Episode 210 - Secret Clue

What an episode! We learnt the background behind the mysterious Mr. Eko and we finally got a good look at the 'Monster'/security system, here in known as Smokey. But before we get to that, let's have a look at Michael's insane IM conversation.

In the last episode, Michael received a message while manning the computer alone from Walt, or at least someone claiming to be. This week, he swapped shifts with Kate so that he could log back on and, sure enough, he received another message, with directions. But here's the twist - when Jack enters the room and we see the screen, it's completely blank. Either Michael's got super quick reflexes on the minimize button, Walt turned his end off or Michael could be displaying some strange mental issues, maybe even a 'sickness'...

Like Hurley's numbers and Locke's computer, Eko now has a tie to the island - the crashed Beechwood. In 'What Kate Did', Eko told Locke, "Do not mistake fate for coincidence." Now, after 6 weeks on the island, he has found the body of his dead brother, which would shake anyone's point of view up. When Boone had asked how long the crashed plane had been there, Locke guessed anywhere from four to eight years, meaning that Eko probably accepted and dealt with the loss of his brother years ago. However, we don't know yet why he boarded flight 815. Claire's psychic may have directed her to the flight knowing it would crash, Locke feels like coming to the island was his destiny and Hurley believes his bad luck brought them down. Perhaps Eko believes a higher power brought him closer to his brother's final resting place?

Finally, we got a good look at the 'Monster'/security system, Smokey. During the season one finale, we saw Locke get dragged along the ground and almost taken down a hatch by a trail of black smoke. It seems that the same smoke is both what Locke saw in the pilot episode and what Eko confronted this week. Having seen a small trail of smoke circle nearby, Eko forced Charlie to climb a tree, probably saving the junkie's life, while he turned and stood defiantly. It looks like Locke's theory about freezing is correct; during the finale, when the group trekking for dynamite were chased by Smokey through the Dark Territory, Locke told Hurley to stand stone still, and Smokey failed to notice him. Eko did the same and survived. But it was the flashes inside of Smokey that were so interesting. What exactly was going on? As Eko stared Smokey down, various images flashed through the smoke. Slow the film down and we see;

Eko on the beach post-crash
Fellow drug thug
A woman with head-wrap
Eko holding his dead brother Yemi
Jesus on the cross
Church steeple
Yemi
Old man on knees
Young Yemi crying at Eko having just shot the old man

But the question remains, exactly what is Smokey, and what is its purpose? Was Smokey showing Eko his past, perhaps in an attempt to scare him? Or could Smokey have been downloading his memories? Is it a security system in place to protect the island, as Danielle believes? If you lean towards that theory, why not jump on Y! Search and look up the term "nanobots" for a lot more fuel for your fire. Perhaps Smokey was put on the island to contain our Losties - or the Others? Maybe Smokey is some sort of collective residual thought pattern, made up from all of the people who have died on the island over the years, fused with electricity and mechanics, and it can tell if a person is "good" or "bad" and acts upon a morality rating, almost like the guardian at the gates of hell. Those who believe the purgatory theories should definitely do a Y! Search on the "Lost Whispers" - you'd be surprised at whose voice has been popping up lately...