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"The Man From Tallahassee" manages to beat "Walkabout" for the title of the best Locke episode, and that is no small feat. Overall it is one of the show's greatest accomplishments in every regard: it boasts some of Jack Bender's best direction, some of the best acting on the show, especially from Michael Emerson, who manages in this episode to eclipse every one of his other performances, perhaps because it is Ben's meatiest episode since season two, giving Emerson ample opportunity to shine, and some of the finest writing on the show.There is a tendency among some internet fans to speak of 'characterLOST' and 'mysteryLOST' as two separate things, the 'mythology' and the 'characters' as two separate aspects of the show. This is far from the truth, and the show's weakest episodes come when the focus is on one or the other. What makes "Lost" special is the intriguing, mysterious story and specifically how it relates to the many great characters on the show. "The Man From Tallahassee" finds the perfect balance here. We get loads of intrigue on the island, John and Jack's conversations with Ben, the submarine being blown up, the final twist of the episode, but everything is written with the characters in mind. Drew Goddard and Jeff Pinkner did a superb job writing this episode.The flashbacks are some of the absolute best, revealing the brutally sad truth behind how Locke ended up in a wheelchair. They are made even better by a perfect Terry O'Quinn performance, and the scene with Locke in the hospital after the fall is one of the most emotional and genuinely touching scenes on the show. "The Man from Tallahassee" is a real tour-de-force. Excuse the use of that term, usually reserved for hyperbole coming from morons, but it really does apply here. Everything about this episode is absolutely perfect from top to bottom.
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