Official Discussion: 1x14 Special

[Hollywood Heidi]

1x14 Special

Original Air Date: January 19, 2005
Centric: Michael & Walt centric
Directed by: Greg Yaitanes
Written by: David Fury
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. (tv.com)
Trailer:

 

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Discuss the episode! Below are some discussion points to get you started.  Feel free to simply copy and paste and insert your thoughts or write out your thoughts however you like.  Constructive comments make for better and more interesting conversations so feel free to elaborate and explain your thoughts, conclusions, and opinions.  Repeat Viewers, answer these as if watching for the first time or what your original answers would have been when you first watched:

What did you think of the episode?

What expectations or theories did you have that either ended up right or wrong?

Who was your favorite character in this episode and why?  Least favorite?

What scenes or situations did you like best?  Least?

What were some of your favorite quotes?

How do you rate this episode compared to the rest?


Repeat viewers
Be mindful of the first-time viewers and give fair warning of spoiler comments by putting spoiler tags (directions below) or at the very least keep them at the bottom of your post with a big texted SPOILER before it.

[spoiler]spoiler text[/spoiler]
What do you think of the episode now that you've seen the whole series?

Did you find anything new you didn't catch the previous time(s) watching?

[Hollywood Heidi]

3 stars!  Great ep but not as good as several of the others.

I remember the huge controversy when this first aired about Locke handing Walt a knife and teaching him to throw it without the consent of Michael.  Some argued that sure, if they were in civilization, it would be totally wrong and Michael could probably have Locke arrested but they're in the wild and learning to defend yourself, especially with some monster and polar bears lurking about, it really a necessity there.

Wow, Boone is some crazed disciple of Locke's now.  I can't believe the way he attached Michael like some guard dog.  On the other hand, I love the way Boone totally shut down Shannon when she tried to manipulate him so at least that's one good thing that has come out of this crazy ass stunt Locke pulled on Boone last ep.

I absolutely love the Charlie/diary scenes!  Lol, the way he kept opening and closing it and putting it aside and later, when he's reading it while twirling a lock of his hair with this goofy grin.  So sweet and adorable!  My favorite moment in this ep:



How about that flashback with Walt where he gets mad when his parents won't pay attention to him and then the bird he's looking at in the book crashes into their window and breaks their neck?  Really creepy!  There's several mentions of Walt being special.  Even the ep title is "Special."  Did he make that happen?  If so, did he conjure the polar bear after angrily looking at the pic of the polar bear as the comic book burned in the fire?  The first time we saw the polar bear in the pilot ep, I think Walt was looking at that page of the comic with the pic of the polar bear.    Remember how he really wanted Vincent back and Michael said he'd go look for Vincent as soon as it stops raining and just like that, the downpour comes to a dead stop.  Did Walt's desire to have his dog back make that happen so that Michael would do as he said and start looking?  So if that's all true, how far does this go?  Was it his fault his mom randomly developed a rare blood disease that killed her in a week's time?  That would be really dark.  However, if he's really conjuring these things or making them happen, I don't think that Walt is aware of it.  He doesn't show any realization or like he's made a connection.

Speaking of Susan, Michael's ex/Walt's mom, I did NOT like her.  She was manipulative and constantly preached to Michael about what was best for Walt but then she goes and turns around and tells Bryan that she'll only marry him if he adopts Walt.  It's so obvious that Bryan did not want to have anything to do with Walt and instead of Susan acting in Walt's best interest and finding a man who would love her son as well, she did the selfish thing yet again and used marriage as a manipulation to get Bryan to adopt Walt.

So, what is the Black Rock?  Danielle mentioned it to Sayid and now Claire has written in her diary that she dreamt of the Black Rock again.  Did Claire even know about this Black Rock?  No, now that I think of it, she can't have.  Sayid got back to the camp AFTER Claire had already been taken so what the heck?  How is she dreaming of something she's never heard of or supposedly seen and why would she refer to whatever it is in the exact same words of 'Black Rock'?

As terrifying as the whole polar bear incident was, it was really important to repairing the hostility Michael felt toward Locke.  Michael did have some reasons to feel the way he did but I think that his jealousy at the bond between Walt and Locke was throwing fuel on the fire and making him irrational about the whole thing.

Another surprise ending!  Claire's back!  I was totally not expecting her to wander out on her own.  I was expecting that once they figured out the map, they'd form an organized search.  The scene where she returns was so dark.  I remember that after this ep, we were all trying to figure out if Claire was still pregnant or not.  You couldn't see her belly area in the scene.  I also remember there wasn't a new ep for a couple weeks so we were all tortuously waiting to find out what happened and if she'd already had her baby or not!


Favorite quotes/moments:

Boone:  Shannon, you've been a functioning bulimic since junior high.  I thought you'd be excited about dropping a size or two.

Charlie:  I barely knew her--barely know her--Claire.  She's been missing over a week and every day she's gone, it feels like bits of me are crumbing or something.

Both the Charlie/Claire's diary scenes.

[DarkSideCookie]

4 stars from me! There were greater episodes before, but I liked the story of Michael and Walt, plus there were some really great scenes in it.

Germany changed the title into "Eisbär" ("Polar Bear"). That's a very bad change, as it says nothing important about the episode. The original title fits to Michael's and Walt's backstory, but polar bear just describes a danger moment in the episode. -.-

Yes, I think looking at their situation it's not a bad idea to teach a boy defending himself with a knife, above all because Locke knows about monsters on the island. But I also can understand Michael, plus I think he wants to somehow catch up on the father role, and that of course means to protect his son against all dangerous and bad. But in the end he hands out the knife to Walt himself, realizing that their situation is different from a normal parenting. I liked how Locke and Michael looked at each other after they have saved Walt's life. It was like a wordless sorry from Michael and a wordless It's okay. I can understand you. from Locke.

I totally agree as for Boone! He went out like Locke's dog, but the Shannon backtalk was great. Yah, see how bitchy this girl is and finally say what you think, Boone. Sorry, but I really hate her because of the last episode...

The Charlie diary scene was awesome!! And I caught exactly the same line to love the most, Heidi! So sweet! And Charlie was playing with his hair while reading, just like a teenie in love! <3
But I've a question! Do you know who Claire meant with "I hate him"?? Was one line in her diary either.
I btw loved the scene, in which Sawyer pretended to read some lines out of Claire's diary! So funny!

Wow, I didn't realized the polar bear was coming up right after Walt looked at the Comic page! But so true! That's really cool! And I also didn't remember the rain was stopping in the find-my-dog scene. But I'm pretty sure, that Walt isn't aware of being "special". And I thought the same about his mother. It's really heavy, but I think that she maybe died because of him. The whole the boy is special thing reminded me a bit of Harry Potter lol.

I didn't think that heavy about Walt's mother, but I also didn't like her pretty much. I just thought, that she was very cowardly to not tell Michael about a break-up earlier. I just felt so terrible sad for Michael, that he didn't get any chance to see his own son raising up. -.- Oh, but I hated her for not giving Michael's letters to Walt. D: It was a very emotional moment, when he gave them to Walt in the end of the episode. And very beautiful music in the background btw.

Wow, Michael was btw looking so different in the first flashback scene without his beard and beanie hat on his head. So much younger, well, actually just different.
Oh and the baby Walt was so lovely sweet! I wanted to cuddle this little pooper lol. xD

Yah, the black rock thing seems indeed mysterious and I'm looking forward to find out more about it. Could also the hatchway on the ground have something to do with it? Leading to it?

Claire!! I was totally surprised too! And did expect a big search too. Actually I didn't think about her still having the baby in her belly or not that moment, but now where you mentioned... Good thing, that I don't have to wait several weeks to find out, as it's friday again and will watch the next two episodes very soon! But I guess, that she isn't pregnant anymore, but doesn't have the baby, as the kidnappers does.

[Hollywood Heidi]

I think the "I HATE HIM" is referring to Thomas (her ex-boyfriend, father of the baby). I hate him too, Claire!

Gah, I really didn't like Susan. She kept preaching to Michael about what was best for Walt and then turns around and basically blackmails Bryan into adopting him if he wants to marry her when it's obvious he has no interest in Walt. How the heck is that best for Walt? She had the upper hand in getting custody but tried to make it sound like she was giving him a choice. He didn't have a fight against her. Susan seemed to be more about her career rather than her son.