The Cost of Living (Lost)

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“The Cost of Living”

Lost (TV series) episode

Episode no.

Season 3
Episode 5

Written by

Alison Schapker & Monica Breen

Directed by

Jack Bender

Guest stars

Michael Bowen
Adetokumboh M'Cormack
Andrew Divoff
Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Muna Otaru
Aisha Hinds
Jermaine "Scooter" Smith
Lawrence Jones
Michael Robinson
Ariston Green
Kolawole Obileye Jr.
Olalekan Obileye

Production no.

305

Original airdate

November 1, 2006

Episode chronology
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"Every Man for Himself"	"I Do"

Lost (season 3)
List of Lost episodes

For other uses, see Cost of living (disambiguation).

"The Cost of Living" is the fifth episode of the third season of Lost. It aired on November 1, 2006, making it the 52nd episode of the series. The episode was written by Monica Breen and Alison Schapker and directed by Jack Bender. The character of Mr. Eko is featured in the episode's flashbacks.

The episode aired in the UK on December 17, 2006

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with a flashback of a young Eko and his brother Yemi, breaking into a church shed to get food to eat. They are caught by a Sister of the church. The Sister brings Eko and Yemi inside the church. The Sister tells Eko that he must confess for the sin of stealing. The camera fades back to Eko, who appears to be in a comatose state, as Sayid, who has returned from the two-day trip to the other side of the island, is checking on him. As he, Charlie, and Hurley are leaving, Eko is snapped out of his trance when Yemi (the smoke monster^[1] in disguise) appears to him, holding a lighter and telling him that it is time for Eko to confess his sins. Meanwhile, as Sayid and Charlie are walking away, the hut that Eko is in has now seemingly caught on fire, and Sayid races to put it out as Charlie pulls Eko out of the fire. Once the fire is put out, they are surprised to find that Eko is gone.

Meanwhile, Jack is invited by Ben to attend a memorial service being held for Colleen, the woman Jack could not save. Jack takes this opportunity to talk to Ben about his spinal tumor, having figured out that it is him from his x-rays. He asks him if he has had any symptoms, but Ben says that he does not know what he is talking about. As the procession continues, Ben asks Juliet, who has also attended the funeral, why she told Jack about his x-rays. She replies that he saw the x-rays, but she never told him that they were Ben's.

Back at the camp Locke and Desmond discuss how they will rescue Jack, Kate and Sawyer, when Desmond reveals to them that the hatch computer could not only be used for simply pushing the button, it could also be used for communication, and that they can use it to make contact with the Others. Sayid points out that the hatch imploded, and Locke suggests that they go to the other station, The Pearl, and see if they can get it to work there. When Sayid mentions that Eko has disappeared, Locke asks if he said anything before he disappeared, and Charlie says that Eko was mumbling something about his brother. Locke immediately figures out that Eko is going back to the plane where his brother's body was left, right on top of The Pearl, and that they are all going to the same place. Locke asks if anybody else would like to join them on the mission, which introduces two new characters, Nikki and Paulo.

As Eko is struggling to find his way through the jungle, he faints and tries to stand up. Another flashback to Eko's past in Nigeria begins, to the time just after he has been driven back to the village by soldiers after the incident at the plane. He walks into the church, taking a moment to stare at the crucifix and then walking over to the confession box, where he picks up a Bible, containing a picture of him and Yemi as kids. As he is looking at it, a woman and a young boy walk into the church looking for Father Yemi. The woman says that she works at the clinic, and her son is Father Yemi's altar boy. Eko tells them that he has been called away and that he will be taking his place. The flashback ends and the scene returns to Eko in the present on the island, and as he is getting up we can see the smoke monster whisking by him. As he turns to see he is faced with several men standing around him, bloodied and beaten asking him not to kill them. As he goes to strike one of them, it turns into the small boy from the previous flashback, dressed as an altar boy, and Eko stops himself. Eko becomes frightened and confused, and his hallucinations vanish.

Back at the Others' camp, Juliet brings Jack his lunch, a cheeseburger. As they are talking Ben walks into the room and asks Juliet to let him speak to Jack in private. Juliet leaves after much hesitation. Ben tells Jack that they had a perfect plan to "break" Jack; that is, to convince Jack that the Others are not his enemies so he would want to perform spinal surgery on Ben. Ben points out Juliet's resemblance to Jack's ex wife as being part of the plan to break him. The plan failed, however, when Jack saw the x-rays and realized that he was captured for the whole purpose of operating on Ben. Ben asks Jack if he believes in God, after which he explains that he found out about his tumor two days before a "spinal surgeon fell out of the sky".

The group led by Locke catches up with Eko, just after the monster appears behind Eko once again and then vanishes into the forest, and they go to the Pearl together. Once they get there, Locke asks Eko about what he saw, saying that he had seen it as well, that to him it looked like a beautiful bright light, Eko replies that was not what he saw at all. There, Eko climbs into the ruined plane where Yemi's body was, but it is no longer there. Eko remains sitting outside while Locke and the others climb into the hatch. Inside the hatch, Sayid tinkers with the communication lines with little success. Nikki then notices the sheer number of monitors in the hatch, and suggests they use those to pick up a visual image. Sayid tries this, and on the second attempt, establishes a live video feed of what appears to be another hatch. The camera slowly pans right, revealing the eyepatch wearing man staring directly into the camera, which he then turns off. After which Locke says: "I guess he'll be expecting us."

Later, when Jack is in his cell, Juliet brings Jack a movie, saying it is To Kill a Mockingbird. While the movie is playing, Juliet tells Jack that he should do the surgery to help Ben. It turns out that the movie, which faces away from the camera that is monitoring Jack's cell, is of her holding up large signs. With the signs, she tells Jack to ignore what she says aloud. The signs continue to say that Ben is a liar and very dangerous. She says that some of them (meaning the Others) want a change. Juliet also says that Jack should intentionally botch the surgery to kill Ben, and that she will protect him if he does so.

Meanwhile, outside The Pearl, Yemi appears once more, and leads Eko into an opening in the jungle. Yemi tells Eko it is time for him to confess his sins, but Eko says he did not choose the life he was given and that he is not sorry for the things he has done, saying that he did his best with what was given to him. Yemi is angered, saying that Eko is talking to him "as if I am your brother," and leaves, Eko chasing after him, yelling and asking him "Who are you?!" The black smoke monster suddenly appears, towering over Eko. It produces an arm that grips Eko and proceeds to smash him into the trees and finally slamming him into the ground.

Locke and the others rush out, to find a bloodied Eko lying motionless on the ground. With his final breaths, Eko whispers in Locke's ear. Locke closes the dead Eko's eyes. Locke then reveals that Eko stated that they are "next".

[edit] References

^ Lindelof, Damon; Cuse, Carlton. (2008-03-21). The Official Lost Audio Podcast [Podcast]. ABC.

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