Television Review: The Brig (Lost, S3X19, 2007)

The Brig (S03E19)

Airdate: 2 May 2007

Written by: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Directed by: Eric Launeville

Running Time: 41 minutes

In the murky waters of television drama, particularly when discussing a series as labyrinthine and often frustrating as Lost, the value of an episode that actually bothers to advance the plot and close some long-standing character arcs cannot be overstated. While the show often dabbled in the philosophical and the cryptic, the best parts of Lost—at least during the middle stages of its run—were those moments where the writers stopped teasing and started delivering. Season 3, Episode 19, The Brig is a shining example of this approach. It provided long-sought catharsis for viewers without resorting to the kind of "clever" twists that often plagued the narrative, and much to its creators’ credit, it aired during the regular season rather than trying to stuff this crucial content into a season or series finale, a lazy tactic employed by many other shows to artificially inflate their drama.

The episode is nominally focused on John Locke, whose relatively long absence from the beach camp and his decision to follow the Others instead of rejoining Jack, Sayid, and Kate had left viewers questioning his true alignment and loyalty. For a character who had spent seasons claiming to be special and chosen, his time away needed to be explained, and The Brig provides those answers in a satisfying, if brutal, fashion. It begins on the beach with Sawyer, fresh from another night of sex with Kate, venturing into the jungle to relieve herself, only to be approached by Locke, who suddenly materialises from the shadows. He claims to have turned on the Others and captured Ben Linus, the island's mysterious leader. Locke needs Sawyer to kill Ben. Sawyer is naturally distrustful, yet he is intrigued after hearing Locke recount the story of how Sawyer killed a man in Sydney, a fact that Sawyer had long forgotten but which served as a catalyst for his decision to follow Locke. They make their way to the wreck of the Black Rock, an ancient ship grounded deep in the jungle, where Locke reveals he keeps Ben in the ship's brig. The dynamic shifts dramatically when Locke tricks Sawyer into being locked in the brig with a restrained man wearing a bag over his head, leaving Sawyer to wonder if he has walked into another trap.

The man in the bag is not Ben, and this revelation, while perhaps unsurprising to those who have watched the flashbacks that start eight days earlier, sets the stage for one of the most cathartic moments in the series' history. The flashbacks take us back to the Barracks, where Locke confronts his father, Anthony Cooper, in an encounter that is hostile from the very start. Cooper bites the hand of his son the moment the gag is removed from his mouth, establishing a relationship defined by violence and contempt. Ben, observing this, explains that for Locke to be accepted into the Others' group, he must demonstrate commitment, which includes a very public killing of his father. The spectacle ends poorly for Locke, who cannot bring himself to do it, allowing Ben to proclaim him "not the man they thought he was." This humiliation is a turning point for Locke's character arc, as he is forced to confront his own inadequacies. Richard Alpert later approaches Locke and reveals that many in the camp are unhappy with Ben, who deliberately staged the whole affair to humiliate Locke and protect his own authority. Discreetly, Richard hands Locke files on Sawyer, setting the stage for the events in the brig. The camp moves on, with Ben telling Locke to not bother following them unless he carries the dead body of his father on him.

Back in the brig, Sawyer slowly realises that the restrained man is actually Anthony Cooper, the man responsible for the tragic death of his parents and the con man known as "Tom Sawyer" whom he had spent his life trying to locate and confront. Cooper isn't scared; instead, he is defiant, having apparently been brought to the Island after hearing news reports about the wreck of Oceanic Flight 815 being discovered with everyone dead. Finding himself in what he believes to be a "pirate ship," he concludes he is already dead and in Hell. He disdainfully refuses to show any remorse for his actions. When Sawyer finally gives Cooper the letter he had carried with him all of his life, Cooper rips it apart, a gesture that sends Sawyer into a fury. In a scene of primal violence, Sawyer strangles Cooper with chains, finally exacting the revenge that had haunted him for years. It is a moment of absolute liberation. Locke, having heard the commotion, opens the brig and tells Sawyer to return to the camp and warn the survivors that Juliet is an infiltrator and that the Others are planning a raid to take the pregnant women in three days' time. He provides a tape recording as evidence.

Meanwhile, on the beach, a different set of tensions is simmering. Desmond, Jin, Charlie, and Hurley have smuggled an injured female parachutist to safety. She reveals her name is Naomi Dorritt and that she was hired by Penny Widmore to locate Desmond, having flown a helicopter from a freighter ship eighty nautical miles west of the Island. The quartet decides not to tell Jack about this, questioning his loyalty due to his apparent fondness for Juliet. They inform Sayid about it, who attempts to fix Naomi's satellite phone, while Kate also learns the secret and confronts Jack, who apparently shares some important secret of his own with Juliet.

Written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the episode finally gives the audience something they had been craving for a long time: some sort of closure. Sawyer, who starts the episode in a relatively happy place—a tent with Kate—finally confronts and exercises the ghost of his past, being on the way to becoming James Ford again. He does this symbolically with chains in a slave ship, a powerful visual metaphor for his liberation. The scene is matched only by the strong performance of Josh Holloway, who conveys a mixture of grief and triumph. The acting by Kevin Tighe, one of the most effective character actors of his generation, is equally impressive. He delivers a powerful performance as a defiant, unrepentant man who couldn't care less about his apparent demise, his belief in his own damnation adding a layer of dark comedy to the proceedings. If there is a flaw with the episode, it is mostly in the major twist—that Sawyer is supposed to kill Cooper instead of Ben—being too easy to guess. However, most fans of Lost, knowing that the series could be more frustrating in these matters, are likely to be forgiven for that predictability.

While the character arc is largely closed, there are still many plot avenues opened, mainly due to the shifting and different loyalties in both camps—among the beach survivors and the Others. There are hints that Ben is disliked by his followers, and that Richard Alpert, as well as Juliet, might be part of an internal opposition. Just as the paranoia and distrust between Desmond and Jack, exacerbated by romantic rivalries between Kate and Juliet, promises a lot of complications in the future, the seeds of rebellion are clearly being sown.

An interesting detail of the episode is its apparent straying from the formula established in previous seasons, with the central character not being explored through pre-crash flashbacks. Instead, the episode uses flashbacks in a very reasonable and economic way to focus on the very plot, moving the story forward rather than just filling time. This might indicate a switch in the series' narrative strategy that should be apparent in subsequent episodes and seasons.

The script, in its own meta-way, gives a nod to rampant fan speculations during previous seasons on the Internet, with Cooper believing that everyone is dead and they are in hell or purgatory. This adds a layer of self-awareness to the writing, acknowledging the audience's deep engagement with the show's mysteries.

Another nice and very effective touch is the scene when the Black Rock, just as the drama is unfolding in the brig, gets visited by Rousseau, who comes to help herself with a supply of dynamite. She and Locke merely acknowledge their presence in a most banal and business-like manner, without any obvious effect on the plot, thus giving a whiff of surreal humour to otherwise dark and melodramatic proceedings. This interaction, where she nonchalantly shows up for dynamite and Locke doesn't even ask what it is for, and she hears what is going on in the brig and doesn't seem to really care, exemplifies the show's ability to balance its intense character drama with moments of unexpected levity.

Every time the Black Rock is in an episode, it tends to be a great episode, serving as a constant reminder of the island's history and the mysteries that lie beneath its surface. Ultimately, The Brig is a taut and thought-provoking episode that provides answers and surprises with an edge-of-your-seat tense subplot in the brig. It advances characters and shows plot progression rather than repeating itself or being filler, standing as a testament to the show's peak potential.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

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