S1: Walkabout

"Don't tell me what I can't do!"

After keeping to himself for 3 days, Locke comes upon his set of knives and it couldn't come at a better time because the Losties are out of food.  What will they eat?  Oh, there are wild boar on the island.  Sweet!  Locke is on the case.

It was great seeing Locke take charge, but still battle his demons.  It makes sense why he has been laying low for the past couple of episodes - he went from being in a wheelchair to being able to walk again.  I could only image how someone wraps their brain around that.  He somehow comes to grips with it, goes on the hunt and comes back successful.

We see that Locke is the first person to come face to face with the Smoke Monster, but when asked if he did lies about it to Michael.  Also, Christian Shepard (aka the Smoke Monster) makes his first appearance to Jack.  Of course, we don't find out that it's the Smoke Monster until Season 6, but it seems clear that the Smoke Monster has chosen who he's going to manipulate - Jack and Locke - which makes sense because they are the man of science and the man of faith, which becomes clearer later on in the season.

It was really great how the writers hinted at Locke's "condition" the entire episode to finally drop the bomb on  us in the scene where Locke argues with the walkabout guide and then it quickly takes us back to the beach where Locke wiggles his toes for the first time in a long time and immediately helps when called upon by Jack.  A subtle yet powerful episode that definitely lays the ground work for many more things to come without letting you know that it was laying the ground work.