While writing "Tabula Rasa", Damon Lindelof suggested that John Locke was in a wheelchair before going to the island, and while the rest of the writing team initially reacted with shock, they embraced the idea.[3] Lindelof wanted to embrace how "what you think these people are is actually entirely different", particularly since "Tabula Rasa" did not have many developments on Kate's backstory or why she was a fugitive, "the Locke thing was a huge, big, reveal".[4] To enhance the plot twist, all the flashbacks were shot in a way that disguised the presence of a wheelchair. In the scene where Locke is sitting in his bed, the paralysis is alluded by the electromedical nerve stimulation machine on his nightstand.[3] Lindelof also created a title for the episode, "Lord of the Files", a pun on Lord of the Flies and Locke's off-island occupation,[3] but the writers had already settled on "Walkabout".[5]