[LST] The Cost Of Living

TV Programme: Lost
Season: 3
Episode: 5
Date I watched this episode: 15/07/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: Less than 1 day.
Centric for: Eko

Eko's death (the focus of this episode), while rather unexpected at this time, was not altogether unwelcome. Eko has never been one of my favourite characters, although he did have his moments of brilliance towards the end of the last season. However, so far this season he's hardly been seen at all, and so to have an entire episode of basically just him was serious overkill, making me really not that bothered when he was killed off.

The best word I could use for Eko's demeanour at the start of the episode is "blundering". He really was just wandering around the jungle with no real direction, certainly not in a fit state of health to be walking around like that, and with little regard for the fact that he was on the brink of death. And it is in some ways this arrogance - against God and against death itself - that got him killed.

Yes, this was very in-keeping with Eko's character as a whole. He is very arrogant and thinks he knows best, even to the point of defying the laws of God he knew and justifying things like theft and murder by his own laws. I don't think The Island looked down favourably on that, especially speaking through the persona of Yemi. So - the entity known as "The Monster" finally killed Eko the way it killed the pilot. However this time we really got to see what happened, complete with the odd sound-effects - so that was pretty cool, in a way.

As was mentioned several times in the episode - the trip to find Eko served a dual purpose - to revisit The Pearl station. Apart from The Hydra (where Sawyer, Kate and Jack are being held) this is the first DHARMA station to be visited this season. It's actually smaller than I remember it from when we first visited it last season. Anyway, finally they got a connection to another DHARMA station (now the sixth to be introduced, I think: existing 5 include The Staff, The Arrow, The Pearl, The Swan and The Hydra). (Surprisingly, Nikki was actually quite useful here. But I still think it added pretty much nothing to the story to bring the two of them along.) In this new station, a man wearing an eyepatch closes communication, but I don't see how this helps. They know what it looks like on the inside but not the outside, and while they feel like they are a bit further forward, I don't think they really are.

Locke led this mission (together in part with Sayid, who it's good to see back for the first time since "The Glass Ballerina" - presumably Jin/Sun are back too) and is really establishing his new authority with the group, following his prior speech during "Further Instructions". He seeks to distance himself from Jack, re-inforcing his philosophy of an all-inclusive society, in stark contrast to Sawyer's world as seen in the previous episode.

Over on "Hydra Island" (as it has become known in the fan community), we first see Ben inviting Jack to Colleen's funeral. I don't feel that this was particularly fake, and a really beautiful description of how funerals are seen in The Others' culture, having had to make do with what they have since being on The Island. It's certainly a lot more classy than the funerals that the survivors have been able to manage. I think Ben wanted to show this to Jack for a reason - to show the softer side to The Others' lifestyle, but also maybe to increase his level of guilt.

As for that "wonderful plan" that Ben had, we now at least have some of Ben's cards laid on the table when he frankly admits that the plan has been "shot to sunshine". Ben "wants [Jack] to want to save [his] life" and this was why he has been playing such mindgames. Now, however, things are different and they can move into a new phase of more open negotiation. I don't think Jack will ever be amenable to his demands though, as he has been so deceitful in the past.

Again we see the rather strange relationship between Jack and Juliet. Here she goes farther than she's ever gone before and actually asks Jack to help her kill Ben. She's asking a lot of him, and the fact that she is even prepared to take the risk in asking him shows her level of desperation, but also the extent to which she trusts him. However, we can't ignore the fact that she's done some pretty terrible things in the past on behalf of Ben. Her plan may very well be another deception from The Others.

Eko's final words of "you're next" are vague and could have a wide range of meanings. But certainly I think we haven't seen the last of The Monster, and more generally what The Island is capable of. While most of this episode wasn't very enjoyable, there is still a tremendous amount of promise for this season.