Lost (Episode 604) - The Substitute

Written by six from the blog The Lost Chronicles on 12 May 2010
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Lost
Season 6, Episode 4
The Substitute

Locke-centric episodes have never failed to make an impact, and this one doesn’t disappoint. I am not a fan of Locke – never have been and it’s highly unlikely that I ever will be – but you couldn’t help but empathise with him; his was a heartbreaking story.

So, it’s good to see what could have happened in Locke’s life had he not been so manipulated by those on the island.

In the new or alternate timeline, Locke is now living with Helen and they’re getting married. But Locke has been lying not only to Helen, but to his company too. He gets fired (perhaps not unjustly) from his job when his obnoxious boss Randy learns that Locke went to Australia on a walk-about rather than on the conference they sent him on.

In the parking lot, he meets Hurley and finds out that Hurley now owns the company. After turning down an offer from Hurley (about whether he wanted Hurley to speak to Randy), Hurley gives Locke a number for a temp agency that he (Hurley) owns. At the temp agency, Locke meets Rose. After giving them a hard time about what he is, or is not capable of doing, Rose tells him about her cancer.

When Locke’s missing luggage is returned to his home, he tells Helen about getting fired and tells her that we wanted to go on a walkabout. He also tells her that if she is waiting for a miracle (ie, him walking again), he will never be able to walk again. She forgives him and they’re all happy. Locke gets a job as a substitute teacher and meets a dorky Ben Linus who is teaching European History at the same school.

On the island, things are always so much more interesting. A distraught Illana wants to know who killed her friends and Ben tells her. She also assumes that Jacob was killed in the same way and Ben doesn’t correct her. She collects some of Jacob’s ashes and puts it into a bag.

Outside, only Sun and Frank remain – the rest left for the temple... Illana wants them to go there as well but Sun insists that they bury Locke first, so they head off to the island’s cemetery. In what seems to be a genuine eulogy, Ben says that Locke was a better man than he’ll ever be and he’s sorry he murdered him.

Elsewhere, Monster-Locke tries recruiting Richard, who isn’t interested. Monster-Locke sees a blonde boy in the jungle who Richard either doesn’t admit to seeing, or doesn’t see. They part ways and Monster-Locke heads off to Otherville, where he finds Sawyer playing loud music and drinking heavily.

Sawyer realizes that this is not Locke, but still goes with him when Monster-Locke offers him a chance to find out answers. In the jungle, the both see the blonde boy. Monster-Locke runs off behind Blondie, but Sawyer stays behind. Monster-Locke trips in the jungle, and Blondie tells him that he knows that “you can’t kill him”. Monster-Locke responds in a very Locke manner, telling Blondie that he can’t tell him what he can or can’t do.

A very jumpy Richard approaches Sawyer to try and get him to go with him to the temple. He warns Sawyer that the man is not Locke and that he will kill everyone... But before he can finish, he hears Monster-Locke returning and runs away.

Sawyer is not very trusting though, and as they walk through the jungle, Sawyer tells Monster-Locke about “Of Mice and Men” and pulls a gun on Monster-man. He tells Sawyer that he is trapped, and has been trapped so long that he doesn’t remember what is like to be free. He also tells Sawyer that he used to be a man before he was trapped.

Anyway, Sawyer relents and Monster-Locke leads him to a rather picturesque cave on the side of a cliff. In one of the smaller caverns inside, Sawyer finds the cave roof covered with names, most scratched out. Monster-Man tells Sawyer that Jacob wrote the names and that they have all been manipulated into making choices that would lead them to the island.

Here, we see that certain names have not been scratched out...
4 – Locke, 8 – Reyes, 15 – Ford. 16 – Jarrah, 23 – Shephard, 42 – Kwon (Monster-Man is unsure if it’s Sun or Jin)

He tells Sawyer that Jacob was looking for a successor and protector of the island. He also goes on to say that Sawyer has 3 choices – do nothing, accept the role or leave the island. Sawyer opts to leave the island with Monster-Man.

Key points for this episode:

• The Numbers! Oh boy. Well, you could say that the numbers itself are not as important as the names that follow it. We’re not entirely sure of that. So, if ole Smokey is to be believed, Jacob is looking for a successor and he has narrowed it down to these six after years and years of manipulation and games. This brings up so many news questions...

Firstly, do you actually trust Monster-Locke-Man? I don’t, but I do think that is some truth in what he is saying. I do believe that our Losties have been manipulated into making the choices that lead them to the island and to being on that plane... But Monster-dude is also very jaded and is out for revenge.

I’m not entirely sure that it is even Jacob that he seeks revenge against. I don’t believe that Jacob is the one who has had him “trapped” on the island. But then, who did? Why was he trapped on the island? Who is he? Where is he from??

Furthermore, something that worries me about Smokey’s whole speech is the fact that in the alternate universe, our Losties still get on that plane! If we look at Locke, he is still in a wheelchair, he still could not go on that walkabout and he still had a moron for a manager. There are some differences, but he is still that man out to prove himself. Crashing on that island made him a man of faith... it’s clear that in this alternate reality, he is not a man of faith and does not believe in miracles.... but he is accepting of his fate.

Surely, some of them would not have been on that flight?!? More questions.

• This brings me to Sawyer. Sigh. Last week I said that Sawyer is much more dangerous now that he believes he has nothing left to live for. I still believe that. He’s got nothing to lose; he’s got nothing left on the island... so why not leave it?

But I still think that we should accept this unquestioningly... I don’t believe that he is 100% sold on Monster-Man’s story. Sawyer is not stupid - he has been the only one to see that Monster-Locke is not Locke – and I honestly think that for now, he’ll go along with Smokey’s plans until something better comes along.

• So, who is Blondie? I tend to think that it’s Jacob... but it would be silly for him to say “you know you can’t kill him” if he is Jacob – unless, of course, he speaks about himself in the 3rd person.

Something that I found rather moving was Ben’s eulogy at Locke’s funeral. I think that Ben, poor befuddled Ben has realised how he has been manipulated and feels real remorse at killing Locke. But previous experience makes me wonder how long this phase will last. Also, why is it that Monster-Man did not try and recruit Ben??

Anyway, this all feels very Matrix-y to me. It’s like they have been doing this either year after year after decade after decade. Or it could be that they’re just reliving the same life over and over again, but each time taking a different coloured pill.

Questions answered this week

Hmm. Where any questions answered this week? We saw the numbers, and we saw the names attached to the numbers. We know why the six are important, but are the numbers important or just random numbers next to these people? I tend to think that the numbers itself are not as important as the names they’re followed by.

New Questions this week

• Again, who exactly is Monster-Man and where did he come from? And more importantly, just what did he do that “they” “trapped” him on the island.
• Who is Blondie?
• How does he expect to leave the island?
• How does Illana know all these tasty titbits of information that she’s been dropping?

Interesting Trivia (from this site)

• Hurley's Hummer was parked too close to Locke's van, which would not have allowed Hurley enough room to exit his vehicle from the driver's side door.
• The title of this episode, "The Substitute", has multiple meanings. It refers to the choice the characters must make, to become a substitute for Jacob or not; John Locke becoming a substitute teacher; Locke's body on Ajira 316 substituting for Christian's on Oceanic 815; etc.
• The two colour swatches that Locke and Helen compare for their wedding chairs, two bluish/greyish shades, resemble the colours ABC uses in the advertising graphics for Lost
• In the teachers' lounge at the school where Locke works as a substitute, a wall banner in the background reads: "Live in the present, plan for the future".

• Sawyer and Jacob's Nemesis "Jacob's Ladder" and arrive at a cave formerly inhabited by Jacob. A Jacob's Ladder has significance in both the Jewish and Christian religions, having many interpretations, among them that it is a bridge between heaven and earth. Saint John Climacus (also known as John of the Ladder) wrote a book called "Ladder of the Divine Ascent" which uses Jacob's Ladder as an analogy for the ascetic life. It is frequently read by Orthodox Christians during the Lent season before Easter. The episode "The Substitute" originally aired the night before the start of non-Orthodox Lent (Ash Wednesday) (which does not coincide with Orthodox Great Lent)

• Plato's Allegory of the Cave: The cave that the Man in Black takes Sawyer to can be a reference to this philosophical concept attributed to Plato. The idea that people live their lives and form ideas that are not indicative of reality is mirrored in the Man in Black's view that Jacob manipulated everyone he brought to the Island into believing certain ideas.

• Of Mice and Men: James wanted to kill the Man in Black the same way in which George killed Lennie in the novella, after pointing to Steinbeck as author of the books he most liked to read.

Interesting Screencaps (from this site)