Review: Cabin Fever

Confused yet? You should be. After a one-week vacation from mythology, last night’s Cabin Fever delivered it in spades. We’ll try to break this down and figure out, most importantly, what it all means heading into LOST’s two-week, three-hour season finale.

Don’t Rock the Boat
The action on the Kahana (the freighter) heated up last night for the first time since Sayid and Desmond’s very expensive collect call to Penny.

Sayid headed back to the beach to bring back the first (of what he thinks will be many) group of survivors. I’m guessing that boat holds, oh, 6 people, give or take none. If Sayid can navigate that dinghy through Hurricane Electromagneto, more power to him. Heh, I said "dinghy."

Desmond, on the other hand, believes that the further away he is from the Island, the closer he is to Penny. We’ll see how that turns outs. Does he make it off the Island incognito or, Jacob forbid, does he not make it at all?

But those developments were nothing compared to Martin Keamy’s Sawyeresque “I have the guns, I make the rules,” moment.

Pissed and beaten, Keamy stormed back onto the Kahana and promptly pulled rank on Captain Gault by reaching into a vault and pulling out what seemed to be Charles Widmore’s Super-Secret Plan “B”. He then held the rest of the freighter folk hostage, picking them off in 30-second intervals until Lapidus agreed to fly him back to the Island for some revenge on Ben and his pet Smokey.

When the dust settled, Keamy had eliminated the remaining Kahana authority figures: Dr. Ray and Captain Gault. With those relative do-gooders out of the way, Keamy was free to begin carrying out Widmore’s Plan B. That probably doesn’t bode well for the 815’ers, who were left with the onset of a cryptic game of “catch us if you can” last night.

Charlie’s Major Takeaway: Captain Gault was just a pawn for Widmore, who is using Keamy as the muscle for his master plan.

Charlie’s Major Question: What the hell did Keamy strap to his arm? Is it a bomb? Is this a suicide mission? Is it a blood sugar monitor? Is Keamy a diabetic? Is this a Wilford Brimley-approved diabetic testing device? Oh look, I’ve derailed.


John Locke, This is Your Life
Odd behavior, not-so-chance encounters and heartbreaking disappointment. We learned last night that this is the cycle that defines John Locke. And it began early. Really early.
First there was Locke’s unceremonious and controversial entry into the world. Born three months premature, he was forced to fight the odds from day one. It didn’t help that his mother abandoned him, his father wasn’t in the picture (until his kidney stopped working) and he was apparently shuffled through some foster homes.

But in true John Locke form, the lowest lows were reinforced with sadistically deceptive levels of hope instilled by people who, for some reason, need him to be special. At each turn, John was faced with adversity, then inflated with hope, and finally deserted with disappointment.

First, Richard Alpert’s return (finally! Eat it, Jimmy Smits!) opened up several cans of worms. Mainly, did Richard really know about John and his potential from the day he was born? If so, Richard’s assistance in Locke’s usurping of the Linus throne last season was not a hastily-planned act of desperation, but rather the culmination of decades (or centuries? nah) of work. In an early test of John’s abilities, we saw Richard unpack a LOST theorist’s treasure trove of goodies, asking John to identify which items “belonged to him” (put another way: “Johnny, can you pick out which items are intrinsically tied to your destiny?”). With John’s first two choices, it seemed he was on his way to realizing his fate: to find (compass) meaning on/of the Island (sand). But when John threw Richard for a loop by picking up the knife, Alpert decided it wasn’t John’s time. He left Locke, not reappearing until high school, when a locker-dwelling John was urged by a high school counselor to embrace his geekiness and attend Mittleos Bioscience Summer Camp.

Those were the only glimpses we had of John until we caught up with him just after his paralyzing fall from an 8th-story window. With physical therapy breaking his spirit day in and day out, Locke was urged by a “random” (yeah right) orderly to take a walkabout. That orderly was Matthew Abaddon, organizer of Team Naomi and suspected minion of Charles Widmore. And you don’t have to be a LOST blogger to remember that a walkabout trip was the catalyst for John’s journey to the Island. Did Abaddon’s own walkabout lead him to the Island? Is that how he got hooked up with Widmore? Should I take a walkabout?

Charlie’s Major Takeaway: the reinforcement of Locke’s typical cycle of 1) realizing an indefinable quality of “specialness”, 2) having someone give him hope based on that quality and 3) failing to understand it and thus frustrating and hurting John. It’s important to understand how that cycle has shaped Locke, and that’s where the Island storyline came into play.


“Don’t Mistake Coincidence For Fate”
When Mr. Eko said that, he was talking to Locke. Also, he was talking to you. Last night we saw a series of incidents that, taken individually, amount to John Locke’s coincidental arrival on the Island. But as viewers, we have the luxury of examining those instances in the context of each other. For me, that means John Locke was fated to come to this Island, discover its power and figure out how its “secret” can best be utilized by mankind. No small task, which is why John has had to be carefully groomed and prepared for this moment physically and psychologically.

For John, overcoming this vicious cycle culminates in “How do you like me now?” moments. When he connects with the Island, knows something more than Ben or stumbles upon a possible answer (Nigerian drug plane, hatch, map in a corpse's pocket) he is showing the world that he is not only special, but he knows how to harness it. That’s been the missing link his entire life. He has known he’s important, he just hasn’t figured out how. Or why.

Quick aside: I think by showing us Alpert and Abbadon’s separate attempts at Locke control, we were privy to a manifestation of the Ben vs. Widmore fight. I think both men know John is important, and both were working through their proxies to get Locke to the Island. That would mean Ben had been grooming John for Island leadership for some time. While it seems the two were initially in opposition, I could see a scenario where Ben needed that competition to move past some obstacle. But do Keamy and the freighter folk, under the orders of Charles Widmore, also have bigger plans for Locke? Maybe by removing Ben, they know Locke can ascend to Island dominance. And for some reason, maybe Widmore thinks that benefits him.

Charlie’s Major Takeaway: in a show chock full of lessons about time travel, fate and course correction, tonight’s episode was about what happens when those concepts are applied not just to actions, but to attitudes. Can we, within the manipulation of time, change the way people view the world in order to dictate how they interact with it? I’m guessing, “yes.” And so, apparently, are Ben, Widmore and the teams of puppeteers they employ to animate people like Locke for their own purposes. Last night, we saw how the careful manipulation of Locke over time prepared him for one very important moment: a meeting with Jacob.


I’ve Got a Fever. And the Only Prescription is More Christian Shepherd
Last night, we moved further down the timeline toward John Locke’s Purposeful Endgame. With all the physical elements (a map, Hurley), psychological elements (proving his worth, becoming who he knows he can be) and metaphysical elements (connecting with Dharma Initiative loyalist and ghostie, Horace) in place, John Locke was finally ready to actually speak with Jacob. Kinda.

Whatever you thought was going to happen to Locke in the cabin, you were so wrong. First, in a collision of universes that gave any LOST fan chills, Locke met Christian Shepherd in the cabin. He also saw Claire. Now we know Christian is already dead, and that his ghost-self walks the Island. But Claire? I think we can assume that the missile blast a few weeks ago really did kill her, and now her soul has passed on. And that’s damn important.

But quickly, "Where's Jacob?" Tough to say, but I think we may have learned last night that Jacob is an orchestrator, controller and, perhaps, father figure to the dead. He allows the dead to walk among the living and use the Island to communicate with them. Which brings me to my next point...

Here's what I think the Island "is": a place in which those whose bodies and souls are alive can communicate with those whose bodies are not. By embracing the Island and its power (perhaps under Jacob's tutelage), you are able to approach a crossroads where you can communicate with people whose souls are in a different stage of life than your own.

If the Island is, in fact, a “fountain of youth,” (see: ageless Richard Alpert) can the living, dead and undead use that power to communicate with each other? It would seem so. But how do the major Island-impacting events – the Black Rock, the hostiles’ purge of the Dharma folk, the crash of 815 – affect that power?

The answer to that might go back to predestination and fate. Here's what I'm toying with... Over time, people have existed who try to manipulate the Island’s future in order to keep it viable. Maybe the Island requires a torch bearer, someone whose connection to it is so powerful that they can figure out how to use that power for the benefit of mankind. Widmore tried to do that scientifically (Dharma Initiative) and failed. Ben has tried, but his own ego has gotten in the way. Now, it's John's turn. And some people (Richard Alpert, Matthew Abaddon and maybe Anthony Cooper or Christian Shepherd) have known that for a long time, and have set Locke on a path so that he could fulfill that prophesy. That prophesy is, in fact, the Island's desire. The aforementioned fate-twisters are not working for people. They're working for Island.

I don't really know, though. Go ahead and tackle that one in the comments.

I'm Sorry, You Wanna Do What With The Island?
Move it? Move an Island? Really? I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this one, but here goes…

The question may not be “to where do they move the Island;” but rather, “to when?” Or it might be both. The logical follow-up question: "Ummm. How?" Well, it seems the Island exists in sort of an alternate universe, and to move it, you must alter the physical, chronological, psychological and metaphysical pathways that people must navigate to get there. You have to change that physical compass bearing, you have to change what year it is on the Island, you have to alter the perception of the Island in order to throw off its pursuers. Maybe you do even physically move it. At this point, I’m grasping at straws. And I’m going to stop here. I will say, though, that I bet “moving the Island” has some pretty dire consequences. Hopefully, we’ll see how that plays out in the next three weeks.


And that’s it. If you’re slightly less confused than you were when you got here, I'm a miracle worker. I really liked last night’s episode, and I think it’s one of those where it’s okay to leave with some confusion. With 3 hours of Season 4 left, last night was most likely a way for the writers to set up some of the bigger, game-changing mysteries we’re yet to see in the coming weeks.

Namaste.
.charlie

Addendum: I'm careful to read EW's Jeff Jensen column after I post mine here. Usually, I kick myself for missing something. This week, that something was good enough to come back and post as this addendum. To quote the good Doc Jensen...

Now, do the timeline math.

Locke is born early. At age 5, he takes a test that most likely would have taken him to the Island if he had passed. He didn't. That same year, Benjamin Linus is born. At age 16, Locke is invited to go to a science camp that again would have taken him to the Island. He refused. About that same time, Benjamin Linus and his father joined the Dharma Initiative. The implication, it seems, is that Ben has been walking the path that was originally meant for Locke. Ben was the contingency plan — the course correction — for Locke's altered destiny. But Ben is his own person, of course, and he has done things differently from what Locke would have done, and this, in turn, has created further changes in the original order of things — changes that I think a certain ticked-off, Island-deprived billionaire named Charles Widmore is trying to reverse. The scene at the rehab center between paralyzed adult Locke and his wheelchair pusher, the creepy Matthew Abbaddon — who accepted the description of ''orderly'' with knowing irony — was meant to suggest one way Widmore is scheming to restore the original order: by getting Locke on that Island and taking back the birthright that was supposed to be his.

(Unless I’m getting this reversed: What if Ben was the man of destiny, but for decades, various forces — including Alpert and Widmore-Abbaddon — have been vainly trying to change destiny by getting Locke to the Island to supplant the über-Other?)