Lost season 1: Difference between revisions
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In flashbacks, we see Jack's wedding to Sarah, a former patient whom he "fixed" after she was injured in a car wreck. |
In flashbacks, we see Jack's wedding to Sarah, a former patient whom he "fixed" after she was injured in a car wreck. |
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==Lost: The Journey== |
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*'''Original airdate:''' [[April 28]], [[2005]] |
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*'''Recap episode''' |
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The offical description formerly found on ABC's website is: ''Flashbacks of the core characters illustrating who they were and what they were doing before the crash, a look at the island itself, and a preview of the big season finale.'' |
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==The Greater Good== |
==The Greater Good== |
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Revision as of 01:49, 13 January 2006
This article contains episode summaries for the first season of the American drama/adventure television series Lost. The season first aired on September 22, 2004 and concluded on May 25, 2005.
In addition to the twenty-five episodes in season one, a special, "Lost: The Journey", was aired on April 27, 2005 to put the mysteries of the island and the characters in perspective in the lead-up to the season finale. The original airdates (U.S.) are listed here for each episode. For airdates on other networks and in other countries, see Airdates of Lost.
Pilot: Part 1
- Original airdate: September 22, 2004
- Flashback: Jack Shephard
- Teleplay by: J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof
- Story by: J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof
- Directed by: J.J. Abrams
The premise for the series is set forth in an indirect and incomplete manner, which has become the defining style of the series. The 14 principals are briefly introduced.
A close-up of an opening eye shows the pupil contracting. The tops of trees in a bamboo grove are seen through the eyes of a man (who is later identified as Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox)) lying on his back in the jungle. A Golden Labrador Retriever dog trots past through the trees. Obviously confused to how he arrived there, the man gazes about at the idyllic surroundings when his memories rush back to him. With great effort, he sits upright, revealing blood on his shirt. He bolts upright and runs pell-mell through the jungle, emerging at a beach strewn with the wreckage of a jet airliner and almost 50 confused survivors of the crash. It is later revealed that the plane was torn apart in mid-air while travelling from New South Wales, Australia to California, United States. The fuselage of the jet is still burning and one of the engines is still in operation, though its speed waxes and wanes due to no apparent cause.
On the beach, Jack moves quickly among the survivors attempting to administer medical aid, identifying himself as a medical doctor. With the help of other survivors, he pulls a man with a severed leg from underneath the fuselage. When he notices a pregnant woman (whom we later meet as Claire (Emilie de Ravin)) complaining of possible labor pains, he directs a nearby survivor (whom we later meet as Hurley (Jorge Garcia)) to help her. Chaos continues as the fuselage continues to burn and disintegrate. A male survivor is sucked into the jet engine, which explodes, sending debris raining on the beach. Jack administers CPR to a woman (later identified as Rose) unconscious on the beach. In a later flashback, it is revealed that Jack was seated across the aisle from the woman on the plane and was conversing with her at the moment that plane lost cabin pressure. She had been accompanied by her husband, who had left his seat to go the lavatory. Jack had told her that he would fill in for her husband and stay by her side until her husband came back.
After administering aid to the other survivors, Jack takes a sewing kit from a suitcase and slips off into the jungle to examine the wound on his left side. He sees a young woman (who later identifies herself to the unconscious man as Kate (Evangeline Lilly)) standing nearby and drafts her to sew up his wound, calming her by telling her the story of his first solo surgical procedure, where he conquered his fear during an emergency by "letting the fear" in, but only for five seconds. It is also revealed through their conversation that the plane disintegrated in the air, with the tail section of the plane having fallen off (Kate claims she saw the whole thing, while Jack says he blacked out before that).
On the beach, Jack tends to an unconscious male survivor who is badly injured by a fragment of the fuselage embedded in his torso. Kate asks Jack if he thinks the man will live, and informs him that she was sitting next to him during the flight. Other survivors (including the father and son we later meet as Michael (Harold Perrineau Jr.) and Walt (Malcolm David Kelley)) congregate and discuss what to do with the bodies still in the fuselage. We briefly encounter the character later identified as Sawyer (Josh Holloway), lounging nonchalantly on his back on the beach. The character we later meet as Hurley salvages meals from the plane's galley and distributes them, giving two to the pregnant woman he helped (her labor pains were false, but it is revealed she is eight months pregnant). A young woman whom we later meet as Shannon (Maggie Grace) petulantly refuses a chocolate bar offered by her male companion (whom we later meet as Boone, her step-brother (Ian Somerhalder)) on the grounds that she will eat on the "rescue ship" when it arrives. Among the survivors, there is a general expectation that they will be rescued at any time. A character who identifies himself as Sayid (Naveen Andrews) organizes the clean-up of the beach.
In the evening, beyond the light of their fire, the peacefulness of the waiting is interrupted by loud terrifying noises from the nearby jungle, punctuated by the crashing of trees. The source of these noises seems invisible or hidden, and is later referred to as "The Monster". (Note: Online fan forums also refer to the Monster as "The Creature" or "Lostzilla".) While the survivors listen to the monster, Rose remarks that the noises sound "familiar".
The next day, Jack decides that in order to be rescued, the survivors will need to send a radio message using the transceiver of the aircraft, which is located in the cockpit, which broke off in the air (In doing so, Jack reveals to Kate that he took a few flying lessons but that it "wasn't for him"). Based on Kate's descriptions of the location of smoke, he sets off into the jungle, accompanied by Kate at her insistence, as well as by a character we meet as Charlie (Dominic Monaghan). As the trio walks away from the beach, they are observed from the brush by the dog encountered in the opening scene. Kate tells Charlie he looks familiar, and he reveals to her that he is the bassist in a band called Drive Shaft.
As the trio advances into the jungle, they are drenched by a sudden rainstorm. They encounter the nose section of the plane, which is sitting at a steep angle in the trees. The three of them, led by Jack, climb into the nose and scale the steep floor, where Jack pries open the cockpit door. Inside he and Kate find the pilot, still in his seat, and assume he is dead, only to have him awake suddenly. The pilot reveals to Jack and Kate that the plane had lost radio contact before the crash, and had changed course towards Fiji. They were, in his reckoning, 1000 miles off course and thus no one knows where they are. The pilot locates the transceiver, but he cannot get it to function.
Meanwhile on the beach during the same rainstorm, a group of the survivors huddles in part of the fuselage. The conspicuous exception is an older man (whom we later meet as John Locke (Terry O'Quinn)) who sits alone in the rain on the beach with his arms outstretched up the air, as if glorifying in the rain itself. A young Korean couple (whom we later meet as Jin-Soo and Sun-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim and Yoon-jin Kim)) huddles under part of the fuselage. The man tells the woman in Korean to stick close to him at all times.
In the jungle, the conversation in the cockpit is interrupted by loud noises from outside the plane, accompanied by mechanical thrashing identical to the "Monster" heard by the other survivors on the beach. The pilot attempts to investigate by climbing out a broken cockpit window. To the horror of the others, he is seized by some unseen presence while halfway out the window and disappears. Jack grabs the transceiver and he and Kate exit the cockpit in terror. Kate notices that Charlie has disappeared. He suddenly emerges from the lavatory to the suspicion of Kate. As the three run from the "Monster", Charlie is nearly taken by it and Jack leaves Kate to return to fetch him. She calms herself by counting to five as Jack had suggested. Later as the three walk back towards the beach they encounter the pilot's bloodied body suspended in the tree tops.
Pilot: Part 2
- Original airdate: September 29, 2004
- Flashback: Charlie Pace and Kate Austen
- Teleplay by: J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof
- Story by: J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof
- Directed by: J.J. Abrams
A flashback reveals Charlie sitting on the plane nervously tapping his fingers. He sees the flight attendants talking, presumably about him, and quickly gets up to go into one of the lavatories. He reaches the lavatory in first class (just outside the cockpit), enters and takes a hit of heroin. Before he can flush his stash there is turbulence and he exits the lavatory and sits in the nearest seat to strap himself in. In Pilot: Part 1 he visits the lavatory to retrieve his stash while Jack and Kate are searching the cockpit for the transponder.
Sayid (revealed to be a former communications officer with the Iraqi Republican Guard), Kate, Charlie, Boone, Sawyer, and Boone's sister Shannon take the transceiver inland in an attempt to use it to communicate with the outside world. On the way they are attacked by an unseen animal, which Sawyer kills with a gun. When they look down at the dead animal, they discover with shock that it is a polar bear. Sawyer tells the others he got the gun from the body of a dead US Marshal. Who is the prisoner he was transporting? Accusations are made between the survivors.
The episode's second flashback of the final moments of flight shows Kate in conversation with the man seen on the island with a shrapnel injury. It is revealed that he is the US Marshal and that Kate was prisoner. After he is knocked unconscious by flying luggage, Kate does what she can to save his life by freeing herself from the cuffs and attaching his oxygen mask for him before attaching her own.
Sayid's effort to send a message to civilization is blocked by a mysterious transmission in French that has been repeating for over 16 years. Shannon reveals she can speak basic French, and translates the message as best she can. Towards the end of the message, the woman is saying "It killed them, it killed them all".
Meanwhile, back at camp, Walt has discovered some handcuffs whilst searching for his lost dog, and Jack is trying to operate on the US Marshal. The man comes round during the operation, demanding "Where is she?".
Tabula Rasa
- Original airdate: October 6, 2004
- Flashback: Kate Austen
- Written by: Damon Lindelof
- Directed by: Jack Bender
In a makeshift infirmary tent, Jack is tending to the Marshal who mutters the same thing over and over through his pain: "Don't trust her. She's dangerous." When Jack asks him who "she" is, the Marshal tells him to look in his jacket pocket. Jack looks in the Marshal's wallet and finds a picture of Kate.
The "Signal Party" is working their way back down the mountain. It's getting dark and some of them want to make camp for the night. Sawyer wants to press on through the jungle at night, but the others agree that it isn't a very good idea and he is convinced to stay. Sitting around the fire, they discuss what they should tell the others about the French transmission. That information has not improved their peace of mind, so they decide not to tell the others anything in order to preserve hope.
At the beach in the tent, Jack is trying to save the Marshall. Hurley enters and stumbles across Kate's picture and asks "What do you think she did?" - instantaneously, we see a flashback:
Kate, being prodded by a shotgun held by a farmer (Ray) who wants to know what she is doing sleeping in his barn. After a frank exchange, the two find that they can be of service to each other. He needs some help on the farm, she needs a job and a place to stay, and claims her name is "Annie".
Back at the Signal Party, Boone lifts the gun from Sawyer and the clip from Sayid as they sleep. They wake up and an argument ensues over who should have the gun, but they can't agree on a trustworthy candidate - until they arrive at Kate. She reluctantly agrees to keep it.
The next morning, Hurley arrives at the infirmary tent to tell Jack the "Signal Party" has returned. Kate pulls Jack aside and says she has something she wants to tell him, in private. Jack is relieved, assuming that she is going to confide in him. Instead, however, Kate tells Jack about the French transmission. He asks if there is anything else she'd like to tell him. She asks if the Marshal has regained consciousness. When Jack tells her he did briefly during the surgery, Kate asks if he said anything to Jack. Jack considers the question for a moment before answering, "No".
The Marshal's condition has deteriorated. If they don't find some stronger antibiotics, he's not going to make it. Hurley tells him he's looked everywhere, except the fuselage where the deceased are.
Jack enters the wreckage and does his best to avoid disturbing the bodies as he makes a desperate search for anything that will help the Marshal. Hearing something rustling behind him, he finds Sawyer combing the fuselage for a different reason - turns out he's doing a little personal shopping. Jack berates him for disrespecting the dead, but Sawyer tells Jack to get with the program. Jack still thinks they are back in civilization while Sawyer realizes they are "in the wild".
On the beach, Charlie is helping Claire collect luggage using a wheelchair from the plane and they begin to form a bond. Meanwhile, Sun presents a suitcase to Jin, but after closer inspection Jin determines it is the wrong one and tells Sun to keep looking. But before she does, he tells her to go and clean up her face, because she is embarrassing him. As she turns to leave, he tells her he loves her.
Hurley bumps into Kate at the infirmary tent and tries to play it cool about knowing her secret and in the process notices the gun in her waistband, despite his lying abilities. We then flashback to:
Kate, who decides it's time to move on from the Australian farm. But when she accepts a ride from Ray to the train station, she learns that he is planning on turning her in to the authorities. He saw her picture at the post office and he really needs that reward money. Kate looks in the side mirror to see the Marshal behind them. In a desperate attempt to get away, Kate jerks the wheel and crashes the truck off the road. Saving the farmer from the truck costs her a chance to escape and she is captured by the Marshal.
Back in real time, while leaning over her body, the Marshal wakes up and lunges at Kate's throat, choking her. Jack has to pull him off of her before he does any harm.
Michael struggles to forge a bond with Walt and wants to know what Locke told him yesterday. Walt says it's a secret, but when Michael presses the issue, Walt reveals that Locke told him "a miracle happened". Michael warns him to stay away from Locke.
When the rain stops, Michael searches for the dog in jungle. He hears something in the tall grass. He runs as fast as he can to get away from it and encounters Sun, who is topless and washing herself. There is an awkward moment between them.
Back on the beach, the Marshal is dying loudly. His screams are taking a physical toll on the rest of the group. Sayid asks Jack if anything can be done. Jack says he is doing all he can. The Marshal tells Jack he wants to speak to Kate alone. While she is in the tent, Hurley tells Jack about the gun he saw in her pants. Jack races back to the infirmary tent before it's too late; he sees Kate emerge from the tent, and then a shot is fired.
Sawyer walks coolly out of the tent. He says he did what had to be done; Horrible groans come from the tent again. We go in to find that the Marshal still isn't dead - Sawyer dubiously shot him in the chest. He was aiming for the heart and apparently missed. It will take hours for the Marshal to bleed out and he will suffer horribly. Jack throws an extremely shaken Sawyer out of the tent. A few moments later, the moans stop for good. Jack emerges and walks past Sawyer without a word.
Trivia
- Tabula Rasa, the episode's title, refers to the the 17th century philosopher John Locke's theory that the (human) mind is at birth a "blank slate" without rules for processing data, and that data is added and rules for processing are formed solely by one's sensory experiences.
Walkabout
- Original airdate: October 13, 2004
- Flashback: John Locke
- Written by: David Fury
- Directed by: Jack Bender
About four days after the crash, the survivors discover that their food is exhausted, and wonder what to do; John Locke, a menacing presence in the background of the previous stories, flings a combat knife at an abandoned plane seat, narrowly missing the head of another castaway (Sawyer), and announces that they should go hunting in the jungle. While the survivors deal with mundane tasks of survival, Locke's background is set forth.
Locke is revealed to have been paralyzed and wheelchair-bound prior to the plane crash. Locke had planned on participating on a walkabout tour of the Australian outback, but was turned away when the tour guide discovered that he was in a wheelchair. Locke had offered a woman named Helen, who is implied to be a girl at a phone sex agency, a ticket to travel with him, but she turned him down. Locke is shown to have been a lonely, frustrated man, constantly belittled by his much-younger boss in the cubicle farm where he worked as a regional sales representative for a box company. At one point, his boss asks for a "TPS report", a reference to the movie Office Space.
Some mystery is also infused into his character as the audience is made to wonder why exactly he gets called "Colonel Locke" and why he receives a mysterious phone call speaking of a target being identified, and using military time to identify a time to "rendezvous" and the "usual place". A later scene reveals the caller to be a co-worker, confirming their lunchtime game of Risk.
This episode also explains Locke's comment about it being a 'miracle': the crash gave him back the use of his legs.
In the jungle, Locke is separated from his companions, who believe the Monster is closing upon Locke; however, he returns to the camp with a slain wild boar, and the other survivors believe that he has killed it himself. Locke seems to have directly encountered the mysterious Monster, but we do not know what he saw.
White Rabbit
- Original air date: October 20, 2004
- Flashback: Jack Shephard
- Written by: Christian Taylor
- Directed by: Kevin Hooks
Joanna, a character who had not been previously mentioned, drowns in the ocean, despite Boone and Jack's best efforts to save her. They hold a makeshift funeral for her, with the few bits of information they can glean from her few recovered possessions.
The survivors' water supply is starting to run low, and they decide to ration the water. After Claire faints in the heat, they discover the last of it has been stolen.
Delirious from a lack of sleep, Jack believes he sees his father stalking him from a distance, and forsakes the leadership role the others have thrust upon him in order to follow the apparition and determine whether he is hallucinating. Flashbacks explain why Jack was in Australia: he was looking for his father, who had disappeared while on a drinking bender. In fact, Jack found that his father had died, and, on the ill-fated return flight, Jack was bringing his father's body back to the United States for burial. Jack's search for his father results in finding a source of fresh water for the survivors, as well as a cave that will afford shelter. Jack also finds his father's coffin, but it is empty.
We see Boone waking Claire to give her water. There is a struggle, and he is pulled to the ground. Everyone is amazed to find Boone was the water thief.
Trivia
- Sawyer is shown reading Watership Down in this episode.
- Right after Jack breaks his father's coffin, above the shot of the Island, the stars in big dipper are backwards.
House of the Rising Sun
- Original airdate: October 27, 2004
- Flashback: Sun-Soo Kwon
- Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
- Directed by: Michael Zinberg
All are shocked when Jin attacks Michael without warning; Sayid is forced to handcuff him to a portion of the plane wreckage to keep the peace. While the survivors argue whether to stay on the beach — where a rescue party could see them — or move to the cave in the jungle near fresh water, the story of Jin and Sun is revealed in a series of flashbacks. Jin went to work for Sun's father in order to gain his permission to marry her. After working years for her father, Jin returned home late one night, his clothes and hands covered with blood. Horrified by the violent life that Jin had apparently taken up, Sun plotted to run away from Jin — but at the last minute decided to join Jin on the fateful flight. Sun reveals to Michael that she can speak English, but Jin does not know. She says Jin attacked Michael over her father's watch, which Jin had been keeping, and which Michael had found after the crash and been innocently wearing. After hearing the explanation, Michael decides to cut Jin free with an axe. From this point on during Season 1, Jin is always seen with a handcuff around his left hand.
Meanwhile, Jack shows Kate, Charlie and Locke the caves and freshwater supply he found in the previous episode. In one of the caves, they find some human skeletons, which Jack guesses as having died 40 years ago of natural causes. They appear to be a man and a woman. Amongst their possessions, Jack finds a pouch mysteriously containing two stones — one black, one white. The group then splits into two camps; some stay at the beach, while others move to the caves.
Locke learns of Charlie's heroin addiction and tells him that he may get his guitar back if he quits. Charlie hands over the bag of heroin and Locke points upwards to Charlie's guitar, hanging over the edge of a steep hill above them.
The Moth
- Original airdate: November 3, 2004
- Flashback: Charlie Pace
- Written by: Jennifer Johnson & Paul Dini
- Directed by: Jack Bender
Charlie begins a painful journey of withdrawal from drugs, particularly heroin. Locke aides him, although his true motive for helping him remains a mystery. Locke suggests that the two of them go for a walk; that fresh air will do the profusely-sweating Charlie good.
In flashbacks, Charlie recalls his glory days playing with his band, Drive Shaft, with his brother, Liam. Charlie is in church, confessing his sins, and when he comes out of the confessional, Liam holds up an envelope and says they've been signed to a record contract and will become rock gods.
On the beach, Jack is determined to leave the beach, favoring the sanctuary of the recently-found caves less than a mile away. Kate is reluctant to go with Jack, which makes him unhappy.
Sayid, meanwhile, recruits Kate, Shannon and Boone to develop antennas that he hopes can be used to triangulate the source of the French transmission, which has been running on a repeating loop for 16 years.
Back in the jungle, a frightened Charlie is being chased by a wild boar. As he enters a clearing, the boar is suddenly swooped up in a net, being operated by Locke, who is nearby. "You make good bait," Locke commends Charlie, who angrily demands the return of his heroin. Locke, however, is not intimidated and instead tries to turn withdrawal into a learning experience for Charlie. He tells Charlie that he believes he is indeed stronger than he realizes. He explains further that he wants Charlie to think about it, and that he'll give him three times to ask. On the third time, Locke will give Charlie his heroin. Locke then informs him that this was number one.
One of the caves collapses, trapping Jack inside and dislocating his shoulder. Charlie comes along and finds out what happened and goes back to see Locke. Charlie has additional flashbacks about Drive Shaft. Both he and his brother Liam were unprepared for the phenomenal success of their band, and got caught up in anonymous sex and drug abuse. The band eventually splits due to the ego-warring between the two brothers. Charlie attempts to recruit Liam for a reunion tour, but by this time Liam has settled down with a family in Australia, and Charlie is still using drugs.
On the beach, Sayid explains how the triangulation will work. Boone will stay on the beach with his antenna (however he runs off to help dig Jack out, leaving Shannon in charge of the beach antenna), Kate will go 2 kilometers into the jungle and Sayid will go to high ground. Since the batteries are so weak, Sayid provides flares that each person will fire when they are ready. Once everyone has seen the third flare, each person will switch on their antenna.
Charlie finds Locke skinning the dead boar, and apprises him of Jack's plight. When Charlie is unable to provide a good explanation as to why he's not helping, Locke surmises that Charlie came back to ask for the heroin. Charlie asks a second time, upon which Locke shows him a moth cocoon. Showing Charlie a small hole in the cocoon, Locke explains that he could help the moth by slitting the cocoon, but the moth would not survive. Instead, he said, the moth needs to struggle to break free. Nature and struggle makes people stronger, Locke explains, telling Charlie that this was the second time.
Sayid's plan is executing flawlessly, with all three firing their flares and turning on their antennas. However, just before he is able to lock onto the signal, Sayid is clubbed over the head by an unknown and knocked unconscious.
Back at the caves, Charlie is able to worm his way through the collapsed rock and into the cave with Jack. After helping Jack reset his shoulder, the two of them dig out. After getting freed, Charlie--whose self-worth has been all but obliterated--finds Locke cooking the boar and, for the third time, asks for his heroin. Locke looks disappointed and asks Charlie to confirm that's what he wants. Charlie insists and Locke gives him the heroin. Charlie looks at it briefly before tossing it into the fire, earning praise from Locke and regaining much of his own self-worth. Immediately after, Charlie and Locke see the previously cocooned moth flying freely.
Confidence Man
- Original airdate: November 10, 2004
- Flashback: James "Sawyer" Ford
- Written by: Damon Lindelof
- Directed by: Tucker Gates
When Shannon's asthma becomes a problem, everyone becomes convinced that Sawyer is hoarding some inhalers from the wreck. Jack and Sayid torture him, but he only agrees to give up the inhalers in return for a kiss from Kate. She kisses Sawyer, after which he reveals that he doesn't have the inhalers after all. Sun helps Shannon by making a eucalyptus salve to clear her bronchial passages.
In flashbacks, we learn that Sawyer is a confidence man. His parents were ruined by another grifter named Sawyer, whose name he took as an alias when he entered a similar life of crime to pay some debts. He hates himself for this, which explains why he seems to go to such great lengths to make everyone else hate him. We do not know his real name. (Later episodes reveal that it is James Ford.)
After the torture incident, despite a plea from Kate, Sayid sets off alone to explore the island's shoreline, disgusted with himself for breaking a vow never to do anything like that again. Charlie convinces Claire to move to the caves; they seem to be striking up a close relationship.
Solitary
- Original airdate: November 17, 2004
- Flashback: Sayid Jarrah
- Written by: David Fury
- Directed by: Greg Yataines
On his own, Sayid finds a cable running out of the ocean and into the jungle. He follows it, is captured, and tortured by a mysterious woman who identifies herself as Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan). It is her voice on the automatically repeating distress call; she seems mentally unbalanced. She claims to have been stranded on the island when a "science expedition" ran aground there. She also claims to have killed most of the other expedition members after they became "infected"—controlled by some sort of disease or mind control (this is very vague). She also warns him to keep an eye on the others.
In his flashbacks, we learn of Sayid's career in the Republican Guard, and how he conspired to help a childhood friend, Noor (nicknamed Nadia), escape execution and developed feelings for her.
Meanwhile, Hurley builds a golf course (site of "the first — and hopefully only — Island Open", in his words) to improve morale among the castaways, and Locke agrees, without Michael's knowledge, to teach Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) some woodcraft. Another new character, Ethan (William Mapother), helps Locke hunt.
Sayid eventually escapes from Rousseau's bunker, but he hears the whispering voices in the jungle of which she spoke. Its assumed that Rousseaus bunker is or was one of the Dharma Installations, which might help explain the sickness that her other comrades encountered.
Raised by Another
- Original airdate: December 1, 2004
- Flashback: Claire Littleton
- Written by: Lynne E. Litt
- Directed by: Marita Grabiak
Two nights in a row, Claire wakes up screaming; on the second, she insists that someone held her down and stabbed her stomach to hurt her unborn child, although no physical marks support this. Jack questions her and learns that the baby is due in just over a week; concerned that stress could trigger early labor, he says Claire is having anxiety nightmares, and that an attack would have been unlikely with so many other people around. But Charlie — who has been doting on Claire — isn't so sure, and the alleged attack prompts Hurley to begin a census of the islanders.
Angered by Jack's suggestion that she wasn't really attacked and his advice to take a mild sedative, Claire leaves the cave alone and heads for the beach. Charlie catches up to her shortly before she is overcome by contractions; on the way to get Jack, he finds Ethan and tells him to relay the message. Charlie manages to calm Claire down, and the contractions end.
In flashbacks, we learn that Claire was flying to Los Angeles on the advice of a psychic who had initially warned her not to let anyone else raise the child, but claimed he'd found a "good" couple in the U.S. to adopt the baby. After she tells Charlie her story, the two conclude the psychic's insistence that Claire take the doomed flight indicated he'd known about the crash.
An ailing Sayid returns to camp and tells the others he found the woman on the recording, and Hurley reveals that one of the island's inhabitants (apparently Ethan) was not listed on the flight manifest as one of the plane's passengers. Simultaneously, Ethan ominously accosts Claire and Charlie in the jungle.
All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
- Original airdate: December 8, 2004
- Flashback: Jack Shephard
- Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
- Directed by: Stephen Williams
Haunted by flashbacks to his relationship with his alcoholic father (particularly one episode where he vainly attempts to perform CPR on a patient on the operating table after his father fatally botches the surgery), Jack follows Locke into the jungles in pursuit of Ethan, who has kidnapped Claire and Charlie. The good doctor soon splits off on his own, against Locke's suggestion to follow quietly. Eventually, Jack returns and two parties form up: Jack and Kate follow a trail left behind by Charlie, while Locke and Boone track a series of footprints.
During an episode of rain, Jack and Kate get separated. Jack stumbles down an embankment after hearing what sounds like Claire screaming, and when he comes to at the bottom, Ethan is standing over him. The two men struggle, but the mysterious outsider gets the upper hand, and he warns Jack that if he continues to follow, he will kill one of the hostages.
Kate soon comes to Jack's aid, and the pair follows Ethan's path until they come across Charlie, blindfolded and hanged by his neck from a tree branch. They cut him down, and Jack furiously performs CPR — despite Kate's pleas that it's a lost cause — until Charlie coughs his way back to life.
The episode ends at nightfall, with Jack, Kate, and Charlie back at the caves, where Charlie reveals that it was Claire that Ethan wanted all along, and with Boone and Locke somewhere in the jungle, where they discover a piece of metal embedded in the ground — which is not shrapnel from the plane. [1]
Whatever the Case May Be
- Original airdate: January 5, 2005
- Flashback: Kate Austen
- Written by: Damon Lindelof & Jennifer Johnson
- Directed by: Jack Bender
Kate takes an interest in a metal suitcase she and Sawyer find while swimming; she tries twice to steal it from him before going to Jack, claiming the case contains weapons and money and belonged to the U.S. Marshal (who was buried with the key). Kate and Jack dig up the marshall to get the key and they open the case to find the items, along with a small metal airplane in an envelope; when pressured, Kate says it belonged to the man she loved – and the man she killed. Flashbacks show a New Mexico bank robbery orchestrated by Kate to get into a safe deposit box (number 815, the same as the flight number) containing the envelope with the small plane.
Meanwhile, the tide moves further inland, and passengers scramble to move belongings from the beach; Rose, who maintains faith that her husband is still alive, coaxes Charlie out of his funk and gets him to help. Also, Sayid seeks Shannon’s help in translating some of Rousseau’s apparently random notes, which she later recognizes as lyrics to the song played over the credits of "a cartoon fish movie." (The song is Charles Trenet's "La Mer", the French original of Bobby Darin's classic "Beyond the Sea".)
Hearts and Minds
- Original airdate: January 12, 2005
- Flashback: Boone Carlyle
- Written by: Carlton Cuse & Javier Grillo-Marxuach
- Directed by: Rod Holcomb
Boone mentions to Locke that others are suspicious of their apparently fruitless “boar hunting” trips — actually excursions to the mysterious metal object — and says he wants to tell Shannon; Locke responds by knocking him unconscious. Boone finds himself tied up by Locke, who puts a paste onto his head wound and leaves a knife so he'll be able to free himself, given "the proper motivation" — Shannon's screams and the sound of the Monster approaching. Despite attempts to hide, the Monster kills Shannon, and Boone finds her corpse lying along a stream. However, Boone realizes upon returning to camp that this never happened — it was a sort of vision quest Locke felt was crucial to his survival, brought on by the paste Locke had applied to his head wound. When asked how he felt seeing Shannon die, Boone replies “relieved.”
Flashbacks reveal that Boone went to Sydney, Australia to rescue Shannon — his stepsister — from an abusive boyfriend, only to realize he had been set up by Shannon to get some of his mother’s money. Boone is later approached by a drunken Shannon, who says she knows he’s always been in love with her. Their kisses apparently lead to sex, and Shannon claims that things will go back to normal. In one flashback, Boone is in a police station in Sydney, where his conversation with one of the officers is interrupted by a handcuffed Sawyer, dragged in kicking and snarling.
Meanwhile, Hurley turns to Jin for help with fishing. Kate discovers a garden Sun is planting in the jungle and figures out that she can speak English. Locke gives his compass to Sayid, to assist him with his interpretation of Rousseau's maps. Sayid figures it must be faulty because its magnetic north does not align with true north.
Special
- Original airdate: January 19, 2005
- Flashback: Michael Dawson and Walt Lloyd
- Written by: David Fury
- Directed by: Greg Yataines
An annoyed Michael confronts Walt, who has been studying knife skills under Locke, and enlists his help in scavenging parts from the wreck to build a raft. Eventually, Walt tells his dad that he is going to get some water and runs off with his dog. Michael initially accuses Locke of contributing to his son's delinquency despite his repeated warnings, but when he sees that the boy is not with Locke, the two men track Walt into the jungle. Michael risks his own life to save Walt from one of the island's unlikely predators, a polar bear, thus aiding the reconciliation between the two.
Flashbacks show that Michael and Susan (Walt's mother) were unmarried, and when Walt was only a few months old, Susan, an ambitious young lawyer, accepted a job in Amsterdam and took her child with her. She married a co-worker called Brian when Walt was two, and their work eventually brought them to Australia. Michael didn't see his son again until after Susan's death from a blood disorder. Though Brian said it was Susan's wish that Michael be given custody, it turns out Brian doesn't want custody of Walt because he is 'different'.
Walt is hinted to have some sort of supernatural power over his surroundings. As a child in Australia, Walt opens one of his books to a picture of a native bird—and shortly afterwards the bird fatally slams into a nearby window. On the island, while teaching him to throw a knife, Locke tells the boy to visualize hitting the target, and Walt fires and embeds the blade perfectly on the mark. Later, a polar bear appears soon after the comic book Walt had been looking at, which featured a picture of a polar bear, is thrown in the fire by his father.
Charlie recovers Claire's diary from Sawyer with help from Kate. As he skims through it, hoping to find some mention of him in her musings, he reads her description of a dream about a "black rock" which corresponds to a location on Sayid's stolen map. He shows this to the others, thinking it might be a clue to her whereabouts. However, while exploring, Locke and Boone are shocked by the sudden appearance of Claire, stumbling out of the jungle.
Trivia
- The comic book read by Walt is Green Lantern / Flash: Faster Friends #1.
Homecoming
- Original airdate: February 9, 2005
- Flashback: Charlie Pace
- Written by: Damon Lindelof
- Directed by: Kevin Hooks
Claire returns to camp, apparently with no memory of anything after the flight. After Ethan confronts Charlie, threatening to kill the other castaways one by one until he gets Claire back, the islanders take security measures; however, Ethan makes good on his threat, killing Scott. With the guns from the briefcase and Claire as (willing) bait, Jack and some of the others set a trap; although the plan is to keep Ethan alive, a vengeful Charlie fires four rounds into his chest and kills him.
Through flashbacks we learn how Charlie hooked up with a wealthy girl in order to steal something to sell for drug money, but fell in love. He takes a job from the girl's father selling photocopiers, but his plan to become respectable backfires as he suffers withdrawal symptoms. He passes out after throwing up under the lid of the photocopier he is demonstrating at the time, and the prospective clients find a valuable antique in his jacket, which he had stolen from the girl's father's house to fund his habit. After he goes to see the girl to explain, she tells Charlie that he will never take care of anyone, a likely motivation for his efforts to protect Claire.
Trivia
- When the wealthy girl mentions her father "buying some paper company in Slough", it is a reference to the Gervais/Merchant series "The Office"
- The model of photocopier Charlie is demonstrating in the flashback, is a C-815. The number of their flight was also 815.
- On the DVD version, you hear six shots fired at Ethan. In a subsequent episode, Hurley comments "He shot a guy four times in the chest".
Outlaws
- Original airdate: February 16, 2005
- Flashback: James "Sawyer" Ford
- Written by: Drew Goddard
- Directed by: Jack Bender
Sawyer has a nightmare about the night when (as a child) he was told by his mother to hide under his bed while she went to the door to tell his father to leave. His father forced his way into the house, kills his mother, sits on the bed the child Sawyer (actually named James) was hiding under, and kills himself, the dream ends.
Sawyer then wakes up to find a giant boar in front of him, and it attacks his tent and runs away into the trees taking Sawyer's tarp with it. Sawyer chases after it, and while he is in the jungle he hears whispering noises. Most of the noises are hard to hear, but a louder whisper clearly says "It'll come back around". Sawyer talks to Sayid about the voices Sayid heard while he was in the jungle some time before, and when Sayid asks why he wants to know, Sawyer replies: "No reason."
Later, Sawyer has a flashback wherein he is told, by a former associate, where the first Sawyer who ruined his life as a child is: Australia. He travels there, buys a gun and goes to the shrimp shop where the older Sawyer works and sees him there. He chats briefly with him, but doesn't kill him.
Meanwhile, Sawyer is obsessed with finding the boar who attacked him and goes into the jungle to find it, accompanied by Kate. The next morning the two of them wake up to find that Sawyer's belongings have been ruined while Kate's remain untouched. Locke then comes out of the jungle and tells them a story from his childhood.
He says that his sister died very young and their foster mother blamed herself, suffering a severe depression. But a few months later a dog came into the house and his foster mother suddenly felt much better. The dog even slept in his sister's room. And when his foster mother died years later the dog vanished completely. When asked if the dog was supposed to have been his sister, Locke replies "That's just silly. But my mother seemed to think so."
Sawyer then has another flashback where he goes to an Australian bar and meets a man there (recognizable from earlier episodes as Jack's father, Christian Shephard). They have a talk, and Christian tells Sawyer that if something is making him miserable, he should take care of it before it destroys him. Sawyer goes back to the shrimp shop and shoots the older Sawyer. However, it is revealed through their subsequent conversation that the man he shot isn't the real Sawyer, and that he has been duped into assassinating an innocent man. The man's last words are "It'll come back around".
Meanwhile, Sawyer catches up to the boar and decides to leave it rather than kill it, saying "It's just a boar." He returns to camp and gives Jack back the gun he was given for their previous encounter with Ethan. Now all the guns are with Jack, who returns them to the marshal's case. They start to talk, and something Jack says ("that's why the Red Sox will never win the Series," apparently without knowledge of the 2004 World Series. This dates the crash to late September to late October) makes Sawyer realize the man in the Australian bar he was talking to was actually Jack's father. When Jack asks why Sawyer wants to know about his father, Sawyer responds: "No reason".
... In Translation
- Original airdate: February 23, 2005
- Flashback: Jin-Soo Kwon
- Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Leonard Dick
- Directed by: Tucker Gates
Jin has flashbacks of when he started working for Sun's father, Mr. Paik. Mr. Paik is the head of a Korean chaebol (a large, typically family-owned corporation—in this case, a car company) and a man who is not above using violent methods to get what he wants. Jin worked for Mr. Paik to prove his commitment and worthiness to marry Sun, claiming he would do anything to marry her. Sun's father gives Jin a task of conveying a message of his displeasure to the Under-Secretary for Environmental Safety. Jin relays the message verbally and seems confused when the visibly terrified man gives him a puppy (the same puppy we saw Jin bring to Sun in a previous episode). However, upon finding Jin has not done what was implied for him to do, Mr. Paik reprimands Jin and directs him to return to the Secretary's home with a hit man who will demonstrate how to properly deliver a message. Jin returns to the Secretary's house, but before the hit man can act, he beats up the Secretary in front of his family, to give him "the message" as Sun's father originally intended and essentially save him from being murdered.
The raft Michael had been building is burned. Immediately Michael suspects Jin due to their disagreements in the past. However, Sawyer finds Jin first, roughs him up, and brings him down to the beach with his hands tied behind his back. Later Sawyer releases Jin on the beach and he and Michael fight each other. The rest of the survivors watch the fight, hesitant to stop it until Sun yells out in English for them to stop. The survivors are dumbfounded that she speaks English and has been keeping it from them the whole time. Jin is obviously distraught at this revelation.
Later, Locke sits down to play a game of Backgammon with Walt, and asks him bluntly "Why did you burn the raft, Walt?" Walt then says that he is tired of always moving and he likes it on the island. Locke agrees with him.
In the cave, Jin has another flashback, revealing that his father is not dead (as he told Mr. Paik), but a poor fisherman who Jin was obviously ashamed of. His father asks Jin why he works for Mr. Paik, and advises him to complete the latest task he has been given - delivering watches to Sydney and Los Angeles - then remain in America with Sun to escape Mr. Paik. Back on the island, Jin disregards his father's advice and tells Sun that it is too late to save their marriage, and goes to help Michael build a new boat..
Trivia
- Hurley can also be seen on the television that the threatened man's daughter is watching. He seems to be on a news show, possibly chronicling his lottery win.
- The song Hurley listens at the end is "Delicate" by Damien Rice, though it ends abruptly when his CD player's battery dies out.
Numbers
- Original airdate: March 2, 2005
- Flashback: Hugo "Hurley" Reyes
- Written by: Brent Fletcher & David Fury
- Directed by: Dan Attias
Hurley has flashbacks of his winning the lottery with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42, which he claims to everyone "just came to him". In truth, Hurley had overheard them from a former U.S. Naval officer named Leonard who is currently in a mental institution where Hurley was a former patient. After winning the lottery and running into a relentless run of bad luck for everyone around him, Hurley starts thinking that the numbers are cursed, but no one else believes him. It would seem from the show that a clause in this curse is that no matter what you say or how well you document your extraordinary bad luck nobody will believe you, even if your death stops the run of bad luck for those around you. From the time he won the lottery it appears that everyone around him is hurt or has disastrous bad luck, including a box company in Tustin, CA (Note: Locke worked in a box company before he went to Australia and had spent most of his life in Tustin) that he bought with his winnings. When Jack and Hurley question Sayid about Rousseau Hurley notices that the French woman had written Hurley's winning lottery numbers over and over on a piece of paper. Hurley then sets out to find Rousseau and the origin of the numbers, which is paralleled in his flashbacks as he attempts to find out the origins of the numbers at that time as well. Hurley learns that, while monitoring radio signals for the Navy, Leonard and a friend overheard the numbers being repeatedly broadcast. Like Hurley, Leonard's friend used the numbers in a contest and later came to believe that the numbers were cursed. It is revealed that the transmission with the numbers originated from the island. The same transmission diverted the French woman and her companions towards the island, causing their shipwreck. When Rousseau discovered the source of the transmission, she altered it to repeat her distress call. The French woman is the only person to believe Hurley when he says the numbers are cursed.
Michael and Jin continue to build a second raft, but they are having trouble communicating. Locke enlists the help of Claire to build a mysterious object. Towards completion, Claire reveals that it is her birthday. The object turns out to be a cradle for when the baby is born—a birthday gift from the smiling survivalist/handyman.
At the end of the show, the camera shows us the metal object Boone and Locke discovered buried in the jungle (which appears to be a hatch of some sort) with the numbers embossed on it. Earlier in the show during Hurley's flashback, Hurley visited Leonard and told Leonard what he had done with the numbers. Leonard suddenly became lucid, excitedly saying that Hurley had "opened the box" and how he must "get away from those numbers" or it "won't stop".
Trivia
- Sawyer is shown reading A Wrinkle in Time in this episode.
Deus Ex Machina
- Original airdate: March 30, 2005
- Flashback: John Locke
- Written by: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
- Directed by: Robert Mandel
The episode begins with a younger Locke, with hair, working in a discount superstore. He demonstrates the children's game Mousetrap to a boy, calling it his favorite game. A mysterious older woman appears to be watching him in the store, and later in the parking lot. When he confronts her, she reveals that she is his birth mother, Emily Annabeth Locke. John inquires about his natural father, but she tells him that he had no father, and that he was "immaculately conceived" (likely meaning that his was a Virgin Birth).
On the Island, the trebuchet Locke and Boone built fails to break the glass on the metal hatch the two discovered. Locke is unaware that a broken shard has lodged itself in one of his legs until Boone tells him; he later discovers he has no feeling in his feet or legs. When asked about how they would open the hatch, he tells Boone that the Island will send them a sign, and they see a small aircraft, a Beechcraft 18, crashing into the jungle. However, this turns out to be a dream, which concludes with Boone covered in blood, repeating the phrase "Theresa falls up the stairs; Theresa falls down the stairs." Later, when describing the vision he had, he asks Boone, "Who is Theresa?" and is told that she was his childhood nanny whom he believes he caused to fall to her death in his family home. Locke insists that they have to locate the plane, which is eventually found hanging in the trees.
Meanwhile, Sawyer is having increasingly painful headaches, which are not helped by Sun's herbal remedies. Kate, acting as a go-between, convinces Sawyer to accept Jack's medical assistance. After a brief examination, Jack asks him a series of embarrassing questions — "Have you ever slept with a prostitute?"; "Have you ever contracted a sexually transmitted disease?"; "When was the last outbreak?" Jack finally reveals that Sawyer is suffering from hyperopia or farsightedness, and Sawyer's excessive reading is straining his eyes, giving him headaches. Sayid melts together the halves of two pairs of glasses which, when worn by Sawyer, are described by Hurley as looking like "someone steamrolled Harry Potter."
In flashback, Locke hires a private investigator to get information on his father and mother. The investigators tells him that his mother has been committed in the past, and gives him the address of his father, Anthony Cooper. He goes to his father's affluent home, where he is admitted and welcomed. His father appears to take Locke under his wing, taking him hunting several times. Arriving early one day, he sees that his father is on dialysis. His father mentions that he would need a transplant, but is pessimistic about his chances on the waiting list. Locke volunteers to give his father his kidney.
Back on the island, Boone climbs into the plane, at Locke's request as his legs have apparently stopped working. The plane contains statues of the Virgin Mary filled with heroin, flown by drug smugglers under the guise of Nigerian missionaries. Boone checks the radio which still works and subsequently makes contact, saying "We're the survivors of flight 815". After a brief pause, "We're the survivors of flight 815" is heard back over the radio. Just as he possibly makes contact, however, the plane falls out of the tree and crashes to the ground with Boone inside. Locke hoists a badly injured Boone on his shoulders and returns to the camp.
In his flashback, Locke wakes up in the hospital after the kidney transplant to find that his father has gone home for private care. His mother appears and reveals that his father concocted a scheme to convince Locke to give up his kidney. Locke pulls himself out of the hospital bed and drives to his father's home, where the once-friendly guard is not allowed to let him inside. Locke drives away at the guard's pained insistence and screams at the betrayal.
On the island, Locke makes it back to the cave with Boone, saying that he fell from a cliff while they were hunting. Jack springs into action but Locke disappears into the jungle to yell and scream in anguish on top of the hatch. The episode ends with a light coming on inside the structure.
Trivia
- The question over what was said on the radio in response to Boone was in question for some time after this episode. Many believed the transmission said "There are no survivors of flight 815" while others believed it was "We're the survivors of flight 815." The 2nd season episode The Other 48 Days as well as the subtitles in the first season's DVD box set give the definitive answer as well as who was on the radio talking to Boone.
- Deus Ex Machina, the episode's title, is Latin for "god from the machine"
Do No Harm
- Original airdate: April 6, 2005
- Flashback: Jack Shephard
- Written by: Janet Tamaro
- Directed by: Stephen Williams
The injured Boone is in bad shape after his fall from the cliff in the airplane. He's lost a lot of blood, one of his lungs has collapsed and his right leg is crushed. Kate is sent to go and get alcohol from Sawyer. On her way back she discovers that Claire has gone into labor.
Sayid surprises Shannon with a "torch" lit dinner at which Shannon tells Sayid that Boone is only her step-brother, and that he is "kind of" in love with her.
Boone has lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion of type A negative. Jack sends Charlie to find one of the other survivors with a matching blood type. When he unsuccessfully returns (only four people knew their blood type), Jack decides to give him some of his O negative blood. Jack tries to use bamboo as a needle but can't pierce his skin. Sun comes up with a solution and retrieves a sea urchin. Using the urchin's spines, Jack begins to give Boone his blood.
Jin, working on the new raft, hears Kate's call for help and rushes to her and Claire. Despite the language barrier, Kate is able to tell Jin to go and find Jack. Jin rushes to the caves only to find Jack occupied with the blood transfusion. Jack tells Jin (with the aid of Sun translating) to take Charlie to Kate and Claire. Jack then tells Charlie to give Kate instructions on how to deliver the baby.
As Jack begins looking pale, Sun stops the transfusion. Jack then tries to heal Boone's leg but finds it beyond repair and fatal unless it is amputated. Jack seeks the help of Michael to find a way to cut off Boone's leg. Boone suddenly regains consciousness and tells Jack to just let him go.
Boone dies, but reveals to Jack that he and Locke had discovered a mysterious hatch, and Locke had told him [Boone] not to tell anybody else. Claire gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Jack goes looking for Locke, claiming that Boone was murdered.
In flashbacks, we see Jack's wedding to Sarah, a former patient whom he "fixed" after she was injured in a car wreck.
Lost: The Journey
The offical description formerly found on ABC's website is: Flashbacks of the core characters illustrating who they were and what they were doing before the crash, a look at the island itself, and a preview of the big season finale.
The Greater Good
- Original airdate: May 4, 2005
- Flashback: Sayid Jarrah
- Written by: Leonard Dick
- Directed by: David Grossman
The survivors bury Boone, and Locke shows up and explains what happened to them, but Jack does not believe him and is enraged. Sayid asks Shannon what he can do for her, and she replies that he can "take care" of Locke, suggesting killing or torturing him. Sayid makes Locke take him to the Beechcraft in the jungle where Boone was injured, and Locke reveals that it was he who, for the sake of the survivors (the greater good), hit Sayid over the head when he was trying to find the distress signal in an earlier episode. Sayid asks Locke about the gun he is hiding and Locke tells him about the dead drug runner before giving him the gun.
Charlie tells Claire that she needs to rest, and though reluctant at first she lets him take care of her baby. Charlie has a tough time getting the baby to stop crying, but finally manages to do so after seeing the baby's reaction to Sawyer's voice.
Seeing Jack's exhaustion, Kate drugs him with sleeping pills, and while he is sleeping, Shannon takes the key to the briefcase containing the guns. Shannon goes after Locke, but is confronted by Sayid, Jack, and Kate. Sayid tackles Shannon just as she fires the gun, grazing Locke in the head.
The flashback deals with Sayid becoming an informant for the CIA. The CIA knows the location of Nadia, the girl Sayid loves. When his friend Essam is chosen as the next suicide bomber for a group, Sayid is forced to convince him to accept the role and stop him only at the end so that the CIA can seize the explosives to be used otherwise Nadia would be arrested for insurgency. When Sayid reveals his identity as an informant and tries to convince Essam to back out, Essam becomes distraught and shoots himself before Sayid can stop him.
After Essam's death, the CIA tells Sayid he can find Nadia in California, and gives him a ticket for a flight leaving in two hours. Sayid asks about Essam's body and is upset when he discovers that with no one to claim it, the body will be burned, contrary to Muslim tradition. Sayid insists on claiming the body himself and tells them to change his flight.
Back on the island, Sayid visits Locke who thanks him for saving his life. Sayid tells him that he only saved him because he sensed that Locke was their best chance of survival. He then tells Locke to take him to the hatch immediately.
Trivia
- At one point, this episode was titled Sides.
- In one of Sayid's flashbacks, he is in an apartment with Essam and two other men, who are playing Half-Life on their PlayStation 2.
Born to Run
- Original airdate: May 11, 2005
- Flashback: Kate Austen
- Written by: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
- Directed by: Tucker Gates
After Charlie points out that the people rescued from the island will be surrounded by media scrutiny, Kate asks to be the fourth person on the raft, saying she has sailing experience. Michael refuses, saying the raft is full, with Michael, Walt, Jin, and Sawyer. Michael is subsequently poisoned and after Jack interrogates suspected people including Sawyer and Kate, Sawyer reveals to everyone on the island that Kate is the fugitive the U.S. Marshal was escorting, and blames her for attempting to poison Michael; it is also revealed that she kept Joanna's passport and had intentionally damaged the photo so she could use it as her own. Previously only Jack and Hurley had prior knowledge of her fugitive status. After examining the compounds left in the water bottle, Jack discovers Sun attempted to get Jin sick so that he would have to stay behind, but his water bottle was switched with Michael's by accident. Sun reveals in a conversation that Kate had suggested the poisoning, but promised Kate not to tell anyone.
Sayid and Locke reveal the hatch to Jack, who agrees with Locke to find a way to open it, much to Sayid's dismay. When Locke briefly touches Walt, who is not even aware of the hatch, Walt begs him not to open "that thing."
In the flashback, Kate returns to her home town in Iowa, where she meets former boyfriend Tom Brennan, who is now a doctor. Tom and Kate had grown up together, and had always expected to be married when they grew up. Since Kate left town, however, Tom has presumably married Rachel, and they have a baby, Connor. Tom and Kate visit a tree in the middle of a cow pasture and dig up a lunchbox time capsule they had buried on August 15, 1989 (8-15, matching the Oceanic Flight 815). Among the items in the capsule were Tom's toy airplane, which Kate retrieved from the safety deposit box in an earlier episode and now has with her on the island, and a tape recorder with a recording of the two of them talking. Tom says on the tape, "You always want to run away," and Kate replies, "Yeah, and you know why."
Kate has returned to her home town because an unknown helper has sent her a letter along with some money to tell her that her mother, Diane Jansen, is dying of cancer and is in the hospital. With Tom's help, she is able to be alone with Diane, but when Diane wakes up and sees Kate standing over her, she begins screaming for help. A guard grabs her, and Kate knocks him out. Forced to escape, she runs into Tom, who gives her the keys to his car. But when Kate tells him to get away, he refuses, and joins her in the car. When police try to block them in and begin shooting, Kate rams the police car and then crashes Tom's car into another car. Tom is immobile and bleeding; it is unclear if he was hit by one of the bullets or if he injured himself against the dashboard, though he is presumably dead. Kate leaves him (and the toy airplane) in the car and flees.
Back on the island, Walt confesses to Michael that he was responsible for the fire that destroyed the first raft. Walt tells Michael that he did it because he wanted to stay on the island. Michael agrees that they do not have to leave the island, but Walt now insists that they have to leave.
Trivia
- This is the first appearance of Arzt, the high school teacher with a doctorate in science.
Exodus: Part 1
- Original airdate: May 18, 2005
- Flashbacks: Walt, Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Sun, Shannon
- Written by: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
- Directed by: Jack Bender
Rousseau comes to the beach camp to warn the castaways that enemies known only as the "Others" are coming. She tells her story again, and reveals that she was seven months pregnant when she arrived on the island; a week after her baby was born, she was taken by the "Others." She also mentions that the arrival of the "Others" was heralded by a column of black smoke.
Rousseau's warning hastens the launch of the raft. As they are pushing the raft towards the sea, Sawyer uses his lever incorrectly, and the mast of the ship is damaged. As Jin and Michael work to fix it, Sawyer feels like his work is unappreciated, and goes off into the woods to cut a new mast by himself. At this time, Walt notices a column of black smoke coming from within the forest.
Locke suggests that the only place to hide their large group would be in the metallic structure that he has found, but still has no way to open. He suggests that they try Rousseau's dynamite, which would require them to venture back into the woods. Jack plans a squad to go out. Surprisingly, Arzt volunteers to go, as he knows how to handle volatile dynamite better than anyone else. Before they leave, Jack wishes Sawyer a safe trip, and Sawyer reveals that he spoke to Jack's father before his death; he tells Jack that his father was proud of him.
Walt leaves his dog, Vincent, in the custody of Shannon, saying that Vincent was good company when his mother died, and that he might do the same for Shannon after Boone's death.
Sun says goodbye to Jin, and hands him a notebook with common English language nautical words and phrases, written out phonetically in Korean. They make up, and he says that he will still go on the raft, as he wants to do this to rescue her. Jin, Walt, Michael and Sawyer set off in their raft, which appears to be fully operational. Vincent originally attempts to paddle out and follow them, but Walt orders him to turn around.
Jack, Kate, Rousseau, Locke, Hurley, and Arzt journey into the woods when they hear the "Monster" in the forest again. They are scared, but are left unharmed. Rousseau tells them that the "Monster" is the island's defense system. As they journey further, Rousseau states that they have arrived at "The Black Rock," which turns out not to be a geological formation, but a shipwrecked sailing ship. However old it is, it's from a time when ships were made out of wood. She then leaves them.
The episode then abruptly ends with a shot of the column of smoke rising in the forest.
Like the pilot episode, this episode featured flashbacks from multiple characters, each a single continuous scene from the perspective of one character. Each flashback shows what the main characters were doing in their final hours before the flight.
In the first, Walt is watching Power Rangers: SPD in his room, which irritates his sleeping father; after an outburst, Walt attempts to run away with Vincent, but Michael brings him back.
In his flashback, Jack is conversing in the airport bar with another passenger on Flight 815 before the boarding of the plane; she flirts with Jack, who reveals that he is no longer married. She says that she is sitting in seat 42F.
In Sawyer's flashback, he has been taken into the police station. This is apparently three nights after his cameo in Hearts and Minds. The investigator tells him that he knows all about his cons, and books him on the flight out of Australia. It is revealed here that Sawyer headbutted the Australian Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Warren Truss.
Kate's flashback reveals that the Marshal knew that the toy airplane was the only thing of value left to her, so he had baited her with it. When he denigrates the memory of Tom, she attacks him, but is subdued.
Sun's flashback shows her bringing Jin coffee and food in the airport prior to their flight, while a pompous and arrogant American woman comments to her husband that the relationship between Sun and Jin is one of subservience thinking that Sun does not understand English. Affected by her words, Sun accidentally spills coffee into Jin's lap.
In Shannon's flashback, she is waiting for Boone to attempt to upgrade their seats to first class when Sayid asks if he can leave his bag with her. She agrees, and he walks off. When Boone returns, saying that the agent would not upgrade their seats because Shannon had been difficult during check-in, she storms off to try again, leaving Sayid's bag unattended. As Boone is questioning how immoral she can be, she notifies a guard that "some Arab guy" left a suspicious bag in the waiting area.
Trivia
- When Jin and Michael are repairing the raft, Michael angrily says to Jin "No, no, no. This one goes there, that one goes there" which is the exact phrase Han Solo told Chewbacca in The Empire Strikes Back as they repaired the Millennium Falcon. In the next episode Sawyer refers to Michael and Jin as "Han" and "Chewie," respectively.
- In his flashback, Jack reveals his seat number to be 23 and Ana-Lucia tells Jack her seat is 42 at the back. These are the last two numbers in the number sequence 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.
- As the raft launches there is a shot of Vincent (the dog) swimming out after it, you can see a safety man in the water to the right.
Exodus: Parts 2 and 3
- Original airdate: May 25, 2005. Part 2 and 3 of the Exodus episode aired back to back in the US with no delineation, and are summarized as one episode here.
- Flashbacks: Jin, Charlie, Sayid, Michael, Hurley, Locke, Claire (Deleted scene, featured on the LOST: Season 1 DVD)
- Written by: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
- Directed by: Jack Bender
Jack, Kate and Locke go into The Black Rock and find the crate of dynamite. While attempting to handle the dynamite carefully, Arzt himself triggers one of the sticks and is blown up. The remaining group members decide to continue their attempt to carry the dynamite, and wrap it in wet cloth. Locke suggests that they carry a redundant backup; in case one of the carriers blows up, the other will still be able to blow the hatch. Locke, Kate, and Jack all want to volunteer to carry the dynamite, so they draw straws for the responsibility. Jack draws the long stick, so Kate and Locke carry the dynamite. On their way back to the hatch, Jack and Kate see what seems a small cloud of smoke move in an unnatural way through some near trees, they hear the rumbling of the monster. According to plan, Jack and Locke drop their packs, but Kate forgets and keeps hers on. Locke wants to get a glimpse of the monster, and ends up getting nearly under it. His leg becomes ensnared in what sounds like a chain mechanism of some kind, which drags him through the jungle (although freeze frames of the DVD video look as if he's been seized by a tendril of the same strange smoke rather than a conventional chain). Jack grabs onto his arm and is dragged as well, and prevents Locke from being dragged into a hole in the ground. Although Locke pleads with Jack to let him get dragged under, Jack instead tells Kate to grab dynamite out of his bag and drop one down, revealing that he had in fact switched the content of their packs. Kate drops the dynamite down the tunnel, causing an underground explosion, resulting in black smoke (similar to that seen before) coming out of a nearby hole on the horizon, moving in a bizarre, almost supernatural way, and disappearing, all in less than a second. The hold on Locke slackens, and they are able to extract him. Later, Locke reveals that the reason he wanted to fall into the cavern is that it was his destiny and that he felt that the island was testing him.
On the beach, Sayid is leading the group back to the caves, awaiting Jack's party's return. Charlie and Claire are alone on the beach when Rousseau runs up, telling Charlie that she needs to see Sayid urgently. When Charlie runs off to get Sayid, Rousseau begins asking Claire to hold her baby, and Claire tries to make several excuses why she can't give Rousseau the baby. Claire sees a strange scar on Rousseau's arm and has a short ambiguous flashback to a struggle between Rousseau and herself. Soon Charlie and Sayid return to find Claire exclaiming that her baby has been taken, and Sayid surmises that Rousseau intends to attempt an exchange of Aaron (which Claire names) for her own child, Alex, with the "Others". Charlie and Sayid go toward the black smoke, with little daylight left. On their journey they encounter a trap set by Rousseau, which injures Charlie momentarily. Charlie's wound is bleeding profusely, and Sayid orders him to go back to the camp, but Charlie refuses. Sayid then cuts open a bullet, pours the gunpowder into the wound, and sets it on fire to cauterize the injury. They also encounter the downed drug smugglers' plane, and Sayid reveals to Charlie that it is full of heroin, ignorant of Charlie's junkie past. When Sayid and Charlie arrive on the beach with the black smoke, there are no other people, just a pyre. The sound of the baby crying alerts them to Rousseau hiding in the bushes. She cries and tells them that she overheard them saying that they were going to go after "the boy," and she thought that if she brought him to them, they would return her child. She returns the baby, and they reunite it with Claire. It is revealed that Charlie kept at least one of the statues filled with heroin in his bag.
On the raft, the crew is sailing according to plan, and Michael bonds with Walt. Walt learns about Sawyer's long term search for revenge. Jin gives the watch which caused a fight between them earlier in the series to Michael as a gift. At one point, the rudder breaks off, and Sawyer dives into the water after it, risking his life. At this point, Michael discovers that Sawyer has a gun, but decides not to tell the others. At night, their radar sweep turns up a boat in the distance. They fire their single flare, and the boat approaches them. Though they think they are about to be saved, it turns out to be a group of strangers who demand that they hand over Walt. Sawyer tries to pull his gun, but he is shot by one of the other crewmen and falls into the water. Jin jumps into the water to try and save Sawyer, while the strangers overpower Michael and kidnap Walt. As they sail off, a woman throws an explosive onto the raft, destroying it.
The episode ends with Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley arriving at the hatch. They manage to set the dynamite up on the hinge of the hatch, and are about to set it off when Hurley notices the appearance of "The Numbers" on the side. He yells at them not to light it, but Locke lights the fuse anyway. Hurley tries to stamp out the fuse, repeating "the numbers are bad," but Jack tackles him, and the dynamite explodes. They pry open the hatch to reveal a deep, dark metal tunnel. A partial ladder (with broken rungs) can be seen near the top of the tunnel. Though we don't know what is inside yet, one thing is certain — it's a long way down...
As in Part 1, the flashbacks in this episode deal with each character's experiences leading up to the flight.
Jin's flashback follows Sun's flashback from the previous episode. When Jin goes to the bathroom, he encounters a casually dressed Caucasian man who conversationally asks him for a paper towel in English. When Jin indicates that he speaks no English, the man switches to Korean. Seeming somewhat more menacing now, he then reveals that he works for Mr. Paik, and knows that Jin was attempting to run away with Sun. He tells Jin to complete his delivery of a watch to an associate in San Francisco.
Charlie's flashback is of him looking for his stash before leaving for his flight. A girl from the previous night is in his bed. As Charlie finds the drugs, she asks if he has any left. He lies and says that he's out, but she can tell that he's lying and attacks him for the drugs.
Sayid's flashback is of the airport officers apologizing for harassing him about his bag.
Michael's flashback is of him and Walt in the airport waiting for their flight. Walt is absorbed in his Game Boy Advance SP, and Michael is obviously frustrated that they can't connect. He gets up, claiming to need to call work, but he really calls his mother. He expresses his exasperation to his mother, and asks if she can take care of Walt, eventually offering to pay her. Locke makes a split second onscreen appearance, being pushed in his wheelchair, while Michael is on the phone. When Michael hangs up, Walt is right next to him, and may have heard the whole conversation.
Hurley's flashback is fairly comedic, and shows him waking up late for his flight due to a localized power outage. In a mad dash for the airport, he experiences several other problems, including a flat tire, arriving at the wrong terminal; he buys an electronic scooter from an old man for $1600 and manages to get to the terminal just as they are closing the gate. While Hurley is racing to the terminal, it looks like Boone makes a split second appearance in the background; it's hard to see him but it definitely looks like him with the dark hair and dark eyebrows. The boarding agent is able to get them to reopen the doors for him, and he hugs her effusively. This is the longest flashback in the episode and, as expected, the numbers feature prominently. Hurley is shown to be staying in room 2342, his digital display in his car shows that it is 23 degrees outside, and he is originally going 42 km/h; when he gets a flat tire he slows first to 16, then 15, then 8, and finally 4 before the display cuts out altogether. As he is running through the airport, he passes a sports team wearing jerseys with "the numbers" in numerical order. Another revelation from this flashback is that Hurley and Charlie stayed in the same hotel (Charlie yells at him for holding up a full elevator), and the elevator bank also looks exactly like the one in the hotel where Michael and Walt stayed. When Hurley gives his passport to the airport worker, we see that the Departure and Arrival times are 14:16 to 10:42, 16 and 42 both being numbers in the sequence. Finally, we see that Hurley boards the aircraft at gate 23.
In Locke's flashback, the airline staff have lost the wheelchair normally used to load disabled passengers onto the plane, and he must be carried on to the plane by two attendants. When he drops a pamphlet from his seat, he is unable to reach it. He is clearly frustrated by the whole situation, and struggles to maintain his dignity.
There is a final montage of all of the passengers getting on the plane (except for Locke, who was seated early as a disabled passenger). It is fairly uneventful, although when Hurley gets on the plane he gives a thumbs up to Walt, who looks up from his Gameboy for the first time and smiles. Hurley smiles back, sits down, puts on his headphones and starts reading his comic book - the same comic book that Walt found after the plane crash. Mr. Arzt also helps Claire put her bag in the overhead compartment. This montage basically shows how prior to the crash each of the survivors had a brief interaction with another one of the survivors.
