Special

Season 1, Episode 14, Aired
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Episode Summary

Violence ensues and a mysterious island beast makes a re-appearance when Michael and Locke clash over Walt's upbringing. Flashbacks in this episode center around Michael and Walt's first meeting after 8 years without seeing each other.
8.9
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Fan Episode Reviews (37)

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  • Awesome.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Sarah_LOST, Oct 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    An annoyed Michael confronts Walt, who has been studying knife skills under Locke, and enlists his help in scavenging parts from the wreck to build a raft, but Walt wanders off. Michael and Locke track Walt into the jungle and find that he has been trapped by a polar bear. Michael risks his life to save Walt and they reconcile. Later, Locke and Boone find Claire stumbling out of the jungle. Flashbacks show that when Walt was only a few months old, his mother accepted a job in Amsterdam and took her child with her. She married a co-worker named Brian when Walt was two and refuses to let Michael speak to Walt. Years later, Susan dies and Brian does not want custody of Walt because the boy is "different". I loved every minute of this episode, i love Walt and Michael their storyline is so real and I also loved their back story too - amazing! I also love the way Michael and Locke act about each other. Michael wants to build a raft with his son Walt. Charlie is looking for Claire's diary - I love the way Charlie and Sawyer have a little fight and Charlie walks away with the diary. I also love the scene where it is just Charlie and the diary so funny and cute. Claire is back!moreless

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  • The second weakest episode of the season...

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Jacob316, Feb 19, 2010 Report Abuse
    Violence ensues and a mysterious island beast makes a re-appearance when Michael and Locke clash over Walt's upbringing. Meanwhile, Charlie is tempted to read the missing Claire's diary, and Sayid enlists Shannon to help decipher the French woman's map. Lost looses it a bit during its first season thankfully this only lasts a couple of episodes. This episodes develops the father and son relationship of Michael and Walt. This episode has some great scenes between Locke and Michael, we also learn that Walt is special somehow, this was interesting but the writers never really came back to this throughout the series I doubt that we would get anything new on this storyline during season 6. Oh and the polar bear looked really fake.moreless

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  • You Ain't Gonna Live the American Dream, Sucker!

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Rufam, Dec 28, 2009 Report Abuse
    Michael did not manage to save his dignity and paternity rights from his wife, but very well saves his son from a polar bear. He should know that, on this show, the Best Daddy Ever Award could have been earned much more easily. -

    Micahel, who is not one of the most sympathetic characters on the Island, redeems himself mainly though his flashbacks where it is revealed that he actually WANTED to become a good father for Walt, but the circumstances were far from propitious. The issue is handled very well throughout the episode, and the flashbacks are really touching wheras turning Michael into a really sympathetic character (at least for now). As for the action on the Island, there's nothing special. The attack of the polar bear is pretty good, though.moreless

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  • Special Episode?

    7.5
    "Good"
    By Dante_Edy, Jun 18, 2009 Report Abuse
    It is amazing how Locke interacts with almost all the characters in the island, from helping charlie and boone, to find claire and challenging/helping michael. Definitely he is the character with more impact in the series.

    Michael is not a strong character, so his flashbacks follow the same way, however, comparing with some flashbacks we had saw, this time michael flashback seems very complete for my taste, like he was supposed to die later in the series. As usual, michael was a present father, totally different from what goes on in the island until this episode.

    Other events in the island had little importance, since the writers tried to pass the message that the kid is special - what he imagines can appear in some way in reality.

    I hope that the writers do not spoil the plot with these things without sense.moreless

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  • Not quite as special as it seemed to be

    8.0
    "Great"
    By DavidB226Morris, Mar 01, 2009 Report Abuse
    Since the series began, Michael has been one of the characters with the clearest motivation: he wants to get Walt off the island. He has always seemed overly protective of his son (especially in relation to Locke) but in the episode he finally reaches a breaking point. Part of this had to do with the fact he has only known his son for less than a month, but in this episode we realize the circumstances were actually must worse.

    Walt was a planned child, and Michael did love his birth mother. Unfortunately, she never seemed to care much for him or his interests. She appears kind and sympathetic, but by giving the child her last name, she is marking him as hers, which is made even clear when she takes him off to Amsterdam , ostensibly for her career, but probably because she found another, wealthier man, and didn't have any more use for son's father any more. Because Michael knows that he'll have no chance in a custody arrangement, so he cedes the battle reluctantly (later episodes will reveal he didn't even do that). It makes Susan look even more reprehensible, especially when we later learn she made sure Walt never saw one of the letters or cards he wrote him over the years.

    Michael is desperate to make up for lost time, so he has been over-parenting to a huge extent. In this case, it actually inspires him, because he has the first constructive idea of how to get off the island--- build a raft, using the wreckage from the plane. It is dismissed by Jack and Sayed, but he follows through, and this will be a major theme of the rest of Season 1.

    What Michael doesn't know (and what Brian has realized all too well) is that there as far more to Walt than meets the eye. He has some psychic ability to will certain things into being, as we see with the bird in his flashback. (Are the writers breaking the rules with flashbacks here? Well, lets let it go.) This explains some of the mysterious occurrences--- his willing of a polar bear into being in the Pilot (though later evidence would seem to suggest that the bears were on the island before he got there, the way the rain suddenly stopped in 'Tabula Rasa', his uncanny ability with the dice playing backgammon with Hurley, and in this episode, when Locke trying to teach him to throw a knife, throws it perfectly into a tree. Walt doesn't seem to know this, but Locke seems to have a sense of it, which may explain why he's trying to help Walt, and why he's treating him with far more maturity than his own father seems to be. This is a very intriguing paradox, and will have important implications as the series progresses. However, considering that Walt has ceased to be a factor in the series now, it does seem like it wasn't planned well. (Then again, maybe he'll come back into play in Season 5--- but that's another story) Though most of the focus is on Walt and Michael, and their plans, a couple of major storylines: Sayed is still puzzling over the maps he got through Rousseau, and has now reached the point, where he thinks that they are points on the island, instead of around it. This doesn't come into play until another seemingly unrelated incident-- Charlie has moved Claire's luggage to the caves, and after a hysterical mental struggles, reads the diary. We learns that Claire has been dreaming about the black rock. Charlie, having heard Rousseau's original transmission (but Claire did not) knows that the black rock is a location on the island, and thinks that maybe she is being held there. This is cut back at the episode, when Claire emerges in front of Boone and Locke, looking absolutely terrified. Now that's how you close out an episode.

    There are some other notable incidents in this episodes, particularly involving Vincent, Walt's dog. It is now pretty clear that Vincent seems to be tapped into his master in a way that we haven't noticed. When Vincent is present, Walt is safe, when he leaves--- which is what happens just before Walt encounters the polar bear in this episode. Vincent is still on the island, and Walt won't be. Depending on which fan you ask, the dog is either the protector of certain people, or a harbinger of death. Well, we'll worry about the dog later.

    Apart from Walt, Locke and Michael, we don't really see much of the other characters. Though Boone is till present much of the time Locke is helping Walt, he seems far less of a factor. However, there is no doubt that the experience in 'Hearts and Minds' has fundamentally altered him. This is notable when Shannon asks after him, and he is far colder than she deserves. More important, when asked about the raft and getting off the island, he says 'No thanks.' He is a convert to the cause, and it will end up leading to his end.

    It IS also now clear that Charlie is in love with Claire, and if you freeze-frame the pages in her diary (it's all right, Charlie, you're not the only scum), she's beginning to reciprocate those feelings. Unfortunately, this island isn't going to be a great place for love. Ask almost anyone there.
    Even Jack's role is greatly reduced, and he doesn't seem to be as focused as he usually is. He is never informed about Walt's disappearance, which is probably for the best--- he probably couldn't do much except feel guilty about it.

    'Special' may not be as crucial an episode in the overall arch of the island as most fans might think, but it is a pretty significant improvement over the last two episodes. Part of which is do to the talent of Harold Perrineau, freed from the bars and wheelchairs of Oz to play a character with emotions and human issues. Michael will in many ways play the greatest price, far heavier even of those who die on the island. But that's all in the future. In any case, we're finally starting to move forward after running in place.
    My score:8.1moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • When Michael catches Locke teaching Walt to throw knives, Locke is holding the knife, but when Michael comes in, Walt is holding the knife. Edit
    • When Charlie is talking to Kate about how he misses Claire, between shots his right hand goes from having two fingers touching his temple, to having his chin resting in his hand. Edit
    • The nurse has 4 children. 4 is one of "The Numbers". Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This is the first Michael & Walt-centric episode. It's also the first episode to show flashbacks from two different people's points of view. Edit
    • A song about the polar bear was written and recorded by You All, Everybody (a band formed in tribute to the show). Edit
    • International Airdates: - Denmark: April 8, 2005 on Kanal 5 - Greece: August 21, 2008 at 23.00 on ANT1 Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Sawyer: What are you two selling today? Charlie: Where's Claire's diary? Someone took it from her bag. Sawyer: Oh I get it, something goes missing and right away you figure it's got to be me that took it. Kate: Do you have the diary or not? Sawyer: (pulling the diary out) You mean this one? Charlie: Give it to me. Sawyer: Now, I'm not sure that's the best idea. Maybe missy Claire don't want you reading it. Charlie: I wasn't going to 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. Edit
    • Charlie: (To Sawyer) You hit like a ponce. Edit
    • Walt: Am I being punished? Michael: What, you think working with your old man is punishment? No man. This is us taking control of our destiny. Walt: Feels like punishment. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Lord of the Flies: Walt is much like Simon, both are black boys and possess a "sight" that others don't have. In the book, Simon is in connection with the earth, and Walt might be similar, but we have yet to find out. Edit
    • Walt: (in his comic book) I like the pictures. Walt's comic book appears to be a Spanish-language reprint of an issue of Green Lantern guest-starring the Flash. Translation of the Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends Part I. Edit

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