20 Years of LOST - Pt. 2: John Locke and 17th Century Empiricism (in a cool, fun way)

TWENTY YEARS AGO, the pilot episode of ABC's beloved yet maligned LOST debuted and for-e-ver changed how TV TV'd. In honor of this singular, 121-episode piece of media, we're kicking things off at Lore of the Things by embarking on a 10-part miniseries about the 10 most controversial, infamous, and eternal aspects of LOST. Think: Jack's tattoos, 'purgatory,' the finale.

For part two, we're talking about everyone's problematic fave, John Locke.

You may know him as the person in the artwork of this show, and/or, as easily THE fan favorite LOST character. Locke straddles the line between protagonist and antagonist as the Island's #1 hype man and paraplegic-turned-wilderness-guru with a brutal case of Bad Dad syndrome. Locke was named after a 17th century philosopher, referred to in this episode as OG John Locke, for his theories on free will, blank slates, and personal identity, all of which are key themes in LOST, and all of which we explore in this episode. One part character study, one part philosophy lesson.

Spoiler warning: This episode contains minor spoilers for a show that aired the same year the Motorola Razor debuted. LOST newbies, you are 95% safe here.

Show references/notes:

• NYT: The Men Who Made ABC’s ‘Lost’ Last
• BBC Radio 4: John Locke on Personal Identity, narrated by Gillian Anderson

Lore of the Things is produced, hosted, and blood/sweat/tear'd over by Rebecka Green. Find her on Instagram @rebecka_green and email [e-mail] with compliments and complaints.

Opening and closing music is "Magical Journey" by Geoff Harvey, and podcast artwork is by Levi Åhlén, @oloflevi, featuring Terry O'Quinn's portrayal of John Locke in the pilot episode of LOST.