S4E01 - "The Beginning of the End"

What an episode! I can't wait to get into this, so here goes nothin....

Speed Demon
The show opened with a high-speed police chase, driver uknown. But when we finally saw that it was a Camaro, I was first to shout out that it was Hurley behind the wheel. We first saw that Camaro last season when Hurley and his dad (Cheech) were fixing it.

Stay away from that gold car!
The car that Hurley crashed into was a gold Pontiac (i think).... but regardless, it is the same car that hit Locke when he first met his mother, and the same car that hit Michael and put him into the hospital. It has been around since season 1, and always seems to bring bad luck. Coincidence? I think not.

The Oceanic 6
When Hurley was being arrested, he kept shouting "Don't you know who I am? I'm one of the Oceanic 6!". Are we to assume that only 6 people from Flight 815 came home? We know that Jack, Kate, and Hurley left the island.... so who are the other 3? My list changes by the hour. Currently, I'm going with Jin, Sun, and Claire (and Aaron, but he doesn't count). I've also got another theory that involves Locke getting off the island, but I'll talk about that later.

We can also assume, by this, that the whole world knows of the "Oceanic 6". But if Kate is a known fugitive, then why is she free? Did she take on another castaway's identity? Or is she actually the (secret) Oceanic 7th?

The Return of Officer Mike
Ana Lucia's old partner is the one that was interrogating Hurley at the police station, and when he asked about Ana Lucia, Hurley denied ever meeting her. So, can we assume that they are not allowed to share the full story? Are they pretending that they were the only plane crash survivors? It seems so.

Deep Sea Chuck
While Charlie was in the interrogation room, he had a hallucination of Charlie swimming down and up to the window, and crashing through it. What most people didn't see was the message on Charlie's hand: "They Need You".

"The Man"
Now that most of the Others are dead, we need a new villian..... but since we are both on-island and off-island, why not have a villian for each scenario! By the previews that we've seen for this season (and the infamous "not penny's boat" message), we can assume (for now) that the people on the freighter are going to be the new villians..... on island. As for the flash-forwards, it appears that there is an organization out there that is after the truth. While in the mental hospital, Hurley was approached by a man claiming to work for Oceanic Airlines. When Hurley called him out and asked for a business card, he put on his creepy-face, and asked "are they still alive". Hurley FREAKED OUT!

Christian Shephard?!
While following the beach-team through the jungle, Hurley instantly got separated from the group and found himself right in front of Jacob's shack. And when he crept up to the window to take a peek inside, he saw JACK'S DAD (and Claire's dad, for that matter) sitting in Jacob's chair!

Then, suddenly, someone jumped in front of the window and all we saw is his eye. So, here's my thought: There are two entities on the island (one shown as Jacob, and the other as Jack's dad). Each one of them represents the two halfs of the island-- the white and the black, the good and the evil, etc. The final mobisode that showed Christian Shephard telling Vincent that Jack has work to do. But in last season's finale, Walt told Locke the same exact thing. And I always see Jack and Locke on opposite ends of the spectrum (man of science vs. man of faith). It seems that they are both being guided by the island though...... so does it make sense to assume that there are two driving forces on the island? Does that also explain why, when Locke first saw the monster, he described it as a bright light?

Charlie seen?
While outside at Santa Rosa, another one of the patients pointed out to Hurley that someone was looking at him. When Hurley looked up, he saw that it was Charlie! And while I'm well aware that Hurley is a known hallucinator, how did Hurley's friend see him? Was it not Charlie that the other guy saw? If not, then who was there?

Locked, Cocked, and Not Loaded
"You're done stopping me from getting off this island!" Jack wouldn't let Locke hold him back any more. And with a gun to Locke's face, Jack actually (OMG!) pulled the trigger. Of course, the gun wasn't loaded....whew! But this just goes to show how badly Jack wants to get off the island.

Parachuter
After night time arrived, Jack and Kate heard what they thought was thunder, but was actually a helicopter flying over the island. A man ejected out of the side, and parachuted to the ground. But didn't it seem like the helicopter was flying awfully wobbly? I wonder if the island still has strong electromagnetic properties.

And while I'm well aware that there are some things I haven't covered, I do have to get back to work here.... I'll likely be adding stuff throughout the week. In the meantime, if you have any issues you want me to cover, please leave me a comment, or e-mail me.

-drew.