The 23rd Psalm
Air Date: 01/11/2006
When Eko learns about the iconoclastic Virgin Mary statues, he reacts violently and smashes one open, revealing its contents to Claire. Claire won't speak to Charlie, reminding him that he's an addict. But Charlie lies and says he didn't know that there was heroin inside. Their conversation is interrupted by Eko, who demands to be taken to the place where the statues were discovered - the plane.
And in FLASHBACK, we learn that Eko knows all of this because this is the very plane that he intended to use to smuggle the drugs from his home in Nigeria.
It seems that when Eko was a young boy, the Nigerian militia came into his town, interrupted an innocent game of soccer, shoved a gun into his little brother Yemi's hand and demanded that Yemi shoot a man or they would kill him instead. Eko steps up and spares his little brother this horror by killing the man himself. The thugs recognize his bravery and give him the name of Mr. Eko - "a born killer" - thus initiating him as one of their own. They rip a gold cross hanging from Eko's neck and lead him away. His little brother Yemi picks up the cross and puts it around his own neck.
Eko continues down this path into adulthood, becoming a drug dealer, while Yemi grows up to be a priest. Eko devises a plan in which he will buy 300 Virgin Mary statues from the church and smuggle his drugs out inside them on one of the church's relief planes - all the while disguised as a priest. Yemi refuses the deal, but Eko reminds him that the money can be used to buy polio vaccine for the village and finally resorts to blackmail, threatening to burn down the church if his brother doesn't agree.
Yemi attempts to stop Eko from taking the fateful flight, but gets shot in the process and is pulled on board, leaving Eko behind. When the military police arrive, Eko assumes his brother's identity as a priest - the identity he commands on the island.
Eko's past is brought to life when he and Charlie trek out to the plane, and in a strange island twist of fate, discover the body of his brother onboard, identified by the gold cross adorning his neck. Eko weeps over Yemi's body, says a prayer, then burns the plane and all of its contents - except for one statue, which he gives to Charlie in return for the one he broke.
Meanwhile, as the new people settle in, Locke feels the need to secure access to the guns and locks them in the armory. But Michael has other ideas - he wants to learn how to shoot. And though Locke knows Michael intends to go out in search of Walt, with whom he has been communicating with over the computer, he obliges.
When Charlie returns to camp, he swears to Claire that he isn't using and that he doesn't want to be kept away from Aaron. But that night, he treks out into the middle of the jungle and hides his statue amongst several other statues, his demons ever present…
Observations and speculation:
--When we first met Eko a few episodes back it seemed at first he might be one of the Nigerian drug dealers mentioned in the first season. But it soon became apparent he might be a priest. Then, last night, it became clear he was a drug dealer. And a priest!
--The Black Smoke Monster didn't abduct or hurt Eko, merely "analyzed" him. When the smoke covered his head, quick images from Eko's flashback appeared almost subliminally on the screen. Freeze-framing, we saw scenes of his brother, the church, a statue of Christ. What was the monster checking for? Why did Eko pass the test where, previously, it seemed like the monster hurt or "took" people? Remember last season, when it tried to pull Locke down into that hole? More thoughts.
--Check out these "Black Smoke" screen captures posted at 4815162342.com:
--Looks like Charlie's keeping his options open re: using heroin again.
--Is that really Walt talking to Michael over the computer, or is somebody pretending to be Walt?
--Charlie and Eko recite the 23rd Psalm. 23 is, of course, one of Hurley's mystery numbers. However, they recited it a bit wrong.
--There's more child snatching in this episode: Eko as a youth is taken away from his community/brother. On the island, of course, we've seen Walt taken, Claire's baby taken and the child survivors from the tail section taken.
--Both Charlie and Eko had brother issues. Early in the episode, Charlie is singing a tune by the Kinks--a band with serious brother issues.
--Do the weird "electromagnetic" features of the island apply to people? Consider: All the connections between the various characters. The fact that Jack and Desmond meet again on the island. Eko apparently is "brought" to the island years after his brother's plane crashes there. Are mysterious forces bringing these people together, just as a magnet attracts metal?
Other stuff:
--Screen captures from last night's episode and caps from the teaser for next week's show.
--The trailer for next week's show.
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