Walkabout begins with John Locke reflecting on his first day on the island, just after the crash. The incessant barking of Walt's dog Vincent shatters his musings. The dog senses something in the fuselage of the downed airliner, and that "something" begins to growl ominously. When Jack and Sawyer carefully investigate, they discover a group of wild boars feasting on the dead in the fuselage. After the boars stampede their way out of the survivor's camp, Jack decides that it's finally time to do something about the bodies of their unfortunate fellow passengers.

Jack wants to burn the bodies right in the fuselage, which is a decision that unsettles everybody, especially Sayid. But since they have no practical means of burying the dead (and since the bodies will only be dug up by the boars and assorted other wildlife) they go ahead with Jack's plan, waiting until dark to burn the fuselage in the hopes that a potential rescuer will see the flames. Another problem that rears its ugly head is the fact that the food from the airplane is starting to run out. Locke steps up for the first time with a solution: he offers to lead a hunting party consisting of himself, Kate and Michael into the island's interior to catch some boar meat. They find a boar, only to have it charge them and gore Michael in the leg. Kate takes the injured Michael back to camp while Locke continues the hunt alone…until he comes face to face with the mysterious and deadly monster that stalks the island.

Walkabout is gripping enough in the present day on the island, but it's the flashback scenes dealing with John Locke's miserable and lonely past that truly make this episode so absorbing. Terry O'Quinn received an Emmy nomination for his work as Locke, and Walkabout is a superb example of his acting skills. In the flashback scenes, O'Quinn does a marvelous job at expressing Locke's impotent rage and sadness at being consistently marginalized by everyone in his life. And this makes his post crash change into the hunter/warrior whom the survivors depend on all the more amazing. The title "walkabout" refers to a wildlife tour given in Australia that is based on the aboriginal tradition of a person taking a lone, spiritual quest. And in many ways, John Locke is still on that quest to prove himself. And I challenge anybody to watch the final five minutes of Walkabout, with its stunning revelation that's so poignantly and magnificently handled, without at least getting misty eyed.