Episode 4.1 “The Beginning of the End” Afterthoughts

Lost Recaps — January 31, 2008 at 10:05 pm by Oscar

The wait is finally over.  After months of killing time by analyzing our DVDs, obsessing over Find815.com, and listening to all of the official Lost podcasts for the eleventh time, the show itself is back.  Lost kicked off season 4 tonight with a fantastic episode, entitled "The Beginning of the End."

When we last left the castaways, tensions were at an all time high.  Ben was captured by Jack and the gang, and was insisting that everyone on the island would die if Jack phoned for help.  Locke also tried to stop him by knifing Naomi, but Jack was determined.  He dialed out and reached a freighter, not knowing that the people on the boat were not connected to Penny Widmore.  Tonight, as the Losties waited for those mysterious "rescuers" to arrive, all sorts of hell started to break loose.

Missed the episode?  Click here to read our recap.


The episode threw us right into new territory not only by starting with a flash-forward, but also by focusing on Hurley instead of Jack.  It’s great to get a big dose of Hugo so early in the season, and definitely not what I was expecting.  Hurley got himself arrested after a high speed car chase, and despite his claims that he was one of the Oceanic six, he got tossed back in the psych ward.

Later in the flash-forward, we saw one of the new faces of Lost.  A mysterious man played by Lance Reddick came to visit Hurley in the institution, claiming that he worked for Oceanic Airlines.  It seemed like he wanted to give Hurley a room upgrade, but Hurley was naturally skeptical of the guy when he couldn’t produce a business card.  I don’t know who this strange fellow was, but he definitely creeped me out with his cool demeanor.  He also asked Hurley, "Are they still alive?"  This was one of the more intriguing questions brought up in the episode, but what could it mean?

We know that Jack, Hurley, and Kate are off the island, and obviously the rest of the world knows too.  Could the mysterious man have been asking if the people on the island are still alive?  It’s possible that there’s a corporation still attempting to find the island, and they want the famed castaways to help them.  Is it DHARMA, perhaps?

In one of the most mind-blowing moments of the episode, Charlie showed up at the mental ward to visit Hugo.  He claimed that he was dead, but also corporeal as well.  I’m not sure exactly how that works, but since he disappeared when Hurley closed his eyes and wished him away, I’ll assume that dead really means dead in his case.  He repeatedly told Hurley that "they need him," but Hurley didn’t want to hear about it.

Again, we have a mysterious "they" being referred to, and again I have to assume that it’s the group of people still left on the island.  In my possibly wrong theory, I believe that six people were rescued from the island while everyone else was left behind.  They were sworn to secrecy, awarded with fame and some fancy Oceanic golden tickets, and told to keep their mouths shut.  But the guilt is obviously too much for someone like Hurley, which is especially evident if he’s seeing ghostly Charlie walking about.

In the final flash-forward, Jack came by to visit Hurley.  He claimed it was a friendly gesture, but he really wanted to know if Hugo was going to reveal their secret.  The most interesting moment of their exchange, assuming I heard it correctly, was when Hurley said, "I think it wants us to go back.  It’s going to do everything it can."

It?  Meaning the island?  I find it very interesting that he would refer to the island as an entity.  I’d expect that kind of statement from somebody like Locke, but not Hurley.  Jack tells him that they’re never going back, but we know he’ll change his tune down the line when he’s drunk and bearded.  Speaking of the infamous beard, I loved Hurley’s crack that he wouldn’t look good in one.

Though I’ve only been discussing the flash-forward so far, the happenings on the island were fairly interesting too.  I certainly didn’t expect Naomi to still be alive after getting a knife to the back.  The fact that she lied to her people about her injury and asked one of them to wish her sister well was rather telling.  Was Naomi actually a good person who wanted nothing but to rescue the castaways?  I find that hard to believe, but that’s certainly how things appear.

One of my favorite moments of the episode was the juxtaposition between all the couples reuniting and the devastation Claire felt over losing Charlie.  Though I had some trouble with Charlie’s character in season 2, I’m really going to miss seeing him bond with Claire and little Aaron.  It really got to me when Hurley broke down over the loss of his friend.

Speaking of Hurley, he had his own run in with one of the island’s mysteries when he stumbled upon Jacob’s shack.  He saw a shadow rocking in a chair, but then a mysterious face popped in front of him and freaked him out.  Who could that face have possibly belonged to?  Was it Jacob or someone else?  Speaking of Jacob, was it just me or did that shadowy figure in the chair look a bit like Christian Shephard? I’m going to have to rewind my DVR a few hundred times to check that out.

Aside from Hurley’s antics, the other big news on the island was the division of the castaways.  Some went with Locke, believing that the people coming to find them were not rescuers, and others stayed with Jack. The old "man of science" versus "man of faith" brawl is on yet again.

As the episode wrapped up, the helicopter finally arrived on the island.  Jack and Kate ran into a mysterious man in the jungle, played by Jeremy Davies.  Has rescue finally arrived, or is it just more trouble?  Maybe we’ll know more next week.

Until next week, I’d like you guys to help me ponder these burning questions:

How can Charlie be both dead and corporeal?
Why did Hurley refer to the island as an entity?
Should Jack grow a beard?
Who is the mysterious "they" referred to be Charlie and Lance Reddick’s character?
Was Naomi actually on a rescue mission?
Who was the person in Jacob’s cabin?
Would you go with Jack or would you go with Locke?
Wasn’t it awesome when Danielle punched Ben in the face?

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