Deus Ex Machina

Season 1, Episode 19, Aired
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Episode Summary

Locke thinks he's being sent a sign on how to get the hatch open, and he and Boone venture inland. Jack is reluctant to offer assistance when Sawyer begins to experience excruciating headaches and needs glasses. Flashbacks in this episode concentrate on Locke's first meeting with his biological mother and father.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (46)

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  • Awesome.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Sarah_LOST, Oct 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    Locke discovers that he is losing sensation in his legs. Locke and Boone find a Beechcraft 18 teetering on the edge of a cliff. Boone climbs up and, using the radio, sends out a distress call, "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815," to which a man responds "We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." The plane falls and Locke carries a critically injured Boone back to the camp. Locke arrives at the caves with Boone and lies about how Boone got hurt. Locke disappears into the jungle. Pounding on the hatch and screaming in anguish, the inside of the hatch suddenly becomes illuminated. In flashbacks, Locke meets his parents and his father cons him out of a kidney. I love this episode, I mean it's so amazing. I was scared when Locke had the dream, weird stuff. Everything was amazing in this episode. I love the storyline with Boone but i wish it wasn't him - he is such/was a awesome character!moreless

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    1 2

  • The Island Demands That you see This Episode!!!!

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By Dante_Edy, May 31, 2010 Report Abuse
    Now I understand why this show name is Lost. it is not only because the survivors are lost , it is because the audience also feels "lost" with so many mysteries about the island.

    Since our survivors really dont know what his happening and we follow their pont of view, there is no way you dont feel "lost" with so many strange episodes.

    The hatch is another mystery that is supposed only to be solved in season 2, even if you know what is there, there will be some mystery added with it, that will remain a secret, until the producers feel the need to reveal something to you.

    This is a Locke centric episode. But what we need to know about Locke that we already know? It is all about his faith.

    Locke flashbacks can be considered normal, but like "Lost Style", not everything you see is real, there are always something more, and this episode is not an exception. The final Scenes in the flashbacks is so powerful, that even if you did not care or did not like the content, you will like it, and give you the sensation that this flashback was worth watching.

    This is the same sensation that Locke event in the Island gave you. Locke had a strange dream, like the Island tell him to do something and of course, the audience is curious to know what that dream meant. Even that answer is unclear, but maybe the Island demanded a sacrifice.

    Curiosity apart, that are 2/3 things in the End that make this episode even more worth watching. Another airplane full of drugs, Boone fall is unexpected, also locke was losing is ability to walk, like the island do that to save him and that allowed boone to get into the plane.

    More strange is the communication that boone made, out there they think that the people of the oceanic 815 are all dead, how this is possible, only time will time.

    But this episode does even more. There will be consequences for locke, since he lied. Also the ending was powerfull, with the final scenes of the flashback, with locke sad and frustated, the same thing in the island, then the Hatch.......moreless

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  • A Locke-centric episode.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Writer2000, Apr 28, 2010 Report Abuse
    Let me just start out by saying that up until now Locke has been my least favorite character on the show, and Locke still is my least favorite character, but after seeing this episode, I have to say that I do like the character Locke a little bit more now. Locke sure is a very interesting character, and he definite has a very interesting background story. Boone has a very interesting back story too. The flash backs of Locke's life before the plane crashed on the island were great. I also really liked Boone's involvement with Locke's story line. Sawyer's story line was also very interesting to me as well. In closing, as a whole, I thought that this was another very well written, well acted and well made episode of Lost, and I can't wait to continue watching my Lost: season one DVD set.moreless

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    0 1

  • The Twist for this one does come out of the heavens

    10
    "Perfect"
    By DavidB226Morris, Mar 29, 2009 Report Abuse
    When this episode first aired, it was recognized as one of the strongest and most critical episodes of the season. Four years later, it is equally true that this episode was important probably in relationship to one character in particularly, and perhaps the series. Naturally, it involves the island's disciple Locke, and because of that I will be going over 'Deus ex Machina, with a fine-tooth comb.

    Locke has revealed in previous episodes that he was raised by foster families and that his father was not a good man. We have no idea how much he's understating that. The episode begins, however, with a flashback to when Locke met his mother Emily. We don't see much of her and she seems a bit spacey, which is why a lot of people probably dismissed her talk about his being part of a larger plan, and that he was immaculately conceived. Now we later learn she suffers from a form of schizophrenia, and has been in and out of institutions. However, considering the plane crash, and the fact that a huge amount of Locke's activities are critical to the island, I can't help but wonder if maybe there's something to it. Was the island guiding his mother even then?

    This later leads to Locke tracking down his birth father, Anthony Cooper. Let me raise the question, what proof to we have that Cooper was Locke's father? For one thing, there's the fact that in the life of the 'real' John Locke, there was a man named Anthony Cooper who Locke as a physician helped save his life. Since the writers of this show do not choose these names by chance, maybe they're trying to send the viewer a subtle message. By the time this episode's flashbacks are over, we learn that Cooper was a con man. Is it possible that he used Locke's mother as part of a larger con in believe that he was never his actual father at all, but merely played upon his desperation like he did on so many other people? (On pure casting choice, I have a problem with it as well. Kevin Tighe and Swoozie Kurtz are both incredible actor, but unless the flashbacks in Locke's life have gone back really far--- all right, I'll concede the hair---- neither is really old enough to be playing his parents. This might just be do the casting directors part as well, but I'm still opposed to it) Basically, he would have been a lot better off if he'd just followed the detectives advice and left him alone, but Locke is desperate for any kind of love That is why he worships Cooper so much, it's why he will never be truly able to get Cooper out of his head, and will eventually send him on the path to the island.

    There's also a critical point when Cooper asks Locke if he is a hunter. At the time of this episode, he's working at a toy store, and clearly doesn't seem as well textured as before. We get the feeling he only becomes a hunter because his father wants him to be. It will be several years before we learn that despite Locke's militarist behavior on the island, it was a while before he accepted that part of his nature.

    On the island, Locke has reached a critical point as well. For two weeks, he and Boone have been trying to get inside the hatch, but haven't been able to find a way in. Boone is starting to lose his faith, and it's pretty clear Locke is, too. To test his faith still more, the miracle made him the island disciple--- the restoration of his legs--- is beginning to disappear as well. He is beginning to make demands of the island, and the island sends him a sign.

    Oh, does he get one. After having a prophetic dream involving himself and Boone in which he sees a Beechcraft airplane fly through the sky, they walk through the woods to an increasingly stranger series of things. For starters, there is the skeleton of a priest, armed with a wad of cash--- which Locke identifies as Nigerian--- and a gun. Eventually, the body leads them to a crashed plane, perched precariously in a tree. Locke tells Boone to climb in, and search it, mainly because he can't walk, but also because he has some idea of what's going to come next.

    We still don't know how this plane got there, but next season we'll learn where it came from, and who was on it. Boone, however, finds out that the plane was carrying ceramic Virgin Mary's with heroin in them He is about to dismiss this entirely, when he finds that the radio is still working. He tries to send out a message and seems to reach someone. However, if we listen carefully to the transmission, when Boone says that they're the survivors of Flight Oceanic 815, the response is: "We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815" This has also sorts of implications, but before anyone can think of it, the plane does what you knew was going to happen, and plunges off the cliff--- leaving Boone horribly, perhaps mortally wounded.

    Locke does his part in getting Boone back to Jack, but he doesn't stay around . Instead, he heads back to the hatch, claiming that "I've done everything you asked! To the island. Then a light goes on in the hatch.

    This simple gesture has not yet been explained. Near the end of season 2, we will get one rather mundane explanation as to how it happened. However, did someone from inside the hatch simply flick a switch? Or was it the answer that Locke was looking for? When his faith is tested again, Locke will switch to the former possibility and he will have a good reason to do so, and there is the possibility that someone was watching him, toying with his head, and decided to do this for just that reason. The answers are still fuzzy, but this question will finally be answered this season (so says TV Guide).

    The writers recognize that this is crucial and devote the majority of the episode to Locke. However, simultaneously Sawyer is now suffering from increasingly worse headaches, which are making him even less likable (if such a thing were possible) Jack is probably reluctant to do anything to help him, and sure as hell enjoys toying with him (the questions he asks Sawyer and his reactions are hysterical) before finally telling him that he is far-sighted, which is exactly what he is. He is so focused on the future (when he can finally get revenge on the real Sawyer) that he is completely unable to enjoy life. Ironically, it is because of Locke and the island, he will get that chance, but even then his far-sightedness will not help him get past it.

    The end of the episode is so shocking that the writers don't start to play with it until the next one in sequence, but we already have a feeling that unless that there's a real deus ex machina, poor Boone's doomed. Locke will disappear for the majority of it, which Jack will not let him forget, and everything is about to change--- again.moreless

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    0 0

  • My father lied to me.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By napen, Sep 12, 2008 Report Abuse
    John, pobre John, el sin padre, el inmaculadamente concebido, nos cuenta su historia triste triste. Su madre lo encuentra y le dice quin es. John no le cree, luego le cree y comienza a buscar a su padre. Este lo recibe con el amor increble, l se deja sumergir en esa reverencia exagerada. Van juntos a cazar, toman juntos la leche, se hacen recontra amigos. Hasta que... hasta que su querido y adorado padre le saca un rin y se lo queda como demostracin de tanto amor. John desconsolado llora por el amor perdido y por la muerte de Boone... "Por qu??!!!".moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Right before Locke finds the body of the priest, he takes out his compass. However, he had previously given his compass to Sayid saying that he didn't need it anymore. Edit
    • Parent issues ("Lost"'s recurring theme): Locke was conned by his parents. Edit
    • Locke says "Normally clothing would completely decompose within 2 years, but this is high quality polyester. Could be 2 years, could be 10". However, in "House of the Rising Sun", Jack says "It takes 40 or 50 years for clothing to degrade like this" when talking of Adam and Eve. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Airdates: - Denmark: May 13, 2005 on Kanal 5 - Greece: August 28, 2008 at 23.00 on ANT1 Edit
    • Although credited, Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Maggie Grace (Shannon), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt) and Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) didn't appear. For the first time, Dominic Monaghan didn't appear, and for the first and only time, Emilie de Ravin didn't appear, but still was credited. Plus, Naveen Andrews (Sayid) appeared, but had no lines. Edit
    • Swoosie Kurtz (Emily) also worked with Naveen Andrews (Sayid) in the 1998 TV movie My Own Country, and, with Ian Somerhalder (Boone) in the 2002 film The Rules Of Attraction. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Kate: (about Sawyer) Thank you for helping him. I know it's probably the last thing you wanted to do. Jack: I didn't do it for him. (Jack turns to look at her and they share a moment) Edit
    • Kate: That's it, get up. Sawyer: What? Kate: Get up. You're going to Jack. Sawyer: Do I get a lollipop? Edit
    • (About Sawyer's new glasses) Hurley: Dude, it looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Mousetrap:
      Continuing the show's fascination/obsession/allegory with games, we see Mousetrap, created by Milton Bradley more than 50 years ago. Edit
    • Hurley: Dude, looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter.
      Hurley's comment about Sawyer's glasses is a reference to the spectacled protagonist of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books. Edit
    • Episode title: Deus Ex Machina
      The title stems from the Latin phrase deus ex machina (literally "god from the machine"). The saying, simply put, is defined as a person or event that provides a sudden and unexpected solution to a difficulty. It is a term from ancient Greek and Roman plays where one of the gods would suddenly provide a solution. The episode title is also the title of Chapter 48 of the book "Watership Down." (In a previous episode, Boone accused Sawyer of stealing this book from his luggage.) Edit

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