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Hero of the episode: Sayid, Jack Zero of the episode: Fake Henry, Anthony Cooper
Quote(s) of the episode: “Maybe he left you his kidney.”—Helen to John after Anthony Cooper’s “death” | “Should I go and get a ruler?”—Kate to Jack and Sawyer while they’re playing poker | “When I need the guns, I’ll get the guns.”—Jack | “Are you him?”—Helen to Cooper
Music vibes: curious, single beats
Little things: Helen reading the obits because nobody says anything mean about the dead | Sawyer bartering for his stash | everyone watching Jack and Sawyer playing poker | Locke was a home inspector, he once did work for Sayid’s childhood love, Nadia
Episode notebook:
Locke-focused flashbacks. John is about to propose to Helen
Anthony Cooper spoils Locke’s happiness again.
Fake Henry claims he was joking about sending Ana-Lucia into a trap. The fraudster still tries to manipulate John, after Jack barks orders at him.
Charlie, Ana-Lucia, and Sayid find the grave and balloon.
Hurley is mad at Jack for not keeping him in the loop.
The hatch locks down, trapping Locke and Fake Henry in the central living area.
Jack and Sawyer playing poker. If he wins, Jack wants the medicine Sawyer stole from the armory.
Cooper faked his death after stealing some money, he needs John’s help to get it.
Fake Henry agrees to help Locke open the blast doors, provided he won’t be harmed.
John gets stuck underneath the door, injuring his leg. He needs Henry’s help entering the numbers in the computer before the alarm sounds.
Helen followed John straight to Cooper. John and Helen are over.
The hatch lockdown reveals some more secrets.
A supply of food is airdropped on the island. Why?
Sayid, Ana-Lucia, and Charlie return, revealing the truth of what they found.
Episode recap: A happy man is about to propose to the woman he loves. Imagine a romantic picnic in the park, topped off with a bubbly drink and a diamond ring. A bright future is quickly extinguished by the sudden news of the death of one’s father. Proposing will have to be put on hold. Locke’s future with Helen will have to wait. The death of Anthony Cooper, a man who stole more than just a kidney, pulls John back into the conman’s orbit. But maybe his death will offer Locke a final measure of closure.
In the present, John and Jack find themselves entangled in a power struggle over the fate of their mystery guest, Fake Henry. Still claiming to be innocent despite insinuating that he sent Ana-Lucia into a trap, the imposter still tries to appeal to John, but it only gets him locked back in the armory. Leaving John seething with anger and doubt. Should he continue letting Jack push him around or assert himself? Who is the real enemy? Jack? Fake Henry? Or is John’s real problem within himself?
While John is in the hatch, Jack is back on the beach being a doctor. Tending to baby Aaron and looking at Libby’s rash would be easier if he had the medicine Sawyer stole from the armory. But nothing is free with the island’s resident con artist. A friendly game of poker is now the easiest way to barter with Sawyer—if you can beat him. Hurley and Kate don’t have much luck, and Sawyer sees another easy mark in Jack. But finally, the con man gets a taste of his own medicine. Jack acts like he’s disinterested in poker, but after a few wins, with mangoes and papaya as a reward, the good doctor goes for his real target—the medicine. Taking back a little control from Sawyer is also its own reward, as Jack wins back all the meds.
Meanwhile, the hatch starts to take on a life of its own. Hearing static and the faint whispers of someone counting down lead to a lockdown in the hatch, and doors seal Locke and Henry in the central living area. Soooo who will push the button on the computer? Locke has to put his trust in Fake Henry, promising to protect the prisoner from the wrath of Sayid and anyone else who might want to harm him.
Locke’s sense of trust and belief in people was forever altered when Anthony Cooper conned him out of his kidney. His love for Helen was finally starting to heal the hole in John’s heart. But Cooper can’t resist one final con job, faking his death. It was all a ruse to fool some men Cooper stole $700,000 from and he needs John’s help to get it. For his trouble, John is promised $200,000. John foolishly thinks helping will get him what he’s wanted all along—his father’s love. Cooper can’t give John something he has no capacity for, a man like that is all about self-preservation. The price of aiding Cooper is steep—John loses the love of his life. Helen followed John straight to Cooper, seeing that he valued his father’s love more than hers.
On the island, will trusting Fake Henry pay off? After slightly raising one of the doors, John’s leg gets stuck underneath. Now, he has no choice but to trust Fake Henry even more, revealing what he knows about the computer and the numbers. Fake Henry is tasked with crawling through one of the vents and entering the numbers before the alarm countdown ends. I still have my doubts that Fake Henry did exactly as John asked. I think he sent some kind of signal to one of the other hatches and that’s what lifted the doors.
Any real answers are left lingering when Jack returns to the hatch with Kate, Ana-Lucia, Sayid, and Charlie. They found the balloon and the grave—revealing Fake Henry is an imposter. Even after finding the balloon, Sayid refused to believe choosing to dig up the grave. A man not a woman was inside. The ominous look on actor Michael Emerson’s eyes, aka Fake Henry, was perfect. The look of a man who realized the jig was up, but also maintaining a sinister edge at the same time. So, who is the mystery man in the hatch? Please keep reading my recap for episode eighteen is posted.