"Deus Ex Machina" is a good episode, but it works more as a setup for later events/revelations rather than as a self-contained episode. Even the seriously injured Boone's condition is not resolved here, while the small Nigerian plane that had apparently crashed onto the island years before, the unexpected response to Boone's S.O.S message using the plane's radio, and the strange light coming from the (still seemingly impossible-to-open) hatch are mysteries that will be carried over to Season 2. This is probably the first episode that made it abundantly clear that the writers are planning far ahead, and that the viewers will have to be extra patient if they want some answers. The best scene is Locke's dream, which is a variation on Desmond's visions in Season 3: it contains elements both from the past and from the future, as well as Locke's fear that the island may want to "take back" what it has given to him (the ability to walk again). His flashbacks begin to explain why his father was "not cool", as he had already said to Walt in an earlier episode, while the on-island subplot about Sawyer's headaches leads to the beginning of a calmer, friendlier relationship between him and Jack (who finds the source of his problem). It's as if someone told them "Start leaving your trivial differences behind, you're gonna have to face much bigger problems soon". Overall, "Deus Ex Machina" has been surpassed by at least three future Locke episodes ("Orientation", "The Man from Tallahassee", "The Brig"), but it's still pretty powerful in its own right. *** out of 4.
Review of Deus Ex Machina
