>: 52 THE COST OF LIVING
“I did not ask for the life I was given, but it was given nonetheless, and with it, I did it my best.”
I applauded when the flashback started, never dreamed they’d give us an Eko episode. Of course, that lasted maybe a minute before I realized that was probably a bad bad sign. As usual, Hurley speaks for us: “Stay alive.”
Yemi of the Island comes back and sets the tent on fire on his way out.
Jack plays Ben pretty well with regard to the x-ray, Ben goes ahead and confirms it to Juliet(te?) before the credits are over. Some mysteries last fifty episodes long, some about half an hour of episode-time.
And cue Patsy for Colleen’s funeral, nice image there, all the Others in white lowering her into the water scored by Miz Cline. Colleen and Kate and Ana-Lucia have her in common, at least.
John lifts up his eyes and looks north, confirming the Jesusstick easter egg of two weeks ago. (JOHN 3.05 appearing right under that paraphrase from GEN 13:14)
The flashback picks up immediately after THE 23RD PSALM, another bad sign. We’ve seen him get from England to the Oceanic terminal, if he heads there this episode, bad news. And the nurse mentions London right off the bat. We saw her as one of the nine images the monster flashed at Eko when he looked into it. These guys do some casting in advance, tell you what.
The smoke-monster that I think is called Cerberus drifts by early on. Those two guys attacking him in the jungle makes more sense on the rewatch, we haven’t even met them yet. Sounds like the altar boy says ‘Go fish’ but I’m betting it’s backwards or African.
Locke runs the group with an open hand as opposed to Jack’s closed fist. Of course Hurley’s got to talk about it. Locke gets to quote Eko’s line to him at Desmond.
Couldn’t believe that African warlord just shot that lady, hardcore.
Eko is not looking that healthy, the way he’s drinking water, like he might just keel over by the end of the episode. He stands up to the monster but it runs.
Juliet brings Jack a burger. Was it really that hard to make? Did she render animal fat? ‘No ketchup?’ was great.
Love how Ben can come in and take Jack for a walk or tell him what a wonderful plan they had to break him. Yes, Juliet does look like Sarah the ex. Also like Pen Widmore, I still maintain. What does it all mean? Ben’s game is not having a game, just asking Jack to think about it. Wow, Ben found out about the tumor two days before the crash. I guess everything happens for a reason. WHAT is the reason?!? The Big Answer hinges upon it.
And it’s an Eko episode, so we’ve got to come back to the Nigerian plane/Pearl again. Don’t know why he was looking so hard for his brother’s body, I swear they burned it at the end of THE 23RD PSALM. (all right, Locke mentions that later on)
All right, this is something. I always assumed when we got the big smoke reveal with Eko that that’s what John saw way back when we descended on him from the monster’s POV back in the 4th episode but now John says it was a white light. Gah! What’s going on?
The throwdown in the church is a thing of beauty, those guys never had a chance. Was already getting a Friday the 13th vibe when Eko walked out of the church before the camera cut to the machete.
Nikki has the obvious turn-on-the-TVs idea. Instead of feeling stupid, Locke should remember that he saw the Swan in screen#3 when last he was here. I love how out of nowhere we get a shot of a new hatch and a Mysterious Eyepatch (!) fella looking into the DI camera, wherever he is, sitting right by it. He's wearing a Dharma Initiative uniform. Great moment, more what I was expecting when we came down here last time with Locke and Eko in the classic ?. I swear, by the fifth season we’re going to find out there were people watching people watching Ben watch Sawyer getting tortured and Boone and Shannon fighting. Locke can’t resist the one-liner, the man’s compulsive about those things. I think we found a face to put to that glass eye Eko and Ana found back at the Arrow.
One of the better scenes of the episode is To Kill A Mockingbird w/ Jack and Juliet. How well-played on her part and chilling in general. Ben is a liar and he is very dangerous. Boy, that’s the first thing Danielle said the second we met the dude. I had a bad bad feeling about all of that right away but it’s really come a ways since then. It has to look like we tried to save him and that’s up to YOU, Jack. Something about the way she underlined ‘you’, real nice touch there. No one would ever know and I would protect you: just crazy.
So, do we trust her? I want to, I sure want to believe it. This is what’s been going on with the Others this whole time? Some extended elaborate power struggle between Ben and Juliet? It rings true. But those sure were some big cue cards. Do we believe that she has the ability to prepare and film that tape under Ben’s radar? That’s the question. We are undoubtedly going to have a very tense episode next week as I’m pretty sure all of this will come to bear and cliffhang us into writhing. If it’s a Ben-centric episode, it will be huge. And of course not a good sign for him. If Jack goes through with it, the notion of the Others folding in around he and Juliet is just crazed, never would’ve imagined that. Of course, it would be just like Jack to save Ben and give Juliet up, the hardhead dick thing to do. We will see.
Eko’s answer to the altar boy ‘Only God knows’ should’ve been the episode title, would’ve tied in nicely with him and Ben’s view on God and a nice little wink that only the Almighty has a freaking clue what’s happening on the island (and even He’s not positive). And Eko owes Yemi one church. Heartbreaking. They really wrapped that flashback in at the end and made it mean something, better than they have yet this season. But of course they’ve got to, not like we’re coming back this way again:
Eko.
Most of it isn’t even the acting. I feel the same affection for Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje that I do for Eko. Lindelof scored with that casting. No one else can touch the duality just dripping off the guy when you look at him, the face atop that warrior’s body radiating serenity and calm but with such massive capacity for violence. Eko’s easily killed more people that we know of than anyone else on 815, pre- and post-crash. His search for redemption after turning to evil ways to save his brother is my favorite backstory. And the way he delivered his lines or didn’t even say anything, just conveyed it all with a look…..I’m really too numb to put it into words. I’m sorry they killed him but not surprised.
So, Eko’s confession was defiance. Is that why he died? “You speak to me as if I were your brother.” Don’t run after that!!!!! Eko missed growing up on scary movies in Nigeria, you do not follow the thing speaking those words, no. The monster’s immediately on hand. Go with me on this:
According to Danielle, what we think of as the monster, the thing that killed the pilot and makes those industrial noises, is not a monster but the island’s SECURITY system (1.9). We know it has all the pertinent moments of Eko’s life recorded because it flashed them at him when he looked into it (2.10). It stands to reason that it has recording capability, was designed to be the eyes and ears for a stationary monitoring station, so that someone (with an eyepatch?) can see what’s going on anywhere in the island at a given time. The only person we’ve seen watching screens with both of his eyes is one Benjamin Linus, who is very dangerous.
I think it’s possible that the smoke monster is assuming these people’s forms, that’s who Yemi was. That’s how Eko was able to fight those African guys from the church in the jungle at the first of the episode. It’s how Jack saw his dad and it explains Kate’s horse. It’s not a coincidence, the person controlling the monster is screwing with the heads of all involved, has files on them. Who would spend his time in such a way? I think Brother Ben has the right disposition for it. If that seems like a stretch, recall Locke’s vision in the Sweat Lodge a couple of weeks ago in 3.3: who did Ben appear as? A SECURITY GUARD checking Jack in. That immediately set off a bell in my head, been trying to link him to the smoke monster ever since. It explains why the monster killed Eko this time and not last. One thing that’s changed since their first face-to-face is Ben’s capture and release and if he just watched Juliet’s Oscar-bid with Jack, he’s probably not too happy (if we believe Juliet).
It might be a stretch, but you have to reach pretty far to pull things together on this show.
Possibly the best episode yet, between the eyepatch and To Kill Ben and the end of one of my favorite television characters ever, we got quite a ride in 42 minutes. Oh, almost forgot Eko's last words. Did the monster tell him they're all next? Just his opinion? Was Locke telling the truth? I feel sick.
Only one more to go. Keep saying it to yourself: Namaste. Namaste.
I applauded when the flashback started, never dreamed they’d give us an Eko episode. Of course, that lasted maybe a minute before I realized that was probably a bad bad sign. As usual, Hurley speaks for us: “Stay alive.”
Yemi of the Island comes back and sets the tent on fire on his way out.
Jack plays Ben pretty well with regard to the x-ray, Ben goes ahead and confirms it to Juliet(te?) before the credits are over. Some mysteries last fifty episodes long, some about half an hour of episode-time.
And cue Patsy for Colleen’s funeral, nice image there, all the Others in white lowering her into the water scored by Miz Cline. Colleen and Kate and Ana-Lucia have her in common, at least.
John lifts up his eyes and looks north, confirming the Jesusstick easter egg of two weeks ago. (JOHN 3.05 appearing right under that paraphrase from GEN 13:14)
The flashback picks up immediately after THE 23RD PSALM, another bad sign. We’ve seen him get from England to the Oceanic terminal, if he heads there this episode, bad news. And the nurse mentions London right off the bat. We saw her as one of the nine images the monster flashed at Eko when he looked into it. These guys do some casting in advance, tell you what.
The smoke-monster that I think is called Cerberus drifts by early on. Those two guys attacking him in the jungle makes more sense on the rewatch, we haven’t even met them yet. Sounds like the altar boy says ‘Go fish’ but I’m betting it’s backwards or African.
Locke runs the group with an open hand as opposed to Jack’s closed fist. Of course Hurley’s got to talk about it. Locke gets to quote Eko’s line to him at Desmond.
Couldn’t believe that African warlord just shot that lady, hardcore.
Eko is not looking that healthy, the way he’s drinking water, like he might just keel over by the end of the episode. He stands up to the monster but it runs.
Juliet brings Jack a burger. Was it really that hard to make? Did she render animal fat? ‘No ketchup?’ was great.
Love how Ben can come in and take Jack for a walk or tell him what a wonderful plan they had to break him. Yes, Juliet does look like Sarah the ex. Also like Pen Widmore, I still maintain. What does it all mean? Ben’s game is not having a game, just asking Jack to think about it. Wow, Ben found out about the tumor two days before the crash. I guess everything happens for a reason. WHAT is the reason?!? The Big Answer hinges upon it.
And it’s an Eko episode, so we’ve got to come back to the Nigerian plane/Pearl again. Don’t know why he was looking so hard for his brother’s body, I swear they burned it at the end of THE 23RD PSALM. (all right, Locke mentions that later on)
All right, this is something. I always assumed when we got the big smoke reveal with Eko that that’s what John saw way back when we descended on him from the monster’s POV back in the 4th episode but now John says it was a white light. Gah! What’s going on?
The throwdown in the church is a thing of beauty, those guys never had a chance. Was already getting a Friday the 13th vibe when Eko walked out of the church before the camera cut to the machete.
Nikki has the obvious turn-on-the-TVs idea. Instead of feeling stupid, Locke should remember that he saw the Swan in screen#3 when last he was here. I love how out of nowhere we get a shot of a new hatch and a Mysterious Eyepatch (!) fella looking into the DI camera, wherever he is, sitting right by it. He's wearing a Dharma Initiative uniform. Great moment, more what I was expecting when we came down here last time with Locke and Eko in the classic ?. I swear, by the fifth season we’re going to find out there were people watching people watching Ben watch Sawyer getting tortured and Boone and Shannon fighting. Locke can’t resist the one-liner, the man’s compulsive about those things. I think we found a face to put to that glass eye Eko and Ana found back at the Arrow.
One of the better scenes of the episode is To Kill A Mockingbird w/ Jack and Juliet. How well-played on her part and chilling in general. Ben is a liar and he is very dangerous. Boy, that’s the first thing Danielle said the second we met the dude. I had a bad bad feeling about all of that right away but it’s really come a ways since then. It has to look like we tried to save him and that’s up to YOU, Jack. Something about the way she underlined ‘you’, real nice touch there. No one would ever know and I would protect you: just crazy.
So, do we trust her? I want to, I sure want to believe it. This is what’s been going on with the Others this whole time? Some extended elaborate power struggle between Ben and Juliet? It rings true. But those sure were some big cue cards. Do we believe that she has the ability to prepare and film that tape under Ben’s radar? That’s the question. We are undoubtedly going to have a very tense episode next week as I’m pretty sure all of this will come to bear and cliffhang us into writhing. If it’s a Ben-centric episode, it will be huge. And of course not a good sign for him. If Jack goes through with it, the notion of the Others folding in around he and Juliet is just crazed, never would’ve imagined that. Of course, it would be just like Jack to save Ben and give Juliet up, the hardhead dick thing to do. We will see.
Eko’s answer to the altar boy ‘Only God knows’ should’ve been the episode title, would’ve tied in nicely with him and Ben’s view on God and a nice little wink that only the Almighty has a freaking clue what’s happening on the island (and even He’s not positive). And Eko owes Yemi one church. Heartbreaking. They really wrapped that flashback in at the end and made it mean something, better than they have yet this season. But of course they’ve got to, not like we’re coming back this way again:
Eko.
Most of it isn’t even the acting. I feel the same affection for Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje that I do for Eko. Lindelof scored with that casting. No one else can touch the duality just dripping off the guy when you look at him, the face atop that warrior’s body radiating serenity and calm but with such massive capacity for violence. Eko’s easily killed more people that we know of than anyone else on 815, pre- and post-crash. His search for redemption after turning to evil ways to save his brother is my favorite backstory. And the way he delivered his lines or didn’t even say anything, just conveyed it all with a look…..I’m really too numb to put it into words. I’m sorry they killed him but not surprised.
So, Eko’s confession was defiance. Is that why he died? “You speak to me as if I were your brother.” Don’t run after that!!!!! Eko missed growing up on scary movies in Nigeria, you do not follow the thing speaking those words, no. The monster’s immediately on hand. Go with me on this:
According to Danielle, what we think of as the monster, the thing that killed the pilot and makes those industrial noises, is not a monster but the island’s SECURITY system (1.9). We know it has all the pertinent moments of Eko’s life recorded because it flashed them at him when he looked into it (2.10). It stands to reason that it has recording capability, was designed to be the eyes and ears for a stationary monitoring station, so that someone (with an eyepatch?) can see what’s going on anywhere in the island at a given time. The only person we’ve seen watching screens with both of his eyes is one Benjamin Linus, who is very dangerous.
I think it’s possible that the smoke monster is assuming these people’s forms, that’s who Yemi was. That’s how Eko was able to fight those African guys from the church in the jungle at the first of the episode. It’s how Jack saw his dad and it explains Kate’s horse. It’s not a coincidence, the person controlling the monster is screwing with the heads of all involved, has files on them. Who would spend his time in such a way? I think Brother Ben has the right disposition for it. If that seems like a stretch, recall Locke’s vision in the Sweat Lodge a couple of weeks ago in 3.3: who did Ben appear as? A SECURITY GUARD checking Jack in. That immediately set off a bell in my head, been trying to link him to the smoke monster ever since. It explains why the monster killed Eko this time and not last. One thing that’s changed since their first face-to-face is Ben’s capture and release and if he just watched Juliet’s Oscar-bid with Jack, he’s probably not too happy (if we believe Juliet).
It might be a stretch, but you have to reach pretty far to pull things together on this show.
Possibly the best episode yet, between the eyepatch and To Kill Ben and the end of one of my favorite television characters ever, we got quite a ride in 42 minutes. Oh, almost forgot Eko's last words. Did the monster tell him they're all next? Just his opinion? Was Locke telling the truth? I feel sick.
Only one more to go. Keep saying it to yourself: Namaste. Namaste.
posted by rb at 12:14 PM
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