It's not far in to Walkabout before someone asks the question everyone has been wondering about Locke, who has just given the camp a speech about boar and nearly thrown a knife into Sawyer's head. And it's Hurley who asks it – "Who is this guy?".
Well, that's exactly what the flashback is hoping to explain. Our appetite was already whetted with the sinister close-up on the man at the end of Tabula Rasa. Now it’s time to see his past. We see Locke on a telephone, talking in Military dialogue. Of course! He's in the Army, we say. But then we pan out to reveal he's working in a cubicle at a box factory.
The John Locke we see in flashbacks is very different from Island Locke. He's weak, frustrated and lonely. He's...normal, basically. His boss Randy belittles him that he can't be a hunter. Locke tells him not to tell him what he can’t do. And eventually he proves Randy wrong.
Walkabout's main plot is the boar hunt, but the episode has more subplots than any other episode. There's Kate and Sayid's attempt to get a signal, Charlie getting a fish for Shannon, Claire preparing a memorial speech and Jack talking to Rose.
I can't help but feel the writers are overplaying the threat of the boars. They're not exactly huge or dangerous creatures – seeing the whole camp running from them in the first scene was pretty farcical. Michael does however somehow manage to get injured by one.
The trek itself is not that exciting, that at least we learn more about Michael as he tells the story of how he got on the plane. Kate is interrupted before she can give hers, luckily. Michael's choice of babysitter for Walt is interesting at best, considering he picks one of the few people who doesn't speak English (yet). Their attempts to communicate are amusing however, and more proof that a Michael/Sun relationship was originally planned.
Kate and Sayid is a double act which is often underrated. They trust each other, they work well together and are often thinking the same thing. Another more obvious double act is introduced in this episode – Charlie and Hurley, LOST's number one comedy pairing. They try to catch a fish together for Shannon.
The Boone and Shannon pairing is often irritating but they can produce comic moments too – Shannon belittles Boone by calling him Captain America and her general lack of not caring what he has to say is amusing. Boone also makes jokes at Shannon's expense telling her "the ocean won't accept your gold card".
Shannon has always used her sexuality to get what she wants. And she couldn't have picked better than Charlie to do her bidding, he was practically slobbering all over her in the Pilot. After Walkabout, the Charlie/Shannon relationship is never revisited. Obviously Charlie saw he had been used and gave up.
Rose and Jack sit together for a bit, and Rose gives Jack some kind words, saying he has a good soul. Rose is insistent that her husband from the tail section is still alive, but Jack says it is more logical he is dead. An early instance of man of science vs. (wo)man of faith. If you’ve seen season two, you’ll know who was proved right.
Claire deciphering details from strangers' possession has a lot of subtle grim humour. She points out one of the deceased was on organ donor. "Or at least, would've been".
The final scene of the episode is one of the shows most brilliant endings. It's a strong contender for best LOST scene ever. Not only is it a huge surprise, but a heavy emotional beat too. And as with all great twists, previous moments now make more sense. We understand why the episode opened showing Locke's feet twitching after the crash, a shot which was mimicked again later on.
10/10 – Perfect introduction of John Locke with an amazing performance from Terry O' Quinn
Generally, character-driven storylines are viewed separate from the mythology elements of LOST, which are the Island mysteries. But back in season one, it was not just the Island that had the mysteries. Quite often the characters were mysteries too. One of the most notable instances was- what did Kate do? Another is concerning Locke, but that is for the next recap.
The survival aspect is still very much a part of the show in these early stages, with the shock of the crash still fresh. Kate has more reason than most to want that clean state the title promises, as being an important and trusted member of a new community sure beats being on the run from the law. But new starts are never simple, and her past soon comes back to haunt her.
The episode begins with Jack still reeling from learning the truth about Kate, and Kate’s group on their way back from the previous episode. The gang agree to lie about what they heard. Lying is not exactly a new concept to Kate.
Kate smiles a lot, even when she's uncomfortable. It's a false front she puts on. Kate keeps a lot back. Her attempts at being nice to Hurley fall flat because Hurley not only knows the truth but that she has the gun. Funny how everyone agreed that Kate was the most trustworthy person.
We get to see our first ever traditional flashback this episode, which is Kate’s time on the Australian farm. It opens with Kate being held at gunpoint (exactly where the story will also end). Ray’s barn is a totally different colour scheme to anything on the Island, almost sepia-tone, which is good for contrast.
The Marshal's condition worsens and Kate suggests he may have to be euthanized. This is where Jack reveals what he knows. He probably suspects Kate may have an ulterior motive in her suggestion – getting rid of the evidence. Jack still wants to trust Kate – he gave her a chance to tell him the truth but she doesn't. Would she have ever told him herself? Who knows, but she did offer to tell him everything at the end of the episode.
Jin tells Sun he loves her, which was a surprising moment. Up until then we'd only seen him be possessive.
Michael seems very interested in Locke. Perhaps even jealous that Locke already has a better relationship with Walt than he does. The only way he can win Walt over is finding his dog, which he says he’ll do once the rain stops. Interesting how the rain stops as soon as Michael says that. Could it have been an early indication of Walt's powers?
Locke bringing Michael the dog to give to Walt may have been intended as a friendly gesture – but also serves at a patronising reminder to Michael that Locke is better than him.
Michael encounters topless Sun. This makes Sun the third female character to strip off in just two episodes – the last one also saw Shannon in a lovely orange bikini and Kate going for a swim in just her underwear. Eye candy for the females has been strangely lacking for now, with only Jack going shirtless. But plenty of shirtless Sawyer will be coming up soon.
Kate saving Ray Mullen from the car wreck proves once again that despite whatever her crimes may be, she is indeed a good person. A similar attempt at conveying this was shown in the first episode, where Kate gives Edward the oxygen mask.
One of the outstanding guest performances of the season is Frederic Lehne. He manages to be intimidating and cool. In the above scene, he plays the hunter, tracking down his prey. We get hint at his obsession by the way he says to Jack "She got to you too, huh?".
"In case you didn't notice, I did get away" - In a way, getting caught is the best thing that ever happened to Kate – because now she’s more free than she was before. I wonder how things would have been different if the Marshal had lived and got off the Island with Kate. Would he have let her go, like Nicholas Cage did to Sean Connery in The Rock?
Sawyer and Jack's first significant interactions occur in this episode, and they are immediately shown as opposites. Sawyer is the renegade, not afraid of cutting ethical corners, like looting from dead people. Jack has a moral code and sticks to it, however impractical, like letting Edward Mars suffer rather than killing him because he doesn't believe in it. Sawyer is the cynic. He's the one who wants to talk about the depressing French message, and who is adamant that the rescue boat isn't coming. Jack is the optimist, insisting the Marshal is not going to die.
This culminates in the episode climax, where Sawyer uses the Marshal's own gun to try and end his suffering, but simply leaves him in an even worse condition, forcing Jack to do what he has refused to do. This is the most uncomfortable scene in the episode, and it happens off screen.
Although Jack says he doesn't want to know what Kate did, that's clearly not true...he asked the Marshal the same question earlier on. He doesn't want Kate to know he wants to know. He is trying to make Kate feel better – he is telling her he forgives her because he believes she is a good person. This is where the title comes in, and the line "three days ago we all died" – responsible for a billion purgatory theories.
The final montage, set to Joe Purdy's "Wash Away" is a great feelgood moment. It shows it's not just Kate who wants a clean slate – After squabbling constantly in Pilot, Sayid offers Sayid a piece of fruit as a peace offering, and Walt and Michael end their fighting when Vincent is brought back into their lives.
8/10 – Solid but uneventful episode with its highlight being the final montage
Let's start at the start: the first image we see is on LOST is an eye. Eyes turn out to be a recurring theme on the show, and most of the time they demonstrate which character we will be seeing the episode through the eyes of. Pilot has no real centricity in the traditional sense, but at least it establishes Jack as the show's main character.
There's also lots of other important things in the first scene before we even get to the plane crash set. We start off in the jungle. Some say this will turn out to be significant come the end of the show. Personally, I believe the decision was made purely for the lush cinematography it creates.
Another strange instance is the white tennis shoe hanging from a tree. Is it just simply to show something bad has happened? Maybe not, as white tennis shoes will be seen again later (see White Rabbit). At the very least, it introduces a primary motif for the show – black & white, which is shown one again later on when Locke holds up two backgammon pieces of either colour.
When we get to the beach the fun begins. Loud, chaotic and exhilarating. Arguably the best scene in all of LOST, and it’s the very first scene of the very first episode. Jack pulling people out of the wreckage is the perfect character introduction because we instantly see his selflessness and great leadership. We also catch our first glimpse at the first halves of three pairs – Shannon shouting for Boone, Michael shouting for Walt and Jin shouting for Sun.
The survivors are just settling down after the chaos when they hear the sound of the Monster. It sets the tone for the rest of the series – the Island is very dangerous. The next day, Jack decides to go to the cockpit with Kate and Charlie to look for a transceiver. The shot of the broken cockpit is one of the best shots of the episode, and the climb up inside it has great atmosphere. It’s not long before the Monster claims it's first victim – the Pilot. With these scenes, the episode uses lots of elements of the horror genre: unseen threat lurking in the shadows, main characters running for their lives, gory death, even the old foot-gets-caught-on-something cliché.
The second trek is another great moment. It was a great decision to involve so many characters on it – it plunges them right into the action. Also an interesting decision to give the leader a rest, by having him work on patient Edward Mars. It gives more airtime to the odd couple, Sayid and Sawyer.
What about the characters left off trekking duty? Sun gets the least screen time, but the most development. We see that she’s being repressed by her husband, but her little act of defiance when she unbuttons her shirt is a subtle, but indicative moment of her unhappiness. Michael is looking for his boy, which he seems to do quite a lot over the course of the series. Hurley provides the humour – fainting at the sight of blood, squirming after seeing Claire having contractions. But also shows his sweet side – giving Claire the food. Claire has some of the worst lines of the episode. After the trees are torn down from the ground, she asks "Did anybody see that?." It seemed that they couldn’t find her enough lines so they ended up making her say stuff that was superfluous. But we do get a cute moment between her and Jin, when her baby starts to kick.
Walt makes a worthwhile discovery – handcuffs, which leads the survivors to suspect one if them was a prisoner. It immediately establishes recurring themes in LOST – lack of trust and dark secrets. And also, intriguing questions – but this not one the audience will have to wait out long to know the answer to.
Rose has a far more prominent role in this episode than usual – she is Jack's first patient on the Island, shares a flashback scene with him on the plane and is in the background for several scenes. One suspects she may have originally intended to be a main character, and it’s kind if a shame it didn’t work out that way.
Surprisingly it is Locke, one of the shows main characters, has the least screen time. It makes sense though, because it builds up his mystique. In Pilot he comes off as an oddball – orange peel smiles, standing in the rain – but also extremely wise – reciting the origins of backgammon.
We are also introduced to the second of three major mysteries – the polar bear, in a tropical surrounding. A shocking reveal no doubt – but not as shocking as the flashback moment where we see Kate is a prisoner. Just goes to show – nobody on LOST is who you expect. And the moment is even better because of clues that you can see in hindsight – Kate rubbing her wrists when we first see her and her reaction when she us handed the handcuffs.
And finally, the third major mystery is introduced in the last scene: the distress call. Sayid picks it up on the transceiver - a French message which Shannon translates to mean "It killed them. It killed them all". And, just like the first part did, it ends with Charlie asking a question – Guys, where are we?
10/10 – Brilliant seminal episode that makes use of all its characters and provides shocks and thrills like no other
