No mystery why he's at the heart of `Lost'

\o7Spoiler alert: TiVo viewers be warned. This article contains plot points from recent episodes.

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IN the last two episodes of "Lost," John Locke told a few lies, killed an "Other," blew up a hatch full of communication devices and then set off more explosives in the Others' submarine to prevent anyone from leaving or arriving on the island. It's a far cry from the weeks he spent in a hole in the ground last season, punching computer buttons, only to emerge feeling like he wasted his time.

"Lost" mythology has cast Locke, played by the Emmy-nominated Terry O'Quinn, as the show's most enigmatic character. When Locke has his mojo, it seems, so does "Lost." In fact, the arc of Locke, and even O'Quinn's own story, closely parallel the highs and lows of the ABC serialized ensemble drama that changed television three years ago. Now, 80 days into the journey of the plane crash survivors, what most viewers intuited from the beginning seems to hold true: Locke is one important dude.

But is he the most significant castaway? The creators of "Lost" would never say anything that definitively, but they were willing to offer a glimpse of the way they've embedded some of the series' most telling elements in his story from the beginning. Co-creator Damon Lindelof confirms that in the end, Locke will be among the ones who matter most. Executive producer Carlton Cuse added this, with all the finality he could muster: "The character of John Locke is just the very heart of the show."

When Locke boarded Oceanic Flight 815, he was in a wheelchair. But when the plane crashed, he could mysteriously walk, and that seemed to bond him to the island forever. Wednesday's episode \o7finally\f7 revealed to viewers how he became paralyzed: His con artist of a father, who years ago manipulated Locke into giving him a kidney, pushed him out a high-rise window, hoping to kill him. Then it did what "Lost" does. It delivered another whopper: Locke's father is tied up and gagged on "Other" territory.

"That was a big 'What?!' " O'Quinn said, describing how he felt when he first read the script. "It leaves you with a big question mark, but there was plenty revealed in this episode too."

Mysteries, loads of them, are the hallmark of this ABC series, sometimes frustratingly so. Since "Lost" returned in February from its three-month hiatus in a new 10 p.m. slot, it has shed nearly 2 million viewers, though it continues to rank as a top 10 show among the advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-olds.