After the first two shows of the new season have given us a glimpse into the lives of The Others, it’s apparently time to see what’s happening back on the other side of the island with the survivors of the plane crash, and with that, we’re taken to see Locke lying in the jungle as he struggles to recall what has happened.
As he comes out of his fog, it seems that he is generally in fairly good shape, but it also appears that he can’t speak, so trying to convey anything to anyone is a bit of a challenge, and it’s even worse when he needs the help of Charlie, who always seems to be itching to start a fight. But nonetheless, Locke keeps at it and eventually convinces Charlie to stand guard while he builds a sweat lodge to try to once again find his way.
After the lodge is built, Locke enters the lodge and builds a fire, then takes something (could be peyote), and he slowly descends into his vision. The vision takes him into the airport, where he meets up with his spirit guide Boone, and sees just about everyone on the island, even Ben (as a security screener) and Desmond.
When the vision ends, Locke is confronted with the face of the polar bear, and he knows he must rescue one of the people he did not see – Mr. Eko. He has also found his voice again, which will help in the process. While he doesn’t want Charlie to join him, Charlie insists on doing so, so they set off across the island to find the lair and rescue Eko.
On the way, they encounter Hurley, on his way back from the other side of the island, and they send him back to the beach. Eventually, Charlie and Locke find the cave of the polar bear, but not before Locke has a flashback of his prior life. It’s not said when it happens, but because of references to how he learned to forgive and let go of his anger, it is presumably after the earlier flashbacks we’ve seen.
The scene starts with a downpour on a highway, and a hitchhiker who needs a ride. A pickup stops to pick him up, and Locke is the driver. Unfortunately, a police car pulls them over not far down the road for having a broken tail light, and that’s when we see a bunch of guns in the back, but because they are all properly registered and recorded, they are free to go. Though the hitcher wanted to go further down, they stop for dinner at a sort of compound, and that’s when things get interesting.
It appears that there is some sort of greenhouse that has an extra level of security, and the new resident is just itching to find out what is inside – unfortunately it seems that their new friend is also a cop, fresh out of the academy, and Locke is being turned away from his new family because of it. So he makes the decision to take care of the problem. The two of them go out hunting, and once there, he raises the rifle as if to shoot. The officer says tells Locke that he’s not a hunter and walks away, and sure enough, it seems as if Locke doesn’t shoot him, and that’s when we come back to the cave.
Locke tells Charlie that you have to take care of your own problems – referring to the fact that it is his fault that Eko is here, because Locke lost his faith in the island, which is why Desmond had to blow the hatch, which is why Eko was captured by the polar bear, so now Locke needs to clean up his own mess. So Locke goes into the cave, pulls out Eko, and they all trudge back to the other side of the island. End of the episode. A bit melodramatic, to be sure.
In an interesting twist, Desmond shows up on Hurley’s journey back to the beach, and mentions that Locke will say he now needs to go help rescue the others from their captivity, since he is guilty of their imprisonment as well. But he hadn’t said that. When Charlie, Locke and Eko, return, however, Locke makes that very speech, so it seems that Desmond may have some sort of odd time warp going on – or perhaps he went through one when the hatch imploded.
