Follow along! The episode guide for “Deus Ex Machina” is in Finding Lost, pp. 119-124.This was the episode that clinched it for me – Locke’s flashbacks are the best. From this point on, with two fantastic Locke episodes in the can, every time I heard that a flashback was going to be a Locke one, I was very excited. This episode ramps up Locke’s destiny talk, as we hear about things that were meant to be, or supposed to happen. Locke’s loss of faith leads to his inability to walk, and his comment to Boone, that they were meant to crash on this island, is a precursor to the one he’ll eventually give Jack, telling him they were destined to be here.
Fun things I noticed:
• Did Desmond hear the bang of the trebuchet?
• Bonneville of death is back!
• If the island can heal bullet wounds in about 3 hours, then why is Sawyer getting headaches over a little farsightedness?
• I actually loved Jack in this episode… he makes the joke about Sawyer – “If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get a new nickname” – and then he continues to eff with him throughout. Him sitting and asking Sawyer a bunch of questions about STDs and when his last outbreak occurred is hysterical, and he actually laughs at one of Sawyer’s jokes. And then he diagnoses Sawyer with “hyperopia” just to freak the poor guy out. Could these two guys BE more fun together? Oh... I can’t help it… you know what time it is? It’s time for FUN!!!
(Hey, I warned you when I posted this the first time that I’d be posting it often!!)
• The guard’s name is Eddie, which is the same name as the cop that Locke accidentally befriends in “Further Instructions.” He needs to stay away from anyone with that name (including beautiful vampires who sparkle in the daytime…)
• It’s so sad watching Boone agree to go along with things, knowing now it’ll lead to his death.
• I remember watching this the first time when Boone threw the statue out of the plane and thinking, “Uh oh… there goes Charlie’s sobriety.”
• The voice you hear on the other end of the radio isn’t Sam Anderson’s, but they can be forgiven for that.
• John dumping Boone off and leaving is the beginning of Jack’s true hatred for him.
• I said in “The Variable” that Eloise just beat out Anthony Cooper for Worst Parent Ever, but now I’m on the fence again. What he does is HIDEOUS. I think Terry O’Quinn is just stunning in this episode…
Things that have new meaning:
• I found Locke’s description of how Mousetrap works very intriguing. In my book I’ve explained how it could be applied to this episode, but it can also be applied to Locke’s character arc through the rest of the series – piece by piece it comes together, and then you spring the trap. If Locke’s entire life had been shaped from babyhood (with Alpert at the infant’s side in the hospital) to his death, then it’s like a higher being was putting his life together, piece by piece, until the trap was sprung. And, like the little plastic mouse, Locke was trapped.
• The trebuchet falls apart the same way the structure does over the Swan station in “The Incident.”
• You know, I’ve often wondered if Emily Locke is really out of her tree, or if part of Cooper’s con is that he isn’t actually John Locke’s real father? Could there have been something different about Locke’s conception? She tells Locke that he’s special (check), that he was part of a design (check), and that he was immaculately conceived (er…) Is there a chance she’s not bonkers?
• Emily was in the hospital for schizophrenia, which is genetic. Is it possible Locke has some of the symptoms? They include hostility and violence, delusions, hallucinations… (despite the common belief, schizophrenia is NOT actually a multiple personality disorder… if it were, I’d obviously be focusing on that in light of the Man in Black).
• As we see in this episode, the light that comes on isn’t exactly the bright beacon we saw in “The Little Prince.” I’ll talk more about the inconsistencies between this season and that episode in the next guide for “Do No Harm”… the writers made a huge consistency error in season 5. Oops.
