Lost - ‘The Beginning of the End’ - 4.1
What once was Lost has now been found.
How great is it to have our show back – although Lost’s triumphant return is tinged with a touch of melancholy as well know that the Writer’s Strike has effectively sliced this season’s 16 Episode Arc into 8. You’ll recall that last season, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse successfully negotiated an end date for the series – getting ABC to agree to three 16-Episode Seasons which would allow the show to wrap-up its narrative in the Spring of 2010. With the knowledge of their fate in hand, Lindelof and Cuse were reenergized and no longer had to plot the show for some nebulous end point, meaning each hour from here on out would be in service of the story and not simply to keep the wheels spinning.
So while we may get a truncated season this year, at least we know we’ll get the back eight episodes at some point should this strike eventually resolve. For now, this thirsty castaway is eager to lap up every drop they spill my way.
All right, on with the show.
1. I thought the 4th Season Premiere did a much more effective job of bringing all our characters back together than last season’s did. Again, this episode seems to be feeding off that renewed energy. What took 3 episodes of exposition last year, was accomplished in approximately two commercial breaks last night, allowing the plot to begin moving forward. Very quickly, the castaways were delivered Charlie’s fated message – “Not Penny’s Boat” which would lead to some hard decisions by the episode’s end.
2. The title of this episode, ominously, is ‘The Beginning of the End’. This seems to serve two purposes. First, it’s a direct reference to Ben’s dire warning that if the people from the freighter are allowed to find the island, every person on it will be killed. Knowing what we know of Jack’s flash forward last season, we know that Ben’s portents of doom do indeed cause something cataclysmic for the group. I think that’s where the second meaning comes from, as it’s in Hurley’s flash forward where we see he is actually one of the first survivors to begin questioning their “rescue”. Hurley’s actions are a predictor of Jack’s to come – the beginning of their new hell.
3. The last scene, with Jack confronting Hurley in the mental hospital, neatly establishes the chronology of this flash forward. It’s somewhere between their rescue and Jack’s total meltdown on the chronology as Jack tips us to this by telling Hurley “I’m thinking of growing a beard.” Although we see him downing some OJ and Vodka to start the day, he’s not the Oxycontine popping lost soul trawling the Oceanic Airways that we see in the finale. At this point, he’s still the leader, holding on to some secret pact that allowed he and Hurley and the rest of the Oceanic 6 to come home.
4. So we know 3 of the 6 – Kate, Hurley and Jack. Who are the other 3? The curious thing is Hurley is established in Locke’s camp so how he came to join Jack’s side and get rescued is a new mystery. I assume the body in the coffin must be one of the 6 but who? The crazy thing is, I think Locke may be the body in the coffin that Jack went to see so was he somehow forced from the island. Did they take 3 from each group?
5. That creepy “Oceanic Lawyer” was named Matthew Abbaddon. I got this from another Lost forum. Abbaddon is a Hebrew word for “Place of Destruction” or “Hell”. We know he isn’t imagined as the nurse points him out as a visitor for Hurley. And then he offers that chilling question: “Are they still alive?” Were these 6 offered survival and forced to ’sacrifice’ the others and now those that “survived” are being visited upon for their sins. I don’t believe those left behind are dead but perhaps a deal was struck where only a finite number of people could leave the island under the provision that they never speak of it and never go back to it and therefore they ‘sacrificed’ the others for their own salvation.
6. Here’s the creepiest thing in the Episode. Jacob’s Cabin came out of nowhere – literally. I didn’t think we’d be seeing it so soon and I certainly had no clue it could pop all over the place. Now here’s something bizarre. The guy who plays Jack’s father, John Tenny, was listed in the opening credits but not seen at any point in the show however for that split second when Hurley sees someone (Jacob) sitting in the rocking chair – the person has the same profile as Jack’s father. This Jacob even looks different than the last Jacob who appeared to have wild and crazy hair. This one was clean cut. We know Jack lost his father’s body on the island. Could Jacob’s Cabin be the place where these restless spirits are drawn?
7. Anyone else get a bad feeling of Ethan Deja-Vu when that guy parachuted in and introduced himself to Jack. He had a similar look to our resident baby snatcher.
8. One thing that really bothered me was Jack pulling the trigger at Locke’s temple. While the gun wasn’t loaded, Jack seemed a little too eager to execute Locke in cold blood. You have to wonder if the divisiveness we see from the group – with them forming different factions – has to do with this event.
9. Also, these guys on the freighter must be seriously bad if Ben would rather throw his fate in with the guy he just gut-shot a day prior and left for dead in a pit of corpses.
10. Finally, the Hobbit’s appearance. Is this all in Hurley’s mind (a manifestation of his conscience) or is Charlie really reaching out from the grave to spur Hurley into action.
All right – I’m going to close with my predictions of the Oceanic 6. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer, Sayid. I think they took the ‘leader types’ off and left the rest to allow them to do whatever they want with the island without resistance.
Who are your Six? We’ll keep a running tally and tick them off as the season goes on.
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This post has 9 comments (now closed):
Friday, February 1, 2008 4:35 pm
Wow…Ed, I am going to have to point some fans your way…
We knew the creepy Oceanic Lawyer was after Hurley, especially when he wanted to “upgrade” his accommodations. Hurley is fast becoming a favorite character of mine, his happy-go-lucky tortured soul must be a blast to play. I wonder if Hurley is seeing Charlie’s Ghost because he was the only one who stood by the Late Hobbit and chose what Charlie wanted them to do, not what Ben and Locke thought they should do, same idea, but for other, perhaps more selfish, reasons.
I thought that the Eye in the Cabin was a different person, based on what I thought I knew about Jacob. And unless Locke’s father has lost a ton of weight wrapped in the body bag, the new Jacob was thinner than the portly con-man. Since Hurley didn’t know anything about the cabin, he couldn’t have known to will it away. But I like your idea of the Home for Wayward Souls…shouldn’t Ben’s father been in there too?
I LOVED it when Jack pulled the trigger.He seemed as surprised as the rest of us. When the Man of Science has a chance to wipe out the Man of Faith and be done with it, I can see Jack doing the deed. He already lost so much of himself with the beating of Ben when he thought he had no choice but to order the deaths of the three who stayed behind ( to be saved by Hurley, dude!), that for him to make the leap to cold-blooded murder seems doable.
I thought that maybe only 6 get off because the helicopter will only take 6 at a time, and then they never go back.Then they do something wildly dramatic like hang Kate out of the door unless they agree to their terms.
Jessi also thinks Locke is in the coffin. I can’t see Locke having voluntarily come back, he would sacrifice himself above all. I think Sayid would have stayed too, if only because he looks incredibly hot in tank tops. I am going with the Knowns, Kate, Jack, and Hurley, and the Unknowns,Juliet, Sun ( for the sake of the baby), and Sawyer.
See ya’ next week!
Friday, February 1, 2008 6:31 pm
Regarding the cabin, did you notice that when Hurley was first apporaching it (before he saw it) the trees started rustling - evocative of the whispers. What if the cabin and the whispers are one in the same - the receptacle of all those ‘lost souls’.
By the way, what is up with that creepy painting of the dog? It was highlighted when Locke first found the cabin and then it was one of the first things Hurley focused on when he looked in the window.
Friday, February 1, 2008 6:34 pm
I agree with Jessi on Locke being in the coffin. My feeling is Locke is forced off the island against his will, that he dies on the mainland (suicide) and that Jack (of all people) feels incredible guilt because at that point in his downward spiral he finally starts to believe in Locke’s Faith. Perhaps picking up Locke’s obsession with the island is Jack’s penance.
The fact that nobody would go to the funeral makes it seem as though the person would be one who is reviled - so the smart money is on Locke, Michael and then to a lesser extend, Sawyer (who happens to crack me up, BTW).
Saturday, February 2, 2008 8:00 am
Just re-read your post…it was JACK’S dad in the chair, I thought I read it as Locke’s dad, who also dumped his dad’s body on the island….
Now, you may be on to something….
A blogger has an interview with Hurley that was pretty interesting, he says some of the things in the show are never part of the scripts they get, like wind whispers, and what was written on Charlie’s hand in the police scene.
Saturday, February 2, 2008 10:43 pm
Ed, I thought this was a very good episode. It moved things forward quickly and for lack of a better word, crisp. I thought a couple of telling things happened during the Jack/Hurly meeting. Hurley seemed to think that Jack was there because he feared he would reveal something. Like the six survivors were hiding something and made a pact not to say what really happened. Also, Hurley apologized for siding with Locke. For me that meant that something went wrong at the Locke camp.
As for my Six, here we go. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Saywer, Sayid and Juliette. Locke does not want to leave the island so I don’t know why he would ever go. I say Saywer is in the coffin. My reasoning on that was the way Kate said to Jack in the season finally “why would I go to that”. I think the fact that Sawyer choose Locke over Jack effectively ends their relationship. As he said, I am doing what I always do, survive.
The only thing that leaves me with doubt is when Kate said in last season’s last episode when she was leaving. Something along the lines of I have to go before he starts wondering where I am. It seemed to indicate that “he” was someone who was on the island with them. But if it was not Sawyer, it would not be any of the my other 6. My sleeper on this would be Jacob. That somehow Jacob is a real being who has some type of control over her/them.
Saturday, February 2, 2008 10:59 pm
I just watched this tonight. I’m not back in the swing of intense analysis yet, but here’s a couple thoughts and my six.
I thought two people in the cabin. The dude in the chair, which based on the screencap above, is clearly wearing a suit and is likely Jack’s Dad based on all of Ed’s points and the pic. As for Hurley and his interaction with it, I think he was no longer in the jungle… it was in his mind or he was transported somewhere and then put back for Locke to find. I think that because it moved around, but also because the others couldn’t hear him yelling and they weren’t that far ahead of him. Dunno what’s up with the beagle/basset (hard to tell with the quick glance and dirty glass).
What’s with Hurley’s painting of the igloo and Eskimo? Weren’t Penny’s guys in the Arctic/Antarctic somewhere? No polar bear…
Loved Jack pulling the trigger. It goes to show how badly he wants off the island… for both himself and everyone else.
There’s clearly some kind of deal going on, whether it be official or not, there’s a gag order. Hurley didn’t cop to knowing Anna. (hello pun!) I think it is the doing of the six since Hurley clearly knows his visitor wasn’t on the side of the angels.
As for my six: Locke (he’s in the box), Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Desmond. I think Locke leaves the island to protect it and the helicopter idea might play into that. I think Sawyer because I think that’s who Kate was away from when visiting Jack in last season’s finale. I’m picking Desmond over Juliet, but I like the theory about Sayid because he’s a leader/resistor. I can’t justify the last one with anything yet… so I’m throwing the name out there so that he can get back with Penny.
Sunday, February 3, 2008 7:39 am
I just realized I forgot to assign my rating for the Episode. That’s been rectified.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 11:00 pm
A buddy just called me tonight with the Ho Ho Ho theory on Lost…I suggest you google ” Lost Ho Ho Ho” to find it.
Way too much to think about!
Lost: The Beginning of the End :: OB1og
Saturday, February 9, 2008 5:50 pm
[...] standard practice from last year, I am simply going to dump an aside here to my comments on Ed’s post about each episode over on The Ed Zone. For summary here, my six are: Jack, [...]