1x4, Walkabout

We open to Locke’s eye: while this would become a common occurrence (the following characters have all done the eye-open at the beginning of an episode: Jack, Locke, Sun, Claire, Boone, Michael, Sawyer [as a child], Jin, Aaron, Desmond, and Juliet), I think it is crucial that Jack and Locke were the first two to be featured. Of the central conflicts that have developed in the show, perhaps none is more important than the fight between the man of faith and the man of science.

Lost can be an extremely emotional show, and I think Walkabout contains one of its most touching moments: John Locke’s slow realization that the Island has given him back the ability to walk. His paralysis crippled him physically, mentally, and spiritually, and since the Island was willing to restore him, it is not surprising how much Locke is willing to do to re-pay the Island for its generosity: viewing Boone’s death as a sacrifice, blowing up the submarine, and killing Naomi (I’ll explore this thought more fully when the episode comes around, but I sometimes wonder if killing Naomi was an unnecessary move that will turn out to be John Locke’s tragic flaw that results in his downfall).

Locke’s role-playing of himself as a colonel foreshadows the man he believes himself to be: a warrior. This goes back to the test that Richard Alpert gave to the young Locke; young John took the knife and was sure it was his, but this was apparently a mistake, as Alpert angrily stormed out. While Locke thinks of himself as a warrior, he has been curiously absent from most of the battles on the Island. He is present when they confront Ethan, but it is Jack who overpowers the Other. Locke has no role in the siege on the beach in the Season 3 finale and plays no role in the attacks on the mercenaries in the Season 4 finale (other than to momentarily distract Keamy while Ben got the drop on him). In fact, the only combat Locke has seen is when Ben shoots him and when Locke throws a knife into Naomi’s back. These are hardly events that we associate with a warrior. I wonder if many of the bad things that happen after the Island moves are tied to Locke’s mistaken belief about what kind of a leader he is (a warrior).

I had forgotten that Helen was the name of both woman Locke proposed to and the (presumably) telephone sex worker that he spent so much money chatting with. It is never explicated, but I assume that we are supposed to believe that Locke chose this operator because she shared the name with the woman he loved (or he requested that he be allowed to call her such).

Other random thoughts: Boone is kind of Jack “light.” They are both noble do-gooders who do not know when to leave well enough alone (Boone tirelessly searched for a pen in the Pilot because he thought it would be necessary for an emergency tracheotomy). Boone also has some medical experience being a lifeguard, so he thinks he can do more than he really can (just like Jack).

This episode also introduced the idea that the Tail Section survivors might still be alive, which wouldn’t pay off until Season 2 (which is a good answer to the criticism that the producers never plan anything ahead), as well as Jack’s father being on the Island. We now know that Christian Shephard on the Island is more than just a hallucination or vision of Jack. The mobisode “So It Begins” shows Christian appearing to and giving instructions to Vincent the dog, and Christian also appears to both Hurley and Locke in Jacob’s cabin (and even to the point of carrying on a conversation with Locke). I continue to predict and believe that whatever plane of existence that Christian is now operating on will be the same that Locke inhabits when his corpse is eventually returned to the Island.

The travel guide for the Walkabout accuses John of misrepresenting himself. This is a perfect accusation to end the episode (and this post). John continues to present himself as a violent warrior, and while he does succeed in bringing home boars, I think this insistence on his destiny of violence will do much to bring violence to the residents of the Island after it has moved.