LOST Season 6 Episode 4 The Substitute

The producers are referring to the Alternate Timeline as a Flash Sideways, so I’ll refer to it as such from here on out.

Locke: In the Flash Sideways, Locke is engaged to Helen (awwwwww) and seemingly happy (even has a pic of him and his father in his cubicle at work). He gets fired from the box company (nice return of Randy as John’s boss), but he meets Hugo who confesses to being the owner and gives John the number to a temp agency he owns to look for another job. At the temp agency, he meets with Rose Madler. (It’s interesting that these characters are still being drawn together in the Flash Sideways.) He considers taking Jack up on the offer of a free consultation after Helen says it’s a great coincidence that he needs a spinal surgeon and one has now entered his life. (Sort of the same thing that Ben said when Jack crashed on the Island). On the Island, Dead-Body-Locke, with crabs crawling on him, is taken and given a burial by Lapidus and Ben, et al. It would seem that the Locke that crashed with Oceanic 815 is now out of the picture. Never say never, eh?

Fake Locke: Begins to work on James Ford/Sawyer. Seems to be leading James to do something that will help him get off the Island. In the caves with James, he throws the white stone on the scale into the ocean, leaving the black stone. Whatever, or whoever, has taken over Locke’s body is trying to get home, and home appears to be off the Island. He tells James that everything that has happened to him in his life is because Jacob contacted him at some point in his life, that everything he has done was a result of Jacob pushing Sawyer to land on the Island and take over for Jacob. Tells Sawyer he has three choices: 1. Do nothing and see how it all plays out, and possibly have his name taken off the wall; 2. Accept job and become the new Jacob; or 3. Leave the Island with FLocke.

James Ford/Sawyer: James is still in deep mourning over the loss of Juliet (love that he was jamming out to Iggy and the Stooges’ Search and Destroy, though). Approached by FLocke, he is told that FLocke will tell him why he was brought to the Island. James knows that it’s not the Locke he knew (saying that FLocke isn’t scared the way Locke was), so he’ll be careful, I’m sure. It’s unlikely that FLocke is telling the truth and is more than likely trying to use James for his own purpose. However, could James actually be pulling another long-con on FLocke? We’ll see. He does not remember ever meeting Jacob, at least that what he lets on to FLocke. He does tell FLocke that he is ready to go home.

The Kid: Are we supposed to believe that the blond haired kid that FLocke and James see is Aaron? Maybe, but I’m not buying it. Despite the blond hair, The Kid seems to be some sort of referee, pointing out that FLocke is not following the rules. The rules of what, we have yet to learn. But Ben accused Widmore of breaking the rules (when he had Keamy kill Alex), and Man in Black seemed to bend the rules when he found the ‘loophole’. Maybe The Kid is required to keep the game (one side is light, one side is dark) within the established rules. He certainly wasn’t afraid of FLocke/SMonster.

Richard: He is more panicked than we’ve seen before and knows that Man in Black has taken Locke’s body, but doesn’t know how. Tells James that FLocke wants to kill them all, but it could be that Richard, like FLocke, will lie to get their way.

Rose Nadler: In the Flash Sideways, she admits to Locke that she has cancer but has gotten past the denial. She is living whatever life she has left to the fullest. She works as a supervisor at Hurley's temp agency.

Ilana: Is told by Ben that Jacob was killed by Locke (lie...Ben did it) and that his body was pushed into the fire. From the fire, Ilana retrieves some of the ash. Is this ash the same that was around the cabin and that Braham used to (unsuccessfully) protect himself from the SMonster attack in the Statue? She tells Ben that the Man in Black is now stuck in Locke’s body. She knows a lot, it appears, about what might be going on. Expect more from her.

Ben: In the Flash Sideways, Ben meets Locke at the school where Locke is substitute teaching. Ben introduces himself as a teacher of European history. He’s funny bitching about nobody making more coffee.

The Cave: FLocke takes James to a cliff-side cave in which he shows Sawyer that the walls and ceiling have written on them dozens and dozens (hundreds?) of names, each numbered. Most of the names are crossed off, like some kind of grocery list. FLocke shows James that some of the names belong to Oceanic 815 passengers, including himself and the real Locke. These names are people selected as ‘candidates’ by Jacob, according to FLocke. Candidates for what? To take over for Jacob protecting the Island, although FLocke contends that the Island doesn’t need protecting because there’s nothing there.

Funny lines:

--FLocke: “Nope. It’s a little after my time” he says when James asks if he’s read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

--Lapidus: “This is the weirdest damn funeral I’ve ever been to” regarding the burial of Locke’s body.

--Hurley: “He’s a douche”, when Locke told him he got fired by Randy Nations.

Interesting:

--The episode title, The Substitute can mean Locke was a substitute teacher, and also a substitute for the Man in Black. Deep.

--When Locke falls out of his van onto the lawn, the sprinklers go off and begin to soak him. Just like on the Island, it always seems to rain on Locke, eh?

--The numbers are how Jacob listed some of the Oceanic 815 people. According to FLocke, “Jacob had a thing for numbers”. They are all people that Jacob touched at some point of their lives. 4=John Locke, 8=Hugo Reyes , 15=James Ford, 16=Sayid Jarrah, 23=Jack Shephard, and 42=Kwon (don’t know if it’s Jin or Sun, but remember that Sun’s last name was Paik before marrying Jin, so likely Jin). Kate, also touched by Jacob, is not listed. Maybe she was 108? (Note: while the other names on the wall were hard to read, it did look like there was a #20 with Rousseau as the name, #90=Troupe [Gary Troupe, writer of book from Season 2 that Hurley and Sawyer were reading the manuscript to called Bad Twin], #140 Charlotte Lewis, #222 O’Toole [?], #291 Domingo [?], #312 Littleton [Claire?] and Farraday crossed off)

--FLocke yelling “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” to The Kid.

--Quite a few people buried in the Losties cemetery, eh?

--Locke’s alarm clock sounding just like the noise the countdown clock would make when it was time to enter the numbers and push the button.

--FLocke and James had to climb a ladder to get to Jacob’s cave. So, was it Jacob’s Ladder? I’m just sayin’...

--The white stone/black stone in the cave on the scale. Once the white stone was removed, it tipped to the black side. Literal, much?

Questions:

--Where is home for FLocke?

--What is everybody a candidate for? FLocke says it’s to take over for Jacob, but he could be lying.

--How much does Ilana know about what’s going on?

Tune in next Tuesday night for episode 5, Lighthouse.

As an observation, actor Terry O’Quinn was great in this episode, playing FLocke, Flash Sideways Locke, and dead body Locke.

Share your thoughts. Until next week, don’t tell me what I can’t do.