?
- Episode aired May 10, 2006
- TV-14
- 46m
Mr. Eko enlists Locke's help to find a secret location he believes houses answers to the island's mysteries. Jack has a difficult, but unavoidable decision to make about Libby.Mr. Eko enlists Locke's help to find a secret location he believes houses answers to the island's mysteries. Jack has a difficult, but unavoidable decision to make about Libby.Mr. Eko enlists Locke's help to find a secret location he believes houses answers to the island's mysteries. Jack has a difficult, but unavoidable decision to make about Libby.
- Sayid Jarrah
- (credit only)
- Claire Littleton
- (credit only)
- Jin-Soo Kwon
- (credit only)
- Sun-Hwa Kwon
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter the scene where Locke and Eko watch the orientation video for the "Pearl" station of the Dharma Initiative, a gag commercial is included in the next actual commercial break. This commercial sings the praises of the Hanso Foundation, which sharp-eyed viewers would recognize as being the copyright holders from the Dharma Initiative tape. This commercial included a website and a toll-free telephone number at the end (www.sublymonal.com and 1-877-HANSORG, respectively). Viewers who called the phone number were treated to an interactive presentation wherein they could listen to the voice mail messages of senior executives of the Hanso Foundation, and, when the phone call was "hacked" by a mysterious woman called Persephone, they could obtain a password. When visiting the website, viewers could play an interactive game which eventually unlocked access to the Hanso Foundation's homepage. If they tried to sign up for the Hanso newsletter on this site, the site would be "hacked" by Persephone, who would ask for the password from the telephone number. Those with the password were signed up to access "secret" anti-Hanso news and messages from Persephone.
- GoofsLocke and Eko access a central station and create a print out using an Apple ImageWriter II, which was seen on the orientation film dated 1980. However, the ImageWriter II wasn't introduced until 1985.
- Quotes
Dr. Jack Shephard: What were you thinking, John?
Kate Austen: Jack, leave him alone.
James 'Sawyer' Ford: No, Jack, don't leave him alone.
Dr. Jack Shephard: Shut it, Sawyer. If Ana hadn't lifted your gun, we wouldn't...
James 'Sawyer' Ford: Well, ain't that swell, Gimpy McCrutch over here covers up that the Artist Formally Known as Henry Gale tried to strangle your little amiga, and suddenly it's on me when she goes vigilante.
- ConnectionsReferences Daniel Boone (1964)
The episode is phenomenally well-written, revisiting, even at its most 'genre', the main themes of the characters, the driving force of "Lost". The dialogue is absolutely brilliant, although it's almost a given since the main plot centers on Locke and Eko's quest to find one of the hatches the blast door map points to. There's a lot of philosophizing here, but it all feels intelligent and on par with its ambition, which is more than can be said for a lot of other film and television. Eko and Locke's conversations are genuinely thought-provoking, and Eko's monologue about Yemi and the importance of the work John has been doing is one of the best monologues on the show.
It's not surprising that Darren Aronofsky was slated to direct the episode but ended up having to cancel at the last minute; the episode is a bit odd and requires a cinematic touch, particularly during the excellent dream sequences. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje carries the episode during the flashback scenes, which show Eko, now an actual priest in Australia, dealing with claims of a miracle. There's an interesting connection featuring the psychic who met with Claire in season one, Richard Malkin (I think that's the name). The rest of the episode, concentrated on the aftermath of Libby and Ana-Lucia being shot, is also excellent, and features the first real dramatic acting Jorge Garcia has had to do as Hurley, and he pulls it off brilliantly.
"?" is a knockout of an episode. It's a stunning script, excelling at drama like few other episodes do, and subtly but strongly developing both the characters and the mythology. It provokes thought about more than just the mysteries of the island and what the hell DHARMA was/is doing (another intriguing orientation film shown here), asking questions about the nature of faith and belief, and showing many sides of human nature, both bad and good.
10/10
- ametaphysicalshark
- Oct 18, 2008