The Beginning of the End (Lost)

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"The Beginning of the End (Lost)"

"The Beginning of the End" is the fourth season premiere and seventieth episode overall of the American Broadcasting Company's serial drama television series Lost.[1] It was aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada[2] on January 31, 2008,[3] Co-creator/executive producer/head writer/show runner Damon Lindelof and executive producer/writer/show runner Carlton Cuse wrote the episode in late July 2007[4] and the episode would later be directed by executive producer Jack Bender.[5] Filming took place on Oahu, Hawaii, USA from August 17[6] to early September 2007.[7] With this episode, Jeff Pinkner no longer serves as an executive producer and staff writer.[8] The episode was watched by 16 million Americans, bringing in the best ratings for Lost in 17 episodes.[9]

The narrative takes place 93 days after the crash, on December 23, 2004. The stranded survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 make contact with Naomi Dorrit's (played by Marsha Thomason) associates on a nearby freighter, but the survivors divide when they hear that they are not who they claim to be. Flashforwards show the post-island lives of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) and Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox). They are both hiding secrets from the public about their time on the island. In flashforwards, Hurley has visions of his deceased friend Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), while he grieves over his death on the island. Main character Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) makes his first appearance in "The Beginning of the End".[5]

Plot

Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) returns from the the underwater 1980s scientific research station, the Looking Glass, bearing Charlie's final message that the freighter offshore is not Penny Widmore's boat. Desmond and the group at the beach – Hurley, James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell), Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) and Jin Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) – set off with their guns to warn the rest of the survivors. Hurley gets separated from his friends and finds Jacob's cabin. He looks in the window and sees Christian Shephard in a rocking chair, then someone steps right up to the glass. Hurley runs away, but moments later finds himself standing in front of the same cabin. He squeezes his eyes shut; when he opens them, the building is gone and John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) is standing over him.

After being knifed in the back, Naomi Dorrit (Marsha Thomason) sneaks off into the jungle. Jack and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) find two potential trails that lead to where Naomi has gone and split up. Jack takes Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan) and their captive Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) and sends the rest of the survivors back to the beach from the radio tower to wait for those on the freighter. Kate is attacked by Naomi, who demands to know why an attempt was made on her life. Kate explains that this was done by Locke, who has broken off from the group. Naomi uses the satellite phone, which was stolen from Jack by Kate, to talk to George Minkowski (Fisher Stevens) on the freighter. She tells him that her imminent death was an accident and to give her love to her sister before she dies.

At night, the survivors reunite at Flight 815's cockpit, which they had not visited since their second day on the island. Jack knocks Locke to the ground and takes his gun. Jack pulls the trigger, but finds that the gun is not loaded. Locke tells the castaways that they are in great danger and suggests they go to the Barracks for shelter. Hurley informs that they should go with Locke because of Charlie's dying message. Hurley, Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) and her baby Aaron, Rousseau, Ben, Alex (Tania Raymonde), Karl (Blake Bashoff), Sawyer, Vincent the dog and four other survivors join Locke and leave. Soon after, Jack and Kate see a helicopter and meet Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), a man who parachutes down.

Sometime after their escape from the island, Hurley, Jack and Kate[10] are famous as half of the "Oceanic Six". They are keeping quiet about what happened on the island.

A red Camaro races through the streets of Los Angeles, pursued by numerous squad cars as Jack pours himself a drink and watches the chase on television. When the police stop the car, Hurley steps out, then tries to flee. As he is caught, he begins shouting that he is one of the "Oceanic Six."

Later, the former partner of Ana-Lucia Cortez interrogates Hurley. The officer shows Hurley the tape from a convenience store in which Hurley panics for no apparent reason, initiating the car chase. He demands to know who Hurley saw in the store, but receives no reply. He tells Hurley that Ana-Lucia was on the flight too, and asks whether Hurley met her. Hurley answers no. The officer exits and a window suddenly displays an underwater scene and a diver with "They need you," written on his hand. The window shatters, water floods in and Hurley yells for help. The room returns to normal as soon as the officer enters. When the officer threatens to send Hurley to a mental institution, Hurley eagerly accepts.

In the institution, Hurley is playing Connect Four when he receives a visitor, a man named Matthew Abbadon (Lance Reddick), who claims to be an attorney for Oceanic Airlines. Abbadon offers to move him to a better institution, in which Hurley does not believe him since he questions his mental stability, and is unable to provide a business card. As Hurley gets up to leave, he asks, "Are they still alive?" Hurley becomes upset and causes a scene and Abbadon leaves.

One day when Hurley is painting outside, another patient tells him there is a man staring at him. Hurley looks up and sees Charlie. The rock star confirms that he knew he was going to die but didn’t tell Hurley because he knew Hurley would have tried to stop him from going to the Looking Glass station. Charlie then pleads with Hurley, saying, "They need you." Hurley closes his eyes and counts to five; when he opens his eyes, Charlie has vanished.

Hurley is playing basketball when Jack comes to visit, mentioning that he's thinking of growing a beard, suggesting it takes place before the flashforward in the Season 3 finale. Hurley accuses Jack of ulterior motives: checking to make certain he doesn't reveal their secrets. Hurley apologizes to Jack for siding with Locke on the island, and suggests that they need to go back. Jack emphatically says never, but Hurley replies, "Never say never, dude."

Production

While casting characters, fake names, occupations and scenes were temporarily assigned to limit the leak of spoilers.[11] Davies was cast as Daniel because he is one of the writer-producers' favorite character actors, and they think that his "transformative quality [and] the tremendous intelligence that seems to emanate from him… seemed perfect for [the role]", which was originally planned to be a recurring role.[12] Lance Reddick was told that he was auditioning for the part of "Arthur Stevens", a "ruthless corporate recruiter", instead of Matthew Abbadon. The writer-producers were originally interested in having Reddick play Mr. Eko during the second season, however, he was busy starring on HBO's The Wire.[13]

The title is a reference to a line in the previous episode when Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) warns Jack that contacting the freighter "is the beginning of the end".[14] When the episode was broadcast, Christian appeared in Jacob's cabin; however, the scene was shot with another Hurley inside. Garcia suspects that this was to limit a leak of spoilers. Additionally, when Garcia was filming his interrogation scene in an aquarium, he was unaware that Charlie had broken the glass.[15] Charlie swimming and breaking the glass was filmed weeks after the rest of the episode had been shot, alongside production of episode 408 in late November 2007. The scene was shot at the Looking Glass set that was previously used for "Greatest Hits" and "Through the Looking Glass".[16]

Broadcast

Due to production of the fourth season being put on hold because of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike,[17] the show runners wanted to hold the eight episodes that had been completed until they are able to make more of the season[18] however ABC decided that "The Beginning of the End" would be aired at the end of January 2008, regardless of when the strike was to end.[19] This is the first Lost episode to air on Thursday at 9:00 pm;[20] previous episodes had aired on Wednesdays.[21] Like the previous Lost season premieres, "The Beginning of the End" was scheduled for an outdoor premiere at Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki, Honolulu,[22] where movies are regularly shown on a 30-foot screen free to the public;[23] however, it was cancelled due to the writers' strike.[24] The original 62-minute television broadcast of the episode was immediately preceded by a clip-show titled "Lost: Past, Present & Future".[25]

Reception

"The Beginning of the End" was watched by approximately 16.14 million American viewers, bringing in the best ratings for Lost in seventeen episodes and making Lost the eighth highest program of the week.[26] USA Today wrote that "returning with a heart-stopping, perfectly pitched episode… Lost is an oasis in a strike-parched TV desert."[27] The Los Angeles Times called "The Beginning of the End" an "emotion-churning chemical dump right in the old brain stem – horror, hysteria, regret, adrenaline and what… will happen next?"[28] The New York Post gave the episode 4 stars.[29] The Chicago Tribune "blissfully enjoyed every minute" and noted that "there aren't any faults".[30] The Houston Chronicle said that "The Beginning of the End" is "among the most mind-blowingly, toe-curlingly, mouth-gapingly exciting episodes to date."[31] The San Francisco Chronicle "loved" the episode,[32] saying that it and "Confirmed Dead" "are roller coasters of fast action and revelation [that are] good to see."[33] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that Lost "realize[s] its full potential as a labyrinth of intrigue that can enthrall without unduly frustrating its audience."[34]

E! also loved "The Beginning of the End", calling it "so well written, produced, acted and directed it felt like a movie" and commending Garcia's performance as "better than ever".[35] The first four episodes of the fourth season have been seen by TV Guide, who described them as "worth the wait", "emotionally satisfying" and stated that they "provide gaspworthy plot twists that should whip fans into a theory-spinning tizzy."[36] IGN gave the episode 9.1/10, stating that it was "a great start to what promises to be an exciting… season four. The momentum and pacing is on par with last season's finale".[37] UGO gave the episode an "A+", calling it "a crushingly emotional, action packed introduction… [which proves] that… Lost's groundbreaking protean form still has plenty of blinding ways to dazzle and entertain in a way that is nonetheless unique unto itself."[38] BuddyTV described it as "the most anticipated season premiere of the year"[39] and wrote that "the episode was pretty much a masterpiece".[40]

References

  1. ^ Perez, Mario, (September 6, 2007) "Emilie de Ravin in 'The Beginning of the End'", ABC Medianet. Retrieved on December 21, 2007.
  2. ^ CTV, (January 2008) "Lost (HD)". Retrieved on January 20, 2008.
  3. ^ ABC Medianet, (January 18, 2008) "Primetime Program Schedule Grid". Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
  4. ^ Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (July 26, 2007) "Lost Season 4 Panel", Comic Con International. Retrieved on August 18, 2007.
  5. ^ a b ABC Medianet, (January 14, 2008) "Feeling that Their Rescue is Imminent, the Survivors Ponder Charlie's Final Message that the People Claiming to Liberate Them Aren't Who They Seem to Be". Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
  6. ^ Garcia, Jorge, (August 14, 2007) "Working Friday", Dispatches from the Island. Retrieved on August 18, 2007.
  7. ^ Perez, Mario, (September 7, 2007) "Terry O'Quinn, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Naveen Andrews, Henry Ian Cusick and Sam Anderson in 'The Beginning of the End'", ABC Medianet. Retrieved on December 21, 2007.
  8. ^ Lost: Missing Pieces Credits", ABC. Retrieved on November 12, 2007.
  9. ^ Kissell, Rick, (February 1, 2008) "Auds Find Lost on Thursday", Variety. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
  10. ^ Lindelof, Damon, (February 4, 2008) "Damon Lindelof Answers a Burning Question", Lost-TV. Retrieved on February 8, 2008.
  11. ^ Littleton, Cynthia, (October 12, 2007) "Lost: The Weight of the Wait", Variety. Retrieved on October 13, 2007.
  12. ^ Jensen, Jeff, (August 29, 2007) "Lost Producers on Their Five New Actors", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
  13. ^ Jensen, Jeff, (August 29, 2007) "Lost: Five Fresh Faces", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
  14. ^ Lindelof, Damon (writer) & Cuse, Carlton (writer) & Bender, Jack (director). "Through the Looking Glass". Lost, ABC. Episode 23, season 3. Aired on May 23, 2007.
  15. ^ Dos Santos, Kristin, (February 1, 2008) "Who Was in the Chair? What's Next? Lost's Jorge Garcia Spills Some Secrets", E!. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
  16. ^ Higgins, Jean, (February 1, 2008) "Official Lost Video Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  17. ^ Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (November 5, 2007) "Lost Writers: "Like Putting Down a Harry Potter Book in the Middle"", Variety. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  18. ^ Goldman, Eric, (November 7, 2007) "Writers Strike: Should Lost Air This Season?", IGN. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  19. ^ Grossman, Ben, (November 7, 2007) "Strike Coverage: ABC to Air Partial Season of Lost", Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  20. ^ ABC Medianet, (December 14, 2007) "ABC Unveils Midseason Primetime Schedule", ABC Medianet. Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
  21. ^ Dos Santos, Kristin, (December 14, 2007) "Lost: It's Baaack!", E!. Retrieved on December 14, 2007.
  22. ^ Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", (October 29, 2007) "Lost Public Premiere Planned, Time Slot Still Up in the Air", BuddyTV. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  23. ^ "Waikiki Beach Movie Schedule and Events", Sunset on the Beach. Retrieved on October 29, 2007.
  24. ^ Kunz, Caryn, (January 10, 2008) "Lost Premiere in Waikiki", The Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
  25. ^ ABC Medianet, (January 14, 2008) "A Look Over the Past Three Seasons will Attempt to Shed Some Light on Where the Survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 are and if Rescue Truly is at Hand". Retrieved on January 20, 2008.
  26. ^ ABC Medianet, (February 5, 2008) "Weekly Program Rankings". Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  27. ^ Bianco, Robert, (January 30, 2008) "Lost Rescues a TV Season That's Adrift", USA Today. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  28. ^ McNamara, Mary, (January 31, 2008) "Lost in the Moment", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  29. ^ Buckman, Adam, (January 31, 2008) "Island Fever: Thank God, At Least Lost is Back", New York Post. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  30. ^ Ryan, Maureen, (January 29, 2008) "Lost's Fab Start to Season 4, and a Chat with Co-Creator Damon Lindelof", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on January 30, 2008.
  31. ^ Odell, Therese, (January 30, 2008) "With Tonight's Premiere, the End of Lost is in Sight", Houston Chronicle. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  32. ^ Goodman, Tim, (January 31, 2008) "The Spoiled Bastard: Lost. Plus: Are you Watching In Treatment?", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  33. ^ Goodman, Tim, (January 30, 2008) "Want to Get Lost? There's Still Time as Season Starts", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  34. ^ Owen, Rob, (February 2, 2008) "In New Episodes, Lost Finds Itself Again", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  35. ^ Dos Santos, Kristin & Godwin, Jennifer, (January 31, 2008) "Lost Redux: Oh My God, I Love This Show So Much", E!. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
  36. ^ TV Guide, (January 22, 2008) "Back to the Future". Retrieved on January 22, 2008.
  37. ^ Carabott, Chris, (January 30, 2008) "Lost: 'The Beginning of the End' Advance Review", IGN. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.
  38. ^ Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", Lost Season Four Premiere: "Beginning of the End" Reviewed", UGO. Retrieved on January 22, 2008.
  39. ^ Williams, Don, (January 31, 2008) "Lost: Episode 4.1 'The Beginning of the End' Live Thoughts", BuddyTV. Retrieved on January 31, 2008.
  40. ^ Dahl, Oscar, (February 1, 2008) "Lost: The Oceanic 6", BuddyTV. Retrieved on February 1, 2008.

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