The Man from Tallahassee

 

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“The Man from Tallahassee”
Lost episode
John Locke ends up in his wheelchair
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 13
Guest stars	M.C. Gainey (Tom) Tania Raymonde (Alex) Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert) Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau) Kevin Tighe (Anthony Cooper) Patrick J. Adams (Peter Talbot) Barbara Baehler (Mrs. Talbot) Don Nahaku (Detective Reed) Marlene Forte (Detective Mason) Stephen Bishop (William Kincaid) Cleo King (government worker) Brian Goodman (Ryan Pryce)
Written by	Drew Goddard & Jeff Pinkner
Directed by	Jack Bender
Production no.	313
Original airdate	March 21, 2007
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Par Avion" "Exposé"
List of Lost episodes

"The Man from Tallahassee" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of Lost. It was aired on March 21, 2007, making it the 60th episode of the series. The episode was written by Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner and directed by Jack Bender. The character of John Locke was featured in the episode's flashbacks.

Summary

In a flashback, Locke is denied his disability benefits. It is revealed that he is suffering from depression and has ceased treatment.

In the bushes outside the Others' compound, Locke, Sayid, Kate and Rousseau watch as Jack and Tom play football. Unnoticed, Rousseau slips away. Juliet comes out, and then Ben rolls out in a wheelchair and shakes Jack's hand. Jack smiles, and they all go inside. The survivors are shocked. Kate is angry; she locks and loads her rifle, ready to fight. But Sayid cautions her. Maybe Jack does not want to be rescued. Kate insists that the Others have done something to Jack.

In a flashback, Locke is in his apartment watching TV. A young man, Peter Talbot, knocks on his door and asks if he is John Locke. Locke tells him he has the wrong guy, but Peter asks him how many kidneys he has.

Locke invites Peter in, and he tells Locke that Peter's mother met a man named Adam Seward a couple months ago. Adam said he was a retired computer entrepreneur from Ontario, but something about him bothered Peter, so he checked out Adam's story. Peter discovered Adam's name was actually Anthony Cooper, and that Locke had donated one of his kidneys to him. Locke lies to Peter and tells him it was an anonymous donation.

On the island, Kate, Sayid, and Locke wait until night to sneak up to Jack's house. Kate quietly enters and finds Jack, alone, playing the piano. Jack spots her and demands that she leaves immediately, saying they're watching him, and he points up to a video camera in a corner of the room. Kate says she is not leaving without him again. The door bursts open and two armed Others grab her, handcuff her and force her onto the floor. They bring in a struggling Sayid and ask who else is with them. Kate realizes they did not catch Locke; she lies and says it is only Sayid and herself.

In Ben's house, Ben hears something and wakes up. Standing in his room, pointing a gun at him, is Locke. He demands to know where the submarine is. Locke says he learned about it from Mikhail. But they are interrupted — first by Alex, whom Locke grabs and hides in the closet with, and then by Tom. Tom tells Ben that they captured Kate and Sayid trying to rescue Jack. Ben tells him to separate them and interrogate them. He wants to know how they found the barracks. Then Ben gives Richard a cryptic order: bring him the man from Tallahassee. Once alone, Locke wants to know if that was a code. Ben assures him it is not. Locke needs Sayid's pack and tells Alex to go get it.

In a flashback, Locke is in a florist shop where he watches his father, Anthony Cooper, with Peter's mother — a kind, older woman. Cooper notices Locke and slips over to him. Locke knows Cooper is conning the woman for her money. He warns Cooper to call off the wedding and end it or he'll tell the woman the truth. Cooper reluctantly agrees.

On the island, Kate is tied up and held in a recreation room. Tom lets Jack in to talk with Kate and warns him that the room is bugged. Kate asks if Jack is one of them now. He denies it, then he reminds her that he told her not to come back for him. She asks what they did to him. Jack is silent for a while struggling to find words before telling her that he made a deal with them; they are letting him go home. Kate is stunned. Jack says it was the best chance to bring back help for everyone. Kate asks him how he could trust the Others; Jack replies it is because she told him to when she asked him to save Sawyer's life. Kate finally realizes that Jack was heartbroken by her 'decision'. Before leaving, he whispers to her that he will come back for her.

Ben asks for Locke's help getting out of bed and into his wheelchair. Ben says that if Locke killed Mikhail, it means he found the communications station. And that means he also found the explosives. Ben guesses that Locke isn't going to leave in the submarine, he's going to destroy it.

Locke tells Ben he knows nothing about him. But then Ben rattles off facts about Locke's life: raised in foster care, wasted away most of his life in Tustin at a box company, and spent four years in a wheelchair before crashing on the island. Ben says he even knows how Locke ended up in the wheelchair.

In a flashback, Locke walks through his apartment building's parking lot. Two detectives approach him and tell him Peter is dead and ask him if he as any knowledge concerning the situation.

On the island, Ben asks Locke if he regained his ability to walk immediately after the plane crash. Locke says yes. Ben asks if Locke is afraid it will go away if he leaves, and if that's why he wants to destroy the submarine. Ben tells Locke that if he blows it up, he'll have a big problem with his people, because they need to know they can leave if they want to, and the submarine maintains "that illusion."

Then Ben offers to explain it in a way Locke will understand. He tells Locke to picture a box. He also says that Locke must know a lot about boxes (referring to Locke working at a box factory for four years). He says, "Somewhere on the island is a large box and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted, would be inside that wish box." Locke makes a joke about it, and calls Ben a hypocrite. He says if Ben knew what the island really was, he would have more respect for it. This seems to intrigue Ben, and Locke seems shocked at what he says, as if he did not really realize what he was saying.

When Alex goes to get Sayid's pack, a handcuffed Sayid tells her that she looks like her mother. Alex tells him her mother is dead, to which he replies, "I'm sure that's what they told you." His captor, Ryan Pryce, then assaults him, and Alex runs away, looking shocked. She returns to Ben's room with Sayid's pack and Locke makes her take him to the sub.

On the way, Alex tells Locke that Ben is manipulating him. Once they reach the dock with the sub, Locke apologies to Alex for involving her. Rousseau spots Alex from a hidden location. Locke descends into the submarine.

Jack and Juliet approach Ben in his home. Jack requests that Ben let his friends go. Ben gives his word to do so "just as soon as you've left the island." Jack and Juliet are escorted to the dock so they can leave in the sub. They run into Locke as he is walking back up the dock. Jack asks what he is doing there; Locke simply replies, "I'm sorry" — the submarine then explodes.

In a flashback, Locke goes to Cooper's condo and confronts him, but Cooper denies any involvement in Peter's death, and says he is a con man and not a murderer. He says Peter's mother was devastated and called off the wedding, and says to call Ms. Talbot himself if he wants proof. Locke picks up the phone to call her when Cooper suddenly charges him and shoves him through the window. Locke plummets eight stories to the ground.

As Locke lies in a hospital bed, the two detectives inform him that his father has fled to Mexico and has now disappeared. They leave as a physical therapist, Kincaid, lifts Locke out of bed and places him in his wheelchair for the first time.

On the island, Locke is in a room. Ben and Richard open the door. Locke reveals that he knows Ben wanted him to blow up the sub. Ben reveals that he wanted to find a way to keep Jack from leaving the island, but did not know how to. Then Locke came into the Barracks and solved his problem for him.

Ben and Richard lead Locke down a hallway, and Ben tells him that, for whatever reason, Locke's "in communion" with the island, and that makes him "very, very important." They stop at a door, and Richard opens it. Locke peers in and the man from Tallahassee is revealed - Anthony Cooper, tied to a chair and looking roughed-up and terrified.

Awards

Terry O'Quinn submitted this episode for consideration of his work in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" at the 2007 Emmy Awards, an award he would go on to win. It was also sent for consideration for "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series". ^[1]

References

Lost
Production:	DVD releases • Episode list • Music • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4
Main characters:	Ana Lucia • Ben • Boone • Charlie • Claire • Desmond • Hurley • Jack • Jin • Juliet Kate • Libby • Locke • Michael • Mr. Eko • Sawyer • Sayid • Shannon • Sun • Walt
Supporting characters:	Alex • Bernard • Christian • Ethan • Nikki & Paulo • Rose • Rousseau • Tom
Groups:	Dharma Initiative • Hanso Foundation • Oceanic Airlines • The Others
Miscellaneous:	Lost Experience • Mythology • Video game

Season 2 Season 4 Lost Season 3

"A Tale of Two Cities" · "The Glass Ballerina" · "Further Instructions" · "Every Man for Himself" · "The Cost of Living" · "I Do" · "Not in Portland" · "Flashes Before Your Eyes" · "Stranger in a Strange Land" · "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" · "Enter 77" · "Par Avion" · "The Man from Tallahassee" · "Exposé" · "Left Behind" · "One of Us" · "Catch-22" · "D.O.C." · "The Brig" · "The Man Behind the Curtain" · "Greatest Hits" · "Through the Looking Glass"

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