"House of the Rising Sun"

Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Directed by Michael Zinberg


In which the survivors are shocked when Jin attacks Michael for unknown reasons, while they are also faced with the decision of seeking better shelter or waiting on the beach for rescue...

Status Report - Final Analysis







Status Report
Like the last few episodes, the past history of the characters has direct impact on their choices on the island. In this case, however, there is more emphasis than usual on the shifting politics among the survivors. The very first schism has emerged, and the survivors have split into two camps with two very different philosophies. Part of that schism is simply a matter of divergent desires, but it’s also something that Locke seems to have deliberately prompted.

It’s important that the first three episodes focused on characters with primary influence over the other survivors. Kate is the mysterious young woman who seems to have attracted the eye of both emerging leaders. Locke has fully embraced the unknown power of the island, and as such, has become its voice. Jack has seemingly been chosen by the island as the leader, taking on an almost messianic role. Now it comes down to defining the other characters: who they are, what they want, and where they are going.

Symbolism seems to be very meaningful on this series, and one emerging paradigm is the battle between light and dark, good and evil. Locke wasn’t playing Backgammon in the pilot by accident; this initial schism has all the potential to become opposing sides in a fight for dominance. Locke certainly seems to view it that way, and as the voice of the island, he has thrown in his lot with the side that has embraced survival over rescue.

White and black stones come into play again, touching back on the Backgammon symbolism and the French transmission. It’s intentional that the two corpses in the caves are called Adam and Eve; there’s a scene that this is some kind of spiritual Garden of Eden. While there’s allegory at play here, it could also be a plot point. The spiritual entity that seems to reside on the island could simply believe that it’s divine, selecting certain people and testing them. A more frightening possibility is that the survivors were chosen to represent the best and worst of the human race, in some cyclic judgment of whether humanity remains open to faith in a higher power.

Locke certainly seems to have been the first “chosen” by the island to speak for it. When Jack is led to his role as leader, it’s Locke that provides the meaning behind the apparent haunting in the previous episode. Locke clearly believes that the survivors need to accept their current situation, rather than keep fighting it. This is quite akin to religious faith: one must give something of themselves to receive the grace of the divine. So must there always be the religious leader, speaking for the divine, and the “deliverer”, to shepherd the faithful to their “promised land”.

If one accepts that Locke’s premise is sound, and that white equates with good and black equates with bad, then the stones found in the pouch around the neck of one of the corpses must be highly significant. Was it a question of divination, learning to interpret the desires of the island through a clear-cut oracle? The fact that the French woman from the transmission mentioned a “black stone” suggests something more.

Jack seems to be playing the part of the “deliverer”, the reluctant leader chosen to lead the faithful. In this case, the faithful represent those willing to give their lives to the island itself, to attempt living where they and accepting that fate is out of their hands. Jack is also the “healer”, which plays into the mythological concept of the divine healing power of kings. Note that Jack, despite his own faults, thinks of the best interest of others before his own. Those that follow Jack are unlikely to challenge his authority at this point, especially since they recognize that the voice of the island itself, Locke, has all but appointed Jack.

In terms of the Backgammon metaphor, the point of the complex game is to win by moving all of one side’s counters to the other before one’s opponent can do so. In terms of the schism among the survivors, it’s a tantalizing concept. Jack’s camp is taking Locke’s mandate to heart, the survivors giving something personal to the island to gain that which they desire. If the “rescue” camp is the equal but opposite, then they would be moving from seeking what they desire to falling prey to their greatest fears, made manifest. Rescue can only be achieved, one would think, by having faith in whatever power roams the island. Forcing the issue means being consumed by the island itself.

If each survivor is like a piece on the board, then the contest is all about which side survives the longest, perhaps representing a pre-determined sample of the human population. In that case, Kate is symbolic of the battle of wills emerging between Jack and Sawyer. Kate is desired by both men; it’s her own desires that could determine which side wins in the end. Kate remains on the beach because her past history makes it difficult for her to accept being in one place and placing faith in anyone. She wants to have that faith, however; she wants to believe, but for the moment, she isn’t ready to stop running, something she’s been doing since long before her apparent crime.

Charlie returns to the spotlight in this episode, and his interaction with Locke provides the perfect avenue for expressing the basic rules of the island in clear English. The first time Charlie tries to sneak off to take a hit, Locke attempts to step in, to stop him without saying anything overtly. Sure enough, when Charlie doesn’t listen, he ends up getting a clear warning signal from the island, in the form of a nice little bee hive. When that doesn’t do the trick, Locke steps in and gives Charlie a direct choice.

On the face of it, these events seem rather ordinary. Locke could simply be a half-insane old man with a God complex, toying with Charlie by making it seem that giving up drugs will deliver something as simple as a guitar. But on another level, Locke is really asking Charlie to give up material desire and give in to a physical and spiritual cleansing. Was the guitar always right there, above Charlie’s head? Perhaps, but its location seems as suspect as the location of the empty casket in the previous episode.

It seems more and more likely that Hurley was not on the plane, as rumored, since none of the flashbacks have ever included him, and other characters are often visible in the background during those scenes. If Hurley was once a survivor from a previous crash, then he must have long since embraced the island. Hurley has helped Jack from the beginning, and has made an effort at times to push Jack towards Kate. It was Hurley that pointed out the food and water situation, and each time, the problem was resolved through the transformation of someone into the person the island wanted them to be (Locke, then Jack).

Sayid is the perfect example of someone with a clear reason to desire rescue. He doesn’t necessarily object to Jack or doing the right thing, and his skills are hard to dismiss. But he hasn’t reached the point where he believes the options for rescue are exhausted. Sayid is probably the one person who can keep the rescue camp viable, so long as he remains there. It should be interesting to see whether or not his attempts to find the right technology to send a signal are permitted; the island could conceivably determine that the best way to convince Sayid to accept fate is to systematically eliminate those options, while leaving Sayid alive. And though Sayid is a capable force for justice on the island, it’s human justice, not the kind of repentance and transformation that the island would be seeking for the survivors.

Sawyer is being set up as Jack’s polar opposite, the snake in the Garden. It’s more than just a matter of Sawyer taking charge of the rescue camp. He lets Sayid do the work of convincing other survivors to stay, and he seems to vie for Kate’s allegiance as much to spite Jack as anything else. Where Jack seeks to help everyone survive for as long as possible, Sawyer seems to be solely self-interested. He really doesn’t care if the others are rescued, but at the same time, he needs them to do some of the work.

Boone, Shannon, and Claire are completely absent from this episode, which is somewhat surprising. One would have expected Boone and Shannon to fight over which side to choose. Boone, at least, set himself up as Sawyer’s acolyte in the previous episode, so it would have made sense for him to be present during the schism. Shannon, one could assume, would still be awaiting rescue. After her health scare in the previous episode, Claire’s absence is troubling, since choosing the wrong side could have serious consequences for the survival of her baby. One would think, though, that she would choose to go where Jack, Charlie, and fresh water would be.

Michael and Walt get closer in this episode, which is good to see. However, the relationship between Michael and Sun is more important this time around. Sun finds Michael attractive, and she might even see him as a viable alternative to her husband. This episode provides a lot of background on Sun, giving her strained relationship with Jin context. As far as Sun goes, the island seems to be presenting her with the chance to find happiness, but only if she can make the difficult choice she avoided in the airport. It’s quite possible that the island is also planning to use her to influence Michael and Walt into switching sides, some time in the future. Jin remains something of a mystery, though his part in the flashbacks is very well done. Daniel Dae Kim is a fantastic actor.

The theory on the island outlined in this review is based largely on the premise that Locke is relatively sane. Locke appears to have been “chosen” to represent the will and voice of the island, playing the role of the sage to Jack’s leadership role. Was Locke truly aware of Charlie’s past history before encountering the unknown entity on the island, or does he now have some form of awareness beyond human norms? It remains possible that he is quite insane, making these choices and proclamations out of some crazed belief that he knows the will of God. Of course, at this point, that would only work well if all the symbolism turns out to be circumstantial, which would seem like a cheat to many.

If this episode doesn’t seem as strong as those that came before it, it’s largely due to the number of long scenes with subtitles, forcing the audience to work at the scenes a bit harder than usual. Considering how engaged the public has been with the mysteries and symbolism of the island, this effect should be minimal; the fans are used to paying close attention to the details by now. Still, the pacing is affected. The depth of implied symbolism, however, makes up for it.

The episode also scores points for the level of brutal realism involved. When Jin attacks Michael, it is incredibly brutal and physical, and when the two are separated, the tackling is about as hard as it gets. The scenes with Dominic Monaghan and the bees had to be incredibly difficult to endure. If there is one complaint, it’s the use of another musical montage at the end of the episode. It works well enough, but this is a technique used far too often in television of late, and it’s not really appropriate for this series, which works best when emphasizing isolation and fear of the unknown.


Final Analysis
Overall, this episode did much to further the overall plot, building on the conflicts that have emerged since the pilot. The various Biblical overtones of the plot and character arcs continue to unfold, and the use of flashbacks to build layer upon layer of context continues to be a useful plot device. The subtitled scenes disrupt the pacing slightly, but as the mystery continues to deepen, the weaknesses become easier to overlook.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10




Next Episode

Back to Season 1

Back to the Island

Email: entil2001@yahoo.com