Lost Rewatch on VHS: The 23rd Psalm

 

The apocrypha (to use a term appropriate to his character) was that after reading the scrip to The 23^rd Psalm, Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje said that there was no reason for Eko to be on the series more than a season. He asked Cuse and Lindelof to be written out of the show at the end of Season 2, but they convinced him to stay around a little longer. In Finding Lost, it is quoted that there had always been a discussion as to how to write to the character out.

As we now know, this was not the truth. Akinnouye-Agbaje did not like living in Hawaii and the writers had planned for Eko for much longer than a season. That Darlton was willing to shade the truth speaks to their desire to protect their actors. The reason that one could believe that it might have been true for so long is because of just how extraordinary The 23^rd Psalm is. There is a good argument it’s the high point of Season 2.

If the Pilot of Lost had the appearance of a feature film, The 23^rd Psalm has that same epic structure when it comes to the flashbacks involving Eko. You could see a story like this being the plot of an excellent foreign film or even a pretty good independent film, right down to the yellowish tincture that overlays the cinematography. Lost would often tell exceptional stories of its characters in the course of several episodes; this one could very well have served as a bubble episode in so many other series.

The story of Eko and Yemi is framed in religious terms. Eko and Yemi were two young boys living in Nigeria playing soccer when a group of militiamen stormed the village to destroy their lives. We see Eko make a choice that sacrificing his soul for his brother, discarding his cross away in a symbol of massive significance for both him and Yemi. Years later, the transitions in their lives could not be more clear: Eko is a bloodthirsty criminal; Yemi is a priest. In other circumstances the symbolism would be heavy-handed, but because the two men discuss the world in the kind of terms that so many of us consider the worlds of God and men, even as Eko tells his version of the truth he frames it in a way that makes us wonder if this is how he sees the world.

Yemi spends much of the episode as if he is high and superior to his brother, but the fact he still wears his brother’s cross does indicate something. In his final scene Yemi shows that there is still a part of brother that he believes can be saved, and we see that in a way Yemi sacrifices himself to save Eko – though in this case, it does cost him his life.

If it were only for the scale of the story told by the flashbacks The 23^rd Psalm would be a brilliant episode on its own. But the action on the island is just as exceptional to watch because it represents something that we have never seen on the series to date and will almost never see again. All of the mysterious events that we have seen so far seem to be ones that only the island can explain. When Eko breaks open the Virgin Mary statue and reveals the heroin inside, this is the first time a character can explain one of the island’s mysteries. The shattering of it in front of Claire is symbolic as well; by destroying it, this shatters her faith in Charlie and she will essentially not trust him or even speak to him for the remainder of the season.

Charlie clearly wants to do damage control but he’s in no position to do so: Eko demands that Charlie take him to the statue and he calls him on every single bluff that Charlie makes. Charlie is belligerent in these scenes but not necessarily unpleasant; much of the dialogue he exchanges with Eko is mean-spirited (particularly when he points out the dried blood on his ‘Jesus Stick’) but in a way he's also trying to figure out not only what’s happening around him but how Eko knows so much about it. Like Eko, Charlie is a man of faith but his belief has been shaky ever since he found the statues and traipsing through the island behind a man with such certainty to his purpose would be unsettling to anyone.

We never get a direct explanation as to how this Beechcraft from Nigeria ended up on an island in the South Pacific (two separate bits of information in the last two seasons will do so when you put them together) but just as it is becoming clear the passengers on Oceanic 815 were meant to be on this plane, you get the feeling this plane came here for the same reason – it was meant to be a way for Eko to come to the island. And looking back it seems that the reason he was supposed to come to the island comes in arguably the most remarkable season in the episode.

We haven’t seen the monster since it nearly killed Locke in the first season finale, but now it shows itself again – and it heads right for Eko. There was clearly supposed to be a comparison between Eko and Locke in this regard. In Walkabout, the monster came straight for Locke and he walked away from it unharmed and was strengthened in his faith in the island. The monster makes a similar run at Eko in this episode and this time seems to show him snapshots of his past. (I am relying on Finding Lost for what he actually saw in those snapshots; multiple pauses and viewings of the episode have left me unable to see much of what Nikki Stafford did.) What is clear then and now is what happened: Eko stood his ground, stared the monster dead in the eye without blinking, and it retreats, for the first time not having hurt or killed anyone. When Charlie comes down understandably baffled (as we all know he barely survived his encounter with the monster) he is stunned not only by what he saw but by Eko’s simple four word explanation as to why he didn’t run: “I was not afraid.” When Charlie tries to press him on this Eko continues on his mission and Charlie, now clearly in awe of him, shuts up the rest of the way.

Based on this and what we see in the rest of Season 2, it’s pretty clear that Eko was being drawn as a parallel – maybe even a rival – to Locke going forward. I can only speculate on what might have happened, but you could see the two men engaged in their own personal struggles going forward with Eko’s presence being important for the rest of the survivors. Could much of what happened in the original framework for the series come down to a struggle between Locke and Eko? We will never know.

What is clear is that Eko, as with Locke, was being set up as much a disciple of the island, but clearly framing his faith in religious terms. When he takes the cross of the body of Yemi and puts it around his neck, it is clear he has more or less become the island’s priest. As he and Charlie stand over the  plane that Eko is setting on fire (which is uses as both a significance of both ending and beginning in religious terms) he acknowledges that he is a priest. He has spent his life prior to this point pretending to be one but as he says the lord’s prayer (and Charlie joins him) over the plane it is clear that he has embraced the good and pure part of his nature.

The final minutes of the episode (as what will become Eko’s theme music play over it) are among the most beautiful in the season and indeed the series. We see a montage of the survivors bonding in a way we rarely do – Jin introduces a surprised Ana Lucia to Sun and presents her with a fish in a way that she is astonished by. Hurley walks over to Libby to help her put her tent together – you can see even now he’s smitten by her. Sawyer looks at himself in the mirror over the haircut Kate has given him and when Jack comes by with his antibiotics for his injuries there’s a tranquility between them we rarely see. We could almost want to think this is a happy ending, but we’ve been given warnings there’s trouble ahead.

Michael has gone to see Locke over the safe, and John is pretty sure he knows what Michael wants. Locke helps him practice shooting, and the two of them discuss Walt and whatever course of action he takes. The fact that the two of them were at each other’s throats in Season 1 and that the two are talking peacefully is clearly meaningful to Locke but he still warns him. Near the end of the episode Michael is at the computer in the Swan and he’s clearly still talking to ‘Walt’ when Jack shows up. Jack expresses his sympathy and makes it clear he will try and figure out a way to help get him back. In both cases Michael is given an opportunity to share his secret and in neither case does he do so. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock what happens next.

And the episode ends with Clair4e essentially throwing Charlie out, which based on what she’s seen is a rational decision. It turns out to be a well-founded one as in the final shot of the episode we sadly find out that Eko really didn’t need to ‘replace the one he broke.’

The 23^rd Psalm is a highpoint of the season and that may be a good thing. Because we’re about to enter into a string of episodes that really represent some of the worst aspects of Lost going forward and perhaps the major reason so many people think poorly of the second season.

 

Rewatch Note: Ads to Steven Spielberg’s Munich which was about to receive several Oscar nods are prominent in this episode. In ads for Sunday night programming it reminds us that Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy are among the most recent Golden Globe nominees.

ABC would have a pretty decent Golden Globes in a few weeks. Desperate Housewives, surprisingly, lost Best Comedy Series to Weeds, another series where the comedy element was fairly loose. Geena Davis would take the Best Actress in a Drama prize for Commander-In-Chief and Sandra Oh would win her first Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Both of those series were nominated for Best Drama but would lose…to Lost.