Episode 303 - Following "Further Instructions"

(Thanks to Ew.com for the photo of Terry O'Quinn as John Locke)

By now, the character whose twists and turns have been the most in synch with the greater plot of Lost is John Locke. How fitting that Locke's latest "new beginning" on the island began almost exactly as the series did, with an extreme close-up shot of the eye of Locke (standing in for Jack from the very first shot of the series), lying flat on his back under a jungle canopy in relative peace after a cataclysmic event.

As Locke came to, he was too dazed to notice equally dazed (and awfully naked) Desmond wandering in the backgound. But more on Des later...

This week's flashback into Locke's pre-island past was the first of the third season to offer some really new information. Apparently some time after Locke's father betrayed him (again) and Helen left him over his devotion to said father, Locke found himself hanging out with a hippie commune somewhere in Northern (but not too Northern) California. While Locke was clearly at peace with this new denim-wearing family that picks lots of yummy peaches, we know early on that the idyllic scene is not what it appeared at first glance. After picking up Elliot, a "hitchhiker" Locke spotted while driving on a rainy day, the two got pulled over as their truck had a busted tail light. Locke calmly revealed to the CHP officer that his truck was carrying, in addition to groceries, an arsenal of firearms, each of which appeared legal. Locke was allowed to proceed, with a warning that he could have been ticketed for picking up a hitchhiker (is that really illegal?).

Back at the gated farm, Locke brought Elliot to supper. Elliot, sporting a Geronimo Jackson shirt (Geronimo Jackson, incidentally, is a favorite band of Lost Experience conspiracy theorist webcaster DJ Dan), asked Locke about two notable structures - a "sweat lodge," where residents can meditate about whether they are, deep down, a farmer or a hunter, and a big greenhouse that was constantly guarded and into which bags of fertilizer were frequently brought. Six weeks later, Elliot said he wanted to get in the greenhouse, to be a part of whatever the commune's leaders were planning to blow up (i.e. with the bomb they must have been making out of the fertilizer). Later, in the greenhouse, Locke was confronted by the angry commune leaders, who, it turns out, were running a cash cow pot growing operation, and not a violent militia (right)? They showed Locke that Elliot was in fact a cop (badge number 84023), and angrily blamed him for making them cut and run from their operation. Frightened that he might have ruined things with yet another "family," Locke promised to fix things. He took Elliot out on the woods on a fake hunting trip and, with Elliot's back turned, drew his rifle to fire upon the spy. Realizing he had been duped by yet another person he had tried to trust, Locke asked Elliot if he specifcally had been chosen. Confident that Locke would not shoot, Elliot revealed that Locke's psych profile indicated he would be amendable to coercion (a fact we all knew). Elliot told Locke he would not shoot, since he was a farmer, not a hunter. Locke assured Elliot that he was a hunter, Elliot turned to walk away, and...

Well, that's where the flashback ended. Did Locke kill Elliot? Regardless of what he did, how did he confront the commune heads? And how do these events lead to Locke's paralysis, his milquetoasty existence in Hurley's box factory, and his fantasies about being a military genius? All to be determined...

Back on the island, Locke finds himself mute after he awakens, but thankfully still able to walk. Realizing that his conflicted purposes no longer matter (he can no longer push the button, and there's no further need to free anyone else from pushing the button), Locke immediately seeks from the island "further instructions" (hence the title of the episode). Unfortunately, Locke has a tendency to miss such instructions even when they literally fall from the sky (here, in the form of Mr. Eko's scripture stick, now clearly reading ''Lift up your eyes and look north"). Locke's first instinct is to build a sweat lodge to meditate. Perhaps the message from the Island that Eko matters did sink in - Locke, with Charlie in tow, builds the sweat lodge inside Eko's abandoned church frame.

Why does Charlie help the guy he clearly does not like so much (and why is he suddenly sporting a mullet?) It seems Charlie is hanging around Locke to show him how not in charge of Charlie Locke is. Strange strategy, since he ends up helping at every turn, but Charlie is not always the strongest with the ol' judgment.

The sweat lodge motif is not exactly new for Locke. In the first season he induced a vision quest in the late Boone to ready this padawan to join Locke's quest to open the hatch. In season 2, Locke had a dream vision of Eko's brother Yemi (whom Locke had never met) that directed him to the Pearl station. And, as we learned in flashback, Locke had spent time on a sweat lodge-loving commune. In his island-based version, Locke's "spirit guide" turns out to be, or course, Boone. Boone takes Locke on a quest, again stuck in his wheelchair and back in the Sydney airport, to find out who he must help. After Boone assures Locke that none of the other characters he passes need his help (interesting how those characters are appearing in new contexts that would appear to offer insight to Locke as to what those characters are up to at the moment), Locke learns his destiny when he finds Mr. Eko's stick, covered in blood. Boone then appears, looking very battered, and Locke "awakens" to the final piece of his vision - the face of a snarling polar bear. Literalist that he is, Locke immediately concludes, "aha! I must save Mr. Eko from a polar bear!" Turns out he is right, but wouldn't most people have tried to dig a little deeper into what sure seemed metaphorical?

And yes, Virginia, the polar bears returned as promised. Charlie's question to the no-longer mute Locke, "didn't Sawyer kill the polar bear," and Locke's response, "Sawyer killed a polar bear," recall Sawyer's question to Tom in the first episode of this season - "how many bears were there?" Clearly there were at least two - the one Sawyer shot in the pilot and the one (or more) Locke and Charlie encounter in the jungle. They find a fresh kill and know they are close...so close, in fact, that a polar bear lunges out and attacks! They lose the bear momentarily, but when they think the bear has found them and Locke flings his knife at the apparent predator, he hits...Hurley's canteen. Hurley's response, "dude," was a classic Lost moment. But more on Hurley later.

Locke and Charlie eventually find a polar bear cave. Locke goes in alone, armed with his knife, a torch and a can of hairspray. Some of what Locke finds inside will doubtlessly prove hugely relevant later - an old tonka truck and some skeletons wrapped in Dharma apparel. Eko is there, too. He briefly awakens and notices Locke before getting dragged away by a bear. Locke pursues, uses the hairspray and torch as a flame thrower to fend off the bear, and staggers back out of the cave with Eko. He and Charlie carry Eko's limp body until they feel they are safely away (wasn't Locke's glee at saying how badly he burned the bear a little odd?) and Charlie goes to fetch some water. Eko awakens and reassures John he will find and save Jack and the others because he his a hunter, only to be unconcious again when Charlie returns with the water. Did Eko awaken, or was this more of a vision?

Meanwhile, Hurley, after his encounter with Locke, Charlie, and flying knives, stumbles across still-naked Desmond. He tells Desmond (who soon sports Hurley's XXL tie dye shirt) how the Others have captured Jack, Sawyer and Kate. Desmond says not to worry, since John is off hunting for them. This confuses Hurley (and the rest of us), so Desmond asks him if he remembers Locke's speech...umm, what speech? Desmond chalks this up to a momentary brain lapse, and the two return to the camp. Meanwhile, along the way, we see what's left of the hatch - it's a charred pit in the ground. Desmond says it imploded when he turned the fail-safe, leaving Hurley to ask what we're all wondering - why didn't you implode, too? As only Hurley can, he follows this question with, "you're not, like, gonna turn into the Hulk now, are you?" Of course, as we soon learn, Desmond does appear to have experienced at least some partial clairvoyance in the aftermath of the hatch, so the question is not so silly...

Back at the camp, Eko is dragged in by Locke and Charlie. Two new characters, who will continue on as series regulars, emerge from the extras. Paolo and Kelly, in their first 3 lines of dialog, announce they must get Jack to help Eko, only to learn from newly returned Hurley that Jack, Sawyer and Kate were captured by the Others, who are led by Henry (on the beach, they don't know from Ben). As Desmond skips stones in the ocean, Locke delivers the very speech Desmond had "remembered" in the jungle, and vows to find Jack, Kate and Sawyer and bring them home.

So what's with the polar bears? Bearing in mind that these are the most vicious land animals known, I have some theories (for later posts). What do you all think? How exactly did Hurley make it all the way back to camp alone in what was apparently just one day? And what's with the tonka truck and dead Dharmaites? Got some theories on that, too, but again, I want to know what you think. Finally, just what did the failsafe device do, and how did Locke, Eko and Desmond survive the implosion (Locke's voice and Desmond's clothes notwithstanding)? Here, I have no theory - but I want to know what you all think.