Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | 970 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT The Island's Done With Who, Now?
By Cindy McLennan | Season 6 | Episode 14 | Aired on 2010.05.04
Sideways; Day: Instead of zooming in on one open eye, as we so often have, we pan over to a pair of eyes -- closed eyes. That's...off. It's backwards. We're in the Sideways reality, so in this season of Smoke and Mirrors, I can't help but think of mirror images. They're backwards, right? You need (at least) two mirrors angled just so, if you want to see the reflection of your reflection -- what others see as your true self. With the aid of two mirrors or one of those department store 3-way mirrors, I know what the reflection of my reflection looks like (what I look like to others), but it looks off to me. We don't truly own the reality of our own faces. My most prominent memory of my face comes from looking in a single mirror each day, multiple times a day. I promise I'm going somewhere with this. Please bear with me.
Sideways Dr. Jack Shephard wakes Sideways John Locke. Locke is confused at first -- not because he doesn't know who Jack is, but because he does -- he knows who Jack really is, and this is all backwards. But then the second mirror slips out of place. Jack's too perfect explanation/reminder that they met in the Oceanic baggage claim office makes too much sense -- way more sense than a mystical island with Smoke Monsters, hatches, numbers, and miracle cures. The mirror slips out of place because Locke pushes it. He accepts this reflection of his life.
In the course of conversation, Locke learns his dural sac ruptured, but Jack repaired it. During the operation Jack got a look at Locke's original injury and wants to know how it happened. Locke says, "Why?" Jack: "Because I think you're a candidate." (!!!) Jack doesn't know he's moving mirrors around, but he's sliding the second one back into place, just the same. During the pregnant pause, Locke cocks his head to the right. "A candidate for what?" There's light in his eyes, now. Jack tells Locke there's a new, easy, low-risk surgical procedure that may repair the initial injury that landed him in his wheelchair. "If you give me a shot, Mr. Locke, I think that -- I could fix you." That gives me chills. Locke pushes mirror #2 away. John Locke -- who elsewhere and elsewhen chose to stay on an island and mingle with monsters for a miracle -- he refuses. He refuses to even hear the good doctor out. That's backwards, right?
The men are interrupted by Helen who rushes to Locke's side. "It's the first time they've let me see you." Is this one of the rules, too? Did Locke have to choose to remain in his chair in order to keep Helen? No, that can't be right. We already know the choice that cost Locke Helen's love. That choice was Anthony Cooper. Anyhow, Locke caresses her face like you do after a nightmare of a loved one's death -- when the monsters are back in the closet for the day, and all you can see is your love's beautiful face. When Helen finds out that Jack is John's doctor, she greets him with a big hug, kiss and then most notably: "Thank you for saving him." At that, Jack laughs uncomfortably, and the look he shares with Locke breaks my heart. The romantic in me doesn't want this part to be backwards. Just...reflective. I mean, my reflection doesn't let me know exactly how I appear to others, but it's good enough to tell me if I've got lipstick on my teeth. Don't let Helen's fate be the lipstick on Locke's teeth, Show. Or do. Whatever the hell I'm talking about, you know what I mean.