"Lost" Season 3 Episode 3 - Further Instructions

Hello Time Traveling Losties welcome to the blog that knows all that happens before it happens! Oh my bad...that's our resident "Island Merlin," Desmond! But we're way ahead of ourselves! But that was one crazy episode wasn't it? That hatch messed those kids up!

Anyways, here we are for another edition of the Lost Blog. I apologize for not providing the link in my email last week. But seriously everyone, have you not bookmarked this page yet? lostaddicts208.blogspot.com. If not, just hit Ctrl-D right now! Ahhh there we go...all bookmarked now! If you don't trust your bookmarks, then just memorize it! And if all of that fails, then keep on trusting that I'll throw a link in an email that someone will ultimately be forwarded your way!
As always check out lost.abc.com for Episode Recaps and to rewatch the episode.



Let's dive in! So we finally get back to Island life for the rest of our core survivors, which was a relief for most viewers. But we mainly focus on our Hatch-Implosion survivors, and even more specifically focused on Mr. John Locke. We dig more into his Pre-Island life as well as his communication with the Island in his pursuit to rescue Mr. Eko.

Locke's Journey

Locke Flashback
In Locke's flashback we didn't learn what we thought we would learn (i.e. the incident that lead to his paralysis), but we did get some good dirt on John Locke. And we met a slew of new characters to his backstory. This flashback takes place in California sometime after Locke has been betrayed by his father and after Helen left him (I think!).

• We meet Eddie, who seems to be a hitchhiker but ends up being an undercover cop.
• We meet Mike and Jan, head of the Pot Farm foundation who have taken Locke in when everyone else had deserted him.
• We learn Locke had a licence for multiple firearms. There are inconsistencies between his Driver's Licence (which has a bald picture of Locke on it and a different birthdate) and the firearms licence. This could be a prop error. But I'll throw the picture in here for speculation. Click on image to expand.
  
• John asks Eddie at Gunpoint if he was chosen and why. Eddie tells him that his psych profile said he would be amenable for coercion. Eddie goes on to tell Locke "You're not going to shoot me, you're not a murderer. You're a good man, you're a farmer" Locke insists that he is a hunter, which is a theme throughout the episode. Something interesting to note. Colleen made a very similar when Sun held her at gunpoint last week. "you're not going to shoot me, you don't have murder in you" While John didn't shoot Eddie, Sun DID shoot Colleen. Many have speculated that Sun, in fact, pushed JAE (Baldy #2) over the edge after Jin left the hotel. Is there any relevance to these comments being in back-to-back episodes? Also, is Eddie with the OTHERs too?
  Keep a look out for more with the characters we met in Locke's flashback. Mike, Jan, and the crazy Guard guy with the Mullet. I don't think we've seen any of them anywhere else yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we do!
  

Locke's Vision (Talk with the Island)

We open up with Locke lying on the ground, teasing us with the idea that he may be unable to walk again. Instead, he is unable to TALK instead. He sees Desmond running naked in the Jungle and is unable to say anything. And eventually encounters Charlie who is enjoying every minute of Locke's new disability and need for help. We learn that Charlie has not forgiven Locke for punching him in the face several times when he suspected him of "using" again. But Regardless Locke recruits Charlie to help him talk to the island to find out his next mission. Now that the Hatch is gone, John needs a new purpose! Crazy Locke went ahead and created his own sweat lodge near the unfinished Church and asked Charlie to stand guard.

It looks like what Locke was concocting was the same Drug that he put in Boone's cut in season 1 that had Boone hallucinate and see Shannon die. Locke ingested the drug this time (much to Charlie's anger for his hypocritical conduct) and had a vision of his own. Before we get into the vision, can we assume that Locke has learned how to create this drug from his employment on the POT Farm? And how did he originally know that this would induce visions from the Island that would instruct him on his mission? And of course...HOW are these visions happening is always a recurring question!


The running tally of visions/dreams is:

• Locke - Sees Nigerian Plane, Sees Eko's Brother, Sees Boone and all survivors in the current standings (this episode), OTHER? (He had to have known he could induce visions before doing it to Boone)
• Boone - Sees Shannon mauled by a polar bear
• Charlie - Crazy Sleepwalking nightmares urging to have Aaron baptized
• Hurley - Dream with Jin speaking English and Walt missing, also his visions of DAVE)
• Eko - Sees Ana Lucia Die and his Brother tell him to get John to lead him to the question mark
• Jack - Sees his dad then finds empty coffin
• Kate - Questionable with the horse since she pet it
• Sawyer - The boar attacking him (was that a vision or did that actually happen? i think that happened)
• Shannon - Sees Walt
• Sayid - Sees Walt

Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is a topic that they're using over and over for a reason! We need to know where these visions are coming from! And if the island is inducing them, WHO is doing it and HOW?


Back to this week's vision, Locke gets a visit from Boone. Was nice to see him again, however creepy he was in this episode. Locke tries to apologize to Boone but still cannot talk, Boone tells him he forgives him and that he will regain his voice when he has something to say. (still don't get the symbolism of him losing his voice, anyone out there???). Boone escorts Locke to his Wheelchair and they are whisked away to an airport that shows all of our survivors in the groups that they are currently with. I thought this scene was outstanding, by the way! Boone says someone in airport is in danger:

• Claire, Charlie and Aaron - Boone "Not them, they'll be alright, for awhile" The "For Awhile" is intriguing. Looks like they haven't given up their quest for baby Aaron yet. And they may have some interest in the other 2 as well.
• Sun and Jin fighting and Sayid with them - Boone: "I think Sayid's got it" Wasn't sure if they were addressing the fact that all is not HAPPY in the world of Sun and Jin.
• Hurley entering Hatch numbers at check-in counter - Locke frustrated seeing the numbers again - Boone: "Not Hurley"
• Desmond dressed as Pilot with Flight attendants - Boone: "He's helping himself"\
• Kate and Sawyer flirting, Jack a bit ahead of them at the metal detector getting wanded by Henry - Boone "There's nothing you can do for them. Not Yet" (TSA initials on Henry's shirt, no idea if it's important) "First you have to clean up your own mess"

John follows Boone up the escalator (symbolic of Boone climbing up into the plane to his ultimate doom?) We see Eko's bloody Jesus Stick and a Bloody Boone requests John to clean it up!" Locke wakes up in his Sweat Lodge and sees a vision of Polar Bear as he leaves crazy hut. And at this time he is able to talk again. Again, I'm not sure the significance of his inability to talk immediately after the hatch implosion.

The EKO Rescue


Okay, I got a little detailed in the Vision because it was pretty darn detailed. I can sum up the rest of the journey. Locke uses his tracking/HUNTING skills to find Eko and brings Charlie along for the ride. Here's some tidbits:

• Since Charlie has had visions too, does he believe Locke has actually had a vision of Boone and has to follow his mission?
• Loved the scene where they're being chased by the Polar Bear and then Locke throws a knife at Hurley. "DUUUUDE!" Their encounter with Hurley here sets up another great addition to the LOST Mythology that we'll get to in a bit.
• In the beginning of the episode Locke sees Eko's stick. It has a new inscription on it for Genesis 13:14 "Lift up your eyes and Look North" The actual passage reads "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward" Perhaps this is an indication to John to go North to rescue the other friends when the time comes? Perhaps it's nothing!
  
• In the Cave, we see a skull with a cloth/shirt near it. It has a Dharma Logo on it. We also see a TONKA Truck. hmmm....does our polar bear like toys? Or maybe it's a reference to all of the children that have been kidnapped on the island? The Tonka truck was relatively old too....like 80's style. Just another indication that there have been many residents of this island before Flight 815 crashed there.
  


• After Locke rescues Eko (with the Macgyver Flaming Hairspray) Locke apologizes to Eko for doubting him while he should've been out helping Jack, Kate, Sawyer and crew. Still looking for purpose in his life, he was convinced he could've SAVED them. Eko, who appeared to be unconscious begins talking to John "You can still protect them, you can still save them. You will find them. Afterall, you are a hunter John. " Charlie returns, and Eko remains to still be unconscious. One thing is for sure, Locke, Eko, and Desmond are all acting very strangely following the implosion of the Hatch. We just don't have enough information yet to know WHY!
• Speaking of the hatch, we do get to see a hole in the ground where the hatch was. And nothing seems to be remaining from the Hatch except the 3 people that were in there. And one of them lost his clothes too!
  

Hurley, Desmond and the Island Reunion

BRILLIANT SEGUE WAY! Ahhh was Hurley missed big time in the first 2 episodes. He always seems to be the voice of the audience. And we even got a bit of the Charlie/Hurley comic relief Duo in this episode when Hurley learns about the Polar Bear and Locke's mission to find Eko and Chase the bears. On Hurley's journey back to the camp to tell everyone about the "kidnapping" he runs into a Scottish fella looking for some clothes!

• Of course before Hurley realizes it is Desmond he calls out "Bear, is that you?" FANTASTIC!
• So Desmond loses his clothes in the Hatch implosion and is the only one to lose them. He also was underground turning that fail-safe key. What exactly happened to him? We'll touch on that in a bit.
• Love how Hurley continues to be a voice of the people who watched a whole season of pushing a button only to learn that they could stop it all with a Fail-safe Key. Convenient isn't it? The solution? Desmond just says he didn't know what would happen. But what DID happen? "Must've detonated the electromagnetic anomaly, made the hatch implode."
• We learn that Desmond missed seeing the purple sky or feeling the island vibrate. Was he even around to experience that???
• When Hurley begins to complain about going after their friends, Desmond quickly tells Hurley "Locke is going to go after them, he said so in his speech!" hmmmmm what speech?
• Oh the speech that didn't even happen yet? Yep, that would be the one. Once everyone returns to the camp, everyone finds out Eko is injured and that Jack, Sawyer, and Kate are captured, which Hurley conveniently forgot to tell everyone. While Desmond throws rocks into the ocean Locke launches into a motivational speech:
  
  "I'm going to find our friends. I don't know how. We're going to find them and we're going to bring them home."
  
  Well, this naturally is the big mystery that will be boggling our minds for some time into the future. Did Desmond have a vision of the future? Did he actually VISIT the future?
  
  There were speculations on the Internet (albeit, joking speculations) that maybe he is traveling through time like the Terminator did in the James Cameron flicks. They couldn't travel through time with their clothes on either! I'll stick with the notion that something ELSE is up.
  
  

But it brings up some valid questions about TIME in relation to the island. Like, is TIME on the island moving at the same pace as TIME OFF of the island? For instance, if it is November 2004 on the island, is it October 2006 OFF of the island? The producers have hinted in the podcast that this COULD be the case, but you can never tell if they're pulling our chain or not. But the producers have also explained that they have written WALT's aging process into the show. (since he was like 10 when the show started...he's going to be like 13 when he returns! but only 2 months and change have passed!).

Also, Henry says he's been on the island his whole life. We can assume he's in his 40's, right? Doesn't that Pre-Date the DHARMA Initiative by 10-15 years? There are people that lived on this island prior to DHARMA, maybe prior to the others. What about that crazy GIANT FOOT that we saw in the finale?

Hmm...how did I get to talking about feet? Oh, right, TIME TRAVEL. Well, I don't think we're going to be jumping into the world of NBC's Heroes and bending the space-time continuum just yet. The producers have also said that everything will be able to be realistically explained and in an UN-Supernatural way.

I'm still enjoying the ride for now!

Also NEW CASTMEMBER ALERT! Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) and Nikki (Kylie Sanchez) are recurring castmembers this year and showed up at the very end of the episode. I guess we're meant to believe they were survivors of the crash all along.

Whew, long blog again! Sorry about that....hope I didn't lose anyone along the way! Thus, we close the books on the continuing cultural phenomenon (known as this blog!). One day I would love to know how many people are actually reading this thing! It is my dream that every reader will one day decide to post a comment and say "Hi Mike, I READ THIS BLOG! now stop making me feel guilty for not commenting and let me enjoy the show you freak!" Ahhh yes....music to my ears! Ok, in all seriousness, 3 episodes left this fall. 3 Recaps to go! Catch you next week sometime!