The Beginning of the End (31 Jan. 2008)

Charlie's dying message casts doubt on the intentions of the people that Jack believes to be their rescuers. A power struggle ensues between Jack, who wants to leave the island, and Locke, who thinks that they're supposed to stay.

Director:

Jack Bender

Writers:

Jeffrey Lieber (creator), J.J. Abrams (creator),

Stars:

Naveen Andrews, Henry Ian Cusick, Jeremy Davies

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Naveen Andrews	...	Sayid Jarrah
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Desmond Hume
Jeremy Davies	...	Daniel Faraday
Emilie de Ravin	...	Claire Littleton
Michael Emerson	...	Ben Linus
Matthew Fox	...	Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia	...	Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Josh Holloway	...	James 'Sawyer' Ford
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Jin Kwon
Yunjin Kim	...	Sun Kwon
Ken Leung	...	Miles Straume (credit only)
Evangeline Lilly	...	Kate Austen
Rebecca Mader	...	Charlotte Lewis (credit only)
Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Juliet Burke
Dominic Monaghan	...	Charlie Pace

Storyline

Desmond returns to the castaways' camp on the beach where he relays Charlie's message which casts suspicion and doubt about the rescuers that are approaching the island on a freighter 80 miles away. Meanwhile, Jack and Locke argue about Jack wanting to leave the island, while Locke wants to stay and build a new life for them. Meanwhile, flash forward into three years in the future show a mentally disturbed Hurley having visions of the dead Charlie telling him to return to the island.

---

Plot Keywords:

flash forward | basketball | eskimo indian | outrigger canoe | car jump | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 2008 (USA)

Filming Locations:

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The letters "H" and "O" come up several times in this episode. This is interesting because "H" is the 8th letter of the alphabet and "O" is the 15th (815). Charlie first appears to Hurley in this episode near the "Ho-Ho's." When Hurley is in the mental institution "H" and "O" can be seen in the background. Also, when Hurley and Jack play Horse in the gym they stop after Jack gets the first to letters, "H" and "O."

---

Goofs

When the detective tells Hurley that he can put him in the nut house, Hurley respond by hugging him. Over the detective's right shoulder, during the over the shoulder shot of Hurley, you can clearly see the left hand of the camera operator, and most of the lens.

---

Quotes

Kate Austen: What are you doing?
James 'Sawyer' Ford: Same thing I've always done, Kate... Surviving.

---

Crazy Credits

The producers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the people of Hawaii and their Aloha spirit.

---

Connections

References First Blood (1982)

---

Soundtracks

"Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written by J.J. Abrams

User Reviews

Lost returns with a vengeance

A thoroughly satisfactory follow-up to "Through the Looking Glass" did not feel anti-climactic to me after waiting all those months for the show's return, and on DVD seems about as good. It's not a brilliant episode, but it's an emotional gem pretty much throughout, and it's got some winning moments of humor and heart which elevate it beyond the typical season opener. It doesn't quite hit the highs of "Man of Science, Man of Faith", but it's significantly better than "A Tale of Two Cities", and the shift from Jack to Hurley works very well, although Jack is still featured prominently in the flashforwards.

The on-island events are a logical extension of "Through the Looking Glass", and work as both follow-up to that episode and a setup for the rest of season four, and pretty much cover all bases in relation to the characters involved in season three's climactic stages (unlike season three's opening stages, which took several episodes to even get to some of the characters impacted by season two's finale, and only set up the Hydra pod of episodes). I don't care at all for Naomi's not being dead, which pretty much redefines 'plot contrivance', or for Rose's line about Claire treating Charlie 'real good' when (sigh) he returns. The rest of it is pretty great, especially the only real surprise in the episode, Hurley's encounter with Jacob's cabin.

The flashforwards are clearly happening well before "Through the Looking Glass", and work well as a setup for the rest of the flashforward stories which would ultimately lead to Drunk Bearded Jack's visit to the mystery coffin. All in all this is a good script, very well-performed and nicely-directed which functions as a pleasingly efficient and rewarding season opener.