Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sacrificial Ham
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 5 | Aired on 02.11.2009
He struggles to climb down the rope and Sawyer offers to lower him, but Locke says, "Where would be the fun in that?" And he breaks out his trademark, batshit-insane-but-truly-happy grin. Juliet offers him her thanks for trying to do whatever it is he's trying to do, and he tells her she's welcome. It's a nice, honest moment between these two characters who have had so few honest moments, and who have seldom received much appreciation for the things they've done, even those things which went or meant well. Locke grabs hold of the rope, and I've got to say his arms are nothing to sneer at, either. He swings there for a moment, then begins his descent. Before he disappears, another flash begins. Miles gets to say, "Uh-oh," and from Locke's point of view, we see the flash of light seems to have its genesis in the well. We see Sawyer and Jin outside the well, in shaky cam (which gives me such a headache). Sawyer grabs the rope, steadies it, or tries to, and yells for John to hold on. There's more flashing and then John loses his grip on the rope and plummets to the bottom of the (dry) well. He screams in pain. Oh, John!
Above ground, Miles, Juliet, Sawyer, and Jin try to adapt to the latest flash. We see Jin first, but it's Sawyer who breaks my heart. He's holding onto the rope, pulling it and his whole body seems to quiver, but he doesn't open his eyes. Finally, Miles breaks the silence. "I think you can let go of that, now." Sawyer looks down to see the rope now comes up out of solid ground, and there's no well to be found. He keeps pulling just the same, because he's Sawyer. Then yells, "No, no, come on, help me," as he tries to dig Locke out. Juliet pretty much says, "Really, dude? C'mon," but a little more gentle-like, because that's what Juliets do best.
Meanwhile, over at the This-Place-Is-Death place, Charlotte coughs and I realize she's probably choking on her own blood, which makes me gag. Hey, I'm not going through this alone, all right? Daniel pleads with her to stay with him. Seems like he could stand to hear Miles say, "I think you can let go of that, now," too. Daniel tells her that everything is going to be okay, because he has a plan -- which just means he talked to Desmond and told him to find his mother who can and will help them. Big plan, eh? Charlotte wants to know how Daniel's mother can help, and like all good boys, Daniel just knows Mommy can fix everything. Charlotte coughs violently, and Daniel dabs at the blood coming out of her mouth, but doesn't touch it -- still. Then her expression eases. She smiles so brightly it causes Daniel to say, "What?" She gets a mischievous look in her eyes then says, "I'm not allowed to have chocolate before dinner." She sighs, and looks to her right. And then falls silent. Daniel weeps her name, "Charlotte? Charlotte? Charlotte." He shakes his head. "No." The camera zooms out and we see him still kneeling over her lifeless form.