Lost/Special

Special
Season 1, Episode 14
Airdate	January 19, 2005
Production Number	113
Written by	David Fury
Directed by	Greg Yaitanes
← 1x13 Hearts and Minds	1x15 → Homecoming
Lost — Season One

Special is the fourteenth episode of the first season of Lost, and is the fourteenth episode overall.

Michael becomes concerned when his son, Walt, begins to develop a special bond with Locke. Michael orders Locke to stay away from his son. Determined that the island is no place to raise a boy, Michael suggests to Jack and Sayid that they build a raft, but his suggestion is scoffed at.

Starring: Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Maggie Grace (Shannon), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Michael), Ian Somerhalder (Boone).

Guest Starring: Tamara Taylor (Susan Lloyd), David Starzyk (Brian Porter).

Co-Starring: Monica Garcia (Nurse), Natasha Goss (Dagne).

Plot Overview

The Island

• Michael looks for his son, Walt, after telling him to stay close to the caves. He eventually finds him out in the jungle with Locke and Boone, with Locke teaching Walt how to throw a knife. Angered, Michael grabs the knife out of Walt's hand and tells him to take Vincent and go back to camp. With Walt gone, Michael confronts Locke about "playing" his son against him, while waving Locke's knife in front of his face. Boone tackles Michael and grabs the knife away, and Michael punches him. Locke pulls Michael off of Boone and tells him he was the one waving the knife around and Boone was just trying to make sure you didn't hurt someone. He tells him the reason Walt has formed an attachment to him is that he treats him like an adult. Michael tells him to stay away from both him and his son, and leaves.
• Sayid and Shannon show Jack the maps Rousseau made. He tells Jack the equations were coordinates and assumed the Frenchwoman was trying to determine a location on the island but the notations were fragmented, but by laying the pages down over one another a triangle is revealed. It wasn't showing the location of the island, but a location on the island. Sayid believes it may be the location of the transmitter and its power source. Michael enters during their discussion and tells the group that they need to get off this island and suggests they build a raft. Sayid expresses skepticism at Michael's idea, but Michael tells him he and his son are leaving and that he'll appreciate any help in building it.
• Charlie is busy trying to find Claire's bags. Kate brought them back and Charlie finds them, but discovers someone's taken Claire's diary. She and Charlie go to Sawyer's place on the beach and ask him where the diary is. He expresses disappointment that when something goes missing they figure he's the one who took it, but then pulls out Claire's diary. After trying to talk Sawyer into giving it back, Charlie punches Sawyer's knife wound and gets the book back, but not before Sawyer manages to slug Charlie in the face. Kate helps Charlie bring Claire's bags back to the caves. Charlie tries to fight the temptation to read Claire's diary, but gives in. He tells Jack and Sayid that he found something in Claire's diary. One of her entries talks about a dream she had about the black rock she can't get away from, that she tries to leave but it won't let her". Jack dismisses it as just dreams, but Sayid tells them the Frenchwoman mentioned something about her team returning from the Black Rock. He surmises that the triangle on her map may back the location of the Black Rock. Charlie suggests that it may be where Claire was taken, but Jack tells him there's no sense going off into the jungle in the middle of the night.
• Michael grabs Walt and gets him to help sort the wreckage so he can begin building the raft. Walt tells him he's going to get some water and leaves. He goes back to the cave and approaches Locke. Locke tells him his father doesn't want them spending time together, that he's his father, he cares about him, and he needs to show him some respect. Michael enters and yells at Locke to stay away from his son, whispering in his ear that, if he catches him with his son again, he'll kill him. Walt tells Michael that he's a jerk, that he only showed up in his life after his mom died, that he's not his father, and that Mr. Locke is his friend. Later, Hurley tells Michael that his son left the caves with his dog. Michael finds Locke in the jungle and demands to know where Walt is. He tells Michael that Walt's not here and that they'll find him. Out in the jungle, they find Walt trapped by a polar bear in a stand of trees. Locke gives Michael his knife and Michael drops it down to Walt and tells him to use it if the polar bear gets too close. Using some vines, Locke helps Michael down to Walt and, after Michael ties the vines around Walt, Locke pulls him back up. The polar bear runs off after being hit by the knife and Michael climbs back up to Locke and Walt. Walt tells Michael he's sorry and that Vincent ran off again. Locke tells him that Vincent found his way back once and will again. That night, Michael gives Walt a box full of letters he sent to him over the last 8 years.
• That night, Locke and Boone go out and try to find Vincent with Locke's dog whistle. In front of them, Claire emerges from the darkness.

The Flashback

• Flashback: Michael

Michael and Susan Lloyd are in a baby furniture store looking at cribs. Michael tells her that a guy he knows may be able to throw him some construction work and that he can take a break from his art while she finishes law school. He tells her he'd like to name their boy "Walt", after his dad. She thinks over the name, Walter Lloyd, and Michael jokingly remarks that the reason she won't marry him is because she wants her child to have her last name.

After Walt is born, Susan discusses with Michael how she wants to take Walt to Amsterdam with her. She has a job offer there to do international law and they've apparently talked about taking some time apart. She tells Michael she still loves him, but he hasn't worked in months and she can provide Walt everything he needs. Michael adamantly refuses, telling her there are laws against this sort of thing. However, Susan tells him they're not married, she is Walt's mother and is steadily employed, and the court would side with her.

About two years later, we see Michael on a payphone with Susan. He hears someone in the background and Susan tells him she's been seeing someone, Brian Porter, the guy who hired her. She tells Michael it's over between them, but Michael tells her he's coming to Amsterdam to get his son back. He hangs up on her and, as he begins to cross the street, is hit by a car.

Two months after his accident, Michael is still hospitalized with a broken leg and another year of physical therapy. Susan comes to visit him at the hospital and tells him she's covering all his medical expenses. She tells Michael that she and Brian are getting married and moving to Italy at the end of the month, and he wants to adopt Walt. She asks him to consider what's best for Walt, that he can keep holding on but is it really for Walt or is it for himself?

Years later, Brian Porter shows up at Michael's place in New York City. He tells Michael that Susan died the day before and that Walt is back home with his nanny. Brian tells him he didn't want to be a father, but it's what Susan wanted. He gives Michael a round-trip ticket Sydney and a one-way ticket from Sydney to NYC, and gives him money for travel expenses. Michael figures out that Susan never wanted him to have custody of Walt, but that it's all Brian's idea. Brian tells him he can't be Walt's father... Walt's "different" somehow.

In Australia, Michael meets Walt and tells him he's bringing him home. He tells Walt that Brian wants Walt to stay with him, but it's not his choice. He tells Walt it's his choice, since he's his legal guardian, and that Brian will still call, write, and come to see him whenever he can and that he'll still have his dog. Walt tells him Vincent is Brian's dog, but Michael tells him Brian said he could have it.

• Flashback: Walt

In Australia, Brian Porter and Susan Lloyd are discussing a court case Susan is working on. She tells him she's feeling like she has the flu. As the two talk, they ignore Walt who is talking about how he's studying the birds of Australia for class and he picked the bronze-cuckoo. He asks Brian to look at the picture of the bird, but Brian ignores him as he's focused on Susan. Just then a bronze-cuckoo smashes into their window and breaks its neck. Walt goes back to his homework as Brian looks at him strangely.

Notes

Mysteries

• What's at the location on Rousseau's maps?
• Why is there a second polar bear on the island?

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Sayid believes he and Shannon have figured out Rousseau's maps and notations.
• Michael begins construction of a raft to get him and his son off the island.

Characters

• Michael's animosity towards Locke is lessened after he helps him save Walt.
• After being saved from a polar bear, Michael and Walt's relationship grows.

Trivia

The Show

• Vincent: Vincent isn't Walt's dog, but rather he belongs to Walt's adoptive father, Brian Porter.
• Gold Car: Michael is hit by a gold Pontiac in his flashback. A gold Pontiac nearly hit Locke in the parking lot of his place of work in "Deux Ex Machina".

Behind the Scenes

• Location, Location, Location: Michael's New York apartment was filmed at the Soullenz Gallery in Honolulu.
• Ratings: On its original airing this episode scored 19.6 million viewers for ABC.

Allusions and References

• Comic Books: The comic book Walt found is a Spanish-language reprint of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends, Part 1.

Quotes

• Hurley: He seems to hate it, doesn't he?
  Jack: What?
  Hurley: Being a dad.
  Jack: No, it's just... a lot of hard work.
  Hurley: Nah, he hates it.
• Michael: You gave my boy a knife?
  Locke: You should've seen what...
  Michael: Don't tell me what I should've seen, man. If we were back home, I'd call the police on your ass! Encouraging a kid to sneak away from his parent? Giving him a knife like this?
  Locke: Walt knows his own mind.
  Michael: Hey, don't talk to me about my son like you know him! [brandishes the knife in Locke's face]
  Locke: You really need to calm down.
  Michael: You keep playing my son against me, and I'm gonna have a... [is tackled by Boone]
  Boone: The man said "calm down." [Michael punches him]
  Michael: What are you, his attack dog?!
  Locke: Easy, easy, easy, easy. You're the one who was waving the knife around. He was just trying to make sure you didn't hurt someone. Michael, I know it's been difficult to bond with your son. You know why he's formed an attachment to me? Because I treat him like an adult and you still treat him like a boy.
  Michael: He's ten years old.
  Locke: He's been through more than most people in their entire lifetimes. You haven't spent enough time with him to see it, but... he's different.
  Michael: What did you say?
  Locke: And we're not back home, Michael. As long as we're here, I think Walt should be allowed to realize his potential.
• Michael: Yeah. We build a raft.
  Sayid: A raft?
  Michael: Look, don't say it like that, man. We need a little optimism here, okay? We gotta do something, 'cause let's be honest, no one's coming. Those seats we took off the fuselage, they float. And we got an axe. And a whole bunch of trees, bamboo. We can do this.
  Sayid: The chances of surviving the rough waters, the odds of finding a shipping lane...
  Shannon: And I get really seasick.
• Sawyer: Maybe Missy Claire don't want you reading it.
  Charlie: I wasn't gonna read it.
  Sawyer: You're not curious what she wrote about you?
  Charlie: You bastard. Did you read it?
  Sawyer: Good literature's kinda scarce around here.
  Charlie: He read it!
  Kate: Just give it to us.
  Sawyer: "Dear Diary, I'm getting really freaked out by that has-been pop star. I think he's stalking me."
  Kate: Sawyer!
  Sawyer: "Diary, the little limey runt just won't let up." [Charlie punches his knife wound, Sawyer punches him in the face]
  Charlie: You hit like a ponce.
  Sawyer: Oh, yeah?

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