Episode Report Card LuluBates: B- | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT The Man From Tallahassee
By LuluBates | Season 3 | Episode 13 | Aired on March 20, 2007
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Kate and Jack are together again, but it is not the joyous reunion/escape plan that Kate had envisioned. Instead she and Sayid are captured almost immediately and held prisoner by the Others while Jack and Juliet prepare for their return home. Yes I said it. Home. But Jack swears he'll come back for her. It's hard to tell if she buys it, though, what with her being handcuffed and held captive while he walks off with the hot blonde doctor.
Meanwhile, Locke has come to see a man about a submarine. This is not a request without serious flashbacks. While Kate and Sayid are held prisoner, Locke alternatively holds Alex and Ben hostage while trying to find out the whereabouts of the escape submarine. Ben will give up nothing without a lot of psychological probing and quasi-deep spiritual questioning -- just like Jonathan Adler in Top Design! Locke is not much for the psychoanalysis and sticks with the "nyah-nyah-nyah, I can walk and you can't" rebuttal. Locke gets his information and blows up the sub just as Jack and Juliet are about to board. They are not happy about this turn of events. Ben, however, is thrilled that Locke made his secretest wish come true. Looks like a Love Match!
Locke does not regret his decision, despite his imprisonment. Besides, he and Ben are fast becoming bestest friends, and he gets to stay on the Island forever and never has to see his evil-doing ne'er-do-well father, who pushed him out a window and broke his back, ever ever again. Well never say never on this Island, Locke, 'cause guess what? Your dad is here! Being held prisoner by the Others. Bet you wish you hadn't blown up the only way off the Island, eh Johnny Boy? Want more? The full recap starts right below!
A flashbacked John Locke is sitting in an administrative office with the florescent lights reflecting off his not-yet-bald pate. He is being asked a series of inane questions by an administrative office drone while she reviews a form. She inquires about his name (John Locke), marital status (single), girlfriend (no) She then asks him if his parents are living or dead. He says he was raised in foster care and never really knew them. She then rather impertinently asks if he ever considered seeking out his biological parents. I seriously doubt that question is on the form. Locke is with me on this and can't figure out what that has to do with anything. The cubicle denizen informs him (with a head bobble, but no finger waggin') that it's her business because if the state is going to continue to pay his disability, she needs to determine if his condition has improved. Improved by hypothetically seeking out the biological parents that abandoned him to foster care as a child? How would that improve anyone's condition? Unless your condition is "Painful Pursuits" or "Unhappy Endings." Are those in the DSM IV? Locke is unimpressed with this answer, but his mouth says nothing. The cubicle dweller now wants to know how his appetite is. Locke rolls his eyes without actually rolling his eyes and says, "Fine." The state worker bee says that she sees he stopped submitting his therapy bills for repayment. Locke explains that he stopped going because it is a waste of time. The office lady stares at him and without blinking, grabs a stamp and slams it onto his paper work, marking "Benefits Suspended" in big red letters across the top of his file. Locke looks as stunned as a depressive can look. The drone tells him it is just a temporary suspension and that he can re-apply for benefits once he starts seeing a therapist again. Locke asks if she thinks he is temporarily disabled. She says depression can be temporary, and since he saw fit to stop going to therapy she gathers that he is all better. And nothing treats depression like no money, no job, and no kindness! No sir. Locke says he must be all better then and gets up and walks out of cubicle hell as the nice lady yells, "Next!" I guess we were supposed to think he was in a wheelchair, but I forgot to. He's not in one anyway.
Back in the jungle, Locke handles his gun. Get your mind out of the gutter, dirty bird. He, Kate, and Sayid are still in the bushes staring intently at Jack and Tom's football game. Kate asks Sayid what they are doing. Sayid whispers, "It looks like he's attempting a blitz, but I can't tell whether he is going to tackle the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage or just force him to hurry his pass.