Season 6, Episode 4: "The Substitute"
The title of this episode - "The Substitute" - has multiple meanings. My first thought was the idea of fake-Locke acting as a "substitute" for the real Locke. But then we also see the tie-in from Locke's alternate-reality universe, he becomes a substitute teacher after the realization that he can't do everything he used to. Another idea is that Jacob was searching for his own "substitute" for his job as protector of the island. So there is multiple meaning there.
Great episode! Much better than last's week - I feel like we are starting to get some answers but then it seems like more questions are out there now, I just want to know what everything means already!!!
So, who is the young boy that Fake-Locke kept seeing in the jungle? The first time he sees him, he looks younger and has blood all over his hands and arms, then the next time he seemed to be a little older and was running away from him. Clearly this image when Fake-Locke first saw him scared or startled him. The next time he appeared, Sawyer saw him too (I want to know how did Sawyer see him but Richard Alpert didn't? Is this because Sawyer is one of the "special" ones that Jacob recruited?) Anyway, I think that the boy is a young Jacob, he was bloody because the Man in Black (now housed as Fake-Locke) tried to kill him long ago, as a boy himself. I think they are brothers, possibly even twins (you all know my thoughts on the jacob and esau biblical story and the book "the evil twin" that sawyer was reading on the beach) and that he tried to kill him back then. Ever since they have been feuding and at war with one another, each trying to fight one another for control over the island. He also mentions that "there are rules" and that he can't kill him. This is similar to the conversation that Jacob and the Man in Black had on the beach as they watched the Black Rock sailing in many years ago. Also this is similar to the feud between Ben and Widmore about there being "rules" to follow. I am wondering who comes up with these rules and how are they enforced?
So we finally learn more about the chosen ones and Jacob's list...why each of them was brought to the island. Fake-Locke takes Sawyer to this secret cave where there is a scale with a black stone and a white stone being equally balanced. We have seen a lot of references in the past to black vs. white (good and evil) and we have even seen these two colored stones before (in the caves when the survivors first moved there from the beach back in season one - remember they went there to hide from the Others and the "smoke monster" - we saw a white and black stone placed in the caves). Remembering the placement of those stones, I am now wondering if those caves where the survivors sought shelter was the original "secret cave" of Jacob, and he had to move to the new location down the ladder after they found shelter there. Anyway, I thought it was funny how fake-locke takes the white stone (representing Jacob) and throws it away, saying it was "an inside joke." Also in the cave are writings on the ceiling of all the names on Jacob's list. We now understand these names are all people he was recruiting to take over his place as Protector of the Island. The names that are crossed out presumably are either dead or somehow failed to be the Chosen One. The names still on there are Shephard (jack), Reyes (hugo), Kwan (jin or sun), Ford (james/sawyer), Jarrah (sayid), and Locke (which fake-Locke then crossed out now that he is dead). All of them also were listed with numbers (of course, the infamous numbers make an appearance again, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42). Interesting if there is any meaning to the specific numbers they are given. For example, Shephard (jack) is listed as #23. Which we all know is the 23rd Psalm and very relevant on this show. I can't seem to figure out any other relationships between the rest of the names and the numbers they are given, though.
4 - Locke
8 - Reyes
15 - Ford
16 - Jarrah
23 - Shephard
42 - Kwon (Sun or Jin)
Interesting that Kate was not on the list. Or really any of the other plane crash survivors for that matter. But I had thought for sure that Kate was on Jacob's list because he did go to see her as a little girl. It was also interesting in fake-Locke's explanation to Sawyer, that Jacob deceived them all, pushing them down a path that ultimately made them make the choices they thought were their own, but that he was really steering them. I had talked about in the past, how Jacob appeared to them in each of their life's defining moments...the decisions they made affected who they became (sawyer's parents being killed, kate stealing, sayid's wife being killed, locke being paralyzed, etc.) So to think that Jacob had a role in each of their lives is really interesting. Was he really "steering" them and the paths they went down, and if so, how did he come to CHOOSE them and bring them to the island? What is it about each of them that makes them so special that he thinks they could be the protector of the island? Like I said above, more new questions than answers! :P
I also thought that in Fake-Locke telling Sawyer about the three choices he has, it seems clear that he is lying to him about wanting to take him off the island and take him "home." There is some ulterior motive there that Fake-Locke needs Sawyer's help in order to do something (just like he needed Ben to kill Jacob). But I tend to think that Sawyer is also lying about going along with him. Sawyer is smart. Remember, he's a con man - always will be a con man - so even though he is grieving over the loss of Juliet, I think he's still watching out for himself like he always does. I think he took Richard Alpert's advice and is just trying to go along with Fake-Locke until he can figure things out. I think he is playing fake-Locke just as much as fake-Locke is playing him. They are perfect for each other, each one conning the other.
I liked seeing Locke's alternate reality universe played out as well. In this world, he is engaged to Helen (the woman who he pursued but who left him) and lies to his job about going to Australia for a conference when it was really for the walkabout. I loved how he encountered so many of the other survivors (Hurley, Rose, even Ben) and how each of them played a positive role in his new life, helping him to realize that old classic line of "don't tell me what I can't do" when each of them actually shows him what he CAN do. I love also how Helen mentions that it must be destiny that he ran into a spinal surgeon (Jack) at the airport, but then after his realization that he can't change his past, he tears up the card. Maybe this is foreshadowing for the entire theme of whether or not you can change your destiny. (If the plane never crashes on the island, will that change each of their lives or will things still turn out the same?) If Locke was destined to meet Jack, regardless if he tears up the card, I do think he will still run into him somehow and their paths will cross again. This alternate reality that we are seeing, even though it appears there are some differences now, I do think that each of them will still meet and that their lives are destined to be the way they were because you can't change what's meant to be.
posted by Stacey @ 12:56 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Lastnight's episode was great. I liked at the beginnign when we hear the "monster sounds" and the camera pans to the window, and you can see the smoke monster through the window, and then Locke appears.
I wnat to know why Richeard is so afraid of fake Locke. We never see him scared, and lastnight he was clearly scared.
I think the little boy in the jungle could be Aaron. Both are blonde and we always knew he would play a big part in the overall story.
I don't think Jacob steered them as much as offered them choices. Choices play a big part of the themes in the show (Sawyer's 3 choices given by fake Locke)and that fate is not fixed, but is the result of many possible outcomes based on the choices people make. ie, he gave Sawyer a pen to write that letter when he was a boy, but it ultimately was Sawyers choice to take the revenge path.
Great episode and recap! While watching last night's show and seeing the young boy, a thought came to mind that not only were Michael and Walt not on the L.A. bound flight but there has been no mention of them. Walt did seem to have "something special" about him and of all the stranded island children that were "saved/removed", Walt remained and the Others seemed to take a special liking toward him.
What about Helen saying to Locke that "they will invite Locke's Dad" to the wedding in Vegas
Yea, Weird, considering that his dad is the one that pushed him out the window. Putting him in the wheelchair to begin with.
Thanks for everyone's posts. Lots of good comments there.
Anonymous - Yeah, I was wondering too why Walt and Michael weren't on the plane in the alternate reality. I know from reading an interview with the producers that some of the actors who had been killed off or were no longer regulars did not agree to return to the show, even if they wanted them back. Not sure who, but that could have been Michael and/or Walt. Plus they would not have been able to make it look like the original flight because Walt in real life is now a teenager where he was just a kid when they filmed the first season.
Bubu - I think that in this alternate reality there are a lot of things about their lives that are different. Obviously in his real life Locke was not engaged to Helen. So in this alternate reality, perhaps he was injured some other way (rather than by his dad pushing him out the window). Kind of like in Back to the Future, after they change the past when Marty knocks Biff out at the high school prom, when he goes back his whole future had changed, his dad was not a "loser" anymore. I'm thinking this is similar and that maybe there was something they all DID change about their past so now there are major differences - such as Locke being with Helen and in his relationship with his father.
I'm hoping one of the big twists is that Jacob is evil and the man in black is really good.
Think about it: Jacob keeps bringing people on the island and messing with their lives. We're beginning to see what would've happened if this never occurred. And everyone seems to be doing pretty well in the new sideways reality.
Also, when Ben was in evil mode, he was under the guidance of Jacob.
And though the Man in black has killed a bunch of people, they all seem to deserve it or have some connection to Jacob. I think they even infer in an earlier season (I think the episode with the African dude) that the black smoke kills those who've done wrong. And remember the black smoke could've killed Locke at one point, and it doesn't.
This theory is a long shot, but if it turns out, I think it would be pretty cool. Any thoughts?
That's a good theory! I've always thought there would be some sort of "twist" as to who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. Especially because The Others always made a point of saying "we're the good ones" when they clearly seemed like the enemy, so it always seemed like there would be some twist as to who really was there for GOOD. I'm also very curious about the war between Ben and Widmore - which one is good and which one is bad. I have always said that I thought Ben would turn out to truly be "one of the good ones" in the end. Just because it would be ironic.
TO Stuff-The black smoke didn't kill the African Dude either and he was a super bad guy-drug lord who killed all kinds of people. So why did he not kill him if he only killed people who were bad?
No, the black smoke did not kill the drug lord (he was shot and killed on the small plane as it was taking off while Mr. Eko was watching, then that same plane crashed on the island...Mr. Eko found his brother's body in the jungle). So, while the smoke monster did not actually kill him, it did however come and take him away after he said he was not sorry for his actions.
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