One of the reasons why I felt downright warm about Jack (to my surprise) by the time he died was that the show gave him not one but two scenes in which he told Smokey he was dishonouring Locke by wearing his face and was no John Locke. Mind you, I like Smokey as a character in his own right, but I still resent him as a Doylist level because I suspect the major reason why Locke died was because the producers wanted Terry O'Quinn as the Big Bad for the final season, but they didn't want to evilfy Locke. I sometimes wonder about that Sideways 'verse to ours where Smokey gets played by Titus Welliver througout and Locke survives. :)

That strangling scene was unbearable intense the first few times around when I didn't know about Smokey; haven't rewatched it since. "I shall miss you, John." Oh Ben, you self-sabotaging idiot.