LOST: Cabin Fever

Queer little twists go into the making of an individual. To suppress them all and follow clock and calendar and creed until the individual is lost in the neutral grey of the host is to be less than true to our inheritance.... Life, that gorgeous quality of life, is not accomplished by following another man's rules. It is true we have the same hungers and same thirsts, but they are for different things and in different ways and in different seasons.... Lay down your own day, follow it to its noon, your own noon, or you will sit in an outer hall listening to the chimes but never reaching high enough to strike your own.
-Angelo Patri

Well, its nice to have the old faithful Locke back. I also love that they are getting back to the 'these people were chosen for a reason' thing with the discovery that creepy randomly recurring tall black man (Abaddon) put the idea of Australia in Locke's head. We always see him in flashes - I keep waiting for him to turn up on the island. Maybe he's at the temple, if we ever get to see that. Interesting to do a flash of before birth - the only other time they did that was with Ben's birth flash - a little Locke/Ben comparison? Interesting parallels with John and Ben. Are they saying that John could have been Ben except that personality and interests are so defiant of his 'destiny?' We may have fates but they are what we make them? "I'm not you." Ben didn't really seem envious (like he was when he shot Locke and dumped him in the pit) he just seemed thoughtful. For someone so crafty at manipulation, it certainly seems like he has accepted his 'fate' fairly easily.

Oooh, Richard and his ageless pretty dark eyes are back. So John was deemed special by the islanders from birth.Huh. He drew the smoke monster. The test - the bottle of sand (?) and the compass were his, but not the knife. It certainly seemed that little John just chose the knife because he wanted it, not because it was his. So, is Richard really dumb enough to wait from the day he was born (though I guess a few years isn't much to him) and then give up on him and think he's not special because he picked the knife? Or, did the fact that John picked the knife simply tell Richard that John doesn't follow directions and wasn't ready? Did the knife symbolically mean something bad for the island or just something about John's personality that didn't 'fit?' Defiant even as a child.

Horace? Dead for twelve years? Bloody nose just like the hemorrhaging for those who don't have their Constants. Hmmm. Its been a while since I've read Dante's Inferno - was there a level of Hell when you keep repeating everything or is it just Groundhog Day? Well, whatever its from, Horace and his unchoppable tree were freaking me out. I'm still not sure how the dead on the island thing works anyway - are they actually the person that died with their soul intact or are they some kind of manifestation portraying the person? did Horace just leave that repeating imprint of himself on the island? 'Help me John Locke, you're my only hope.' Horace was building the cabin when he died. So... is Horace Jacob? Why can't Jacob speak for himself? I like John the best the way he was in this episode, calm and trusting instead of frantic and careless, but it is worrisome when he follows things blindly because he likes to feel 'special.' I love defiant John ('Don't tell me what I can't do') but I can't say I agree with trusting the island just because it heals you and it 'chose' you. Does anyone remember Something Wicked This Way Comes? Its that old movie based off a book where this evil carnival rolls into town and wants peoples souls. the ringmaster grants gifts, but at a price. For instance, an old woman wants to be young and beautiful again. Her wish is granted, but she is made blind and can't see her beauty. When Ben was telling Locke about the island having consequences, that is what I thought of. On another note, all that time that Ben was the special one, was he just a fill in while the island was waiting for John to be ready? Maybe its a Harry Potter & Neville Longbottom kind of thing - could have been either?

Claire! What has Christian done to you? Don't be dead like Horace! I don't want her to be dead, but that seems all too likely. Oh, it was unnerving seeing her act like that. At first I thought, she's acting drugged, but then her odd, knowing grin and her, 'I'm with him' made it seem like she wasn't even Claire at all. Here's a question. At first I was automatically looking at Christian as the villain; that he must have done something to Claire. Is it possible that Claire died in that explosion at the camp and nobody, including herself, realized it? It is a fine line between life and death on the island - perhaps Christian was just bringing her to her peace. But then, when Jack was told last week that he wasn't supposed to raise Aaron, and with the psychic telling Claire she needed to raise him... if she's part of the island now does it all just mean that the island is supposed to raise him? Maybe Locke is the John the Baptist to Aaron's Christ. Sorry for the blasphemous analogy, but maybe the current chosen ones are just stepping stones necessary for Aaron to become what he needs to be to the island. Maybe Locke, Ben, Claire, Sawyer, Jack, Charlie, Kate... they've all just been needed to play a part?

Move the island? Well, whatever that means, I guess that explains Ben's conversation with Widmore when he tells him he'll never find it. Maybe in the next couple of seasons the next time we see the island it will be in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific. Or. maybe it will be in the year 2040 so it can't be discovered until then. Is it literally a floating island or are they going to time warp? the move has to be more than just magnetic or thunderstorm trickery.

Oregon again with the science place teenage John's teacher talked to him about in Portland. What is going on there? I mean, other than vampires and werewolves, of course, for those of us who've read the Twilight books.

A lot of previous theories thought that Widmore was after the island - that the competition between Widmore and Ben was over the island. He wants to torch the island - to completely purge it and make it his own or just to anger Ben? Seems like burning the island is probably against the rules too. How does Widmore know where Ben is going to go? Also, who is this Keamy guy? It seems like he is taking this whole thing a little too personally than a plain old hired thug would.

Oh captain, my captain. Poor chap. You redeemed your dissappointingness just in time to get killed off. Desmond. Will you truly find your Penny and avoid ever having to be on the island again? Will Penny come to the island to find you so you will have to go to the island to find her? Will you die to protect her from Ben? Do you still have visions now that you are off the island?

Best lines of the night: "We can see it cause we're the craziest." Ha- I adore Hurley! And then of course, "Fate is a fickle b***h." (Seriously,no one can pull a one-liners like Ben! Well, Sawyer can. Oh Sawyer. How I missed you this week, my love!)

Other thoughts:

I know Emily Linus and Emily Locke aren't supposed to be the same person – but it was interesting the similarities in the births of John and Ben – they were both premature and their mothers requested their sons' names – Name him Benjamin, name him John. (Both born three months early, too.)
Call me crazy - but I think Richard Alpert might be John's father - In the beginning - Emily's mother complains about her boyfriend - saying he is twice her age. Richard looks eternally in his mid 30s. Think about it - if you can't procreate on the island, go back to "mainland" and get someone pregnant, and bring the child back to the island. It would make sense because Richard has always seemed to take a special interest in Locke - he helped him behind Ben's back. (Ooh, I like this. Locke's grandma did seem like she was lying when Richard was standing there and she told the nurse she didn't know who it was.)I totally got the "game" feel tonight when Keamy opened up the red envelope. It reminded of the game Myst – it came with a sealed envelope with hints to open only if you got really stuck. The scene really had a feel of Widmore and Linus having played this game over and over – each knowing what the other would do. We'vewitnessed yet another instance where the island won't let Michael die when Keamy's gun jammed. I wonder what he is still needed for.

Well Locke's last comment about moving the island certainly explains why a drug plane from Nigeria and a slave ship in the pacific all ended up on the same island....the island has moved all over the oceans of the world for centuries to avoid detection from people who want to exploit its mysticism and technology...it's Atlantis! A people who were technologically advanced and spiritually evolved. They are the ones with the four toes (the statue) and why Richard Alpert never ages, he is one of them and the Atlanteans basically discovered how to remain immortal as evidenced in the Locke flashbacks. But they also can't reproduce. What a sucky side effect.

The knife is not supposed to be his, but he sure was drawn to it. one of these things is not like the others.....

The dead doctor's body somehow gets to the island last week before Sayid left the freighter, so the time disruption doesn't affect dead people (maybe).

Has anyone seen a push-me-pull-you? Because Dr. Doolittle's Island is the last one I heard about that could move. I'm just sayin-

Ben passing the torch to Locke reminds me of when Desmond passed pressing the button to Locke. It's all about belief in what you are doing.

Horace was an ancient Greek poet who coined the phrase "carpe diem," sieze the day. Hugo and Ben sharing the candy bar... priceless. Richard approached Locke, who failed, then Ben who succeeded? Claire was told there was a family who wanted to adopt her baby...Jack was told his fathers' body was in Austrailia...Locke was told he needed to go on a walk-about...Jin and Sun were told to deliver a watch...Hurley was told the answer to the "numbers" was in Austrailia...Michael was told he had to pick up his son...Sawyer was told the man who "killed" his parents was down under...
Martin Keamy just might be the scariest character we've seen on LOST so far. Not only does he makes the threats but he sure follows through with them. Who else saw the Dharma logo when he was looking through the second protocol? And what are they going to try to do? Shoot the smoke monster to death?Anyone else think the device taped to Keamy's arm is a detonater? Is the island already wired to blow?The fact that Charles Widmore knew where Ben would go if something happened tells me that he either has been to the island before or him and Ben have a close history, I'm guessing that Charles was Ben's mentor as has been mentioned before.
"John, which of these things belong to you ALREADY?"Why wouldn't it be the knife? Was he supposed to take the Mystery Tales comic book that says "What was the secret of the mysterious "Hidden Land!"? The picture on the cover appears to be buildings floating on clouds. Could the move be upwards?

I could not find "The Book Of Law" (one of the items that Richard put on the table for little John to choose from) but I did find The Laws by Plato on wikipedia. The connection to the the Cabin and the book can be made. The 3 characters on the island of Crete in search of the cave of Zeus.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_(Plato)The settingUnlike most of Plato's dialogues, Socrates does not appear in the Laws. This is fitting because the dialogue takes place on the island of Crete, and Socrates never appears outside of Athens in Plato's writings, except in the Phaedrus, where he is just outside the city's walls. Instead of Socrates we have the Athenian Stranger (in Greek, 'xenos') and two other old men, an ordinary Spartan citizen (Megillos) and a Cretan politician and lawgiver (Kleinias) from Knossos.The Athenian Stranger, who is much like Socrates but whose name is never given, joins the other two on their religious pilgrimage to the cave of Zeus. The entire dialogue takes place during this journey, which mimics the action of Minos, who is said by the Cretans to have made their ancient laws, who walked this path every nine years in order to receive instruction from Zeus on lawgiving. It is also said to be the longest day of the year, allowing for a densely-packed twelve chapters.By the end of the third chapter Kleinias announces that he has in fact been given the charge of laying down laws for a new Cretan colony, and that he would like the Stranger's assistance. The rest of the dialogue proceeds with the three old men, walking towards the cave and making laws for this new city.