LOST Revisited: 6-4 “The Substitute” (Feb 17)

Sun and the rest take Locke’s body to the little Lostaway graveyard, which is really getting full. Ilana makes an interesting reference that Smokey “can’t change his face. He’s stuck.” Well, he can change to smoke, but Locke is the only human form he has. Wow. We’ve seen him as Alex, Yemi, and possibly Christian, and maybe many more. Plus, there’s his form as Silas, which is his earliest human form. And maybe the form he had back when he was a man. Why is he stuck now? You know, what we’ve seen on this show in the past is that events tend to repeat themselves with minor variations. Circularity is a running theme. But this makes it clear that this time, something is happening that has never happened before. Smokey’s never been stuck before. I remind you of Jacob’s words – “It only ends once. Everything before that is just progress.” What we’re seeing may well be the end of the cycle.