Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

(Episode: Cabin Fever. Spoilers Ahead.)

We've seen many examples of pre-crash connections between the Lostaways. Now we learn that both Widmore operative Matthew Abaddon and the never-aging "Other" Richard Alpert have long had an interest in John Locke. The latter shows up after the yet-unborn Locke and his mother survive her being run over by a car, and the former when Locke survives an eight-story fall.

The two react to Locke differently. Abaddon is the one who puts the idea of a walkabout in Locke's head - did Abaddon somehow know that Locke would crash on an island that his boss Widmore is looking for?

Alpert is there when Locke was born, and visits him a few short visits later. (Ooh, young Locke can draw the Smoke Monster!)Alpert presents a rather odd test. "Which of these items belong to you" may actually be asking Locke to pick the items that identify him. The objects may each have a different symbolism:

• Baseball mitt - sports
  
• Book (the Baha'i Book of Laws) - faith
  
• Granules - ?
  
• Compass - exploration, or leadership, or knowing one's way
  
• Mystery Tales comic book - science, or perhaps the island itself (click the link and look at the cover)
  
• Knife - combat

Young Locke picks the granules and the compass, and disappoints Alpert with his selection of the knife.

Alpert's employer Mittelos shows renewed interest in Locke when he is a teenager, though - Locke turns down an opportunity to go to a "summer camp" for youths with a knack for science.

In the present, Locke sees in a dream DHARMA employee Horace Goodspeed, the man who got Ben's father the job with DHARMA. Horace tells Locke to find his body to get the directions he needs. Locke travels with Hurley and Ben to the mass grave, where Hurley learns what happened to DHARMA and Locke finds blueprints to Jacob's cabin and its immediate surroundings.

The three find the cabin, but only Locke chooses to enter. There he finds "Christian" and Claire. (Why couldn't Locke have been curious enough to ask his last name?) The late Dr. Shepard (if that's really him) says he's not Jacob, but he speaks for him. Locke is instructed to not tell anyone about Claire, who is quite at peace with the situation. (Apparently Jacob intends to protect Claire from the gathering storm personally. But why not the baby, too?) Locke is then given instructions which he conveys to his traveling companions thus: "He wants us to move the island."

It appears that all the commandos were taken to the Kahana in one trip - so it seems that Lapidus lied about its capacity a few episodes back. According to Lostpedia, the helicopter is a Bell UH-1B, which Wikipedia says holds 7 passengers. Possible explanations:

• Damage to the helicopter really did limit its capacity.
  
• It was carrying some very heavy cargo (that somehow Des and Sayid didn't discover during their trip).
  
• Lapidus wanted to minimize the number of Lostaways he'd be bringing back to the freighter (my pick).
  
• The island changed the laws of gravity that day.

The time distortion makes another appearance. Doc Ray, who was found dead on the island two episodes ago, is alive on the freighter - but not for long.

Frank Lapidus and Captain Gault get the Heroes of the Week award. Both try to prevent Keamy from going back to the island with his team (minus the one who died on ship from his Smokey-inflicted injuries). The captain is shot dead, but Lapidus has a backup plan, which involves dropping a satellite phone with a homing beacon fixed on the chopper into Jack's camp. That woudl naturally drive the Lostaways to go toward the chopper, which hopefully is away from where the commando team will be heading once it lands. Perhaps Lapidus plans to wait at the chopper for them as Keamy goes out into the jungle.

Gault also earns his posthumous medal for arranging Sayid's departure from the freighter. Des stays on board, certain that Penny is coming to the freighter, as Sayid leaves in a Zodiac inflatable raft with outboard motor. He follows a specific heading, apparently the only safe approach to the island. Looks like the raft will be responsible for ferrying the Oceanic Six to the outside world. But what fate awaits those who stay on the island? Stay tuned...

Update: Locke's mom was that skinny when she was six months pregnant?

Update: As I think about it, what must have caught the attention of Alpert's people was not that a pregnant girl and her baby survived being hit by a car, but that a baby survived being delivered three months premature - in the late 1950s.

Labels: Lost, Television