John Locke is arguably one of the greatest TV characters ever created. Lost’s survivalist made a mark for himself in the first few episodes with his orange-peel smile, enigmatic personality, and philosophical musings — something echoed by his name, shared with the Enlightenment-era philosopher.
Twenty years later, it can be easy to forget just how much this character and the story that surrounded him changed the game, but in Lost’s fourth-ever episode, his backstory — and one simple shot — established Locke as the beating heart of the entire series and the “Man of Faith” who would propel the survivors to find the true meaning behind the mysterious island.
In Lost’s early episodes, the non-linear format where present-day scenes on the island would be interrupted by flashbacks from the characters’ pasts was used to show where everyone was immediately before the crash. Episode 3, “Tabula Rasa,” gave us a glimpse at Kate’s past as a fugitive being escorted back to America to stand trial, but it asked more questions than it answered: Why was she arrested? And what led her to her crime in the first place?
Lost Episode 4, “Walkabout,” is all about contrasts. Unlike the previous week’s “Tabula Rasa,” we get a clear look at John Locke’s day-to-day life. He lives a hum-drum existence, working an office job and imagining himself in a relationship with “Helen,” who turns out to be just a chat line operator. Meanwhile, on the island, he’s leading the charge for a wild boar roaming the island and playing hero to all the other survivors.
Past Locke wants adventure too. He plans a walkabout, an Australian Aboriginal term for a journey of isolation but also of self-reflection. But when he arrives in Australia, the walkabout guide refuses to let him join because “in his condition” he would be too much of an insurance liability. This leads John to make the declaration that will follow him throughout the entire series: “Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do!”
As the episode comes to its climax — and underscored by composer Michael Giacchino’s climactic strings — we see that John is using a wheelchair, hidden in previous scenes through careful blocking. We then watch Lost’s opening scene of John waking up and wiggling his toes again, but this time through a whole new lens. It doesn’t just mean he was unharmed in the crash. It means the crash, or rather the island, actually healed him.
“Walkabout” cements John Locke as the biggest believer in the island’s power. When he’s at the walkabout guide post, he declares that the trip is his destiny, and in a way, it is. It brought him to the island. It’s no coincidence that this is also the episode where John comes face to face with the Smoke Monster, the mystical threat who would go on to become the series’ final villain.
The dynamic between Jack Shephard (a surgeon and supposed protagonist) and John Locke, living proof of the island’s power, would be explored in the Season 2 premiere “Man of Science, Man of Faith.” But in “The Walkabout,” we get shown this faith in a shocking reveal that makes us question the backstories of everyone else on the island, as well as paint a picture-perfect portrait of just what John has faith in. He’s a believer not only in the power of the island, but in destiny, and more importantly, in himself.
John Locke never let anyone tell him what he couldn’t do, and that led him down a road that would test his faith farther than he ever thought possible to a final, grisly end. But in those moments after the crash, when everyone else was panicking, he knew he was exactly where he was meant to be.
