Walkabout (Lost)

"Walkabout (Lost)"

"Walkabout" is the fourth episode of the first season of Lost. The episode focuses on Locke's background, and was directed by Jack Bender and written by David Fury. It aired on October 13, 2004 on ABC.

Plot

About four days after the crash, the survivors discover that their food is exhausted, and wonder what to do. John Locke, a menacing presence in the background of the previous stories, flings a combat knife at an abandoned plane seat, narrowly missing Sawyer's head, and announces that they should go hunting in the jungle. He, Michael, and Kate venture through the jungle to hunt boar. Kate, though, doesn't intend on hunting for food. Instead Sayid asked her to place a receiver in a tree so that he can locate the source of the French woman's transmission.

In the jungle, Locke is separated from his companions after he leaves Kate and an injured Michael behind. While placing the receiver high atop a tree, Kate notices something menacing heading in Locke's direction. Startled, she drops and breaks the receiver. They return to camp without Locke, whom they believe to be dead. However, he returns to the camp with a slain wild boar. When asked if he saw The Monster, Locke replies "No," even though he came face-to-face with the entity.

At the beach, the rest of the survivors prepare to hold a funeral for the passengers that did not survive the crash. Jack is asked to lead the memorial, but declines and even goes as far as to distance himself from the service when it is held. While consoling Rose on the loss of her husband, Bernard, Jack sees a vision of a man in a suit staring at him from a distance.

Through flashbacks, Locke is revealed to be a lonely man living a mundane existence - a sharp contrast from the seasoned hunter he presents himself to be on the island. At his job as a regional collections manager of a box company, he is routinely verbally abused by his manager. To temporarily escape from his life, he and a friend play Risk over lunch and speak to each other in military lingo. At home, he spends his nights speaking with a phone-sex operator named Helen whom he offers to take to Australia on a walkabout tour of the outback. She declines stating that she can't date customers, though Locke had thought their relationship was much more than that.

While in Australia, the walkabout tour guide argues with Locke about why he cannot allow Locke on the tour. Four years prior to the plan crash, Locke had been paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. He is adamant about going on the tour insisting that he can handle the hardships despite his condition. Finally, the guide offers Locke a ticket back to Sydney, bluntly tells John that he is not physically able to go on this tour, and leaves for the tour bus. Locke, clearly frustrated and upset, repeats to himself that this is his destiny and that he can do this, though realizes that he cannot as he watches the bus leave without him.