Deus Ex Machina
From Lostpedia
| Lost Season 1 (Flashbacks in Parentheses) | S2 >> • S3 >> • S4>> | |||||||
| #01 | "Pilot, Part 1" | (Jack) | #10 | "Raised by Another" | (Claire) | #18 | "Numbers" | (Hurley) |
| #02 | "Pilot, Part 2" | (Various) | #11 | "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" | (Jack) | #19 | "Deus Ex Machina" | (Locke) |
| #03 | "Tabula Rasa" | (Kate) | #12 | "Whatever the Case May Be" | (Kate) | #20 | "Do No Harm" | (Jack) |
| #04 | "Walkabout" | (Locke) | #13 | "Hearts and Minds" | (Boone) | --- | "Lost: The Journey" | (recap) |
| #05 | "White Rabbit" | (Jack) | #14 | "Special" | (Michael & Walt) | #21 | "The Greater Good" | (Sayid) |
| #06 | "House of the Rising Sun" | (Sun) | #15 | "Homecoming" | (Charlie) | #22 | "Born to Run" | (Kate) |
| #07 | "The Moth" | (Charlie) | #16 | "Outlaws" | (Sawyer) | #23 | "Exodus, Part 1" | (Various) |
| #08 | "Confidence Man" | (Sawyer) | #17 | "...In Translation" | (Jin) | #24 | "Exodus, Part 2" | (Various) |
| #09 | "Solitary" | (Sayid) | ||||||
Episode transcript
[[{{{transcript2}}}|Part Two]]
"Deus Ex Machina" is the nineteenth episode of Season 1 of Lost. After a mysterious dream, Locke sets out with Boone to find a crashed beechcraft, in the hope it will lead him further on his quest to open the hatch. Meanwhile, at the beach, Sawyer begins to suffer from severe headaches. Flashbacks in this episode concentrate on Locke's first meeting with his biological mother and father.
Contents |
Synopsis
Flashbacks
About ten years before the crash, a younger Locke works in a discount superstore. He demonstrates the children's game Mousetrap to a boy, saying it was his favorite game and that he used to play it with his "brother." A mysterious older woman appears to be watching him in the store. When Locke approaches her, she asks him where the footballs are.
Later Locke sees her in the parking lot. He starts to chase her and is knocked over by a car. Locke gets back up, catches her, and confronts her. She reveals that she is his birth mother, Emily Annabeth Locke. John inquires about his natural father, but she tells him that he has no father, and that he was "immaculately conceived" (a common misuse of the term).
Cooper appears to take Locke under his wing, taking him hunting several times. Arriving early one day, Locke sees that his father is on dialysis. Cooper mentions that he will need a kidney transplant, but is pessimistic about his chances on the waiting list. Locke volunteers to give his father one of his kidneys. Just before the kidney transplant, Locke says that "this was meant to be", and Cooper tells his son that he will see him after the operation.
After the transplant, Locke wakes up in the hospital to find that his father has gone home for private care. His mother appears and reveals that his father concocted a scheme to convince Locke to give up his kidney. Locke pulls himself out of the hospital bed, and drives to his father's home, where the once-friendly guard is not allowed to let him inside. Locke drives away at the guard's pained insistence, and screams at the betrayal.
Real-time events
Locke and Boone continue working on opening the Hatch. Boone claims that they have been going to the Hatch for two weeks, and Locke never talks about himself. Locke replies that his past would bore Boone. They attempt to break upon the Hatch, using a self-built trebuchet to break the glass on the metal door, but the attempt fails. Locke is unaware that a broken shard has lodged itself in one of his legs, until Boone tells him; he later discoveres he has no feeling in his feet or legs. Locke claims the trebuchet was not strong enough to break open the Hatch. When asked about how they will open the Hatch, he tells Boone that the Island will send them a sign. The next moment, they see a small aircraft crashing into the jungle. Locke sees an image of his mother pointing in that direction, and finds himself in a wheelchair again. It turns out to be a dream, which concludes with Boone, covered in blood, repeating the phrase "Theresa falls up the stairs; Theresa falls down the stairs." Later, when describing the vision he had, he asks Boone who is Theresa, and is told that she was his childhood nanny whom he believes he caused to fall to her death in his family home. Locke insists that they have to locate the plane, which is eventually found hanging in the trees.
Meanwhile, Sawyer is having increasingly painful headaches, which are not helped by Sun's herbal remedies. Kate, acting as a go-between, convinces Sawyer to accept Jack's medical assistance. Although hesitant at first, Kate convinces Jack to try and get Sawyer a cure for his headaches. Before seeing Sawyer, Jack talks to Michael, who says that the burning of the raft was not a total loss, because it saved him from trial and error. Michael than tries to communicate with Jin who is also working on the raft. Michael appears to be unsuccessful at this. After a brief examination, Jack asks Sawyer a series of embarrassing questions regarding his sexual past, such as his experiences with prostitutes, if he has ever contracted an STD and when was his last outbreak. Jack then reveals that Sawyer is just suffering from farsightedness and Sayid melts together the halves of two pairs of glasses for him to wear.
Back in the jungle, Boone climbs into the plane, at Locke's request as his legs have apparently stopped working. The plane contains Virgin Mary statues filled with heroin, flown by drug smugglers under the guise of Nigerian missionaries. Boone checks the radio which still works, and subsequently makes contact with another person. Boone says that they are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. After a brief pause, the other person responds, saying "We are the survivors of flight 815.". Just then, the plane falls out of the tree and crashes to the ground with Boone inside. Locke hoists a badly injured Boone on his shoulders, and returns to the camp.
Locke makes his way back to the caves with Boone, saying that he fell from a cliff while they were hunting. Jack springs into action, but Locke disappears into the jungle, returning to the Hatch. He yells and screams in anguish, asking the Island what else does he have to do. As he bangs his hands on the door, a light comes on inside the structure, then turns off.
Trivia
General
- The events of this episode (excluding flashbacks) begin on Day 39 of being on the island. This would be Halloween, 2004, to the losties.
Production notes
- Charlie, Claire, Shannon, and Walt do not appear in this episode.
- The first episode in which Charlie does not appear.
- This episode features a different tone of voice in the Previously on Lost part.
Bloopers and Continuity Errors
- When Locke and Boone find Goldie Locke says it takes two years for clothes to completely deteriorate but in "House of the Rising Sun" Jack said it should take fifty years
Recurring themes
- Locke demonstrates Mousetrap for a young boy, and calls it "his favorite game". (Games)
- The footballs are placed in aisle 8 for regulation, aisle 15 for nerf. (Numbers)
- This episode introduces Emily Annabeth Locke and Anthony Cooper, and Locke's major issues with them. (Parent issues)
- Locke's mother says he was "immaculately conceived". (Pregnancies)
- After being asked by Boone what his story is, Locke tells him that "it would bore you." (Character secrets)
- Emily tells Locke that he is "special", and that their meeting "is a sign of great things to come". (Regularly Spoken Phrases) (Fate versus Free Will)
- Boone berates Locke by telling him that he can't open the hatch, and Locke responds with "Don't tell me what I can't do." (Regularly spoken phrases)
- John tells Boone that they were meant to find it. (Fate versus Free Will)
- Locke has a vision of the crashing Beechcraft, his mother, and Boone. (Dreams and visions)
- The private investigator tells Locke that "this stuff isn't meant to be" (referring to seeking out Cooper). (Fate versus Free Will)
- Jack tricks Sawyer into revealing his sexual past. (Deceptions and Cons) (Rivalries)
- Locke tells Cooper that their being together was "meant to be". (Fate versus Free Will)
- Cooper cons Locke out of a kidney. (Deceptions and cons)
- Sawyer is revealed to be farsighted and gets spectacles. (Eyes)
- Locke is knocked over by a car in the parking lot. (Car accidents)
- Locke and Boone find a cross necklace and the body of a man dressed as a priest. (Religion and ideologies)
- Locke donates, or sacrifices, his kidney to Cooper. (Missing body parts) (Sacrifice)
- Despite his vision of a bloody Boone, Locke puts him in danger by asking him to climb to the Beechcraft, which falls, mortally wounding Boone and ultimately making him a sacrifice to Locke's vision. (Sacrifice)
- Locke forsees the falling Beechcraft and a bloody Boone speaking of Theresa. (Premonitions)
Cultural references
| Cultural references in Lost (direct references only) |
|---|
| Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science |
- Deus Ex Machina (pronounced as "Deh-oos ecks mah-kee-nah") originated as a theatrical device in ancient Greek theatre. This device consisted of a physical crane that lowered a character down onto the stage, the character representing a god. This god would help the characters with a sudden twist in plot. This term would come to mean any device within a plot that provided a sudden change, or solution, in plot.
- Deus Ex Machina literally translates into "God from the machine" in Latin.
- In script writing, the term Deus Ex Machina is often used to refer to a solution to the story, a means to an end that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the story, sometimes leaving the audience feeling cheated.
- Harry Potter. Hurley comments on how Sawyer looks wearing his new glasses: "Dude, looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter."
Literary techniques
| Literary techniques in Lost |
|---|
| Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist • Stock Characters: Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character• Story: Flashbacks • Flashforwards • Foreshadowing • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator |
- When Boone tells Locke that he should see Jack about his failing legs, Locke says that "Jack wouldn't know the first things about what's wrong with [him]". As a spinal surgeon, Jack would in fact be the most qualified person on the island to understand Locke's back injury. (Irony)
- Cooper drew Locke in so that he could steal his kidney and then dump him; Locke persuaded Boone to climb up into the Beechcraft, despite the obvious risks. (Juxtaposition)
- Locke goes to meet his father (he believes that it is his destiny), but it ends in the loss of his kidney. On the Island, Locke follows his vision (he believes it is his destiny to open the hatch), but it ends in the death of Boone. (Juxtaposition)
- At the point in his past when the flashbacks take place, Locke is robbed of all his faith by his father, and becomes an angry, obsessive man. On the Island, his anger and obsession return in trying to open the hatch, but his faith is renewed when the light comes on inside. (Juxtaposition)
Unanswered Questions
| Unanswered questions |
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Deus Ex Machina/Theories
- Why did the Island take Locke's ability to walk temporarily?
- Was Boone really a sacrifice the Island demanded?
