3.19 - The Brig

Title’s significance: The episode’s climactic moment takes place in the brig of The Black Rock.

Recap: On the heels of the revelation that Locke’s father is on the island, flashbacks reveal what Locke’s been up to the past eight days. Ben credits Locke with setting him on the right path toward healing but says that Locke is crippled by the hold his father has on him: though he believes himself to be too weak, Locke is asked to kill Cooper. Richard Alpert tells Locke that Ben wanted to embarrass him before the entire camp, pointing out that Locke is “extremely special.” Richard tips off Locke that Sawyer might want to kill Cooper. In the present, Locke finds Sawyer and tells him that he’s infiltrated The Others; he tells Sawyer that Ben is tied up and that he can kill him if he wishes. Though Sawyer initially dissents, he tags along. Desmond’s team smuggles Naomi onto the beach but conceals her existence from Jack; Naomi reveals that she comes from a freighter 80 miles off the island and that Oceanic 815 was allegedly discovered at the bottom of an ocean trench. Locke brings Sawyer to The Black Rock – where the prisoner is Cooper; Cooper taunts Sawyer about Flight 815, suggesting that they’re all in hell, before he tips his hand that he’s the real Sawyer, which leads our Sawyer to take his revenge and kill Cooper. Meanwhile, Kate comes clean to Jack about Naomi, but it’s obvious that Juliet and Jack are keeping some kind of secret, as Locke tells Sawyer that Juliet’s a mole preparing for a raid in three days (and he’s got the tape recording to prove it). Locke tells Sawyer that he’s not infiltrating The Others but rather is on his own journey; with his father’s body in tow, Locke goes to track down The Others.

Thoughts: When Damon & Carlton are good, man are they good, and they’ve got a stellar cast to work with in this episode. Three of my favorite characters – Locke, Ben, and Sawyer – take center stage here, and even guest star Kevin Tighe is as disgusting as ever, giving us no room to feel sympathy for his wretched character – and making it even easier to believe that he’d end up in hell. The episode continues to raise the same questions this season has been asking all along – what makes The Others tick and what’s the story with the freighter – but it does so in unfamiliar and attention-grabbing ways that make the episode fresh, exciting, and overall spectacular.

Favorite moment: The slow-dawning realization that Cooper is the original Sawyer, and the foreboding that quickly sets in when we know what Cooper’s in for.

Characters introduced (in order):

• No new characters introduced in this episode

What we learned:

• Cooper bit Locke.
• The magic box is a metaphor.
• Naomi is at the camp.
• The parachutist’s name is Naomi Dorrit.
• Locke theorizes that The Black Rock came to mine the island.
• Cooper came to the island after a car crash, abducted by The Others.
• Cooper theorizes that the island is hell.
• Cooper is the original Sawyer.
• Sawyer kills Cooper.

Questions:

• How did The Others know to be waiting for Locke?
• Why did The Black Rock come to the island?
• What does Rousseau need more dynamite for?
• What secret are Jack and Juliet keeping from Kate?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• This isn’t the first time that the island has been referred to as a place of punishment. Is it really hell, like Cooper suggests? (The producers have conspicuously said it’s not purgatory.)