Episode Review & Speculation 6.04 The Substitute

KatesFate’s Episode Review & Speculation
Episode 6.04 “The Substitute”


Four episodes down and sixteen to go until the series finale and all of our questions are finally being answered while new mysteries are still popping up. With that in mind, I have a lot to say about this episode so be prepared. Once again I have split the review into two parts, On Island and Off Island Events.

OFF ISLAND EVENTS

A Leap Of Faith

At the beginning of the episode, we see Locke arriving at home from the airport. As he attempts to lower himself from on the lift, it sticks and Locke is forced to take a leap of faith. Unfortunately he fails to land, falling on his face instead. This sort of mirrors what happened to Locke in the alternate timeline, he took a leap of faith and now he is dead. Locke surprises me when falling and shakes it off with a laugh.

Did anyone else notice that when the sprinkler system activated, it sounded just like Smokey? Another thing to note would be the water from the sprinkler falling down like rain upon Locke’s glorious baldhead. How very appropriate. I was elated when I saw Helen rush out of the house to Locke’s aide. Helen is by far one of my favorite flashback characters and I have been in love with Katey Segal since Married With Children.

So in this timeline, Helen and Locke are still together? As far as I can tell, the only issue they ever had as a couple was Locke’s obsession with his father, Anthony Cooper. The fact that they are together now tells me that Locke no longer has issues with his dad. Further proof of this is when Helen suggests that they just elope and only invite John’s father and her parents. Oh and there is also that lovely picture of Locke and his father hung in Locke’s cubicle.

This tells me that Anthony Cooper has a good relationship with his son in this timeline. Maybe Anthony was never a con man at all in this timeline. This revelation could also mean that Sawyer is not a con man in this timeline either. As I said back in my review for LA X, all of their pasts are different in some way now. They may all still be the same person at their core, but something about all of their pasts is different now.

John Locke not only has a different past, he also has a different personality. I love the way this runs parallel to him now being Flocke on island. Locke no longer seems as angry or lost in this timeline. (pardon the pun). In my opinion, it is because of the relationship he has with his father and with Helen. But if Locke has a good relationship with his father, why is he still in the wheelchair? I have no guess on this one, but I can’t wait to find out.

A Few Familiar Faces

Locke runs into a few people from his past in this timeline as well. Randy Nations is still his same old jerk of a boss at the box company. He meets Hurley after being fired by Randy. Since Hurley owns the company, he offers Locke some hope in the form of a new job. I have to mention here that I love the way we are getting to see how lucky Hurley is. That was great when Locke’s ramp stuck and it wouldn’t hit Hurley’s H2! When Locke arrives at the temp agency that Hurley referred him to, he is questioned by non other than the psychic whom Hurley’s father had hired to trick Hurley into believing there is no curse. When Locke then asks to see the supervisor, it turns out to be Rose. It turns out Rose still has cancer so it would appear that even though their pasts are somehow different, the core problems from their pasts are still the same.

Rose gives Locke a job as a substitute teacher and on his first day he substitutes as a health techer. The lesson plan for the day? Why the reproductive system of course. How nicely does this tie into the islands fertility problems? I loved it!!! While in the teachers lounge, Locke runs into an old friend. I knew the minute I heard his voice that it was Ben. It turns out that in this timeline, Ben is a European History teacher with a case of OCD. I for one, cannot wait to see more of this Ben.

I’ve been reading that some people feel these off island events have been boring, but not me. For me it is almost like watching season one all over again. Even in the final episodes, we are learning more about these characters and how their paths were always meant to cross.

ON ISLAND EVENTS

Blind Faith

Locke has Richard hostage in the jungle and he demands that they talk. We learn that Richard is clueless when it comes to Jacob’s agenda, which was kind of a surprise but does make a bit of sense. You’ve all heard me say it before and I’ll say it again, Lost will have some biblical explanation for all of this. Therefore, it makes sense that Richard would follow Jacob blindly. He has seen Jacob perform miracles first hand and he chooses to follow and believe in him, ignoring any and all temptation. Locke seems annoyed with Richard’s decision and you could just tell he was getting ready to kill Richard when he suddenly sees a young blonde boy standing in the jungle. Whoa! Who in the heck is that? He stood there surrounded by white light with blood on his hands. My first guess is that this boy is Jacob. It pretty much has to be. My husband thinks it is Aaron and who knows he might be right, but I doubt it. Love ya hon! I am sticking with the Jacob theory. Richard apparently doesn’t see the boy and Locke blows it off and warns Richard that he’ll be seeing him soon. I am not certain why Richard would not be able to see Jacob as well, but maybe Jacob can make himself seen by only those he wants to see him.



Something Wicked This Way Comes

The Smokey cam was kind of cool and I really liked the roller ocaster sounds as we traveled through the park, erm I mean jungle. Apparantly Smokey is out recruiting and his first choice after Richard, is Sawyer. As Smokey is arrives in Dharmaville, Sawyer is listening to “Searching to Destroy” and drinking heavily. I think, but I am not sure, that the osng Sawyer was listening to was done by Iggy Pop and was on the soundtrack of “The Deer Hunter” and “Apocalypse Now”, both movies about war. Sawyer, although he is drunk as a skunk, knows this man is not John Locke, yet somehow Flocke convinces Sawyer to come with him.

I have to take a moment here to bring something up about Sawyer’s appearance in this scene. I know he is meant to look slovenly and drunk, but was this shot really necessary….

Please writers/directors I beg of you, if we are going to get a shot of Sawyer in his skivvies, myself and every other girl in the world, would like them to be clean!

Flocke convinces Sawyer to put pants on, thank goodness (I can’t believe I just said that), and the two of them head into the jungle. While they are out, they run into the little boy Locke saw earlier with Richard, but this time, Sawyer sees him too. Why would Sawyer see him and not Richard? Got me, but like I said, maybe he wasn’t meant to. When Flocke realizes that the boy must be real if Sawyer saw him too, he takes off after him. Flocke catches up with the boy and the boy says, “You know the rules. You can’t kill him”, and saunters off into the jungle, leaving Flocke lying there screaming, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do”. It seems Flocke is starting to develop Locke’s personality.

So it appears that Flocke is not allowed to kill anyone who is a possible candidate. (I’ll get to all that later) If Jacob gives someone a number and makes them a candidate, the rules must state that Flocke (I wish we knew this guys name already), cannot kill a possible candidate until their name has been crossed off. I wonder how all of this works for Ben and Widmore. They seem to go by the same sort of rules, but keep in mind that Widmore supposedly broke those rules so who is to say that Flocke won’t break them too.

While Flocke is off chasing the boy, Richard appears and tries to get Sawyer to go back to the temple with him. Richard gets a chance to warn Sawyer that Flocke wants to kill him and everyone else and he won’t stop until……Until what? Most likely, he was going to say, until they are all dead. Sawyer chooses to stay with Flocke and it now looks like Flocke might have a genuine recruit. Sawyer may be following Flocke, but Sawyer is far from stupid. Sawyer was a pretty good con man and he still is. I think Sawyer may pretend to follow Flocke for a while, but that in the end he will betray Flocke in order to save the others lives. My theory is that this is how Sawyer will die. Yes, I said it. Sawyer will die. He will die saving the others from Flocke.

Jacob’s Ladder Leads To His Lair

Locke and Sawyer arrive at a huge cliff that leads straight down to the crashing waves beneath it. Attached to that cliff is a ladder that they must climb down. On the way down, Sawyers rope broke and I screamed. Bravo to that stuntman. Stunt people have some big, well let’s just say they are very courageous. Flocke reaches out to Sawyer and saves him. I definitely do not believe that Flocke saved Sawyer out of the kindness of his heart. He saved Sawyer because he needs Sawyer on his side. He needs an army and he needs one now. This was Flocke’s way of building trust.

Once they reach the bottom they enter a cave. I loved this cave. Imagine what it would be like to camp out inside of that for just one night! Too cool. Inside of the cave there is a scale that balances two stones, one white and one black, perfectly. This could signify what was a level playing field between Flocke and Jacob, but Flocke picks up the white stone and hurls it into the ocean. When Sawyer asks why Flocke says, “Inside joke”. Flocke has just thrown the game off balance and elimated the other side or at least that is his prime objective.

What comes next is something we have all waited a long time to hear the answer to. What do the numbers mean? Flocke shows Sawyer the place where Jacob keeps track of those he brings to the island and they each have a number. Per Flocke, Jacob just has a thing for numbers. Well okay then. The following losties are on the wall…..

Locke – 4 (Flocke crosses him off though)
Reyes – 8
Jarrah – 16
Ford – 15
Jack Shephard – 23
Kwon – 42

What is interesting is that Jack is the only one whose full name is listed. This must have some significance. He probably is more important than the others. Also for the number 42 it just says Kwon. Does Jacob mean Sun or Jin? Or does he perhaps mean both of them? I think he just means Jin and I’ll tell you why. Kate is not on the list and at first I was surprised by that because Jacob touched her too. After thinking about it, I realized that maybe Kate is not up there because she is a woman. Maybe Jacob can only be replaced by another man. This is why I think that Kwon means Jin. I still believe that Sun and Kate play an important role in all of this too.

I’m almost done here. Remember what I said, Sawyer is a con man and can smell a con a mile away. He is on to Flocke and Sawyer is set to pull another long con and I can’t wait to see it play out. Okay, I am done now. I will see you next week and thanks again for reading.

Little Things I Noticed

*The coffee cup Locke drinks from in the bathtub is half black and half white.
*Locke mentions wanting to dance at his wedding, just as Sarah did to Jack.

Best Lines

*Flocke – Hello James
Sawyer – I thought you were dead,
Flocke – I am

*Sawyer – Cuz Locke was scared even when he was pretending he wasn’t and you,
you’re not scared.

*Hurley – Chin up. Things are gonna work out.

*Ben – John Locke was a, a believer. He was a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be and I’m very sorry I murdered him.