>>> Continued from HERE
When Richard Alpert told Locke that he would have to die in order to bring the others back, he never said that Locke would have to kill himself. In fact, I thought it highly unusual that Locke would jump to that conclusion from Richard's words but perhaps he felt it was his final test: to extinguish his own life in order to reunite the Oceanic Six and save the world. He was ready (more than ready, really) to take that literal plunge, to sacrifice himself to protect the lives of others. But that's not what Christian had in mind when he talked about sacrifice either. So it's not suicide that does Locke in but the murderous rage of a true Judas Iscariot: Benjamin Linus.
Walt. I am glad that Damon and Carlton chose to include Walt in this episode (and have Matthew Abaddon make a pointed remark about how much Walt has grown) as the failure to include Walt in the return trip to the island has always gotten under my skin since the start of Season Five. After all, Locke would definitely go see Walt, as we've been told numerous times that Walt is also "special" and "important," just like Locke. So is he the future leader of the Others? Perhaps. After all, Walt was "tested" back on the island... and Ben made sure that he was removed from the island in the end. And yet I liked that Locke chose not to involve Walt, saying that he had been through too much already to subject him to another jaunt to the island; it goes a long way to explaining why Walt wasn't on that plane. Their meeting also has another benefit as Walt tells Locke about a prophetic dream he had of Locke, back on the island and wearing a suit, surrounded by people who wished him harm. I'm hoping that Locke takes Walt's warning to heart and pays especially close attention to the Aijira survivors. It's only a matter of time before they turn on him.
Abaddon. I loved the explanation that Matthew Abaddon was employed by Widmore to make sure people get to where they've got to go; it's a metaphysical rationale of his position as Locke's driver back on the mainland. After all, it was Abaddon who made sure Locke was on Oceanic Flight 815: he told Locke about the walkabout when posing as an orderly at the rehabilitation center and ensured that Locke would end up on the island. Which makes me question whether Widmore and Abaddon are as evil as they seem. After all, their actions ensured that Locke WOULD get on the island in order to lead the Others and Abaddon was responsible for putting together the scientific team on the Kahana--a group that included Naomi Dorrit, Miles, Charlotte, Frank Lapidus, and Daniel Faraday--and therefore put them on the island as well. That so many of them have connections to the island (or have been there before) seems to indicate that Widmore wanted them in place for a reason. But I didn't expect that Ben would brutally murder Abaddon in the cemetery, after he took Locke to see Helen's grave. Lost has killed many a character in its time but this one had my jaw on the ground with its simple brutality and explicit surprise.
Widmore. Widmore is quick to point out that he doesn't kill Locke, though he had the opportunity to do so. In fact, he goes to great lengths to make sure that Locke stays alive and has some plausible explanations for why he sent Keamy and the team (along with a freighter rigged with C4) to the island in the first place: to kill Benjamin Linus. If that seems like a bit of overkill, it doesn't hurt to realize that, even with all that manpower, Ben still managed to survive.
So is Widmore good? I wouldn't say that any of the puppet masters on this series could be viewed in terms of black and white, but Widmore does seem to genuinely care about the island (or so he claims) and want to see Locke restored to his rightful place as the leader of the Others. He speaks about his exile from the island (which supports my theory a few weeks back of a civil war among the Others) and his hatred of Ben, who is the wrongful leader of the Others. Ben's usurption of the leaderhood came with blood on his hands and not the careful testing that Richard Alpert refers to... and Ben turned the wheel and moved the island, even though it wasn't his right to do so. If there is a war coming, is it possible then that Widmore, knowing how "important" Locke is, wants him on his side rather than Ben's? And just what is at stake for both sides in this coming war?
Ben. I have to say that I am truly shocked by Ben and the lengths he will go to in order to ensure his endgame, whatever that may be. After several weeks of development that seemingly pointed to Ben as a potential hero (or anti-hero, as the case may be), we're now left to doubt everything the trickster had said once again. Managing to prevent Locke from hanging himself, Ben manages to gain some valuable intelligence. Locke tells him that Jin is still alive on the island and that he made a promise to him to tell Sun not to come back to the island and has his wedding ring as proof of life. Ben only cares about Jin being alive inasmuch as it's a way to get to Sun, to convince her to join his cause.
But Ben seems absolutely SHOCKED when Locke mentions that he has to go see Eloise Hawking. It's clear that, while Ben knows who Hawking is, he either didn't know that Hawking had a means of getting back to the island or doubted that Locke knew how to get back. In any event, it's this moment that triggers Ben to act, strangling Locke with the extension cord and rigging the room to look like a suicide. Ben is careful to wipe everything down but doesn't check Locke's pockets... thus missing the suicide note he left for Jack, the contents of which Ben is later VERY curious about.
In killing Locke, Ben seemingly enables Richard Alpert's words to come true: Locke does have to die in order for the others to come back, something that Ben didn't know. Are Ben's murderous actions going to be his very undoing? It certainly seems that way. Eloise Hawking is very careful to tell Jack--and pointedly not Ben--about the proxy and instructs him to place something of Christian's in Locke's coffin, which Jack does... without telling Ben. Something tells me that Ben will be very surprised to see Locke alive again as I'm wondering whether his mission to bring those who left the island back involved Locke's corpse more than it did Locke himself.
Me, I can't wait for next week.
Next week on Lost ("LaFleur"), Sawyer concocts a lie with some of the other island survivors in order to protect themselves from the mistakes of the past; members of the Oceanic Six arrive on the island; one of the survivors of Ajira Airways Flight 316 is seemingly taken prisoner.
