'''Season 4, Episode 1:'''

!The Beginning of the End
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lostthebeginningoftheend_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"They need you, Hugo."'']]
->Written by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse.
->Directed by Creator/JackBender.

->''"Charlie went down to that place so we could all be rescued. And whatever he did down there, it worked. But then something must have happened. He must have heard something before he... I don't know why, but he changed his mind. Because the last thing he did was to warn us that the people on that boat are not who they said they were. So I'm not listening to you. I'm listening to my friend. I'm listening to Charlie."''
-->-- '''Hugo "Hurley" Reyes'''

On the Island, the survivors take a moment to celebrate their imminent rescue. However, the celebrations are cut short when Desmond returns to the beach with news of Charlie's death and final warning. As they make their way through the jungle to warn Jack, Hurley stumbles across Jacob's Cabin, which mysteriously appears and disappears in front of him. He is found by Locke, who brings him to the rest of the survivors.

At the radio tower, Minkowski calls Jack and asks to speak to Naomi, who Jack is alarmed to see has run off into the jungle. Naomi ambushes Kate and uses the phone to make a final call to Minkowski, covering for the survivors, before she dies. The two groups come together, and Hurley tells Claire about Charlie's death. Locke announces plans to hole up at the Barracks, and a number of survivors join him, including Hurley, Claire, Sawyer, Ben, Danielle, Alex and Karl. A man parachutes onto the Island, and is found by Jack and Kate.

In flashforwards, Hurley is arrested after getting into a high speed car chase, and identifies himself as "one of the Oceanic Six." He is put back into Santa Rosa. A man named Matthew Abaddon, claiming to work for Oceanic Airlines, visits him, and questions him over whether "they" are still alive. Hurley is approached by Charlie, who tells him that the people he left behind on the Island need him. Jack visits Hurley to make sure he hasn't told the truth about what happened on the Island. Hurley claims that the Island wants them to come back, but Jack insists that they're never going back.
----
!Tropes in this episode include:
* AffectionatePickpocket: Kate steals Naomi's satellite phone from Jack when she hugs him.
* BaitAndSwitch: The episode opens on a shot of a pile of fruit in front of a bright blue skyline, implying the scene is taking place on the Island. Then a car crashes through it, and it's revealed the scene is a flashforward taking place in Los Angeles.
* {{Bathos}}: Some of the tension of the emotional scene of the survivors splitting up between Jack and Locke's camps is relieved by a classic witty remark from Ben.
-->'''Ben:''' Jack, with your permission I'd like to go with John.
* BreakingTheFellowship: The survivors are divided into two factions, one led by Jack looking to make contact with the people on the freighter in order to be rescued, and the other led by Locke, intending to hole up at the Barracks and prepare for war.
* CallBack: Jack and Kate find the cockpit from the plane, and reminisce about visiting it with Charlie in "[[{{Recap/LostS01E01PilotPart1}} Pilot, Part 1]]".
* CallForward: Jack jokes about growing a beard while visiting Hurley at Santa Rosa, referencing the BeardOfSorrow he has in the chronologically later flashforward in "[[{{Recap/LostS03E22And23ThroughTheLookingGlass}} Through The Looking Glass]]". He also tells Hurley they're never going back to the Island, in stark contrast to how he told Kate they had to go back.
* CassandraTruth: Kate tries to explain to Jack that she thinks Naomi left a false trail when they are tracking her, but Jack dismisses her on the basis that she wouldn't think of doing this while she's bleeding out. Kate is ultimately proven right when she follows the real trail and gets attacked by Naomi.
* CovertPervert: Claire is shocked when Rose jokes that she'd better treat Charlie "[[DoubleEntendre real good]]" when he gets back from the Looking Glass.
* DeadPersonConversation: Hurley has a talk with Charlie's ghost, who tells him that the people he left behind on the Island [[{{RefusalOfTheCall}} need his help.]] Hurley is not biting at first, but he later stresses to Jack that the Island wants them to go back.
* DonutMessWithACop: "Big Mike" leaves Hurley in the interrogation room to get a donut.
* FruitCart: The episode opens with a stand of tropical fruit that Hurley then drives through while getting chased by the cops.
* HazyFeelTurn: Hurley, Claire and Sawyer leave Jack's group for Locke's.
* AHouseDivided: The survivors are split into two camps, between Jack waiting for the freighter to rescue them and Locke believing that they're coming to kill them so they need to hide somewhere.
* InternalReveal: Hurley tells Bernard that he won the lottery, and unlike Charlie, he believes him.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The episode title references the fact that this was the first episode released after an end date for the show was announced.
* MetaphoricallyTrue: Naomi tells Minkowski that she hit a tree branch when she parachuted on to the Island when she asks what happened to her. [[{{Recap/LostS03E18DOC}} While this is true]], it's not the reason she's dying, and she doesn't tell him about Locke throwing a knife in her back.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Hurley develops the ability to talk to dead people in the flashforwards, which he uses to have a conversation with Charlie.
* NotQuiteDead: Naomi turns out to have survived Locke's knife in the back, though she dies of her injuries before the end of the episode.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: The police officer who interviews Hurley after his arrest is Ana Lucia's old partner. He lampshades the coincidence of her having been on Hurley's flight.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The normally happy-go-lucky Hurley is very quiet and angry for most of the episode, showing how devastated he is by Charlie's death. Sawyer is very concerned by this.
* RefugeInAudacity: While the survivors are splitting up, Ben asks Jack's permission to go with Locke, and Jack grants it, realizing that keeping him as a prisoner is more trouble than it's worth.
* SuddenlyShouting: Desmond frantically tries to explain that the people on the freighter aren't who they claim to be, while Hurley asks where Charlie is. Nobody hears Hurley in the commotion until he abruptly shouts "WHERE'S CHARLIE!?"
* ThreatBackfire: The cop interrogating Hurley threatens to have him thrown in the nut house when he freaks out after seeing a vision of Charlie. Hurley is delighted by this suggestion, and even hugs the very confused detective.
* UndyingLoyalty: Hurley and Claire ultimately decide their loyalty to Charlie is worth more than their loyalty to Jack, and join Locke's group to honor his final warning. Hurley later regrets this decision, and apologises to Jack for not staying with him.
* WhamLine: When he's being arrested, Hurley identifies himself as "one of the Oceanic Six," meaning that apart from him, Jack, and Kate, only three other people are getting off the island.
* YoureInsane: Let’s see. [[Recap/LostS03E13TheManFromTallahassee Locke blows up the sub that would’ve taken Jack and Juliet off the island]] [[Recap/LostS04E01TheBeginningOfTheEnd and then kills Naomi]] who for all we know, was genuine in wanting to rescue the 815 survivors. Of course Jack is gonna think he’s lost it.
* YouWouldntShootMe: When Jack takes Locke's gun, Locke confidently predicts that Jack wouldn't shoot him. He is proven wrong when Jack pulls the trigger, though the gun turns out not to be loaded.
----