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Season 1: Episode 19 - 'Deus Ex
Machina'
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| We open the show with
a FLASHBACK -- to Locke, with a head full of hair, working in a toy
store. He seems genuinely happy as he demonstrates the game of
Mousetrap to a young boy. That is until he notices a woman, standing
off to the side, staring at him -- it's disconcerting. Locke
approaches, but the woman is evasive and only asks where she can find
a football. Locke points her in the right direction and goes about his
work. But there was something clearly odd about the encounter. |
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On the island, Locke
and Boone put final touches on the trebuchet, which they have been
building in order to crack open the hatch. Boone makes small talk,
wondering about Locke's life back in the real world. Locke responds
that Boone would find his story boring and proceeds to spring the
trebuchet -- which doesn't even dent the hatch and instead, collapses
under the force. Boone notices that Locke has a piece of shrapnel
embedded in his leg. Locke is oblivious to the pain and pulls the
shard from his skin. That night, he bandages his wound and tests his
reflexes, searing the bottom of his foot with a burning ember, but
feels nothing. He stares down at his legs, wondering if his paralysis
is returning.
The next day, Locke and Boone work to rebuild the trebuchet. But Boone
has grown weary of the task and expresses doubt about what they're
doing. Locke says that the island will tell them what to do. And for
the first time, we can see that Boone is beginning to doubt Locke. We
also see that Locke is having trouble walking.
FLASHBACK -- to Locke, in the toy store parking lot, about to leave
work for the day, when he spots the mysterious woman again. He gives
chase when a car suddenly backs out of its spot with enough speed to
knock Locke to the ground. For a moment, we wonder if this is how
Locke ended up in a wheel chair -- until he shakes it off, rises and
continues to pursue the mystery lady. He finally catches up to her and
grabs her by the arm, demanding to know why she's following him. She
responds, "I'm your mother."
Locke and his mother sit at a diner over tea, where her eccentricities
become evident. She tells him she thinks their meeting was a sign of
great things and speaks about destiny. When Locke asks about his
father, she tells him that he doesn't have a father; that he was
"immaculately conceived." And off Locke, who clearly thinks
this woman might be insane, we cut back to --
-- the island, where Sawyer asks Sun about which leaves to use in
order to cure a headache. Kate overhears and approaches Sun once
Sawyer departs. Sun explains that Sawyer has been having headaches and
the aspirin in his stash haven't been working. Kate takes it upon
herself to ask Jack to examine Sawyer. But Jack is understandably
hesitant, knowing full well from previous encounters with Sawyer that
his help will go unappreciated.
Out in the jungle, Boone finds Locke at the hatch and tells him that
he's fed up with working everyday without results -- he doesn't think
they can open the hatch. But Locke insists that they were meant to
find it and open it. "The island will send us a sign…" And
just as Boone is about to write Locke off as a complete nutcase, a
plane buzzes overhead. When Locke looks down, he finds Boone covered
in blood, chanting the phrase, "Teresa falls up the stairs,
Teresa falls down the stairs…" Confused, Locke turns back to
see the woman who claimed to be his mother -- here on the island! --
pointing off in the direction of the plane. Then Locke looks down to
find himself paralyzed, back in his wheelchair. He calls out,
terrified, begging the island not to take back his ability to walk.
And just when we think things can't get any weirder, Locke bolts awake
in a cold sweat -- it was just a nightmare. He jumps up from the
campfire and goes to wake Boone.
We FLASHBACK again to Locke, who meets with a private investigator in
order to find out about the woman claiming to be his mother. The PI
confirms that she is indeed who she says she is -- Emily Annabelle
Locke. The DNA was a positive match. He also tells Locke that she was
institutionalized several times for schizophrenia. Locke presses the
PI about his father, but the PI is hesitant to give out any
information. "Your mother sought you out, so she's fair game.
This guy may not even know you exist." But Locke wants to know
and the PI reluctantly slides his father's dossier across the table.
Locke pulls up to a gated estate and asks the guard to see a Mr.
Cooper -- he's his son. The guard responds that Mr. Cooper doesn't
have a son. Locke explains that he doesn't want anything and persuades
the guard to call up to the house. Locke eyes the security camera as
the guard hangs up, opens the gate and waves him through. Inside his
father's den, Locke studies photographs, searching for some sort of
resemblance. His father comes into the room and breaks the ice by
offering him a scotch, which Locke happily accepts. Cooper tells Locke
that, in fact, he didn't know he existed -- that Emily told him she
wasn't going to have the baby, but showed up later asking for money
and claiming she put the baby up for adoption. Cooper also reveals
that he ended up without any family. It's clear that he's trying to
make a connection and asks Locke to go hunting with him the following
weekend.
Back at the hatch, Locke relays his dream to Boone -- he thinks that
the plane is the sign they have been hoping for. But it was just a
dream and now Boone really thinks Locke has lost his mind -- perhaps
even drinking that crazy paste that made him see his sister (back in
episode #111). Locke counters with a question of his own that shocks
Boone -- "Who is Teresa?" Boone clearly recognizes the name
-- it was his babysitter, who Boone used to torture by calling her up
and down the stairs on the intercom. He explains that one day, Teresa
took a bad step and fell. Is this something he mentioned to Locke one
day while working on the hatch or does Locke's dream hold some sort of
truth?
Meanwhile, Jack goes to check on the progress of the raft when he
notices Sawyer, sitting off against a tree with a wet cloth over his
head. He approaches and asks about the headaches. But Sawyer isn't
happy that Kate told Jack and responds in his usual wise guy manner.
Jack starts to leave, but Sawyer speaks up, genuinely concerned that
he might have a brain tumor -- a condition that killed his uncle. Jack
tells Sawyer to come by the caves so he can run a couple of tests.
Terrified to know the truth, Sawyer would rather remain in the dark
and claims, "his insurance ran out."
Locke and Boone move through jungle, but Locke's legs fail him and he
trips. Boone wonders what's wrong, but Locke claims he's fine. He
looks up to spot a rosary, dangling from a branch, when suddenly, a
decomposed body falls from the tree above them. They look over the
body and conclude that he was a priest. But closer examination reveals
a gun -- and priests don't usually carry guns.
We FLASHBACK as Locke shows up to the estate again, following up on
his father's invitation to go hunting. But he's early and when he
enters the house, he finds his father being tended to by a nurse. His
father explains that his kidney is failing and that while he's on a
donor list, his age has put him at the very bottom. He didn't tell
Locke because he didn't want to spoil their time together. And from
Locke, watching his father being hooked up to a dialysis machine, we
go --
-- back to the beach, where even the slightest noise is causing
Sawyer's head to throb. Kate approaches and insists that he go see
Jack, who asks him a series a questions that go from serious to
ridiculous -- all in front of Kate. Sawyer realizes that Jack is
toying with him, gets up and leaves. Kate asks Jack if it was really
necessary to have fun at Sawyer's expense. Jack laughs and tells Kate
that Sawyer is fine -- he just needs glasses.
Out in the jungle, Locke and Boone press on, figuring that the body
may have been the pilot or a passenger and that the plane must be
close by. But Locke is having trouble walking again. He blames the
shrapnel wound, but Boone points out that that was his right leg --
he's limping off his left leg now. Boone suggests they head back to
see Jack, but Locke insists they push on until he collapses. Boone
tries to persuade him to turn around again, but Locke refuses. He
tells Boone that he used to be in a wheelchair, but the island made
him whole and that while it might sound crazy, this is something they
were meant to find. He holds out his hand and says, "Help me up,
son" as we --
-- FLASHBACK to another father and son, moving through a field on a
different sort of hunt. Locke raises his rifle and brings down his
first dove. His father congratulates him and tells him that though his
mother may have been crazy, she brought the two of them together --
while he still has time -- and for that, he's grateful.
Back on the island, Locke struggles along with his arm thrown over
Boone's shoulder. They stop to rest when Locke looks up past Boone,
who follows his gaze toward -- a yellow Beechcraft, propped up in a
tree canopy. Knowing his legs won't let him climb, Locke tells Boone
he's going to have to go up and find out what's inside.
And we FLASHBACK to a hospital room to find Locke in a surgical bed
next to his father, ready to donate his own kidney -- something he
feels was meant to be. His father says he'll see him on the other side
and we go --
-- back to the beach, where Jack brings Sawyer a box of glasses and
explains that he has hyperopia, probably as a result of all of the
reading he's been doing since they crashed on the island. He tries
several glasses on Sawyer in an attempt to find a pair that matches
his condition. Sayid takes the two pairs that work the best, melts
down the plastic frames and fuses two separate pieces together into
one. They're not very flattering, but they do the job. Jack tells
Sawyer it's not a fashion show and leaves him checking out his new
look in a mirror.
Out in the jungle, Boone climbs the massive tree up to the Beechcraft
as Locke looks on helplessly. Once inside, Boone finds a map and comes
across another body. He jumps and causes the plane to lurch. Outside,
Locke calls to Boone, seeing that the plane is clearly unstable. But
Boone is too curious to leave and comes across several Virgin Mary
statues. He throws one down to Locke, which lands at his feet and
cracks open, revealing heroin inside. Angry, Boone calls down to Locke
that this wasn't a sign after all -- the plane was obviously a drug
smuggling plane. Boone spots a radio on the dash. He runs to turn it
on and actually hears some static. He makes frantic mayday calls and
hears a muffled voice, but the chance of making contact is cut off
when the plane lurches again. Locke calls to Boone and tells him to
get out, but it's too late and the plane begins to slide through the
canopy to the ground in a horrible, bone crushing crash. Locke
scrambles toward the plane, legs starting to come back to him. He
finds Boone wounded inside, pulls him out, slings his body over his
own shoulder and powers back to camp.
At the caves, Kate thanks Jack for helping Sawyer when Locke comes
barreling in with Boone. He tells Jack that it was an accident -- that
Boone fell off a cliff while hunting. Jack does a quick exam to see
that Boone's wounds are life threatening and sends Kate for towels and
water. Jack turns his back for some supplies, all the while trying to
get details out of Locke. But when he turns back around, Locke is
gone.
We FLASHBACK as Locke wakes up in the hospital recovery room, the bed
next to him empty. A nurse tells him that his father checked out,
which doesn't make much sense to Locke, who's still dazed and confused
from the anesthesia. His mother appears in the doorway and is
immediately apologetic. She tells him that she needed money and went
to Cooper, who told her to find Locke. And as his mother continues her
explanation, it begins to sink in that this was all a plan to trick
Locke into donating his kidney to a father he never knew. In denial,
Locke struggles from the bed and begins ripping tubes from his arms.
He drives to the estate, but the once friendly guard is now completely
cold and turns Locke away. Locke pulls himself out of the car and
limps over to the gate. He stares into the security camera, completely
shell-shocked. The guard tells him again that he has to go, so Locke
gets into the car and drives away. But he only makes it a few blocks
before he pulls over and breaks down in tears.
On the island, Locke kneels over the hatch, crying out in pain and
betrayal: "I've done everything you've asked me to do! Why?"
And as he bangs on the hatch in frustration, a light suddenly comes
on, leaving Locke and the audience wondering who or what's inside….
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Information
and image taken from:
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