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Lost: Lockdown

Sawyer: "How 'bout you put your mangoes where your mouth is?"

I love this show. But they keep promising answers and not delivering! It's frustrating, damn it. Fie on them. I'm going to give up on this show and start watching sitcoms on Wednesday. No, I'm lying.

Why, why, why did Locke let his father use him again? Yes, Locke has serious Daddy issues, but I don't blame Helen a bit for having enough and walking out. And who else thought we were finally going to find out how Locke was paralyzed, especially with the parallel of him getting his legs caught under the blast door? (Wow, did that look painful.) I wonder if those two goons will be the cause of Locke's paralysis? Will we ever know?

This episode strongly supported the theory that Anthony Cooper is the original Sawyer. He must be. He has to be. Note especially the parallel to the Sawyer episode, "The Long Con," with Cooper leaving Locke money on the table and all. Would Cooper have found a way to swindle Locke out of it if Locke hadn't just left it behind? I bet he would have. In fact, I'm certain of it.

What was that freaking ultraviolet graphic on the blast door? It looked like a map with six bunkers, but it was so hard to see. The supply drop was intriguing, too, since it implied that the experiment, whatever it is, is still going on. Where is the macaroni and cheese coming from? Did the supply drop have something to do with the PA system countdown and the blast doors?


At least we know for sure that Henry Gale isn't really Henry Gale, which did not surprise me at all. What surprised me was that the balloon thing was not a booby trap. Henry probably didn't think that Sayid, a.k.a. Mr. Tenacity, would go as far as he did. Did Henry re-set something when he was off screen entering the numbers? Is that why the blast doors went back up?

Swindling was a general theme and didn't just take place in the flashbacks. The poker game was my favorite part of this episode, even though it was frustrating that Jack didn't return to the Hatch when Locke needed him the most. Who knew Jack would turn out to be a card shark? It was so in character for Jack to go all out and trounce Sawyer at cards in order to get, not guns, but medicine for his patients. All of the poker game exchanges were a hoot, but my favorite line was Kate's:

Jack: "It's a pile of fruit, man."
Sawyer: "And I want it back."
Kate: "Should I go and get a ruler?"

Character bits:

Nadia, Sayid's beloved, was the woman buying the house that Locke was inspecting. Did it mean anything? Or was it just another meaningless strand in the web of pre-Island connections between the Lostaways?

Nadia said that she had no husband. Maybe she and Sayid will be together someday, if he ever gets off the Island and makes it to southern California.

Locke worked as a house inspector for a company called "Welcome Home."

Whatever his motivation, Henry did save Locke's legs, and possibly his life.


Was Kate changing her allegiance from Sawyer back to Jack? Maybe she should make up her mind which of them she really wants.

Kate looked a little mussed around the edges. Guess she really did need that shower.

Jack has been to Phuket, Thailand and may have gotten his body art there.

Sawyer dropped out in the ninth grade.

Sawyer's nicknames for Jack: Amarillo Slim and Cool Hand. (From the old movie, Cool Hand Luke? Wasn't Paul Newman a born loser in that one?) Sawyer's nicknames for Hurley: Mutton Chops and Mongo. Mongo was the huge, moronic character played by Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles, so that was an insult.

Bits and pieces:

— Locke and Cooper met at the Flightline Hotel, near the airport. (LAX?) We saw two planes going overhead; both were Oceanic planes. And way too close.

— Cooper swindled $700,000 using the "retirement con." The safe deposit box where he hid the money was numbered 1516.


— Locke said to his father's coffin, "I forgive you." That resonated for me because I did the same thing at my father's funeral.

— According to the close captioning, Les McCann's "Compared to What" was playing when Locke was exercising.

— The real Henry Gale's drivers license said he lived at 815 Walnut Ridge Rd., Wayzata, MN 55391. Note the 815.

— Matthew Fox looked a bit thin and tired here. Or Jack did.

— They finally put a better rug on Terry O'Quinn. Thank you, Lost Powers That Be.

— This episode ended with the dreaded sliding horn. I hate the sliding horn.

Quotes:

Helen: "Hey. Maybe he left you his kidney." Good one, Helen.

Jack: "There is no loop, Hurley." Omigod, there most certainly is. Jack lied to both Hurley and Kate in this episode. Bad Jack. No biscuit.


Jack: "Ten mangos."
Sawyer: "Okay. I'll call you with the aspirin and raise you a bottle of Amoxicillin."

This was a very good episode, but extremely exasperating. Three out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

6 comments:

  1. I share your frustration at more questions and fewer answers. But this episode was worth the price of admission for the poker game. Laugh out loud funny -- and good to see Sawyer being beaten like that.

    And, I agree with the Kate triangle thing. That and the Locke/Jack tension has been going on long enough. Let’s resolve a couple of things for a change.

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  2. I love this episode, because I love Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn together.

    "Put your mangoes where your mouth is" has got to be in one of the Jack/Sawyer 'shipper mash-up videos.

    Props to Sayid for sussing out Henry Gale's lie.

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  3. Poker game is brilliant. Season 2 moves up a gear from this episode.

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  4. I remember that first time watching I loved seeing Jack beating Sawyer but this time it's a little too obviously fan-aftercare for Sawyer's con lol. But I'm sure first-time me wouldn't care either way.

    One opinion that hasn't changed since my first time is preferring Locke as a (preferably kissless & handholdless) virgin so the Helen storyline never worked for me (but mostly because of Anthony Cooper coming back... Locke's obsession would resonate more if he really did never see Cooper again after the betrayal). Though I did enjoy Helen in general... Katey Segal was good

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  5. While I'm not a big believer in fate and destiny, John Locke remains to be my favorite character in the show so far. Episodes with his flashback scenes have been my favorites. The combination of his tragic backstory and that god damn soundtrack (Locke'd Out Again) break my heart. Maybe I'm reading the whole character wrong, but his resilience just resonates with me so hard.

    I kicking myself for not watching this show when it first aired. They just don't make shows like this anymore, huh?

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  6. Kate didn't change her alliance from Sawyer to Jack in this episode. She had "been" Team Jack since Sawyer's con. Actually, it had always been Jack for her. Sawyer was a mere scapegoat for her. And it was Ana-Lucia who was originally intent on searching for the balloon, not Sayid. They should have let Ben go in this episode.

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