In the Beginning

Type	MISSION
In the Beginning
Appears in	SA
For	Carl Johnson
Location	Los Santos
Rewards
Rewards	None
Missions
Unlocks	Big Smoke
Technical Information
Time of day	In-game time

Not to be confused with In The Beginning..., another introduction mission from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

“

Grove Street - Home. At least it was before I fucked everything up.

”

— Carl Johnson

"In the Beginning" is the introductory cutscene of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which introduces the main protagonist and antagonists of the game.

Cutscene

“

After five years on the east coast, it was time to go home.

”

— Carl Johnson at Francis International Airport

The game starts with Carl Johnson loading his suitcase onto the baggage carousel at Francis International Airport in Liberty City, saying it is time to go back home after living in Liberty City for five years. As Carl retrieves his suitcase at the Los Santos International Airport arrivals lounge, he receives a phone call from his estranged brother Sweet Johnson, who tells him that their mother has died. Carl catches a taxi and heads home to Grove Street.

As Carl nears Grove Street, his Taxi is pulled over by a police car with three members of C.R.A.S.H. - Frank Tenpenny, Eddie Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez. Carl exits the taxi with his hands on his head and is confronted by the three Los Santos Police Department police officers. Tenpenny confiscates Carl's money, which he claims to be drug money. After that Tenpenny bundles Carl into the police car while Pulaski shoos off the taxi, with Carl's suitcase still in it.

Tenpenny threatens Carl to frame him for the murder of LSPD officer Ralph Pendelbury (which was actually committed by Hernandez when he was forced to do so by Tenpenny and Pulaski). Tenpenny tells Carl that he will be watching him. The officers then throw Carl out of the car in Jefferson, a territory of Ballas. The game then instructs the player to get on the BMX parked nearby and make their way back to Grove Street.

Tutorial Objectives

No actual mission takes place after the cutscene, but the game instructs the player to:

1. Get on the BMX bicycle.
2. Follow the "CJ" icon on the map and go to Johnson House in Grove Street.

Reaching Grove Street

The mission ends when the cutscene ends. The game instructs the player to reach Grove Street, but it is not part of the mission. Once the cutscene ends, CJ will be in an alleyway in Jefferson with a BMX parked nearby. Either get on the BMX as instructed by the game or take any other vehicle and get back to the Johnson House (denoted by the "CJ" icon on the radar) in Grove Street.

The game will instruct the player on how to ride the BMX. The controls are same for other land vehicles. The easiest route to reach Grove Street is by following the railway line.

Once CJ reaches Grove Street, walk into the mission marker in front of the Johnson House to start the first mission, Big Smoke.

Transcript

Transcript

Text reads Francis International Airport, Liberty City, 1992. CJ: After five years on the East Coast, it was time to go home. Text reads "Los Santos International Airport". CJ picks up his suitcase and leaves the airport. Phone rings. CJ: 'Sup? Sweet: Carl, it's Sweet. CJ: Whassup Sweet, what do you want? Sweet: It's Momma... She's dead, bro. CJ leaves the airport and enters a Taxi. The taxi is pulled over by an LSPD car. Tenpenny: Passenger. Show us your hands. CJ walks towards the police car. Tenpenny: Stop. Get down on your knees. Now down on your stomach. There you go. CJ is handcuffed and searched by Hernandez. Tenpenny: I'll take that, Hernandez. CJ: Hey, that's my paper man. That's money. Tenpenny: This is drug money. CJ: My money, man... CJ is stood onto his feet. Pulaski: Hey, don't worry about it. I'll fill it out later. Tenpenny: Welcome home, Carl. Glad to be back? You haven't forgotten about us, have you boy? CJ: Hell no, Officer Tenpenny. I was just wondering what took y'all so long. Tenpenny: Get in the car. CJ is taken to the police car. CJ: Ease up, man. Damn. Tenpenny: Watch your head. CJ hits his head on the car roof. Pulaski: (Laughter) Tenpenny: Oh! My bad. Pulaski: Get outta here, you greaseball bastard! The taxi drives away. Pulaski: Stupid Mexican... *stares at Hernandez* Oh, hey, sorry. CJ: My bag. Hey, man, my bag! The car drives away. The screen blacks out and then reappears in East Los Santos. Tenpenny: How have you been Carl? How's your wonderful family? CJ: I'm here to bury my Moms. You know that. Tenpenny: Yeah, I guess I do. So what else you got shakin' Carl? CJ: Nothing. I live in Liberty City now. I'm clean. Legit. Tenpenny: No, you ain't never been clean, Carl. The car stops at the train track as a Freight crosses. Pulaski: Well, what have we got here? Tenpenny: This is a weapon, Officer Pulaski, that was used to gun down a police officer not ten minutes ago. Officer Pendelbury, A fine man, I might add. You work fast, ni**a. CJ: You know I just got off the plane. Pulaski: Then it's a good thing we found you and retrieved the murder weapon. CJ: That ain't my gun. Tenpenny: Don't bullshit me, Carl. Pulaski: Yeah, don't bullshit him, Carl. CJ: What the fuck you want from me this time? Tenpenny: When we want you, we'll find you. In the meantime, try not to gun down any more officers of the law. (Laughs) The car drives into an alley. CJ: You can't leave me here - its BALLAS country. Tenpenny: I thought you said you were innocent, Carl? That you don't bang? Pulaski: This is car 58... WHAT?! CJ is thrown out of the car. Tenpenny: See you around like a doughnut, Carl... (laughs) Pulaski: Officer Pendelbury's down? We'll be right over. CJ: Ah shit, here we go again. Worst place in the world. Rollin Heights Balla country. I ain't represented Grove Street in five years, but the Ballas won't give a shit. CJ walks up to a BMX. Help text reads "Follow the 'CJ' icon to get back to the hood." CJ rides the bike into Grove Street. CJ: Grove Street - Home. At least it was before I fucked everything up.

Gallery

Francis INTL. Airport, Liberty City, 1992..jpg

Francis International Airport, Liberty City, 1992.

FirstMission-GTASA0.JPG

"After five years on the East Coast, it was time to go home."

InTheBeginning-GTASA.jpg

"It's Momma... She's dead bro."

FirstMission-GTASA2.jpg

C.R.A.S.H. throws Carl out into an alleyway in the middle of Ballas turf.

FirstMission-GTASA3.jpg

Carl returns to Grove Street for the first time in five years.

"Grove Street – home. At least it was before I fucked everything up."

Walkthrough

The scene is Francis International Airport in Shoreside Vale, Liberty City, 1992.

Carl "CJ" Johnson is preparing to get on a flight back home to Los Santos after 5 years of being away.

After landing in Los Santos International Airport back in his hometown, CJ recalls his brother calling him.

CJ recalls his brother telling him that their mother has passed, making Carl decide to come back.

Outside of the airport CJ gets into a taxi and heads back home...

CJ is nearly back at his childhood neighborhood in Ganton, as an LSPD patrol car pulls CJ's taxi over.

Two police officer get out of the patrol car and point their weapons at the taxi.

The third police officer gets on a microphone and orders CJ to get out of the car. CJ gets out and is told to put his hands up and walk towards them.

After CJ nears the patrol car he is told to stop and get down on his knees.

After CJ gets down on his knees he's told to get down on his stomach.

One of the officers apprehends CJ and takes some money from him. The commanding officer tells him that he'll take it.

CJ tells the officer that he can't just take his money like that.

The officer says that it's made via drug dealing, therefore he can.

The other officer tells CJ that he'll get it back later.

The officer who took CJ's money welcomes him back to Los Santos and asks him if he's glad to be back. He then laughingly asks if he hasn't forgotten about them, implying that CJ has history with the three officers.

CJ recognizes the commanding officer as Frank Tenpenny and tells him that he would never forget about them and says that he was just wondering why they took as long as they did to apprehend him.

Tenpenny tells Carl to get into the car.

As Tenpenny puts Carl inside, he tells him to watch his head and purposefully slams it into the car's roof, making his fellow C.R.A.S.H. officers share a laugh.

One of the officers, Eddie Pulaski then addresses the taxi driver and tells him to get out of there.

As the C.R.A.S.H officers prepare to drive off, CJ complains about them confiscating his bag.

CJ and the officers take off on a stroll around Los Santos...

As the officers and CJ drive around the block, Tenpenny decides to converse with him. He asks how his family is doing.

CJ tells Tenpenny that he came back to Los Santos to pay respects to his dead mother and Tenpenny probably knows it, since he's always involved with interfering in his family's business. Tenpenny responds saying that CJ is correct. He then asks what he's been up to in the five years the two hadn't seen each other.

CJ tells Tenpenny that he's no longer involved with crime and that he's living a legit life in Liberty City now.

Tenpenny laughs at the idea of CJ not being involved with crime anymore and says that he knows he's lying.

Pulaski takes a look at Carl's belongings and plants a gun there.

Tenpenny says that the gun was used to gun down a police officer very recently.

Tenpenny says that the officer CJ supposedly killed was Ralph Pendelbury and it's a real shame CJ decided to kill him, as he was a good man.

Tenpenny sarcastically tells CJ he works incredibly quickly if he killed Pendelbury in so little time after getting off the plane.

CJ tells Tenpenny that he just got off the plane and Tenpenny knows his. Pulaski says that it's a good thing they managed to find him then.

CJ still says it's not his gun.

Tenpenny tells CJ not to lie in his face like that.

CJ asks Tenpenny what their unit wants from him now, since they intend to blackmail him for something.

Tenpenny tells CJ that they don't want anything for now, but that he'll be their man if they come up with something. Tenpenny then says that they intend to let CJ go now.

CJ tells Tenpenny that he can't be left here since they're driving in Ballas, CJ's sworn enemies', territory.

Tenpenny says that he thought Carl said he didn't involve himself with crime anymore and that being in Ballas hood shouldn't be problem for him if he's no longer a gangster.

Tenpenny throws CJ out of the car and into the alleyway they were driving through and mocks him.

As they drop CJ out, the police dispatcher says that Officer Pendelbury was found dead and Pulaski responds to the radio call, saying they'll be right over.

CJ monologues about how dangerous it is for him to be in Rollin' Heights Ballas territory. He says that he didn't represent Grove Street Families in a very long time, but is unsure if it'll make a difference to the bloodthirsty Ballas that occupy the area.

CJ must now make his way to Grove Street in Ganton and reunite with his family after five years.

CJ heading home.

CJ monologues as he approaches the street he spent the better part of his life in.

After returning to Grove Street after five years of being away, CJ heads back into his late mother's house...

Video Walkthroughs

GTA San Andreas - Intro & Mission 1 - Big Smoke, Sweet & Kendl (HD)

Original Version

GTA San Andreas - iPad Walkthrough - Intro & Mission 1 - Big Smoke, Sweet & Kendl (HD)

Mobile Version

GTA San Andreas Remastered - Intro & Mission 1 - Big Smoke, Sweet & Kendl (Xbox 360 PS3)

Remastered Version

Bugs/Glitches

• In the PC version, if the host computer is running at around 25-30 frames per second, the police car will drive on before the train has passed the level crossing, causing it to pass through the train.

Trivia

• The police car driven by Pulaski in the cutscene is not the same model as the regular LSPD car. In the PC version, the car does not have specular reflection, causing it to look much darker than a normal LSPD car. Also the wheels are copied from GTA III / VC, the license plate is blank, and the rear lights are black for some reason.
• During the cutscene at the airport, Carl has a Rockstar Games logo on his suitcase.
• Due to the fact that 'In the Beginning' is not considered to be a mission by the game, the player is free to explore Los Santos after the cutscenes conclude. Players are able to gather money and weapons, purchase several safehouses and even work on increasing their stats.
• The name of this mission is not usually displayed in-game. It can be seen by collecting enough money to buy a safehouse, and saving the game. The save file will display "In The Beginning".
• The woman at the airport who takes Carl's suitcase has very low texture details.
• Tenpenny has extra lines recorded after bailing Carl out of the patrol car, but because of the distance, they go unheard. The audio file is longer than what is heard in-game.
• Carl's line, "You can't leave me here - it's Ballas' country!" is a reference to Duke's line in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, "We can't stop here, this is bat country."
  • This is also reference to Menace II Society, where cops leave Sharif and Caine on Mexican gang territory.
• In the cutscene where Carl Johnson says "Whassup, Sweet, what you want?" you can see the Hidden Interior Universe.

See Also

• The Introduction

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Navigation

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