Lost Recap: Further Instructions

Can someone tell me how I am going to get through the day without stumbling upon spoilers from last night’s Lost? I TiVod it last night but wasn’t home to watch it. I’m SO tempted to read Michelle’s recap, but I know it wil be worth it to watch the show tonight and NOT be spoiled. It’s going to be tough but I think I can do it.

So how are you all feeling about Lost this season? Are you loving it or still yearning for the yesteryear that wsa Season One?

Title: Further Instructions
Original Airdate: 10/18/2006
In a scene reminiscent of the very first scene of the pilot episode, we open with a bloodied and battered Locke splayed in the jungle, just as Jack was in September of 2004. A naked Desmond (yum!) runs by in the distance and Locke tries to call out to him, but he’s unable to get out the words (I have dreams like this all the time, and it freaks me out – but I am a little relieved to see that it happens to other people, too). Apparently this is shortly after the Big Event (implosion/explosion/shrieking noise/blinding light) from the season finale. Eko’s scripture stick falls from the sky and lands near Locke.

Apparently putting all of that heroin junkie/you tried to drown my baby nonsense behind them, Charlie and Claire are hanging out together on the beach (when your plane has crashed on a remote island and you’re not in contact with civilization, you have a lot of time to hang out and look pretty – and they do). They see Locke on the beach, and Charlie sarcastically ribs him for being away so long and not writing or calling. Locke immediately sets to work building the church that was started by Eko.

Many people have commented that this season’s first two episodes have been too dark and without humor; Charlie seeks to rectify that during this episode, with resounding success. As he sees Locke working feverishly on the church, he asks,
“Where are Eko and Desmond? Are they off being mute and building structures as well?”

Everything that comes out of Charlie’s mouth is acerbic, anyway, and the fact that he has that accent makes it all even cuter. It’s just one of many snarky and sarcastic comments that Charlie flings at Locke throughout the episode. Locke communicates with Charlie via notes scribbled on a notebook, a la an Ellen Jamesian from The World According to Garp. Locke asks Charlie to stand guard at the sweat lodge (yep, sweat lodge), and Charlie hurls out more sarcastic comments. Apparently, he’s still miffed about the whole incident where Locke beat him to a pulp when Charlie tried to drown baby Aaron. The guy holds a grudge.

FLASHBACK: Locke picks up a hitchhiker, Eddie, who says he’s headed to Eureka (am I sensing a crossover episode with the SciFi Network here? It would be totally appropriate, given the other-worldly feeling of this show, but I don’t think that’s where it’s going). The cops pull over Locke for a busted taillight, and it’s revealed that Locke is carting guns and groceries (as to all of us upon returning from the supermarket) in the back of his vehicle. But the guns have been obtained legally (as have the groceries, I assume), so away go Locke and his new buddy.

Charlie continues to be a smart ass, this time ribbing Locke about using drugs after he sees Locke sample some gooey mystery concoction he apparently whipped together from the abundance of gourmet ingredients to be found on the island. Locke builds a fire in his sweat lodge (yep, a sweat lodge…why am I thinking “Happy Days” every time I write that?), sits down…and sees Boone standing next to him. Yeah, you know, Boone, the cute guy who died as a “sacrifice the island demanded” (Locke’s words) when Locke made him investigate that drug plane they found in the jungle. Boone points to a wheelchair that has appeared out of nowhere and tells Locke he’ll need it. When Locke tries to respond, Boone tells him it’s OK that he can’t talk right now; he’ll speak when he has something important to say (this is creepy – I tell my son that exact same thing all the time). They go for a trippy hallucination/dream, and Boone tells Locke that someone is in danger and only Locke can save him. They’re in an airport in this bizarre sequence, and they see Charlie, Claire and Aaron together; they also see Sun and Jin, Sayid, Hurley as a ticket agent (who uses his computer to punch in THE sequence of numbers), Desmond, Kate and Sawyer, and airport security agent Henry Gale/Ben scanning Jack with a detector wand. Locke can’t figure out who is in danger.

“First, you have to clean up your own mess,” Boone tells him (again, creepy, because, again, I tell my son that all the time). “They’ve got him. You don’t have much time.”
Back in reality, Locke and Charlie set out on an Eko hunt, as Locke has apparently decided that Eko is the one who needs saving. They find his cross in the jungle, and Locke deduces that he was dragged away by a polar bear (apparently there must have been more to the dream and Locke didn’t share it all with the rest of us). After they see some blood, Locke tries to convince Charlie to turn back, saying, “Bad things happen to people who hang around with me.”

FLASHBACK: Locke and his hitchhiker friend are at what appears to be some sort of camp or commune. Locke points out a sweat lodge (yep, a sweat lodge) and tells Eddie he can go there to meditate to figure out what he is. The men eat a picnic supper with “everyone.” John says grace and thanks God for helping him to stop being so angry (I guess it must have been good for him while it lasted) and for helping him to find his new family.

In the jungle, John and Charlie (you didn’t really think he’d turn back, did you?) find a huge crater – what’s left of the hatch after the implosion. They find an animal carcass, and John’s theory about the polar bear apparently pans out, as a polar bear chases the men through the jungle. I’ve never heard a real polar bear growl (not even at the zoo – but I’ve heard they’re tranquilized there, anyway), but this one is LOUD, and I wonder if they’re really that loud. Regardless, Charlie and Locke are not standing around debating the accuracy of the volume of the bear’s roar, so they run and Locke throws his knife and hits…Hurley. Or, rather, Hurley’s canteen. Dude, don’t ever tell me again that those numbers haven’t thrown some luck your way, because Locke’s good with that knife, and you should be dead. Hurley’s on his way back to the camp after leaving Jack, Kate and Sawyer with The Others. He tries to find out from Charlie what’s going on with Locke, and their exchange is priceless:

“The island told Locke he has to save Eko,” Charlie says.
“Save him from what?” inquires Hurley.
“Apparently, a bear’s got him. It just made an ‘active kill’. You may want to hustle,” Charlie responds, totally tongue-in-cheek. But he continues on his trek with Locke, as Hurley continues toward camp to warn everyone about The Others.

Charlie and Locke find a piece of fur in the jungle. Charlie reminisces about his heroin-using habits (ah, the good old days) when he used to watch nature programs while he was high. The programs described polar bears as being “clever.” Charlie says they’re the “Einsteins of the bear community.” I really cannot stop laughing here. Thank God for TiVo being able to pause live TV and all, because I can’t get it together for quite a while after this.

FLASHBACK: Eddie makes a joke that everybody at their camp wants “a daddy.” Locke, nursing daddy issues of his own, is not amused. Eddie inquires about a greenhouse at the camp, as men are constantly brining in fertilizer and depositing it in there. Eddie, apparently thinking the fertilizer is being stockpiled to make explosives, says that since he’s been there for six weeks, he wants in on the plan to blow something up (lots of men I know are fascinated with blowing things up, so this doesn’t seem weird to me). Locke is skeptical of trusting him at first, but it looks like his resolve there is weakening.

In the jungle, Locke prepares to enter a cave where, apparently, the polar bear is holding Eko captive (well, the polar bears are pretty smart…they were probably part of the Dharma Initiative, don’t forget). He muddies up to mask his scent and our bald hero enters the cave carrying a torch, a hunting knife, and…a can of hairspray.

Hurley encounters a naked Desmond (yay!) in the jungle. “The hatch blew off your underwear?” he asks.

Yes, and thank God for it. But before we can even really appreciate the site of a naked Desmond in the jungle (damn you, network censors!) Hurley lends him a tie-dye t-shirt (did you ever doubt that Hurley was a Deadhead in his other life?) and the men progress toward camp.

FLASHBACK: Locke enters the greenhouse at the camp. It’s filled with so much pot that it makes the dope-dealing mom on “Weeds” look like she’s merely temding window boxes full of pansies. The leaders of the camp are packing up in a fit of foul words and fuming tempers. It appears that Eddie, Locke’s hitchhiker friend, is really an undercover cop waiting to bust them because Locke let him in on the whole deal. Everybody’s pissed at Locke, who declares he can fix it and make everything all right. It appears that Jack isn’t the only one on the island with a compulsive need to fix things.

In the cave, Locke sees skeletons of polar bear dinners past, along with a still-breathing Eko. He McGyvers it with a blowtorch made from his fire stick and the can of hairspray, and he gets Eko out.

Desmond explains to Hurley that the fail-safe key he used when they didn’t press the button detonated the electromagnetic anomaly on the island (just writing that makes me feel so much smarter than I really am). Hurley asks him if he’s going to turn into the Hulk. Desmond looks slightly amused and tells Hurley not to worry about Kate, Jack and Sawyer, because Locke will go find them. He says he knows this because Locke told everyone that in his speech. Speech?

FLASHBACK: Locke goes hunting with Eddie; it’s just the two of them deep in the woods with guns. I’ve seen “The Sopranos,” so I think I know where this is going. But Locke confronts Eddie, who tells Locke that he was “amenable for coercion.” I’m betting a lot of people wouldn’t even know what this means, but apparently Locke does, and he’s upset by it. I’m guessing he went for the “we had you pegged as being really gullible so we knew we could get you to trust me” definition, which must have stirred up tons of latent emotions in Locke. Anyway, Locke says he’s going to shoot Eddie, but he lowers his rifle as Eddie walks away, and we’re left to believe that he didn’t shoot him.

Locke apologizes to a rough-looking Eko, who tells Locke to go save Jack, Kate and Sawyer. When they reach their camp, Locke gives an impassioned speech to everyone and tells them that he will go rescue their three friends. Speech. Hmmm.

So….
What’s Locke’s plan to rescue Jack, Kate and Sawyer?
Now that we’ve had a visit from Dead Boone, is Dead Shannon up next?
Will Desmond ever put on a pair of pants, or will he just continue to wear Hurley’s big t-shirt, nightgown-style?
You know I want to know the answers to ALL of those…