The Cost of Living (Lost)

For other uses, see Cost of living (disambiguation).

"The Cost of Living"
Lost episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 5
Directed by	Jack Bender
Written by	Alison Schapker & Monica Breen
Featured music	"Eko Lagos" by Femi Kuti
Production code	305
Original air date	November 1, 2006
Guest stars
Michael Bowen as Danny Pickett Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Yemi Andrew Divoff as Mikhail Bakunin Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Emeka Muna Otaru as Amina Aisha Hinds as Nun Jermaine "Scooter" Smith as Daniel Lawrence Jones as Soldier Michael Robinson as Trader Ariston Green as Jason Kolawole Obileye Jr. as Young Eko Olalekan Obileye as Young Yemi
Episode chronology
← Previous "Every Man for Himself" Next → "I Do"
Lost (season 3) List of Lost episodes

"The Cost of Living" is the 5th episode of the third season of Lost, and the 54th episode overall. It aired on November 1, 2006 in the US and on December 17, 2006 in the UK. The episode was written by Monica Breen and Alison Schapker and directed by Jack Bender. The character of Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.

Plot

Flashbacks

Shortly after the death of his brother Yemi, Eko is driven back to the village and enters the church. Inside, Eko meets the altar boy Daniel and his mother Amina, who works at the clinic. Eko says that he will be taking Yemi's place at the church. When Amina also inquires about Yemi's upcoming trip to London, a surprised Eko states that he would take Yemi's place there, too.

Some time later, after Eko has become established in his new role as priest, he is confronted by militiamen, who as Amina reveals, had a deal with Yemi to get 80% of the clinic's vaccines. Eko soon develops a plan to sell the vaccine on the black market before he leaves the country that coming weekend.

As the militiamen learn of Eko's deal, they attack him inside the church, but end up getting killed by Eko. The villagers respond by closing the church as they felt it was desecrated. Amina calls out Eko, saying she had been aware of the vaccine deal, and advises him to repent and make his peace with God, telling Eko that he "owes" Yemi one church.

On the Island

A delirious Eko has a vision of his brother Yemi (Adetokumboh M'Cormack) holding a cigarette lighter, who tells that if Eko is ready to confess, he knows where to find Yemi. Afterwards, Eko's shelter catches fire, and Eko is rescued by Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia). As John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) arrives to ask what happened, Eko has vanished.

The next morning, Locke suggests Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) to visit the Pearl station. Joined by Charlie, Sayid, Nikki and Paulo (Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro), the group finds Eko on their way to the Pearl. Upon arrival, Eko does not find Yemi's body on the airplane atop the entrance, and decides to remain outside while Locke and the others climb into the hatch. Inside the hatch, Sayid tinkers first with the communication lines, and following a suggestion from Nikki, the monitors. Then one of the screens gets a live video feed of what appears to be another hatch, revealing a man with an eyepatch (Andrew Divoff) who then turns off the camera.

Meanwhile, outside the Pearl, Eko sees Yemi and follows him into an opening in the jungle, where Yemi tells it is time for Eko to confess his sins. Eko says he has not sinned, having not chosen the life he was given and that Eko had only done what he needed to do to survive. An angry-looking Yemi replies, "You speak to me as if I were your brother!" as he retreats into the jungle. Eko follows him asking "Who are you?!", and then finds the smoke monster. An arm of smoke reaches out, grabs Eko, and smashes him into the trees before slamming him into the ground.

Locke and the others rush out, to find a bloodied Eko lying motionless on the ground. Eko breathes his dying words in Locke's ear, and when Sayid asks what Eko said, Locke replies, "He said...'we're next.'"

On Hydra Island

At The Hydra, Jack is invited by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) to attend a memorial service being held for Colleen. On the way, Jack asks about the symptoms of Ben's spinal tumor, particularly pointing out that it will kill him. Ben professes not to know what Jack is talking about. Privately, Ben asks Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) why she showed his X-rays to Jack. Juliet replies that she never told Jack whose X-rays they were, and remarks that Ben must have inadvertently confirmed Jack's guess.

The following day, Ben tells Jack that they had a perfect plan to convince Jack to operate on Ben's spine, but it failed when Jack saw the X-rays. Afterwards, Juliet brings to Jack's cell a movie - which consists of Juliet speaking through cue cards. As Juliet discusses on how the surgery will proceed, on the tape she tells Jack that Ben is a liar and very dangerous, and thus the surgery should be intentionally botched to kill Ben, and that she will protect Jack if he does so.

Reception

This episode attracted 16.07 million American viewers. Eko's death was ranked #1 in IGN's list of Top 10 'Lost' Deaths.

External links

• The Cost of Living at the Internet Movie Database