Well now, LOCKE as Coffin Man.
Of course.
I mean, DUH. It was so obvious all along.
I'm just kidding. It was never obvious - or, I should add, never obvious until about a few minutes in last night when we learn that Jack's holding an obit for one Jeremy Bentham. That was the dead - pun intended - giveaway. The clue so obvious that any of us who just happened to be reading deep into the British and Scottish naturalist/rationalist philosophical movement of the 18th century (and what fun reading that is!) would instantly pick up on. (Plus, he created - per Wiki - the penopticon, a sort of big-brotherish architectural concept that allows the jailers to look at the jailed, but not the other way around. What this has to do with Locke, I'll leave to loftier minds...)
In any event, Bentham/Locke. Locke/Bentham.
I loved the way last night's finale threw a curve ball, though, with Sawyer getting on the helicopter. At that minute, the millions who actually love this character were heart-broken; so THIS is Coffin Man, they sighed. Until he jumped out. Then they were happy again. The Michael-as-Coffin-Man theory ended abruptly just at the moment Christian appeared and said: "You can go now, Michael." (That pretty much officially sealed the deal for Claire, too; she is no longer amidst the living either.)
If there was any doubt about Locke, that was erased just after ten last night, while Hurls was playing chess with Mr. Eko (invisible) and he asks Sayid, "why are you calling him Bentham? His name is...?" But Sayid doesn't let him say it.
Anyway, we knew the name, which gave us a whole hour to cook up new theories about how Locke got off the island, and why he should be off the island. (I couldn't come up with one.)
All in all, last night's finale was splendid - a first rate thriller from start to finish. There were so many nuggets of pure unalloyed joy strewn throughout that I can't think of which one to pick up first, but surely that high camp moment in the blue crystal ice cave, while Ben is turning the wheel, muttering about how he hopes Jacob's satisfied. That ranks as one of the best. (Imagine: You crank a wheel to achieve just the perfect Casimir effect, and a whole island disappears; easy as baking a cake). Keamy as the villain who wouldn't die - until at the worst possible minute? Perfect touch, again. Stray pieces of dialogue that should keep everyone stoked all summer, like that peculiar exchange between Charlotte and Miles.
Miles: "It's just weird you wanna leave, after all the time you spent trying to get back here." Charlotte: "What do you mean?" Miles: "What DO I mean?"
Yes, what DOES he mean. What does ANY of this mean?
Whatever. TV's best show isn't in the answer business.
Comments (1)
Ben knew what would happen if he turned that wheel - so it had to have been done before. I think Widmore probably did it in the past, and he was banished as well for doing so and now wants to get back.
That may be why Locke killed himself - he had to turn the wheel himself finally, and he couldn't live with the banishment.
I think Juliet and Sawyer will end up being those skeletons of Adam & Eve in the cave (if the island moved back in Time), and that Charlotte is their daughter. That's why she wanted to stay on the island - to get back to where she was born, and actually witness it all!
(Although with her accent, maybe she's the daughter of Desmond and Penny!)
And I also think Faraday needs to find Desmond, who is his "Constant". And to do so, he makes an alliance with Ben - not knowing that Ben wants to find Desmond in order to kill Penny.
If Ben eliminated Penny before she could become "Eve", that would mean Charlotte could cease to be!