Group 1 Every Man for Himself: Shock Therapy
Prof inspired me to bring over some of my favorite Group 1 Posts. And after this season is over I'm going to start doing them again--last one I did was "Flashes" (I think). ETA--OK reading over them I want to bring them all over! Think I'll wait until end of season and bring 'em over a bit at a time.
This was a pretty intriguing episode. The connection between many of the plot elements is electric shock—and while this obviously ties into the behavior modification going on with Sawyer, I think there are other less obvious behavior modifications of Jack and Kate going on at the same time.
Electric shock:
Desmond erects a lightning rod to keep Charlie from being killed by a lightning bolt.
Sawyer sets a trap using the electric current in the cage.
Sawyer’s behavior is controlled through the false threat of electric shock.
Colleen cannot be resuscitated, seemingly because there is no battery in the defibrillator.
Desmond: Lightning bolts coming down and striking a person—symbolically that represents for me punishment from God, or the gods, or fate. (Previous episode-Locke’s vision of Desmond with the three women=the fates.) This is Desmond’s first act after the implosion in which he tries to alter the future. By turning the key Des also stopped the continued (and presumably growing) pulse of electro-magnetic energy from the anomaly. He’s a very grounded guy. Generally he seems to be a force opposed to death, destruction, apocalypse, and to me his main opposing character is Ben. While Des protects from the forces of actual electrical power, Ben uses fictional electrical power for the purpose of manipulation (with Sawyer obviously, but I think there’s something going on with that defibrillator as well). Sawyer calls Ben the big “kahuna.” A kahuna is defined as a “priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, or expert in any profession” (Wiki). Des I would definitely put in that kind of “jack of all trades” category (a Jack connection to Des as well). (Monk, soldier, trained to be a doctor, sailor, hunter, visionary—and then in this episode he also turns out to be an expert on golf ‘cause he’s Scottish.) For this episode I’d emphasize Ben as a wizard—actually, the Wizard (of Oz). (Note there is a connection, albeit through a long chain, made to the Wizard of Oz in the episode. Sawyer calls Munson, Murgatroyd. “Heavens to Murgatroyd” is the catchprase of Snagglepuss—a Hanna Barbara cartoon character who’s voice is modelled on Bert Lahr, the guy who played the cowardly lion.) Ben like the Wizard of Oz manipulates people to realize some aspect of themselves (i.e., the cowardly lion had courage all along.)
Sawyer & electric shock: Sawyer’s trap is a model for how he behaves most of the time, that is, he does violence to himself (the trap relies on his taking a shock as well as the person he is trapping) in order to pull a con. He tells Kate this works because he’s used to the pain. And that’s his problem in a nutshell. I think maybe that’s why he takes the most physical abuse of any character, and that’s certainly drawn attention to in this episode. While he quite readily allows himself to be abused, what he doesn’t allow himself to do is care—as he says to Munson “Once you care that’s when they can come at ya” (that is, caring makes you vulnerable to being conned/manipulated). Ben’s con of Sawyer seems to rely at first on more physical abuse (in fact the threat of death) but later Ben says that what was really controlling Sawyer was not the fear of death but the fear that Kate would be hurt. I think the behavior mod on Sawyer actually has two related effects—he controls his impulsive, physical responses (anger and sexuality) because of his love for Kate. At the end of episode, Ben shows Sawyer they are on a separate island and quotes from “Of Mice and Men” — “A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.” Made me think of John Donne’s “No man is an island” and wonder about how learning to care or to love others might generally connect to getting off the island (or maybe not being “trapped” there—Rose is on the island, but never isolated in that way).
Kate’s behavior mod—Kate at first starts to see Sawyer in a new light when he comes up with the trap idea—heroically. That view is taken away and instead she sees him as frightened and vulnerable. She confesses to loving him, but then says she was only doing this because he was being beaten. I actually don’t buy this. She has the chance to leave and she doesn’t. (Sawyer’s line to her “If you really love me, go.”) Kate’s modus operandi is to run away—and she doesn’t. Making Sawyer appear vulnerable and dependent on her gets her to stay.
Possible con between Juliet and Ben involving the defibrillator: A couple reasons why I think there’s a con of Jack going on that’s being run by Juliet and Ben. First because it parallels the Sawyer FB. Second there’s the reference that Tom makes to the implosion—that it has knocked out their communications. They’ve been “blind for two days” which is not a good state for a group so reliant on surveilllance. Most of the others seem to see the implosion as something not in their interest and perpetrated by the Losties/Des. This is an example of Ben keeping secrets from and manipulating his own people. Then there is the odd thing Juliet says about being a fertility doctor and being unused to death…umm hasn’t she lost 9 patients on the island? And then, having had at least 9 deaths, why, for heaven’s sakes, would you not keep the battery charged in the defibrillator? Have Ben and Juliet decided either that Colleen is beyond saving, or that her death is a necessary part of some overall scheme? So what does her death achieve—forces Jack to sit with something he can’t fix? Gives to Juliet the same kind of advice people often give to him—not to obsess about the death because “She was dead before you put her on the table.” Additionally it pushes Pickett to further Sawyer abuse. Finally, pulling Jack in to operate also accomplishes—”letting” him see Ben’s x-rays.
Two last random questions—they use the sub to get back and forth from this island to the main island. Are they cut off from this island after Locke sinks the sub?
The Warner Bros. Cartoon (which I think might be a take off on Fantasia?) in which the vulture pretends to be a swan and follows the line of baby swans (pecking at the last one in line) to the tune of the Blue Danube. Any thoughts?