3.03 Further Instructions

From Lostpedia

1. Locke's eye, jungle, naked Desmond, blood, he can't speak, Jesus stick.
2. Locke is back to camp, Claire tells Charlie to find out what's going on, Locke takes part of his shelter and goes to the church, Charlie follows, Locke's mute, asks Charlie for help, needs to speak to the island.
3. John Locke, truck, picks up a hitchhiker, headed to Eureka, Eddie, cutting timber, mom dead, dad drunk, pulled over, tail light out, guns and groceries, registration, Eddie says Locke is his uncle, the cop lets them go.
4. Sweat lodge, wacky paste, Charlie stands guard.
5. Locke has a vision, Boone, John mouths that he's sorry, Boone says it's okay, he was a sacrifice that the island demanded, that he'll speak when he has something worth saying, that he's there to help John find his way, to bring the family back together, to go with him, but Locke has lost the use of his legs, in a wheelchair again, Airport, someone's in Airport is in serious danger, he's the only one that can save them; Charlie, Claire and Aaron, "Not them, they'll be fine. For a while." Sun, Jin arguing, Sayid, "I think Sayid's got it." Hurley at check-in counter, putting the numbers in the computer, "Not Hurley." Desmond, pilot uniform, flight attendants, "Forget it. He's helping himself." Sawyer and Kate, Jack going through metal detector, being wanded by Ben, wearing "Henry Gale" name-tag, "There's nothing you can do for them, not yet. First you have to clean up your own mess." Escalator, Boone, "Come up here, John." Pool of blood, Jesus stick, Boone covered in blood, "Clean it up, John. They've got him. You don't have much time." Locke sees a polar bear. From Lostpedia
6. "I'm going to save Mr. Eko's life." Locke
7. Locke and Charlie in the jungle, Eko's cross, dragged by polar bear.
8. "Bad things happen to people who hang around with me." Locke
9. John and Eddie, commune, sweat lodge, figure what to do with your life, farmer or a hunter, Eddie asks John which one he is.
10. Mike and Jan, supper, they say John is a special guy. Eddie is wearing a Geronimo Jackson shirt, John says grace.
11. "Yeah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the food and the friends. And thanks for the rain today so that Adam will stop grumbling about the drought. And for me, thank you for helping me stop being so angry. And for helping me find a real family, because they're a hell of a lot better than the one I used to have. So, let's eat. Amen." Locke
12. Charlie and Locke find hatch imploded, boar, active kill by polar bear, Hurley. From Lostpedia
13. Hurley's back, tells John and Charlie about Kate, Jack and Sawyer, Henry being their leader, that they're not supposed to go back. Locke says go back to beach and tell everyone.
14. "They're like the Einsteins of the bear community." Charlie on polar bears.
15. Eddie asks why John doesn't talk about his dad, asks about green house, fertilizer, been there for 6 weeks, wants in on what they're trying to blow up. Locke says he'll talk to Mike and Jan.
16. "You don't get to tell me what I can't do." Charlie wants to help save Eko, but Locke says no, he wants to go into cave alone.
17. "I'm going in there because I'm supposed to go in there." Locke
18. Hurley and naked Desmond, says he woke up in the jungle like that.
19. Locke in the cave, he finds a toy tonka truck.
20. John goes to talk to Mike and Jan, cleaning out, bag, bank records, greenhouse, say that John messed up, they have a pot farm, Eddie's a cop, fresh out of the Academy, gathering evidence, John says he can fix it, that it's not too late.
21. Locke enters a cave where there are skeletons with Dharma jumpsuits, The Pearl, Locke scares the bear away and saves Eko, who is unconscious. From Lostpedia
22. Desmond tells Hurley about failsafe key, detonated electromagnetic anomaly, hatch imploded, Hurley says Desmond didn't implode, the whole island vibrated, purple sky.
23. Desmond says not to worry, Locke's going after Hurley's friends, he said so in his speech.
24. Locke tells Charlie that he saw Boone, told him he had to clean up his mess.
25. Locke tells Eddie he talked to Mike and Jan, he asks if he knew it would be him, did they choose him, Eddie says yes, Locke didn't load the other gun, psyche profile said he wouldn't be amenable for coercion, not a murderer, good man, farmer, but Locke says he was a hunter. He holds the gun up to Eddie, but doesn't shoot him, puts it down. From Lostpedia
26. Locke says sorry to Eko, says he should've let him push the button.
27. "I'm sorry. Sorry I ever doubted you. Sorry I gave up on my faith in the island. I messed up. Now our people are captured--if I'd just listened to you, if I'd just let you keep pushing the button. I could have gone with them, protected them. I could have saved them." Locke "You can still protect them. You can still save them. You will find them. After all, you are a hunter, John." Eko
28. They're back to camp with Eko, Hurley says no Jack, Locke gives speech, Hurley and Desmond, deja vu.

Questions:

1. Why did Locke have so many guns?
2. When does this flashback fall in the timeline of John Locke's story?
3. Who were the skeletons in the cave? Why do they have jumpsuits from The Pearl on?
4. Where did the toy truck come from?
5. Why didn't Desmond implode? Why did the hatch blow his clothes off?

Favorites:

1. "Well, amusing as the mute game invariably is, you are aware, John, that I detest you, aren't you? You do remember repeatedly punching me in the face and accusing me of using heroin when I was not." Charlie
2. "What, did you rob a bank?" Eddie
3. "What's that? You're not taking drugs are you, John? I only ask because of the strict zero tolerance policy you've enacted, and I wouldn't want you to have to start punching yourself in the face." Charlie
4. "Yeah, I know, I get it. You're going to go in your little magic hut and I'm going to stand out here in case you devolve into a monkey." Charlie
5. "You know, when I used to get high, I'd watch nature programs on the Beeb. Polar bears are meant to be quite clever. Very clever. They're like the Einsteins of the bear community." Charlie
6. "Hairspray? Now, I hate to be the one to point this out to you..." Charlie
7. "Bear? Is that you?" Hurley
8. "So, like, the hatch blew off your underwear?" Hurley "Fine, you want to discuss this in great detail right now?" Desmond
9. "You're not going to, like, turn into the Hulk, or something?" Hurley

Notes:

1. The opening shot of this episode is very similar to the opening scene of the series, in The Pilot, Part 1 where there is a close-up of Jack's eye and a shot from above of Jack lying on the jungle floor.
2. In the episode ?, Mr. Eko said to Locke, "We wait for further instructions."
3. There is an on-going theory that this episode is actually a flash forward, started by, I believe, Ralph of The Dharmalars. Although, I like this idea, and think it would make this episode somewhat redeemable because it sucks ass, but unfortunately, I don't think that is true. But if it is, in fact, true, that commune is very Dharma-like.
4. It's a little strange, Locke carrying so many guns. It's a bit out of the norm of the usual John Locke flashbacks that we're used to.
5. First episode where we're introduced to Nikki and Paulo.