Lost: Further Instructions (2006)
Season 3, Episode 3
5/10
Disappointing
22 April 2010
Island Plot - In the aftermath of the destruction of the hatch Locke receives instructions from the island to save another castaways life.

Flashback - Locke brings a new friend to the commune he's staying at unaware that he's really an under cover cop.

This marked a unique moment in my lost viewing experience. It was the first Locke episode I didn't love. In fact it is one of my least favorite episodes ever. Definitely one of the most disappointing episodes ever. I had been looking forward to this episode since the end of season 2. What happened to Locke, Eko and Desmond when the hatch was destroyed was the cliffhanger I was most interested in. Unfortunately I still don't have an answer to what happened to them because the show never bothered to tell us.

It starts with Locke waking up in the jungle unharmed. Then we see Desmond running around naked in the jungle. How these two, especially Desmond survived has never been explained. Locke stumbles back to the beach where Charlie, who's still acting like the jerk he was throughout season 2, helps him "talk" to the island. What follows is an admittedly cool and trippy scene where the dearly departed Boone takes him via wheelchair around Sydney Airport where he sees all the rest of the cast. The big message he gets from this metaphysical experience – he has to save Eko from being eaten by polar bear. And that's the main plot of the episode – Locke and Charlie marching through the jungle to a bear cave to save Eco, which given future events kind of seems pointless, but whatever. They do manage to become friends again but since they barely have any scenes together after this episode even that seems kind of pointless.

Meanwhile Hurley makes it back to camp. After having his girlfriend murdered by someone he thought was a friend, being kidnapped by the others, and walking back to camp from the other side if the island he seems surprisingly carefree and unaffected . He runs into the very naked Desmond, loans him a shirt, and discovers something about Des that will be important throughout the season.

The flashbacks are some of the worst the show had ever had. Seemingly pointless and boring they are definitely Locke's worst flashbacks. At least I thought so at the time. Looking back from season six however they do seem to represent Locke's whole story throughout the series. So in retrospect I guess the writers had a point but it still bores the heck out of me.

Favorite Scene – The only really good scene in the episode. The scene with Boone in the sweat lodge.
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