Lockdown

A new countdown, a lockdown, a creepy map, and a supply drop. A whole lot of meat for the mythology fanatics to chew on this week. On top of the clues, we had Jack showing some cunning, and Henry Gale continue to climb the charts as a great character. (Even if he’s evil.) Jen’s not entirely satisfied, though, expecting a lot more concrete answers to Locke than we got.

So what triggered the lockdown? Some kind of PA system crackled to life, a woman’s voice saying “please” something (step away from the doorways?), then counting down to the doors slamming shut. It also seemed to “pause” the 108 minute button timer. Our guess is that it’s tied to the supply drop. A pending delivery prompts the lockdown… but exactly why, we’re not sure. Why keep the “test subjects” contained? Unless someone else is supposed to handle distribution.

The glowing map is also a mystery. It’s apparently a map of the different bunkers, with lots of detailed notes. (Sledgeweb’s captured it here. No doubt countless hours will be invested deconstructing every scribble.) The fact that it seemed to have taken some time to sketch implies that those doors actually came down regularly. But why write it “secretly,” where only black light would reveal it? And why did black lights conveniently come on, after it sounded like our button timer timed out? And did it time out? Henry was sure quiet for a while, and reappeared behind Locke. Did he even enter the code, or even enter the dome at all?

And yeah, he’s an Other. Or someone deep in their web.

As to the flashback, I guess we learned how Locke lost Helen. And Anthony Cooper’s mention of the $700,000 being a “retirement con” (i.e. he’s scammed folks out of more than a kidney) pretty much cinches it for the folks who are convinced he’s the real Sawyer. I wonder if there’s a more direct money link, too — our Sawyer’s “long con” of Cassidy netted him $600,000.

On the “shipper” front, it was nice to see Jack get the better of Sawyer, and for some nice foreshadowing to be planted about Jack’s past — the tattoo, and time in Phuket. (Jen envisions some cool “Memento” style backwards flashback, perhaps directed by Daron Aronofsky.) And to much great “squee” among “Jaters,” it seems he hasn’t quite given up on Kate. Hurley’s line about being in the “loop” was odd — yeah, people keep secrets, we get that, but he’s also been pegged as a blabbermouth.

Notes & Notions:

  • So, Nadia was in California, like the CIA said, and I guess she was making good money at that medical testing facility in order to afford a house. But didn’t Sayid say she was dead (while on the island)? Did she want him to think that? He must have had doubts, if so, if he was on Oceanic 815 to Los Angeles. And… medical facility? You know Nadia has got to have a link to Hanso somewhere.
  • Leaving aside who made the supply drop, who were the supplies for? The Others? Or just Kelvin/Desmond? Do the suppliers even know what’s happening on the island?
  • Henry only needed to hear the numbers once, and I suppose that’s suspicious. I’d love for him to have had a Hurley-like moment of recognition. But I’m pretty sure some of our other button pushers also demonstrated remarkable numerical memory.
  • It was neat to see an Oceanic Airlines plane overhead as Locke arrives at his father’s hotel. But I guess the digital artists were so proud of their work, they just had to throw it in again minutes later.
  • Favorite lines: “Should I get a ruler?” Or “Somethin’ was burnin’ and it wasn’t from the sunshine.”
  • Numbers: The safe deposit box was number 1516. Henry Gale’s street address was 815 on his driver’s license.
  • Music: Locke was pedaling to Les McCann’s “Compared to What.”
  • “Lockdown” discussion at The Fuselage and Lost-Forum.com

Now, about that scene for which I was a “background extra.” Yeah, it was cut. I expected as much, as I realized how much they’d have to cover “on the island.” What’s really remarkable to me, though, is just how much work ended up on the cutting room floor. They built out a whole bank exterior (with a fake ATM) and bank lobby, signs, tellers, the works. They had us hapless extras walk up and down the block over and over again, a set of pre-1995 cars drive past over and over again, and Terry O’Quinn park his truck and run across the street over and over again. A day’s work for 100 people. But in the episode, he just opens up the safety deposit box. I sure hope the street and bank scenes make the Season 2 DVD.

By the way, the bar where Locke and Anthony Cooper talk is Murphy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Honolulu, a popular spot and one of our only “Irish pubs.” It’s a block from where I work, and they filmed that scene the same day they filmed the bank scene. The graveyard and hotel looked familiar, but we couldn’t quite place them.

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61 Responses to Lockdown

  1. sam sugarman says:

    you blame Dharma, I blame the American Justice System. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I really do not trust Locke. Maybe he is an other. Now THAT would b a twist. Ok, just wanted to put that out there.

  2. Kelly says:

    did’nt Locke loose use of his legs in a car accident ?

  3. Shane says:

    sam sugarman has a point. It would make sence that locke was an other/or part of dharma. Because he has been the one finding all this crap on the island, and why they havent shown us how locke got paralysed/his life right before the plane crash. Then it would make sence that he had a case of knives, and he also looks very suspitious when he is in the backrounds of other peoples flashbacks in the airport.(blank faced with his hand in his chin) OH!!! AND when he said “ill be alright” when the thing was pulling him down the hole, and why he always wanted to see the thing.He also looked very surprised when he say the map because he was thinking “oh crap whoever wrote this theve figured dharma out”.But people will say “but what about his flashbacks?” those are way before getting involved in dharma. and mabey locke’s reason for being on the island was to take desmonds place in pushing the button, which is why desmond ran off. and did locke take his place!? YES!! I mean hes using the exercise bike desmond was using!! Just something to think about. 🙂
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  4. Ryan says:

    The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has a feature on the blast door map, and includes analysis from Jeff Jensen. I imagine the printed edition has more detail than what’s posted online, but it’s worth a look.

  5. Shane says:

    OMG!!!!! THIS IS A HUGE SPOILER!!!!! SEIRIOSLY!!!!!
    If you dont want to know dont scroll down……..

    …..

    On Lost, we find out that the leader of the Others (aka Him) is Jack’s father. Yes, he’s alive. And turns out, he’s also Locke’s brother. Meanwhile, there will indeed be two deaths before the season ends. Don’t read if you don’t want to know! In a bloody standoff between the Losties and the Others in the season finale, two characters we know and love are killed by Henry Gale: Locke and Charlie.

  6. Stephen says:

    I don’t know if you were playing a joke Shane but on that article the writer says that it is actually an April Fools Day joke. Sorry if you thought that it was real and my bad if i ruined it for others

  7. Shane says:

    @#$% sorry. i didnt read all the whole article. thankz Stephen. @#$%ers!

  8. Ashleigh says:

    This was a really great episode, you learned a lot about the island (i.e the map, I found this map at tailsection.com :
    http://www.thetailsection.com/uploaded_images/cleanwall-707484.jpg

    It’s redrawn and everything that is in Latin is translated.
    It’s one of the better map translations I’ve seen. I defiantly want to know what the incident was.

    I also want to say that your podcast was one of my favorites, even though I started listening to it 2 weeks before you stopped transmitting.

    I can’t wait for tonight’s episode.

  9. Kathleen says:

    This was a great episode! I haven’t trusted “Henry Gale” from the beginning and when he didn’t run off and helped Locke out it really threw me off. I was glad when Sayid told us about the real Henry Gale so that I could go back to not trusting old Henry. I was excited that we were going to learn more about Locke’s history becasue he is a very confusing character to me. At first I didn’t like him, then as people on the island started to trust him I was more indifferent to him, but now…I don’t like him. I think there is going to be a lot of tension between Locke and Kate, Charlie, Jack, and Sayid. Henry has Locke’s trust and his word that he will protect him no matter what. I don’t think Sayid is exactly on friendly terms with Henry and now that they’ve found out his name isn’t Henry Gale at all I think everyone is going to think that he’s definately an other and want to torture him to get some answers. Of course now that Henry has Locke’s loyalty there will probaly be some major tension between them. I hope we learn more about Locke’s past soon…he’s weird and I’d like to know what happened in the past that’s caused him to be like he is.
    Last point: What happend to Desmund? Since he ran off into the jungle no one has seen him or even mentions him anymore.

  10. Katie says:

    dude this show is flippin awesome, and that henry gale guy (or what ever his name is) scares the $##%$%^$ out of me, haha :-0

  11. Lloyd UK says:

    HI EVERYONE, THIS IS MY FIRST POST, BUT I DONT THINK YOU GUYS HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. OK SO WE HAD A LOCKDOWN, MAYBE IT WAS SO THE OCUPANTS DONT GET OUT AND SEE THE FOOD DROP. FACT IS THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE OUT SIDE SO HOW COME NO ONE HEARD A CHOPPER OR AIRPLANE? ODD HUH AS THEY WOULD HAVE HEARD SOMETHING SURELY!!!

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