Lost
“Orientation”
Originally aired October 5, 2005
Poor Locke. This is it — this is his one moment of real happiness. If he can just grab this opportunity with both hands and not let go, not look back, Locke has a chance to move on, get past the anger, past the pain. Locke has a real shot here. And yet. And yet … Dramatic irony informs us that this is not to be. We know from the very first Locke flashback in the first season that this isn’t going to work out. This isn’t Locke’s destiny.
And so, we’re left with mixed emotions: while there is a certain sadness to this episode that lies in the inevitability of Locke’s failure, there’s also a degree of freedom. Yes, we know that Locke is going to screw up this very good thing he’s got going on, but he’s supposed to screw it up. If Locke were to settle down and marry and let go of the past, he’d never fulfill his real destiny, his true path. All roads lead to the island, and this is merely one detour along the way.
Locke is attending an anger-management meeting where a woman is burbling about how her alcoholic mother stole $30 from her and blah blah blah patheticcakes. And Locke can’t help but laugh. After all, compared to his mother who abandoned him as a child suddenly showing up and claiming he’s special! and immaculately conceived! and then learning that his father is a TOTALLY AWESOME and TOTALLY RICH hunter who just wants to spend a little quality time with him after all these years, or until he steals his kidney and then vanishes from your life again, her momaholic stealing 30 bucks is small potatoes. Also? If this woman has anger problems, heaven forbid she spend a little time with my family. Criminy. And then Locke shows the group what real anger looks like. Word, Locke.
Meeting adjourned! Locke lights up a cigarette (Locke smoked! Who knew?) when Peg Bundy, who was also in the meeting, sidles up to him and starts making with the flirting. Peg Bundy discourages him from smoking lest he get kidney cancer, and then notes that while Locke said everything she ever wanted to in the meeting, she is disappointed because she suspects it means he won’t be back. She likes bald guys, after all. And then she tells Locke that her name is Helen, but we all know that she’s really Peg Bundy. Or maybe Leela, but come on. “Helen” can take off the heels, strip off the spandex, and undo the beehive, but she’ll always be Peg to me.
Lost note: Another cancer reference. It’s a throwaway line, and probably doesn’t mean much, but we can add it to the other cancer references we have: Rose had/has cancer; Kate’s mother was/is dying of cancer; Sawyer’s uncle died of a brain tumor; Benry had a spinal tumor; Juliet’s sister, Rachel, had cancer and recovered; Angelo Busoni had a spinal tumor that Jack was unsuccessful at removing. Also, Benry tells Juliet that there is no cancer on the island — and suggests that Jacob has the ability to cure people of it.
Apparently, Locke and Peg Bundy hit it off, because here’s Locke sneaking out of her bed in the middle of the night. Which, you know, Locke, I understand you seem like a bit of a loner, and so you might not get this, but this kind of thing isn’t really cool with most women. And sure enough, Peg Bundy wakes up and catches him trying to sneak away. Locke says something about not being able to sleep in strange beds, and promises to call her. Oh, Peg, honey. You and your hot pants can launch a thousand ships. You can do better.
For starters, try meeting someone who’s not a stalker. Locke spends his mornings like most people: cup of joe, the newspaper, parking in front of the house of the estranged father who stole your kidney and then re-abandoned you. Oh, but this morning is different! Because this morning, Cooper hops into Locke’s car and explains that while he thought it was cute at first, he’s grown tired of the whole stalking routine and wants to know just what it is that Locke wants from him. And as the Strings of Locke’s Sadness begin to well up, Locke asks one question: “Why?”
Why indeed.
And Cooper explains that there “is no why.” Locke needed a daddy; Cooper needed a kidney. Ta-da! and The End. Cooper then suggests that Locke not come back: he’s not wanted. KTHNXBAI.
CRYING SAD LOCKE OF SADNESS.
Lost note: This scene is somewhat reminiscent of a scene in “A Tale of Two Cities,” when Jack, like Locke, can’t let go of the past, and sits in his car watching Sarah. Wanting, needing to know why (or for whom) Sarah left him.
So, Locke and Peg Bundy are at dinner, and she slides a little box over to him, explaining that it’s a small gift for their 6 month anniversary … a key to her place. But! There’s a condition! When Locke stays over, that means Locke has to stay over and not, “stay over until Peg Bundy falls asleep, and then slip on his shoes and sneak out the back door to go stalk his daddy.” See, because Peg Bundy? She’s not messing around. She’s been really angry for really long and she wants to get over it, but she can’t do it alone. Locke just has to promise to not stalk his daddy anymore. Deal?
Deal, lies Locke.
Oh, Locke.
Lost note: 6 months seems to be a crucial moment in relationships for folks on the island. Both MonicaKate and her husband Kevin, and Sun and Jin were going to have to postpone their honeymoons until 6 months after their weddings, and Sawyer lived with Cassidy for 6 months before pulling the long con on her. Additionally, Juliet was only supposed to be with Mittelos Bioscience for 6 months, and Diane, Kate’s mother, claims she’s only been given 6 months to live. Over and over again.
But you, and I and the American people all know that Locke can’t keep this promise to Peg Bundy. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, Locke’s scar starts aching him, and the next thing you know, he’s parked out front of Cooper’s house drinking coffee. SIGH. Peg Bundy’s NOT HAVING IT, though, and she rams his car from behind. STOMP STOMP STOMP. And she grabs Locke’s keys out of his car, hurls them over Cooper’s fence, and demands that Locke choose: either her or Cooper. Locke mumbles something or another about it not being that easy, and Peg Bundy? NOT HAVING IT. It’s called a leap of faith: and Locke needs to jump. He doesn’t have to be alone. I love Peg Bundy and her 8 Simple Rules for Dating My John Locke. I hope it works out for her.
But it won’t.
You know what else doesn’t work out? That whole “let’s-build-a-raft-and-get-off-this-God-forsaken-island” plan. That one really didn’t hold water. So to speak.
If you remember, when Michael and Sawyer finally washed ashore, they were greeted by Jin. Jin! Yay, Jin! But Jin? Being chased by a bunch of club-wielding crazy folks. UDDERS! UDDERS! Jin yells. But too misunderstood, too late. And Sawyer is whacked in the head by a very large, very angry man. Who then drags the three men into the jungle and deposits them in a tiger cage. Welcome to the Other side of the island, bitch! This is how it’s done on the Tailie beach. (And just like Ryan and Luke, they’ll all eventually become BFFs. Except minus a protracted subplot about Mr. Eko’s father coming out of the closet.)
Once in the cage, Michael immediately begins questioning Jin and whether or not he saw Walt, but Jin tries to explain that he was blindfolded, and has no idea A. where Walt is or B. How many Others there are. Sawyer tries to pull himself out of the pit, just as Very Large, Very Angry Man dumps a new body into the pit. Congratulations, it’s a girl! And not just any girl, but Jack’s drinking buddy from the airport, Ana-Lucia!
And Ana-Lucia has a lot of questions for Michael, Sawyer and Jin. They explain that they were on a plane from Sydney to Los Angeles, and Ana-Lucia reveals she was a fellow passenger. She claims that she survived alone until she was found yesterday by Them. Michael, of course, wants to know if she saw a 10-year-old boy with Them, but um, no, she didn’t.
Sawyer has another bright idea: Jin plays dead, Ana-Lucia calls for help. Ana-Lucia is underwhelmed by this idea, and then wants to know where Sawyer got his gun (What, they didn’t pat them down before hurling them into the pit? Really? Really?). Sawyer explains that it belonged to a U.S. marshal on the plane. And before Sawyer knows what hit him (Ana-Lucia’s fist) she’s disarmed him and is calling to be pulled up out of the pit by the Very Large, Very Angry Man. Whaaa? It was all a trick? Why, who could have seen that coming?
And in the hatch, guess which scene we’re seeing. AGAIN. That’s right! The whole “Is this what you were talking about, Locke? Is this your destiny? All roads lead here,” scene. This time, it’s from Kate’s perspective up in the vents, as she sneaks down and finds her way to the armory, grabs a gun, and disarms Desmond from behind. (Poll: Who is more dangerous? Kate? Ana-Lucia? or Peg “Helen” Bundy? Seriously, I wouldn’t want to tangle with any of these ladies.) Yay, Kate! But, as Desmond was falling to the ground, he may have accidentally discharged his rifle, shooting the computer. OH NOES! There’s smoke! And zapping! And Desmond is pretty convinced that: WE’RE ALL GUNNA DIIIIE!
Well, that can’t be good.
Desmond demands that Jack let him go, so he can try to fix the computer, lest the timer count all the way down, in which case they’re ALL GUNNA DIIIIE! OH, AND, HEY, says Desmond to Jack, DUNT I KNOW YOU?
Jack finally lets Desmond up to go toggle the switch on the computer a few times and curse, which is exactly my own computer-fixing methodology. When this doesn’t work, Desmond runs around the hatch looking for a jar of screws and tiddly bits? as Kate notes that Sayid knows how to fix a computer. Kate heads out the front door of the hatch, and though according to Desmond she needs to “be persistent, the wheel sticks” …
(!)
… leaving out the front door is still easier than building a trebuchet, sacrificing a Boone, blowing up an Artz, and then blowing open a metal door with century-old dynamite. All that seems like a lot of pointless effort in retrospect. Oh well!
As Desmond returns to the computer with his jar of screws and tiddly bits to do … something … Jack comes along, and steals his jar of screws and tiddly bits! JACKS BE STEALIN MAI SCREWZ!!
Jack, using the jar of screws and tiddly bits as a hostage, demands to know what’s going on here, BUT WE DON HAVE TIME FER DAT. Nope, Jack announces, we’re taking a “time out,” and Desmond is going to explain how it is he arrived on the island.
IT WUZ TREE YERZ AGO. DESMOND WUZ ON A SOLO RACE ARUND THE WURLD. DESMOND’S BOAT CRASHED INTO DA REEF AND KELVIN CAME RUNNIN OUT DA JUNGLE ‘HURREH, HURREH, COME WIT ME’ AND BRINGS DESMOND DOWN HEAH. TYPES IN DA CODE BECUZ OF DA BEEPIN AND DEN IT STOPS. ‘WUT WUZ DAT ALL ABOUT?’ DESMOND ASKS. ‘JUS SAVIN DA WURLD.’ SEZ KELVIN. SO DESMOND STARTED PUSHIN DA BUTTUN TOO. AND DEY SAVED DA WURLD TOGETHA AND IT WUZ LOVELY. BUT DEN KELVIN DIED, AND NOW DESMOND’S BEEN ALL ALONE. THE END.
Jack returns Desmond’s jar of screws and tiddly bits, but, of course, thinks that his story is Crazy Town, and scoffs at the fact that Locke believes him. But! Jack doesn’t have to take Desmond’s word for it — they should watch the film, the one behind the Turn of the Screw (“…and Tiddly Bits” was originally the full title of James’ novella, I once read somewhere). And sure enough, when Locke investigates, he pulls out a film canister labeled “Orientation.”
As Locke prepares the projector to watch the film, Jack keeps nattering on about how “crazy” this is and “impossible” it is and that Locke sure seems calm for someone who believes that the world is going to end in 45 minutes. But Locke just shrugs and asserts that Desmond will fix the computer. And? Also? What would really be impossible: that Jack and Desmond somehow knew each other…
So, the film. What to say about the film? How about we watch it:
As Locke says: we’re going to need to watch that again.
Welcome, I’m Dr. Marvin Candle, and this is the orientation film for Station 3 of the DHARMA Initiative. In a moment you’ll be given a simple set of instructions for how you and your partner will fulfill the responsibilities associated with the station. But first, a little history.
The DHARMA Initiative was created in 1970, and it is the brainchild of Gerald and Karen DeGroot — two doctoral candidates at the University of Michigan. Following in the footsteps of visionaries such as B.F. Skinner [there is a jump cut/splice here] imagined a large scale communal research compound where scientists and free thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and Utopian social [splice] Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso whose financial backing made their dream of a multi-purpose social science research facility a reality.
You and your partner are currently located in Station 3, or the Swan, and will be for the next 540 days. Station 3 was originally constructed as a laboratory where scientists could work to understand the unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the island.
Not long after the experiments began, however, there was an incident. And since that time the following protocol has been observed: every 108 minutes the button must be pushed. From the moment the alarm sounds you will have 4 minutes to enter the code into the microcomputer processor [splice] induction into the program. When the alarm sounds, either you or your partner must input the code. It is highly recommended that you and your partner take alternating shifts. In this manner you will stay as fresh and alert [splice] utmost importance that when the alarm sounds the code be entered correctly, and in a timely fashion. Do not attempt to use the computer [splice] for anything [splice]. Congratulations, until your replacements arrive, the future of the project is in your hands. On behalf of the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso and all of us at the DHARMA Initiative, thank you. Namaste. And good luck.
End screen: The Hanso Foundation, 1980. All Rights Reserved.]
So, um, yeah. There’s that.
And as Locke settles in to watch the film again, Dr. Grumplestilskin stomps out of the room to go harass Desmond some more. Is Desmond in touch with the people who made the film? Is he in touch with anyone? Where are your replacements? Where does the food come from? Don’t you think this is all one big experiment to see if you’ll push the button on command? And Desmond responds to this last one EVREH SINGLE DEH. BUT, Desmond explains, DA FILM SED SOMETIN ABOUT IT BEIN AN ELECTROMAGNETIC STATION, AND HIS TEETH HURT. So, you know, tooth pain = faith.
So, after tinkering with the computer for a while, Desmond decides to try turning it back on. FAIL. And the power goes out in the hatch. Desmond, being the calm fella that he is, proceeds to TOTALLY FREAK OUT and begins running around the hatch, packing up various items in a backpack, including a stuffed bunny, a copy of The Third Policeman, some medicine and food, but he leaves behind his photograph of himself with Penny The Second.
(Well, at least in the DVD and abc.com versions. We’ll always have Penny The First in our memories and screen captures).
SMELL YA LATA, SUCKAS! And off Desmond goes out of the hatch as Locke yells after him that he can’t leave. WHATEVAH, BALDIE. GROUNDSKEEPAH WILLIE IS GOIN AS FAH AS HE CAN RUN, BRUTHA.
And Jack’s leaving with him. Locke is upset, because this isn’t what was supposed to happen, which Jack laughs off, certain that nothing is going to happen. Locke begs Jack not to leave him alone down in the hatch, but Jack just tells Locke he’s on his own, and heads out of the hatch. BYE! And Locke, left all alone in the darkness of the hatch, drops to his knees and cries out to no one in particular: “Why is this happening like this? What do you want? What do you … What am I supposed to do?!” not unlike when he did after Boone died.
CRYING SAD LOCKE OF SADNESS.
But No Lockey No Cry! Here’s Kate! And she’s brought along Hurley, but more importantly, she’s found Sayid! And he’s good with the fixit stuff! Give him the jar of screws and tiddly bits and see if he can work some magic! Sayid sends Hurley and Kate off to find a breaker box, and Hurley finds the food pantry instead. Oh dear.
Out in the jungle? More running. Running running running. Desmond is running. That is until Jack pulls a gun on him and orders him to stop. Desmond presumes that Jack followed him to get the code from him, and starts burbling the numbers. But no, that’s not it, because Jack immediately starts shrieking at Desmond that nothing is going to happen. And Desmond’s like WELL, I HOPE NOT, BRUTHA, BUT I GUESS WE’LL FIND OOT SOON. But Jack just can’t get over the fact that Desmond doesn’t even know what it is he’s running from. And that’s when Desmond recognizes Jack from the stadium. And this wigs Jack out a little when Desmond starts up with the OWS THA GIRRRL YOU SED YOU FAILED, YEAH? Jack says that it doesn’t matter. But Desmond is persistent: WUZ SHE OK? THA GIRRRL? It doesn’t matter. WHA APPENED TO HER? IT DOESN’T MATTER. But then Jack finally cracks and starts crying (of course) and admits that he married her. RIGHT, AND YUR NOT MARRIED ANYMURRR, ARR YA? Jack, now a sobbing mess, lowers his gun and Desmond’s all: SEE YA IN ANUTHA LIFE, BRUTHA! and runs away.
Bye Desmond! See you in another episode down the line!
Back in the hatch, 5 minutes remain on the timer, and Sayid is still working his hoodoo, when Kate locates the breaker and restores the power. Hooray! Sayid waves his hands over the computer a few times, says a spell, and presto! The computer is working again.
Now what was that code? 4 … 8 … 15 … 16 … (Hurley starts getting wiggy) 23 … and Locke is about to enter 32 when Jack returns and tells Locke that it’s 42. The last number is 42. But Locke insists that Jack hit the “Execute” button himself. Jack doesn’t want to, because it’s “not real.” Ah, counters Locke, if it’s not real, then WHY DID JACK COME BACK? Why does Jack find it so hard to believe? And Jack wants to know why it’s so easy for Locke to believe? It’s never been easy! yells Yelly Locke. And the timer is ticking down, when Locke tells Jack that he can’t do this alone and that it’s a leap of faith. With the seconds ticking down, and after an INTENSE STARE-OFF, Jack pushes the “Execute” button just as the timer hits 0:00.
End of the world averted! For the moment. And Locke will handle the next “save-the-world” shift, so no worries.
Let’s start with the Orientation film: This is a turning point for the show, and a moment that disappointed a number of fans of the first season (which I never truly understood, but whatever). The Orientation filmstrip, as the great Crimson Rabbit posited on The Fuselage, does anything but orient the viewers and the Losties in what the heck is going on here on the island. If anything, it serves to confuse the issue even further, introducing new mysteries that we are still grappling with, namely the DHARMA Initiative and The Hanso Foundation and the whole idea that the island has strange electromagnetic properties. And for those who resisted the notion that Lost was actually sci-fi (although, again, don’t understand, especially once you’re faced with smoke monsters and visions and ghosts and WHATEVER), the Orientation filmstrip is, I think, the writers’ way of saying to the audience that indeed, this is the direction the show is headed.
As I’ve said many times before, it’s pointless to try to pretend that we don’t know what happens in the future (or the past, in some instances) on the show, so while at the time “Orientation” first aired, we had no idea what the DHARMA Initiative was or who Alvar Hanso was or that the button-pushing was FOR REALS, YO, we do now, and we can only talk about these things in those terms.
And so we have many of the answers that were first presented in the filmstrip: DHARMA was on the island, but not any longer thanks to Benry and the real Others. The DeGroots are ultimately not that important. (Although, the name De Groot is fascinating: there was a famous saint and alchemist known as Albertus De Groot, or Saint Albertus Magnus. He supposedly created The Box of Secrets, which contained the secrets of the Philosopher’s Stone. Benry’s “magic box?”) And Alvar Hanso is still alive, was the grandson of Magnus Hanso, the captain of the Black Rock, and is really sorta a secondary character (at least for now). And the electromagnetic fluctuations are for real and have very significant consequences on the island. Of course, Jack’s skepticism isn’t entirely misplaced: the Swan was also being used for psychological experiments, as we learn later in the Pearl hatch, but the question there is: who are the subjects? Those being observed? Or the observers?
A question (but not the only one) that has never been positively answered, however, is the nature of the “incident.” And it was only upon watching the Orientation filmstrip again that I noticed something that Marvin Candle said that is VERY INTERESTING: “Station 3 was originally constructed as a laboratory where scientists could work to understand the unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the island. Not long after the experiments began, however, there was an incident.” So, was the Swan the original Orchid? Did something go wrong and they could only try to contain the electromagnetic pulses from there on out? Did the island move? Would the island have moved if Desmond hadn’t turned the key at the end of this season? Or can only the Frozen Donkey Wheel move the island? Of course, it’s all rather moot now that the Swan has imploded.
The electromagnetic properties that are mentioned in the filmstrip are also interesting for a small minor point that lingered from season one: the compass that gave an incorrect reading. We know from Jack’s key being drawn towards the wall as he enters the hatch that there is some sort of magnetic property inside the hatch: it now seems to explain why Sayid couldn’t get a proper reading from the compass that Locke gives him.
Symbolically, compasses represent rationalism, logic, God’s plan. It’s interesting that the compass doesn’t work properly on the island: the outside world’s rationalism doesn’t apply here, it doesn’t work. It’s also interesting that it’s Locke’s compass that is off. Locke doesn’t need the compass, he’s oriented to the island just fine. He’s attuned to the island and its properties and doesn’t need it to know his way. This, however, is a new development for Locke as we see in this episode.
The title of the episode doesn’t just refer to the filmstrip, no matter how interesting and mind-blowing a revelation it was with its polar bears and DeGroots and Danish industrialists and limp-armed “Marvin Candle.” Orientation means “a course introducing a new situation or environment.” And we are introduced to two very distinct new situations and environments in this episode: 1. The “others” or “tailies” and their side of the island, and 2. Desmond and DHARMA, and the wackiness inside the hatch.
But the word “orientation” has multiple meanings, including:
n 1: the act of orienting
2: an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs
3: position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions
4: a predisposition in favor of something; “a predilection for expensive cars”; “his sexual preferences”; “showed a Marxist orientation” [syn: predilection, preference]
5: a person’s awareness of self with regard to position and time and place and personal relationships
“An awareness of one’s self in regard to position and time and place and personal relationships.” This is what this episode is all about. This is what the whole show is about. People who are lost finding themselves, orienting themselves.
In the flashback, Locke finds himself being forced to choose between his father and Peg Bundy. But it’s more than that: Locke is being asked to choose between living in the past — obsessing over Cooper, and moving forward into the future — making a life with Peg Bundy. It’s a difficult decision for Locke, to decide where he wants to go, to choose how to orient himself. Will he continue looking back? Or will he take a leap of faith and orient himself towards a promising future?
What’s interesting is that at the end of this episode, it looks hopeful for Locke and Peg Bundy: Locke appears to have let Cooper go. But we already know that somewhere along the line he fails, thanks to the scene in “Walkabout” when Locke is talking on the phone to the Not Peg Bundy. Locke has lost the real Peg Bundy, and we learn how later this season in “Lockdown.” Indeed, Locke looked back, and he loses his chance with at a future with her, not unlike our boy Orpheus.
But now on the island, Locke has clearly made his choice. Locke has taken that leap of faith and not only accepts that he has a destiny, but knows that this is his destiny, not just the button-pushing in the hatch, but the whole shebang. No matter how crazy or improbable the situation is, Locke remains calm in his certitude that he is oriented correctly. It’s only when Jack leaves him alone in the hatch that Locke begins to show the cracks of uncertainty. I find it fascinating that it is the notion of being left alone that is what upsets Locke: that he recognizes that Jack is somehow key to what he has to do here. He can’t do it alone.
There’s a lot of focus on solitude in this episode: Peg Bundy tells Locke that she doesn’t want to try to move on alone; Locke essentially repeats these words to Jack in trying to convince him to participate in the button-pushing; and then there’s poor Desmond’s story of being left alone in the hatch. It’s a major theme of the show, what with “Solitary,” and Danielle’s 16-year struggle on the island, and the whole “live together, die alone” blah blah blah. But Jack is the one who refuses to believe his own mantra: he’s certainly not living together with Locke. In fact, he attempts to leave Locke to die alone.
It’s easier for Jack to believe that Desmond is crazy from being left alone for so long and is being manipulated by these DHARMA people — whoever they are — rather than accept that anything he’s being told is real. And there are plenty of reasons to believe that it’s all a crazy experiment: after all, B.F. Skinner is most famous for his Skinner Boxes, a box in which laboratory animals are kept as a means of conditioning their behavior. The clever inclusion of Skinner’s name in the film, we now know, is something a red herring, making us believe that the hatch is just one big Skinner box, and Desmond is the lab rat conditioned to keep pushing that button.
So Jack refuses to accept that the button is real, and he and Desmond flee the hatch, leaving Locke behind, all alone. This, of course, mirrors what happens in seasons three and four. Jack is desperate to leave the island, he rejects the notion that it is his destiny, and he struggles with Locke. Eventually, he and Desmond do leave, leaving Locke behind on his own on island. (And a quick side note: does Jack racing Desmond in “Man of Science, Man of Faith,” and then running him down in this episode, could it portend a situation in the future where Jack is chasing Desmond? Needing to catch him to make him return to the island perhaps against his will? Just a thought.)
But, just as Locke broke down because he knew somehow that he isn’t supposed to embark on this task alone, Jack breaks down when he can not rationally explain how it is that Desmond is here on this crazy island, asking him about Sarah. This is why Jack returns: he’s come face-to-face with his own small miracle, and though deny it all he will, the seed of doubt that perhaps Locke is right about all this nuttiness is planted right there.
And this is complicated stuff to get into, but as a side note: it’s interesting that Desmond’s full name is Desmond David Hume. The actual David Hume was something of a skeptic when it came to religious phenomena, and argued that one can not accept miracles if they are witnessed by believers. The only miracles that he would accept would have to been witnessed by a skeptic:
The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our attention), ‘That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish …’ When anyone tells me, that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself, whether it be more probable, that this person should either deceive or be deceived, or that the fact, which he relates, should really have happened. I weigh the one miracle against the other; and according to the superiority, which I discover, I pronounce my decision, and always reject the greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than the event which he relates; then, and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion. In the foregoing reasoning we have supposed, that the testimony, upon which a miracle is founded, may possibly amount to an entire proof, and that the falsehood of that testimony would be a real prodigy: But it is easy to shew, that we have been a great deal too liberal in our concession, and that there never was a miraculous event established on so full an evidence.
And isn’t that sort of what happens here? Locke is a True Believer in the Island, and is therefore looking for miracles at every turn. But Jack? Not so much the believer, and yet, he’s the one who has his own miraculous experience with Desmond. (And let’s not forget that Jack had his own experience seeing a dead man sorta restored to life.)
Or maybe Jack goes back for the reason his father gave him in “Man of Science, Man of Faith:” to give Locke that little bit of hope, no matter how improbable, or how little good Jack believes it will do …
But in any event, Jack does return. And just as Jack comes back to the hatch at the end of this episode and saves the day, we can only hope that he returns to the island to somehow aid Locke (now dead, of course) in saving the island, or the world, or whatever? (And notice what it is that Jack does when he returns to the hatch? Resets the timer. Does he have to reset the clock when he returns to the island? *Cough.*)
This entire sequence: 1. Jack being told that he has to push the button, 2. Jack refusing to push the button, 3. Jack realizing that Desmond is in fact the same Desmond he met 3 years before, and 4. Jack returning to the hatch to push the button after all? Hero’s Journey stuff (of course). This is the 1. call to adventure, 2. the refusal of the call, 3. the supernatural aid, and 4. crossing the first threshold all right in order.
Interesting that it’s a Locke episode, considering how transformative it is for Jack. But not entirely surprising. This episode helps reinforce the connection between Locke and Jack — that Locke is Jack’s precursor, forerunner, harbinger. Locke is Jack’s John the Baptist: the almost One. Everything that Jack eventually does, Locke does first: go into the hatch, push the button, recognize the island’s power … Is Locke “HIM?” The “HIM” that will save Desmond, who will save them all? No, but he must come first to clear the path for the one who is …
The point of this episode is that Locke finally has made the correct choice: he’s oriented, he has faith that this is the path, all roads do indeed lead here (not that this faith won’t be tested later…). But just as Locke struggled in the flashback to make the correct choice, to let go of the past, so Jack struggles to let go of his past, the one off of the island. Flashback Locke can’t let go of Cooper, and Island Jack can’t let go of the idea of his life back “home.” But neither Cooper or Jack’s pre-Island life have anything to offer either man.
However! And this is where my head begins to hurt. As I kind of discussed in the introduction, it’s Locke’s destiny to screw up his relationship with Peg Bundy, which he does by refusing to let go of his past. The irony is that as great as she is, and as natural and good their relationship is, Locke HAS to mess it up, so that he will be pushed out the window by his father, and then be inspired by Abaddon to go on a Walkabout. It’s all a part of his destiny. If Locke were to marry Peg Bundy and be happy, he would never make it to the island.
Similarly, I wonder if it is important, for some reason, for Jack to make the “wrong” choice and leave the island. If leaving and then having to make his way back is his path. It’s only upon rewatching this episode that I noticed the similarity between Jack’s adamant and pigheaded rejection of the island and Young Locke in “Cabin Fever” and his rejection of Alpert’s attempts to bring him to the island. It’s not time yet. They aren’t ready. And like Locke, before he came to the island, Jack has to have his life torn apart, and everything good taken away before he can clearly see what he is meant to do. It is not a coincidence that Jack, like Locke before him, is a sad, destroyed man before he finally accepts and fulfills his destiny on the island. Apparently, being broken is the only way to achieve clarity.
All roads lead here.
You just have to be oriented correctly to see the path.
Now, as some of you may have heard, ABC.com is hosting a Lost book club. Frankly, I barely have time these days to read TV Guide to make time for a book club, but am curious about it. If any of you join the festivities, please share how it’s going with the rest of us.
Related: being lazy and overwhelmed all at the same time, I didn’t really talk much about the two books that were so prominently mentioned in this particular episode: The Turn of the Screw and The Third Policeman. At the time this aired, I kinda wondered about The Turn of the Screw, but now! In retrospect! With all the ghosts and the whatnot! What a great choice to be included so casually in this episode!
As far as The Third Policeman … like I said, I haven’t read it. But! You should read the Wikipedia entry at the very least. This is an excerpt that may not make much sense without context, but OH WELL:
At the barracks, which is two-dimensional, he meets two of the three policemen, Sergeant Pluck and Policeman MacCruiskeen, who speak in a curious mélange of spoonerisms, solecisms, and malapropisms and are entirely obsessed with bicycles. There he is introduced to various peculiar or irrational concepts, artifacts, and locations, including a contraption that collects sound and converts it to light based on a theory regarding omnium, the fundamental energy of the universe; a vast underground chamber called ‘Eternity,’ where time stands still, mysterious numbers are devoutly recorded and worried about by the policemen, and there is a box from which anything you desire can be produced; and an intricate carved chest containing an infinite series of identical but smaller chests.
…
On his escape, he passes Mathers’s house and sees a light, and he finally meets the third policeman, Fox, who has the face of Mathers. Fox’s secret police station is in the walls of Mathers’s house, and he tells the narrator that he is the architect of the readings in the underground chamber, which he alters for his amusement, meaning he saved the narrator’s life. He tells the narrator that he found and sent the black box to the narrator’s home, where it is waiting for him. He also reveals that the box contains not money, but omnium, which can become anything he desires, and is actually the box that was in ‘Eternity’. Elated by the possibilities before him, he continues on to the home he and Divney inhabit, to find that while only a few days have passed, his accomplice is twenty years older, with a wife and children. When Divney sees the narrator, he has a heart attack and dies shouting that the narrator was supposed to be dead, for the black box was not filled with money but a bomb.
The narrator runs off, and is soon accompanied by John Divney. They walk down the road, and come to the police barracks. It is then obvious that the narrator, and now Divney, are in a surreal afterlife, and go through the same series of events without remembering any of it.
Ahem.
But, you know. I haven’t read it, so what do I know about it? If any of you have read The Third Policeman, feel free to let the rest of us know what it’s all about, please. Or, better yet, as Anne suggested, maybe we can start our own little mini Lost book club with this strange book and try to figure it out together? It’s up to you guys.
No video this week. Instead, let me direct you to this Twilight Zone episode: “The Old Man in the Cave.” I think upon viewing, you’ll understand why I suggested it …
And finally, one last question: if you were to give a dog a Lost-related name, but didn’t want it to be an obvious reference that someone like, oh, I don’t know, Mr. T might figure out (i.e., no Sawyer or Alvar Hanso or Time Traveling Bunny), what would it be? Just curious.
Namaste!
Lost originally aired on ABC and is now available to stream on Hulu and IMDb.
This post originally appeared on the Hearst site Tubular.