Other people have reviewed Season Four's opener, "The Beginning of the End" and probably are more observant and eloquent than me but I just have to say what I've been thinking about. I have to admit I did read some of the spoilers and so I knew the very first thing we'd see is not an eye (as happened the first three seasons) but a pile of fruit. It seemed like someone had been collecting food on the island and had left it all behind when the survivors of the plane crash had to hurriedly decamp but then...crash! A car jumps through the fruit scattering it everywhere and we realize that this is the future.
Who is in the car? Of all people--it's Hurley! Why was he driving like a maniac and why did he get himself involved in a police chase? It turns out that he is one of "The Oceanic Six" (and we know from the finale last season that two of the other six are Jack and Kate) and has been having troubling visions since getting off the island. He is so frightened of them (although usually all he has to do to make them go away is close his eyes and count to five) that he allows the cop who interviews him (coincidentally the ex-partner of one of the plane passengers) to have him admitted into a mental hospital.
If Hurley thought hiding in a mental hospital was going to save him, he was very wrong. First a very scary, cadaverous looking giant of a man named Matthew Abbaddon (sp?) shows up posing as an airline lawyer and promising to put Hurley in a luxurious mental hospital. When Hurley declines, the man goes cold and angry looking and says in an ominious voice, "Are they still alive?" Something even more ominous: this guy's last name also means hell, death, or something equally awful. Something else even more ominous: after he asked the question, Hurley began screaming and the guy vanished. I could see the door open but I didn't see anyone go through the door. Now, maybe we see the door a split second after Abbaddon ran through it but why do I suspect he might be Smokey?
And then Charlie shows up. Charlie was always one of my favorite characters who performed one of the noblest acts of courage one can do for anyone--he sacrificed his life to save the survivors he loved and cared about, particularly Claire and baby Aaron. Charlie appeared to Hurley just before the car chase, standing in a Ho Hos display. Then, in the interrogation room, Charlie swam up to the glass window and put his palm up. Instead of "Not Penny's Boat" his message to Hurley was "They need you."
And now he strolls up to Hurley, telling him not to run away even though Hurley is protesting and trying to close his eyes to bring back reality. Once Hurley realizes that Charlie is dead but also here, they have a conversation. This picture is so cool. The gist of the conversation is that leaving the island was a mistake and Hurley needs to go back there.
Jack comes to visit Hurley--he said it was to see how things are going, but I'm sure Jack wanted to make sure Hurley wasn't going to talk. The Ocean Six apparently are covering up or lying about something and Jack wanted to know if Hurley was going to "tell". Hurley says it was a mistake for them to leave; "it" wants them back. I'm not sure which "it" Hurley is talking about but I suspect he means The Island. I think Charlie represents The Island, too. At this point, Jack hasn't hit rock bottom, hasn't begun using oxycontin and hasn't begun to believe that they made a mistake. He's clearly upset with what Hurley says and leaves abruptly--but there seemed to be something else there in the gym. TB says as Jack came in or went out one door "something" came in or went out the other. Smokey?
That was the flash forward. The castaways are still on the island and rescue from "Not Penny's Boat" is still under way. They split into two groups--those who believe that the rescuers actually represent danger and those that want to be saved. Hurley first goes with Locke's group--the one that wants to stay and hide. On the other hand, Desmond (who was with Charlie when he died and left the warning message on his palm) stays with Jack. Why? I'm thinking he wants to get back with Penny so bad he'll get on anything to get off the island.
Kate stays with Jack--why, I'm not sure. Once she leaves the island she'll have to go back to jail or go up on charges or something. Sawyer wants to keep surviving and so he splits with Kate and joins Locke's group. Ben, the manipulative leader of the Others, politely requests permission to go with Locke and Jack grants it. Now, Ben tried to kill Locke by shooting him so he must really be afraid of the rescuers to want to go with someone who probably would like to kill him back.
As always, the show ended much too soon and I just want more, more, more--but I've got to wait until Thursday.
There are other better written reviews of the episode at Dark UFO and also at Abel's Blog. And if you're really into the show like I am, be sure to check out the ho ho ho and "it's all about the ho-hos" theories!
Posts
1 comment:
I cannot WAIT until Thursday! ~DKM
Post a Comment