Lost ReWatch: ? (Question Mark)
Season 2, Episode 21
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Hero of the episode: Mr. Eko Zero of the episode: Michael
Quote(s) of the episode: “Tell me, John haven’t you ever followed a dream?”—Mr. Eko | “If you will not continue to push the button, John I will.”—Mr. Eko | “It was a sacrifice that the island demanded.”—Locke on Boone’s death | “I’m sorry I forgot the blankets.”—Hurley to a dying Libby
Music vibes: sad chords and strings when Kate tells Hurley about Libby; soft strings at the end transition to the beep of the computer and a last sinister shot of Michael
Little things: Sawyer’s new nickname for Locke: Gimpy McCrutch | John getting to open the doors to the newly-found hatch | Hurley talking to Michael about his date with Libby
Episode notebook:
The opening is a dream; Eko sees Ana-Lucia on the beach and Yemi in the jungle.
Eko heads to the hatch to find John.
Locke, Kate, Sawyer, and Jack return to the carnage in the hatch.
Libby is still alive, and Michael is worried.
Jack wants to go after Fake Henry but needs to stay to treat Libby. Eko volunteers to go with Locke to look for Fake Henry.
Flashbacks to Eko’s time working as a priest, Father Tunde, in Australia. Eko is sent to investigate a miracle.
John knows Eko is looking for something other than Henry.
Locke is reluctant to help Eko find the question mark.
Eko doesn’t believe a miracle occurred. The girl who came back to life is the daughter of the psychic who put Claire on Oceanic Flight 815.
The hatch is covered by the downed plane that killed Boone.
Eko and John find another orientation video from the Dharma Initiative.
Hurley is by Libby’s side as she dies.
Episode recap: On the island, dreams aren't just random—they're warnings of what's to come or guides for what needs to be done. We open with Eko building his church, then he spots Ana-Lucia on the beach. This has to be a dream as we the audience know Ana was murdered in the previous episode. She’s come to Eko with a message, he must find Locke and help him. Help John do what? Yemi, Eko’s brother, has the answer. He has to help John find the question mark—one of the hatches Locke drew on a map. Eko awakens and knows what he must do, but will Locke be on board?
As Locke, Kate, Sawyer, and Jack return to the hatch, Michael stumbles out of the door playing victim. He’s telling tales of Fake Henry shooting him and killing Ana-Lucia and Libby. It’s a façade that could quickly crumble if Libby, who Michael is stunned to see alive, exposes him. But the badly injured woman is in too much pain to talk. It’s such an icky scene to watch, the viewer knows what he did but the other characters don’t. You just want to yell at the TV screen, “Michael did it! He did it!” Michael is acting like he’s concerned for Libby but he’s just hoping she dies quickly.
Jack is doing his best to treat Libby, while also wanting to pursue Fake Henry. Eko enters the conversation at the right moment, volunteering to pick up his trail with Locke’s help. While Kate and Sawyer are dispatched to the beach to get heroin to ease Libby’s suffering and get the location of the rest of the guns in Sawyer’s stash.
Eko is a man on a mission, he doesn’t know the end goal but he’s not going to question it. Before the island, Eko was living a semi-godly life, still posing as a priest this time in Australia as Father Tunde. And it just occurred to me we don’t know why he’s in Australia or what led him to Oceanic Flight 815. I don’t think that’s answered in later episodes either, but I have to assume the archdiocese sent him to places of need. But I digress, weeks before the flight Eko was dispatched to investigate claims of a miracle.
A young woman drowned and was presumed dead but was very much alive—screaming out in pain when the coroner attempted to perform an autopsy. Listening to her cries on a tape provided by the coroner gives some weight to the claims of a miracle. But any further investigation is squashed by the woman’s father, who happens to be a psychic—the same psychic who put Claire on Oceanic Flight 815. Everyone is connected on this show. The girl’s father claims the coroner is just trying to cover up his negligence, there was no miracle. Eko doesn’t press further, but is that a mistake? The ominous looks from the woman imply there is more to the story.
Eko is content to go about his business and head to Los Angeles. But fate always has a way of intervening. The young woman tracks down Eko, just before his flight. She had a dream, a dream about Yemi which draws a visceral reaction from Eko. He will not tolerate lies about his brother from anyone. But this woman believes what she saw and heard, that Yemi believes Eko is a good man even if he doesn’t believe it himself.
On the island, Eko was finally able to atone for his sins and become the man his brother envisioned. What does Yemi want from him now? What’s so important about the question mark? How will he find the question mark if Locke is reluctant to help? John quickly sensed that Eko was after something but it’s not Fake Henry’s trail. When Eko tells John what he’s after, Locke is reluctant to reveal anything. He knows the question mark is another hatch, and Locke feels like he has to protect that knowledge. No one has believed in the hatch, the island, and the island’s power more than John. Does he want to keep that power to himself?
With some forceful nudging from Eko, John shares the map he drew, leading them to the downed plane. The site of Yemi’s death and Boone’s fatal accident. Every place on this island also has significance. Oceanic 815 crashed to bring the survivors to the island. Yemi’s plane crashed to eventually draw Eko to its location. The small aircraft is covering the opening to the question mark. A once forlorn Locke is jubilant at the discovery, so much so that he wants to be the one to open it.
Once in the hatch, there are even more questions. It’s a station full of old TV screens. Monitors with a video feed to other locations, and other hatches, including the one our survivors have taken over. The question mark is a spy station or “observation” station as stated in another Dharma Initiative video. The people in the other hatches don’t know they’re being watched or that they’re part of an experiment. It’s all a façade, a house of mirrors. This knowledge crushes John, as he believed putting the numbers into the computer was for the greater good. Was it all for nothing? Boone’s death? Opening the other hatch? Putting in the numbers? Was it all a lie? Eko believes it’s all part of a larger plan even if John doesn’t think so.
Were Michael’s decisions all for nothing? Still anxious as Libby continues to draw breaths, Michael fears being exposed. While Hurley fears losing his friend, who he hoped would become more than a friend. I had hopes Libby would point the finger at Michael. We were certainly teased with this, as the character’s last frightening word was “Michael.” Please keep reading my recap for episode twenty-two is posted.
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