LOST ReWatch Week #11: Maternity Leave, The Whole Truth, Lockdown & Dave

Welcome to this week's batch of Lost Rewatch episodes! I have not caught up to the official schedule, but I am trying my best to do so as quickly as possible. Again, your patience is greatly appreciated!

So let's dive off of the precipice of reality and attempt to analyze the truth about Claire's leave of cave absence, Benry Gale's identity and motives, Jin's little swimmers, Locke's hatch doors and Hurley's imaginary friend...

Alternate Reality Alert

As I am re-watching older episodes, it seems that there were little clues along the way suggesting a possible alternate timeline. I have referenced other scenes in previous Rewatch articles; here are a few that caught my attention from this batch:

Maternity Leave

Libby: "Sometimes, when something terrible happens to us, there's a little switch in your head that flicks on to protect us from having to deal with it. Maybe your memories aren't gone; maybe you're blocking them."

Claire actually sees herself outside of the Staff Station with Ethan (allegedly during a vision/flashback/memory). It was reminiscent of the time skip in S5 that resulted in Sawyer coming upon Claire giving with Kate's help.

IF what Claire remembered of her time in the Staff Station was real, then she had been down there with Ethan very recently. But the Station had cobwebs and was in a state of decay, indicative of significant time passage rather than recent destruction for abandonment purposes.

Visually, I was reminded of the inexplicable condition of Dharmaville/New Otherton during yet another time shift in S5 (Namaste).

Lockdown

Jack: "There is no loop."

Hurley: "Loop, dude. Loop."

Dave

Dave, on the island: "None of that ever happened. You're still at Santa Rosa; you never left the hospital. It's hard, I know. But all this - you, me, this island, that peanut butter...none of it's real. None of it's happening. It's all in your head. The second you closed that window, your brain popped a gasket...back into your little coma thing, and that's where you are this very second, in your own private Idaho inside Santa Rosa."

Hurley: "So this is all in my brain?"

Dave: "Every rock, every tree."

Hurley: "I'm making you up?"

Dave: "Sort of. I'm part of your subconscious; all the people on this island are. I'm the part of you that wants to wake up."

Dave, on the edge of the cliff: "This is it, the big finale, the answer to all your problems. This is going to bring you back to life. The only way to bust out is to tell your mind that you don't believe any of this. When you do wake up, come find me. See you in another life, Hurley."

Crossing Paths

Locke inspects the new home of Sayid's love Nadia. (Lockdown)

Destiny is a Fickle Bitch...but so is Karma

I am reminded of Ben's infamous line to Locke because it struck me that both Eko and Ana Lucia confessed to killing Others when they first met Ben in the Swan.

Eko later dies when Smokey destroys him, and Ana Lucia gets shot.

Foreshadowing Dialogue

Maternity Leave

Locke, to Jack: "Did you know that Hemingway was jealous of Dostoevsky? He wanted to be the world greatest writer, but convinced himself that he could never get out from under Dostoevsky's shadow. Kind of sad, really."

[shades of Ben, metaphysically lying in the shadow of Jacob's statue]

Sun, to Claire: "A mother should not leave her child." [Sun later disregards her own advice when returning to the island via 316 w/o Ji Yeon]

Ethan, to Claire: "Nobody's going to take him from you unless that's what you want. You have a choice."

Rousseau, to Claire: "You're not the only one who didn't find what they were looking for."

Ben, to Locke: "Are you the genius, or are you the guy who feels like he's living IN THE SHADOW OF a genius?"

The Whole Truth

Ana Lucia: "Jack and Locke are too busy worrying about Locke and Jack."

Sayid, about Ben: "Once we find out he IS one of them, something will have to be done."

Jin, about Sun's garden: "I'm fixing a mistake."

Ben: "Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain. So what's the difference between a martyr and a prophet?"

Jack: "Either way, it sounds like you end up dead."

Ben, to Jack: "You guys have some real trust issues."

Dave

Dave, to Hurley: "Lay low. When the time is right, WE FLY."

Ben, to Locke: "God doesn't know how long we've been here. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."

Lockdown

Jack: "What's done is done."

[Later uttered by Sawyer's uncle to young Sawyer, Sawyer to both Jack & Juliet, and Yemi to his brother Eko]

The Incident

Another indication that the incident took place? The Swan hatch appears to have been the only station equipped with emergency blast doors in case of explosion.

It's Raining Food, Hallelujah

How is it that NO ONE heard a plane or helicopter when the food drop occurred?

I believe it was recently at Comic-Con that we got confirmation that they will indeed address and resolve the Dharma food drops. Check that one off of your lingering mysteries list.

Parallels

In Maternity Leave, Locke throws a mini fit and tosses the dishes to the floor after Ben points out that he's not in control. In The Whole Truth, Jin throws a mini fit and tears out Sun's plants after he realizes that she is starting to stand up to his controlling ways.

In Lockdown, Locke was surprised to see his father Anthony Cooper alive and well after his funeral. In White Rabbit, Jack discovered that his father Christian Shephard's body was missing from his coffin after the crash of Flight 815. I have faith that we will be treated to an electric Jack and Christian reunion in Season 6...

Significant Moments/Firsts

Tom referred to the Others' unknown leader as "Him" for the first time. (Maternity Leave)

Kate discovered that Tom and the Others donned costumes and theatrical facial hair; they had been hiding their true identity beneath ratty clothes and fake beards, etc.

In addition to Locke and Rose, we learn that the island has also seemingly healed Jin of his infertility issues.

The Visual & The Visceral

There is an Oceanic mobile above the crib in the Staff Station. (Maternity Leave)

Rose and Bernard offer to help newly pregnant and under the weather Sun in her red shirt. (The Whole Truth)

Rose and Bernard offer tea to what appears to be a newly pregnant and under the weather Juliet in her red shirt (The Incident). [yes, this is pure speculation]

In The Whole Truth, Jin offers to help Bernard with his fishing net.

In Ji Yeon (S4), Jin and Bernard bond while fishing.

In Orientation, Locke's girlfriend Helen presents him with a key to her place; the caveat is that he must agree to never stalk his father again.

In Lockdown, Locke's dad presents him with a key to a safe deposit box and $200k; the caveat is that he must aid and abet his con man father by bringing him the rest of the embezzled funds from that box.

I am not a very religious person, but there can't possibly be a more overtly Jesus pose than this. (Dave)

Widmore Labs

Both Sun's pregnancy test and the real Henry Gale's hot air balloon were manufactured by Widmore Labs.

I assume that Widmore himself assigned Gale to find the island, and Ben killed him when he arrived on a Widmore-sponsored balloon.

As for that pregnancy test, we don't know who had it in their luggage before the crash of 815...

Ben

It is fascinating to think about the fact that before the Swan blast door crushed Locke's leg, Ben knew that Locke had been paralyzed (due to the passenger dossiers that Mikhail had prepared for him after the crash of Flight 815). Obviously Ben already knew that the island had healed Locke, as he was walking when they met...so Ben also knew that the island would heal Locke again.

When Locke was lying injured on the Swan floor awaiting Ben's assistance with the computer, I have a feeling that Ben turned off the lights to allow Locke a brief glimpse of the hatch door map. It may have been the first of many tests that Ben administered, testing Locke's mettle and leadership abilities. I think that Ben wanted to see what Locke would do, given the opportunity to discover other hatches and explore the island.

Libby & Dave

I realize that we've been told that Libby's story is over, but I am going to stand by this theory, as I have always believed it to be true...Libby's deceased ex-husband David is Hurley's invisible friend Dave. [sidenote: when Libby 'happens' to meet Desmond at the airport, she talks about her dead spouse and proceeds to give him the boat he'd named after her...the very boat that brought Desmond to the island]

Dave appeared in the Santa Rosa Mental Institute when both Hurley and Libby were patients there. I have a strong feeling that Libby was also able to see and communicate with Dave.

[sidenote: the doctors and other patients at Santa Rosa don't see Dave because he is indeed a ghost; Libby told Desmond that her ex-husband had recently passed away]

Dave then appeared on the island just as Hurley and Libby were starting to get close. The look on Libby's face when Hurley first sees Dave on the island near the food drop is worth a second look; I believe that Libby sees Dave there as well.

In addition, on the island both Libby and Dave make similar statements to Hurley about his brain and mind; she mentions a switch, he mentions popping a gasket. They both know that Hurley is amenable to coercion (just like Locke), and both represent change and temptation.

Libby was telling the truth about being a clinical psychologist; she helped Claire to remember a traumatic incident in her past. So here is another crazy theory that I've hinted at before...Libby worked for Charles Widmore and was embedded undercover at Santa Rosa for psychological surveillance of Hugo Reyes.

Without question, Libby recognizes Hurley on the island and changes the subject whenever he brings up that she looks familiar. And the way that Libby's face drops as she literally talks Hurley off of the cliff and tells him that she thinks he's capable of change is priceless.

...And My Emmy Goes To

I just loved Jorge Garcia's performance in Dave; he displayed an amazing and touching vulnerability, and deserved to be recognized for it.

Everyone agrees and acknowledges that Michael Emerson is a fantastic actor. The scene in Lockdown when he is alone in the makeshift armory while Locke was panicking about pressing the button while lying injured on the floor - absolutely brilliant.

The fear on Ben's face is so palpable and yet...he knows exactly what his happening and how he will control it.

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Thank you again for watching/reading/commenting along with me! I look forward to your feedback, as always. Stay tuned for the next installment, as we explore the beginning of Rose and Bernard, the end of Ana Lucia and Libby, and Eko's encounter with Claire's psychic.