Vitals
- Products: Lost
- Franchises: Lost
- Associated Features: Lost HQ
- Genres: Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Network: ABC
- Studio: ABC/Bad Robot
- Associated Luminaries: Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams
- Creator: Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams
Life and death is a central theme of LOST – and just about any other action adventure sci-fi fantasy – but when you are talking about the life and death of a character as iconic to LOST's narrative as John Locke, you're not just talking about some run-of-the-mill Macguffin-you're potentially talking about the life of the show.
LOST has taken some beatings over it's unconventional fifth season-the straight folk just can't seem to understand us geeks and our desire for complex programming. Even zealots gasped when LOST 'went there' in the season 4 finale and put island shaman John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) in a casket. Over the years fans have called for the head of many a lostie-Ana Lucia, Nikki, Paulo, Jack-but the concept of a John Locke-less story was tantamount to The Fonz jumping the proverbial dharma-tattooed shark. Unless you are one of the numerous spoiler addicts out there, chances are you went into "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" with a pit in your stomach – would this be the last appearance of the gleaming domed mystic?
Nah-we can all take a deep breath now. Like last week's episode 316, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" dispensed with its central question right-off-the-bat – Locke is alive and well, and back on the island. When he is, who knows. How he came back to life, is also unknown. Some evidence (particularly an aged photo copy of one of Faraday's journal pages) suggests that they are in the future – one of the side-effects of the instability that ms. Hawking warned our travelers about last week. Perhaps this temporal wackiness is also responsible for the resurrection of Locke. Unfortunately, the series is unyielding as far as these matters are concerned – and that is hardly the worst news.
The expectation amongst fans-motivated in large part by the reassurance of Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof-was that the series was going to be largely in answer mode; Jeremy Bentham, while effectively dealing with the 'Locke Situation,' will probably confuse followers of the already serpentine plot even more than the time-jumping hip hop routine that kicked off the fifth season. Widmore used to be the leader of the others? Locke wasn't supposed to leave? Abaddon posed as Locke's orderly to make sure he got to the island in the first place? A war is coming?
Suddenly the importance of John's mission seemed more centered on which side of the supposed Widmore/Linus war it benefited, and less about saving the island. Now both Widmore and Ben are helping John Locke gather the Oceanic 6 – or are they? Judging either side by its actions, it's hard to believe that either one of them are good guys – and perhaps that is best conclusion to arrive at.
Running parallel to the infusion of island lore was John's fateful mission to gather not only the Oceanic 6, but every last person – including Walt – that made it off the island. We see a psychic beat down take place, as each denial of John's call to adventure is punctuated by a dose of reality aimed at knocking John down a peg. Sayid question's the value of Locke's work, Kate insinuates he needs the island because he has never known love, and Jack – well, Jack is just Jack, tearing into the man of faith's sense of purpose like a serial ego-killer.
By 'the end' of Locke's journey, John is an effigy of himself. The suicide is not the sacrifice it was portended to be, it is a collapse into the agony. We see a Locke drained of his will to live. His cryptic note to Jack "I wish you had believed me," turns out not to be so cryptic after-all, in fact it is pathetically banal.
"The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" may have made the overall mystery a little deeper in some ways, but it did succeed in answering one question – had the creators been forced to extend the story without certainty of an end date, they would have had no problem keeping our heads spinning. The good news for those who are begging to be let off the roller coaster is that the end is pressing in, faster than any of us expect or perhaps even want. Savor the last few game changers while you can, because before you know it the remaining episodes of LOST will be in the single digits – and the mysteries of the island will be coming to a resolute end.
