At the Others’ idyllic hideaway, Sayid, Locke and Kate are still shocked at seeing Jack cooperating with his captors. In fact, when they spy Jack shaking hands with a wheelchair-bound Ben and playing cutesy with Juliet, Kate is downright flabbergasted. She just can’t believe Jack doesn’t want to be rescued. “This is going to be a little more complicated than we thought,” Locke surmises. Locke thinks Jack must have a good reason to be shaking hands with the Others. Good deduction, John.
They follow Jack to his little apartment. Kate goes in first and hears Jack playing the piano. As she stands there watching the man she always thought was so defiant, calmly playing a tune without a care in the world, Jack turns and sees her. He immediately yells at her to get the hell out of there because they are watching him. Of course, it’s too late and the Others come storming in with Sayid in custody–and force Kate to the ground. They demand to know if someone else is with them. Kate says no.
Of course, Locke is elsewhere. He’s in Ben’s room, pointing a gun at The Others leader and demanding to know the whereabouts of the submarine. Enter Alex. Locke immediately takes her hostage, and then forces her into the closet and away from Tom, who storms in to inform Ben they have Kate and Sayid. Ben orders the duo separated before asking to see the man from Tallahassee. Who? The Others love those code names.
Anyway, Locke re-emerges and makes Alex go get his pack from Sayid. She leaves, and Ben immediately starts messing with Locke’s head. He knows Locke isn’t there to take the sub and escape–but to destroy it with the C-4. Ben actually knows all about Locke: Born in California, grew up in foster care, worked for the paper company—and, before coming to the island, spent four years in a wheelchair. Ben says he even knows how John got IN that wheelchair.
Flashback…flashback…flashback. Locke’s depressed, living alone and eating TV dinners. One day, a young man, Peter Talbot, shows up at his door saying his mom is in trouble because she’s hooked up with a guy Peter doesn’t trust. He has found some information on the man, i.e., that he received a kidney donation, which has lead him to Locke. Yes, the man in question is Locke’s thieving, conniving jerk of a dad. Wasting no time, Locke finds the old man and makes him promise he’ll break off the engagement to Peter’s mom—or else Locke will go to the police. The bastard says he’ll do it but the next day, Locke is questioned by the police. Seems Peter—whose family is worth over $200 million—was found murdered. Locke can’t believe the depths his father will go to and confronts him again—except this time, the old man pushes Locke out of a window, where he falls eight floors. And survives.
Back to the mind games, Ben asks John not to blow up the sub. He says he was born on the island, but the rest of the Others have been recruited. They need to know the submarine is there so they have the idea they can leave anytime they want. Besides, because of the anomaly, there’s no way the sub can make it back to the island. Once it leaves, it can never come back, Ben explains, so either way the sub is history. John doesn’t care. He thinks the Others are all hypocrites, living a normal life with electricity and bike paths. Locke tells Ben he has no idea what this island can do. “You’ve been here for 80 days and I’ve lived here my entire life. How do you think you know the island better than me?,” Ben asks. “Because I’m not in a wheelchair—and you are,” Locke replies. Ouch.
It’s true, though. Ben really wants to know why Locke has magically healed and he hasn’t. Ben tells Locke that if he stays with them, he can show him all kinds of wondrous things, including some sort of magic wish a box. Locke thinks Ben is full of crap. Frankly, so do we.
Meanwhile, Kate is tied up in the pool hall when Jack comes in. She can’t believe he’s acting like one of them. He reminds her how he begged for her not to come back for him, but Kate didn’t think he meant it. Then he tells her about the deal he made with Ben, about going home. Jack’s leaving first thing in the morning on the sub (you can see where this is going, right?) How could he trust them, Kate asks? Because, he says, “you told me to when you asked me to save Sawyer’s life.” Jack believes this is the best way to save them all—that he will come back for her.
Alex is leading Locke to the dock. “You know my dad is manipulating you, right?,” making it seem like blowing up the sub is Locke’s idea when it’s really Ben’s. Yes, that makes sense. Locke goes ahead as planned anyway, and just as Jack and Juliet are heading down to climb onboard and head home, they see Locke coming up from the dock and BOOM! Oh boy, Jack is PISSED OFF. If looks could kill, Locke would be a dead man.
Now Locke’s in custody, and Ben pays him a visit. He admits he didn’t know how to handle the Jack/Juliet situation. If he let them go, that would show a sign of weakness, but if he killed them, that would be worse. Thankfully, Locke came along and gave him the perfect out. Ben believes Locke really does have a connection to the island. Then Ben gets really deep and tells Locke the real reason he blew up the sub is because he’s afraid of his father, who, after trying to kill him, got away from the police and is still at large.
Ben decides to show Locke the magic box. They open it up and there’s Locke’s dad, bound and gagged. Is he the man from Tallahassee then? I honestly have to keep asking this question: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
