1.19 - Deus Ex Machina

Title’s significance: “Deus ex machine” literally means, “god out of the machine,” a reference to the Greek playwright tradition of using a god character to quickly rectify a messy plot; it’s become a catch-all of a cop-out, too-easy ending. This episode doesn’t boast such an ending, but it does feature Locke’s vision as a divine message guiding him out of an impossible situation. Lostpedia also posits the episode literally has two “gods” coming out of machines – the Virgin Mary statues in the airplane and the light out of the hatch.

Recap: In flashbacks, Locke meets his mother, who claims he was immaculately conceived. He later meets his birth father, who plays nice but eventually cons him out of a kidney (and Mommy was in on it). On the island, Locke and Boone’s attempts to open the hatch prove fruitless; a trebuchet fails, and Locke injures his leg, temporarily costing him the ability to walk. Locke demands persistence, claiming that the island will guide him. Meanwhile, Sawyer experiences bad headaches, which we learn are caused by farsightedness that Jack rectifies by improvising a pair of glasses. Locke gets the sign he wants and follows a vision to a wrecked single-engine airplane. Boone gets into the plane, but it falls off the cliff upon which it’s precariously placed – but not before Boone makes a distress call, which reaches people who claim to be the survivors of Oceanic 815. Locke brings Boone back to camp, and Jack gets ready to do his doctor thing while Locke finally gets the sign he’s been looking for – a light comes on in the hatch.

Thoughts: Locke’s backstory gets another wrinkle, but we still don’t know how he became paralyzed. Written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (the showrunners), “Deus Ex Machina” was outstanding, gripping, and just plain well-written. Poor Locke has the most dysfunctional parents known to man, and it’s no wonder that he’s such a determined fellow now. Props also to Terry O’Quinn for knocking it out of the park this episode.

Favorite moment: I love Locke and any time he gets a featured episode, but my favorite moment has to go to his eerie vision of a bloodied Boone chanting “Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs.” That, or Sawyer’s newfangled glasses and Hurley’s “Dude, looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter” quip.

Characters introduced (in order):

• EMILY LOCKE, Locke’s mother
• ANTHONY COOPER, Locke’s father
• FRAINEY, a private detective Locke hires

What we learned:

• Locke once worked in a Wal-Mart type store.
• Locke’s favorite game is Mouse Trap.
• Sawyer’s has hyperopia – he’s farsighted.
• Oceanic 815 wasn’t the first plane to crash on the island; apparently, Nigerian drug runners did, too.
• Sawyer’s grandfather died of a brain tumor.
• Sawyer’s contracted the services of a prostitute and contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
• Boone’s nanny Theresa died falling on the stairs, and Boone feels guilty about this.
• Locke’s father stole a kidney from him.

Questions:

• Why did the island take away Locke’s ability to walk?
• Who were the Nigerians who crashed on the island?
• Who did Boone reach on the plane’s radio system? Why did they claim to be the survivors of Flight 815?
• Is Boone gonna make it?
• What’s down in the hatch that a light could just come on?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Locke talks about the island testing his faith and sending signs. Why would the island test Locke’s faith?
• “Daddy issues” are eventually what drive the Season Five finale to its close – Ben looks at Jacob as a father, and here we get an odd kinship between Ben’s chosen father and Locke’s birth father. How many more fathers are going to screw up?