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John Locke (Lost)
Encyclopedia
John Locke is a fictional character
played by Terry O'Quinn
on the ABC
television series Lost
. He is named after English philosopher John Locke
. In 2007, O'Quinn won the Emmy award
for acting in a supporting role
for his portrayal of Locke.
In the first season of the show, Locke is introduced as a mysterious, intellectual and stoic
character with an affinity for living out in the wild, a penchant for hunting and tracking. He believes in mystical and spiritual explanations for why things happen on the island
due to a self-described "miracle" happening to him after the crash of Oceanic 815. His stoicism and mystical outlook dominate his character and are the basis for many of his relationships and interactions on the show.
(Nestor Carbonell
), who described Locke as "extremely special". Locke had a number of foster siblings over the years: Jeannie, who died as a child when she fell off of a set of monkey bars; Melissa, who was prone to bullying John; and an unnamed brother with whom Locke used to play the game mousetrap.
Years later, when working at a toy store, Locke was visited by his mother who told him that he was virginally conceived. Curious, Locke hired a private investigator to track down the location of his father, Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe
). Cooper warmly welcomed Locke into his life, and the two bonded over hunting trips. Cooper revealed he needed a kidney transplant, and Locke volunteered to donate one of his. Following the surgery, Cooper abandoned Locke and refused to see him, at which point Locke found out that his father purposefully conned him for his kidney. Locke became very depressed and eventually sought group therapy, where he met his future girlfriend Helen Norwood (Katey Sagal
). Helen helped Locke overcome his obsession with his father, but when Cooper came to Locke for assistance and he helped him, Helen left him.
At some point after Helen left, Locke began living and working at a commune that grew pot in California, until the police began investigating it. Subsequent to this, he leaves.
Locke retreated into a life of solitude, until he was visited one day by a man, Peter Talbot, asking for information about "Adam Seward," who intended to marry the man's wealthy mother. Locke realized it was Cooper, met with him, and ordered him to not marry Peter's mother. Cooper killed Peter, and when Locke confronted him about the murder, Cooper pushed Locke out of a window, sending him tumbling eight stories to the sidewalk below. When Locke hit the ground, he was soon after touched by the mysterious island inhabitant Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
). Despite surviving the fall, Locke suffered a broken back, an injury that put him in a wheelchair.
While recovering in the hospital, a supposed orderly named Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick
) visited Locke and told him to go on a walkabout
for a period of self-discovery. Once out of the hospital, Locke started working at a box company, where he was constantly insulted by his boss, Randy (Billy Ray Gallion
). Locke then flew to Australia
, where he was denied admission on the walkabout because of his paraplegic state
, so he was forced to board Oceanic Flight 815
to return home.
(Emilie de Ravin
) is abducted, Locke helps Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
), Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) and Boone Carlyle
(Ian Somerhalder
) to look for her. Whilst searching, he and Boone discover the hatch, which they then spend most of their time trying to open. During this time, Boone becomes Locke's protégé and Locke tries to teach him the nature of the Island. When Locke has a vision one night of a Beechcraft crashing, Locke and Boone then go looking for the plane and discover it lodged atop a cliff. Boone climbs up into the plane, but it falls while he is still inside. Locke carries him back to the caves, then sneaks away to the hatch, where he bangs furiously on the door, devastated by Boone's death. Just as Locke loses hope, a light shines from the hatch, and Locke sees it as a sign. Locke returns to the beach in time for Boone's funeral, and reluctantly reveals the existence of the hatch. Due to Boone's death, Jack is no longer trusting of Locke and his motives. In order to open the hatch, the survivors are led by Danielle Rousseau to the wreckage of a 19th-century sailing ship known as the Black Rock, which has been somehow deposited several miles inland, and find some dynamite. Once they return to the Hatch, Locke uses the dynamite to blow it open.
Locke enters the hatch and discovers Desmond Hume
(Henry Ian Cusick
), who shows Locke and Jack an orientation film explaining that the hatch was once used for studying electromagnetism and a specific series of numbers has to be entered into a computer terminal every 108 minutes to prevent an unspecified catastrophe. Seeing that his replacements have arrived, Desmond leaves. While Jack is reluctant to enter the numbers, Locke convinces him otherwise. Locke then arranges a schedule for people to take shifts in entering the numbers into the computer. When a man named "Henry Gale" (Michael Emerson
), arrives in the jungle (captured in a trap set by Danielle Rousseau), Locke holds him prisoner in the empty armory. The blast doors in the hatch all descend, and they end up falling on Locke's legs. Locke tasks Henry with entering the numbers in the computer. Locke notices a strange map drawn on one of the doors when the lights go out, which he manages to sketch after the blast doors rise again. Locke and the other survivors soon find out that Henry was lying about his identity and he is a member of The Others
, but he refuses to speak to anyone but Locke. He taunts Locke by telling him that his people saw the hatch as a joke, and that he never entered the numbers in the computer, which results in Locke to start believing that the button is not real. When "Henry" escapes, Locke and Mr. Eko
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
) enter the jungle to search him but find the "?" on Locke's map, where they discover the Pearl station, which explains that pushing the button is just to test the occupants of the hatch. While Locke believes that the button is fake, Eko feels the opposite. Locke abandons pushing the button, and he and the recently-returned Desmond sneak into the hatch to allow the timer to reach zero, but when the electromagnetic force builds up, Locke realizes that he has been wrong all along. Desmond then turns the fail-safe key that causes the hatch to implode.
Locke awakens in the jungle the next day, temporarily mute due to shock, and he builds a sweat lodge to induce a hallucination, in which Boone tells him to rescue Eko. In order to communicate with the Others to help the captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
), he and some of the other survivors travel to the Pearl station, where they rewire the circuits in the monitors to view surveillance from another hatch. They leave the station and discover Eko dead in the jungle. After burying him, Locke notices an inscription on Eko's prayer stick instructing him to go north. After Kate returns, she, Locke, Sayid
(Naveen Andrews
), and Danielle Rousseau
(Mira Furlan
) go on a mission to rescue Jack from the Others. When they arrive at the Others' village, the Barracks, Locke finds Henry (whose actual name is Ben and is the leader of the Others). Locke takes Ben hostage and forces him to show him the location of the Others' submarine. Locke then uses some C-4 to blow up a submarine that Jack was going to use to get off of the Island, due to his belief everyone should stay on it because of destiny. After this, Ben shows him his father, Anthony Cooper, whom they have captured, and tells Locke that he can join the Others if he kills his father. Locke manipulates Sawyer into murdering Cooper for him, then carries the corpse to the Others' camp. He is taken by Ben to see Jacob, but Locke is shown only an empty chair in the filthy cabin. Locke enters a rage because of Ben's lie, then suddenly objects began to fly around of its own accord. Ben and Locke walk off, and they next visit a pit full of long-deceased Dharma members, where Ben shoots Locke, because Locke was able to hear Jacob, which threatens his own leadership of the Others. Locke is left for dead, but he wakes up days later. Locke contemplates suicide, but his faith is restored upon witnessing an apparition of Walt, who tells Locke that he 's got "work to do". He makes his way to where Jack has taken the survivors, and kills Naomi, a woman from the freighter, whom he believes has brought danger to the Island. He asks Jack not to communicate with the nearby freighter, but Jack ignores him and contacts it. Locke goes back to the beach camp, hoping to gain support from some of the other survivors.
Jack then finds Locke, takes his gun, and pulls the trigger, discovering that it is unloaded. Because of this incident and Charlie Pace
's (Dominic Monaghan
) warning, the survivors split into two groups, with those believing the people from the freighter to be dangerous joining Locke. People in Locke's group include Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
), Sawyer, Claire, Ben, Rousseau, and Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde
). Locke attempts to carry out the work he was told to do by Walt. In order to do this he has to go to Jacob for advice, but is unable to find Jacob's cabin, so they proceed to the Barracks. For the first few days there, Ben continually taunts Locke for not having a plan, but Ben eventually explains that Charles Widmore
(Alan Dale
) is the man who sent the freighter, and that he wants to exploit the Island. After the village is ambushed by a group from the freighter and most of Locke's group is killed (including Rousseau and Alex), Locke leads Ben and Hurley to look for the cabin again, since Hurley claimed to see it. Locke has a dream in which the Dharma Initiative member who built the cabin (Horace Goodspeed - Doug Hutchinson
) tells him that Jacob is waiting for him. In the pit containing the bodies of the Dharma Initiative members, Locke finds a map to the cabin, which Locke, Ben, and Hurley follow. Inside the cabin, Locke does not meet Jacob, but rather Christian Shephard
(John Terry
) and Claire. They tell him that to save the Island he must move it. Ben leads Locke and Hurley to a Dharma station known as the Orchid that will be able to do this, but discovers the mercenaries from the freighter waiting for Ben there, so Ben turns himself over and instructs Locke how to get in the actual station. After failing to find it, Jack arrives and Locke tries to convince Jack not to leave. Unsuccessful, he tells Jack to lie about the Island and everything that has happened in order to protect it. Ben escapes and they enter the Orchid station together, only to discover that the mercenary leader, Martin Keamy
(Kevin Durand
) survived his encounter with Ben and followed him back. Keamy warns Ben that he has a dead man's trigger on him and that if he dies everyone on the freighter will also, but Ben kills him anyway to avenge his daughter's death, much to Locke's horror. Ben then apologizes for making Locke's life miserable and tells Locke that he is the new leader of the Others. Locke joins the Others as Ben moves the Island, causing him to leave it.
Immediately after the Island is apparently moved, Locke finds himself along with the other island survivors traveling through time at random points indicated by a bright flash. Locke finds himself alone and sees the Beechcraft crash. Locke is then shot in the leg by Ethan and he interrogates him. Another flash takes Locke through time again. This time, he is found by Richard
(Nestor Carbonell
), who explains that he knew where to find him from Locke himself. He informs Locke that they will be strangers at their next meeting, and thus gives him a compass to get his younger self to trust Locke. He also tells Locke this is happening because of those that have left the Island. To get them to return, he will need to die. Later, Locke saves Juliet and Sawyer from three Others back in 1954, one of them being a young Charles Widmore. Locke convinces his group, consisting of Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel Faraday
(Jeremy Davies
), Miles Straume (Ken Leung
), and Charlotte Lewis
to go along with him to the Orchid station, hoping to stop the time flashes. After the group reunites with Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), they arrive at an ancient well which will lead to the Orchid station. Jin tells Locke to tell his wife Sun
(Yunjin Kim) that he (Jin) died and to give her his wedding ring as proof.
(Malcolm David Kelley
), Hurley, Kate and Jack, and unsuccessfully tells them all (with the exception of Walt) that they must return to the Island. Ben visits the in-despair Locke and tells him that he will help reunite the Oceanic Six, only for Ben to subsequently murder him. According to The Man in Black, Locke's final thoughts were "I don't understand." Jack is now convinced by Locke's visit to return to the island. He then attends Locke's wake. Ben later approaches Jack and informs him the only way to return to the Island is to bring everyone back, including Locke's corpse.
Locke's suicide note is given to Jack by Faraday's mother, Eloise Hawking. Locke's death was necessary so that his body would act as a proxy for Christian Shephard (whose body had been on the original flight) in order to as closely as possible recreate the conditions by which the Oceanic Six first found the Island. When Jack eventually brings himself to open the suicide note, it reads simply: "Jack, I wish that you had believed me. JL". After flight 316 crashes on the Hydra island near the main island, Locke appears to the survivors of the crash, resurrected.
his nemesis
, and the rival has Ben stab Jacob. The rival then pushes the body into the fire. Outside the chamber, survivors from Flight 316 arrive at the campsite, where they present Richard Alpert
with a box containing Locke's body, which was found in the plane's cargo hold. It is then revealed that Locke is in fact dead and the Smoke Monster has been impersonating him since his return to the island.
Locke is later buried near the original beach camp, and his eulogy is ironically given by Ben, who calls Locke a man of faith and a better man than he'll ever be. He also says that he is truly sorry for murdering him.
Following his return to the island, Jack begins to adopt a more faith-based outlook, in contrast to his previous empiricism-supported views, and is even resentful of the Man in Black for using Locke's appearance.
Locke had actually used a conference that his company had sent him to attend in Australia as his pretext to going to Australia in the first place. Instead of attending the conference, Locke tried to go on his walkabout, but was denied. His boss Randy casually fires him for this misuse of company travel time. After clearing out his desk, he heads to the parking lot, only to find a huge Hummer
blocking his van. He angrily slams on it, until Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, impeccably dressed, shows up; Hurley owns the box company as part of his wealth from owning the successful Mr. Cluck franchise. After an exchange about Randy, Hugo gives Locke the number to a temp agency that he also owns. Locke goes there and receives a work assignment, given by Rose Nadler, as a substitute teacher at a high school in Southern California. At the teacher's lounge, he meets a European history teacher in the form of Benjamin Linus.
One day, while eating lunch at the lounge, Locke suggests that Ben should apply for the position of the school's principal, because Ben is lamenting about the lack of care the current principal is showing for the school.
Helen, Locke's girlfriend, is alive and still with Locke. They are planning to marry in October 2004, and she indicates, when she suggests having a small wedding with only Locke's father and her parents present, that Locke's father may not be the cruel con artist they know him as before. But Locke, losing faith and his belief in miracles, confesses to her one day that he lost his job at the box company and he wishes Helen deserve someone better. Helen, telling him he is all she ever wanted, tears up Jack's business card and affirms that she loves only him, the way he is.
In the midst of Ben Linus' alternate reality segment, Desmond deliberately runs over Locke with his car in the school parking lot. Paramedics bring him to the hospital and admit him into surgery, where Jack is his surgeon. Jack recognizes Locke from the airport. He tells him that upon looking at his spinal injuries, he has concluded that he is a "candidate" for elective spinal correction surgery. However, Locke refuses the operation upon his request. After Jack does some fact finding and visits his father, Anthony Cooper, he returns to Locke and asks him how he became paralyzed. Locke tells him that it was from a plane crash. He had been taking private flying lessons and asked his father to be his first passenger on his first solo flight. Unfortunately, his plane crashed before taking flight, paralyzing both himself and Cooper (his father's injuries were much more substantial than his). Upon telling Jack his story, he leaves the hospital, listening to Jack tell him that he "wished he had believed in him."
Locke returned to the school and was welcomed back warmly by his co-workers. He wheeled into the teachers lounge and found a bloody-faced Ben, who had been in a fight with the same guy who ran Locke down. He told Locke that while he was being beaten he "saw" something. Ben told Locke that the man, Desmond, had told him that he was trying to get Locke to "let go," not to hurt him, and that for some reason he believed Desmond.
Later, John stopped by Jack's office. He remarked that he and Jack were on the same flight from Sydney, how of "all the doctors in Los Angeles," Jack happened to be the one to treat his injuries from being hit by a car. John went on to tell Jack that, earlier that day, the same man who had run him down in the car beat up one of John's co-workers, and the co-worker said that he wasn't there to hurt John, but to help him "let go." He added that maybe this was all happening for a reason, and Jack was "supposed" to fix him. Jack suggested that John was "mistaking coincidence with fate." John replied that whatever it was called, he was ready to get out of his wheelchair. Before the surgery, he says to Jack that, regarding the findings of his father's coffin, he hopes it brings him peace. Jack replies that if he can fix Locke it will be all the peace he needs.
After the operation, Locke revealed to Jack that he could feel his legs again. Wiggling his toes, he is overcome with memories of his life on the Island. He asked Jack if he saw the same vision, but Jack just says that he needs to get to his son. Locke tells Jack that he has no son, and he hopes someone can do for Jack what Jack just did for him.
As John approached the church where everyone is gathering, he passes Ben sitting outside. Ben tells Locke that he isn't ready to go inside yet. Ben tells Locke how deeply sorry he is for killing him, he wanted what John had. Locke asks "what did I have?" but says to Ben that he forgives him. Ben then tells Locke that he thinks he no longer needs to be in his chair. Locke warmly agrees and gets up, walking into the church after exchanging a goodbye with Ben. When Jack arrived, Locke walked up to Jack, saying "we've all been waiting for you." He sits in the pew adjacent to Jack and Kate at the front just before Christian Shephard allows the light to engulf the church allowing them to all move on.
had worked with Terry O'Quinn previously on Alias
. He was also the only actor who did not have to officially audition for a part of a main character. In the episode "Cabin Fever
", two actors play a younger Locke in flashbacks. Charles Wyson plays Locke at age five, while Caleb Steinmeyer plays Locke at age sixteen.
Locke was not originally written with his paralysis - while writing "Tabula Rasa
", Damon Lindelof
suggested that John Locke was in a wheelchair before going to the island, and while the rest of the writing team got initially shocked, they embraced the idea and decided to foreshadow it by featuring the wheelchair in the background of that episode.
Both John Locke and his alias, Jeremy Bentham
, are the names of British
philosophers. However, the ideas of these philosophers are unrelated to and in some cases clash with the character on the show. Specifically, Locke's views on religion and the character's affinity for mysticism cannot be reconciled.
The term Tabula Rasa
, is used as the title of the third episode of the first season. It refers to philosopher John Locke's tabula rasa
thesis, an empirical conception, that states that all individuals are born with a blank slate and build their bank of knowledge and their identity solely from their experiences and perceptions.
in 2007. IGN
named him as the #1 character from the first three seasons of Lost, and Entertainment Weekly
called him the sixty-third greatest character of all time in a list about both television and film. Also, he was #1 on Television Without Pity's list of the show's "10 Best Backstories” as well. TV Guide
ranked him the 32nd greatest television character ever, being the second of five Lost characters on the list.
The writing for Locke in "Through the Looking Glass
" was criticized, and one IGN writer said that "it seems irrational that he would go and [stab Naomi] in the back without explaining himself." Although not responding to the IGN comment, series co-creator, Damon Lindelof
, has stated, "we might be willing to give [Locke] the benefit of the doubt for any action he took in response to [lying, gutshot, in a pit of Dharma corpses for two days and on the verge of taking his own life], even if considered slightly 'out of character'."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
played by Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
. He is named after English philosopher John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
. In 2007, O'Quinn won the Emmy award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for acting in a supporting role
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series
This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.-1960s:*1960: no award*1961: Roddy McDowall – Not Without Honor*1962: no award*1963: no award...
for his portrayal of Locke.
In the first season of the show, Locke is introduced as a mysterious, intellectual and stoic
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
character with an affinity for living out in the wild, a penchant for hunting and tracking. He believes in mystical and spiritual explanations for why things happen on the island
Synchronicity
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner...
due to a self-described "miracle" happening to him after the crash of Oceanic 815. His stoicism and mystical outlook dominate his character and are the basis for many of his relationships and interactions on the show.
Prior to the crash
On May 30, 1956, John Locke was born to teenager Emily Locke in the foyer of Dr. Tyrone's Doktor's Association group. Even in his early years, he showed promise of being extremely smart. After being placed in government care as a ward of the state, he found himself in a variety of foster homes. At one of these homes he was visited by Richard AlpertRichard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
(Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
), who described Locke as "extremely special". Locke had a number of foster siblings over the years: Jeannie, who died as a child when she fell off of a set of monkey bars; Melissa, who was prone to bullying John; and an unnamed brother with whom Locke used to play the game mousetrap.
Years later, when working at a toy store, Locke was visited by his mother who told him that he was virginally conceived. Curious, Locke hired a private investigator to track down the location of his father, Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe
Kevin Tighe is an American character actor primarily known for his roles on television. Tighe is best known for his role as Roy DeSoto, a senior paramedic, on the NBC series Emergency! . He and Randolph Mantooth, his partner in the series, have remained close friends...
). Cooper warmly welcomed Locke into his life, and the two bonded over hunting trips. Cooper revealed he needed a kidney transplant, and Locke volunteered to donate one of his. Following the surgery, Cooper abandoned Locke and refused to see him, at which point Locke found out that his father purposefully conned him for his kidney. Locke became very depressed and eventually sought group therapy, where he met his future girlfriend Helen Norwood (Katey Sagal
Katey Sagal
Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first achieved widespread fame as Peggy Bundy on the long-running Fox comedy series Married.....
). Helen helped Locke overcome his obsession with his father, but when Cooper came to Locke for assistance and he helped him, Helen left him.
At some point after Helen left, Locke began living and working at a commune that grew pot in California, until the police began investigating it. Subsequent to this, he leaves.
Locke retreated into a life of solitude, until he was visited one day by a man, Peter Talbot, asking for information about "Adam Seward," who intended to marry the man's wealthy mother. Locke realized it was Cooper, met with him, and ordered him to not marry Peter's mother. Cooper killed Peter, and when Locke confronted him about the murder, Cooper pushed Locke out of a window, sending him tumbling eight stories to the sidewalk below. When Locke hit the ground, he was soon after touched by the mysterious island inhabitant Jacob (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
). Despite surviving the fall, Locke suffered a broken back, an injury that put him in a wheelchair.
While recovering in the hospital, a supposed orderly named Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
) visited Locke and told him to go on a walkabout
Walkabout
The walkabout is a purported Australian aboriginal ritual of manhood.Walkabout may also refer to:- Art :*Walkabout , a 1959 book written by James Vance Marshall, set in the Australian outback...
for a period of self-discovery. Once out of the hospital, Locke started working at a box company, where he was constantly insulted by his boss, Randy (Billy Ray Gallion
Billy Ray Gallion
Billy Ray Gallion played the character of Randy Nations in Lost. He appeared in the episodes "Walkabout", "Everybody Hates Hugo", "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead", "The Beginning of the End", and "The Substitute."- Source :...
). Locke then flew to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where he was denied admission on the walkabout because of his paraplegic state
Paraplegia
Paraplegia is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek: παραπληγίη "half-striking". It is usually the result of spinal cord injury or a congenital condition such as spina bifida that affects the neural elements of the spinal canal...
, so he was forced to board Oceanic Flight 815
Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
to return home.
On the island
After crashing on the Island in the fuselage section, Locke miraculously regains the use of the lower portion of his body below his waist. Locke visibly becomes the most spiritual toward the Island and has no intention of leaving it. It is then revealed that Locke is an expert at hunting and tracking. On a hunt he encounters the smoke monster, describing it as a "bright light". When Claire LittletonClaire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
) is abducted, Locke helps Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
), Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) and Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle is a fictional character played by Ian Somerhalder on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific. Boone is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepbrother of fellow crash survivor Shannon Rutherford...
(Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
) to look for her. Whilst searching, he and Boone discover the hatch, which they then spend most of their time trying to open. During this time, Boone becomes Locke's protégé and Locke tries to teach him the nature of the Island. When Locke has a vision one night of a Beechcraft crashing, Locke and Boone then go looking for the plane and discover it lodged atop a cliff. Boone climbs up into the plane, but it falls while he is still inside. Locke carries him back to the caves, then sneaks away to the hatch, where he bangs furiously on the door, devastated by Boone's death. Just as Locke loses hope, a light shines from the hatch, and Locke sees it as a sign. Locke returns to the beach in time for Boone's funeral, and reluctantly reveals the existence of the hatch. Due to Boone's death, Jack is no longer trusting of Locke and his motives. In order to open the hatch, the survivors are led by Danielle Rousseau to the wreckage of a 19th-century sailing ship known as the Black Rock, which has been somehow deposited several miles inland, and find some dynamite. Once they return to the Hatch, Locke uses the dynamite to blow it open.
Locke enters the hatch and discovers Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
), who shows Locke and Jack an orientation film explaining that the hatch was once used for studying electromagnetism and a specific series of numbers has to be entered into a computer terminal every 108 minutes to prevent an unspecified catastrophe. Seeing that his replacements have arrived, Desmond leaves. While Jack is reluctant to enter the numbers, Locke convinces him otherwise. Locke then arranges a schedule for people to take shifts in entering the numbers into the computer. When a man named "Henry Gale" (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
), arrives in the jungle (captured in a trap set by Danielle Rousseau), Locke holds him prisoner in the empty armory. The blast doors in the hatch all descend, and they end up falling on Locke's legs. Locke tasks Henry with entering the numbers in the computer. Locke notices a strange map drawn on one of the doors when the lights go out, which he manages to sketch after the blast doors rise again. Locke and the other survivors soon find out that Henry was lying about his identity and he is a member of The Others
The Others (Lost)
The Others are a group of fictional characters who inhabit the mysterious island in the American television series Lost. Most serve as antagonists to the series' main characters, although more recently they seem less hostile to the survivors of Flight 815 and have become their allies to overcome...
, but he refuses to speak to anyone but Locke. He taunts Locke by telling him that his people saw the hatch as a joke, and that he never entered the numbers in the computer, which results in Locke to start believing that the button is not real. When "Henry" escapes, Locke and Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
) enter the jungle to search him but find the "?" on Locke's map, where they discover the Pearl station, which explains that pushing the button is just to test the occupants of the hatch. While Locke believes that the button is fake, Eko feels the opposite. Locke abandons pushing the button, and he and the recently-returned Desmond sneak into the hatch to allow the timer to reach zero, but when the electromagnetic force builds up, Locke realizes that he has been wrong all along. Desmond then turns the fail-safe key that causes the hatch to implode.
Locke awakens in the jungle the next day, temporarily mute due to shock, and he builds a sweat lodge to induce a hallucination, in which Boone tells him to rescue Eko. In order to communicate with the Others to help the captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
), he and some of the other survivors travel to the Pearl station, where they rewire the circuits in the monitors to view surveillance from another hatch. They leave the station and discover Eko dead in the jungle. After burying him, Locke notices an inscription on Eko's prayer stick instructing him to go north. After Kate returns, she, Locke, Sayid
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
), and Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays the scientist who shipwrecks on the island sixteen...
(Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan is a Croatian actress and singer currently residing in the United States. She is well known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on all five seasons of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 , and Danielle Rousseau on Lost.-Early life:Furlan was born to an...
) go on a mission to rescue Jack from the Others. When they arrive at the Others' village, the Barracks, Locke finds Henry (whose actual name is Ben and is the leader of the Others). Locke takes Ben hostage and forces him to show him the location of the Others' submarine. Locke then uses some C-4 to blow up a submarine that Jack was going to use to get off of the Island, due to his belief everyone should stay on it because of destiny. After this, Ben shows him his father, Anthony Cooper, whom they have captured, and tells Locke that he can join the Others if he kills his father. Locke manipulates Sawyer into murdering Cooper for him, then carries the corpse to the Others' camp. He is taken by Ben to see Jacob, but Locke is shown only an empty chair in the filthy cabin. Locke enters a rage because of Ben's lie, then suddenly objects began to fly around of its own accord. Ben and Locke walk off, and they next visit a pit full of long-deceased Dharma members, where Ben shoots Locke, because Locke was able to hear Jacob, which threatens his own leadership of the Others. Locke is left for dead, but he wakes up days later. Locke contemplates suicide, but his faith is restored upon witnessing an apparition of Walt, who tells Locke that he 's got "work to do". He makes his way to where Jack has taken the survivors, and kills Naomi, a woman from the freighter, whom he believes has brought danger to the Island. He asks Jack not to communicate with the nearby freighter, but Jack ignores him and contacts it. Locke goes back to the beach camp, hoping to gain support from some of the other survivors.
Jack then finds Locke, takes his gun, and pulls the trigger, discovering that it is unloaded. Because of this incident and Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
's (Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) warning, the survivors split into two groups, with those believing the people from the freighter to be dangerous joining Locke. People in Locke's group include Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
), Sawyer, Claire, Ben, Rousseau, and Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde is an American actress. Raymonde's first prominent casting role was the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders in TV series Malcolm in the Middle between 2000–2003, followed by a popular role as Alex Rousseau in ABC's Lost from 2006 to 2010.She can currently be seen as UTF officer...
). Locke attempts to carry out the work he was told to do by Walt. In order to do this he has to go to Jacob for advice, but is unable to find Jacob's cabin, so they proceed to the Barracks. For the first few days there, Ben continually taunts Locke for not having a plan, but Ben eventually explains that Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. He is primarily portrayed as an older man by Alan Dale; Tom Connolly and David S...
(Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
) is the man who sent the freighter, and that he wants to exploit the Island. After the village is ambushed by a group from the freighter and most of Locke's group is killed (including Rousseau and Alex), Locke leads Ben and Hurley to look for the cabin again, since Hurley claimed to see it. Locke has a dream in which the Dharma Initiative member who built the cabin (Horace Goodspeed - Doug Hutchinson
Doug Hutchinson
Doug Hutchinson is the mayor of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado and the leader of Fort Collins' seven-member city council in a town with a council-manager form of government.-Early life and career:...
) tells him that Jacob is waiting for him. In the pit containing the bodies of the Dharma Initiative members, Locke finds a map to the cabin, which Locke, Ben, and Hurley follow. Inside the cabin, Locke does not meet Jacob, but rather Christian Shephard
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
(John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
) and Claire. They tell him that to save the Island he must move it. Ben leads Locke and Hurley to a Dharma station known as the Orchid that will be able to do this, but discovers the mercenaries from the freighter waiting for Ben there, so Ben turns himself over and instructs Locke how to get in the actual station. After failing to find it, Jack arrives and Locke tries to convince Jack not to leave. Unsuccessful, he tells Jack to lie about the Island and everything that has happened in order to protect it. Ben escapes and they enter the Orchid station together, only to discover that the mercenary leader, Martin Keamy
Martin Keamy
First Sergeant Martin Christopher Keamy is a recurring fictional character played by Kevin Durand in the fourth season and sixth season of the American ABC television series Lost. Keamy is introduced in the fifth episode of the fourth season as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana...
(Kevin Durand
Kevin Durand
Kevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Archangel Gabriel in Legion, and Little John in Robin Hood....
) survived his encounter with Ben and followed him back. Keamy warns Ben that he has a dead man's trigger on him and that if he dies everyone on the freighter will also, but Ben kills him anyway to avenge his daughter's death, much to Locke's horror. Ben then apologizes for making Locke's life miserable and tells Locke that he is the new leader of the Others. Locke joins the Others as Ben moves the Island, causing him to leave it.
Immediately after the Island is apparently moved, Locke finds himself along with the other island survivors traveling through time at random points indicated by a bright flash. Locke finds himself alone and sees the Beechcraft crash. Locke is then shot in the leg by Ethan and he interrogates him. Another flash takes Locke through time again. This time, he is found by Richard
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
(Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
), who explains that he knew where to find him from Locke himself. He informs Locke that they will be strangers at their next meeting, and thus gives him a compass to get his younger self to trust Locke. He also tells Locke this is happening because of those that have left the Island. To get them to return, he will need to die. Later, Locke saves Juliet and Sawyer from three Others back in 1954, one of them being a young Charles Widmore. Locke convinces his group, consisting of Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel Faraday
Daniel Faraday
Dr. Daniel Faraday, often referred to as Dan or simply by his surname, Faraday, is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the season four premiere as a physicist, suffering from memory loss, and is part of the team aboard the ...
(Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies
Father Jeremy Davies , an English Roman Catholic priest whose parish is based around Old Hall Green, is a former doctor and also a leading exorcist....
), Miles Straume (Ken Leung
Ken Leung
Kenneth "Ken" Leung is an American actor best known for his role as Miles Straume in the ABC television series Lost and roles in such films as Shanghai Kiss, Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Saw.-Early life:...
), and Charlotte Lewis
Charlotte Lewis (Lost)
Dr. Charlotte Staples Lewis is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost, played by Rebecca Mader. Charlotte is introduced in the second episode of season four and is a cultural anthropologist on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed...
to go along with him to the Orchid station, hoping to stop the time flashes. After the group reunites with Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), they arrive at an ancient well which will lead to the Orchid station. Jin tells Locke to tell his wife Sun
Sun Kwon
Sun-Hwa Kwon better known simply as "Sun", is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Yunjin Kim.-Prior to the crash:...
(Yunjin Kim) that he (Jin) died and to give her his wedding ring as proof.
After the island
Locke leaves the Island at Christian's behest via the Orchid Station and emerges about 3 years in the future. Charles Widmore makes contact with Locke, provides him with the alias "Jeremy Bentham", and assigns Matthew Abaddon as his assistant to find the survivors that left the island, also known as the Oceanic Six. Locke visits Sayid, Walt LloydWalt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
(Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley is an American teen actor. He starred in the 2004 film You Got Served as "Li'l Saint". He also appears in the television series Lost as the character Walt Lloyd. A regular cast member in the show's first season , he has appeared only occasionally since due to a dramatic...
), Hurley, Kate and Jack, and unsuccessfully tells them all (with the exception of Walt) that they must return to the Island. Ben visits the in-despair Locke and tells him that he will help reunite the Oceanic Six, only for Ben to subsequently murder him. According to The Man in Black, Locke's final thoughts were "I don't understand." Jack is now convinced by Locke's visit to return to the island. He then attends Locke's wake. Ben later approaches Jack and informs him the only way to return to the Island is to bring everyone back, including Locke's corpse.
Locke's suicide note is given to Jack by Faraday's mother, Eloise Hawking. Locke's death was necessary so that his body would act as a proxy for Christian Shephard (whose body had been on the original flight) in order to as closely as possible recreate the conditions by which the Oceanic Six first found the Island. When Jack eventually brings himself to open the suicide note, it reads simply: "Jack, I wish that you had believed me. JL". After flight 316 crashes on the Hydra island near the main island, Locke appears to the survivors of the crash, resurrected.
Back on the island
He and Ben later leave for the Island, where Ben is ordered by the smoke monster, under the guise of his dead daughter, to do everything Locke asks of him. Locke and Ben then locate the Others' camp, and are reunited with Richard. Locke demands a meeting with Jacob, which Richard agrees to arrange. Together with Sun and the rest of the Others, the group makes their way to the base of a giant statue. Ben and Locke confront Jacob in his chamber. Jacob identifies this Locke ashis nemesis
Man in Black (Lost)
The entity referred to most frequently as the Man in Black is a fictional character on the American ABC television series Lost, and is the main antagonist of the...
, and the rival has Ben stab Jacob. The rival then pushes the body into the fire. Outside the chamber, survivors from Flight 316 arrive at the campsite, where they present Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
with a box containing Locke's body, which was found in the plane's cargo hold. It is then revealed that Locke is in fact dead and the Smoke Monster has been impersonating him since his return to the island.
Locke is later buried near the original beach camp, and his eulogy is ironically given by Ben, who calls Locke a man of faith and a better man than he'll ever be. He also says that he is truly sorry for murdering him.
Following his return to the island, Jack begins to adopt a more faith-based outlook, in contrast to his previous empiricism-supported views, and is even resentful of the Man in Black for using Locke's appearance.
Afterlife
In the alternate timeline, Locke is still paralyzed and does not go on the walkabout. He flies back on Oceanic 815 and sits next to Boone. They talk and Locke claims that he went on a walkabout. Boone ironically claims that he will stick with Locke if the plane crashes, but in this alternate universe, the plane does not crash. Once the plane lands, Locke's suitcase of knives does not make it back with him and he meets Jack in the lost luggage department. Jack is in turmoil since the airline lost his father's coffin and tells Locke this story. Locke consoles Jack that they didn't lose his father, rather just the body. Grateful for these words of comfort, Jack asks Locke how he got in the wheelchair, but Locke, instead of revealing the reason, claims that his condition is irreversible, to which Jack respond "Nothing is irreversible". Jack then hands him a business card and tells him to call in order to receive a free consult to see if he can fix Locke's paralysis. The two introduce themselves and part ways.Locke had actually used a conference that his company had sent him to attend in Australia as his pretext to going to Australia in the first place. Instead of attending the conference, Locke tried to go on his walkabout, but was denied. His boss Randy casually fires him for this misuse of company travel time. After clearing out his desk, he heads to the parking lot, only to find a huge Hummer
Hummer
Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the Humvee; and the H2 and H3 models that were...
blocking his van. He angrily slams on it, until Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, impeccably dressed, shows up; Hurley owns the box company as part of his wealth from owning the successful Mr. Cluck franchise. After an exchange about Randy, Hugo gives Locke the number to a temp agency that he also owns. Locke goes there and receives a work assignment, given by Rose Nadler, as a substitute teacher at a high school in Southern California. At the teacher's lounge, he meets a European history teacher in the form of Benjamin Linus.
One day, while eating lunch at the lounge, Locke suggests that Ben should apply for the position of the school's principal, because Ben is lamenting about the lack of care the current principal is showing for the school.
Helen, Locke's girlfriend, is alive and still with Locke. They are planning to marry in October 2004, and she indicates, when she suggests having a small wedding with only Locke's father and her parents present, that Locke's father may not be the cruel con artist they know him as before. But Locke, losing faith and his belief in miracles, confesses to her one day that he lost his job at the box company and he wishes Helen deserve someone better. Helen, telling him he is all she ever wanted, tears up Jack's business card and affirms that she loves only him, the way he is.
In the midst of Ben Linus' alternate reality segment, Desmond deliberately runs over Locke with his car in the school parking lot. Paramedics bring him to the hospital and admit him into surgery, where Jack is his surgeon. Jack recognizes Locke from the airport. He tells him that upon looking at his spinal injuries, he has concluded that he is a "candidate" for elective spinal correction surgery. However, Locke refuses the operation upon his request. After Jack does some fact finding and visits his father, Anthony Cooper, he returns to Locke and asks him how he became paralyzed. Locke tells him that it was from a plane crash. He had been taking private flying lessons and asked his father to be his first passenger on his first solo flight. Unfortunately, his plane crashed before taking flight, paralyzing both himself and Cooper (his father's injuries were much more substantial than his). Upon telling Jack his story, he leaves the hospital, listening to Jack tell him that he "wished he had believed in him."
Locke returned to the school and was welcomed back warmly by his co-workers. He wheeled into the teachers lounge and found a bloody-faced Ben, who had been in a fight with the same guy who ran Locke down. He told Locke that while he was being beaten he "saw" something. Ben told Locke that the man, Desmond, had told him that he was trying to get Locke to "let go," not to hurt him, and that for some reason he believed Desmond.
Later, John stopped by Jack's office. He remarked that he and Jack were on the same flight from Sydney, how of "all the doctors in Los Angeles," Jack happened to be the one to treat his injuries from being hit by a car. John went on to tell Jack that, earlier that day, the same man who had run him down in the car beat up one of John's co-workers, and the co-worker said that he wasn't there to hurt John, but to help him "let go." He added that maybe this was all happening for a reason, and Jack was "supposed" to fix him. Jack suggested that John was "mistaking coincidence with fate." John replied that whatever it was called, he was ready to get out of his wheelchair. Before the surgery, he says to Jack that, regarding the findings of his father's coffin, he hopes it brings him peace. Jack replies that if he can fix Locke it will be all the peace he needs.
After the operation, Locke revealed to Jack that he could feel his legs again. Wiggling his toes, he is overcome with memories of his life on the Island. He asked Jack if he saw the same vision, but Jack just says that he needs to get to his son. Locke tells Jack that he has no son, and he hopes someone can do for Jack what Jack just did for him.
As John approached the church where everyone is gathering, he passes Ben sitting outside. Ben tells Locke that he isn't ready to go inside yet. Ben tells Locke how deeply sorry he is for killing him, he wanted what John had. Locke asks "what did I have?" but says to Ben that he forgives him. Ben then tells Locke that he thinks he no longer needs to be in his chair. Locke warmly agrees and gets up, walking into the church after exchanging a goodbye with Ben. When Jack arrived, Locke walked up to Jack, saying "we've all been waiting for you." He sits in the pew adjacent to Jack and Kate at the front just before Christian Shephard allows the light to engulf the church allowing them to all move on.
Development and casting
Lost creator J. J. AbramsJ. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
had worked with Terry O'Quinn previously on Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
. He was also the only actor who did not have to officially audition for a part of a main character. In the episode "Cabin Fever
Cabin Fever (Lost)
"Cabin Fever" is the 11th episode of the American Broadcasting Company's fourth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 83rd episode overall. It was aired on May 8, 2008 on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. The episode was written by supervising producer Elizabeth...
", two actors play a younger Locke in flashbacks. Charles Wyson plays Locke at age five, while Caleb Steinmeyer plays Locke at age sixteen.
Locke was not originally written with his paralysis - while writing "Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa (Lost)
"Tabula Rasa" is the third episode of the first season of Lost. It was directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof. It first aired on October 6, 2004 on ABC...
", Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
suggested that John Locke was in a wheelchair before going to the island, and while the rest of the writing team got initially shocked, they embraced the idea and decided to foreshadow it by featuring the wheelchair in the background of that episode.
Both John Locke and his alias, Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
, are the names of British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
philosophers. However, the ideas of these philosophers are unrelated to and in some cases clash with the character on the show. Specifically, Locke's views on religion and the character's affinity for mysticism cannot be reconciled.
The term Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa (Lost)
"Tabula Rasa" is the third episode of the first season of Lost. It was directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof. It first aired on October 6, 2004 on ABC...
, is used as the title of the third episode of the first season. It refers to philosopher John Locke's tabula rasa
Tabula rasa
Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects...
thesis, an empirical conception, that states that all individuals are born with a blank slate and build their bank of knowledge and their identity solely from their experiences and perceptions.
Reception
Response to O'Quinn's performance has been generally positive. His role as John Locke won the actor an Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 2007. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
named him as the #1 character from the first three seasons of Lost, and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called him the sixty-third greatest character of all time in a list about both television and film. Also, he was #1 on Television Without Pity's list of the show's "10 Best Backstories” as well. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
ranked him the 32nd greatest television character ever, being the second of five Lost characters on the list.
The writing for Locke in "Through the Looking Glass
Through the Looking Glass (Lost)
"Through the Looking Glass" is the third season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 22nd and 23rd episodes of the third season. It is also the 71st and 72nd episodes overall. It was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse,...
" was criticized, and one IGN writer said that "it seems irrational that he would go and [stab Naomi] in the back without explaining himself." Although not responding to the IGN comment, series co-creator, Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
, has stated, "we might be willing to give [Locke] the benefit of the doubt for any action he took in response to [lying, gutshot, in a pit of Dharma corpses for two days and on the verge of taking his own life], even if considered slightly 'out of character'."