6.04 "The Substitute"

Television, Movies Games and Books Lost
#1

Dude, that might have been the most enjoyable episode of Lost so far. We actually got some answers, some great interaction between Holloway and O’Quinn, and there was no Kate. Hooray!

Glad that John is still with Katey Sagal in that reality. Not recoiling at the mention of his dad makes me wonder if there’s another reason he’s in the wheelchair. Hurley with the hook-up was great. So good to see Rose, but not to know that she’s still dying of cancer. How cool would it be to have Ben as your history teacher?

Not even gonna’ pretend to have a theory about the cave with their names but nice callback to the light and dark sides that Locke told Walt about. Frankly, I don’t trust Jacob or Esau, and I don’t know that either one of them is truly good or evil. They want what they want, and all the Losties are just pawns in their cosmic game of backgammon.

Ben: “…and I’m sorry that I murdered him.”
Frank: “Weirdest funeral I’ve ever been to.” Bwahaha!

#2

I concur, NCTibby.

From the moment we saw Helen (a gorgeous Katy Sagel), I was hooked. Then Hurley, then Rose (with cancer and RosAwesomeness)…

I adore this show. And although the last ep seemed to have a lot of haters in the podsphere, I liked it. But this episode had to have redeemed any animosity from last week. Just like I enjoyed the nuances in BSG of THelfer’s and GPark’s portrayal of different models, I love Terry O’Quinn as our lovable, pathetic Locke and fLocke!

But then we meet another LOSTie at Locke’s new job and my jaw hit the ground.

SWOOSH on over to the island with fLocke and Sawyer. OMFrG!

Love this show!

#3

…What answers, we got more questions.

#4

I’m positively stoked to see the next episode and will re-watch last nights at least twice before the weekend. I can’t wait to see more parallel connections and I’m dying to see how Locke and Benjamin interact as school teachers together.

#5

I loved that episode. I’m happy that I now have an idea of what the numbers mean. I’m also confused because it seems like the numbers have been playing on that transmission for a long time and they have at least been around since 1977 since they were on the hatch door. Had Jacob narrowed it down to Hurely, Sawyer, Locke, Jack, Sayid, and Jin and/or Sun that long ago. I love the flash sideways.:cool:

#6

That was also my ROFL moment of the episode. Still think that Frank will play a bigger role than up to this point.

Good comparison that you mentioned there with BSG.
And we even get a 3rd version for Terry O’Quinn’s acting skills with the f-sLocke, who seem to have accepted his condition and doesn’t want his life to be dominated by it.

I betcha that this wouldn’t last long.:smiley: Ben as the teacher with weird social skills reminds me of the SG-1 episode “Moebius” with the alternate universe Sam and Daniel.

I still believe that we heard the Numbers being recited by Hurley when Rousseau’s team arrived on the Island. Especially when we hear him say 23!

//youtu.be/YXCnk58G2UQ&NR=1

#7

why was sawyer able to see that boy(in the jungle) and richard wasnt??? and why was Flocke so shocked that sawyer could see him???

and is a candidate, a new body so they(jacob n esau) can leave the island… like the genie in the lamp needs to trick someone into the lamp(onto the island)…??? my brain hurts

#8

Awesome, awesome episode. It had everything. Rose telling Locke to “simmer down”, Sawyer with a fantastic Of Mice and Men moment, an Inside Joke, answers and yet…even more mystery.

Do you think we are done jaunting through time?

#9

He has already turned to the Dark Side…

#10

^ That’s what someone on the TWoP board suggested, and it’s as good an explanation as any. Since Sawyer had thrown in his lot with UnLocke, he could see boy blondie.

So it seems like there always has to be a light and a dark in perpetual struggle. But I’m not convinced that either Jacob or Esau are truly good and bad. I mean, Jacob let Kate steal a lunchbox, let Locke get pushed out of a window, let Nadia get run over with Sayid standing right there. That’s a lot of collateral damage to further his own goals. As far as I can tell, anyone on the Island just becomes a pawn in their cosmic game of backgammon. And the only way to break that cycle is for the light and dark leaders to leave the game.

That probably didn’t make any sense but it’s the best I’ve got as far as a theory right now. :stuck_out_tongue:

#11

Not at all, that makes good sense to me. Both parties use the figures (aka. people) for their own ends and as you mentioned at the end the best would be if both “leaders [had] to leave the game.”.

Regarding Sawyer seeing the boy, he also saw Kate’s horse on the Island before.

#12

I’m intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your magazine. Didn’t he also channel Kates dad at some point? Is there more to Dimples than meets the eye?

#13

So, I was listening to Jay & Jack talk about how the “candidate” names Jacob wrote on the cave wall could be people who Jacob touched (sans Kate apparently) and they mentioned that he touched both Sun and Jin at their wedding, making it impossible to tell which was being referenced by the name Kwon on the wall. This got me thinking. My theory: Jacob touched both to eventually transfer his power to their as of yet un-conceived child, a little Kwon. And since the parents would never willingly leave their kid, theoretically growing up on island to replace Jacob, maybe this also hints at Adam and Eve being Sun & Jin. Just a thought.

#14

Magazine?!! Don’t think that I could come up with enough content for it.:smiley:

He also saw the dude who he killed in the boar, so who knows if Sawyer is a bit special. Let’s see who Jacob touched as well and how special they are:
John Locke: Came back from the dead, still in a wheelchair, but making jumping jacks on the Island
Hurley: Can see that people, though you would say that he did see them BEFORE Jacob touched him
Jack: Professional lying to himself “Locke didn’t move the Island” (Theoretical true cause it was Ben, but he couldn’t know that and didn’t wanna believe that the Island was gone)
Kate: tree and cage climber per excellence, also saw her horse and is good in tracking others
Jin: became potent again on the Island
Sun: smacked Ben and got baaad after her husband allegedly died
Sayid: hmmm…difficult cause Jacob touched him very late. We’ve got to see more

#15

I have to agree with DP that we had more questions than answers here, but I am so enjoying this season. I want to know why Penny’s father wants to be back there so badly. Theories? And what exactly are Jacob and Esau (did I miss hearing that name on the show?) fallen angels? God & the devil? Can’t wait to see where it all goes.

#16

So it seems like there always has to be a light and a dark in perpetual struggle. But I’m not convinced that either Jacob or Esau are truly good and bad. […] As far as I can tell, anyone on the Island just becomes a pawn in their cosmic game of backgammon. And the only way to break that cycle is for the light and dark leaders to leave the game.

That probably didn’t make any sense but it’s the best I’ve got as far as a theory right now. :stuck_out_tongue:

Are any of you familar with Babylon 5? Reminds me of one of the major plot points that in some ways. Don’t want to give anything away from B5, but maybe what needs to happen on LOST is for the “pieces” to revolut against the “players”.

and is a candidate, a new body so they(jacob n esau) can leave the island… like the genie in the lamp needs to trick someone into the lamp(onto the island)…??? my brain hurts

I like this one a lot too! Again, reminds me of something else which seems to have a lot in common with LOST which is the game Myst. At the end of Myst, [spoiler]the characters trapped in the linking books tell you to set them free, but it actually causes you to switch places with them, trapping you in the book, and letting them run free.[/spoiler]

Dawn, Esau is the name some fans are using for Jacob’s enemy, AKA The Man in Black, AKA Fake-Locke AKA The Monster… He has not been given an offical name yet.

#17

Late to the discussion here but at least before the next episode.

I caught the reference Helen made to Locke’s dad. Now I really want to know what their relationship is like in this timeline.

Did anyone catch that the woman asking Locke the strange questions (“What animal would you like to be?”) was the fake psychic that Hurley’s dad took him to visit?

About the blond kid; could that be Aaron? And, as was said, the “Kwon” on the cave wall could be Ji-Yeon. Could “Adam” and “Eve” be Aaron and Ji-Yeon?

About the Numbers. According to the ARG from several years ago the Numbers are the “core values” from the Valenzetti Equations. The DHARMA Initiative was attempting to manipulate the equations and change the core values; the Numbers were being broadcast so that, if they ever changed, the DHARMA folks back on the mainland would know.

My full recap/review of the episode.

#18

I didn’t even think that. Now it seems obvious. Nice catch.

#19

I think that if someone could be a candidate for Jacob, that person could also be a candidate for the Man in Black – hence the embodiment of MiB to Locke (fLocke). I also think that neither Jacob nor Man in Black are inherently good/evil, but two sides of something.

I also think that the little boy that spooked fLocke was a young Jacob only because the kid looked a lot like a young version of the actor who plays Jacob. I’m talking hair, jaw, eyes, etc. Now that Jacob is the non-embodied element and the MiB is ala fLocke, the shoe is on the other foot in a sense. Now, fLocke is seeing visions from the island caused by Jacob.

I don’t think Sawyer is yet a part of the dark side, whereas I believe Claire has been claimed and Sayid will probably follow (and 16-Jarrah should be crossed out from the cave wall). Somehow, dying on the island and a body not being attended to in a certain manner (burning, burying, whatevs) allows the possible of MiB being able to “claim”.

Irony:
fLocke telling Sawyer that he was sure he’d met Jacob in his life when he was young and vulnerable and it influenced him to arrive on this island. What is fLocke is doing to Sawyer? The exact same thing - reaching out to Sawyer at a vulnerable time to “recruit”.

#20

I don’t think Jacob and “Locke” are supposed to represent a good/evil dichotomy. I think they’re more representative of destiny/free will, which seems to be more of a theme in Lost than good and evil.