Walkabout (S01E04)
Airdate: October 13th 2004
Written by: David Fury
Directed by: Jack Bender
Running Time: 42 minutes
While the two-part pilot episode of Lost represented a truly grand beginning and, by all metrics, a triumph of network television spectacle, it was the series' fourth episode, Walkabout, that truly anchored the audience’s attention and built the show’s enduring status as an epitome of high-quality, character-driven drama. This was due to its content, which featured one of the most memorable and unexpected plot twists in television history, a revelation that fundamentally altered viewers' perception of the show’s possibilities.
The title itself is a piece of brilliant, layered deception. For cinephiles, it initially seems a straightforward reference to Nicolas Roeg’s 1971 film, a classic survival story. Yet, within the narrative, the “walkabout” is a reference to an event that both happens and doesn't happen. Locke’s planned Australian spiritual journey is a profound personal failure, denied to him because he was physically incapable. However, on the Island, he undergoes a deeply personal, transformative “walkabout” of the soul, hunting the boar and confronting the monster, thereby achieving the self-reliant adventure his old life refused him.
The episode’s main storyline, like many in Lost, moves with a deliberate, almost snail-like pace, building tension through mundane survival concerns. Days after the crash, with hope of rescue fading, the survivors must confront two grim issues: the disposal of the dead and their dwindling food supplies. The urgency of the first is horrifically underscored by the opening scene, where a pack of boars invades the fuselage serving as a temporary morgue. This attack forces the group to act, with the pragmatic Dr. Jack Shephard advocating for a nocturnal funeral pyre to both honour the dead and signal any potential ships. Sayid, while respectful of differing religious views on cremation, focuses on triangulating a mysterious transmission, a plot thread hinting at the Island’s greater mysteries.
It is the enigmatic Locke who proposes a solution to the second problem: hunting the boars. He leads Kate and Michael on an expedition that appears destined for costly failure. Michael is injured, Kate loses a vital triangulation antenna, and Locke vanishes into the jungle where the unseen “monster” is heard. When he later emerges triumphant with a boar carcass, his calm demeanour and enigmatic lie about seeing the monster instantly cement him as the show’s most fascinating figure. This stands in stark contrast to the portrait painted in the episode’s flashbacks, which reveal his pre-crash life as utterly pitiable.
Locke is depicted as a pathetic corporate drone in a cubicle, his dreams mocked by his boss, Randy (Billy Ray Gallion). His supposed romance with “Helen” is revealed to be a professional relationship with a phone sex operator, a crushing delusion he clings to as he plans their trip to Australia. The final, devastating revelation comes from visual storytelling: Locke was a wheelchair user, paralysed and physically incapable of the demanding “walkabout” tour. The crash miraculously restored his ability to walk, making him the first character shown to be unequivocally better off because of the disaster. Terry O’Quinn portrays this transformation from broken man to serene hunter with immense skill, his performance earning widespread acclaim.
The episode also seeds transformations in others, primarily Jack. As the pragmatic, sceptical leader, he is the antithesis of the newly mystical Locke. His own ghosts begin to surface through strange hallucinations, which occur as he tends to Rose, a woman refusing food or company. In a touching scene, he suggests she suffers from post-traumatic stress, to which she insightfully replies that anyone, perhaps even Jack, might have it. Her steadfast belief that her husband survived the tail-section separation plants an early seed of hope and foreshadows later twists.
A lighter, semi-humorous subplot involves Shannon, who, tired of her brother Boone’s condescension, manipulates a smitten Charlie into catching a fish for her. This moment is often cited as supplying comic relief but also firmly establishes Shannon as a cunning manipulator, a trait that defines her early character arc.
“Walkabout” is rightly considered by many to be the best episode of Lost. Its high status is maintained by the notion that it served as a litmus test for viewers. Co-creator Damon Lindelof framed it as such, arguing that the episode revealed whether an audience would invest in characters reacting to mysteries, rather than just the mysteries themselves. The powerful twist recontextualised not only Locke but the entire series, promising a story where personal redemption and island mythology were inextricably linked. It confirmed the show’s promise and cemented its place as must-see television.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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