During his six seasons, Lost was a series densely written with many self-referential moments used both as a wink for viewers and to link disparate moments together. Some reasons have been used more than once for specific characters to highlight and strengthen their progress along their arcs of character. “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” has become a crucial line for John Locke, but in season 1, Jack Shephard said it too. Not only did fans missed this connection at the time (because, in all honesty, Boone was dying), but that indicated how Locke’s motto was not words of affirmation.

When the co-creators of the JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof series developed the series for ABC, they did it in a much shorter time than the productions. The character of John Locke changed radically, going from a young CEO to the sad bag that has become Guru, played by Terry O’quinn. However, something that has never changed was Locke’s fate to become a sheet for the protagonist of the series, Jack Shephard. Instead of being openly hostile, as suggested in his first description of the character, Locke turned into the man targeted by the malicious presence on the island to destroy, well, everything. In the very first episode centered on John Locke, Lost Taquin this twist, and as season 1 progressed, he lost his certainty similar to a yoda on what he was supposed to do. Locke’s emblematic motto was part of this prefiguration. The use by Jack of the expression has strengthened its negative connotation.

The line “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” is an important motif in the show

In Lost Season 1, John Locke and Jack Shephard say it with contempt of reason

In the first episode of LostLocke explained the conflict that awaited us to the survivors of the island. At the start of the season, his role on the island was more than the hunter of the shipwrecked. He understood that the island was special and tried to help others also understand it. In his first episode, “Walkabout”, Locke repeats the line “Don’t tell me what I can’t do”, to his boss, Kate Austen, and a tourist guide from Walkabout in the emblematic scene revealing his paralysis. As sympathetic as Locke was in these moments, the line was never supposed to be an affirmation of its ability to overcome difficulties.

The next time Locke uses his now iconic motto, it is during the episode “Deus ex Machina”. Again, he denies his abilities because the island seems to resume his healing gift. Its insistence to explore the wreckage of a crushed Beechcraft plane leads to the death of Boone Carlyle. These fans shocked and saddened. Caught in the emotion of this episode and his successor, “do not harm”, they probably missed how the irony of Locke was. Whether it is to finish a survival experience in the desert while paralyzed or climbing on the plane with a injured leg, these are the things that Locke cannot do. It is always said in anger and denial, as Jack proves.

Related

How internet and corporate policy accidentally made a 20 -year show a major hit even before it was released

Even before the end of the shooting of the lost pilot’s episode, fans flocked on the internet to talk about the show, helping the series become incredible success.

The decision to center Lost Stories on the POV of a single character were a choice made on a whim during the pilot. After the second episode of Locke, the third series of Jack Shephard’s flashbacks took place as he desperately tried to save the life of Boone. When he decided that he had to amputate Boone’s leg, Sun -Hwa Kwon – serving essentially as a nurse – told him that he could not save their injured friend. This is the only time in the series that Jack quotes Locke’s motto. However, just like when Locke says, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do,” Jack denies his capacities and the reality of the situation.

Why “don’t tell me what I can’t do” became John Locke’s motto in Lost

Rather than an affirmation, it is an expression of challenge and denial

The main reason why season 1 is undoubtedly LostThe best lies in the way he tackles the mystery as a narrative device. Before the show became mired in the island tradition, magic and time travel, the characters themselves were the biggest unanswered questions. “Walkabout” is the perfect example of how it worked. Locke is established as well -informed survival which is also in tune with the island at the metaphysical level. Walt tells his father: “Mr. Locke is a warrior, “but his episode revealed that he was a lonely man in a dead end. His paralysis was not even the saddest thing about him.

However, just like some shipwrecked, viewers put their faith in Locke as if he were putting it on the island. His fall started after Ethan Kidnapped Claire (who also said a variation in the line in this episode). He and Boone found the emblematic Lost Hatch, which they kept secret from the rest of the shipwrecked. Obsessed with this mystery of the island, Locke and Boone forget their duty towards others. They lied to the people they had grown up from the crash, and Locke lied to Jack on what happened to Boone.

Related

Lost secretly spoiled 1 of the biggest mysteries of season 1 (but most fans were not smart enough to make it)

In season 1, lost writers hid a cheeky clue to the true nature of a character on the name, but fans did not yet announce the show with so many details.

Once the others have entered history, the desperate research of Locke of answers on the island and its “destiny” sent it on the wrong path. Ben Linus manipulated it, which started Locke so that the smoke monster does the same. While Locke was right to be brought to the island for a reason, his penchant for denial, as established by his motto, allowed others to make him go. Locke was at his best when he was trying to take care of his nautical comrades. However, he never did it only because he thought it was in the best interest of the island and not people around him. It is a fantastic dramatic irony that Jack Shephard’s problem was just the opposite.

Jack Shephard never said the line when he made the wrong choices

This strengthens how the use of Locke of expression is not a positive thing

After the death of Jack’s father, the smoke monster imitated him on the island. The adoption of this form gave the impression that the man in black wanted to corrupt Jack, not Locke. Whether he is doing or not, Jack would never have fallen for this idiot like Locke. He simply lacked faith in the island and the feeling of a wider destiny. Jack had doubts about himself, especially if he “had what it was necessary” to make a difficult decision. However, rather than a search for meaning, Jack adopted an implacable pursuit to solve people and their problems.

As much as Locke wanted to know more about the island, Jack wanted to escape it with his surviving colleagues. These conflicting desires are what led the “Jack against Locke” quarrel which defined most Lost series. Locke generally said: “Don’t tell me what I can’t do” in the face of an obstacle to his perceived destiny. Jack said it against the first person he had known on the island that he could not save. Jack has never made it a leader, but being a doctor was at the heart of his feeling of identity.

Related

Lost & The X-Files are incredible mysteries but I know exactly why only 1 still holds

The X-Files and Lost were shows motivated by mystery and mythology, but one of these series really holds all these years after their beginnings.

Another tragic part of LostThe story is that Jack and Locke had to work together on the island. Put aside time travel paradoxes and all this. If “the man of science” and “man of faith” have joined forces, they could have tempered the worst pulses of the other. Locke could have helped Jack to achieve a large part of what happened to the group was beyond his control or anyone. Jack would have helped Locke to question certain things that allowed him to fall into the smoked monster trap. Whenever they adopted the attitude “don’t tell me what I can’t do”, they aggravate things for themselves and the rest of the group.

The complete LOST series is available on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on Hulu, Disney + and Netflix.

Lost

Release date

2004-2010-00-00

Showrunner

Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse

Directors

Jack Bender, Stephen Williams

Writers

Jeffrey Lieber, JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof

• 
•