Given a few days and he would have been dead.

Anonymous said...

did it seem weird to anyone else that CFL was in the black rock looking for dynomite? what is she up to?

Anonymous said...

I was discussing this episode with a friend of mine and the evidence for purgatory seems overwhelming. However I doubt that this is the case for a few reasons. First, it seems highly unlikely that the secret to the whole entire show would be revealed to us through a single character in the episode 2 or 3 weeks before the season finale. This just doesnt seem to work. Second, if the island did represent purgatory, nearly all of our losties have committed at least one of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, and pride. We placed characters under each of these accordingly (Kate-envy/wrath, sawyer-greed/wrath, and even hurley with gluttony, etc.....). If the writers were to take a semi religious approach, it would be hipocritical (if they were taking a basic christian attitude) to have these people in purgatory and not in hell.

so I definately think purgatory is out, i know Brian has already made this clear but just throwing in my two cents.


I couldn't be more excited for next weeks episode along with an in depth analysis

Stef said...

Welcome back, Brian! I agree with comments so far, this was a darn good episode. The writers seem to be sticking with their new trend - giving us lots of info on the sn 1-3 mysteries, but opening up all kinds of avenues for new speculation and questioning on every new piece of info. Way to keep the story fresh!

Anonymous said...

um, yeah? wth was danielle up to?

Andrew Steger said...

Wow!! In the top five episodes ever. It was so satisfying. Makes you think the producers know what they've been doing all along! :-) If anything this episode completely debunks the purgatory theory.

Do you think Julliet wanted to tell Kate that she(Kate) is pregnant?

Anonymous said...

FIRST, BRAIN...welcome home!!!!!

Second, all I could think of the whole time I was watching this episode...this is just like last season when everything seemed to revolve around the sickness...now they are focussing on this pergutory idea. I think it was a joke on fans who have insisted it be pergatory.

I am so blown away by all of this, I need time to ponder!!!

One question, I NEED to see that preview again...I swear I saw a focus on ROGER??? hmmmm, I am so jacked for the next few weeks but scared! IT IS ALMOST OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome home, again, Brian...we all missed you!
FOBs...you all did a FABULOUS JOB!!!! Those were big shoes to fill!

Anonymous said...

oh, one other thing...what kind of FREAKED OUT CULT is this....they all wanted to watch him kill his dad? Oh I wanted to be sick even though I knew he wasn't going to do it.

sorry had to add it!

Greg said...

I did a TiVo frame by frame on the preview and there was definitively the word Roger, also an image of a baby, also a tall balding guy walking under the Dharma sign, three VW buses on the island and a few other quick shots of people I've never seen before.

Who's flashbacking the next episode?

Greg said...

Oh, and Brian welcome back to this side of the pond.

Did anyone else find Naomi's comment to Sayid "remind me not to save you" 1) overly snarky and 2) odd considering she's not really in a position to do any saving at this point?

Anonymous said...

1. Welcome back Brian, you were missed for sure!!!

2. Steve was darn right on the Black Rock being The Brig. Way to go man!

3. Loved this episode. Wondering what Jack and Juliet are up to as well. Comments from Naomi to Sayid were awesome and CFL looking for dinamite sure tells me shes planning something. I saw coming the Sawyer-Locke connection a mile away but I guess most of us did as well :)

Preview looks great, cant wait for next week!!!

PURA VIDA COSTA RICA!! :P

Anonymous said...

THANKS GREGORY!

I knew if I asked...

so, we may learn what happened when DHARMA was there??? Okay, he is my thoughts, what if there never was a revolt? I thought all along it was way too convenient that DARMA was wiped out and they all used the facilities nice and neat like. So, I am guessing it was more of a join us or die scenario...but we shal see.

tobiasly said...

All I can say is... SHAME ON THE LOT OF US! I too "got" the Sawyer/Cooper connection quite a bit before Sawyer did, but we should have figured that one out months ago!

Sawyer has been looking for a con man... Cooper was conning people his whole life... how did we not see it?!

Anonymous said...

Brian -

I hate to spam you like this. I tried finding another way to contact you, so please pardon my comment as it has little to do with the post (I haven't yet seen tonight's episode, so I'm typing with one eye open and slighty askew).

I noticed that a member at Dandelife.com is creating a timeline of the show Heroes. You can check it out here: http://dandelife.com/Heroes It's a modest start.

It got me to thinking and thinking got me to searching and searching led me here. I thought it would be neat for you to create a Lost timeline and share it with everyone. I think it would be pretty useful for fans and noobies alike since so much of Lost is shrouded in the mysteries of time. Dandelife would be a great tool for you to start using in your analysis. You can even include a badge of the Lost timeline on your blog.

Anyway, great work on your blog. It came highly recommended and now I am hooked too.

Thrive,
K

Jason said...

Not to be to religious but we all have seen the spiritual underlying theme that runs through the whole LOST with redemption, sacrifice, and other points.

- Locke's father was tied up to the pole/smokestack with his arms spread like he was on a cross. This is symbolic of him being a sacrifice so that locke can be saved much like Jesus is viewed as a sacrifice to save the world to christians.

- Locke carried his father's dead body on his back. This also is symbolic in multiple ways.
1.) We all carry the burdens of our lives on our back/shoulders. It is not something we can simply get rid of. The fears and doubts we have though we may try to "kill" them will always remain a part of us, though they may not have the same full power over us.
2.) The phrase the straw that broke the camels back comes to mind when watching locke carry his father's body.
3.) Along the religious lines Christ was forced to carry his own cross on his back to where he was crucified for at least part of the way. Someone else was recruited to help him carry his burden the final distance, much like Sawyer was recruited to help Locke overcome his own burden of killing his father.

Renee' said...

When Locke hoisted his dad onto his shoulder, I had the same feeling when Patchy "died". I hope he's really, really dead!

Since Sawyer did the dirty work for Locke, maybe Sawyer is the special one... Now they are both free.

I love it when Sayid starts asking questions!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't think the Others kidnapped Cooper from the ambulance - I think they had an agent rear-end Cooper's car, and then they had a fake ambulance standing by, which would explain the weird smile that one of the paramedics gave Cooper. It makes more sense - and they'd have been able to drug him up for the journey right away.
Glad you're back, Brian!

PHG said...

I also watched the preview in slo-mo. Here is what I can rmeember seeing.
- A creepy girl/lady outlined in white or in black and white
- The sub at the dock with a sign that said Namaste! Welcome to the Dharma Initiative
- Roger Work Man
- 3 of the blue VW buses with people milling about
- Some dude with a bunch of boxes
- A flash of a baby, possibly Turnip Head
There may have been others but I am tired.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back, Buddy Jesus!

A couple of things about this episode:

- The Others seem to be a demented cult that encourages children to wake up in the middle of the night to watch a man slice his father's throat. That is beyond messed up.

- Naomi claims that O815 land in a trench near Bali, and that deep sea CAMERAS confirmed the deaths. Seems likely that THF doctored up the video, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

welcome back :)

have missed your in depth analysis and looking forward to this one

can't believe we are up to ep 19 already.. the season has seemed to fly by

Anonymous said...

First....Nettie.....clearly, the entire auto accident Cooper described.....from soup to nuts...was obviously staged by presumably Richard Albert and certainly The Others.

I like what Brian suggests so far as Jack and Juliette working together on a double scam. Jack is the shows' hero....and key protaganist....and it would be unlikely he's betraying the Lostees and/or stupid in trusting Juliette who is about to f...K him by working w/Ben. They are concealing a plan of sorts and it appears that Jack feels disclosing the nature of it now would jepordize the objective of it.

Anonymous said...

oh....and safe bet to think that O#815 crash that Naomi describes (off the coast of Bali) was staged....with fake plane, fake bodies, etc. I can't wait to learn how the reach, resources and sophistication of the Others is so vast that they can pull these endless feats off!! Amazing the lengths they have and will go thru to continue to conceal their Island and their cause.

This episode rocked! Can't wait for next week which should be a killer!

Anonymous said...

Do we think Locke stole the recorder with Juliette's message or Ben gave it to him for some reason? What do we predict will happen when Sawyer returns to the beach with the recorder to "rat out" Juliette? It seems like Jack rises to his height of leadership amongst them and is able to re-establish their trust of him despite this evidence.

Steve said...

Renee,

I had the same feeling about Cooper, With the background music, I kept expecting him to 'come to', especially on an island that heals.. well, heals those that it likes. I'm sure Locke made sure of this though.

Steve said...

So Locke is on "Team Island", and apparently, the others want to be on this team as well, but Ben is doing his best to show them that 'he is not who they think he is'. Locke appears to be the 'others' chosen one, we may find that there is some prophecy in the culture of the ancients about him. He may be destined to take over the 'others' and put them back on their path. Ben wants to discredit him so that he can keep his position, but he's delaying the inevitable.

I'm starting to believe that the 'others' are good, but Ben is corrupt. I think Alpert had a strong case in that all the fertility research is going the wrong way. Science isn't going to solve these problems or cure Ben, the Island is. The Island could trump any science that you throw at it, the way to solve the infertility issue is to make amends with the island.

Anonymous said...

If I were Locke, I would have gone to work with the knife and just dropped Cooper's head at Ben's feet. I certainly wouldn't carry the entire body. But maybe that was part of the test.

--Jack

Anonymous said...

First I have to say WOW!! Great episode.

Second, during the show I had a couple of weird flashbacks myself. The first one was when the file on Sawyer showed up to reveal that he killed a guy the night before the flight. I thought back to "Highlander" the tv show and "The Watchers" that kept tabs on all the immortals. Does the Others or Dharma have a "Watchers" department. It would help to explain how they where following Cooper and how they abducted him off the highway.

The other flash back was when Naomi said that Penny gave them the coordinates that were in them middle of the ocean and the only out here is water. Then when she was flying back to the boat the clouds opened up and she saw the island right before her copter malfunctioned and she bailed out. Are our survivors in a camouflaged "Turner Show" globe and that when the cloud cover lifted it sorta opened the roof and was exposed to the rest of the world. That could be why Desmond boat kept bringing him back to the island.

I know, way to much TV watching.

ALso the Juliet & Jack plan better come out in the open before Sawyer gets back with the recorder or she's getting strung up by the rest of the group.

JerryP.

Anonymous said...

"Truman Show"?

Anonymous said...

Always cool to see Sayid question people. I particurly like when he asks Jin or Desmond if they actually saw the hellicopter she claimed to be in. Also interesting in how the communications device she had was apparently state-of-the-art and unlike anything Sayid ever saw....and still would not work or get a signal.

Anonymous said...

Yes,
The Truman Show. Sorry

JerryP.

Anonymous said...

I'm taking Sawyer in the 'who's next to die?' pool after he knocked off Cooper!

Anonymous said...

I took the helicopter statement a little differently than Anon.
You heard the helecopter, and you saw something crash. But in not seeing it(other than the splash) could it have crashed on the outside of the island sphere?

I'm also a bit confused. That gear she was wearing wasn't what you would expect for a helecopter pilot. Why wear this on this sort of mission, and why bring your book? Unless he was using it to hold the picture of desmond(!?!??)

Craig said...

Re a few comments made here:

- Ben knew (and Im sure planned) Alpert's discussion with Locke. The hint was when Locke said to Ben as they were leaving without hhim , that if he wanted to embarrass him... and Ben interrupts saying "where would you get a ridiculous idea like THAT?", rather knowingly.

- I have a gut feeling that Locke is now in an even more powerful position given that he has seemingly fallen for Ben's manipulation by killing his father, because if he actually had instad of getting Sawyer to do it, he would be out of favour with the island. At least that could have been Ben's plan. Now that Ben will think he has 'done the deed' he could set Locke on a path that could backfire on him and lead to the Others ultimate undoing!

- Sawyer will show the Losties the tape, Jack will be heartbroken that his and Jule's lovey-cutesy-con-pact is a con in itself, Juliette will try and explain that it is - "...but it isnt Jack-darling! You have to trust me!"

Jack: "No! Julliette.[pursing his lip - furious with this newfound knowledge]. No!"
[whispering now, close to Juliette as Sayid closes for the questioning, still furious] "I thought, we had an...understanding."
[Sayid takes her by the arm and drags her to a tent to start the 'session'.]
[Teleshot Jack in foreground and in bkgrd Kate looking at Jack, thinking she may still be in with a shot. Track right to Sawyer, knowing that by exposing Juliette he may now have lost his 'afternoon delight' too. Doh!].

Hee hee, this scriptwriting lark is easy!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Craig that Albert's chat with Locke was set up by Ben. It has appeared that Albert is very loyal to Ben. Furthermore, as Craig indicated, Ben's response to Locke about embarrising him was another tip-off that this was set up between Locke and Albert.

Anonymous said...

I disagree, Craig. I think Jack and Juliet share a plan to double cross Ben. I even wonder if Danielle is in on it, and if that wasn't why she was after the dynamite. Finally, I wonder if Ben hasn't discovered their plan, and if he didn't give Locke the recording as a way to disrupt their plan. That's my twisted guess, in any case.

Not sure where I stand on Alpert and Ben working together or against one another. I think I tend to believe that Alpert might really have been working against Ben.

Drudo said...

gregory, next week is a Ben flashback. Should be awesome. Also, someone brought up a good point about the tape recorder. How did Ben get that? Great to have you back Brian. I loved filling in for the Catch-22 preview and would gladly do it again. But, it's great to have the master back!

vferg1 said...

I was explaining LOST to a friend and he said that it sounded a lot like the move "Jacob's Ladder." I haven't seen the movie, but did a search for it on the web. It's based on a book called "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." According to Wikipedia, the book is one of the books Locke is seen organizing in "The Long Con." Wikipedia says that "the plot of the story concerns a man who survives a hanging and escapes, only to later discover that he did not survive at all, and his escape was actually a hallucination at the time of death. This is similar to the plot in the novel The Third Policeman, which was featured in an earlier episode in the hatch."

I've been reading the blog for a while now (this is my first time posting), but I don't recall hearing about this. Does anyone know anything more about this book and its relevance to LOST? Any ideas?

Renee' said...

Wait a minute...
I think Ben wanted Locke to see and partially hear the tape recorder and seemed to place it in the drawer so Locke would know it was there. He wants the Losties to hear her tape!

Anonymous said...

Benjamin Linus is one of the most interestingly deceptive, manipulitive and cleaver chacters I can remember seeing on network TV. Michael Emerson is brilliant in his portrayl and perhaps delivers the finest performance, episode after episode, on the cast.
I would put nothing past him! Whoever suggested that he now is trying to turn the tables on some plot/con that Jack and Juliette may have by allowing Locke to hear and then find the recorder is a good thought.

BTW....Josh Halloway's performance was exceptional and very powerful in The Brig and kudos to Terry Quinn too.

Brian said...

kelly abbott - There is actually already a fantastic Lost timeline over at the Lostpedia (an excellent resource that could easily devour days of your life if you took the time to read it). Anything I would attempt to do would pale in comparison. Search for "Timeline" at lostpedia.com


vferg1 - We generally discuss the major cultural references (books, songs, movies) from each episode. I do recall talking about both "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "The Third Policeman". In the end, I think the consensus is that while there have been plenty of hints at a purgatory / they're all dead underlying story, they don't hold up to closer analysis.

The producers of Lost have also constantly told us that the characters on the show are not dead and are not in purgatory.

fearlessweaver said...

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an excellent short story everyone should read.

I think the literary clues left in Lost (Shakespeare, Dickens, Stephen King, etc.)are thematically important, rather than clues to the plot. Like Lost, they speak to fate vs. free will, illusion vs. perception, the natue of heroism and villiany, etc. They're all ingredients in the stew called Lost.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Brian and Eric.

BTW, love this blog! Thanks to Brian and all the guest speakers!

Anonymous said...

Carlton Cuse (sp?) I believe was a Harvard undergrad guy....his fine literary education was put to good use with LOST!

Anonymous said...

I think there is going to be coup within the Others. It is clear that with Ben in a wheelchair there has been an obvious power vacuum. Ben had to try and discredit Locke,until he is visibly healed, or he would lose his role as leader. I think Alpert's character is very important. He is the man behind the scenes always making things happen for Ben. Maybe he is Jacob. he certainly is influencial enough, it would fit the whole Wizard of Oz symetry and I would bet he would back Locke in a coup.

Also as soon as I saw Locke, put his father on his back to carry him, I thought they couldn't have used a more obvious Jesus symbolism, which means Locke could be their savior.

Anonymous said...

I guess no one can really answer this but I just want to put it out there. What about Michael and Walt? I think everyone agrees the island is not purgatory, so how would Michael and Walt tie in with the crash cover up? Dharma/Hanso or whatever wouldn't just kill them, especially our special boy Walt, to keep the island secret, right?

Anonymous said...

Ohhh I just love this show. Ben rocks, Sawyer tore my heart out tonight and the best wierd scene was CFL and Locke.

And hayell yes on getting Sayid involved. Why IS it that he seems to be the only one who can ask a few questions? Next time I crash on an island, I'm buddying up with Sayid.. (who btw, you KNOW will be hooking up with Naomi.. after a few catfights of course..)

Anonymous said...

I just had a thought...
What if Ben was healing all along...able to walk and pretending to be stuck in a wheelchair? We all know that he is very manipulative and plays psychological games in really drawn out plans. What if he was trying to make Locke feel special by convincing him that the island wasn't healing him only to wait for the opportune moment for him to show that he is being healed to make Locke NOT feel special anymore? hmmm...

Anonymous said...

The walkie-talkie Locke gave Sawyer is a plant - Ben doesn't trust Juliet (quite rightly, I suspect) and wants to make sure she's discredited with the Losties before she and Jack can pull off their dastardly plan.

Anonymous said...

Was that Alpert in the previews with long hair??

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who's worried that Sawyers gonna go bye-bye since his storyline seems concluded?

Anonymous said...

We have unexplainable seen a few people on the island who are supposed to be dead and bring up a lot of crap for people on the island. Anthony Cooper really bugs Locke and Sawyer, and was supposed to be killed in a car accident. Eko's brother died in the little plane crash and was a source of conflict for eko. Jack's dad Christian showed up for a while and wondered around in the bushes, Jack chased him and found the cave. Christian died of alcoholism in Sydney.

What if smokey can take embody the person who have died and haunt the memory of people on the island.

Anonymous said...

So let's get this straight. The Others are so deeply concerned about people on the "good" list that they gather crazy detailed files on everybody. Then the people who don't make the list seem to be people who have killed someone. Now they want Locke to kill his father? I think it is a test, and the test includes social rejection (when he doesn't kill his dad). They do not really want Locke to kill his dad. Plus, they are clearly going to know that Sawyer really killed him...I mean they just know things.

Rebecca said...

This episode was exciting. Locke did the right thing as far as bringing James to Sawyer. I think this is the beginning of a NEW IMPROVED James. xoxo EXCELLENT POST

Anonymous said...

I think the writers are getting us to hate Jack more and more for something to happen where we will all feel like complete jerks for ever thinking so in the first place. Sort of along the lines of what Brian mentioned about a "double con". Because the Jack now is NOTHING like the Jack we knew before he got kidnapped. Only time will tell....

Anonymous said...

1. The LOST producers assured us, on several occassions, that we have NEVER been introduced to Jacob.

2. The idea that Ben is manipulating Locke by pretending to have been wheel chair bound is interesting....nothing can be put past this character!

3. It would sure seem that Ben purposefully allowed Locke to see...and then steel....the recorder of Juliette knowing he'd give it to the Lostees. Why? I'd bet it won't be revealed fully until the finale.

4. Why do you folks think the writters had Sawyer barefoot...walking a long distance thru the woods...to get to "Brig"? You think this is more symbolism of some sort? Whoever posted that Sawyer's days are numbered may be right....that would suck if they kill him off!

Brian said...

I honestly think making Sawyer barefoot was intended to provide some comic relief to an otherwise very heavy episode.

Anonymous said...

I too, think katie is pregnant. However, I think they took Jack's sperm and impregnated Kate when they had them captive. It would be too obvious if Sawyer was the father. Maybe that's what they need to tell her.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone catch when Locke's dad said to Sawyer "I didn't raise no dummies." That caught me a bit off guard... why plural? Or did I miss something?

Anonymous said...

"...raise no dummies". Yeah, I heard him say that too. It was confusing given that Cooper, so far as we know, had no role in raising Locke.

Cooper was pretty freaked and thought he was dead in hell. Alot of his dialogue and disclosure to Sawyer was probably so candid given that he figured he's dead...and what the hell. However, this does not address him talking about raising "dummies" (plural).

i'm sure a detail like this however will never likely be revealed or explained. But a decent guess is that he's conned many women over the years fathering children as a result in more than one incident w/Locke.

Anonymous said...

I thought the producers have said that Jacob is hiding in plain site, he just hasn't been officially introduced. If Jacob was the "man behind the curtain", that would fit with Alpert. He is the man behind Ben, he goes to the mainland, and makes thing happen for Ben like, getting Juliet and fetching Cooper. And it looks like he was around prior to the purge, from the photos in the preview.

Anonymous said...

I agree that a parent could use the phrase "I didn't raise no dummies" when he has more than one child but is specifically referring to the one child in front of him (Locke). It's also the sort of self-aggrandizing thing that Cooper would say, no matter how many children he has and whether he raised them or not, he'll take the credit.

Darcy--you raise a very interesting point about whether Cooper was "real" or a product of the Island, like Yemi and Christian. I think it's a valid hypothesis but not clear at this point--there is data on both sides. Cooper told a story about being snatched from the ambulance (makes us think he's the real Cooper) but maybe the story's not true. Or maybe once he was dead, he could be embodied by the Island/Smokey.

Yemi, at times, was critical of Eko just like Cooper seemed to be trying to goad Locke into killing him. That can also be interpreted both ways. If he's the real Cooper, he thinks his son is a wuss and will talk down to him no matter what. But he was SO provocative that I started thinking--it sounds like he WANTS Locke to kill him--that makes him seem like a Smokey manifestation who is testing Locke to see what he'll do. The fact that the Others had Cooper tied up--that DOESN'T seem like an Island manifestation--Yemi and Christian have come and gone and didn't seem like entities that could be restrained.

Locke, to his credit, controlled himself. I also agree with you--I don't think the Others (or at least, the Island) really would have approved if Locke DID kill him. If they did want that, their moral values are more screwed up than ever. I still don't approve of how Locke handled it in the end.

It's also possible to make a case that Alpert really is working against Ben and wants Locke to challenge him. Ben's arch comment "Where did you get a ridiculous idea like that?" might not mean that he had SENT Alpert to speak to Locke but was instead conveying his SUSPICION that there had been a conversation--like he's saying, "You're not fooling me, I'll bet you've been talking to Alpert."

Unfortunately, I'm betting that Ben is still one step ahead of Alpert, just like he's ahead of Juliet and Jack.

Anonymous said...

David Hume (Desmond David Hume):

Scottish philosopher, heavily influenced by the work of John Locke

Determinism vs. Free Will: He concluded that the course of a person’s life is determined at birth (or before), but within the determined structure, he is able to make decisions that will affect pleasure/pain in any situation.

For a person to be considered ‘good,’ he must make moral decisions at all junctures.

On Perception:
-Although we do perceive the one event following the other, we do not perceive any necessary connection between the two.

-We can trust only the knowledge that we acquire from our perceptions.

-Although we do perceive one event following the other, we do not perceive any necessary connection between the two.

-We can trust only the knowledge that we acquire from our perceptions.


More to come to keep this readable...

Anonymous said...

Sorry - this is my philosophy breakdown that gets updated every few weeks to reflect new relevencies:

John Locke - In general: English philosopher: tabula rasa (clean slate). Beginning blank, the human mind acquires knowledge through the use of the five senses and a process of reflection.

Reflection to acquire knowledge - hmm, that’s funny.

On human nature: Every person is born inherently good but is corrupted by living in a hierarchal or monetary society.

On government: Against anarchy, Locke saw his job as one who must defend government as an institution.

On Revolution: revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation. Thus, Locke came to the conclusion that the "ruling body if it offends against natural law must be deposed."

Anonymous said...

Are we sure Locke's dad is dead? You never know, strangling someone is pretty difficult, not only would Sawyer have to hold on tight til he passed out, but keep holding til he died.

And how come Sayid didn't ask if anyone else was in the helicopter? We already know someone was, so why didn't Naomi speak up? Kind of an important detail. So does she think the person is dead? Did she only want ptchy to know? Did she forget?

Unknown said...

By the way... anybody else think Star Wars when Sawyer was choking Cooper? It was very much a Star Wars homage (or so it seems)

Anonymous said...

I think the island itself has a manifestation quality, and not just for Locke. In the first season, many of the Lostaways look or want for something and end up getting it: Charlie wanted his guitar; claire wanted peanut butter; Sun wanted a pregnancy test; Kate wanted the briefcase; Eco wanted to find his brother; Charlie wanted more drugs; Locke wanted to walk; Locke wanted his father; Jack wanted his father; the instances go on and on. I think the island itself has something to do with all that, maybe if that person "sacrifices something" or gives something to the island they are rewarded with what the want. Does anyone else see a correlation here??