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After a week of being a beach bum and laying in the sun with my kids, I’m back and ready to get us caught back up on this thing we’re calling The Lost Rewatch. I apologize for the delay in this post (and the next), which should have been posted a couple of weeks ago. The good news is that I have no more vacation time this summer and therefore no excuses (or good ones at least) for falling behind.
Hearts and Minds
So this week (or the week before last rather) we’re taking a look at season 1 episodes Hearts and Minds, Special, Homecoming, and Outlaws. For those of you who might not have rewatched these episodes, Hearts and Minds was a Boone-centric episode, and in fact the only Boone-centric episode ever. This week’s episodes had me reeling from the first moment, and as irrational as I know it is, and as much as I try to tell myself that its the stupidest theory ever (I really do think that) I can’t push away this feeling that the Locke we’re seeing in season 1 is actually Jacob’s nemesis. In reality I don’t see how this could end up being true, or how it would even be played out in the last and final season. But you have to admit, Locke’s behavior in season 1, and definitely in this stream of episodes, goes beyond strange and bizarre. Hearts and Minds has Boone getting jealous over Shannon and Sayid’s developing relationship (actually they were just talking, and flirting with each other, but we all know what becomes of that). Boone even threatens to tell Shannon everything about their discovery, the hatch, to which Locke lets Boone know that he allows Shannon to have far too much control over his life. Boone, of course, disagrees and gets up to head back to camp and tell Shannon. Locke, in turn, knocks Boone over the head, and ties him to a tree. This is where it gets really interesting, as Locke blends up some kind of hallucinogenic substance made of berries and boar poop (at least that’s my theory) and rubs it on Boone’s forehead. Boone’s so called vision begins, where he thinks he hears Shannon screaming for help, breaks free, rescues her, runs from the smoke monster, is ultimately attacked by the smoke monster again, and then Shannon is taken and killed by said monster. Watching it this time, and knowing Shannon wasn’t really dead was quite different than the first time around, when I was convinced she’d really just died.
I can’t help but want to know more about this scene. Locke’s behavior is interesting, as if he knows that Boone will hallucinate and see Shannon’s death. He also seemed to pull together his concoction far to quickly and easy. And the Smoke Monster’s involvement, though it makes sense being the most dangerous thing on the island, is a bit to convenient. Not to mention that this is the first time we ever see the monster as smoke, and it’s supposed to be a hallucination in Boone’s head, yet the monster really is made of smoke.
Regardless of whether this was the “real” Locke, which it most likely was, or Jacob’s nemesis posing as Locke somehow, I still say that the berry and poopoo paste Locke made for Boone had nothing to do with what we saw happen. I think that Boone’s hallucination was completely induced by Smokey, just as any other hallucination on the island has been (in my opinion). So if this was the real Locke, then how did he know Smokey would help him out? THAT is a good question, but one I don’t have the slightest answer for.
Also in Hearts and Minds we heard the first mentioning of the strange electro-magnetic properties on the island, when Sayid commented to Jack that the compass that Locke gave him wasn’t pointing to true north, and that a reasonable magnetic anomaly couldn’t account for the degrees it was off. Also, in the flashbacks we learned that Boone and Shannon weren’t blood-related and were only step-siblings, however, at least for me, this whole thing is still weird and incestuous feeling.
Special
Next up was Special, a Walt/Michael-centric episode that got me way excited back in season one, but only depressed me now that it seems we’ll never have closure on Walt’s specialness. Still, after watching the episode I realized how much other great stuff, besides Walt, started in Special.
The obvious awesomeness in this episode is the stuff about Walt. In the flashbacks with his mother and her husband Brian Porter, when they stop paying attention to him, and won’t look at a book he is reading about birds, a bird oddly flies into the window. Later, on the island he is reading a comic book about Polar Bears when suddenly he is attacked by one. We also have Brian Porter telling Michael that Walt is “different.” Locke uses those same words about him on the island after he teaches Walt how to throw knives, telling him to focus the task in his mind’s eye. Walt then manages to hit the spot dead-on.
I’ll also quickly say that I love the foreshadowing of Dharma on the ceiling above Michael in the picture to the right. Very cool.
I’ll admit that while I understand the issues they’ve faced about Walt growing up and how to include him on the show, especially in light of what his father ends up doing, I’m very disappointed to think that we won’t find out more about Walt. I keep holding out hope that it will somehow be explained, even if Walt himself doesn’t return to do the explaining. Either way, it’s one of the bigger plot-point mysteries that is looking like it won’t be solved, and I hate that.
But moving beyond Walt, there was plenty of great stuff in this episode. Sayid and Shannon talk to Jack about Rousseau’s maps and the points on the map that they think might be the tower transmission. Since they never actually found the tower using her maps its got me wondering exactly what those points on the map might have been. If anyone out there has a better memory than me, or a theory on this, share it with us below. Also, Michael and Walt start to build the first raft in this episode. And finally Charlie finds Claire’s diary and reads about a dream she had about a black rock. Sayid mentions that one of the maps had a spot marked on it as The Black Rock. Of course, they never attempt to go there to find Clare because at the end of the episode she wanders out of the jungle, with no memories of what has happened to her since she boarded the plane in Sydney.
Homecoming
I don’t have a lot to say about Homecoming, not because it’s not a great episode, just because the second time around not as much stuff struck me based on what we now know. The things that did catch my attention was seeing Ethan Rom. It’s interesting, now that we know that Ethan was born on the island, and best buds with Ben in his transformation to becoming an other, that there was really no one who knew the island better than Ethan. Its also fun to think about the fact that Sawyer made Ethan’s very existence possible, by saving his mother’s life from the Hostiles. And of course we all know what happened to Claire while she was gone with Ethan, and we know why they were so interested in her (or at least we think we know). Again, my bad memory might be the cause, but I can’t quite remember if we ever found out for sure if the shots the Others were giving Claire ended up having anything to do with her safe pregnancy. It was certainly implied, but after seeing all of the manipulation that the Others utilize, it makes me wonder if they did anything to help little Aaron be born, or if there was simply something special about Claire and the birth of her baby. Something special that made the island allow her pregnancy to not fail. Naturally, the episode ended with the killed of Ethan, by Charlie. However, we all know that we will be seeing A LOT more of Ethan in upcoming rewatch episodes.
Outlaws
This was a great episode simply because it was sort of ridiculous, but Josh Holloway pulled it off in such a major way. Seeing Sawyer obsessed with the fact that a boar has it out for him was priceless, and Locke’s story about how his mother (step) had blamed herself for her daughter Jeanie’s death, and how a golden retriever showed up at the house, and his mother had instantly thought that the dog was Jeanie. It was a great little story about redemption, a major theme in Lost, and certainly makes one think about Vincent. I’m not saying that dog was Vincent at all, but its certainly interesting that it was the same kind of dog. Of course, Locke could have just made the whole thing up.
To witness the horror that was Sawyer’s life for a second time was great, especially with how his character shifted from the anti-hero role to the hero role during season 5 of the series. Still, seeing his story for a second time further revealed the tragedy in it all.
As Sawyer continues to battle the boar in this episode, there is another great scene in the jungle where Kate and Sawyer play a little game of “I never.” In the game we learn for the first time that Kate was once married, and that both of them, Kate and Sawyer, have killed a man. We know from the Outlaws flashbacks who Sawyer has killed, but it will be a long time before we learn that Kate killed her step-father. The final interesting thing I wanted to mention in my post is how at the end of the episode Sawyer realizes that Jack is the son of the man, Christian, that he met in the bar in Sydney, Australia, however Sawyer doesn’t divulge this information to Jack for many more episodes.
That wraps up week 4 here at Docarzt’s, but there’s far more to read about the Lost Rewatch, happening across the web. The links below will take you to other great articles from other Lost sites. The next episodes are …In Translation, Numbers, and Dues Ex Machina. Now here is some more Lost goodness.
Visit the Lostpedia Rewatch page for all of the most up-to-date Rewatch information, as well as their blog.
-Get Lost with Jopinionated – Rewatch Week 4
28 Responses to “Lost Rewatch Week 4 – S1 – Episodes 13 – 16”
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did they mention we wouldn’t get closure on the whole why-walt-is-special-thingy? i was still expecting an answer to the question why kids in general mean are worth kidnapping (kids from the tailsection and walt). we aren’t gonna get some then?
I loved ‘Special’. I don’t think I would mind if we did not get closure on that. I feel like its okay to have people that are special for no apparent reason.
dust, they haven’t said for sure that there won’t be closure on this, I was just guessing that it might be an item that will be dropped and forgotten. Mostly I was referring to why they wanted Walt and what they learned from him that was so valuable. And what his overall place in this story was. I never felt that was resolved. It could still happen, just seems less likely with only 18 more hours of Lost left.
It seems possible to me that the answer to Miles’ “specialness” is the same as the answer to Walt’s, in which case we very well could get resolution even if Walt never shows up again.
I can’t help thinking how cool it would be if Darlton had had things laid out so well in the beginning that they had shot stuff with Malcolm David Kelley back then that they could use in the upcoming season! Not that we know if they’ll need it or not, because who knows if The Incident changed time or not… And really, Walt may be special but he may not be important in the scheme of things (I think we’ve seen our final Walt scene when John doesn’t try to convince him to come back to the island). Because what is important is the 815′ers who are pieces in Jacob’s game with the Man In Black!
I have been thinking along the same lines as I do the rewatch, not just with Walt but all the shots they flash back to of the plane just before the crash.
I am fairly certain that the show will end with them all on the plane flying to LA, the turbulance comes and then goes away. It would have been very easy to film that without the actors really knowing what was going on. Since they would have shot that during the pilot and no one had a clue yet what the story would unfold as
I agree. I think we’ve seen the last of Walt. Unless its just reused footage from the crash.
We definitely have not seen the last of Walt. It may be only a few scenes or a couple eps but he WILL be in season 6. Darlton are kinda funny about answering questions that involve whether an actor or a character will get seen and/or fleshed out in upcoming seasons. Similar, to Libby they will come right out and say the character is done, but every time someone asks them about Walt they shut up. This response has been too consistent to be a coincidence and tells me at least Walt will be showing up sometime in season 6.
Also, NO NO NO Locke was not Titus in season 1. Lets all just let that one go. Locke did not know what Boone would see during the vision. Locke even says after Boone tells him of Shannon’s death “Is that what you saw?” Locke has always had a different kind of relationship to the Island and that may be because of Titus’ involvement and manipulation but in the end Locke did not become him ’till after the Ajira crash. And yes it is the stupidest theory out there.
LOL. Like I said, I really (honestly) don’t think that about Locke being Titus either. But I also tend to write exactly what I think when watching something, and during this whole rewatch I can’t get away from how strange and different Locke was in season 1. I do think you’re probably right and we were just seeing more of the special relationship Locke has with the island during season 1. Still, that Boone scene was wack!
Hope I didn’t sound rude. I read your stuff all the time, over at Sledge too and generally like your thoughts.
It’s just that the Locke was Not-Locke theory REALLY pisses me off!
I’ve been wondering for a while, now, if they filmed any scenes with Walt a few years ago, to be used in later seasons as Walt’s flashbacks. If the writers TRULY knew what they were doing along, wouldn’t they have filmed some stuff to be used later on?
I asked this question to Lindelof and Cuse on “Ask Lost” a couple times, but, they never answered it on a podcast… hopefully because they really did do this, and don’t want to give to much info away? … Just hoping.
I think it’s important to remember that while we only have 1 season left, and it feels like the home stretch, those 18 hours still represent nearly 20% more show compared to what we already have now (102 hours or so).
My point is this: after seeing everything that has happened in those hours, we can figure that the writers know how to cram a lot of story into small places. It is still very possible for Walt to come back into the picture, much like his late father did as Kevin Johnson.
Also, the scene between Kate and Sawyer playing “I never” (which I know as “Never have I ever”… but I digress) is one of the most brilliant scenes from the entire series. The whole thing is just rife with sexual tension, and bursting with subtle acting and nice character development.
It is especially one of Kate’s (and subsequently Evangeline Lilly’s) best moments. I buy her character completely while watching it, which I cannot say for most of her other scenes throughout the entire series.
I’m confused.. we saw smoke in Hearts and Minds?? I was certain we didn’t actually SEE the smoke until the finale of Season 1?
Also, I really hope the walt mystery gets explained. Somebody needs to ask Darlton at comic con if it will!
If you go frame by frame during the monster scene you will see smoke when the tree blows up. Also, i think holding onto Shannon but not sure.
LOST is a good show…
There are a few points to mention about Walt that I can’t dismiss as coincidence. The backgammon game where every time they show him roll he gets the number he was rolling for (the scene with hurley was funny), the knife throwing…it is not easy to throw a knife and land blade in let alone it was his second try and he got it on the spot. He did that after Locke told him to focus and “want it”, when Locke grabbed his arm Walt stepped back and told him “don’t open it” in a scared tone. When they were leaving he completely changed his thought of staying on the island and told his Dad he wanted to leave. Even when Walt left the island he had a dream about Locke and how he was in a suit surrounded by people which happened when his body fell out of the coffin.
The fact is they showed Walt at least once per season, even in the shortened season 4 they managed to let us know he is around, why? Why do you think they all of a sudden jumped 3 years from season 4-5, so they can explain his real life growth spurt. In Season 2, when Michael is captive they ask him one question that didn’t make sense “Have you ever seen Walt in places he isn’t supposed to be?” but who do we know has that power to be in any place at anytime? Jacob. I’m not going to start theorizing this person is really this person, but Walt could be a “candidate” to replace Jacob now that he is dead and “dead is dead”.
A great ending IMO is for our losties destiny or purpose is a giant game of backgammon where the ultimate goal is to set things right for the next heir to the island’s throne. Season 2 they prob let Walt go because he most likely can come and go as Jacob does and IF he can’t there is always the never-seen-ajira-passenger who emerges and *poof* it’s Walt….which I really really hope not.
Sorry long post I like the mystery of Walt.
We do see Walt appear to Shannon, wet and in the jungle, during season 2 so the question posed by Clue seemed fairly explicit in the logic of Lost.
I dont know, im still holding on to my theory that in the near future, say 2020 (doesnt really matter) an older Aaron, ji yion, and walt will crash on the island. Eventually someone will turn the wheel and they will time skip from one time to another. They will eventually get stuck in our present time (on the show) because jacob’s death will cause them to stop skipping, leaving our grown up characters in the nexis of next seasons climatic story. This theory could just allow them to replace walt with an older actor, and give mark pelligro a chance to reprise his role as jacob, but as a older, clueless, probably nose-bleeding aaron.
Like Mathew Abaddon is the older Walt? I like that idea. Problem is they said they were done with time travel.
Regarding Homecoming:
The injection shots were never mentioned, but it was mentioned in S3 by Juliet that death occured only when conception happened on the island not delivery, thats why Sun was happy it was Jin’s but sad that she would be kaput.
Regarding the injections to claire. In season three epsisode i believe one of us when juliet first comes to lostie camp and is still working for ben it was revealed they put an implant in her that may have had something to do with the shots which they set off to help earn juliets trust.
Good old Ethan, the ‘Other’ surgeon.
It was pretty cool how he gave Jack that suitcase full of meds in mobisode 10, explaining it as a hypochondriacs luggage.
There is a lot of strange stuff going on with Locke in season one. Looks, comments, behavior.
With all the knowledge from ‘Incident’ it is easy to see ‘Esau’ acting here already. And then there is the fact that Locke met smokey in the woods, stared down his throat, and discovered something wonderful.
But then, in season 2, why should Locke switch, and become so doubtful about everything? Did he fake it, to manipulate Eko?
If ‘Esau’ posessed Locke from early on, then it was his materpiece to trick Ben into strangling him.
No, I really don’t think he faked it. He was in the Pearl station realizing that the monitors were focused on the Swan Station where they were asked to take notes of the on goings in the hatch. Thats when he thought the button was a mind game like Jack suggested, but a few episodes later we discovered that it was actually the Pearl station that was a mind trip because of the tube system leading to nowhere, John never seen that so continued to assume the Swan was a mind game. Eko’s dreams were to get John back on the right path which is believing again. That only succeded when the hatch imploded around locke and told Desmond “I was wrong”.
The ironic part about the whole thing is how it was Locke who was warned by Sayid, Walt, and Hurley to not open the hatch. Sayid’s point about no handle on the outside was great observation. If he left the hatch alone or never found it then none of the future events would have occured, in a sense “curiosity killed the cat”.
Just watched Hearts & Minds last night. A few observations:
–I’m certain Locke is receiving instructions (subconscious, visions, whatever you want to call them) from the Man in Black, the eventual Locke-alike. When it will rain. Where to go. How to make freak-out paste in a mango. Creating a bond with the island. Man in Black has known about Locke for about 50 years now, but from Locke’s perspective he only just arrived. Awesome.
–The conversation between Jack and Locke on the beach bears a number of similarities to the one between Jacob and the Man in Black. Jacks walks up and says “See any ships?” which put me in the mind of the Black Rock. Then Locke talks about humans being “the most dangerous predator.” Awesome mirroring of those two scenes.
–The Hatch. If you’re like me, and you believe Whatever Happened, Happened, then the last time we saw this spot in the overall chronology was in ‘77, when the Incident occurred. Now it’s 27 years later, and the spot is completely overgrown, the Swan bleeding off the energy of the blast every 108 minutes. I really want to see what happened during the interventing time!
–If Locke is receiving subconscious instructions from Man in Black, then it’s likely he was led right up the Hatch. A sequence of events that eventually leads to Desmond turning the failsafe key. I’d always thought it was Ben’s goal to screw up the button-pushing and get the Swan blown up…but now I think that’s what the man in Black wants. But why?? What does it achieve? How does it counter Jacob’s Incident plan for those who were ‘chosen’ by him?
I’m having great fun with the rewatch.
Oh, as for the sickness and the quarantine…there is no sickness. Not a disease, anyway. The sickness was how they referred to people being dragged under the Temple and “converted” by Smokey. So, the Hatch quarantine could have been to prevent Dharma personnel getting co-opted by the enemy, but eventually they forgot what it really meant. Kelvin figured he hadn’t gotten sick, so it was sham…but he didn’t understand what was meant by “sickness.” None of us did until “This Place Is Death.”
All this talk about “Esau” (MiB). The ” you have no idea what I’ve been through to get here” comment could be linked to same of the hallucinations. Jack was supposed to fall off the cliff, He was considered the leader and people would listen to him.
Hurley was someone everybody liked on the island. Leader by example, he was also supposed to go over the cliff. As the rewatch goes on we may remember more attempts to kill someone, and Locke ends up being the man for the job.
Special:
A. Yet again, Vincent runs off right before Walt’s encounter with a polar bear that’s so big, so unnatural looking, that one can only assume it’s actually Smokey. Vincent = Smokey. I’m sticking with that theory until something happens to prove me wrong.
B. If I’m right, the scene where Locke is “holding court” with his little Cult of Boone, teaching Walt to throw a knife, with Vincent watching in interest…well, that scene takes on a whole different tenor if Vincent is Smokey/MiB. Kinda spooky. And weird how Locke is ready to respect Michael’s wishes…until he’s close to the MiB’s influence. Then, all of a sudden he’s running off at the mouth about Walt being allowed to “fulfill his potential.” Very odd.
I guess this thread is pretty dead, but I can’t believe there are no comments on “It’ll come back around” in Outlaws.
The phrase is repeated three times in the episode, once in the Whispers.
“It’ll come back around.”