LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 3, Episode 3, Further Instructions

On-Island Events

Survivors: 

Locke awakens in the jungle, sees Desmond run by naked, and is nearly struck by Eko's scripture stick as it falls out of a tree. He conveys to Charlie through gestures that he needs to speak to "the island." Locke makes a sweat lodge, ingests some sort of plant material, and induces an altered state in which Boone appears. In the old wheelchair from the crash Boone pushes Locke around an airport, looking for someone who apparently needs Locke's help. At the top of an escalator Locke finds Eko's scripture stick, bloody. Boone, also suddenly bloody says, "Clean it up, John. They've got him. You don't have much time." Locke bursts out of the tent and informs Charlie he is going to save Eko's life. While searching for Eko, Locke and Charlie pick up a blood trail, find the imploded hatch, and a recently killed boar. After running from a polar bear they encounter Hugo on his way back from the dock (last seen in Live Together, Die Alone part 2), who Locke nearly kills with his machete and sends on his way back to the beach. Hugo meets naked Desmond in the jungle, offers him a shirt, and questions the fact that Desmond was not at all harmed in the detonation of the hatch. "You're not gonna like, turn into the hulk or something . . . ?" Later Hugo is confused when Locke makes a speech about going after Jack, Kate, and Sawyer as Desmond referenced this very event when they were in the jungle moments before it actually happened.

Following the polar bear's tracks, Locke finds an old Tonka truck, various bones, and an
injured Eko. The bear attacks but Locke and Charlie carry Eko to safety. Locke passively accepts guilt in being responsible for the hatch implosion and informs Charlie he is following Boone's advice to clean up his mess. Locke apologizes to Eko, acknowledging he should have listened to him; Eko awakens momentarily to encourage Locke to save his people, emphasizing that he is indeed, a hunter.

Flashbacks: Locke picks up a young male hitchhiker in California and gets pulled over by police who find a large sack of guns in the back of his truck. Locke brings his new friend, Eddie, to dinner on a farm site. After staying with Locke on the farm for six weeks Eddie asks Locke for access to a greenhouse neither of them are allowed to enter; Locke laughs at Eddie's assumption that they might be building bombs. It turns out farmers-in-charge Mike and Jan are growing marijuana, Eddie is an undercover police officer, and Locke has ruined the farm operation by inviting Eddie into their midst. When confronted by Locke on a hunting trip in the forest, Eddie admits he was a purposeful target in that his psychological profile suggested he would be "amenable for coercion."

Greater Meaning: Locke wakes up in the jungle in the exact way Jack did after the crash in the first episode, suggesting again that the conflicts and similarities between the characters continue to be meaningful. Despite their frequent disagreements over how best to lead the survivors, Locke and Jack are both considered leaders and are equally important; with Jack being held by the others, Locke is the de facto leader. As such, the issues Locke has been struggling with (losing his faith after finding the pearl station, causing the implosion of the hatch/putting Eko in danger, and everything regarding his father) impact how he sees himself and affect his leadership. 

Repeated references to being a hunter or a farmer are mentioned by Locke (to Eddie, regarding the sweat lodge at the farm), Eddie (stating to Locke he was a farmer not a hunter), and Eko (to Locke, affirming he is a hunter), suggesting that Locke's identity is an important factor in his confidence. The troubling thing isn't just the truth in Locke's statement to Charlie---"bad things happen to people who hang out with me," but that many of the bad things that happen seem to come from Locke's vulnerability in trusting the wrong people (or in the case of Boone's death, the wrong signs from the island). Because of his rocky history with his father, Locke's need to prove himself is similar in importance but different in context to Jack's same need. Emily Locke informed Locke about his father well into his adulthood where it must be assumed that Locke had already formed an identity for himself (whereas Jack's conflicts with his father were present from childhood and thus informed the development of who Jack became); Anthony Cooper took an otherwise functioning adult male and traumatized him, causing Locke to question everything about himself. Locke's need to be a hunter may be about being an alpha, masculine man who could conceivably win favor with the father who rejected him AND it may also come from Locke's anger at said rejection---hunters get to kill, hunters are
dangerous.

Further Questions: 

1. Were there other parts of Locke's vision that are important? (Charlie and Claire---Boone said, "they'll be fine for a while," Sun and Jin---"I think Sayid's got it,"). What was the significance of the airport? 

2. Are Locke and Charlie friends again?

3. How did Desmond know that Locke was going to give the speech about rescuing Jack, Kate, and Sawyer? Was Hugo onto something about becoming The Hulk?

4. Will Eko be okay?

5. How many polar bears are on the island and how did they get there? 

6. Does Locke recover his faith in the island? In himself?

7. Was the pearl station meant to teach Locke a lesson? Is the island communicating with him? The title of the episode is "Further Instructions." FROM WHOM?

8. Did Eko really speak to Locke or was he imagining it? 

9. Was Locke really meant to save Eko? What if the vision meant someone else? Boone saying "They've got him" points more to the others (they = plural, as there was only one bear that we know of)---could this have been in reference to Jack? Boone didn't say anything specifically about Jack not being the one in need of help, only a general "there's nothing you can do for them, not yet," after seeing Sawyer and Kate. Jack was shown going through security and being examined by Ben (as a security agent). 

10. Is Jack being vetted for something by the others?  

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 3, Episode 1, A Tale of Two Cities

On-Island Events: 

Others: A blond woman (Juliet) looks into the mirror and listens to Petula Clark's "Downtown," and cries; moments later during her book club group the house begins to shake. As she and her guests hurry outside they encounter "Henry Gale," dressed as they are in clean, contemporary clothing. They look up at the sky to see Oceanic 815 fly over and then break in two pieces. Goodwin and Ethan come running and are instructed to hurry to the respective landing places. After the two men depart, "Henry" looks down at Juliet's book and laments that he's out of the book club, ID-ing him as "Ben," the man another book clubber earlier stated who wouldn't read Juliet's pick, Carrie, in the bathroom. 

Survivors: Jack, Kate, and Sawyer awaken in three different confined areas: Jack a dark glass enclosure, Kate a locker room, and Sawyer an outdoor cage across from a teenage boy. In his cage, Sawyer sees a red button and pushes it twice, but when he ignores the boy's advice not to push it a third time, gets electrocuted. The boy escapes from his cage and unlocks Sawyer's to let him out but Juliet shocks Sawyer. Later, Sawyer discovers a certain combination of button-pushing earns him a fish biscuit from a feeding slot in the cage. 

Kate meets Ben, who provides a fancy breakfast on the beach and tells her the next two weeks will be very unpleasant. Later, Kate is returned to the cage adjacent to Sawyer's.

Jack meets Juliet as he's trying to dismantle the chains in his room; Jack thinks he hears Christian's voice through an intercom but Juliet insists it hasn't worked in years. Jack tells Juliet a series of lies about who he is and what he does but is honest about Christian's death. As Juliet delivers a tray of lunch for him, Jack charges her and insists she let him go. He ends up opening a door that floods the area. Juliet explains to Jack she is not part of the Dharma Initiative, but that he is being held in one of their stations (the Hydra), underwater. She reads to him from a file of information and knows everything about Jack. After Jack asks after his ex-wife, Sarah, and is told she is happy, Jack allows Juliet to bring him dinner. 

Flashbacks: Jack watches Sarah outside a school building conversing excitedly with another man, in the next scene they are meeting at a divorce hearing. Jack confronts Christian after he finds out his number is in Sarah's phone and later confronts him at an AA meeting. Jack is arrested; Sarah pays his bail after Christian, no longer sober, told her about the confrontation. Jack sees Sarah's new love interest and cries about what he has done to Christian.

Greater Meaning: Juliet is a new character, one that apparently works with Ben-formerly-Henry, does his bidding ("Good job, Juliet,") but selected a book Ben decidedly doesn't like for book club and is allowed to fend for herself when Jack opens the flood door. There seems to be a bit drama in this relationship, one wonders how and why. 

Kate is the only survivor given a sit-down with Ben; her word choices of Sawyer first, Jack second are noticed twice. Chances are good she's more worried about Sawyer's fate as he had been seriously injured and just recently recovered, but possibly for deeper reasons. She admitted to Sawyer, unconscious, that she associates her feelings for him with her feelings for Wayne, her abusive father, and despite also having feelings for Jack, there seems to be a slight inferiority complex between them ("I'm sorry I'm not as good as you!") Sawyer and Kate are being held prisoner very close to each other; Jack is underground. Whatever Ben has planned, it seems Kate and Sawyer for whatever reason, need to be separated from Jack. 

The title of the episode, "A Tale of Two Cities," might refer to Jack being separated from the other two, or could also be a reference to Ben's people, who live in a functioning, upscale community on the island where the Oceanic 815 survivors have very different experiences and quality of life. 

Further Questions: 

1. Who is Ben? 

2. Why is there drama between Ben and Juliet? 

3. What will happen to Jack?

4. Is Hugo okay on his own? 

5. Will Sawyer and Kate escape? 

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Thoughts on Season 2

Did everyone just forget about being rescued? 

Bernard didn't of course, he tried to build an SOS signal out of rock but was quickly redirected by Rose's reveal in regard to the island's influence on her health. Claire and Aaron seemed to be nicely settled on the beach with a number of fellow survivors to watch out for them; Sun and Jin are preparing for the challenges of parenthood; Eko started to build a church! Jack and Locke, as always, are in different places, but the events of the second season reveal just how wrong they've both been, all along. 

Jack versus Locke versus The Island versus The Others

As Jack is busy doctoring and leading, making decisions for the group, he doesn't often get the chance to actually see the island for what it is (which can't really be defined, anyway), and this is not the case with Locke. Because he's been personally affected in a way that leaves no room for interpretation --- before island: paralyzed, after island: able to walk --- Locke is prepared for the island's mysterious abilities, and seeks them out, even. Of course Locke has never had any interest in being rescued, like Rose, he can appreciate the gift the island has bestowed upon him, but the island doesn't just let him off easy simply because he believes in it, either. Locke is put to the test in this season, being made to earn his gift, earn his knowledge, and his faith in the island. He initially believes that pushing the button inside the hatch was important, but after finding the underground question mark hatch (Pearl Station) he questions everything he's done since landing on the island. 

Locke was invested in the Henry Gale situation, first by colluding with Sayid to interrogate him, then after the lockdown when Henry helped him, and again when Henry claimed the reason he got captured was that he was coming for Locke, "one of the good ones." Whatever Henry's intentions, he seems to be just as invested in Locke, if only for reasons of manipulation or playing him against Jack. After Sayid, Charlie, and Ana Lucia discover the truth about the balloon, it's clear that Henry has been lying about everything, which is further confirmed when Michael kills Ana Lucia and Libby in order to free him. After Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and Hugo are kidnapped, Henry is in charge of it.

Tail Section, Henry's Pretenders, The DI

Early in the season after the thwarted raft launch, Jin meets who he believes to be the others but who are really just survivors from the tail section. Henry's others are revealed to be the group who abducted Claire to the medical station (where Kate found the fake beard and other costumes) and later took Walt off the raft. Why did they take Walt in the first place, and why did they put Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hugo on the list to be taken only to release Hugo from the dock? After Michael asks who they are, Henry replies that they are the "good guys," but Henry's manipulation of Locke, physical assault on Ana Lucia, abduction of children and pack of lies in general seem to indicate the opposite. 

The Dharma Initiative is yet another division of "others," and though Desmond was trained by Inman and not a member himself, he and the orientation videos are the only link we have to this group. The completeness of the Swan Station (kitchen, bathroom, exercise equipment, and food stores) seems an amazing bit of good fortune to just be existing on its own in the middle of the jungle, especially considering the style of the others' clothing and the low quality of the huts where Walt was kept. Henry didn't seem ravenously hungry when they brought him to the hatch and his clothing was traditional for a middle-aged man, confirming as Kate suggested that they were "acting." Why are they taking such trouble to convince the survivors that they live so simply? The discovery of the tail-section at the Arrow station, Claire's stay at the medical station, and the strangeness of Pearl station (notebooks that go no where and a screen showing the man with the eye patch) imply a strong presence throughout the island. 

Magic?

Shannon saw Walt twice after the raft departed; after the others took him, Ms. Klugh asked Michael if Walt had ever appeared somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. Was this phenomenon the island's work or Walt's? During the first season, John Locke took a special interest in Walt, and Michael's relationship with his son though strained at first, became more stable with Locke's help. Brian, Walt's stepfather, claimed there was something "different" about him, but what? If there has always been this special element to Walt, the island seems to have intensified it. It makes sense to assume that the others take all children that come to the island (Rousseau's daughter Alex, Emma and Zach from the tail section, Aaron, in attempting to induce his birth, and now Walt) but did they know about Walt's specialness or was it discovered during the tests they made him do? As far as we know, Walt is the only child that has this magical quality about him. 

Live Together, Die Alone, part 2

Live Together, Die Alone, part 1

Three Minutes

?

Two for the Road

S.O.S.

Dave

Lockdown

The Whole Truth

Maternity Leave

One of Them

The Long Con

Fire + Water

The Hunting Party

The Twenty-Third Psalm

What Kate Did

Collision

The Other 48 Days

Abandoned

. . . and Found

Everybody Hates Hugo

Orientation

Adrift 

Man of Science, Man of Faith 

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 21, ?

On-Island Events: Ana Lucia comes to Eko in a dream in a bloodied condition and tells Eko he needs to help Locke. Eko goes to the hatch and finds his brother Yemi, who tells him he must make Locke take him to "the question mark." 

Michael bursts out of the hatch and tells Locke, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Eko a story about being shot by a man who escaped from the armory. As they look around the hatch and find Ana Lucia and Libby's lifeless bodies, Libby suddenly coughs out blood. Eko and Locke set out to track "Henry." Locke confronts Eko in the jungle, accusing him of tracking something other than "Henry;" Eko responds by knocking Locke out. When he awakens, Eko discusses the question mark with Locke and Locke shows Eko the map he made during the lockdown. 

Kate and Sawyer retrieve heroin from Sawyer's tent but run into Hugo, who is looking for Libby. Jack prepares to administer heroin to Libby while Hugo talks with Michael in the hatch about the picnic he had planned. 

Locke and Eko eventually find the cliff where Boone was injured in the falling plane and Locke dreams that Eko, like Boone, falls from the cliff. Locke tells Eko about the dream and Eko climbs to the top of the cliff. Looking down, Eko sees an area on the ground where a large circle has worn away from the grass. The two discover that the ground has been salted, so nothing will grow, and that the area underneath the fallen airplane is hiding another hatch. Inside this hatch is a small room filled with television monitors; when Locke switches them on he sees Jack inside the other hatch. A printed log of the numbers entered and accepted lies next to a pneumatic tube; Locke folds the map he made and thrusts it inside the tube, disgusted. Eko finds a VHS tape labeled "Orientation" with the same octagonal logo from the first hatch for this, the Pearl Station. The same scientist from the other hatch training video appears as Mark Wickmund, and explains the Pearl was created for observation and monitoring of other stations for a secret psychological experiment. Eko asks Locke if he'd like to watch the video a second time; Locke says he's seen enough.

Eko states the button-pushing work is now more important than ever but Locke becomes angry, comparing his life to the useless act of pushing the button. Eko shares the story of Yemi with Locke and insists the work in the hatch has meaning and must continue. 

Hugo talks with Libby and apologizes for forgetting the blankets. Libby awakens, says only, "Michael," and dies. 

Flashbacks: Eko, dressed as a priest, meets with a man who gives him a forged Australian passport needed for a trip to America. Eko's plans are postponed when the church needs to investigate a miracle: a girl who was believed to be drowned came back to life again. Eko tries to meet with the girl but her father insists his wife has made up the story of the drowning. 

The day Eko is scheduled to fly out of Australia on Oceanic flight 815, the girl tracks him down and tells him Yemi thought he was a good priest. She assures him that Yemi has faith in him and that Eko will see his brother again soon. 

Greater Meaning: The question mark in the title refers to the middle section of Locke's map from the blast door that identifies the hidden hatch in the ground but also reflects Locke's confused state over what his role on the island should be. The episode is focused upon Eko and his faith, but Locke is very much a part of it, too. In a way, Locke and Eko switch roles: Locke, who has always had an unwavering faith in the island, is thrown for a loop when he realizes the hatches were created to be psychological experiments by the Dharma Initiative, and Eko, who lived a life of violence before assuming his departed brother's role as a priest, finds faith for the first time after his dreams lead him to the hatch. Locke feels he has been made a fool of; Eko trusts the words and guidance of Yemi, who has come not only to him in dreams but spoke to the girl whose death and alleged resurrection was thought a miracle even before Oceanic 815 crashed onto the island. It's more than a little coincidental that the entrance to the new hatch lay directly beneath the plane that brought Yemi to the island and resulted in the eventual death of Boone, both events that tested the faiths of Eko and Locke.

Many of the survivors have seen things on the island that may or may not have really been there: Jack saw his father Christian, who led him to water; Shannon saw a soaking-wet Walt before anyone knew that the raft had been destroyed; Charlie saw various visions of Aaron in danger; and Hugo saw his imaginary friend Dave, who slapped him and struck him with a slipper. Knowing that the island has the ability to cure maladies such as paralysis and cancer, it's really not a stretch to accept that it may also allow the dead to communicate with the living or its inhabitants to have visions, but are these events motivated, somehow? Does the island have an agenda? If it does, Locke's crisis of faith is significant. We've already seen "Henry" try to manipulate Locke in playing him against Jack, in adding the bit about coming to get him before getting caught Henry seems to have marked Locke for his own, calling him "one of the good ones." Is Locke's goodness tied up in his faith? Is Jack not good because of his absence of faith and devotion to science? How will Eko proceed as the new island faithful? Locke's legs are still not fully healed, which, if we believe that the island takes and gives at will based on Locke being on the right track, seems important. 

Further Questions: 

1. Will Locke get his faith back?

2. Will Eko be in charge of the hatch now?

3. Are there ghosts on the island? 

4. Is the island messing with Locke? 

5. Were Boone's death and the discovery of the new hatch meant to test Locke's faith?

6. What was The Dharma Initiative and why does the scientist use different names in the videos?

7. Is The Dharma Initiative still on the island?

8. Is "Henry" part of The Dharma Initiative?