If there was ever a moment when that crazy Purgatory theory actually held some weight in the long run of the series, it was tonight. I still don’t believe it’s a credible theory (since the writers already came out and said so), but we’ve all been duped before, and I’m not prepared to cross it off my list of possibilities any time soon.
Tonight’s episode featured less of a conventional flashback, dating back only five days when Locke was last shown the contests of the magical box. It was his father, Anthony Cooper, of course, and as a gesture of good faith to The Others, Ben orders Locke to kill him. When faced with the chance to do so, however, Locke backs down, and Ben exclaims that he’s “not who [they] thought he was.” When another Other suggests that Locke convince someone else to do the dirty deed, he finds the perfect man for the job.
Enter Sawyer. He’s just cashed in on a late-night booty call with Kate, and though he’d much rather spend the night with her, he sets off on a late night stroll instead. It’s there that Locke confronts him about the opportunity to kill Ben (who he says he’s just kidnapped), and while Sawyer would rather just bring him back to camp alive, Locke assures him that he’ll a change of heart after listening to what Ben has to say.
It wasn’t the least surprising to discover Cooper there instead of Ben, except perhaps for Sawyer, who’s never seen this man before in his life. As soon as Locke mentioned that little tidbit about reading Sawyer’s file (not the killing part, but the family history part) and then mentioned his possible change of heart, I just knew that Cooper was going to end up being the real Sawyer – the man that not only seduced and conned James Sawyer’s mother, but also led to his father’s murder-suicide. As you’d expect, Sawyer just happens to have that letter he wrote to Cooper when he was a young boy, and he makes him read it aloud. Cooper doesn’t seem all that sorry about what he’s done (dude’s pure evil), perhaps because he seems to think he’s already in Hell. And if he isn’t, well, Sawyer took care of that when he choked him to death.
On a side note, did anyone find it strange that when Rousseau arrived at the Black Rock (where Locke was holding Sawyer and Cooper) to pick up some more dynamite that she didn’t interject at all? She definitely heard Sawyer’s screams for help, but I guess if anyone on that island understands what Locke is doing, it’d be her.
Anyways, at least Sawyer got something out of the forced murder. Locke tips Sawyer off about the incoming raid (and that Juliet is a mole), handing him the tape recorder as proof. This is definitely going to land Juliet in hot water over on Survivor Island (not to mention Jack, as well), so it’ll be interesting to see what happens during these last three weeks. And speaking of Jack, it looks like he finally knows about the mystery girl, Naomi. Despite the A-Team choosing to tell Sayid instead of Jack (because they just can’t trust him now that he’s been seen fraternizing with the enemy), Kate eventually found out and spilled the details. That seems like a pretty dumbass move (something Hurley would do, you know?), but maybe it’s all part of Desmond’s big-picture strategy. Only time will tell…
