LOST DISCOVERIES
All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
Episode 1.11 - Air date: Wednesday, 08-Dec-2005
Created by: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Story by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Daylight comes
By Spring
Summers – 20-Mar-2005
A Soulful
Spike Society Review: www.soulfulspike.com
The
Themes:
Jack
Shepard spends this entire episode following footprints, and it
seems he’s spent his entire life following in his father’s footsteps. Unfortunately, just like Claire’s kidnapper,
Christian Shepard eventually attempts to disguise his trail and mislead his
follower:
ETHAN: “If you do not stop following me, I will kill one of them!
Was stopping himself, opening Jack’s eyes, a subconscious
motivation for Christian, when he “killed one of them?” Because Jack eventually does quit following
Christian after Christian kills a patient; Jack quits going in a circle. It’s a circle I suspect he has been on since
childhood. But he leaves it, and
finally picks up the correct trail.
LOCKE: “Jack. Jack. Good thing you were going in a circle. Not much of a search grid, but we never
would have found you, otherwise.”
And at the end of the trail, he finds the truth about his
father and brings it into the daylight (CHRISTIAN: “I never thought I’d see the day.”). Later, he finds Charlie, and brings him to life. (“We’re going
back out to look for Claire as soon as the sun comes up.”)
KATE (about her father): “Being in
the woods, it was like, it was like his religion.”
It’s all
about what you believe. The episode is all about the importance of bringing
the truth to light, of asking the right questions (everyone is continuously
asking questions.) It’s about knowing
who to believe - who to trust. The fact
that our parents serve as our first sources of information and as role-models
is emphasized by repeated references to parental influences. We note that Jack is a doctor like his
father, Kate learned tracking from dad, Walt’s Daddy-Brian used to comment on
his luck, and Boone ran a business for his mother. We look up to our parents - we learn from them, we measure
ourselves against them. There are many
references to people defining themselves in comparison to others:
* CHRISTIAN: “You tell me, if you were upstairs, and I
was in a restaurant having lunch, then why did they call me?” (I am
better than you.)
* LOCKE: “I spent time with Ethan. I never sensed anything off. But for everything that I know about
hunting, tracking – whoever he is, he knows more.” (He is better than me.)
* BOONE: “You can lead us back to camp right?” LOCKE:
“If nothing happens to me.”
BOONE: “Maybe I better take
marker detail.” (I’m the better man for that job.)
* KATE: “I think they went this way. I’m not as good as Locke is.” (Locke
is better than me.)
* CHRISTIAN: “You are the most gifted young surgeon in
this city.” (You are better your peers.)
* SAWYER: “A less magnanimous man than I might just be
thinking he could beat the ever livin’ snot out of you right now.” (Lots
of people are better than me.)
* WALT: “It’s OK.
I wasn’t very good when I first started playing, either.” (I am
better than you.) HURLEY: “I didn’t just start playing; I took 17th
in a tournament once. WALT: 17th is not very good. (16 people are better than you.) HURLEY:
“No, 17 is very good.” (I am
better than lots of people.)
* LOCKE (to
Boone, about his business back home):
“I’m sure there a people who can handle it, temporarily.” (There
are people as good as you.)
And there are many examples of people deciding what and who
to respect, who to follow, who to believe (follow a piss-poor captain, you
might get killed!):
* BOONE: “I heard your forming a search party. Can I help?” (Boone decides to follow
Locke, not Shannon.)
* JACK: “I didn’t believe her. I gave Claire a sedative.” (Jack chose not to believe Claire.)
* SAWYER: “Why am I getting the evening news from a 6
yr old?” WALT: “I’m 10.”
SAWYER: “OK. Then it must be true.” WALT:
“If you don’t believe me, ask Sayid.”
(Sawyer has a hard time believing
Walt.)
* LOCKE: “They made boxes.” BOONE: “Yeah,
right.” (Boone does not believe Locke.)
* JACK: “You know what might help? A little
honesty.” (Jack wants to hear something
true, from Kate.)
* SAWYER: “Oh.
She’s never seen them, but she knows they’re there.” SAYID:
“If you believe her.” (Sayid wonders about what Danielle believes,
and about what he himself should believe.)
Truth is
something you work to find, and respect is something you earn. Repeated reference to what is “owed,” underlines
that fact: Christian implies that Jack
owes him his loyalty. Sawyer suggests that it is payback time for Sayid, and
Walt tells Hurley he owes him $20,000.
Though the emphasis this week is on the effect of the past
and past relationships, it all comes down to what it always seems to
come down to on The Island: It’s all
about what you believe, and what you fear, and your own hopes and thoughts and
feelings. In some fashion, people’s
inner lives are being, very literally and specifically, realized externally. The castaways themselves are somehow,
subconsciously, calling the shots.
Notice the continual use of the word “call” and associated images:
* CHRISTIAN
(to Jack): “Call it.” (Make
the death real.)
* JACK: “I don’t care they called you. You made a mistake.” (But
Christian insists the call the staff made – the call to him - was significant,
it pointed to who was, in reality, the more competent doctor for the
situation.)
* WALT: “It’s stupid, to lie about your name.” (It
matters, what you are called.)
* WALT: “Need a 4-3.” (He rolls a 4-3 – he called
it. Later, he calls a double six.)
* LOCKE: “It’s going to start raining in one
minute.” (Locke calls it.)
* JACK
(about Kate’s belief that Charlie is truly dead): “No! No!” (Jack
calls it.)
I think,
on a grand, series-level scale, Lost is all about that: The
Island’s magic is a metaphor for the way we all, ultimately, shape our own
lives. People give us help and guidance
and road maps. They also hurt our
progress, and get in our way. But no
matter what manner of harm has been inflicted upon us, the damage does not have
to be irreversible. Christian claims
the car accident damage was irreversible – though it wasn’t, not really. He chose to do a procedure that sealed
everyone’s fate.
As long as the patient still lives, there is hope for
recovery.
The
story:
It was a good, engaging story this week. There were some very nice performances from
everyone, though Jack, Jack’s dad, and Kate stand out for me – especially Jack
and Kate in the “Charlie’s dead!” scene.
I was in tears. Wonderfully
done. Also, Jack’s dad: The actor was marvelous playing the smooth,
manipulative bastard.
I liked seeing some father-son bonding for Walt and Michael,
and the Boone and Locke scenes were also very good. Loved the discussion about the Star Trek red shirts. I got
this impression that Locke was lying when he answered Boone’s question about
whether or not he watched Star Trek
with “not really.” I mean, he seemed
like a likely candidate for Trekkie-dom in his box company life. Not that there is anything wrong with that,
because, you know, here I am doing Lost reviews,
so who am I to talk?
The
questions:
* Why is the
black guy told to “go South?” Why does
the black guy talk about being a second-class citizen? Why does Walt tell Hurley “Your blacks can’t
get in?” It all seemed like a
deliberate reference to racial discrimination and class systems – but I wasn’t sure
what to make of it, other than to think of it as a somewhat bizarre extension
of the “comparison, measuring yourself against others, being impacted by what
others call you” imagery.
* What have
Boone & Locke found in the jungle?
Why, when Locke taps the metal and says “steel,” do I find myself
remembering that Jack’s dad, earlier, claimed that he had molded Jack into
“steel?” Is the steel part of the
wreckage? What’s under that steel?
* Did Ethan
really attack Jack, or was that attack all in Jack’s head? It was really hard to tell.
* That name
for Jack’s dad: Christian Shepard. What’s that about?
Quotes
of the week:
* Locke:
“Jack. Jack. SHHHHH!”
- Jack, being told once again to
keep his mouth shut.
* Locke: “We need
to rest for a minute to get our clarity back.”
- Oh! I thought we were trying to get our CLAIRE back!
* Boone: “The crew
guys that would go down to the planet with the main guys, the captain and the
guy with the pointy ears. They always
wore red shirts. And they always got
killed.” Locke: “Sounds like a piss
poor captain.” - I have always preferred Piccard also, Locke.
.
The
cast of cowboys, cowgirls, and daddies:
Jack – Matthew Fox
He is one tough cowboy. His Daddy taught him his profession.
Kate – Evangeline Lilly
She is one tough cowgirl.
Her Daddy taught her his religion.
Charlie – Dominic Monaghan
He isn’t any kind of cowboy, ‘cause, I mean - that accent. But he wants to be a substitute Daddy.
Hurley – Jorge Garcia
He says he is something of a warrior, so yeah – he’s a cowboy. He listens to Walt talk about two Daddies.
Claire – Emilie de Ravin
I would say Claire is a cowgirl, because I suspect she will be giving birth to twin calves. Where is the baby’s Daddy?
Boone – Ian Somerhalder
and
Shannon – Maggie Grace
Boone is a cowboy wannabe.
Shannon isn’t a cowgirl, and it’s the last thing on earth she would want
to be. They have two different Daddies.
His mommy taught him her business.
Sayid – Naveen Andrews
I want him to be the Daddy of my children. Saddle up, cowboy!
Michael – Harold Perineau
and
Walt – Malcom David Kelley
These two are never going to be associated with cows in any way. They are city boys and artists. Walt is glad to see his Daddy come back from the woods.
Sawyer – Josh Holloway
I can just imagine him in spurs and chaps. His Daddy is dead.
Locke – Terry O’Quinn
He is the ultimate
Jin – Daniel Dae Kim
and
Sun – Yunjin Kim
Do they have cowboys and girls in
The Dog
Cows? Please. This dog is happy being a dog. And I’m guessing the handsome Vincent is the Daddy of dozens!
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