The Tail Section

Crossing Mr. Locke

Lost Mythology — March 19, 2007 at 4:33 am by Brinson

They are called “crossings” according to executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. They’re those moments every die hard fan of Lost spends hours in forums discussing. The moments when, usually during a flashback, we find that one of our beloved characters has “crossed” paths with another character connect to the island. Sometimes characters recognize the people from their past (e.g. Jack recognizing Desmond), but most often, they do not realize their connection at all (e.g. Jack and Claire are siblings) and therefore perhaps, they miss a key component to figuring out their role on the island.



Yet “crossings” are not limited to the world of Lost. Recently, while watching Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces (2007) I had the pleasure of seeing an onscreen “crossing” between two Losties in another reality when Matthew Fox, better known to fans as Dr. Jack Sheppard, played Bill, a Las Vegas hotel security director who was killed by the head of the Mittelos Corporation, Mr. Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who was disguised as Pasquale Acosta in this reality. With that one scene I began to wonder, “How long has this struggle been playing out in alternate universes?” Where else have we seen “crossings” but did like our dear Losties, didn’t realize what they were when they happened.

I began my research with the man of mystery featured in this week’s episode The Man from Tallahassee, John Locke. In John Locke’s previous life, incarnated as Terry O’Quinn he attended Central Michigan University and the University of Miami. He had a wife and two sons and also loved to play music and sing (http://www.lostpedia.com).
But John Locke has gone by many other names and has possibly crossed paths with more than one Lostie.

John Locke has possibly crossed paths most often with the recently deceased Other, Danny Pickett, a.k.a. Michael Bowen. They may have first crossed paths with Jake Styles and Jason McCabe (CBS Jake and the Fatman), but it wouldn’t have been their only brush with one another or the law. Danny was a vigilante cop and Locke was Sergeant Nicholas on Shoot First: A Cop’s Vengeance (1991 TV). Later roles were switched when Locke was suspected of murder as Admiral Truman Hager and Danny was a police man in Visions of Murder (1993 TV).  But then Locke ran into Danny and other Losties in the world of Matlock., where Danny was Jay Reynolds,  a man involved in the assassination of the local mayor, Doctor Leslie Arzt was A..D.A. Sadowsky, Marshall Edward Mars was known as John Page, Goodwin was known as Kevin Gilliam,  Mikhel (whom Locke tossed to his death) was a Federal Agent,  Tom was from Matlock’s hometown and was better known as Martin Jensen, and Kate’s mother, Diane, dealt with hucksters (something Kate should be familiar with) as Jane Barnes (http://www.tv.com/matlock).  John?  He was eccentric millionaire Malcolm Engle, who bet Matlock couldn’t solve the perfect murder.

But Matlock’s world was not the only one in which John Locke ran into Diane Austen.  John was Harris Wiley, the owner of a lumber company, and Diane was Melissa Brewer. They were both looking for Justice in a Small Town (1994 TV). They met again in the world of plastic surgery as Hersch Lawyer (Locke) and Terri (Diane) in Breast Men (1997).

In a “crossing” so easy to miss if you blink John Locke met Bea Klugh in Vegas when MacShayne: Winner Takes All saw Locke as a recently retired cop named Danny Legget and Ms. Klugh was simply a casino cashier.

John Locke may have crossed even more paths, most notably in the worlds of JAG and Navy NCIS. Combined he may have ran into – Claire, Alex, The Marshall, Ethan, Dr. Arzt, Karl, Goodwin, Sawyer, Marvin Candle, Juliet,  Rose, Pickett (again), Nadia,  Jae Lee, and Hurley’s mother, Carmen. But it would be either with the Crypt Keeper (Tales from the Crypt) or in the court room (Law & Order: CI) that Locker ran into his father, Anthony Cooper. And perhaps it was within the same crypt that they both ran into Helen.

Perhaps you have some “crossings” with John Locke you’d like to discuss. The man certainly has gotten around in many lives and many universes. Why is it that he doesn’t seem to share any other universe with Jack or Sayid, or Kate, for that matter? What about Boone, Charlie, or Eko? If you have some other “crossings” you’d like to discuss then be here next week as we trace the many lives of Nikki and Paulo to find out just who they might have crossed in Crossings Exposed.

 Special thanks to www.imdb.com for most of the information.

Kermet Merl Key
(aka MerlborMan)

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