A 121-Episode ‘Misplaced’ Rewatch Proves This Sci-Fi Character Was Utterly Doomed From the Begin

Few exhibits in tv historical past have delivered character arcs as memorable as those on Misplaced. Throughout six seasons, the collection constructed an iconic ensemble that carried the present even when its sci-fi parts drifted into extra summary territory. However revisiting the collection greater than twenty years after its premiere, no character is recontextualized extra dramatically than John Locke (Terry O’Quinn). At first look, Misplaced frames Locke as one thing near a miracle — a person who embraces the Island with near-religious conviction, satisfied he has been chosen for the next objective. However if you rewatch MisplacedLocke’s story feels much more devastating.

John Locke’s Previous Reveals a Lifetime of Tragedy on ‘Misplaced’

One of many strongest twists in Misplaced’s early seasons arrives within the Season 1 episode “Walkabout,” after we be taught that John Locke had been paralyzed earlier than the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. The reveal utterly reframes the whole lot audiences thought they understood about him in the course of the present’s opening episodes. What initially seems to be like a assured survivalist who will likely be an instantaneous asset to the opposite castaways instantly turns into one thing much more emotional: a person experiencing what seems like a miracle.

Figuring out that context makes earlier moments within the pilot land very otherwise on a rewatch. When Locke seems to be down at his legs and slowly wiggles his toes, it’s a life-changing realization. Solely hours earlier, he had been carried onto the aircraft in a wheelchair. Now, even as chaos unfolds round him after the crash, Locke is experiencing essentially the most profound second of his life. Often known as among the best episodes of the collection, “Walkabout” units the stage for Locke’s difficult relationship with the Island and his rising perception that he has been chosen for one thing better.

However Locke’s flashbacks reveal that his life earlier than the Island was outlined by betrayal and disappointment. Deserted at beginning and raised in foster houses, he spent years trying to find a connection to the dad and mom he by no means knew. When he lastly finds his organic father, Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe), the reunion turns into one more devastating betrayal. Cooper manipulates Locke into donating a kidney earlier than later pushing him out of a window, leaving him completely paralyzed. Seen via that lens, Locke’s religion within the Island makes tragic sense. To him, the Island represents objective and the prospect to lastly really feel particular. Nonetheless, that perception in the end leaves him weak to manipulation, together with the lengthy recreation performed by the Man in Black (Titus Welliver).

John Locke’s Religion Was At all times His Best Weak point on ‘Misplaced’

What makes Locke’s story so heartbreaking is how typically his religion leads him within the improper course. All through Misplacedhe repeatedly locations his belief within the Island’s supposed future — even when that perception alienates the opposite survivors. Lots of his selections frustrate viewers within the second, from destroying the submarine to obsessively chasing the Island’s mythologyhowever these decisions are rooted in a lifetime of emotional scars. Locke desires desperately to consider he’s the person the Island believes him to be, but the wounded man he was earlier than the crash by no means really disappears.

That desperation in the end makes him weak to manipulation, particularly by the Man in Blackwho later makes use of Locke’s id as a part of his bigger plan. Off the Island, Locke, now going by the alias Jeremy Bentham, tries unsuccessfully to persuade the Oceanic Six to return. After failing, he falls into despair, solely to be murdered by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) simply as he begins to rethink his destiny. By the point the total scope of his story turns into clear, it’s apparent that the future Locke believed in was by no means really his.

And but, none of Locke’s story would resonate with out Terry O’Quinn’s extraordinary efficiency. O’Quinn performs Locke with a uncommon mixture of sincerity, hope, and quiet heartbreak that retains audiences invested even when the character makes misguided or irritating decisions. He grounds Locke in one thing deeply human as a person who really believes he has lastly discovered his objective. That’s what makes Locke’s downfall so devastating, and why, even in spite of everything these yearshis story stays one in every of Misplaced’s most unforgettable tragedies.