This was the question John Locke gravely asked Walt in the second half of the pilot episode. In classic Lost fashion, the secret wasn’t immediately revealed. But fortunately for the audience, we only had to wait until two episodes later to find out what it was. “Walkabout” answers that question and gives us the first taste of Locke’s depressing and traumatic life before he crashed on the island. Beyond that, the fourth episode is supremely intriguing because it presents one of the first big mysteries about the island: how did John Locke regain the ability to walk? Looking back, I mark this episode and the one that follows it (“White Rabbit”) as the two installments that got me hooked on the saga. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Let’s recap “Walkabout” first.
When first viewing “Walkabout,” it’s easy to focus solely on the dramatic revelation at the end of the episode in which the viewer learns that Locke had been paralyzed. We have no knowledge of this information during the flashbacks, so the twist at the end is quite cool (well, I remember that I enjoyed it, at least). But reviewing the episode and knowing Locke’s sec
ret allows for a much better analysis of some other things that happen in this multi-layered chapter of the series. I didn’t remember it this way, but “Walkabout” is rich with parallels between the two ostensible leaders among the survivors: Locke and Jack. Let’s talk about that.Locke, who up until this point had been portrayed as somewhat of an enigma and shown sparingly, features prominently in the beginning of the episode as he proposes to lead a boar hunt. By this time, the survivors had run out of food (with Hurley and Sawyer wrestling over the last bag of peanuts) and needed to address the problem. So here we get our first good glimpse at Locke, and he shows himself to be some sort of a leader. He speaks as though he has years and years of hunting experience, and he has an arsenal of knives to help convince everyone else. Even though his hunting team endures a bit of nasty business (the gash on Michael’s leg), Locke emerges from the jungle at the end of the episode dragging a slain boar. Score one for John.
Running alongside this on-island storyline is Jack’s day back at the beach. Jack makes an executive decision to burn the remnants of Oceanic 815 and the bodies inside so that any passing aircraft or ships will see the huge blaze and come rescue everyone from the island. In light of this and the other decisions he’s made since the crash, it appears that the others have recognized Dr. Shephard’s leadership abilities, and several of them approach him seeking help with their problems. Claire wants him to honor the dead at the gigantic funeral pyre. Boone wants him to talk to the lonely Rose to make sure that she’s doing okay. These constant requests become tedious for Jack and we see him transform into somewhat of a reluctant hero (although Rose later buoys his spirits by telling him that he has a nice, gentle way about him). Jack is most definitely a hero, but he is also not the perfect hero.
While it only begins to explore the complex characters of Jack and Locke, the episode solidly establishes the dichotomy of leadership on the island. What’s more is that the two opposing philosophies of each man—Locke’s faith versus Jack’s reason—are subtly introduced. The wheelchair-bound Locke tells his cocky boss that it’s his “destiny” to fly to Australia and go on the “walkabout.” He later exclaims this several times when he’s denied his spot on the walkabout because of his handicap. Conversely, I think Jack’s decision to torch the wreckage and the corpses contained within is an illustration of the coldly efficient surgeon at his best. He’s essentially arguing the case for reason: Screw the dead! We’ve gotta build a big-ass fire so we can save the rest of us! Once again, I’ll say that it’s great to see that the characters we’ve come to know and love (or hate) were written authentically from the beginning. To me, there’d be nothing worse than going back to review these early episodes and seeing something like Jack praying all the time or Locke not speaking like a hardcore fatalist. As always, the writers are to be commended!
The two other major points I want to touch upon in this episode deal further with Jack and Locke. But rather than issues of character development, they both involve two odd plot developments. First off, let’s go back to Locke’s hunt for the boar. He originally set out with Kate and Michael, but cut ties with them after the boar gored Michael and Kate escorted him back to the beach. Reflecting on his past and determined to not let others tell him what he “can’t do,” Locke continues on the boar’s trail. But before he traps and kills his prey, he has a run in with Smokey (at least I think it’s Smokey, and Lostpedia appears to confirm my suspicions). It’s difficult to say for certain, but there’s a violent rustling of the jungle growth that’s characteristic of the Smoke Monster before the camera zooms in on Locke, who appears to confront the entity. We see nothing more here, but after seeing what transpires in the fifth season this scene is sure to pique our curiosity. Interestingly, we don’t see Locke again until he emerges with the boar (a scene which I’ll address shortly), so we are left to speculate what went down between Locke and the Smoke Monster. Did Locke glimpse his future? Did Locke make contact with Mr. Loophole (that’s what I affectionately call Jacob’s adversary)? Did the powers-that-be on the island “choose” Locke during this scene? We can only speculate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this scene-we-didn’t-see is alluded to somewhere during the sixth season. What do you think about the whole thing?
Now, to revisit the scene in which Jack and Kate meet Locke coming out of the jungle with his kill. Jack sees his father for an instant before he slowly walks into the jungle. Jack pursues him and Kate, of course, follows. The two hear rustling in the leaves and brace themselves for what they’re about to confront. But instead of Jack’s father, Locke comes out with dinner in tow. Isn’t it extremely interesting that Jack’s vision of his father led the two of them to Locke? Especially when we consider that the Smoke Monster most likely presents itself to the survivors as different deceased people from their pasts? I’m not sure if this can be proved conclusively, but it’s widely regarded that this is the case. Yemi’s appearance to Mr. Eko, Christian Shephard, and Alex’s appearance to Ben in the temple are just three that come to the surface of my brain. I’m sure there are others. Anyway, the last time we saw Locke, he was confronting the Smoke Monster. And here we presumably have Smokey leading Jack and Kate to Locke. As you can see, this is madness, and it further proves that the writers had their stuff together. Well, maybe not exactly, since they still haven’t explained everything. But here we are in the fourth episode and they were dropping these humongous mind puzzles on us. How fantastic! But in hindsight, these scenes definitely raise questions about of the Smoke Monster. Why does it confront Locke? What does it have to gain by posing as dead people and manipulating the survivors? I could go on and on, as I’m sure you all could. But I won’t.
I’ll let you chew on those details for a while. We’ve reached the end of the first week of the great re-watch and I’m lovin’ the series more than ever. Again, thanks for reading. I hope you’ll continue the journey with me. For those following, I’ll probably start posting on the new batch of re-watch episodes on either Monday or Tuesday. Either way, I hope you enjoy the re-watch and discuss it along with me!
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