Further Instructions
Encyclopedia
"Further Instructions" is the third episode of the third season of Lost
. It aired on October 18, 2006, making it the 52nd episode of the series. The episode was written by Carlton Cuse
and Elizabeth Sarnoff
and directed by Stephen Williams
. The character of John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
Nikki and Paulo
make their first appearance in "Further Instructions". An estimated 16.31 million Americans watched the episode on its original broadcast. "Further Instructions" received mixed reviews from critics.
wakes up in the jungle and sees a naked Desmond Hume
(Henry Ian Cusick
) run by, but Locke cannot speak. Mr. Eko
's (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
) stick falls from above nearly hitting him. In the frame of Eko's church, he builds a sweat lodge
and convinces Charlie Pace
(Dominic Monaghan
) to stand guard. Locke takes a hallucinogenic drug and enters the lodge in order to "speak with the Island." There, Boone Carlyle
(Ian Somerhalder
) appears to help him "find [his] way again, so that [he] can bring the family back together". Locke (mutely) apologizes for the day Boone died, and he accepts the apology, however, in a taunting and seemingly sarcastic manner. Locke's hallucination takes him to Sydney
airport. Boone wheels Locke through the airport where he tells him someone is "in serious danger." Locke sees his fellow survivors, and is told by Boone that he must "clean up [his] own mess." Locke finds Eko's stick covered in blood and Boone tells him "they have him, you don't have much time." Upon exiting the sweat lodge he sees a flash of a polar bear
. He recovers his ability to speak and tells Charlie that he is going to save Eko.
Locke and Charlie track Eko, who Locke believes has been captured by a polar bear. They pause at a large pit in the ground where the hatch imploded
. They encounter Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
), who tells them that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were kidnapped by the Others, and that "Henry Gale" is their leader. While continuing back to the camp alone, Hurley finds Desmond naked and lends him an enormous tie dyed t-shirt. Desmond says the electromagnetic anomaly may have been destroyed, and Hurley questions why Desmond was not destroyed. Desmond mentions Locke's speech and his plan to save Jack Shephard
, Kate Austen
, and James "Sawyer" Ford. However, Hurley responds, "What speech?", as Locke has yet to give any such speech. Desmond seems confused, and drops the whole matter.
Locke finds the polar bear's cave and rescues Eko from the polar bear. While Charlie fetches water from a stream, Locke apologizes to an unconscious Eko for his lack of faith. Eko appears to briefly awaken and tells Locke that he must rescue Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Upon arriving at camp, Hurley informs the camp that Jack and the others have been captured. As an explanation, Locke announces to the survivors that he plans to rescue Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, as Desmond indicated to Hurley earlier. Hurley mentions to Charlie a sense of déjà vu
.
in Humboldt County, California
. He considers its members his new family. One day Locke picks up a young hitchhiker, named Eddie Colburn (Justin Chatwin
), who tells him he is leaving home. Eddie joins the commune, but after six weeks, he asks Locke why he is never allowed to know what is going on in a greenhouse (into which he sees an exceptional amount of fertilizer
going). Eddie expresses his discontent with being kept out of the secret and affirms to Locke his desire to be in on "whatever you guys are trying to blow up." Locke laughs and says he will talk to the commune leaders, Mike (Chris Mulkey
) and Jan (Virginia Morris).
Upon entering the greenhouse some time later, in which marijuana is grown, Locke finds Mike and Jan in the midst of a frantic preparation to flee. They blame Locke for bringing Eddie, who they have discovered is an undercover police officer. Locke promises to fix the situation. He takes Eddie hunting and holds Eddie at gunpoint. Eddie says that Locke was chosen because his psych profile said he would be "amenable for coercion." Eddie walks away, stating that Locke will not shoot him because he is "a good man," though Locke insists that he is a hunter, not a farmer.
and supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
; Stephen Williams
served as the director. As the third episode of the season, "Further Instructions" was the first hour to feature the fate of the main cast camped on the beach, as well as the first to begin resolving the Hatch storyline from the season two finale
. Guest star Justin Chatwin
made his first and only appearance in the episode. Former series regular Ian Somerhalder
was credited as a guest actor to play his character Boone Carlyle
in Locke's hallucinations. Other guest stars included Virginia Morris and Chris Mulkey
as the commune leaders Jan and Milke, and Dion Donahue as Kim.
Kiele Sanchez
and Rodrigo Santoro
make their first appearances as Nikki and Paulo
in this episode. Prior to the third season, the producers of the show were often asked what the rest of the plane-crash survivors were doing because the show only focuses on approximately fifteen of the survivors, and the characters of Nikki and Paulo were created in response. Reaction to the characters was generally negative because of their abrupt introduction onto the show. Nikki and Paulo's original introduction onto the show was deleted for time from the final cut of the episode. They were supposed to be accidentally found by Claire Littleton
in Jack's tent having sex in the middle of the episode. They were instead introduced at the end of the episode when Locke makes a speech.
, a Marvel Comics
character who turned large and green upon being exposed to Gamma ray
s.
".
Chris Carabott of IGN
wrote that "Further Instructions" was "an entertaining hour of television. The episode certainly offers its fair share of excitement, but as with any typical Lost episode we are presented with more questions than answers". Carabott also called it an improvement over the preceding episode, "The Glass Ballerina
." Andrew Dignan of Slant Magazine
expressed relief in having Locke "back to the way we fondly remember him--as a wide-eyed, knife-wielding, face-smeared madman", but disliked his flashbacks, calling them a "largely under-developed affair". Dignan was also pleased to have Hurley back at the camp and referred to him as "someone [who] will keep the show grounded", and concluded his review by unhappily noting the sudden emergence of Nikki and Paulo is "a colossal misjudgment on the producers' part" and "a dangerous precedent that bears keeping an eye on." Writing for Entertainment Weekly
, Christine Fenno believed the episode had "false starts" but stilled "enjoyed the trippy places the writers took us." While disliking the initial scenes with Charlie and Locke, Fenno thought the episode "found its groove" after Locke entered into the trance, and called the final scene between Eddie and Locke the episode's "strongest moment."
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
. It aired on October 18, 2006, making it the 52nd episode of the series. The episode was written by Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
and Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, Deadwood and Lost.-Career:...
and directed by Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (director)
Stephen Williams is a Canadian film and television director. Williams has directed several modern day television programs including work as a regular director on the ABC drama series Lost, where he was also a co-executive producer...
. The character of John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
make their first appearance in "Further Instructions". An estimated 16.31 million Americans watched the episode on its original broadcast. "Further Instructions" received mixed reviews from critics.
On the Island
John LockeJohn Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
wakes up in the jungle and sees a naked Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) run by, but Locke cannot speak. Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
's (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
) stick falls from above nearly hitting him. In the frame of Eko's church, he builds a sweat lodge
Sweat lodge
The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures...
and convinces Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
(Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) to stand guard. Locke takes a hallucinogenic drug and enters the lodge in order to "speak with the Island." There, Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle is a fictional character played by Ian Somerhalder on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific. Boone is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepbrother of fellow crash survivor Shannon Rutherford...
(Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
) appears to help him "find [his] way again, so that [he] can bring the family back together". Locke (mutely) apologizes for the day Boone died, and he accepts the apology, however, in a taunting and seemingly sarcastic manner. Locke's hallucination takes him to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
airport. Boone wheels Locke through the airport where he tells him someone is "in serious danger." Locke sees his fellow survivors, and is told by Boone that he must "clean up [his] own mess." Locke finds Eko's stick covered in blood and Boone tells him "they have him, you don't have much time." Upon exiting the sweat lodge he sees a flash of a polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
. He recovers his ability to speak and tells Charlie that he is going to save Eko.
Locke and Charlie track Eko, who Locke believes has been captured by a polar bear. They pause at a large pit in the ground where the hatch imploded
Building implosion
In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings...
. They encounter Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
), who tells them that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were kidnapped by the Others, and that "Henry Gale" is their leader. While continuing back to the camp alone, Hurley finds Desmond naked and lends him an enormous tie dyed t-shirt. Desmond says the electromagnetic anomaly may have been destroyed, and Hurley questions why Desmond was not destroyed. Desmond mentions Locke's speech and his plan to save Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
, Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
, and James "Sawyer" Ford. However, Hurley responds, "What speech?", as Locke has yet to give any such speech. Desmond seems confused, and drops the whole matter.
Locke finds the polar bear's cave and rescues Eko from the polar bear. While Charlie fetches water from a stream, Locke apologizes to an unconscious Eko for his lack of faith. Eko appears to briefly awaken and tells Locke that he must rescue Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Upon arriving at camp, Hurley informs the camp that Jack and the others have been captured. As an explanation, Locke announces to the survivors that he plans to rescue Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, as Desmond indicated to Hurley earlier. Hurley mentions to Charlie a sense of déjà vu
Déjà vu
Déjà vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined...
.
Flashbacks
Locke is a member of a communeCommune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
in Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
. He considers its members his new family. One day Locke picks up a young hitchhiker, named Eddie Colburn (Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin is a Canadian film actor. He played the son of Tom Cruise's character in the Steven Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds, a leading role in the 2007 mystery/thriller The Invisible, and Goku in Dragonball Evolution...
), who tells him he is leaving home. Eddie joins the commune, but after six weeks, he asks Locke why he is never allowed to know what is going on in a greenhouse (into which he sees an exceptional amount of fertilizer
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
going). Eddie expresses his discontent with being kept out of the secret and affirms to Locke his desire to be in on "whatever you guys are trying to blow up." Locke laughs and says he will talk to the commune leaders, Mike (Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey is an American actor who most recently appeared in Against the Wall, Cloverfield, the NBC TV movie Knight Rider, and as a corporate executive in season 7 of 24...
) and Jan (Virginia Morris).
Upon entering the greenhouse some time later, in which marijuana is grown, Locke finds Mike and Jan in the midst of a frantic preparation to flee. They blame Locke for bringing Eddie, who they have discovered is an undercover police officer. Locke promises to fix the situation. He takes Eddie hunting and holds Eddie at gunpoint. Eddie says that Locke was chosen because his psych profile said he would be "amenable for coercion." Eddie walks away, stating that Locke will not shoot him because he is "a good man," though Locke insists that he is a hunter, not a farmer.
Production
"Further Instructions" was written by showrunner Carlton CuseCarlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
and supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, Deadwood and Lost.-Career:...
; Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (director)
Stephen Williams is a Canadian film and television director. Williams has directed several modern day television programs including work as a regular director on the ABC drama series Lost, where he was also a co-executive producer...
served as the director. As the third episode of the season, "Further Instructions" was the first hour to feature the fate of the main cast camped on the beach, as well as the first to begin resolving the Hatch storyline from the season two finale
Live Together, Die Alone
"Live Together, Die Alone" is the second season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd and 24th episodes of the second season. It is also the 48th and 49th episodes overall. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and directed by Jack Bender. It first...
. Guest star Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin
Justin Chatwin is a Canadian film actor. He played the son of Tom Cruise's character in the Steven Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds, a leading role in the 2007 mystery/thriller The Invisible, and Goku in Dragonball Evolution...
made his first and only appearance in the episode. Former series regular Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
was credited as a guest actor to play his character Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle
Boone Carlyle is a fictional character played by Ian Somerhalder on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific. Boone is introduced in the pilot episode as the stepbrother of fellow crash survivor Shannon Rutherford...
in Locke's hallucinations. Other guest stars included Virginia Morris and Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey is an American actor who most recently appeared in Against the Wall, Cloverfield, the NBC TV movie Knight Rider, and as a corporate executive in season 7 of 24...
as the commune leaders Jan and Milke, and Dion Donahue as Kim.
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
and Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
make their first appearances as Nikki and Paulo
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
in this episode. Prior to the third season, the producers of the show were often asked what the rest of the plane-crash survivors were doing because the show only focuses on approximately fifteen of the survivors, and the characters of Nikki and Paulo were created in response. Reaction to the characters was generally negative because of their abrupt introduction onto the show. Nikki and Paulo's original introduction onto the show was deleted for time from the final cut of the episode. They were supposed to be accidentally found by Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
in Jack's tent having sex in the middle of the episode. They were instead introduced at the end of the episode when Locke makes a speech.
Cultural references
Hurley worries that the Hatch implosion turned Desmond into the HulkHulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, a Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character who turned large and green upon being exposed to Gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
s.
Reception
On its original broadcast on October 18, 2006, an estimated 16.31 million American viewers watched "Further Instructions" live. In the 18-49 demographic, Lost received a 6.5/16 ratings share, helping ABC place first for the night out of the other networks. "Further Instructions" was originally going to air October 11, 2006 as the second episode of the third season, but was swapped with "The Glass BallerinaThe Glass Ballerina
"The Glass Ballerina" is the second episode of the third season of the TV series Lost, and the 51st episode overall. The episode was written by Jeff Pinkner and Drew Goddard and directed by Paul Edwards, and premiered on October 11, 2006 on ABC...
".
Chris Carabott of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
wrote that "Further Instructions" was "an entertaining hour of television. The episode certainly offers its fair share of excitement, but as with any typical Lost episode we are presented with more questions than answers". Carabott also called it an improvement over the preceding episode, "The Glass Ballerina
The Glass Ballerina
"The Glass Ballerina" is the second episode of the third season of the TV series Lost, and the 51st episode overall. The episode was written by Jeff Pinkner and Drew Goddard and directed by Paul Edwards, and premiered on October 11, 2006 on ABC...
." Andrew Dignan of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
expressed relief in having Locke "back to the way we fondly remember him--as a wide-eyed, knife-wielding, face-smeared madman", but disliked his flashbacks, calling them a "largely under-developed affair". Dignan was also pleased to have Hurley back at the camp and referred to him as "someone [who] will keep the show grounded", and concluded his review by unhappily noting the sudden emergence of Nikki and Paulo is "a colossal misjudgment on the producers' part" and "a dangerous precedent that bears keeping an eye on." Writing for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Christine Fenno believed the episode had "false starts" but stilled "enjoyed the trippy places the writers took us." While disliking the initial scenes with Charlie and Locke, Fenno thought the episode "found its groove" after Locke entered into the trance, and called the final scene between Eddie and Locke the episode's "strongest moment."