LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 17, Lockdown

On-Island Events: Henry Gale continues to try to play Locke against Jack; Locke becomes angry. Later Locke hears static coming through one of the speakers inside the hatch and after a countdown, several blast doors come down, keeping Locke inside the kitchen area of the hatch and away from the computer. Locke manages to wedge a crowbar under one of the blast doors but asks for Henry's help in trying to open the door further. Henry agrees to help but asks for Locke's protection moving forward; Locke gives Henry his word. Locke and Henry manage to prop the door open and Locke attempts to slide under but the door injures him, pinning his legs. 

The computer countdown needs to be reset, so Locke coaches Henry in how to get to the computer and enter the numbers. Henry suffers a fall but eventually makes it into the computer room. The alarm for the countdown begins to sound, worrying Locke, but suddenly a black light switches on, illuminating pink and yellow florescent drawings on the blast door. The drawings appear to be a map with stations surrounding a central question mark. The black lights switch off, the blast doors rise, and after crawling into the computer room, Locke sees that the numbers have been reset. Henry helps Locke to his feet; Locke thanks him for not leaving. 

Jack and Kate follow a flashing light into the jungle, where a parachute of food and supplies have been dropped. Sayid, Ana Lucia, and Charlie return. They all meet at the hatch, where Jack is immediately confrontational with Henry. Sayid explains they found the grave and the balloon as intended but still believing Henry's story to be a lie, they dug up the grave. Inside it was a man's body along with a driver's license of the real Henry Gale. 

Flashbacks: Locke hides a diamond ring from Helen as he prepares for a picnic; Helen reads in a newspaper that Anthony Cooper has died. Locke and Helen attend Cooper's funeral and observe two strangers in the cemetery; Locke whispers to Cooper's coffin, "I forgive you." 

Locke inspects a house for a woman that looks like Sayid's former love Nadia and is surprised to find his supposedly dead father parked down the block, watching him. Locke confronts Cooper about having stolen his kidney; Cooper in unapologetic but offers Locke 200k to get money out of a deposit box for him. Locke gets the cash but runs into the two men from the cemetery again, who suspect Cooper may not be dead. Locke convinces the two men he hasn't interacted with his father; they search his bag and then leave. Locke delivers the money to Cooper but Helen has followed him. In desperation Locke proposes but Helen shakes her head and drives away.

Greater Meaning: The flashback shows us Locke, seemingly happy in his life, getting wrapped up in a situation that ultimately changes his life. We know from previous flashbacks that Locke paid someone to pretend to be Helen during their phone conversations just before his flight on Oceanic 815, so we can safely assume that their relationship indeed ended after this last issue once again involving deception in regard to Anthony Cooper (although this deceit felt more like a money grab than an emotional yearning to connect or punish). 

Similarly, the lockdown thrust Locke into a situation that he couldn't have anticipated or controlled, which directly involved "Henry Gale," who we now know had been manipulating the survivors all along. If Henry Gale is an "other," Locke was the one most fooled by him just as Locke continued to be fooled by his father despite knowing his devious nature. "Henry" saved Locke's legs by putting weights under the descending blast door, and entered the numbers into the computer as instructed, but what if he hadn't? Locke has suffered injury to his legs before on the island, during the time he and Boone sought out the Nigerian airplane, and Boone's death immediately followed (along with the revelation of Desmond's light inside the hatch). Given Locke's unique ability to have full use of his legs since having crashed onto the island, one wonders about the significance of now two such threats to them, now. 

Further Questions: 

1. Who is "Henry Gale?" 

2. Did Helen leave Locke for good?

3. Does Locke ever see his father again?

4. What reason would "Henry" have to turn Locke and Jack against each other?

5. What is the question mark in the center of the island?

6. Who painted the map?

7. Are there more hatches? 

8. What will they do with "Henry" now?

9. Was the woman whose house Locke inspected Nadia?