Special (Lost)

Plot

In 1997, Michael and his partner Susan Lloyd had a son named Walt. When Walt was just a few months old, Susan took a job in Amsterdam and brought the baby with her. Months later, Michael called Susan and learned she was in a relationship with her former boss, Brian Porter. Michael said he would come to Amsterdam to reclaim his son, but after hanging up, he stepped into the street without looking and was struck by a car.

While Michael recovered in the hospital, Susan visited and told him she planned to marry Brian, who wanted to legally adopt Walt. Michael refused. Susan questioned whether his objection came from love or just stubborn pride. By September 2004, Brian, Susan, and Walt were living in Sydney, Australia.

Walt seemed to have a strange power: when he opened a book to a picture of a native bird, a real bird of the same kind flew into a window and died. Soon after, Susan died from an unspecified blood disorder. Brian traveled to New York to inform Michael, claiming Susan had wanted Michael to have custody. Michael saw through this, realizing Brian never truly cared for Walt and had only pursued parental rights to please Susan.

Brian offered Michael plane tickets to Sydney, saying the boy was different and that "things happen when he is around." Furious that Brian would abandon his son, Michael went to Brian's house in Sydney and picked up Walt along with his dog, Vincent. On Day 26, an irritated Michael confronted Walt, who had been learning knife-throwing from John Locke, and asked him to help gather parts for a raft. The next day, Walt ran off with Vincent.

Michael blamed Locke for the boy's behavior, but when he saw Walt wasn't with him, the two men tracked Walt into the jungle. Michael risked his life to save Walt from a polar bear, which helped mend their relationship. He then gave Walt a wooden box containing all the letters he had written to him, which Susan had never delivered.

Development

David Fury wrote the episode, with Greg Yaitanes directing. The flashbacks center on the father-son bond between Michael and Walt. Actor Malcolm David Kelley, who played Walt, had been acting in film and TV from a young age before auditioning for Lost; he learned he got the part a week later. Because Kelley was nearly 12 when cast, co-creator Damon Lindelof recognized that the actor’s impending puberty would create a challenge, and he discussed this with J. J. Abrams during the pilot’s filming.

Lindelof later described casting an actor so close to “blooming” as “dangerous territory.” By mid-season, Lindelof and Carlton Cuse decided to resolve the issue by having Walt kidnapped in the season finale. Lindelof called Walt’s powers “mythological magic,” comparing them to Stephen King-style psychic abilities. Writer Nikki Stafford notes two instances suggesting Walt can summon animals: a bird crashes into a window while he reads a bird book, and a polar bear attacks him after he reads a comic about one. The polar bear was mostly computer-generated, with an animatronic head and puppeteers in bear arms used for close-ups.

Reception

"Special" first aired on January 19, 2005, in the United States, experiencing only a slight decline from the season's earlier high-rated episodes. The premiere earned an estimated 19.69 million American viewers and finished first in its timeslot, with an overall ratings share of 12.6/19 and a share of 7.9/21 among adults aged 18 to 49, placing sixth in that demographic. The episode was well received by critics. Chris Carabott of IGN called Michael's flashback "heart wrenching" and praised Perrineau's "brilliant performance" at expressing the heartbreak Michael is feeling, rating the episode 7.8 out of 10.

Kirthana Ramisetti from Entertainment Weekly called it the best episode since "Walkabout" because of Michael's character development, and said one of her favorite scenes of the season was Michael and Walt bonding over the letters and the drawing of a sunburned penguin. In her 2006 work Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide, Nikki Stafford considered the episode's flashbacks to be "some of the most emotionally painful ones yet" due to Michael's lack of control over his circumstances, and also praised Monaghan's comic timing.

Robert Dougherty, in his 2008 book Lost Episode Guide for Others, classified it as a "must see episode," explaining that it redefined Michael and Walt's relationship, introduced new mysteries, and had a good cliffhanger. After the series' conclusion in 2010, IGN ranked "Special" as the 86th best episode of the series, noting that while Michael was not the most popular character, Perrineau gave a great performance. The Los Angeles Times ranked it 87th best, observing that the episode's few fantastic moments were marred by its terrible special effects.