The Long Con, Part I: John Locke (the patsy)

To me, at this moment, the overriding arch of Lost is about the Jacob’s nemesis’ long con on John Locke.

John Locke spends the early episodes sitting on the beach, practically mute, looking creepy. This creepy stage is capped off by Locke’s speech to Walt explaining backgammon as a battle of two sides, light versus dark, etc. Locke was an enigma during these early episodes and the question of his true nature was debatable.

That early distrust is quickly forgotten as Locke makes a dramatic entrance in the second episode after the pilot by demonstrating his knife throwing skills and in the process meeting Jack.[1] He brings food to the survivors in the early days when basic survival was still an open question.

Locke spends most for the first season impressing the castaways, and the audience, with his full range of survival skills. He helps Charlie quit drugs.[2] Though he is Boone’s mentor, Locke tells Shannon to ignore Boone rather than giving him attention, directly leading to her first kiss with Sayid.[3] He breaks up Michael and Jin’s fight with a speech about the Others.[4] He is a man of wisdom and of peace. He is also the coolest one on the island as judged by Walt gravitating to him. He teaches Walt to throw knives but also tells him respect his father.[5] In the same episode that Michael threatens to kill Locke, Locke later helps Michael save Walt from the second polar bear.[6]

Throughout, Locke seems genuinely kind and wise: he knows precisely what people need and gives it to them. The best example of this is his dealings with Claire. When he finds Claire sitting alone on the beach, he puts her to work, something she is grateful for, and they end up building Aaron’s crib together.[7] He also helps stop Aaron crying by wrapping him tightly, explaining that babies like to feel constricted; it’s not until people grow that they learn to feel free.[8] One is tempted to ask if Locke spent his lunch breaks before the island memorizing flash cards of wise sayings and anecdotes like Wilson from Home Improvement.

Locke also brings up the issue of there being two sides: he tells Boone that they’ll want Sayid on their side.[9] It is as almost as if Locke is preparing to fight a war from day one and is slowly seducing each survivor to his side. And it works. Boone is completely enraptured and tackles Michael for coming too Locke (with a knife).[10] Both Charlie and Sayid refer to Locke as the castaways’ best chance of survival.[11]

The audience both knows the truth about Locke and yet is also being conned. Boone doesn’t believe that Locke works at a box company. We, of course, by then have seen him in his cubicle and know he worked for such a company. But because we also know the miracle of his legs healing, his stint as a corporate drone seems the exception rather than the rule.

The truth is Locke is the last person who should be leading the castaways. He is prone to depression and temper-tantrums. A lot of these episodes are for the audiences eyes only. No one but the audience sees his first breakdown when he’s left alone in the Swan.[12] Locke also has a pathological need feel special. When Desmond asks if Locke is his replacement, asking “are you him?”, Locke replies simply “Yes”.[13] In his therapy group, his chief complaint is not that his mother betrayed him and helped steal his kidney, but that she lied to him about being special.[14]

Most importantly, he has never been there when the castaways could have used his help. When Jack, Kate and Sawyer are captured by the Others, Locke is busy in the hatch. At the end of next season, when Jack leads the castaways to defeat the Others, Locke has already abandoned them. For me, the telling moment is when Locke joins the Others. Saying goodbye to Kate, apologizes for not bringing her along, explaining that he put in a good word for her before they told him what she had done (“Left Behind”). Locke’s combination of pride and gullibility is exactly what makes him such an easy target for con men of all stripes. It is also why I reject argument that Locke will end up as the show’s savior.

[1] “Walkabout”- 1.04
[2] “The Moth”.
[3] “In Translation.”
[4] Id.
[5] “Special”
[6] Id.
[7] “Numbers”
[8] “Abandoned”
[9] “Hearts and Minds”
[10] “Special”
[11] “Hearts and Minds”; “The Greater Good”
[12] “Orientation”
[13] “Adrift”
[14] “Orientation”