Two Lockes Are Better Than One

[spidermanfan]

It does seem as though Locke may be - for lack of a better word - possessed by another entity. Perhaps both personalities take the forefront from time to time, or maybe the "possessed" personality is at the lead always.

In his flashback, he came off as a somewhat timid person. Now his wisdom, strength and confidence seem to grow each week.

Could the scene of Locke with black and white eyes (in Claire's dream) refer to his two sides (one good, one evil)? Could Ethan be protecting Claire's baby from Locke by taking her away? Just prior to her capture, she began to cramp up as she was leaving the cave (where Locke resides) to go to the beach, then she had to return to the cave - but Ethan took her away before that could happen.

Locke speak highly of the island, like he knows more about it that anyone else. We assume it is his desire to continue to walk, to enjoy the outdoors, but the entity inside of him may be speaking.

He has a propensity to know how to get around the island fairly well. We assume is is his hunting instincts, but maybe it is something (or someone) else.

Your thoughts?

[MikeRowe]

I've been thinking about the whole Black and White rocks thing and how it reminds me of the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, not in any specific way of course, because we don't really know what the rocks are apart from the stones in Adam's bag and the landmarks on Danielle's map. However, the whole spirit possession theme of Twin Peaks would explain some of Locke's behavior. I hope this is not the case, because I like the survivalist angle.

[spidermanfan]

Another small thing that has been bugging me - that could possibly tie to Locke being "possessed"...

In one of the earliest episodes, it was mentioned that there were no hair brushes. This stuck in my craw, as it made little sense. That is, unless Sawyer just stole them all and we don't know that yet.

Locke is, I believe, is the only bald resident of the island that we know of. If he (or the thing possibly inside of him) had the ability to bring the plane down, couldn't it have "removed" all of the hair brushes too. What would a bald entity need with brushes, eh?

Why would it do that, I don't know. But maybe.

[VandaRonas]

Something I noticed while watching Episode 3 this morning... something that on first viewing is meaningless but now could very well have been a plant by the writers.

When Claire and Charlie are lugging her luggage around on Locke's wheelchair (unbeknownst to us at the time), Charlie says "Look at the bright side - whoever's this was is better off than we are." Locke is better off than them? Sure. He can walk all of the sudden after 4 years. He's living his lifelong dream of hunting and walkabouts. He gets all kinds of respect and admiration for single handedly feeding 50 people in contrast to "Locke! I need those TPS reports NOW!" that he's been putting up with for who knows how long. He's definitely better off on the island than he ever was before.

Think back to Episode 8, when Sayid is trying to find out who hit him on his little head. He asks Locke where he was, and Locke almost immediately blames Sawyer. He even talks Sayid into it when Sayid knew that it couldn't be Sawyer. Why would he do that? What does he have against Sawyer? Or was he just covering for hiimself? He says "whoever hit you must be someone profitting from our current situation"... = someone in a better situation than everyone else?

I like Locke alot. He's my favorite character. But there's DEFINITELY something not right about him.

[drabauer]

This discussion has given me pause to rethink Locke. Like MikeRowe, I couldn't get Lynchian Black/White lodges out of my mind, even though I don't think the producers are going with spirit possession. But then it hit me: if Locke is the one who, as spoiled, goes off his medication, then we have a "scientific" reason for a black/white character. Many people with a traumatic injury later in life goe on antidepressants. But it is also possible that Locke was schizophrenic, if his war games grew out of paranoia. Or an even more fraught scenario might have a bipolar Locke who in manic moments thought a paid phone hookup was a girlfriend, and a paraplegic a mighty hunter. Stabilized on lithium or something similar he would be effectively normal. If he reverted to a bipolar personality he would be "superman" and very dark by turns.

[ccmerlot]

drabauer, your brill.
the whole black and white duality thing has been nagging at me since the first show: Locke having manic depression would fit perfectly, IMHO.

[99Percent]

Yes, except that a set of black and white stones were found on Adam and Eve in episode 6. The only thing that would fit this explanation was if Locke had found the bodies beforehand and planted the stoned, but why would he do that?

[drabauer]

Well I would take the stones as symbolic of duality in Locke's case. I am kind of leaning towards seeing them as "keys" in some sense to the black rock (actually, I don't think we know enough yet . . maybe this week we'll get more?)

[azteclady]

Yes, drabauer, you are brilliant!

And also extremely nice and helpful - look at all the linking and indexing our drabauer does!

Ladies and gentlemen, give our very own drabauer a hand! *applause*


Beto

[spooky]

But it is also possible that Locke was schizophrenic, if his war games grew out of paranoia. Or an even more fraught scenario might have a bipolar Locke who in manic moments thought a paid phone hookup was a girlfriend, and a paraplegic a mighty hunter. Stabilized on lithium or something similar he would be effectively normal. If he reverted to a bipolar personality he would be "superman" and very dark by turns.

This is a very interesting idea. Locke did tell Helen that he had a therapist. That would be really creepy if all the sudden you had to look at all of Locke's actions as part of some delusion he's in.

Does anyone know if there are typical kinds of behaviors to look for when someone's coming off of those kinds of medications?

[lauradelenn]

I'm not sure about any symptoms for bipolar; I haven't seen any that I'd attribute as such to Locke. I'm not saying that I don't agree that he hasn't changed - he most certainly has!

I'd think that those changes could be attributed to more prosaic things such as regaining the ability to walk after four years of being paralyzed, then encountering the 'spirit' of the island.

If there were anything mentally wrong with him, I'd say it leaned more towards Schizophrenia, delusional type. That might explain why, when confronted with an entity viewed with fear and horror by others would be seen differently from his point of view.

So far though, from what we've seen of him, he seems in command of self and (relatively) emotionally balanced, so I'd probably look towards another character first for the mental health meds.

Boone leaps out at me as someone with some real inferiority issues, and occasional poor lapses of judgement (such as the water being hidden by him). He's also young enough that he would be more likely to seek medical help for mental illness than an older or less educated person might.

I couldn't see Sawyer seeking help from a therapist or doctor in his past, for instance...although his propensity for gambling (not literal gambling, but living by the seat of his pants) might be a signal of something underneath that he might be receiving treatment for possibly.

Interesting to think on.

[ReyvnDarKnight]

Also, keep in mind that Locke is the only one to see the Beastie and lived to NOT tell the tale.:hat :eek

[ccmerlot]

i'll give some applause, and a whoo-hoo to boot!

[Artuskan]

Actually ... we don't know that Locke saw the 'monster'. All we saw was Locke looking up into the air. He could have been looking at Ethan perched in a tree for all we know.

[Tynesha]

Does anyone know if there are typical kinds of behaviors to look for when someone's coming off of those kinds of medications?

I take anti-depressants, and the withdraw symptoms might be way different, but I get really sick feelings and migrains when I dont take my anti-deps for a couple days... Its horrible... I think that if he was on meds, we'd notice him being sick or in pain...

Unless he is just being strong and ignoring it :P

[edens demise]

I don't trust Locke as far as I can throw him. He seemed the obvious choice to me of who would have hit Sayid. He has no reason to want to leave that island.

Truethfully, I'm not going to talk about the black and white rocks, I'm sick or everything being tied to the black and white rocks. And I don't think that Locke has any reason to mean harm to Claire's baby either.

I would say that Locke is a logical choice as someone who could be running out of meds but something still tells me that it isn't him. I really feel that whatever Locke saw that day in the jungle is the reason for his heroic rambo like transformation.