Season 1, Episodes 3 and 4-
“Tabula Rasa” and “Walkabout”
Summary:
Flashbacks show Kate working for
a farmer in Australia before the man informs the authorities of her
whereabouts. She crashes his truck but is caught by the marshal. Sayid’s group
agree not to inform the camp about the distress call, and Jack wrestles with
saving the marshal’s life and inquiring about Kate’s criminal record. Sawyer
shoots the suffering marshal, but Jack has to ultimately put him out of his
misery.
Jack decides that the dead bodies
must be burned, and he comforts a despondent Rose, who still believes her
husband is alive. With food rations depleted, the survivors try to catch fish.
Locke leads Kate and Michael into the jungle to hunt for boar, which sends him
to a confrontation with the monster. Flashbacks reveal Locke to be an office
drone who decided to change his life by going on an Australian walkabout. He is
denied entry because he is wheelchair-bound, which was magically healed upon
crashing on the island.
Review:
Thus begins the long line of Kate- or Jack-centric flashbacks that I
kind of don’t care much about. Luckily this is one of the shorter flash-stories
we get, but it doesn’t really tell us a whole lot. She fled to Australia and
befriended a farmer before being caught. It would be nice if Ray ever factored
into the story again but he doesn’t. So we’re batting .000 so far with
flashbacks. Thankfully that will change soon.
The main takeaway from “Tabula Rasa” is that Jack decides not to ask
about Kate’s past, saying it “Doesn’t matter who we were” before the crash.
That’s a big theme of season 1; everyone getting a fresh start and attempting
to put their past behind them. It starts a long-lasting trend of people not
bothering to ask questions, which may frustrate viewers but furthers the grand
idea of the island washing away all of their sins and becoming a sort of
paradise. Locke bringing back Vincent was a touching moment (although the
creepy shot at the end was sort of unnecessary), and this musical montage is my
favorite of the few that they do in season 1. The song is called “Wash Away”
and again seems to imply cleansing the characters. So yeah, it’s one of the
better Kate episodes. Though that’s not a high bar to clear.
Much has been said about Walkabout, and I don’t know there’s much more
I can add. The story arc of a lonely paraplegic stuck at a desk job, suddenly
being able to walk again and become a capable leader is maybe the best personal
story the show ever had (Desmond being the possible exception). Locke’s bravado
is a bit of a put-on, since he’s trying to make up for years of ineptitude, but
it’s also real in that he’s the only one who knows the true power of
this place. His personality swings wildly through his time on the show, but
Confident Mystical Locke will always be the best.
The B-plots are typical survival needs that Lost has to deal with in
the early going, and it’s amusing to see Shannon asking Charlie asking Hurley
asking Jin to catch a fish. Rose’s certainty of Bernard being alive despite him
being missing contrasts starkly with Jack’s certainty of his dad being dead
despite seeing him standing in the bushes. Rose is the person of faith, Jack is the
person of science.
Connecting the Dots:
Locke allows Michael the chance to deliver Vincent to Walt. While it’s
not exactly out-of-character for Locke to do this, it’s still a little bit of a
head-scratcher. But it makes more sense when you realize that he, like Walt,
spent years without his father in the picture, and ended up with a conniving
double-crosser who stole his kidney and pushed him out of a window. He’s
fostering a father-son bond for Walt that he never got to have.
Speaking of Walt, Michael vows to find Vincent “as soon as it stops raining.”
Which it does, just seconds later. A coincidence? Or an early sign of Walt’s
psychic abilities? I will have more to say about Walt’s abilities, but they do
seem to occur when he is either scared or irritated. And he certainly looks
irritated when Michael isn’t able to find his dog.
Rose is convinced Bernard and the tail-section people aren’t dead.
She’s right, of course.
The woman Locke calls on the phone is a phone sex operator
whom he uses to play out the fantasy of Helen, his former girlfriend whom we
meet in season 2. She’s long-gone by this point in his story, but he’s clearly
not over her.
More train tracks being laid for future flashbacks: Jack seeing his
father, and Sayid finding Nadia’s picture. Also the scenes of people trying to
talk to Sun are much funnier now that you know she understands them fully.
Ranking:
1.
Pilot, part 1 (9/10)
2.
Walkabout (8/10) (The final reveal is amazing
but I don’t love the episode as much as others. Still, Locke’s arc is clear and
captivating.)
3.
Pilot, part 2 (8/10)
4.
Tabula Rasa (7/10) (The flashback is pretty
empty, but the marshal conundrum and Jack’s conflicting thoughts on Kate’s
history provide good material.)
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