Season 3, Episode 19: "The Brig"

The title of this episode is "The Brig" - A brig, by definition, is a compartment of a ship where prisoners are confined. This is where Locke kept his father tied up on the ship, bound and gagged, like the slaves who were kept there years before.

Okay, alot of stuff to talk about here...but I will start by saying (and I can't help myself here) but I WAS RIGHT!! I have been saying ever since we first saw that Locke's dad conned him into giving him a kidney, that I thought he was the real Sawyer - the classic conman. It seemed too obvious at first, but turns out it was true! Wow.

Anyway, this episode ALSO went along with my theory that everyone is brought to the island for the one thing that they want the most. (see my post from episode 13 - I think it's worth reading again as it explains alot about that theory, which this episode definitely supports). For Sawyer, he has spent his whole life trying to find the "real" Sawyer so he could kill him. And so his "purpose" of being brought to the island was to give him the one thing he wanted more than anything, which he finally got. Just to tie everything together as far as what each of the survivors one thing they wanted most was...Sawyer's one thing was to kill the real Sawyer. Kate wants her freedom back and to stop running from the Marshall. Locke wanted to walk again and to be freed of his father. Rose/Bernard wanted her cancer to go away. Charlie wanted to be freed of his drug addiction. Sun wanted the love and affection of her husband and Jin wanted to be able to give her a baby. All these things were made possible on the island. So each person has that one thing - their innermost and deepest desire - that the island has made possible. And Sawyer finally got his desire by killing "the real Sawyer." In a way, since he had taken on his name - it is almost as if Sawyer killed the persona of who HE was when he went by the name Sawyer. He became "Sawyer." All of the cons that he pulled, he was no different than him. But now, on the island, not only has he killed the real Sawyer, but he has also shed that image of the man that he himself had become. Notice how recently he has started to be nice to the others around camp, making an effort to be liked, and he seems to really want a "relationship" with Kate. He is an entirely different person now. And now that he has killed "Sawyer," maybe he will finally just be JAMES again. Killing "Sawyer" has allowed him a rebirth of sorts, he is a new man now.

THEY ARE NOT DEAD!!
Naomi (the parachutist) tells them that the remnants of flight 815 were found intact - the plane was in one piece at the bottom of the ocean - and that the bodies of ALL the survivors were accounted for. Then, we also find out that Locke's dad believes he is dead... as his last memory was having a car crash (in Tallahassee) and being pulled into an ambulance where the paramedic "actually smiled at me" and then inserted an IV into his arm.

Okay, so of course they are not all dead! This is just more proof that the Others are up to something. (Remember when Ben says "go get me the man from Tallahassee") Plus, the fact that we have seen how they can cause accidents (Juliette's ex-husband getting hit by a bus) and that they can make pretty much anything happen in order to bring whoever they want to the island. This "paramedic" was one of the Others who went to get him, and the IV they put in his arm was actually them drugging him (just as they did with Juliette) so he would have no memory of how he got to the island. That is why he believes he is dead (and in hell, nonetheless!) because he has no recollection of anything after "the accident." He also believes that Locke, his son, is dead.

HEALING POWERS
Did you notice that when Locke unwrapped his hand from where his dad bit him, it was healed? It was a pretty bad wound when it happened, yet it suddenly healed. More proof that the island has these special healing powers. Or maybe it is just certain people who are able to be healed? And if Locke is truly "special," then he would heal faster.

Here's a thought, regarding the idea of "healing" - let's suppose that they did all "die" in the crash. But if they crashed on the island, only those who were "special" could be healed - and thus the island gave them a second chance at life. I wrote last week alot about rebirth and the island giving people a second chance at life. Maybe if they truly did die from the crash, the island chose who to "resurrect." We have seen all the religious symbolism in this show, well there you go - the biggest religious theme you could get... Jesus was resurrected, born again. All that we have seen lately about rebirth, forgiveness, etc., is starting to make me wonder. Like I said above, I don't necessarily think they are dead, but I think maybe this could be some kind of resurrection/rebirth - like the island gave them the ability to survive the crash that was supposed to kill them. Giving them a second chance to be forgiven for their sins. I don't know, I'm starting to babble now, but the religious symbolism is obviously put in there for a reason. Definitely something to think about.

YOU ARE SPECIAL
We are introduced to a new "Other" - Richard - who tells Locke that Ben used him to make him look like a failure in front of everyone else. He made it sound as if they had all been waiting for him - that when they heard there was a paralyzed man on the plane who could now walk - he told him they all thought he was SPECIAL. They obviously hold him up to some kind of deity - almost as if they think he is a higher being. And Ben doesn't want that. As we have seen, Ben has this God complex -and now that the Others are looking to Locke like he is a higher being, Ben doesn't like that. He is playing one of his games, trying to make Locke think he is not special, and trying to make him do something he is not capable of (so really, BEN is the ultimate conman!)

Anyway, Locke truly wants to be a part of the Others. He wants in because he wants to learn the secrets of the island. Ben tells him that he can't become one of them until he has proven himself...and that he has to kill his own father. Locke can't do it. (is it because he is a GOOD person??) He gets Sawyer's file and manipulates him into coming with him, because he knows that Sawyer will kill him once he finds out who he really is. Locke gives him bits and pieces of information along the way...for example, he tells Sawyer that there's "not much" in his file, except that his father killed his mother and then himself, but tells him "but it didn't say why." (obviously it did). He was pulling a Ben there - using bits of information to get someone to do something that he wants him to do.

The big question, though, is why do the Others need Locke to kill in order to be one of them. I know it's all about sacrifice (they need Locke to prove that he will do something that they know he is not capable of.) I don't know, I guess if we look at this from a religious perspective this is sort of like God sending his Son to die, he sacrificed him for the good of the world, to clear other people's sins. Is Ben trying to make Locke sacrifice his father, in order to clear the other survivors of their sins??? Maybe these "secrets" that he is going to show him has something to do with all their sins (since so much of the series has focused on all of their sins and the guilt they carry).

DYNAMITE, ANYONE?
We see Rousseau for the first time in a while...and she came to get dynamite?? Locke didn't seem to think it was a big deal, or maybe he just wanted her out of there so he could get on with his "plan." I'm thinking that maybe she is going to use the dynamite in some way to threaten Ben. I think she will threaten to blow up some important part of the island unless Ben gives her her daughter back. Now that she knows Alex is alive, she will do anything to get her back. And she obviously hates Ben (he took her daughter from her and raised her as his own) so I think this dynamite might be for something big she is planning.

I CAME FOR DESMOND
So, we didn't really find out anything we didn't already know (or assume) about the parachuter, Naomi. As we saw last season, Penny had hired a team to locate Desmond's tracking device on his boat. She tells Sayid that her boat is about 80 miles from there, and if they can get a signal, they can radio them and be saved. So apparently Penny wasn't kidding when she told Desmond that with enough money and determination, you can find anybody.


WE SHOULD TELL HER
After Kate tells Jack about Naomi and the phone-radio, she tells him how no one trusts him. (Obviously, though, she still trusts him since she told him about it.) Juliette says "we should tell her" and Jack says "not now" - what was that all about? I am thinking that maybe Juliette discovered that Kate is in fact pregnant (remember she said she was going to get samples from her to do the tests). Jack doesn't want to tell her because he knows that Kate already knows about the whole pregnant women dying on the island thing - so he is trying to protect her. I don't know.

It looks like next week is going to be great! Clearly there is a big shift of power on the survivors camp, now that people don't trust Jack anymore, and now that Sawyer has proof that Juliette is working with Ben still. Look's like she's got some explaining to do!! Do you think she will tell them the truth (that she is being held there against her and she wants off the island just like everyone else) or will she stick with Ben and try to cover up her lies?