LOST: Beginning of the End - Press Release

Thanks to DerAndre for the heads up.

LOST: Beginning of the End

A LOOK OVER THE PAST FIVE SEASONS WILL SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE SURVIVORS BEFORE AND AFTER THE CRASH OF OCEANIC FLIGHT 815, THE MYSTERIES OF THE ISLAND, THE OCEANIC 6, THE VIOLENT SHIFTS THROUGH TIME AND THE DETONATION OF THE HYDROGEN BOMB, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE EXCITING SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON PREMIERE, IN THE NEW SPECIAL, "LOST: BEGINNING OF THE END," TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 ON ABC

ABC once again invites new and avid "Lost" viewers to take another look at one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed shows. "Lost: Beginning of the End" will explore the series in a way that will bring new viewers up to date - but which current viewers will also find illuminating – in anticipation of the two-hour final season premiere. The special will take a look at the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, the mysteries of the island, its inhabitants, the Oceanic 6, the violent shifts through time on the island and the detonation of the hydrogen bomb. It will also delve into some of the questions that have been answered, and those that still remain a mystery. "Lost: Beginning of the End" airs TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Oceanic Flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed, leaving 48 passengers alive and stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific. The survivors include a diverse group of people from different walks of life - a doctor, an escaped fugitive, a con man, an Iraqi interrogator, a married Korean couple and a man formerly confined to a wheelchair who is now inexplicably healed. "Lost: Beginning of the End" will take an in-depth look at the original survivors before and after the crash, their struggle to stay alive and their attempts to get off the island, which led to the Oceanic 6's escape back to civilization. The special will also delve into Ben moving the island, which thrust the remaining survivors into violent shifts through time, Locke being tasked with leaving the island and convincing the Oceanic 6 to return, the survivors being stranded in the 1970s during the Dharma Initiative, and Faraday's game-changing plan which convinced Jack that, if the Swan Station were blown up, it could reset time and prevent the plane from ever crashing.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O'Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

Source: ABC

Emmy Watch: The 6 Submitted Episodes

Thanks to thedemonhog for the following

The six episodes submitted by Lost's producers to Emmy judges for the Outstanding Drama Series race were just revealed at http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2008/08/article-7158293.html. See also http://goldderbyforums.latimes.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1106078764/m/912105902. The episodes are

"The Beginning of the End"
"The Constant"
"Ji Yeon"
"There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"
"There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3"

These six tapes are divided into three tapes and each Emmy voter will view only one tape of two episodes ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" counts as two episodes since it is roughly twice the length of a normal episode). It is not known how the episodes were split up.

Source: thedemonhog@SpoilerTVForums

Season 4 DVD Audio Commentary

Update: 8th August I've just learnt that The Beginning of The End will also feature Audio Commentary.

We've just learnt that the Episodes Ji Yeon and The Constant will feature additional Audio Commentary to go alongside the Episode on the DVD.

USA Version - DVD
USA Version - Blu-Ray
UK Version - DVD
UK Version - Blu-Ray
Canadian Version - DVD
Canadian Version - Blu-Ray

Source: DarkUFO

Lost's EMMY Nominations

Thanks to Nathan for the heads up that Lost has put forward "The Beginning of the End" and "The Constant" up for EMMY Nomination.

The Episode League Table - Week 5 Update

Here is the latest League Table from all the votes we've collected so far from visitors of the site. This table is updated weekly.

As you can see we have a new leader in the table as the fantastic The Constant is now the DarkUFO readers favourite episode since we started collecting your ratings at the start of season 3. It is also poised to become the most voted for episode as it already has 18,600+ votes in less than 36 hours since the episode aired and looks likely to surpass the 20,900 votes that were cast for the Season 4 Premiere, The Beginning of the End.

If you have not yet voted on any of the previous episodes, you can see all the previous polls here.

(Click to Enlarge)

Episode 4.01 - The Beginning of the End - Behind the Scenes

Thanks to DocArzt for the video.

The Lost Fantasy League: Week 1 Update

Introduction
Here we go folks! The main event has begun. Welcome to the first annual DarkUFO Lost Fantasy League. Season 4 has begun and it's starting to look like we may be getting more than just the eight episodes that were finished before the writers strike commenced.

We were treated to a doozy of an episode in "The Beginning of the End" and I'm sure that is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what Damon and Carlton have in store for us. Every Monday evening (US Eastern time) check in here to see the latest Fantasy Update, hosted by me, G-Man.

Please keep in mind that the LFL is a "No Spoiler Zone." We ask that you refrain from referring to or outright leaking any spoilers or spoilerish information in the comments section out of respect for those of us who have remained either mostly or entirely spoiler-free during the Hiatus.

Check out the video on your left for a semi-brief overview of this week's highlights. Read through the sections below to get a more in-depth understanding of how the scores came out the way they did and be sure to check on where your team stands in the Statistics and Tables section. If you have any questions, either ask them in the comments section or email them to LFLquestions@gmail.com.

“The Beginning of the End” (in 500 words or less)

What a way to get the ball rolling! Season 4 kicks things off in high gear.

Help is on the way, Ben continues to dispense warnings, and Naomi has apparently pulled a Season 7 lumbering off into the jungle. Jack is so smug and content with himself for making the call that will lead to their rescue that he brushes off Kate’s superior female intuition about the possibility that Naomi left two blood trails. That’s right, silly Kate! Why don’t you just sit there, caught in the dreaded love triangle and not show any character growth, while a man tells you what to do? Seriously, when has Jack ever been wrong about anything?

In an act of well-deserved revenge, Kate swipes the satellite phone from Jack while pretending to show affection. Ben notices and gives her mad non-verbal bug-eyed props for it. Jack and Rousseau, with Ben in tow, follow the wrong trail, which only leads to Ben cracking some delicious one-liners to Jack. Kate follows the right blood trail and is attacked by Naomi. She calls her fellow boat people and covers for the fact that Locke tried to turn her into an Island shish kebob. Her people have a lock on the Island’s location and are evidently on their way.

Meanwhile, Hurley’s celebratory cannonball leaves him all wet and mopey when Desmond returns with news of Charlie’s death and the fact that the people on the freighter may be dangerous. Like any rational soul would, Hurley chucks the radio into the ocean, forcing them to deliver Charlie’s dying message in person.

When everybody meets up at the cockpit, Hurley tells Claire the sad news, everyone pouts, Jack attacks Locke, the camp divides into two groups, and most importantly, absolutely nobody kisses. That’s right, two couples are reunited, everyone is buzzing about the impending rescue, but no one kisses anybody. We’ve had random kisses and hookups in the jungle, sweaty cage romps and developing romances, but when people think they’re getting saved, they just….hug?

In our flashbacks- no, flashforwards- we see a frazzled Hurley on the run from the cops. Well, actually he’s on the run from a vision of Charlie standing by the Ho-Ho’s. He willingly goes back to Santa Rosa, where he’s visited by a creepy man claiming to be from Oceanic (buy that one and I’ve got some Nigerian uranium to sell you), who asks Hurley “Are they still alive?” Michael Abbadon, welcome to the Creepy Club! You’ll fit in quite well with Ethan and Ben.

Hurley is visited again by a vision of Charlie, who claims that “They need you.” Oh, the mystery runs deeper still! Hurley counts to five and Charlie disappears. Later on, a clean-cut, beardless Jack pays dear Hugo a visit. He saw Hurley’s Gone in 60 Seconds routine on TV and wants to make sure that Hurley isn’t losing it; wants to make sure that Hurley isn’t “going to tell.” Tell what, you ask? Well that’s another tale for another day.

1. Nobody earns First Line or Last Line points for the episode. For the Fantasy League, the first line is considered to be the TV reporter covering the high speed chase. The last line in the episode was spoken by the parachutist, who is a non-League character.

2. Jack only gets points once for appearing in Hurley’s flashforwards. Since the linear narrative of the flashforwards was not interrupted by any shifts in time, Jack’s appearances occur as a part of the linear narrative.

3. Jack yanking on the ropes is considered an injury. Both he and Ben lost points accordingly. Jack didn’t need to yank on the rope like that. He did it to cause discomfort to Ben, who had been dispensing a couple of good zingers in his direction up to that point.

4. Jack and Locke only lose points once for their altercation at the cockpit. There was a commercial break cutting it in half and when we returned from commercial it appears that Jack takes another swing at Locke. This is all considered one injury sequence despite the slight pause while Jack pointed the gun at Locke and pulled the trigger.

5. Hurley loses points for being injured by the cops. When he tried to run away from them at the beginning of the episode, they slammed him up against a wall. Enough force was used to justify a points deduction.

6. Both of Hurley’s visions of Charlie are being considered Island visions. While he’s not actually on the Island, DarkUFO and I feel as though there is something more to these visions than just Hurley going off the deep end. Both visions are considered separate visions so Hurley gets points for each one. If we learn later on that these visions are just Hurley’s mind at work, these points will be taken away.

7. The scenes involving Jacob’s shack were very interesting to score. We believe that Hurley actually saw Jacob’s shack, so Hurley does not get Island vision points for the incident. The appearance of Christian Shephard in Jacob’s chair was equally confusing. Until we know more about what happened there, both Christian and Jacob are getting points for appearing. Hurley is getting points for discovering a new person in Christian/Jacob and also for encountering Jacob. If and when information comes out from Damon and Carlton as to what happened here and who was involved, we will come back and adjust the points accordingly. We did not award Jacob/Christian points for discovering a new person for Hurley’s presence, since Hurley found him/them and he/they did not seem to notice Hurley outside the window (I am a firm believer that we saw Locke’s eye).

8. Hurley loses points for getting slapped by Charlie. Whether he was just a dream or an actual Island vision, Charlie slapped Hurley and that was real. Besides, the rules state that anything happening during the runtime of the episode counts for points.

9. No flashback points are awarded for the semi-flashback clip of Charlie and Desmond in the Looking Glass. I don’t think this was meant as an actual flashback. It was more of a rehash clip directed at the audience, not a memory for our Losties. Hurley was talking about Charlie’s sacrifice when the clips appeared on screen but Hurley was not there to see it happen.

10. Penny gets appearance points. During the aforementioned rehash of footage from the Looking Glass, Penny is just barely visible in the lower left corner of the screen when we’re looking at the porthole from Charlie’s POV. She is on the comm screen. Her appearance is about as quick as Jacob’s in "The Man Behind the Curtain," but you can spot her in a screencap if you catch it just right.

11. Hurley does not lose points for crashing his car at the beginning of the episode. Yes, it was a violent experience, but he wasn’t hurt by it.

12. Hurley’s encounter with Michael Abbadon does not count for new person points. Abbadon sought Hurley out.

13. Jack and Kate’s discovery of the parachutist does count for new person points. While the Losties already know that the freighter people exist, they were not told that one would be dropping in like that.

Group 1-
JACK (+65): Attendance (+5); First On Screen (+15); Appears in Hurley's Flashforwards (+25); Injures Ben- Sharp yank on the ropes tied to his wrists (-5); Injures Locke- Attacks him at the cockpit (-5); Discovers a New Person- Man parachuting out of helicopter (+20); Last Person on Screen (+10)
KATE (+15): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- Attacked by Naomi (-10); Discovers a New Person- Man parachuting out of helicopter (+20)
SAWYER (+5): Attendance (+5)
LOCKE (-5): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- Attacked by Jack (-10)
BEN (-15): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- Punched by Danielle (-10); Gets Hurt- Jack yanks on the rope attached to his wrists (-10)

Group 2-
HURLEY (+200): Attendance (+5); Episode Centricity (+25); Flashforward (+20); Gets Hurt- Slammed against wall by the cops (-10); Has an Island Vision- Charlie swimming into the interrogation room glass (+30); Discovers a New Place- Jacob's shack (+20); Hears the Whispers (+30); Discovers a New Person- Jacob/Christian/??? (+20); Encounter Jacob (+40); Has an Island Vision- Charlie Appears at the Mental Institution (+30); Gets Hurt- Charlie slaps him (-10)
DESMOND (+5): Attendance (+5)
JULIET (+5): Attendance (+5)
SAYID (+5): Attendance (+5)
MICHAEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 3-
CLAIRE (+5): Attendance (+5)
JACOB (+5): Attendance (+5)
JIN (+5): Attendance (+5)
SUN (+5): Attendance (+5)
ROUSSEAU (0): Attendance (+5); Injures Ben- punches him (-5)

Group 4-
ALEX (+5): Attendance (+5)
BERNARD (+5): Attendance (+5)
KARL (+5): Attendance (+5)
ROSE (+5): Attendance (+5)
WALT (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 5-
AARON (+5): Attendance (+5)
PENNY (+5): Attendance (+5)
CINDY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MARVIN CANDLE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RICHARD (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 6-
ETHAN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
LIBBY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MS. HAWKING (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RACHEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
WIDMORE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 7-
CHRISTIAN (+5): Attendance (+5)
KELVIN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KEVIN CALISS (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MR. PAIK (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
NADIA (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

As mentioned in the video, we have a 17-way tie for first place after Week 1. This means that there were 17 Fantasy Geniuses of the Week. Congratulations are in order for the following contestants:

-Clau
-EducatedHorse73
-Ellie
-EllieAtWHL
-Gawain
-Hearts And Minds
-Heather Anderson
-Kath
-Log&blogs
-Loquo
-Mfll
-Paul Reynolds
-Ryan
-Shamrocker
-Tenenbaum
-The Vindicator
-Tsara90

All of these contestants managed to score the highest possible total for the episode, 280 points. What a start to your Fantasy season!

To get the full score, each of them had to have Jack (+65), Hurley (+200) and Christian (+5). In Group 3, Claire, Jacob, Jin and Sun all got the same amount of points (+5), making them interchangeable. The same applies for Group 4, where Alex, Bernard, Karl or Rose would have sufficed for 5 points, while you needed either Aaron or Penny for Group 5 for their 5 points. Group 6 are our first Lost Fantasy Losers, with none of them showing up in the episode.

Table Toppers


Celebrity Table


Character Groups


Scoring Chart


To see the full table and your position click the link below.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pXy_MMpweXkAkMEOuxvVeBg

I have no predictions for the next episode. It is titled "Confirmed Dead." Not a very comforting thing to hear. It sounds like it might pertain to the supposed discovery of Oceanic Flight 815 at the bottom of the ocean with all its passengers aboard. Maybe there will also be some kind of tie-in with the Find 815 ARG that had been running all during January.

All I know for sure is that it's another episode of Lost, which is great!

Come back next Monday and find out how your team is doing with a second episode in the books. With the big boost Hurley gave his Fantasy owners, a lot of us have some serious catching up to do.

The Beginning of the End (of my sanity) (*Updated*)

Please give the last of our new recappers this season, Erika Olson (aka "e") from LongLiveLocke.com a big warm DarkUFO welcome. (Note: We've fixed the image problems)


Here we are again, wondering what in the hell just happened on Lost. And it's about time! When the premiere started rolling, it was like the painful memories of the show's eight-month hiatus just dissipated into a puff of (black) smoke; I was sucked right back in to where we had left off with our beloved Lostaways. However, if I had to sum up the Season Four premiere in two words, I would have to turn to one of my favorite phrases: "Saaaaaay Whaaaaaaa?" If I was given only a sentence to express my thoughts, it would be: "Well, at least now we know what all of those "6"s embedded in the promos meant..."

But I have a whole post to analyze the episode, so let's get into it. First and foremost, the premiere left me unsettled--and not just because a loud, beeping "Winter Storm Warning" message kept drowning out the show on television stations here in Chicago, which caused me to experience several mini heart attacks out of fear that I was missing something. I just received a comment from a reader in NYC who said that emergency broadcasting tests went off during the show in his area around the same time. Who are these evil people trying to kill Lost fans?!?! They must be stopped!

I watched the premiere twice the night it aired... the first time attempting to relax with friends and the second time scribbling notes frantically (I have since watched it a third time). After seeing it "live," I felt slightly let down--I thought more would have happened on the Island than it did. The previews made it seem like the "rescuers" were going to land right away and be in most of the episode (damn you, ABC Promo Monkeys!). I also initially felt like there was too much time spent on the Lostaways wandering around through the jungle. But upon second viewing, the reasons for some of the trekking became clear, and my mind started cranking away.

This was a hard post to organize, so let me explain the way I chose to handle it: I'm going to cover the opening scene first, then the Island happenings, then go back to the flash-forwards, and then wrap up with some over overall questions raised by this episode, in addition to some of the other sections I usually save for the end.

For those of you who are new to my write-ups, be advised that I also put some extra "analysis" into the captions of each picture (mouse over to see them).

Now that the housekeeping is out of the way...


THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Come on, who DOESN'T pour some vodka into their OJ every morning? Just a teensy bit? Don't even try to tell me only The Mad Doctor does that. I'm sitting here with a screwdriver right now as I type this.

I loved the first few moments of the opening scene. I was also extremely happy that we knew right upfront that it was a flash-forward, and didn't have to spend the entire hour wondering if we were seeing something from the past versus the future. When Jack muttered, "Dammit," I knew that he was worried about Hurley--not about his safety, but about him having gone berzerker and spilling whatever secret it is they're both keeping. Remember that in the Season Three finale, Jack cry-shouted to Kate, "I am SICK of lying." So we knew at that point that those who got off of the Island were covering something up.

The question is, when in the overall timeline of the story arc did Hurley's flash-forward take place? We know from the newspaper clipping Jack had in "Through the Looking Glass" that the Season Three finale's flash-forwards took place approximately 2.5 years into the future (from the point we are on the Island right now: 91 days after Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on September 22, 2004). Obviously, the flashes in "The Beginning of the End" were closer to Jack and Hurley's return to the real world. What happened in between those two points (besides Jack growing his hillbilly beard, which he so awesomely referenced at the end of the episode) to make The Mad Doctor become mentally unhinged? I'll speculate on this topic a bit later, fear not.


I WISH I NEVER KNEW HER, EITHER

So we now know that Hurley saw, or thought he saw, Dead Charlie in the convenience mart, and that's what led to him speed away in his Camaro and subsequently become the target of a police chase. Then we were treated to yet another character cross-over when Ana Lucia's former partner in the LAPD, Mike, was the one to question Hurley. But Hurley denied ever knowing Ana Lucia. So... did he do this because, like most of us, he was just trying to push all memory of her out of his mind? Or was the fact that he had in fact met Ana Lucia on the Island part of what he is supposed to be covering up?

Obviously, I do realize it's the latter, but still, you know that Ana Lucia was poop and it brought Hurley pain to be reminded of her, just as it did with me. I think the way in which Mike asked the question to Hurley was a clue: "Maybe you met her on the plane, before it took off?" Notice he didn't ask, "Or maybe she was among the survivors on the Island?" This leads me to believe (once again, I know this is pretty obvious) that not only are Hurley, Kate and Jack covering up the fact that some of the passengers of Flight 815 are probably still living on the Island, but they are also hiding the fact that many more were initially alive after the crash but then were killed in the three months before the supposed rescuers arrived.


THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING SWEATY JUNGLEWEAR

I'm going to deal with Hurley's vision of Swimming Darth Hoodie a bit later, but for now, let's get back to the Island. How many people thought that The Island brought Naomi back to life when her body went missing? Raise your hands. I did.

But that was not the case. Instead, I think it is safe to assume that Naomi must be some distant relative of Patchy, and can therefore miraculously overcome near-death experiences that would kill others in a mere instant. She willed herself to pull the proverbial and literal knife out of her own back and crawl into the jungle, away from the people she now thought were intent on harming her.

The whole Naomi storyline in the premiere really bothered me upon first viewing. I did not understand what the point of it was. If the rescue peeps got a fix on the Island's location from the initial call, why did they need to keep calling back? Why did they need Naomi to change the phone's frequency? And then she still ended up dying?!?! I didn't get it.

Ah, the power of watching the show more than once. Now it is crystal clear to me why all of the Naomi stuff went down. Here are what I deem to be the two major reasons:

1) Naomi needed to clear the Lostaways of any wrongdoing. If she had died after Locke threw the knife at her, when the crew from the freighter showed up and found her murdered, they would've had a good reason to turn against the Flight 815 survivors. But Naomi covered for them and told her team that she was dying from a landing injury. Her actions also had the effect of making her seem "good." Not only did she ensure that the rescue team would still arrive and not hold the Lostaways responsible for her death, she also came off as sympathetic when she asked George to "tell my sister I love her" before keeling over. While I was suspicious of Naomi up to this point, now I am starting to believe that she was actually trying to get the group rescued. We know that Penny doesn't know of her or the freighter, but that doesn't mean that Naomi is bad... she could have at least thought she was doing the right thing. Someone could have told her she was working for Penny and trying to rescue Desmond, and she believed it.

Oh, and aren't you pretty sure that we'll end up meeting her sister at some point? Duh, WE WILL. Or she wouldn't have mentioned it! That's how this show works, people!

2) The switching of the frequencies meant something. Remember when Sayid didn't want to use the walkie on the beach (before Hurley tossed it into the ocean) because he thought the rescuers may be listening to their communications? Well, what if another group had also latched on to the phone's channel? There was a guy named "George Minkowski" who was on the other end of the line sometimes (and if you haven't read the significance of the name Minkowski, you better check out my analysis here), but during one of the calls the voice sounded much gruffer, and the person never identified himself as Minkowski. Could there now be two groups that have the Island's location? I'm thinking there might be, or else the whole "changing the frequency" thing seemed kind of pointless. They could've just called and demanded to speak to Naomi before landing without having to go into the frequency discussion.


S.O.S. (RESCUE ME)

Before I go any further, does anyone else out there remember the Disney movie The Rescuers? With those mice (Bernard and Bianca) and that dragonfly Evinrude who totally rocked the house? That movie was awesome. I kept thinking of it every time the Lostaways were talking about getting rescued. Now I can't get "Rescue Aid Society" out of my head! R-E-S, C-U-E... Rescue Aid So-ci-e-ty!

So this weird thought came to me after watching the premiere twice in a row. I'm not checking the message boards or other Lost-related sites anymore because there are way too many spoilers out there, so perhaps unbeknownst to me this is a major theory everyone's already dissected... but what if "the rescuers" on the freighter are actually a group of people who are trying to get back to the Island? Who, just like Future Jack and Future Hurley, had once lived there and were desperate to return? When Naomi said "tell my sister I love her," I got the sense that she thought George was going to see her sister on the Island. Kind of like, "Tell my sister this when you see her when you get here." This would still jibe with everything I said in the section above, and more. Consider these points:
- When Naomi first landed on the Island and needed Patchy's help because of the branch puncturing her lung, remember that I thought she acted really fishy around him (to refresh your memory, my take on their meeting is here). She was specifically trying to communicate with him in a language the Lostaways wouldn't understand.
- If she knew she was going to die, but believed that Kate was telling the truth that Locke was the sole bad apple of the group, then she would still think it was OK for the rest of her team to land. If they were all desperately trying to get back to the Island, she wouldn't let one random crazy dude get in their way, now that they were so close, so she would choose to cover for Locke rather than throw off the mission.
- If her sister is still on the Island, that would be another reason she'd want her crew to get there... not only so that they could finally return as they'd been trying to, but also so that they could deliver her final message to her sister in person.
- Naomi's group could've found out that Penny was also searching for Desmond, figured out that Desmond was believed to be on the same mystery Island on which they had once lived, and used Penny's story as a front to get close to and gain the trust of the Lostaways. Someone could've stolen the picture of Penny and Desmond (that Naomi was carrying a copy of when she landed) and made a copy of it easily.

Now, we obviously know that at least three of the 815ers get off of the Island, so they're getting outta there somehow, and I'm sure it's going to happen soon. But maybe it's not via this "rescue" crew that's on its way. Perhaps the rescue team will get there and be like, "Word up! We're finally back! Benry--how's it hangin'? Come here, Smokey, we've missed you. Jacob, you're lookin' old!" It could happen.


HOBBITS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO HAVE THAT EFFECT ON PEOPLE

On the other side of the Island, a different kind of drama was unraveling. I will start this section by admitting that while the character of Hurley never bothered me per se, he hasn't been one of my favorites over the past few years. When he radioed Jack to ask about the rescue near the beginning of the episode, he was especially annoying. That being said, I thought for the remainder of the episode he was better than he had ever been in the rest of the series. I liked how he got his moment of happiness with his cannonball plunge into the water--right before he heard the awful news about Charlie. And my heart absolutely broke when he demanded to know "WHERE'S CHARLIE???" above all the other bickering when Desmond returned to the beach.

But good God, when he delivered the news about Darth Hoodie's death to Claire, I lost it. Tears began to flow down my cheeks. I was selfishly happy that they broke up that scene with another flash-forward, or I would've continued to bawl like baby Turniphead for about ten more minutes. Even Sayid looked upset, which killed me. Hurley officially stole the Best Man-Crying award from The Mad Doctor in this episode. Well done.


SUSPICIOUS MINDS

But right before he met up with the rest of the group near the Oceanic cockpit wreckage, Hurley had a very strange experience that probably caused Tivos across the nation to break from incessant pausing, slo-mo-ing and rewinding. After blowing off what might have been one of only approximately three attempts Sawyer has ever made to be nice, Hurley gets himself lost in the jungle and stumbles upon Creepy Manor. He peers inside, sees that bizarro dog painting, notices Zombie Dad rockin' away in a chair, and then comes face to face with The Eye. No, not The Eye of Sauron, dorks! (Though that would've been THE BEST!) The eye of what we can only assume is Jacob.

Recalling the first time we as viewers saw this pathetic cabin, there was a flash of an old dude in a chair (and it did not look like Christian Shephard that time), and then we assumed that the camera zoomed in on the chair-guy's eye. Because we saw an eye back then, too. But in this episode it seems as if the eye belongs to someone different than the person in the chair: Zombie Dad was in the background when a man whose face was obstructed appeared right in front of Hurley. Here are screenshots of Christian and the eye. If you'd like to see a comparison of the eye from "The Man Behind the Curtain" and the one Hurley just saw, go here. And if you think you can make something out of the whispers that preceded this whole scene (I couldn't), listen to them here.





I seriously cannot even begin to attempt to cover all of the possibilities that this scene raised. The biggest questions are: whose eye is it? Is it Jacob's? If so, is Jacob someone we've never seen before, or is he actually someone we already know? I have seen arguments for why the eye belongs to Desmond, Jack, Locke, Patchy, Christian, the Asian rescuer guy from the previews, Magnus Hanso, Alvar Hanso, Hulk Hogan, and Alice Cooper. Suffice it to say, I don't think we're going to figure it out any time soon. My personal opinion is that we've never seen the person in the picture above.

Further, I do not think that Jacob is a physical being, but rather some sort of weird spirit that can take the form of others. Notice that Christian is in the same outfit that he had on it in the So It Begins "Missing Pieces" video. (If you haven't seen that video yet, check it and my analysis of it out here, it is critical!)

So maybe Jacob hangs with all the zombies on the Island or something? He and Zombie Dad were just chillin' in the shack, trying to enjoy a nice night by lamplight, and Hurley ruined their peace.

But what was up with the cabin switching locations and disappearing and reappearing? That was strange. When Hurley last saw the cabin, its door swung open. Next thing you know, the cabin's gone, Hurley falls into a small hole and finds Locke standing above him. In the following scene, Locke questions why Hurley was yelling for help, but Hurley doesn't tell Locke what he saw. I felt like Locke was trying to gauge whether or not Hurley had indeed seen the cabin and/or Jacob.

And why was Locke right there? Was he perhaps in the cabin as well... is that who was coming out of the door? We still don't know what happened between the time Locke lay paralyzed in the Skeleton Pit and heard Six-Foot-Five-College-Freshman Waaaaaalllt tell him he had "work to do" and his appearance at the radio tower to kill Naomi. Methinks Locke is now in cahoots with Jacob.


OH NO HE DIDN'T!

Finally, all the Lostaways are reunited in the jungle. Jin and Sun embrace, Rose calls Bernard "Rambo" again, even Juliet and Alex hug. Hurley tells Claire that Charlie is gone, and then... The Mad Doctor attacks Locke, pounces on him, grabs his gun and holds it to his beautiful bald head. Now, I'm not saying that Jack didn't have a right to be mad at my man. But for him to have actually pulled the trigger?!?! That was IT for me. The Mad Doctor is dead to me. He actually thought he was going to shoot Locke in the head at point blank range--he pulled the trigger! That bastard! I am GLAD you end up a chubby, hairy, drugged-out loser, do you hear me, Jack?!? Do not MESS with Locke!

Once I recovered from the shock of what Jack had attempted to do (you could tell that Locke was surprised as well), I then became very confused. Locke looked at Jack in bewilderment and said, "It wasn't loaded." But... wasn't that the same gun he had used hours earlier to shoot the ground near the phone back up at the radio tower? It clearly was loaded then... And if it wasn't loaded any longer, then why would Locke have immediately thought to grab it out of its holster when he saw Jack going for it? I can only help but think that one of two things is going on: 1) the producers made a mistake (it's been known to happen every once in a while) and somehow forgot that the gun was loaded not too long ago, or 2) The gun WAS still loaded, but when Jack attempted to shoot Locke, The Island wouldn't let that happen, and Locke then said what he said to make Jack feel guilty.

Anyone have any thoughts on this one?


A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

After Locke almost got killed for the bazillionth time, I was SO glad that Hurley told the rest of the group about Charlie's ominous final message. When the survivors were reunited in the jungle, everyone was standing there fighting about the freighter people, and I was shouting at the TV, "WHY IS NO ONE TELLING JACK ABOUT CHARLIE'S MESSAGE?!?!"

Why in the hell didn't Desmond say anything, he was freaking THERE?!?! But whatever, the "Not Penny's Boat" warning was made known, and that's all that matters. It was great how Hurley said (in so many words) that he was fed up with both of the supposed leaders--Locke AND Jack: "I'm listening to my friend. I'm listening to Charlie."

Later in that same scene, when Benry had his great line, "Jack, with your permission I'd like to go with John," and The Mad Doctor LET HIM GO, was anyone else perplexed? Earlier that very same day, Jack had told Rousseau that he didn't trust Benry to be out of his sight. Now he's going to let him go, just like that... and on top of it, with his #1 enemy? It made no sense to me. Perhaps he thought that since he knew where they were going to go, he would rather have them both out of his hair so that they didn't screw up the rest of the group's chances of getting rescued any more than they had up to that point. But it still seemed very odd to me. AND... Benry had tried to kill Locke not too long ago, too! Why would Locke agree to let Benry come with him?

And finally, Rose choosing to stay with Jack was weird to me as well. She had said before that she never wanted to leave the Island because it cured her cancer. I guess she technically doesn't have to leave just because she and Bernard chose to stay with Jack, but it seemed off to me.

Sawyer left with Locke for no other reason than to cause drama for the Kate-Jack-Juliet-Sawyer love quadrangle. I thought it was very unlike his character to not stay and fight.


A SIX-PACK OF LUNACY

When Hurley proceeded to join Locke's side, along with Claire, Aaron, Sawyer and some other randoms, my theory about who the Oceanic Six were was blown all to hell. In the first minutes of the premiere, when Hurley shouted, "I'm one of the Oceanic Six!", I had figured that the remaining three (knowing Jack and Kate also got off the Island) were Claire, Aaron and Sun. Why? Because Desmond said he saw Claire and Aaron getting into a helicopter in the same flash in which he saw Charlie drown. While I had initially thought Des was lying to Charlie and was cruelly leveraging Charlie's love for Claire against him to ensure he completed the mission, I no longer believe that. Desmond volunteered to dive down to the Looking Glass at the very last moment before Charlie knocked him unconscious, and nothing else that Desmond has done leads me to believe that he is "bad."

To complete out The Six, I figured that since Sun is definitely pregnant and will die if she stayed on the Island, I thought everyone would agree to let her go--thus ensuring another heart-wrenching "Sun/Jin Good-Bye Scene" à la the Season One finale. My overriding theory for my picks for The Six was that the Lostaways would be told or would discover that, for some as-of-yet unknown reason, only six of them could leave the Island. I thought that the Lostaways either chose among themselves or plead their cases to their rescuers and The Six were picked that way or something.

But my own theory didn't even make sense to me (a sure sign that one has thought up an awful theory), because I don't know why Hurley would've ever been chosen, instead of, say, Jin, so as to not break up the married couple.

I also can't help but wonder if more people than just The Six leave the Island. Because I still strongly believe that Benry was the one in the coffin in "Through the Looking Glass," and he would never be a part of the Oceanic Six as he was never on the Oceanic flight in the first place. That is why I think the Oceanic Six represent something other than simply the survivors of the crash. But I'll get to that theory in a later section.

Oh, and one more comment about the coffin... shout-out to reader "Bob," who emailed me to point out that if any of the Oceanic Six were in the coffin, someone would've shown up to the funeral, as they were celebrities. This is more evidence as to why it could be Benry who dies 2.5 years in the future.

Returning to the subject of who makes up The Six, I'm really back to square one after seeing how the Jack/Locke camps broke out. Obviously The Six will not be determined by whose side they chose. Especially since, in the final flash-forward, Hurley apologized to Jack for going with Locke (yet he still wants to get back to the Island... WHAT?!?! I can't take it?!?!). And as my friend FC pointed out, maybe Claire and Aaron DO board a helicopter, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are going back to the mainland.

DAAAAAH!!!!!

The Six could be Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Larry, Moe and Curly for all I know at this point.

So here's a novel idea: I'm going to try to stop thinking about it. I know for a fact that there are spoilers out there about who The Six are, and I suggest that if you don't already know, you should follow my lead and try to keep it that way. I unfortunately had accidentally read that the premiere episode was about Hurley seeing frightening visions in the future, and that Jack was also going to be in the flashes. I think that knowledge greatly diminished my enjoyment of the episode, and dammit, there are only seven installments left and I better be surprised during them! That being said, if you have any COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNSPOILED ideas as to who the other three of The Six are and why, I'm all ears (or, eyes).


THE DUDE WHO LOOKS TOO MUCH LIKE CHARLIE

One last thing to cover from the on-Island scenes--the final moments of the show. You know, first they had a ton of blonds who all looked alike: Penny, Sarah, Juliet, Bonnie in the Looking Glass, et cetera. Now that guy who just parachuted in looks like Charlie, in my opinion. Assess for yourself:


Anyway, if you've been playing the Find815.com game, then you already know the name of the guy who just landed. If you don't, it's not spoiling anything to tell you that it's not Minkowski, the guy who kept identifying himself on the phone. But obviously this latest arrival on the Island knows he's looking for Jack, because he says, "Are you Jack?" Which leads to dumb stares and silence from The Mad Doctor and Kate. What, are you not so sure you made the right call anymore, doctor-boy?

Anyway, the only thing I'm wondering about this final scene was whether or not the helicopter crashed onto the Island, or if that dude just parachuted out of it and the helicopter had a different driver who then took off. It seemed like the helicopter was having issues in the sky, and we know that Naomi's helicopter went down, most likely because of the magnetic forces on the Island. I guess we shall soon find out.


SO I LOOK TO MY ESKIMO FRIEND

Now back to the flash-forwards.

First things first: did you notice the chalkboard behind Hurley in the mental institution?


I don't think the drawings of the palm tree, water, boat and shark have any significance, but if you missed them, then you need to get your game back on for the next seven episodes! Perhaps the chalkboard was just a warm-up to make sure we were paying attention a little bit later and saw this:


That's right, my friends... we saw the image above for a split-second when Hurley was sitting outside before he was approached by Dead Charlie With a New Haircut.

My first thought was that this was a drawing of the guys we saw in the Season Two finale, who called Penny after they detected the electromagnetic anomaly brought on by Desmond turning the fail-safe key. Here they are again to refresh your memory. Notice how they are playing chess, and that the set looks very similar to the set two pictures above (though that could just be the same prop and have no significance whatsoever).


Perhaps The Six didn't go straight back to L.A. after they left the Island; maybe they swung by to hang with the two guys above for a bit first? I can't think of any other reason why Hurley would be drawing an igloo (and I'm sure those guys weren't even in an igloo, but the guy on the right's outfit matches Hurley's drawing). Yeah, there was a polar bear on the Island at one point, but no igloos...


AM I CRAZY? OR AM I SO SANE THAT I JUST BLEW YOUR MIND?

It is time now to discuss one of the biggest questions the Season Four premiere raised. Is Hurley even sane in the first place? We know that he had been in a mental institution long before he landed on the Island. That stay was supposedly brought on by the fact that Hurley thought he was responsible for the death of a few people after a deck he stepped on collapsed. He was particularly sensitive about anyone calling him "crazy" after that. At one point in Season Two, he also thought he saw his imaginary friend "Dave" on the Island. Then he sees Jacob's Cabin and it appears and disappears in different locations.

Now that he's off of the Island, he's having visions of Dead Charlie. First, when he was being interrogated by Mike after his car crash, Hurley saw the two-way mirror turn into water and saw Dead Charlie hold up another ominous message before seemingly causing the holding room to flood.


He had seen Dead Charlie in the convenience mart at the beginning of the episode, and then he finally has a conversation with him on the institution's grounds. But remember, another patient alerted Hurley to Dead Charlie's presence. So does that mean Charlie was really there?

And note that Charlie admitted that he was a goner. "I am dead. But I am also here."

At that point in time when I was watching the show live, I literally felt a pain inside my skull. Something in there imploded, I'm sure of it. I'm going to go get it checked out after I finish this post.

When Charlie smacked Hurley, it reminded me of something that happened in the "Dave" episode, where Hurley thought he was seeing Dave again on the Island. Dave threw a ball at Hurley and smacked him, and Hurley picked up Dave's slipper. It's making me wonder if perhaps Dave, or something parading as Dave, really was there, now that we saw Dead Charlie pull the same tricks.

So what is going on with all this? Hell if I know! I only have two theories:

1) Smokey and/or Jacob is disguising itself as Charlie (and had been Dave, as well as Zombie Dad, and other visions people saw on the Island as well). The only reason why I think this is most likely the case is that Charlie called Hurley "Hugo" at the end right before he disappeared, and I don't think the real Charlie would ever address Hurley that way. It seems like he is working on behalf of the Island or something. If this is the case, though, then I am really confused how Smokey/Jacob could survive OFF of the Island?

2) Dave was either Smokey or just a figment of Hurley's imagination (while on the Island), but Dead Charlie actually really is Dead Charlie, and he is coming back to Hurley via some time-jumping power that can be harnessed on the Island. Yeah, I know, I know, Charlie drowned. It is almost impossible for me to explain in written words what I think could be going on here, but as you all know, I am convinced that something bizarre is going on with time
on the Island. I don't care if this series ENDS and nothing about time-jumping or warping is ever revealed, I still won't believe it, that's how sure I am. I'll be like, "Just you wait--in Lost: The Movie, they'll confirm my theory!"

All I can say is that I still think that Charlie is "the musician" who programmed the code in the Looking Glass, and I think that at some point in his life he learned (or was taught) the ability to jump around in time. The part I can't explain is why he seemed to not know about it during any of his time on the Island that we saw during Seasons One through Three. I also can't explain why he would look so different when he visited Hurley in this latest episode than we ever saw him look before (though I did dig his new 'do and shades). Even if it is revealed that Dead Charlie was just Smokey or Jacob (or perhaps Smokey and Jacob are one in the same?), there is STILL something weird going on with time. I AM SURE OF IT!

(By the way, I'm not copping out here by refusing to detail what I think is going on. I already did so in my Season Three finale post, where I laid out six theories. If you would like to review those, click here to jump straight to them in a new window. Theories 1 and 6 have since been derailed by the producers, who stated that there is only one timeline and that what we saw of Jack and Kate in the future does actually happen.)

One last thing to say on the "is Hurley insane?" topic. Both on the Island when he saw Jacob's Cabin, and then in the yard when he was talking to Dead Charlie, Hurley used a technique that made his visions go away. He basically convinced himself that his visions weren't real, and they disappeared.

When talking to Dead Charlie, however, it was like Charlie knew what was coming. Hurley started counting to five, and Charlie said, "Don't do this," like he knew that Hurley had control over the situation with his mind. And sure enough, Charlie vanished when Hurley opened his eyes again at the count of five.


YOU KNOW WHAT 'THEY' SAY...

Charle's latest hand-message said "They Need You." The weird dude who was obviously not an Oceanic lawyer asked Hurley, "Are they still alive?" Later when Hurley talked to Charlie, Charlie repeated: "They need you. You know they need you."

So, who are "they"? One obvious theory is that "they" are the Lostaways left behind on the Island. But I feel like that is a bit too obvious. Why would fake-lawyer-guy care about the rest of the 815ers? While it's possible that when someone mentions "they" to Hurley they are wanting him to think of his friends who were left behind on the Island, it seems like the fake lawyer would perhaps be more interested in if, say, the DHARMA peeps were still there. Or the rescue crew. Or the Others (if it was discovered that they were the original inhabitants of the Island). Or some other group. Who knows, but I find it hard to believe that this sinister-sounding and looking man has the welfare of people like Jin and Bernard and Rose in mind.

By the way, a lot of people think that a black puff of smoke followed that guy out the door of the institution, but I replayed it a few times and think it may just be shadows. I am not 100% sure, though.


PLEASED TO MEET YOU, HOPE YOU GUESS MY NAME

Oh, and Fake Lawyer's name?

Michael Abbadon (spelled two different ways in various Lost press releases, so I'm not sure which one is correct). Either way, guess what many biblical scholars think Abbadon means?

Could it be... SATAN?


CELEBRITY SKIN

When I watched the Season Three finale again, it became apparent that, even though it was 2.5 years into the future, The Mad Doctor was still being treated as somewhat of a celebrity. Sure, he had just saved a mother and her son from the car wreck on the bridge, but a guy in the pharmacy line called him a "hero" and had recognized him, and the chief surgeon at the hospital referred to him as a "hero, twice over." Then when Hurley was in the interrogation room with Mike, Mike asked him if he was trying to use his "celebrity" status. Then at the end, Jack joked that people were still asking for his autograph when he went out for coffee. All of this is making me think that "The Oceanic Six" aren't just six people from Flight 815 who were miraculously found alive again. There's got to be something else (perhaps in addition to being survivors of the crash) that they were touted as upon their return, perhaps to stop people from asking too many questions.

Which leads to...


WELL, HELLOOOOOO, DOCTOR!

I forgot about my newfound hatred for The Mad Doctor for about 5 minutes near the end of the episode. Because, damn... he was lookin' good! The Mad Doctor cleans up well!

But looks can be deceiving, as we all know. All was not right with Jack. First off, we know he had already begun his descent into alcoholism from the opening scene of the episode. Secondly, he was clearly worried that Hurley was going to spill the secret they're both hiding. Thirdly, you could tell in Jack's face when Hurley said that they may have done the wrong thing that there was a split-second of doubt. It was like Hurley had voiced what was in the back of Jack's mind. But we all know how Jack hates to admit he's wrong, and so, at this early point in the future, Jack can't bring himself to agree with Hurley. And of course he has to go overboard and say "We're NEVER going back."

I now find it hard to believe that anyone Jack would've even remotely cared about was left behind on the Island. Because if they had been, wouldn't he feel like he needed to "fix" the situation and still get them back home? So something else is going on, and it is bugging the bejeezus out of me.


IT

Let's analyze the final conversation Hurley and Jack had, to see if it holds any other clues that may bring me some peace:

Hurley: Sorry. [pause] I'm sorry I went with Locke. I should've stayed with you.
Jack: It's water under the bridge, Hurley.
[Jack starts to leave]
Hurley: I don't think we did the right thing, Jack. I think it wants us to come back, and it's gonna do everything it can to--
Jack: We're NEVER going back.
[Jack leaves]
Hurley: Never say never, dude.

So, as I mentioned earlier, it really confused me when Hurley confesses that he should've stayed with Jack. That, combined with the fact that Jack doesn't seem to want to go back at this point, makes me wonder if perhaps everyone else DOES get killed. Something must happen to Locke's group that makes Hurley regret his decision to go with them. But even so, he feels the need to return to the Island... perhaps to make whatever went wrong right again?

And of course the biggest reveal in the conversation is the use of the word "it." Not "they" want us to come back... "IT" wants us to come back. At the end of the episode, I realized that perhaps Hurley knew that he wasn't really seeing Dead Charlie... it was this "IT" that is "gonna do everything it can" to entice the Six to return.

The question is: what is IT? Is "it" Jacob, Smokey, the Island, or something else we haven't met/seen yet?


JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE

Whatever transpired between Jack, Kate and Hurley's rescue and their time back in the real world has had a profound effect on all of them. They are all acting in ways that are completely opposite of their normal characters.

Kate, who always was on the run, finally wants to stay put.
Jack, who was always in control and sure of his decisions, becomes a drug-addicted alcoholic, convinced he made a huge mistake.
Hurley, who never wanted to be labeled as "crazy," begs to return to a mental institution.

Something very bad has happened to all of them. And I honestly don't know if I can bear to watch it reenacted over the course of the next three seasons. I think that's the worst part of all of this--we KNOW we're going to find out something awful happened. And we're most likely going to watch it happen on-screen, as all of the puzzle pieces of Lost are put together. Now, of COURSE I'm still going to tune in for the show, but it may be with two hands over my face, peering through my fingers as we learn how The Six became The Six.


BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


Hurley to Dead Charlie: I'm tryin' to buy some jerky and a Slushee, and suddenly you're standing there over by the Ho Hos.



Jack to Hurley: I'm thinkin' about growing a beard.


OTHER STUFF

- Did you notice all the "H" and "O" references in the episode? You have the Ho Hos, and the game of HORSE being played by Jack and Hurley, who never get past O. Guess what numbers H and O correspond to in the alphabet?

- The Mad Doctor isn't the only one who cleans up well off of the Island. Alex does, too.




- There are some awesome new Lost-related t-shirts out on Café Press. Guess which one I have my eye on...

- As far as I know, ABC will be playing the remaining seven episodes back-to-back. Meaning that on February 7th, we get our next installment. All I know about it is what I saw in the previews--yay! I can't wait to be surprised. I do know its title as well, but I consider it kind of a mini-spoiler, so I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not you want to check your Tivos or TV Guides to learn what it is.

- The latest word on the writers strike is that it may be over this week... I'll believe it when I see it, but my fingers remain crossed.


SHAMELESS PROMOTION

For those of you who enjoy reading things that are not related to Lost, I post almost daily at my other site, According to e. So that's where you can find me before my next Lost post, and read about things like my crazy ordeal at a Van Halen concert, and how I was on one of the rescue ships in Antarctica for the boat that sank in November!

Time to go put some ice packs on my wrists...

- e

The End and The Means by Luhks

Please give a warm welcome to Luhks one of our new Season 4 Recappers.


It feels like a hundred years ago that we came out here together. How did this happen?

In the closing scenes of the Lost Season Four premiere, The Beginning of the End, a character finally asks a question to which we already know the answer. Any Lost viewer who was eagerly anticipating this episode certainly remembers how it all happened. Most questions posed on the show have never been so straightforward. The first season of Lost began with Charlie’s famous question, “Guys, where are we?”, and it concluded with a question that set the stage for the second season, “What's inside that hatch?”. In turn, Season Two concluded with a question from Michael, which became the focus of Season Three: “Who are you people?”. Despite every revelation on the show, Lost viewers still have no definitive answers to any of those three season-long questions. We know a great deal of information about the island, the hatch, and the Others, but we're still just scratching the surface.

This critical fourth season of Lost does not begin with an overarching question as much as a definitive statement. The title of episode 4.01, The Beginning of the End, is a direct reference to a quote from the third season finale: “I’m telling you. Making that call is the beginning of the end.” While Benjamin Linus made that statement as a prophecy to the camp, the comment also serves as an equally bold declaration from the show’s writers. For the first time in the history of the series, the writers now know exactly when the show will end, and every remaining episode can build towards that conclusion in the most satisfying manner possible. Although the end is in sight, our path to that ending will be anything but linear. In Season Four, the ‘where,’ ‘what,’ and ‘who’ questions of the mysterious island will now take a backseat to the new question of ‘how’. Specifically, Season Four will answer the same question: how did we get here? However, the here of this question is not Day 92 on the island, but the undetermined Day X in California.


In addition to this guiding question for the whole season, The Beginning of the End also presents two very provocative new questions for us to consider within the context of the episode itself. The first question arises from what will be one of the most heavily discussed scenes over the next week: Hurley’s conversation at Santa Rosa with Matthew Abbadon. This introductory scene for new cast member Lance Reddick was about as ominous as you could possibly imagine. The name Abbadon comes from a Hebrew word for destruction, while the full name Matthew Abbadon is an anagram for ‘What Bad Boat Men’. Mr. Abbadon’s head appears in the frame surrounded by images of an island, a boat, and a massive shark. (To add a layer of doubt to the imagery, though, Abbadon sits facing the white pieces on a chess board.) Abbadon’s main question drives Hurley into a frenzy, and Hurley refuses to give an answer.

Are they still alive?

To begin this discussion, it makes sense to address the literal meaning of this question. In the context of the episode, the word ‘they’ apparently refers to survivors who still remain on the island. Detective Walton’s words earlier in the episode indicate that he and the rest of the outside world know nothing about the island. He did not question Hurley about meeting Ana-Lucia on the island, but he only thinks to ask: “Maybe you met her on the plane before it took off?” Some unknown circumstances convinced those who left the island to concoct a cover story for how they survived. Jack expresses his concern over whether Hurley will uncover their secret, but, as we know, soon he too will become sick of lying. The truthful answer to Mr. Abbadon’s question is almost certainly ‘Yes,’ but the answer only leads to another question: who exactly are ‘they’? Which characters survived and which perished?

Although the literal meaning of this question is interesting enough, the double meaning behind it is probably one of the most loaded questions you could ever ask about Lost: Are they still alive? Throughout the series, Lost constantly blurs the line between life and death. What exactly does it mean to be alive on Lost? Naomi arrived to tell everyone living on the island, “They were all dead.” Naomi herself soon appeared to be dead, but lived to say her final words. Other characters are dead and buried, but continue to appear in the form of flashbacks, visions, and whispers. Even perhaps the most powerful person on the island, Jacob, might not even be ‘alive’ in any traditional sense. The show continues to explore the possibility that the same person can be both alive and dead at the same time, and leaves it up to the viewer whether they choose to interpret these terms literally or figuratively. Expect the next episode (with its playfully ambiguous title, Confirmed Dead) to address these concepts further.

The Beginning of the End included appearances from two characters who have been confirmed as dead. The first appearance came in the form of a fleeting glimpse of our most stubborn deceased character, Christian Shephard, inside Jacob’s cabin. The second instance involved a much longer interaction between Hurley and his newly dead friend Charlie. The late Charlie Pace introduces himself to Hurley with the enigmatic proclamation: “I am dead, but I’m also here.” In a clever echo of the Pilot episode, Hurley forces his hallucinations to disappear in the same manner in which Jack and Kate extinguished their fear: only let it in for five seconds.


Earlier in the week, Lost fans were treated to another ‘beginning’ or sorts, in the form of the final promotional mobisode, with another fearless title: So It Begins. The two-minute clip audaciously rewrote the opening scene of the Pilot, to reveal an alternate view of the show’s narrative beginning. The scene offered another provocative image of Christian Shephard, seemingly full of life on the island. Should we accept these events at face-value, or should we regard this experience as Jack’s vision, which called him to action before he awoke in the jungle? As comforting as it may be to wish for Christian's resurrection, we must make no mistake about it: Christian Shephard is dead. Charlie Pace is dead. The dead will always still be here with us, because they live on inside us. The heartbreaking truth behind Charlie’s appearance in The Beginning of the End, as well as Christian’s appearance in So It Begins, is the following: Hurley and Jack were not communicating with the dead, they were only conversing with themselves.


The other central question of the episode came not in the form of a creepy growl, but in an angry shout.

LOCKE: All I have ever done has been in the best interest of all of us.
JACK: Are you insane?!

Matthew Fox and Terry O’Quinn could have easily switched places in this scene, and these two lines of dialogue would still make just as much sense. Both Jack and Locke firmly believe that everything that they have ever done has been in the best interest of the group. The key difference between the two men has always been their different notions of what constitutes best interest. Although Jack poses this question to Locke only rhetorically, there are three men in this episode whose sanity is worth seriously questioning: Locke, Jack, and Hurley.

Like so many other terms in our English language, ‘insanity’ is a word that can never be adequately defined. For the purposes of this discussion, I will define an insane person merely as a person who is ‘not showing reason or sound judgment.’ For instance, if I believe that every person in the world is under the control of evil telepathic elephants, then I am insane. This belief might not be necessarily wrong, and it might not even be impossible, but it is still insane, because it is not based on any reasoning. None of my experiences and no tangible evidence will ever support this conclusion. Even though this example is quite extreme, might there be characters on Lost who are similarly not using reason and sound judgment to make their decisions?

“When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.” - Dave Barry


Three times in this episode, Jack directly states that John Locke is crazy. In the past, Jack made such accusations against Locke only indirectly. In his three months on the island, Locke has damaged radio equipment, led Boone to his death, detonated a communications station, destroyed a submarine, and now murdered Naomi. Although Locke was able to justify some of those decisions in different ways, that final act was the last straw for Jack (and others, such as Rose). Locke’s actions in the past had put others at risk, but he had never actively chosen to end another person’s life. The last time when Locke acted with such absolute certainty, when he destroyed the Swan Station computer at the end of Season Two, the results were catastrophic. In that instance, he immediately admitted, “I was wrong.” When Locke hurled the knife into Naomi’s back, though, he forfeited the right to say he was wrong, and became a man who acts on the assumption, “I am right.”

Locke believes with complete certainty that Naomi’s group plans to kill everyone on the island. Set aside the possibility that he could be correct for a minute and focus only on his reasons for his belief. Exactly what is the basis for Locke’s knowledge of Naomi’s people? Locke had no contact with her, and he knew absolutely nothing about her. Locke had absolutely no earthly reason to murder Naomi. (In a cruel final touch in this episode, Naomi’s dying words on the island actually indicate that her intentions were always benevolent.) Ben might have some concrete information that supports his prediction, but Locke’s belief is based upon nothing. He relies on no evidence, no experience, no reason, no sound judgment, but just pure faith. Near the end of the episode, Locke admits, in an extraordinary understatement, “I have a lot of explaining to do.” No amount of explaining could ever justify that murder completely. Locke will never be able to list any series of facts together to prove his conclusion: I needed to kill Naomi. Q.E.D! On this matter, you can either believe him or not, but reasoned argument is no longer a factor. Jack’s diagnosis for Locke is correct: Locke’s beliefs are insane.


Jack also believes with absolute certainty that the people on the other end of the satellite phone are planning to rescue them. He believes this notion so strongly, that he is willing to bet his life and the lives of the entire camp on it. On what reason, and on what sound judgment, does Jack base this opposite belief? Jack knows from experience that people generally do not kill without good reason. It seems highly improbable (but not impossible) that any group of people from the outside world would have enough motive to kill the 815 survivors. However, Jack has already encountered one group of people willing to kill to conceal the island, so it would seem possible that another group of people might be willing to kill to find it. Even if Jack is relying on percentages here, the small possibility that everyone might die should outweigh the high probability that they would not. At the very least, he should take some precautions and test his theory before risking everyone.

This conflict between Jack and Locke is often, sometimes inaccurately, described as the conflict between science and faith. When Jack made the phone call at the end of Season Three, though, his action was not motivated by empiricism. The people on the other end of the satellite phone remain an unknown. At present, Jack has no ‘scientific’ basis for trusting them. He did not make observations, examine evidence, and test hypotheses. Over the objections of others, he trusted Naomi for no good reason other than his blind hope that he could make everything right again. Making that call was an act of faith. By abandoning reason, Jack has also become just as insane as Locke. The split in the camp does not represent the great divide between faith and science (as even Rose, a woman of faith, sides with the doctor). Jack asked each of the survivors to make a leap of faith, just as Locke did. Their individual decisions reflected a more basic conflict that was highlighted early in Season One: optimism versus pessimism.


All opinions are only as good or bad as the arguments that support them. In The Beginning of the End, Jack and Locke both voice different opinions. While either one of these positions could turn out to be correct, the arguments underlying their opinions are irrational. At the climax of this episode, when Locke and Jack are in the midst of their battle of wills, Hurley steps in as the sole voice of reason. Hurley pauses, examines the only evidence that they have, and creates a reasoned argument to support his conclusion: “Charlie went down to that place so we could all be rescued. And whatever he did down there, it worked. But then something must have happened. He must have heard something before he... I don't know why, but he changed his mind. Because the last thing he did was to warn us that the people on that boat are not who they said they were.” The flashes forward indicate that Ben’s prophecy was false, and that people survived both on and off of the island. The truth about Naomi’s people falls somewhere in between the absolute beliefs of Jack and Locke: they did not come to kill everyone, but they did not come to rescue everyone either.

Locke once told Jack: “Crazy people don’t know they’re going crazy. They think they’re getting saner.” If we accept this statement as true, then Hurley does not meet Locke’s definition of crazy. Although Hurley experiences several hallucinations, he never loses touch with reality, and never makes any decisions based on irrational beliefs. Hurley’s recognition that he is going crazy, and his desire to be put in an insane asylum, is in fact the proof that he is sane (much like the classic paradox from Heller’s Catch-22). The leaders of the camp’s two factions, on the other hand, both believe that they are getting saner. Out of these three characters, the sanest man of all is the one who ends up locked up inside an insane asylum. In the Socractic sense, Hurley also becomes the wisest of the three, the man who admits that there is much that he does not know, and who consequently ‘never says never.’

As the episode advanced towards its conclusion, every character eventually arrives at the ultimate symbol for the Beginning of the show, the plane itself. This scene presents the first instance in the show’s timeline since the plane crash, in which each of the main characters arrived at the same location at the same time. We have gained a few new additions to the family since then (Desmond, Ben, Danielle, Juliet, Alex, Karl), and we have lost more than a few members along the way (Boone, Shannon, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Eko, Charlie). This reunion is only momentary, as the characters came together only so that they can be torn immediately apart. Every character made a decision, to follow either Jack Shephard or John Locke. If this episode serves as The Beginning of the End, then what does it tell us about The End? I would expect that the ultimate ending will involve a reversal of this episode’s climax, in which the surviving characters all choose to join together for a common purpose. The island has already summoned Jack and Hurley, in different ways, and it will continue to do the same for others. The only End, the only ultimate resolution to the show’s conflict, will involve a successful unification of Jack Shephard and John Locke. Before that time arrives, though, both of them have a lot of work to do.

Initially, Hugo Reyes seemed like an odd choice to serve as the centerpiece for the show’s critical fourth season opening. More than any other character in this episode, though, Hurley represents the middle path between Jack and Locke. Hurley admits that he should not have chosen to go with Locke, but he also tells Jack, “I don’t think we did the right thing” either. In an analogous image, Hurley positioned himself with neither black nor white pieces on Abbadon’s half-finished chess game, but on the side of the board. Ostensibly, the message, “They need you,” seems to refer only to the remaining survivors left on the island. However, Jack and Kate and the rest of the fabled Oceanic Six will also need Hurley’s help. If there was ever one person most likely to heal the two halves of the camp into a united whole, it would not be Jack or Locke (or even someone like Ben or Sayid). Hurley is not the type of person who responds to the call, “You have work to do,” but he is the type of person who responds to the call, “They need you.”

Article by Luhks