Lost, Season 3, Episode 13, “The Man From Tallahassee” (3/21/07)
There’s been a lot of John Locke this second-half-of-the-season, and now we get a Locke flashback that gives us more detail into this man’s life. And what a life it’s been ,eh?
Locke: So it was a fall from an 8 story window that broke John’s back, and put him in the wheelchair for 4 years. Ouch. And wouldn’t you know it, 4 and 8 are both one of the numbers! Locke’s flashback shows him learning of his father’s (Anthony Cooper) conning of a woman whose son is worth $1.2 million. When the son, Peter Talbot, finds John through medical records tying him to the donated kidney he gave to Cooper, Peter tells him what’s going on. Locke confronts his father, telling him to call off the con/marriage to the woman, or Locke will tell her who he is and what Cooper’s all about. Cooper says he’ll call it off, and when Peter turns up dead, Locke blames Anthony. While confronting him about this death, Anthony tells Locke that the woman called off the wedding. When Locke goes to a phone to call her to confirm this, Cooper (obviously lying about her calling off the wedding and/or him calling it off) tackles Locke, but the momentum carries Locke through the hotel window, and he goes crashing to the ground below. In the hospital later, detectives tell Locke that they couldn’t find his father and believe he fled to Mexico. When they leave, a physical therapist comes in and puts Locke in a wheelchair for the first time. Realizing the gravity (no pun intended) of his situation, Locke breaks down and cries. On the island, however, while Sayid and Kate were looking for Jack, Locke broke into Ben’s room, and told him he wanted to know where the submarine was. His intent? To blow it up and prevent any more people from coming, or going, from the island. Ben tells Locke that his power over his people is in trouble, and if Locke blows up the sub, he’ll lose control over them. He indicates that there is a “magic box” on the island where anything you can dream of will appear in it. Locke says he hopes the box is big enough to dream up a sub (as he intends to blow it up). Ben tells Locke he knows how he got hurt, how he lived in the wheelchair, and wants to know the pain he felt emotionally when his dad tried to kill him. This brings up an internal anger in Locke, and then Ben asks for Richard to bring him “The man from Tallahassee”, and brings John to the magic box, and there inside, is his dad, Anthony Cooper, tied up and gagged.
“Dad?”, Locke says, befuddled by this development. Okay, John is going to be key to this story, but we’ve known that. His button pushing antics and tendency to blow things up may be signs of him being crazy, but his “communion” with the island (as Ben put it) means he has a connection. Why else would he have healed as soon as getting to the island, whereas Ben is NOT healing from him surgery. Locke does say something interesting to Ben: “If you only knew what this place really was”, implying that he knows something Ben doesn’t. Perhaps a result of him looking into the SMonster in Season 1?
Anthony Cooper: Locke’s “dad”, going by the name of Adam Seward in his con with the woman, but I’m beginning to question whether or not he really is Locke’s dad. This guy is a con man, and I quite honestly think he may have been the one who conned Sawyer’s parents out of their money. But this guy definitely has something to do with Dharma or Widmore Industries, in my opinion. With all that Ben knew about Locke, it had to come from someone/somewhere, and I think he’s the connection. And, he’s a dirtbag. Did you notice that when he was drinking with John, he was pouring McCutcheon Whiskey?? Quiz Time to See Who’s Paying Attention: Where have we seen McCutcheon Whiskey before? (Hint: We’ve seen it twice, but get one correct and you win a another week of getting this wrap-up email!! Get it wrong, and it’s fish-biscuits for a week……) So, the question becomes: was Cooper caught by one of the recruiters (like Richard Alpert) and brought to the island, OR was he already there, and him being tied up in the room is just a façade to further string Locke along??? You be the judge.
Ben: Ben admits to Locke to being born on the island, but everyone else was brought there in the sub. His manipulation powers are good and it shows when he keeps working Locke about blowing up the sub (all the while hoping he would do it) and questioning him about his dad. Then he tells Locke “somewhere on this island is a very large box” and whatever you wished for would be in it. And VOILA! There’s Locke’s dad, in the box. (Guess he could’ve wished for a Dick In The Box! Ha ha! You all get that one, right???) Ben knew that by blowing up the sub, Jack wouldn’t be able to leave, and Ben would come out looking good to his people because now there would be a doctor on the island. And, Ben wouldn’t be accountable for breaking his word to let Jack go because it wasn’t Ben who stopped Jack from leaving, it was Locke who did so by blowing up Jack’s way off the island, the sub. That Ben is one fart smella…I mean smart fella! But, Locke figured out that Ben was playing him. After all, if Ben wanted Locke to be without any weapons, he had the opportunity to take the C4 out of the backpack, which he did not do. When Locke asked why Ben was so hell-bent on keeping Locke around, he repeats back to Locke something Locke said to him earlier: “Because, John, I’m in the wheelchair, and you’re not”, meaning that the island healed Locke immediately after the crash, but it has not healed Ben, the long-time resident. Ben knows that Locke holds some kind of key to finding out the true nature of the island. Funny that Ben told Locke that he ate most of the “Dark” meat on the chicken. I guess you are what you eat….dark. Ben totally played John like a fiddle.
Rousseau: So, for the sake of argument, let’s say that Alex REALLY is Rousseau’s daughter and not Ben’s. That leaves the chance that Alex was a taken-child and not naturally born to Rousseau and Ben when Rousseau crashed on the island in her boat with her crew. (Note: where is the wreckage from her boat if she did indeed crash there? Why haven’t any of the LOSTIES asked her this???) If Alex was born to Rousseau and Ben, then that would mean that Rousseau coupled with Ben after she crashed on the island. And, it would mean that last season, Rousseau intentionally turned Ben over to the Losties (when she caught him in the net) because she wanted to find out about her daughter and maybe he wouldn’t tell her….? Or, she’s one of them, never crashed on the island but has lived there all along, and maybe has been banished. In any event, when she turned Ben over to the Losties, she knew all about Ben and the Others, after all she did warn the Losties “don’t believe anything he says”. I’m not sure I believe anything SHE says, although the look on her face when she saw Alex was a look of love and of someone who has not seen a loved one in a very long time. She’s a wildcard.
Alex: Ben’s daughter? Rousseau’s daughter? Not so sure at this point, but she is somebody’s daughter! Her role in this episode was slight but important. When Locke took her hostage while in Ben’s room, you could see that she cared about Ben, if only a little. It did get planted in her mind by Sayid, however, that maybe her Mom wasn’t dead as she thought, and she was only being told that by the Others because that’s what they wanted her to believe. She did tell Locke that Ben was a manipulator, a con man. It was nice when Locke apologized to her for using her as a hostage, indicating that Locke is NOT out to get everyone on the island…only the “bad/dark” ones, perhaps?
Richard Alpert: The guy who was recruiting Juliet in the “Not in Portland” episode is on the island. Anybody besides me think he was the one who brought Anthony Cooper to the island?
Jack: Jack is living in one of the Others’ residences when Kate finds him. He tells her that he didn’t want her to come back for him and says they’re watching him and for her to “GET OUT”! Too late. The Others capture Kate, but Jack later tells her about the deal he made with them. They’ll send him home, and he says that this is the only way for him to get help back to rescue the Other Losties. He says he’ll come back for her. Of course, that doesn’t happen when, as he’s being brought to the dock to board the sub, he finally sees Locke, asks “What are you doing here?”, to which Locke says “Sorry, Jack”. Jack: “Sorry for what?” Kaboom. Sub blows up and sinks. (Jack was good on the piano, eh? So, he was either a skilled pianist before he got to the island, or maybe the island gave him the talent. Ha ha.)
Kate: Is confused, of course, about the change in attitude Jack has now that he’s living the Others. She learns from Jack that the kids are safe, and not much else.
Misc:
Locke: So it was a fall from an 8 story window that broke John’s back, and put him in the wheelchair for 4 years. Ouch. And wouldn’t you know it, 4 and 8 are both one of the numbers! Locke’s flashback shows him learning of his father’s (Anthony Cooper) conning of a woman whose son is worth $1.2 million. When the son, Peter Talbot, finds John through medical records tying him to the donated kidney he gave to Cooper, Peter tells him what’s going on. Locke confronts his father, telling him to call off the con/marriage to the woman, or Locke will tell her who he is and what Cooper’s all about. Cooper says he’ll call it off, and when Peter turns up dead, Locke blames Anthony. While confronting him about this death, Anthony tells Locke that the woman called off the wedding. When Locke goes to a phone to call her to confirm this, Cooper (obviously lying about her calling off the wedding and/or him calling it off) tackles Locke, but the momentum carries Locke through the hotel window, and he goes crashing to the ground below. In the hospital later, detectives tell Locke that they couldn’t find his father and believe he fled to Mexico. When they leave, a physical therapist comes in and puts Locke in a wheelchair for the first time. Realizing the gravity (no pun intended) of his situation, Locke breaks down and cries. On the island, however, while Sayid and Kate were looking for Jack, Locke broke into Ben’s room, and told him he wanted to know where the submarine was. His intent? To blow it up and prevent any more people from coming, or going, from the island. Ben tells Locke that his power over his people is in trouble, and if Locke blows up the sub, he’ll lose control over them. He indicates that there is a “magic box” on the island where anything you can dream of will appear in it. Locke says he hopes the box is big enough to dream up a sub (as he intends to blow it up). Ben tells Locke he knows how he got hurt, how he lived in the wheelchair, and wants to know the pain he felt emotionally when his dad tried to kill him. This brings up an internal anger in Locke, and then Ben asks for Richard to bring him “The man from Tallahassee”, and brings John to the magic box, and there inside, is his dad, Anthony Cooper, tied up and gagged.
“Dad?”, Locke says, befuddled by this development. Okay, John is going to be key to this story, but we’ve known that. His button pushing antics and tendency to blow things up may be signs of him being crazy, but his “communion” with the island (as Ben put it) means he has a connection. Why else would he have healed as soon as getting to the island, whereas Ben is NOT healing from him surgery. Locke does say something interesting to Ben: “If you only knew what this place really was”, implying that he knows something Ben doesn’t. Perhaps a result of him looking into the SMonster in Season 1?
Anthony Cooper: Locke’s “dad”, going by the name of Adam Seward in his con with the woman, but I’m beginning to question whether or not he really is Locke’s dad. This guy is a con man, and I quite honestly think he may have been the one who conned Sawyer’s parents out of their money. But this guy definitely has something to do with Dharma or Widmore Industries, in my opinion. With all that Ben knew about Locke, it had to come from someone/somewhere, and I think he’s the connection. And, he’s a dirtbag. Did you notice that when he was drinking with John, he was pouring McCutcheon Whiskey?? Quiz Time to See Who’s Paying Attention: Where have we seen McCutcheon Whiskey before? (Hint: We’ve seen it twice, but get one correct and you win a another week of getting this wrap-up email!! Get it wrong, and it’s fish-biscuits for a week……) So, the question becomes: was Cooper caught by one of the recruiters (like Richard Alpert) and brought to the island, OR was he already there, and him being tied up in the room is just a façade to further string Locke along??? You be the judge.
Ben: Ben admits to Locke to being born on the island, but everyone else was brought there in the sub. His manipulation powers are good and it shows when he keeps working Locke about blowing up the sub (all the while hoping he would do it) and questioning him about his dad. Then he tells Locke “somewhere on this island is a very large box” and whatever you wished for would be in it. And VOILA! There’s Locke’s dad, in the box. (Guess he could’ve wished for a Dick In The Box! Ha ha! You all get that one, right???) Ben knew that by blowing up the sub, Jack wouldn’t be able to leave, and Ben would come out looking good to his people because now there would be a doctor on the island. And, Ben wouldn’t be accountable for breaking his word to let Jack go because it wasn’t Ben who stopped Jack from leaving, it was Locke who did so by blowing up Jack’s way off the island, the sub. That Ben is one fart smella…I mean smart fella! But, Locke figured out that Ben was playing him. After all, if Ben wanted Locke to be without any weapons, he had the opportunity to take the C4 out of the backpack, which he did not do. When Locke asked why Ben was so hell-bent on keeping Locke around, he repeats back to Locke something Locke said to him earlier: “Because, John, I’m in the wheelchair, and you’re not”, meaning that the island healed Locke immediately after the crash, but it has not healed Ben, the long-time resident. Ben knows that Locke holds some kind of key to finding out the true nature of the island. Funny that Ben told Locke that he ate most of the “Dark” meat on the chicken. I guess you are what you eat….dark. Ben totally played John like a fiddle.
Rousseau: So, for the sake of argument, let’s say that Alex REALLY is Rousseau’s daughter and not Ben’s. That leaves the chance that Alex was a taken-child and not naturally born to Rousseau and Ben when Rousseau crashed on the island in her boat with her crew. (Note: where is the wreckage from her boat if she did indeed crash there? Why haven’t any of the LOSTIES asked her this???) If Alex was born to Rousseau and Ben, then that would mean that Rousseau coupled with Ben after she crashed on the island. And, it would mean that last season, Rousseau intentionally turned Ben over to the Losties (when she caught him in the net) because she wanted to find out about her daughter and maybe he wouldn’t tell her….? Or, she’s one of them, never crashed on the island but has lived there all along, and maybe has been banished. In any event, when she turned Ben over to the Losties, she knew all about Ben and the Others, after all she did warn the Losties “don’t believe anything he says”. I’m not sure I believe anything SHE says, although the look on her face when she saw Alex was a look of love and of someone who has not seen a loved one in a very long time. She’s a wildcard.
Alex: Ben’s daughter? Rousseau’s daughter? Not so sure at this point, but she is somebody’s daughter! Her role in this episode was slight but important. When Locke took her hostage while in Ben’s room, you could see that she cared about Ben, if only a little. It did get planted in her mind by Sayid, however, that maybe her Mom wasn’t dead as she thought, and she was only being told that by the Others because that’s what they wanted her to believe. She did tell Locke that Ben was a manipulator, a con man. It was nice when Locke apologized to her for using her as a hostage, indicating that Locke is NOT out to get everyone on the island…only the “bad/dark” ones, perhaps?
Richard Alpert: The guy who was recruiting Juliet in the “Not in Portland” episode is on the island. Anybody besides me think he was the one who brought Anthony Cooper to the island?
Jack: Jack is living in one of the Others’ residences when Kate finds him. He tells her that he didn’t want her to come back for him and says they’re watching him and for her to “GET OUT”! Too late. The Others capture Kate, but Jack later tells her about the deal he made with them. They’ll send him home, and he says that this is the only way for him to get help back to rescue the Other Losties. He says he’ll come back for her. Of course, that doesn’t happen when, as he’s being brought to the dock to board the sub, he finally sees Locke, asks “What are you doing here?”, to which Locke says “Sorry, Jack”. Jack: “Sorry for what?” Kaboom. Sub blows up and sinks. (Jack was good on the piano, eh? So, he was either a skilled pianist before he got to the island, or maybe the island gave him the talent. Ha ha.)
Kate: Is confused, of course, about the change in attitude Jack has now that he’s living the Others. She learns from Jack that the kids are safe, and not much else.
Misc:
1. Galaga: Though it wasn’t mentioned in this episode, the sub’s name is the “Galaga”, as we learned in an episode earlier this season. And the shot of Locke looking down the sub hatch was very similar to Locke looking down the first hatch at the end of Season 1.
2. Michael and Walt: Where are they??????? Probably let us know in the season-ending cliffhanger.
3. Penelope Widmore: Keep in mind that Penelope (Des’ girlfriend) and her team have located the island because of the electromagnetic pulse that Desmond caused, and should be looking for him. I expect that she’ll play a part in an episode before the end of the season.
4. Juxtaposition: Locke helping Ben into his wheelchair, and then therapist helping Locke into his.
5. Locations:
a. Bolivia is the location mentioned in the news broadcast Locke was watching
b. Ontario is the “home” that Adam Seward (aka Anthony Cooper) said he was from to the woman he was conning according to her son
c. Tallahassee – where Cooper was from……?
d. Tustin, CA was the city where Locke worked at the box factory
b. Ontario is the “home” that Adam Seward (aka Anthony Cooper) said he was from to the woman he was conning according to her son
c. Tallahassee – where Cooper was from……?
d. Tustin, CA was the city where Locke worked at the box factory
6. Numbers:
a. Locke fell 8 stories, and was in the wheelchair for 4 years
7. Did you notice the pictures of Alex on the wall of Ben’s room?
8. There was a tan car in the parking lot in Locke's flashback, and it looked exactly like the one that hit Michael in his Season 1 flashback, and like the one that almost hit Locke in his Season 2 flashback. Is this car somehow related to the other instances, or just a coincidence?
Whew! That's a lot. Let me know what I missed. Comments are welcomed!!
Until next week,
Namaste.
Cool LOST sites for screen shots and chatter:
http://lost.cubit.net/forum/index.php
http://darkufo.blogspot.com/
Labels: LOST
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