'Lost': Cabin Fever

In even-numbered seasons, it's easy to forget that John Locke is supposed to be one of THE iconic figures in the Lost universe. In odd-numbered seasons, he's a hunter, a fighter, a joker, a smoker, a midnight...well, you get the point. But in Seasons 2 and 4, he's domesticated, trapped not by a wheelchair but by the creature comforts he longed to shed. In this episode, you learn exactly why it's so hard for Locke to embrace his true nature. Because, after all, he's been fighting against it his entire life.

(Read about the first time I caught the fever here.)

Cabin Fever

4) In Summary

"John Locke, this is your life!"

8) Present Day

While walking in the jungle, Ben admits he's been following Hurley to find the cabin. Hurley's less than thrilled at this fact. Locke decides to make camp for the night to clear everyone's head.

Sayid wakes Desmond up; the helicopter has returned to the Kahana. They see Lapidus land with a banged up military crew in tow. Keamy storms over to Sayid, demanding to know the identity and location of everyone on the Island. Dude's got murder in his eyes, even more so than usual. He then pulls a gun on Gault, demanding to know who gave Linus information about him.

The information sends Keamy directly to Michael's cell. Upon confirming Michael as the source, he tries to shoot him. Curiously, the gun won't work. Learning Michael ALSO took out the engines only makes Keamy madder, and he punches Michael out for good measure.

Locke wakes up to find something curious: Horace Goodspeed chopping down trees. This is odd, in that Horace is long dead. He tells Locke he's building a getaway for himself and the missus. He then reveals to Locke that he's been dead for twelve years. He pushes a tree down, and then Locke notices that the "scene" has somehow reset itself, with Horace reintroducing himself and the tree still standing. OK. Um. Sure. Horace then breaks from the script, ordering John to find him. If he does, he'll find Jacob.

Locke wakes up, only for real this time. Ben watches him closely, sensing he's had an important dream. "I used to have dreams," says a sad Ben. Locke wakes up Hurley and announces he knows where they have to go. On the way, Hurley theorizes why they are the only three who can see the cabin. "Because we're the craziest," he says. Heh. Locke announces that they making a pit stop: they are going to the mass grave of the Dharma Initiative. "What happened to them?" Hurley asks. "He did," Locke says, referring to Ben. Ben gets this great, "Oh, please, soooo unnecessary" look.

As Locke sorts through the grave, Hurley confirms this as the place where Ben previously shot Locke. Ben vehemently denies, however, that he killed the members of the Dharma Initiative. It was the decision of the Others' leader. Apparently, Ben himself wasn't always in charge. Hmmmm. In the grave, Locke finally finds Horace's body. Inside his DI outfit is a set of blueprints for the cabin.

On the Kahana, Keamy asks Gault for his key. He wants to head back to the Island right away, and tells Lapidus to gas up the chopper. Gault worries Keamy is suffering from the same sickness as the rest of the crew. Keamy physically removes the key from Gault's body and unlocks a drawer. Inside? The secondary protocol. Apparently, Widmore knows where Ben will go once he realizes Keamy will "torch" the Island. On the front page of the protocol? A logo for a station we will be visiting awfully soon.

Up above, Desmond and Sayid watch the body of one of the militia get carried off. Gault tells Omar he's needed below, which leaves the captain aboard alone with them two men. As Omar goes down below, he receives Faraday's Morse code message from last episode. Gault orders the men to hide before Keamy kills them. Sayid counters by asking for the tender, so he can rescue people in shifts off the Island.

Locke tells Hurley to head back to the beach. He apologizes for bringing Hurley along for no reason; with the map in hand, he's no longer necessary. Hurley's offended, and insists on staying. Ben applauds Locke's manipulation of Hurley. Locke states, "I'm not you," Ben says, "You're certainly not." Well, that's better than, "I know you are, but what am I?"

Lapidus enters Michael's room, angry he didn't tell Lapidus his true identity. When Michael notes his boss put the plane at the bottom of the ocean, Lapidus laughs at being out-conspiracied. Before Lapidus leaves, Michael insists he not fly Keamy back to the island, telling him Keamy will kill everyone on it. As they leave the room, they see someone strapping an odd device to Keamy's arms.

Up on deck, Gault gives Sayid and Desmond the 305 direction for safe passage. Desmond surprises Sayid by telling him he's not going back. After three years, he's never going back. Fair enough. Sayid takes off for the Island solo.

As they approach the cabin, Ben tells Locke he'll soon understand there are "consequences" to being chosen. Ben feels it was his fate to get a tumor and lose Alex, in that fate is a fickle...um, female dog. Yea. That's it. As Ben and Locke discuss fate, Hurley finds the cabin in the place indicated on the blueprints.

It's lock-and-load time at night on the Kahana. Omar tells the doctor about the curious message from Faraday. Lapidus notes all the weaponry being loaded onto the chopper, and tells Keamy he won't fly him to the Island. In response, Keamy cuts the doctor's throat and pushes him overboard. Gault fires Keamy's gun, having "fixed" it. Keamy points to the device on his arm, suggesting he not shoot him. While Gault is distracted, Keamy pulls out his gun and shoots the captain. OK, looks like Lapidus is onboard with the plan now. As he fires up the chopper, he secretly turns on his sat phone. The chopper then takes off to enact the secondary protocol.

On the beach, Juliet is upset to find Jack up and about so soon after surgery. They hear the chopper coming in the distance, as does the entire camp. The chopper flies overhead without stopping, but they see something drop from it. They run over to find Lapidus' bag, with the sat phone inside tracking the chopper's trajectory. "I think they want us to follow them," Jack announces.

At the cabin, all three have serious cases of the heebies with a side order of the jeebies. Ben surprises Locke by saying he's not going inside, telling him his time on the Island is over. Hurley likewise stays behind, leaving John to go alone. Ben watches him with a mournful eye as Locke lights the lantern and goes inside. Once inside, Locke hears a voice. But it's not Jacob. It's...Christian. Whoa. He's not in a blue suit, but rather than brown clothes seen in "Something Nice Back Home." He asks John if he knows why he's there. "I'm here because I was chosen to be," an answer which pleases notChristian.

Christian's not alone, either. Claire's in there, which further confuses John. norChristian suggests John not tell anyone he saw her. He claims to speak on Jacob's behalf, and wants John to ask the only question that matters. John asks it: "How do I save the Island?" Looks like this is the right question.

Outside, one of the funniest, bizarre, and yet tender scenes of the entire show happens. Hurley slowly unwraps an Apollo Bar, and meets Ben's curious, hungry eyes. After a second, Hurley breaks off half and gives it to him. The two share a candy bar. I know this reads like nothing, but Lord it's brilliant. John comes out and announces what they have to do: move the Island. Oh, OK that makes a lot of sense. In that "not at all" way.

15) Back in the Day

A young, redheaded woman dances to Buddy Holly's "Everyday." Her mother is upset that she's going out with "him," in that he's twice as old as her daughter, Emily. When Emily runs out in the street, she tells her mother that she can't stop her from seeing him. She's then struck by a car, which sends her to the emergency room. As she comes to in the hospital, she groggily tells the nurse she's pregnant. The doctors successfully deliver a boy, who she insists they call John as they take away the premature child.

The nurse comes to greet Emily and Mrs. Locke. Turns out John's the youngest preemie to ever survive. Despite infections and illness, John fought them all off. The other nurses call him a "miracle" baby. When Emily is offered the chance to hold him for the first time, she breaks down crying and leaves. Mrs. Locke is less emotional, instantly asking about adoption while trying to light a cigarette. However, her calm is damaged upon seeing none other than Richard Alpert outside the door, peering in. Mrs. Locke claims she doesn't know who he is. Sure, keep saying that long enough and one of us will believe you.

Richard's not done with Locke, revisiting him when John's roughly five years old. Locke's playing backgammon (which his foster sister thinks is a stupid game) as Alpert tells him about a special school he runs for gifted students. He presents Locke with a series of items. But before that, Alpert notices a drawing of what looks like the smoke monster attacking a human. In Alpert's bag are six items: a baseball glove, a vial of granules, a comic book, a knife, a "Book of Laws," and a compass. He asks John to tell him which items belong to him already. Locke chooses the vial, the compass, and the knife. He almost chooses the "Book of Laws," instead of the knife. The first two choices please Alpert tremendously, but the third angers him greatly. Alpert takes all items and leaves, telling his foster mother than Locke's not ready for the school just yet.

A teenaged Locke gets liberated from his locker by his science teacher. He's got a bloody lip and ashamed face. The teacher tells him he's received a letter from Mittelos Biosciences, courtesy of Richard Alpert. He suggests John go to their summer science camp, noting his skill doesn't lie in the areas John seeks to excel in, such as football and fishing. "Don't tell me what I can't do," John angrily replies.

In physical therapy, an orderly tells Locke not to lose hope. That orderly? Matthew Abaddon. Abaddon asks Locke if he believes in miracles. Locke says he doesn't; Abaddon mentions he should. After all, one happened to him. He tells Locke he needs to go on a walkabout. He tells Locke that he went into the walkabout thinking he was one thing, but came back another. He notes he's much more than simply an orderly. When Locke's ready, Abaddon says, he'll remember these words. And then? Well, looks like he'll owe Abaddon one. Shudder.

16) The Mythology

I've pretty much beaten the notChristian thing into the ground here on the blog over the interim between seasons, so I won't try to reiterate them here. If I wrote a book about Lost, notChristian would easily soak up a chapter of it. So I won't aim for an all-encompassing reiteration of what I've already written. The long and short: everything in Lost can be seen through the lens of the Army of the Light fighting the Army of the Dark. Jacob is the head of the Light and Alpert as his Panchen Lama. notChristian is the head of the Dark with Abaddon as his Panchen Lama. By the end of Season 4, notChristian has defeated Jacob and expelled the two forces that could aid in his re-ascension: Ben and Aaron. That's as reductive as I can make it for now, though I promise to add more next week when we start looking ahead to Season 5.

Two things I want to point out that I didn't initially capture in my first recap and haven't really addressed before:

1. 1) One reason we should have instantly suspected notChristian didn't speak for Jacob? The location of the cabin. It's exactly where Horace built it. In other words, it's a cabin stripped of anything related to Jacob. Ostensibly, once upon a time, Horace's get away turned into Jacob HQ, but that time has passed. Putting the cabin in a place that can be found on a blueprint shows just how little of Jacob is left in that cabin.
2. 2) I am not sure if I missed this, or never bothered to discuss it, but watching Mrs. Locke look at Richard this time around, I got the vibe that she was analogous to Harry Potter's aunt with Richard as Dumbledore, each sharing a past neither dare repeat. Mrs. Locke isn't smoking in a hospital because she's callous, but because she's terrified. Also? I can't help but wonder if Richard ran into Emily just to see if John was a potential Island savior. He loves to run people down with his car, that Richard. Just ask Juliet. Or Anthony Cooper.

23) The Moment

I love that "Drawing of the Three" scene more than baseball's Opening Day. Even if Locke's destiny lies not in sports, despite his best efforts.

42) In Retrospect

1. This episode spawned my favorite and most pretentious theory ever: the Tuklu Orphan Theory of Lost! It just sounds like something you'd see on the program of a super self-indulgent academic panel about pop culture.
2. Des mentions in this episode he's never returning to the Island again. Methinks Season 5 will prove him a liar.
3. As I've mentioned previously, I don't think we can look at Alpert's agelessness as a function of normal progression through time. We know Alpert's the Island's #2, we know that he has access to and from the Island, we know he isn't above going behind Ben's back, and we know that time travel exists in the world of the show. So I now look at all these visits from Richard as happening, from his perspective, AFTER Locke arrived on the Island. Which means one can only imagine Mittelos Biosciences itself as being "founded" decades earlier from our perspective, but maybe only years later from Alpert's. Oh look, I've gone cross-eyed again.

108) In Summary

Having originally watched this episode after a long plane ride, it took a few viewings for me to really grasp onto what was going on in this episode. There's so much one cannot take at face value inside of it. Only with the realization that those in the cabin could NOT be trusted did everything start to make a sort of sense. Though, let's be honest, with Lost, that's all relative. Hopefully, Season 5 sheds some light (and dark) upon the issues derived from this episode.

Next up: War! Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, off to the Orchid!

Leave your thoughts about this episode below!

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to join the all-new Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed. Pretty soon he'll have as many platforms as Richard Alpert made trips through time.