THE COST OF LIVING

Or, Subterranean Homesick Blues

[Originally Aired November 1, 2006]

Flashback to Nigeria and young Eko steals food to feed Yemi. A nun busts him and forces him to confess his sins, saying God doesn't give two fucks if you're hungry. Jebus. Even God's a douche on this show. On the beach, Eko is still unconscious. Until Yemi appears in his tent telling him he knows where to find him. Then Eko's tent bursts into flames. Hurley and Charlie drag him to safety while the other survivors put out the fire. Charlie sits with Eko for a moment near a tree and Eko mumbles about his brother. Charlie returns to help with the fire until he's asked about Eko. But Eko has disappeared. At the Hydra, Jack is doing pull-ups when Ben interrupts, asking him if he'd like to take a walk. Jack says "You'll just throw a bag over my head and drag me out of here if I say no." Ben offers a pragmatic solution: Don't say no. Duh. He asks Jack to put on a white robe. Jack asks Ben if his neck hurts from the tumor, but Ben plays dumb. The two walk to the beach where Colleen's body lies upon a wooden raft. Ben tells Jack to stay where he is, and then walks down to say a few words at the funeral. Juliet approaches Jack and says hello before heading down to the beach. Colleen is set alight and the boat pushed out to sea. Ben asks Juliet why she told Jack about his tumor. She says she didn't, Jack hoodwinked Ben. In Nigeria, flashback flash-forward as the soldiers who "rescued" Eko drop him off at Yemi's church. Eko stumbles into his new role as village priest, taking an altar boy under his wing and dealing with local smugglers. When a warlord arrives demanding his cut of the UN's vaccine, Eko refuses to bow to his threats, telling them he is not afraid of them. One of the gunmen shoots a villager and tells Eko he'll have more blood on his hands if he doesn't cooperate. On the beach, Locke puts together a search party to find Eko. Locke says "anyone want to come along?" which kind of freaks some people out because that's not how Jack did things. "I'm not Jack," says Locke. Nikki and Paulo tag along to make up for feeling left out of two seasons worth of adventure. Jack is back in his aquarium and Ben visits and the two talk about his tumor. Ben wants Jack to want to help him. Ben asks Jack if he believes in God. Jack asks if Ben does. "Two days after I found out I had a fatal tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky. And if that's not proof of God, I don't know what is." Eko stumbles through the jungle and starts seeing bloody Nigerians all around him. He sees the altar boy. He sees the smoke monster. He sees Locke, but that one's not a hallucination. Sayid, Locke, Nikki, Paulo, Eko and Desmond reach the Pearl and all go inside. Except Eko and Locke who try to make the plane accessible. Eko discovers that Yemi's body is not in the plane. Locke suggest the fire destroyed it or maybe wild animals. Eko seems dissatisfied with these answers. Locke asks Eko what he say, saying he once saw something white and bright and beautiful in the jungle. That's not what Eko saw. Locke then joins the others in the hatch, leaving Eko alone up top. In Nigeria Eko makes a deal to sell the vaccine himself, and when the smugglers get wind of it the visit him at the church. They say they won't kill him, but will only cut off his hands. Eko beats the shit out of them, and ends up killing them all. In the church. Oh, that's got to be bad luck. Juliet visits jack and offers to play him a movie. He complains. She says she'll play it anyway, she'll just turn the sounds down. She sticks in the tape and rolls the monitor close to the glass. But She appears on screen, holding a placard. "Ignore Everything I'm Saying" is written on it. Suddenly it turns into an INXS video and she goes all Michael Hutchence and starts flipping through the cards. The second says "Ben is a liar." Basically, in the cards she asks him to kill Ben while he's on the operating table and to make it look like an accident. Out loud she gives him some wanky speech about free will and hopes he'll save Ben. In the Pearl, Nikki suggests they check out what's on the other channels and Locke feels like a dumbass for not trying that earlier. Paulo finds out the toilet works. Good thing for everyone, Poopy McSkidmark. Sayid dinks with the wiring trying to find another channel. One of the screens flips from static to another hatch. There's a guy with an eyepatch staring back at them Then the man reaches toward the camera and it flips back to static. "I guess he'll be expecting us," says Locke. In Nigeria the villagers board up the church as Eko leaves. It's been tainted by murder. Outside the pearl, Eko is approached by Yemi. Eko follows him into the jungle where Yemi asks him if he's ready to confess. Eko says that when he was a boy he killed a man to save his brother's life. He's not sorry for what he's done. It was the life he was handed and he did what he had to to survive. Yemi says Eko is speaking to him like he's his brother, before turning away again. Eko follows demanding to know who he is. The smoke monster returns and grabs Eko and beats the shit out of him. A big smokefist grabs Eko and slams him into the trees and the ground. The attack is so violent that Locke and his companions hear it all the way down in the hatch. They scramble out and find Eko bleeding and broken. Locke tries to comfort Eko and Eko whispers into Locke's ear. Eko dies in Locke's arms. Sayid asks what Eko whispered. "He said we're next."