Lost - Beginning of the End

*** / ****
With Naomi surviving just long enough to tell a friend on the freighter of their coordinates, Kate convincing her that it was Locke’s (and only his) fault not theirs, it sets in motion a supposed rescue mission. However, the episode, Beginning of the End, does its very level best to tell us that leaving the island was quite ill-fated and exactly the wrong decision to make. But when there is a chance to finally be off the island that seems to have caused so much grief to them, such potential rescue could be too alluring to resist. Hurley and Jack (and Kate) are shown forward in time (well, what happens on the island must be the past instead of the present, right?) and seemed to have gotten off the island.

Charlie perished in the last episode of the third season, and yet his “spirit” visits Hurley twice, once in a service station (which sparked a car chase that resulted in Hurley being arrested), and later while out in the yard of a mental institution (he so desperately longed for as a refuge). Charlie was trying to urge a stubborn Hurley about “going back”. This vision sparked a curiosity in Hurley…should he have left the island? Was it a mistake? When Locke and Jack stand on opposing sides regarding staying or leaving the island, Hurley chose to stay, heading with the group going to the Dharma compound occupied by the Others. Hurley admits to a visiting Jack while in the basketball gym he shouldn’t have went with Locke, so whatever happens, later to be determined, certainly seems to indicate that his decision (encouraged by the loss of Charlie who died in the hopes of warning his Oceanic peers of danger ahead regarding the freighter) brought with it something unfortunate. All Jack cared about was getting off the island, Kate joining him despite Sawyer’s following Locke. Jack turns Ben over to Locke (Rousseau in charge of the rope binding him!), ridding himself of such baggage for a rendezvous with whoever it was talking to a dying, wounded Naomi (later to be revealed as Jeremy Davies once he parachutes down from a chopper). Alex and Karl go with Locke, as does Claire and Aaron. If a bullet would have been in Locke’s gun, Jack would have shot him right in the face! Jack would have killed Locke. Locke being responsible for killing Naomi with the thrown knife, considering the freighter a danger, and Naomi’s concealing the crime against her from her crew; this would seem to indicate that perhaps Locke is wrong. Ben freed from Jack’s captivity might lead to a lot more than Locke bargained for. Locke was shot point blank by Ben…it shouldn’t have been that easy to forget, could it?

Jack wants Hurley to keep a certain secret (without necessarily sayings such in word as much as behavior) and refuses to listen to him about returning to the island (and mentioning thinking about growing a beard); this takes us off island right before his decline evidenced in the final episode of the third season. Whatever that secret is, it was also hinted at between Jack and Kate in the previous episode during a conversation about regret (whatever it was they did to get off the island) and needing to return to the island (in order to perhaps correct what went wrong?). I can just imagine how amused those who have watched the show would be after reading the above. But I have been trying to lay off spoilers so this journey would be quite thrilling and surprising.

Hurley having to inform Claire that Charlie died while the likes of Sayid and Desmond have a hard time standing by is quite an emotional wallop, but it just kind of lost a bit due to how the episode emphasizes the vision on the ground of the mental institution. I don’t think we ever really get a chance to digest the loss because so much is going on in terms of the off-island focus on Hurley (he’s visited by a supposed airplane representative for Oceanic but Hurley sees him as sinister and pulls away out of fear of what his intentions are) and Jack’s adversarial issues with Locke and Ben. But Hurley’s finding Jacob’s cabin, as if lured there against his will, and finding it hard to get away, eventually running into Locke. Locke is about to return to Jack hoping to convince him not to leave the island or persuade others not to follow him due to the dangers awaiting them from those on the freighter. I can only imagine this bewildering development will be of the utmost importance in the future. Like Locke, Rose, and Desmond, Hurley does seem to have an attachment to the island, as if there was a purpose for him. His purpose wasn’t tied to his legs, took cancer away, or enchanted him with the ability to see future events; but Jacob’s cabin, nonetheless, seems to beckon Hurley.

Rousseau punching Ben in the face for calling Alex his daughter while begging her to go and hide just further bloodies his face. Ben does get his deserved licks for being a heel. His mocking Jack just continued their rivalry, rubbing his face in calling the freighter despite his efforts to stop it. As folks splinter determining who will stay and go, Rose mentions the she'd rather stay with Jack because she doesn't trust Locke that says a lot...risking cancer as opposed to staying on the island.