posted this in the ABC Cabin Fever forum last week:
Cabin Fever. Wow, one of my favourite ever episods of Lost..and one of the most important in my opinion. This wasn't "The Shape of Things to Come", but it was almost as good due to the amount of layers and mystery that it unravelled before our eyes.
It's no secret that Locke is my favourite Lost character (along with Ben), and so I was stoked to see that it was his centric - I knew from the off that it had to be either Locke or Ben, since both of their mothers share the name "Emily".
The backstory was fresh and intriguing - it's amazing how some of my (and i'm sure other peoples) oldest theories from season 1 seem to be hitting the mark (or nearly hitting the mark) - Locke was not quite a 'Dharma child' as I once predicted, but he was certainly a 'Mittelos baby'. And who would have thought - Mittelos pre-date Dharma! Wow, just wow..this is so awesome that I simply do not have the words to do my excitement justice - you can tell i'm excited, right!???
Seriously, how cool was it to see the return of both Nestor Carbonell and Lance Reddick (Alpert and Matthew Abbadon)! What's interesting is that from this episode, it would appear that they are both on the same side - i.e. Mittelos/Jacob - yet we clearly see Abbadon recruit the Freighties on behalf of Charles Widmore. Unless Abbadon switches sides at some point?
What I found most interesting about this episode was the notion of predestination - destiny..and most of all choosing your destiny, if not your fate. The scene were Alpert (young as ever!) asked Locke which item "belonged" to him, was mind-blowing for me, as it suggests that either Emily was right and Locke was given to her 'immaculately' and by "divine intervention", or that Locke has lived this life before and Alpert asked him to choose the item that he was "supposed" to have..the item that he had last time round. Or perhaps the suggestion is that Locke is a reincarnated version of someone - Jacob perhaps? Was it just me or did Alpert seem very excited/pleased when young Locke appeared to choose the white ash - similar to the ash surrounding Jacob's cabin, perhaps? I'll discuss this aspect more in the related thread, but I just wanted to put a few things out there, as I couldn't write my review without mentioning one of Lost's most important ever scene, could I!
This episode seemed to have 4 storys running parallel - the main 'Cabin' story, the Freighter story, the flashback and the beach story - and y'know each one was handled masterfully. I don't know who wrote this episode yet, but i'm guessing that it was our favourite twosome Carlton and Damon?
Keamy continued to sicken me with his attitude - although his contribution to the (continued) time-difference reveal was very interesting - so the island is not only a few minutes behind, but can be a few hours, if not days, behind (and in front - depending on perspective) the real world. Awesome to have this confirmed - no doubt this has something to do with the island being able to 'move'..more on that in a minute.
So yeah, RIP Ray..and RIP Captain..who turned out to be a pretty decent guy in the wake of Keamy..who, by the way, is brilliantly portrayed by Duran - seriously, where did they find this guy..just brilliant!
Strange to see Ben taking a back-seat - yet still he was intriuging - I felt his character was handled well..so often after someone dies, the character closest to them seems to forget them instantly, but it was clear that Ben is still grieving hard..and that was good to see..yeah people, Ben is human to y'know
Speaking of human-beings, Claire seems to have developed an interesting character! How weird was that - her shaking up with her dead daddy!? I'm getting worried that the theories about her being dead are accurate. For me this seems a bit conceited, and I would still hope for another explanation, however it could very well be that she died in that explosion and her sprit just didn't know it - hence why Sawyer and co were able to 'see' her and physically interact with her. Furthermore, it's never been implied that the spirits and manifestations are not physical - just that they come and go.. so yeah, she could be dead..although I hope not..not that I want her to live, but I would just prefer another explanation for her weirdness. Oh, and what a pathetic mother - dead or not, why the heck is she so happy when Aaron is currently sitting on a leaf in the middle of nowhere!?
Speaking of Aaron, i'm sensing more and more parallels between him and Locke's story..even if the parallels do appear to be heading inhe opposite direction.
So the cabin scene..WTF! Christian speaking on behalf of Jacob!? Ok, i'm glad they have confirmed my long-held opinion that Christian is not Jacob, but that was weird - what role does Christian play in relation to Jacob and the island? I'm thinking that we could well have an "elders" backstory going on, similar to
Heroes. After all, if Widmore has such a strong history with the island..why not Christian - again, one of my oldest theories..it's made how so many S1 ideas are "coming back around".
This episode seemed to be about Locke finding his destiny - but interestingly we have a clear division between destiny and fate..destiny relates to an element of freewill..choice..whereas fate is just fate..no say in the matter. I am certain that Emily Locke ws right - John was predestined..but he still had/has to find his path to find out who he is..
doesn't this remind you of Jack's "definition" episide..I know everyone rips
Stranger in a Strange Land to pieces, but seriousy..these two episodes share quite a bit in common.
Anyway, i'm done talking..I can't do this episode justice..not quite as a good as 4.09, or Walkabout/Deus Ex..but my goodness, I've just witnessed one of the most awesome 42 minutes of TV ever!