Further Instructions is sort of the final status report on the cliff hangers of the finale, (save for that strange Penny business which folks are saying won’t be revisited until after the break), bringing us up to speed with what happened to Locke, Desmond, Mr. Eko, and Hurley. In that sense it is a tricky episode from a writing perspective because it needs to service this matters and tell an interesting story in the process. The continuity of it is a bit odd. Keeping in mind this episode was switched with episode two at the last minute it is almost a back track. Only one day has passed since the events of the finale. This is going to seem a bit disorienting next week when we suddenly jump ahead a couple of days. I suppose we could just count this as a catch up, but the fact is that in the timeline of the series, Further Instructions actually takes place before last week’s episode, The Glass Ballerina. All that aside…
Locke wakes up in the jungle with the typical close up on an opening eye. He struggles to sit up, blood streams from cuts on his head and face. There is a sound, something moving about. He scans the foliage and sees… Desmond. Locke tries to call out to him, but he can’t speak and he is still too physically disoriented to stand. Curiously, it looks like Desmond is naked. He struggles to his feet and looks up towards a sound rushing towards him from the canopy above. Eko’s scripture stick falls and he snatches is up, considering it for a moment.
A lot of people are picking up on the quote from Genesis 13:14-18 that seems to be crying out to us in this scene: “Lift up your eyes and look north…” The quote could have significance in where to look for Eko, but it should also be pointed out that this quote is from a passage where God is promising the land to Abraham to populate. A hint to the larger mystery of LOST? Redemption. Daddy issues. Populating the earth? Worth noting in this context for future reference.
Locke arrives at the beach focused. He begins tearing down his lean-to and takes the pieces to the church and begins to build. Charlie tries to talk to him but finds that Locke is still mute. Locke manages to relay to Charlie that he needs to talk to the island. He is building a sweat-lodge and wants Charlie to watch over him.
The flashback is an interesting one. It takes place after the Cooper incident of “Lockdown” and catches up with Locke as he drives down a rainy stretch of back road. He picks up a hitchhiker, wearing a Geronimo Jackson T-Shirt, and invites him to dinner at this hippy/granola commune. Locke points out the sweat-lodge situated on the commune grounds and talks about how you can meditate there. He tells the kid you can find out if you are a farmer or a hunter. He doesn’t answer which he found himself to be. It’s interesting that again we get a subtle taste of where Locke’s mystical sense may have been founded but there still seems to be a sharp edge between everything we know about Locke’s past and everything we know about John Locke of the island. It is revealed earlier in this flashback that Locke is transporting a load of guns to the commune when they are pulled over by a cop, but his existence at the commune seems to be more about togetherness and earthy like stuff. This is no survivalist training camp. If Locke got his mad skills here, it’s not in the exposition of this script.
Locke whips up some of that all-natural hallucinogen that he force fed Boone in season one, goes half lotus, and waits. Sure enough, it isn’t long before the island starts talking to him, in the guise of Boone himself. Locke is immediately expressing his grief and guilt to the vision who brushes off his overtures for forgiveness by telling him something more important is at stake. From here is taken on a tour through a surreal Oceanic terminal. He is in his wheel chair again, being pushed by Boone, and sees representations of the various characters scattered around the terminal. Boone rolls him past them telling them they are not his concern, yet, and drops him at the bottom of an escalator. He pulls himself and finds Eko’s scripture stick coated in blood. Boone reappears, this time looking much like the young lad who was crushed under an airplane, and tells Locke that he needs to clean up his mess. There isn’t much time. They have him. The last thing he sees is a polar bear rushing towards him.
Locke emerges from the vision with his voice intact. He sets out, with Charlie tagging along, to find Mr. Eko. He picks up Eko’s blood trail and it becomes apparent that a polar bear has Mr. Eko. Locke urges Charlie to go back to the beach. When Charlie refuses, Locke tells him that bad things happen to people who hang around him.
What is great about this, is that what we will learn about John from his flashback, and previous flashbacks, is that this is a false perception of his. John feels responsible for the bad things that happen to people around him but is blind to the fact that these people are victims of their own choices. The personality flaw that is revealed here about John is that he craves acceptance and in that end he is naïve in the choices he makes and how they will impact those around him. He yearns for purpose and equilibrium, but the imbalance comes from those he places trust in to deliver him to that end. Mike and Jan, seemingly open commune leaders, welcoming, nurturing, peach farmers, are nothing less than surrogate parents for Locke. But in the end of the flashback, we find out that they, like every other LOST parent, have a dark side which puts Lock unwittingly in peril. Despite this, Locke continues to struggle with what he feels are his own failings to these people.
Eventually, Locke and Charlie pass the remnants of the hatch which now resembles a ball of tinfoil in a crater. Shortly after they run into Hurley who tells them about what happened to Kate, Saywer, and Jack. They split up and Hurley later finds naked Desmond and gives him a t-shirt.
Locke finds the Polar Bear’s den and finds the remnants of some previous island inhabitants. Toys, skeletons, some Dharma clothing. Locke eventually squares off with Mr. Polar Bear with a torch and a can of hair spray and retrieves a badly wounded Mr. Eko from the cave.
Desmond and Hurley have an interesting conversation where Desmond finally answers the conundrum that has haunted many LOST fans over why he never used the fail-safe key before. He simply was afraid of what might happen. Desmond also tells Hurley that Locke is going to get Jack, Kate, and Sawyer back just like he said in his speech, even though this speech has not taken place yet.
The flashback reveals that Locke has no luck with parent figures. Turns out the nice hippy couple, Mike and Jan, are pot farmers and the hitch-hiker Locke picked up was an undercover cop. Mike and Jan are pretty cold to Locke all of sudden, clearly they aren’t the earth-firsters they made themselves out to be. Locke assures them he will “take care of “ the problem. He leads Eddie out for a hunt and winds up training a rifle on him. Eddie tells Locke he won’t shoot. The police had targeted Locke as an entry into the commune because he was a good man, and easily coerced. Faced with this existential fact, Locke allows Eddie to run free.
The conundrum with this flashback is the theme seems to be about choices and being passive to a bad situation. So when Locke was faced with the fact that he was “profiled” as being easy to coerce, he makes a choice to let Eddie go. But parallel to this is Eddie’s proclamation to Locke that John is “good man, a farmer.” Locke disagrees “I’m a hunter” Before allowing Eddie to escape. This could be the time that the choice was made which would define the John Locke we know. Interesting that both themes, farmer and hunter, are nurturing in different ways. Farmer nurtures through growth, hunter through killing. One creates life, both destroy it, all for the same reasons.
Before heading back to the beach, Eko awakens delirious and says that Locke will find Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. He also says “you are a hunter John.” Before passing out again. At the beach, we get our first glimpse at Paulo and Nikki. Nikki is clearly going to be a vocal influence, Paulo is just sort of ‘concerned’. If I can digress for a second, the buzz on Paulo seems a bit overblown. I’m a guy, so maybe I just don’t get it, but I didn’t feel the heat. Maybe when they called this guy a Brazilian Tom Cruise they meant that he jumped on couches and was generally all washed-up. Don’t get me wrong, the character may indeed be pivotal and well performed, but I don’t see this guy as a threat to the LOST leading men. Forgive me my Vanity Fair moment…
At the beach, Locke gives the very speech that Desmond foreshadowed earlier, revealing that Desmond has come out of the incident with clairvoyance, and so far Hurley is the only one who knows.
Further Instructions is not a significant download in the sense of the over-arching LOST serial, it is, however, a satisfying bit of escapist action adventure that brings John Locke to a mindset somewhere between Locke of season one and Locke of season two. Here we have a Locke who is ready to make the choose that seemed so tenuously made in his flashback; Locke is, again, a hunter.
Comments
The Genesis reference may also be one more reaffirming clue that, as the premiere pullback from Othersville clearly indicates, it is in fact more or less due north of the fuselage crash site.....
Posted By ogam5 | October 19, 2006 2:41 PM
Not to harp on details, but Desmond appears to show precognition, not clairvoyance. Clairvoyance refers to the ability to perceive unseen events or objects, precognition is the ability to see or predict events before they occur.
Posted By hexonxonx | October 19, 2006 5:52 PM
Paulo plays Xerxes in 300. He is a great actor and thay is what the probably meant by the Tom Cruise comment. Great at playing many roles and at one time was a sex symbol.
Posted By Brinson | October 19, 2006 6:07 PM
I was under the impression that Eko's conversation with Locke was another instance of the island talking to Locke through someone. It seemed, when Charlie returned, that Eko had been out the whole time and Locke realized it.
Posted By chriswaslost | October 19, 2006 6:19 PM
Is it my own bias or is LOST getting worse at drawing out conclusions? Three episodes and everything we know could have been revealed in a clever three minute montage. Not that the shows are actually that long. 30 minutes of show and 30 minutes of commercial. Personally it's getting tiresome, much like The Lost Experience.
Posted By JoefromUtah | October 19, 2006 6:19 PM
A few points:
Mr. Eko (the voice of "The Island") tells John that he is a hunter. I'm wondering if John did in fact kill Eddie--we just didn't get to see it yet. Perhaps killing Eddie pushed him from farmerdom to hunterdom.
"You're a good man John." That statment by Officer Eddie echoed Henry Gale/Ben's from last season.
In John's dream sequence he sees Kate, Sawyer and Jack being taken through security and "Ben-ry" is the guard. Anyone else find significance in Jack removing his watch? Seemed deliberate--a metaphor perhaps?
Posted By Scott | October 19, 2006 6:38 PM
I agree with both Scott and chriswaslost about Eko being the voice of the island and never actually woke up....
Also, I know this is trivial but I wanted to say that the actor playing Paulo is incredibly gorgeous and he is a good addition to a cast of gorgeous leading men - just watch him in "Love Actually"....
I have to say about the coming attraction for next weeks episode that I am a little annoyed. It seems to me more and more that the Others captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer merely to see who Kate likes best - they keep Jack away from the both of them and seem to be pushing her towards Sawyer on purpose and now they show the Others torturing Sawyer to get Kate's reaction and are actually asking her "Do you love him? Do you love this man?" How ridiculous is this? I don't get the point...
Posted By Lost In Florida | October 19, 2006 7:30 PM
All I can say I'm quite fed up with the artificial hype about the so called brazilian Tom Cruise, I think he sucks, and everything sounds and looks like a realy good influential hollywood agent pushing and promoting this guy's career.
Check all the the buzz,it's so artificial, it's just not "lost like" lost is about good rather "unknow" actors, people we never cared or saw before, coming in from nowhere and turning out to be great surprises.
Now comes this guy and the hype, he should stick to soap-operas.
I was, and so a lot of my friend who like Lost, realy disapointed that he was called into this show, I hope he's killed before the end of the season ( in some ridiculous way, like choking while eating a crab).
by the way, I am brazilian, so the hype is even worse down here...
Posted By JR Poeck | October 19, 2006 7:35 PM
I loved last night's ep - my favorite of season 3 by far.
Poor John: bouncing around from job to job, always looking for a "family" to care for him, always getting taken advantage of, losing people he cares for... He is so underestimated! I'm betting that the hunter side of him will emerge as the stronger - he will realize that his place is as a leader of men, not a follower. The island is the best place for him, not the real world. Last night strongly reinforced the idea that John is a shaman figure (vision quests, relating directly to the Island etc.)-- If Eko is representative of modern religion, then Locke represents the primitive. Who is ultimatley stronger? My money is on Locke for sure.
And a side note -- I am super distressed about the ep 4 preview. As a girl and a huge Sawyer fan I have to say that the situation created by the others is not cool!
AND that Paulo is no huge prize in my opinion. I find it super annoying that these two new peeps just appear out of nowhere and get along with everyone like they have been there all along. Yeah, I know that it's a show and all, but it's annoying. What, now they get to be a part of the "in" group? And I'm telling you, that new woman is going to prove to be MOUTHY (That's all we need - another Ana Lucia!)
Posted By Erin | October 19, 2006 7:58 PM
Yeah. how those 2 people just showed up out of the blue was quite crazy. I think that they could have been introduced in a better light. I know I laughed when they did that.
Posted By mdog | October 19, 2006 8:20 PM
I know, it was totally unrealistic. At least when that High school teacher blew up (at the black rock) he made some complaints/comments about not being a part of the in group... The producers should have gradually worked them in, not just have them jump into a conversation with Charlie & Co like they are important.
Sooooooo Annoying!
Posted By Erin | October 19, 2006 8:59 PM
I do agree that the way they "introduced" these 2 new characters was a little strange because the leads of the show always keep mainly within the group and you rarely, if ever, see them converse with anyone outside the group - ya know how it is, the other survivors are always seen literally as extras walking around in the background etc - so to have these 2 come out of nowhere and even worse have the girl have that attitude towards Hurley like he is someone she has the right to get nasty with was not kosher and this actress is a nobody - I have never seen her before anywhere. Even though everyone is trashing the actor playing Paulo (for no real reason in my opinion) he at least has done things prior to LOST and has somewhat of a following even if it may be because of his looks...
Posted By Lost in Florida | October 19, 2006 10:21 PM
I have little doubt that the character of Eddie is an Other, somewhat telegraphed by his wearing a 'Geronimo Jackson' T-shirt and strongly reinforced by his pronouncing Locke 'a good man', foreshadowing Ben's later assessment in the Hatch. Never mind that he is posing as a cop; it may have been Locke's sparing of his life that afforded John a 'free pass' from abduction by the Others and comparative mercy if not compassion. This event may have also led to Locke's paralysis, as some have speculated, and subsequent efforts to make amends that restored his mobility.....
Posted By ogam5 | October 19, 2006 10:32 PM
The actress playing Nikki Kiele Sanchez did some things she had a leading role in the show related
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0760989/
but yeah I agree the way those 2 characters came out of nowhere was kinda dumb, and really irritated me, how can they introduce 2 new characters to the fans.. just like that! that makes us look stupid as a viewer...
not my favourite episode so far, glass ballerina was better...
and when will they put some more input in claire's character? she gets a snooze factor if they keep on going like this with her
and always nice to see boone back..
Posted By FrankEE | October 19, 2006 10:50 PM
I agree with those who say the way the 2 new characters were introduced seemed a bit forced. I didn't even know they were introducing new actors. I thought they were just giving a couple of the extras a break to say a few lines.
Posted By David_Zen | October 19, 2006 11:49 PM
Good ep...nothin special but good...glad to see Locke back an become the main leader figure in the absence of jack...this will undoubtably give him purpose to become the Hero he promised to be in season 1...
Desmonds Physcic abilities where a nice touch...good ol' fashioned lost mysticism...
polar bear was a bit odd....seemed a bit rushed but nice to see it makin an appearence...most interestingly, boone said..'They' have eko...when it was the bear...have the others deliberatley put him with the bear??
most interesting thing for me was the airport hallucination...
Claire/Charlie/Aaron where together and happy..as they now are
Sayid was Directing Jin/Sun as he was...
Kate/Sawyer were seemingly a couple as they will doublessly become
Jack was being held up by his bagagge...good metaphore
Desmond was piloting, as i asume his new powers will enable him to do...Also could say, as it was he who crashed the plane, he brought them to the island...i.e. he was the pilot
and Ben....was Security!
now, this being the Island talking to John...it might mean that it percieves the Others as Security for the island.....or it could mean he's the obstical for them to leave...either way, i found it interesting
Havent got the Hurley one yet but im sure i'll think of something...
Posted By Carlos | October 20, 2006 1:31 AM
I noticed that Locke's name is not John but Jonathan. Most would spell it Jon. Not that it means anything. I'm still a bit confused by Charlie's reaction to the hatch explosion but I guess I'll have to let it go. I mean all that ear piercing noise and bright light and no one is questioning it? I'm glad we have Season 1 Locke back. So far my fav episode.
Posted By mosilkymo | October 20, 2006 2:35 AM
I dont know...
I found it a bit dissapointing. As one of the comments said, they didnt need 40 minutes to cover that.
So far, not a single episode has been as good as the worst season 1 episode, and the best season 3 episode (the first one) was hardly better than most of the season 2 episodes. Don't get me wrong, I love the show. There's a really good reason why it's the only show I watch. I'm just really dissapointed with whay this is going.
Posted By abid | October 20, 2006 4:55 AM
the addition of 2 new characters is a lame hollywood reality. The producers are listening too much to some market research firm who told them they needed more sex appeal on the show. Introducing these characters was lame and only gives the impression that they really don't know too far in advance where they want the show to go. What next? Introducing a kid? That is the tell-tale death knoll of a show. Anyway, it is clear from all the fan comments i see that Locke, Eko, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer are the backbone of the show and without them it would really drop off fast....
Posted By iroquois | October 20, 2006 8:32 AM
Oh no! They have introduced new characters!
People please... quit your whining.
From day 1 we have been told the show will always have the extras on the island turn into regular characters.
Why wouldn't they be known? You people aren't happy unless you have something to bitch about.
Posted By Akbar Fazil | October 20, 2006 4:59 PM
Kirsten wrote on her site this:
Even though, in the script , Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro (the newcomers) had all sorts of things to do in this episodeand another particular couple everyone seems to like also kissed none of that actually happened last night. Bizarre, no?
http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/blog/index.jsp?uuid=94927c7b-1e0d-4b2e-a210-79abae215cba
if they showed the things nikki and paulo had to do originally in the script, then it wouldnt be so weird to see them out of the blue with the rest of the group... claire was supoosed to walk into jack's tent and see nikki and paulo have sex together...
Posted By FrankEE | October 20, 2006 6:13 PM
Hey, anyone tried looking up the scripture references on Eko's Jesus stick? Maybe there's some more clues in those verses...
Posted By Nathaniel | October 21, 2006 7:29 AM
Good point...I just looked up the Genesis scripture and it says 'thou shalt watch lost for all 10 seasons even though it gets more annoying every week'. I love it really....
Posted By LOSTGIMP | October 21, 2006 9:10 PM
Here's what I got from the stick:
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Romans 6:2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Genesis 13:14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. (!!! Looking at the whole verse this might be less important than everyone has been thinking)
Habakkuk 1:3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Posted By TrillianM | October 23, 2006 2:45 PM
As for the 4:8:15:16 on the stick all I could think of was the fourth book of the bible chapter eight verses 15 and 16. So here it is if anyone is interested: 15 "After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. 16 They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman.
Also of note Aaron from the bible that Eko spoke of to Claire is from this same book/chapter: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=4&chapter=8&version=31
Posted By TrillianM | October 23, 2006 2:52 PM
I completely agree with Erin and FrankEE. I was so annoyed at the way they just threw those new characters in there. I think it's partly because we are so attached to the characters we all know and love that it's hard to just accept two new ones right off the bat when we don't know anything about them. Especially if there's not a reason we didn't know them before such as with the tailies or the Others. But I still love the show and I just hope these two new characters have interesting background stories. It was nice to see Boone again. Also, in the airport/sweat lodge scene, I am wondering what Boone meant when he said about Charlie and Claire "they're okay, for now." Does anyone think this means something bad is going to happen to one or both of them?
Posted By Shiloh | October 25, 2006 8:57 PM
The Lost Boys
"Others" Among Us
Subscribe
Now you can get TheTailsection updates through e-mail!
LOST - Sponsors
LOST - TheTailsection
- Your Voice: Vincent Watch '08
- Ratings for "Cabin Fever" Are In
- ABC Makes Up for Lost's Missing Pieces
- Easter Eggs for Episode 4.11 "Cabin Fever"
- Your Voice: A Case of "Cabin Fever"
- Episode 4.11 "Cabin Fever" Afterthoughts
- Your Voice: What Happens to Sawyer?
- Damon and Carlton Appear on 'Attack of the Show'
- First Look at Episode 4.11 "Cabin Fever"
- "The Shape of Things to Come" Video Podcast
- Readers Theorize About "Something Nice Back Home"
- Damon and Carlton on Jimmy Kimmel Live
- Easter Eggs for Episode 4.10 "Something Nice Back Home"
- Ratings for "Something Nice Back Home" Are In
- Episode 4.10 "Something Nice Back Home" Afterthoughts
- Tail Section Looking for Reader Submissions
- First Look at Episode 4.10 "Something Nice Back Home"
- Readers Theorize About "The Shape of Things to Come"
- 'Lost' Season 4 DVD Details
- Jimmy Kimmel Interviews Damon and Carlton, Part 2
- Ratings for "The Shape of Things to Come" Are In
- Easter Eggs for Episode 4.9 "The Shape of Things to Come"
- Episode 4.9 "The Shape of Things to Come" Afterthoughts
- The Onion AV Club Interviews Damon and Carlton
- USA Today Posts Fan Theories
- Jimmy Kimmel Interviews Damon and Carlton, Part 1
- Clips from Episode 4.9 "The Shape of Things to Come"
- ABC.com Launches 'Lostscape'
- Another 'Lost' Set Visit
- 'Lost' in 4:24
LOST - Archives
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- April 2004
LOST - Article Categories
- LOST Book Reviews (4)
- LOST Polls (1)
- Lost At Comic-Con! (10)
- Lost Cast (2)
- Lost Easter Eggs (12)
- Lost Headlines (27)
- Lost Interactive (4)
- Lost Interviews (18)
- Lost Links (1)
- Lost Mythology (15)
- Lost News (798)
- Lost Newswire (11)
- Lost Predictions (3)
- Lost Recaps (34)
- Lost Rumors (1)
- Lost Satire (1)
- Lost Spoilers (206)
- Lost Theories (35)
- Lost Videos (1)
- Lostpendium (28)
- Lost Characters (1)
- Dharma Initiative Employees
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivors: Front Section (1)
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivors: Tail Section
- Off-Island Connections
- Other Survivors on the Island
- People Born on Island
- The Others
- Lost Episodes (26)
- Lost Events
- At Sydney Airport
- Before Arriving at Sydney Airport
- Crash of Oceanic Flight 815
- Events After Crash
- Events After Island
- Lost Places
- Ancient Island Sites
- Australia
- Dharma Sites
- General Island Sites
- General Off Island Sites
- Iraq
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivor Sites
- South Korea
- UK
- USA
- Lost Things
- Books
- Objects in Swan
- Lost Characters (1)
- TheTailsection Interviews (6)