Ben continues to be the character hardest to pin down. He clearly has a plan, and will stop at nothing to accomplish that. Whether it’s to serve the Island, or something far more sinister, his methods are ruthless and unfeeling. He’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish it. Charles Widmore, from what we’ve seen, has been acting in much the same way. Having determined the location of “The Exit” for those who turn the frozen donkey wheel (perhaps he chartered the archeological dig that Charlotte happened upon early in season 4), Widmore set up a closed-circuit camera to monitor the location should anyone happen to materialize.
And materialize, Locke does, compound fracture and all. Widmore has him treated and butters him up by telling him he’ll do everything in his power to help get John and the Oceanic 6 back to the Island. His story? That he was the leader of the Others/Hostiles (or “[his] people,” as Widmore calls them), peacefully protecting the Island for more than three decades (those eighteen dead Army soldiers he and his friends took care of might beg to differ). Widmore was eventually manipulated by Ben into turning the wheel and moving the Island. (What was Ben’s story? That the mainland members of the Dharma Initiative would find them and seek revenge for The Purge?)
If only it were that easy to believe Widmore. Of more interest is Widmore’s answer to why he’d want to help Locke. Other than calling Locke “special,” he tells John “there’s a war coming” and that the “wrong side” was going to win if Locke didn’t fulfill his destiny. I keyed on the word “wrong” as opposed to Charles having used a word like “bad” or “evil.” What makes it the wrong side? Just because it’s not Widmore’s side? A hint of selfish envy? I think we’d be nuts to trust either of the former Other leaders. Especially when his answer to Locke asking why he’s so special: “Because you are.” Oh…okay. Maybe he’s so special because he’s so easily manipulated; by Widmore, by Richard, and most of all by Ben.
Regardless, Widmore does appear to help Locke with his Oceanic 6 recruitment project, enlisting Matthew Abaddon to take him wherever he needs to go. Aside from recruiting the team of Faraday, Charlotte, Lapidus and Miles that Naomi led to the Island on the freighter, Abaddon’s also scared the bejeezus out of Hurley at the mental hospital, and served as Locke’s orderly during his rehabilitation after his father threw him out a window. At that time, Abaddon told John he should take a walkabout, which we all know he did, fatefully leading him to Oceanic 815 and the Island.
Abaddon’s job, as he tells John, is to “help people get to where they need to go.” The word Abaddon, in the historical sense, is a “‘place of destruction’, or the realm of the dead.” If Locke’s destiny is to die, it sounds like he’s got the right guy helping him get there. Or at least he did, before Ben shot a few holes in the guy (at at a cemetery, fittingly enough).
Locke eventually does head down the road to death, though, fulfilling the destiny Richard told him was his. When he surprisingly comes out it alive and back on the Island, it might stand to reason his faith would be restored, wouldn’t it? I’m not sure. When I first saw Locke on the beach in the episode, I was immediately reminded of Jack from the series premiere, if for no other reason than their having both been wearing suits. Despite his return to the Island, might the way in which he died transform him, no longer willing to accept anything on faith alone? Has he lost the anger and obsessiveness he cited to Kate as the reasons he lost Helen? Jack finally took a leap of faith last week; perhaps Locke has now taken on that role of jaded cynic. It’ll be interesting to see how he deals with Ben and the rest who’ve manipulated him, Richard and Widmore included.
I’m not sure he’ll thank him for helping fulfill his destiny.
i wonder how kate was allowed to leave l/a. wasn’t part of her court thing that she couldn’t leave l/a…maybe it has something to do with also leaving aaron somewhere.
nice writeup as usual.
I found it interesting that John was left on the ground for Tunisia for so long. Especially since there were cameras and widmore is a rich guy who you’d assume want faster response time. I wonder if there is a reason it took so long to get him help.
Also John was told about hawking by Christian Sheppard before he left the island. That’s how John knew the name.
Yes, you’re right; that slipped my mind.
I forgot to mention the code Widmore gave John to get in touch with him (23) is one of our beloved Numbers.
ai yi yai!!! I am getting more LOST all the time!
I gotta believe that the area between the Euphrates River and so forth, “Mesopotamia” (Babylonia), has to have some biblical references, based upon the writers propensity for such things…the “big foot” seen on the island has to be of Mediterranean origin as well. This whole Tunisia thing must be that connection as well.