Deus Ex Machina (Lost)
Encyclopedia
"Deus Ex Machina
" (from Latin, meaning "god from the machine") is the 19th episode of the first season of Lost
. The episode was directed by Robert Mandel
and written by Carlton Cuse
and Damon Lindelof
. It first aired on March 30, 2005 on ABC
. The character of John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
) in the discount superstore in which he works. After an initial meeting, Locke later notices this same woman watching him in the store's parking lot. He chases after her to confront her and she explains that she is his birth mother, Emily Locke. Locke asks about his father and Emily claims that Locke doesn’t have a father because he was immaculately conceived. Undeterred, Locke hires a private investigator who finds Locke's father, Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe
). When Locke visits his father's affluent home he is welcomed with open arms. Locke forms a strong relationship with his father, who now frequently takes him hunting. One day Locke arrives at the home early and discovers his father receiving dialysis
. Eventually Locke offers one of his kidneys to save his father. After the surgery, Locke wakes up in the hospital to find that his father has discharged himself home for private care and abandoned him. Emily arrives to explain that when Anthony realized he needed a kidney, he tracked down their son and paid her to make contact with him, presumably for the sole purpose of getting the transplant. Devastated, Locke pulls himself out of the hospital bed and drives to his father's home, but is regretfully turned away by the gate guard, with whom he has become friendly. As he drives away, Locke breaks down over the betrayal.
(Ian Somerhalder
) build a trebuchet
in an effort to break open the hatch window. When this fails, an exasperated Locke pounds the hatch. Boone notices a shard in Locke's leg but Locke says he feels no pain and that night he discovers he's losing the feeling in his legs.
Meanwhile, Sawyer is suffering from headaches and Jack realizes that he is far-sighted, and requires glasses as he has been reading a lot since arriving on the island. With Sayid, he uses some of the spare glasses from the wreckage to separate and rejoin a pair of plastic glasses at the bridge with a heated knife for Sawyer to read with.
That night, in a dream, Locke tells Boone that the island will send them a sign, at which point he notices a Beechcraft 18 crash in the jungle. The dream also reveals a secret about Boone. Awaking early the next day, Locke and Boone head out in search of the aircraft. When Boone doubts him, Locke mentions the secret he learned from his dream, leading Boone to follow Locke on the hunt. They encounter a decayed body in a Catholic priest's clothing, but carrying a gun. After some searching, they discover the plane itself unsteadily lodged in the jungle tree canopy high above. Locke has lost use of his legs and asks Boone to climb up to check the plane. In the plane Boone discovers a trove of statues of the Virgin Mary filled with heroin, the body of another "priest", and a working radio. Boone sends out a distress call on the radio and a male voice answers, "Is someone out there?" to which Boone responds, "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." He hears the reply, "WE'RE the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." At this point the teetering plane shifts from Boone's movements and suddenly falls to earth, crashing nose first. Frantically, Locke struggles to his feet, hoists a critically injured Boone on his shoulders, and returns to the camp.
Locke carries Boone to the cave and lies to Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
), telling him that Boone fell from a cliff while they were hunting. Jack begins treating Boone, and Locke disappears into the jungle to return to the hatch. Pounding on the door and screaming in anguish atop the hatch, Locke laments what has happened. Suddenly the hatch window is illuminated.
& "Hearts and Minds
" writer Carlton Cuse
. They would go on to become the series' showrunners and writers of iconic episodes such as "Through The Looking Glass
" and "The Constant".
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
" (from Latin, meaning "god from the machine") is the 19th episode of the first season of 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...
. The episode was directed by Robert Mandel
Robert Mandel
Robert Mandel is a film producer and director and television director from Oakland, California. He is best known for his film School Ties, which launched the careers of Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser and Chris O'Donnell.-Biography:...
and written by Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
and 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...
. It first aired on March 30, 2005 on 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...
. The character of John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
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...
(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,...
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
Flashbacks
In flashbacks, a younger Locke meets a mysterious woman (Swoosie KurtzSwoosie Kurtz
Swoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters...
) in the discount superstore in which he works. After an initial meeting, Locke later notices this same woman watching him in the store's parking lot. He chases after her to confront her and she explains that she is his birth mother, Emily Locke. Locke asks about his father and Emily claims that Locke doesn’t have a father because he was immaculately conceived. Undeterred, Locke hires a private investigator who finds Locke's 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...
). When Locke visits his father's affluent home he is welcomed with open arms. Locke forms a strong relationship with his father, who now frequently takes him hunting. One day Locke arrives at the home early and discovers his father receiving dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...
. Eventually Locke offers one of his kidneys to save his father. After the surgery, Locke wakes up in the hospital to find that his father has discharged himself home for private care and abandoned him. Emily arrives to explain that when Anthony realized he needed a kidney, he tracked down their son and paid her to make contact with him, presumably for the sole purpose of getting the transplant. Devastated, Locke pulls himself out of the hospital bed and drives to his father's home, but is regretfully turned away by the gate guard, with whom he has become friendly. As he drives away, Locke breaks down over the betrayal.
On the Island
On the island, Locke and Boone CarlyleBoone 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:...
) build a trebuchet
Trebuchet
A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
in an effort to break open the hatch window. When this fails, an exasperated Locke pounds the hatch. Boone notices a shard in Locke's leg but Locke says he feels no pain and that night he discovers he's losing the feeling in his legs.
Meanwhile, Sawyer is suffering from headaches and Jack realizes that he is far-sighted, and requires glasses as he has been reading a lot since arriving on the island. With Sayid, he uses some of the spare glasses from the wreckage to separate and rejoin a pair of plastic glasses at the bridge with a heated knife for Sawyer to read with.
That night, in a dream, Locke tells Boone that the island will send them a sign, at which point he notices a Beechcraft 18 crash in the jungle. The dream also reveals a secret about Boone. Awaking early the next day, Locke and Boone head out in search of the aircraft. When Boone doubts him, Locke mentions the secret he learned from his dream, leading Boone to follow Locke on the hunt. They encounter a decayed body in a Catholic priest's clothing, but carrying a gun. After some searching, they discover the plane itself unsteadily lodged in the jungle tree canopy high above. Locke has lost use of his legs and asks Boone to climb up to check the plane. In the plane Boone discovers a trove of statues of the Virgin Mary filled with heroin, the body of another "priest", and a working radio. Boone sends out a distress call on the radio and a male voice answers, "Is someone out there?" to which Boone responds, "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." He hears the reply, "WE'RE the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." At this point the teetering plane shifts from Boone's movements and suddenly falls to earth, crashing nose first. Frantically, Locke struggles to his feet, hoists a critically injured Boone on his shoulders, and returns to the camp.
Locke carries Boone to the cave and lies to 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 :...
), telling him that Boone fell from a cliff while they were hunting. Jack begins treating Boone, and Locke disappears into the jungle to return to the hatch. Pounding on the door and screaming in anguish atop the hatch, Locke laments what has happened. Suddenly the hatch window is illuminated.
Production
This was the first episode to be written by creator Damon LindelofDamon 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...
& "Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds (Lost)
"Hearts and Minds" is the 13th episode of the first season of Lost. The episode was directed by Rod Holcomb and written by Carlton Cuse and Javier Grillo-Marxuach. It first aired on January 12, 2005 on ABC...
" writer Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
. They would go on to become the series' showrunners and writers of iconic episodes such as "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,...
" and "The Constant".