LOST - 6x04 "The Substitute" - Episode Review
Where’s the Inferi?
Plot summary: Locke goes in search of aid to further help his cause; in the alternative timeline, he deals with the fallout from his “walkabout”
Late again. Chalk it up to my latest obsession, Sega’s “Aliens Vs. Predator” for the PS3, my first first-person shooter (I may blog about it at some point, but don’t hold your breath).
Long story short, I liked but didn’t love this episode, with its new wrinkles on the old mythology and the usual par excellence performances from O’Quinn, Emerson and Holloway (never get tired of mentioning that). Let’s just jump to the bullet points, so I can get to my CAPRICA review (also late), and then back to killing some pesky xenomorphs with my trusty plasma cannon …
• The header of this week’s review is what I asked as soon as I saw Sawyer and Faux-Locke rappelling down the cliffside, with the cave below (Ah, the wonders of HD). It’s no secret that Rowling’s HARRY POTTER saga has been a big influence on LOST’s creators, and I’ve been doing some (unfair?) comparisons mentally between Season 6 and DEATHLY HALLOWS. Slow wind-up? Check. New exposition dumps? Somewhat. New revelations about old characters? Not yet.
• I tried to explain my analysis of Jacob and Easu and Faux-Locke to a friend (and LOST naysayser), and got tripped up on a few of the details. Regardless, I forgot to factor in the Island as a player itself, and the Lil Jacob Island manifestation this week was a strong reminder that the Island itself has a will and perhaps a plan. It was nice (and frustrating) to see that Alpert was kept in the dark too, but I guess it’s still too early in the season to start dropping the really big plot bombs.
One wonders if Jacob’s purpose is to keeping Easu trapped on the Island. I never put two and two together and placed the ash from the pit in Tarwet as the same that keeps Easu at bay. If indeed Easu cannot kill Jacob, it makes sense that his ashes, or perhaps those of Jacob’s predecessor (if he indeed has one) function as his Kryponite.
Much emphasis was placed on Jacob/Easu’s search for “The Candidate”. Are they the one’s brought to the Island to keep Easu there? Having the final “Candidate” be Jack seems a bit too… predictable. Then again, given their contentious faith vs. science history, it seems that its almost their … destiny.
Esau said he was a man at some point -- lie or not? And if so, whom did he love and lose?
• Speaking of faith, it was odd seeing Locke with out any, like a Thomas before the conversion. If things remain the same, Helen only has two more years before her fatal brain aneurysm. (thanks Lostpedia!).
And while we’re on this topic, alt-Helen and alt Locke coupling brought out a huge mess of questions, although we can see that this Locke isn’t hiding secrets from her, which is what got him into trouble originally. The chummy, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it picture on Locke’s cubicle confirmed that he and daddy Anthony Cooper are on much better terms, but then begs the question how Locke got in the wheelchair in this timeline. Is Cooper still a widow-swindling bastard? Considering that the timeline was altered in 1977, AFTER Saywer’s parents was swindled and died, has Cooper made amends or paid restitution? Alt Sawyer seemed to have retained his con man traits in “LA X”, so what’s the deal here?
• Alan Sepinwall had an interesting comment about the show’s mythology and Sawyer, insofar that this week’s team-up was between a character ready and willing to explain it, and the one main character who’s seemingly cares the least about it. But Holloway and O’Quinn have always have good chemistry, and it was fun to see them play off the new shades of their character’s interactions. I especially liked the little moment where Faux locke smells the liquor that spills on his hand (what’s this?) after Sawyer shoves the glass into his hand. I don’t think the fact Faux Locke didn’t drink any was a tip off, but u never know. Easu passed on the fish in “The Incident”, so what does he eat/drink anyway?
And one other question ... is Smokey gonna fly himself and Sawyer back up the cliffside?
• “Jacob’s had a thing for numbers”. Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of TWOP. Are their designations meaningful or red herrings? (I’m leaning towards the latter). BTW, I couldn’t recognize any of the other (scratched out) names on the wall when I did some freeze-frame action afterwards.
4 Locke
8 Reyes
15 Ford
16 Jarrah
23 Shephard
42 Kwon
• That elaborate tracking shot wasn’t the first Smokey POV, but it was the most interesting/dynamic one so far. I liked it.
• With the return of Helen (spoiled by Kurt Sutter's blog months ago), Randy Nations, and Hurley’s psychic (the big breasted interviewer at the temp agency) I was reminded of THE SHIELD Season 6 and its numerous curtain calls, which were sometimes unnecessary distractions - at times the show felt focued on who’s going to show up next? Let’s hope that doesn’t happen too much here.
• Iliana was crying, a clear sign of her extreme devotion to Jacob?
• Nice eulogy from Ben, and well played by Emerson. That graveyard is quite packed now, and the burial itself had shades of the brilliant “All Alone” episode from SIX FEET UNDER.
And Ben as an uptight schoolteacher seemed oddly appropriate. I laughed as soon as I heard his voice, knowing what they were setting up before they even showed his face in the teacher’s lounge. I wouldn’t want to get caught cheating in his class… And what are Ben and Locke going to be fighting over in this timeline? Coffee filters? Parking spaces? The Reformation?
Episode Grade: B