Things I Noticed – "The Cost of Living" by Vozzek69,

Remember: This is written by my friend Vozzek69.
Last night was an important episode, setting up next week's mini-finale. Jack gets schooled yet again and Eko schools the island (and pays for it). Here's what I noticed:

Jack Never Gets Tired of Being Schooled

No matter how many times the Others deceive him, Jack still falls victim to their endless lying. I'll bet they high five each other every time they leave his chamber.

This week Ben tries a different approach with Jack, showing mock weakness and vulnerablilty. And of course, Jack falls for it. Ben lets Jack think he's getting tough - from his prison chin-ups to his acid-dripping spine tumor speech. His mock surprise when walking in on Jack and Juliet in a casual moment was perfectly acted, and he allowed Jack to feel proud as he ate his hamburger. But in reality...



Juliet is 100% Pure Evil

I really hope none of you are buying into Juliet's "We hate Ben" crap. For the past five weeks she's got 99% of the audience fooled into thinking she's the 'good one' that's gonna start the revolution that will break up the Others. But not me.

In short, Juliet and Ben are totally in cohoots. They're completely schooling Jack with a rousing game of good cop/bad cop. "You showed him my X-rays?" - Ben says this to Juliet just loud enough for Jack to hear. Juliet played along with it like a champ. The camera didn't show Jack listening in, but I think he did. And her performance on the VCR? Please. Ben's way too smart for any of this stuff to be going on behind his back - we saw that last week in the way he handled Sawyer. If Juliet even thought about doing something like that she'd pull out the video camera only to find a smirking photo of Ben taped over it. Juliet made that tape with Ben's full knowledge. Why? Because...

The Island is All About FREE WILL

Months ago some people were reviewing Maternity Leave and I pointed out how strange Ethan was acting toward Claire's baby. It seemed very important to him that she willingly give up the child to them. In the end of the episode, she was so delirous that she actually did. I launched into some other examples of how the Others seemed to abide by some type of code of rules... all having to do with free will. And this week, I'm patting myself on the back.

Michael: "Why don't you just go get them (referring to his 4-person list) yourself?"
Ms. Klugh: "We can't do that Michael".

Think about it. If the Others really needed a spinal surgeon, why didn't they take Jack when they had him surrounded in the middle of season two? Why wait until Michael brought them? Answer: Because they needed him to come willingly.

The only example I can think of where the Others took someone unwillingly was Walt. And look how that turned out for them. And yeah, they did take Michael... but only after he willingly came to them.

Look at what happened last week with Kate and her cage. She can escape from it whenever she wants, but now? She's a willing prisoner. Ben watched her stay in her cage on the video monitor rather than run. And Ben spent much time and effort convincing Sawyer not to run also. Willing prisoners?

THIS is why he needs to school Jack. When Ben tells Jack "I want you to want to save me" - it's the only time he's actually telling the truth. Everything else is crap. Ben knows he can probably force Jack to do the operation (probably through threatening Kate) but Ben doesn't even want Jack to know he has Kate (that's why they bagged his head and played the loud music when they walked him past her cage). Ben needs Jack to want to do the operation of his own free will. That's the only way it will work.

So... how does he accomplish this? By acting vulnerable and getting Juliet to act like they're going to overthrow him. By Juliet giving Jack a chance to kill Ben on the operating table she's giving him a choice. Will Jack allow Ben to die? Hell no. We all know that it's not in Jack's nature to do that. Moreover, Ben and Juliet know this. At that point, Jack will choose to save Ben's life and remove the tumor - this accomplishing exactly what he wants him to do while playing by the 'rules' if you will. Next week Jack's gonna play right into Ben's hands - yet again. SCHOOLED.

The Other's Revolution

If there's going to be a mutiny within the ranks of the Others, it'll come from Pickett. He's the loose cannon. But it will not come from Juliet - no matter how much it may look that way right now.











Manifestation

"Do you believe in God, Jack?" Ben asks. Again this is a reversal of roles, with Jack as the prisoner instead of Ben this time. And like Ben, Jack avoids answering the question: "Do you?" Then Ben utters one of the most interesting things he's said so far:

"Two days after I found out I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky..."

My Manifestation Theory: 1
Non-believers: 0
:)



Seeing Nothing But Green

All throughout this episode, the color green showed up everywhere I looked. I watched it a second time and jotted down some instances of this. Here they are:

Eko - He has a very green tinge the whole episode, even during the desert scenes. Check it out.
Young Eko's shirt - green. Young Yemi's shorts - green.
Eko's shirt is green all episode.
Locke's shirt & backpack are green (but I'll admit they were always green).
Some women in the background of Eko's village are wearing green skirts and dresses.
Some people in the background of the 815's camp are wearing green.
Daniel's mother's bandana - green.
Woman shot by the militia's shirt - green. Two horrified bystanders - both wearing green.
Guy boarding up Eko's church's shirt - green.
Final scene showing young Eko - his shorts are green.

I'm not sure what all the green means. Jealousy? Of what? Perhaps the island is jealous of Eko's defiance? Dunno.

Nikki and Paulo - Worst Dialogue Ever

So far, these two have consistently uttered the worse lines of a near flawless season. Some examples:

Nikki: "What's Eko looking for?"
Paulo: "His brother's body's in that plane."

Yeah, thanks for the lame reminder dialogue. Where were you last season? It's like they're doomed not to say anything important.








Nikki: "Uh... Guys?" (horribly acted face) "What are all these TV's for?"
Locke: "Well suddenly I'm feeling very stupid."

Yah... okay. No Locke, you're far from stupid. She just looks real good in that shirt, that's all. And of course, let's not forget:

Paulo: "The toilet still works". Very important line. Crucial to quelling the myriad of "How come we never see them going to the bathroom" threads that pop up on the message board. Kudos to the producers for addressing this important mystery. :) And thanks to the writers for putting the dialogue in Paulo's mouth.



Desmond Recognized the Dude with the Eyepatch



No doubt in my mind - Desmond's face lit up with recognition when the eyepatch dude came into view. They camera only panned onto him for a split second, but check out his expression. Very cool. Radinzski maybe? That's what many people have speculated.


Best Line of the Episode

"I guess he'll be expecting us". Classic Locke.

Sweaty Cross

At one point as they were walking through the jungle, the sweat stain on Eko's back looked exactly like a cross. In fact, it looked a lot like Yemi's pointed cross. Check it out for yourself, to make sure I'm not just reaching here. Gotta keep me honest.

Locke's Monster vs. Eko's Monster

We finally get a glimpse into what Locke saw when the monster hovered over him in season one. In his words, it was a "beautiful bright light". But we know that Eko saw a dark cloud filled with his past sins. Hmmm. Were they judged differently?

Don't Mistake Coincidence For Fate

It was funny watching Desmond talk of coincidence. Locke's words here are a final confirmation that he's re-assumed the role of the faithful. In season two he'd given that job to Eko, but last episode the baton was passed back to him - both figuratively and even literally as Eko's stick fell straight into his hands.

Semi-Consciousness = Visions

I pointed out last week that the people who seem to have visions always do so while under the influence of a drug, or while unconscious, delirious, or dreaming. This happens to Eko. It seems that the further withdrawn from consciousness the mind gets, the more it can communicate with the island.

Eko Kills Warlords DEAD on Contact

If there was any doubt as to Eko's badassedness up until this point, they were crushed to dust after tonight's episode. Watching him work his machete magic in that church was pure awesome. I absolutely loved it.









The Church Mystery - Solved

I've always wondered why Eko half-finished a church in season two, and now we get our answer. One of two things are possible here: either the writers planned the whole "You owe Yemi a church" thing way back in season two, or they used it as a clever device to explain away something they never fully finished (much like the church itself). Either way, it was good writing.

Eko Goes Out Like a Rock Star

I'm sorry that Eko had to die - he was one of the best characters on the show. But if he had to go out, at least he went out in style. He refused to compromise and went out on his own terms - like a champ.

All his life everyone has been telling Eko that he's a sinner, starting in the opening scene where the nun's trying to get him to confess. Eko blows her off - after all, he was only trying to feed his brother. Later on, he goes out of his way to get 100% of the vaccines for his village. His smart little ploy worked, and a few hours later he was dicing warlords for the benefit of the community. Eko didn't have to do this - he could've just as easily flown to London with no strings attached. But he didn't. Eko chose to help his village as penance for what happened with Yemi. And in return, he gets even more disdain: "One day you will be judged for what you did".

Eko washing his hands in holy water was the turning point in his life. From there out he did nothing but try to help people. From there out, he was sin-free. So when the island itself began to appear to him as Yemi, trying to get him to confess his sins yet again, Eko was fed up. Screw everyone, Eko thought. I'm a good person. At that point, the only two things Eko was confessing to were jack and squat.

The final scene with Yemi was totally awesome. The island demanded Eko resolve his issues the way it wanted him to, but Eko's "I will not confess" attitude completely defied it. Eko finally realized that his life as a warlord was a direct result of him saving his brother. Even the photo of him and his brother showed him standing protectively in front of Yemi. In his words "I did my best". He would make no apologies - not to the nuns, the church, the people of his vilage, or most of all - the island.

So after basically telling the island to piss off, Eko sees the REAL monster. Look at his eyes. Look at Yemi's eyes. They change, and they're totally creepy. "You speak to me as though I were your brother" - totally chilling. At this point the island has given up trying to persuade Eko. The island abandons it's ruse, and Eko knows it. Eko sees the monster - I mean really, really sees it. The monster/Yemi walks away with Eko shouting "Who are you!" as he runs after it.

Whether the monster killed Eko because he followed it or whether it would've killed him anyway is up for debate. I tend to think he was doomed the moment he refused to confess. Still, it should be pointed out that both times Eko encountered the monster this episode he was on his knees. When he challenged it, it killed him. And as he followed Yemi, the smoke-thing darted forward from behind Eko before it evolved into the massive tree-smashing monster. Are the smoke monster and Yemi the same? Was this what the producers meant when they said we'd seen the monster last season but didn't realize we saw it? I think so.

And hey, at least now we know for sure exactly what happened to the pilot.

RIP Eko.