Get Lost in Lost

It’s Sayid flashback time, with panic amid the National Guard – the first Gulf War is in full swing and the Americans are coming. When US soldiers burst in, Sayid steps up to defend his people, revealing his knowledge of the English language.

Kate’s father, Sam Austen, then recruits Sayid to help out the army with interrogations – so perhaps his earlier claim that he fought in the Gulf was slightly off – he was helping America anyway. Just shows the lengths he’s willing to go to protect those he cares about, a strong sense of loyalty.

On island, Ana and Sayid encounter Rousseau, the latter heading off to deal with her himself – he feels personally connected to her due to their previous encounters. Rousseau leads a skeptical Sayid through the jungle, handing him her rifle to show how serious she is – normally it never leaves her side. Not wanting to be fooled again, Sayid checks the firing pin is in place, before trusting her to lead on.

In flashback, Austen forces Sayid to try gain information from his commanding officer Tariq, while Tariq tells him to turn a gun on the Americans and die honourably. Poor Sayid was being pushed and pulled by people long before coming to the island, and will be off the island too by Ben, killing people on a list. We see a bit of Kate in her father, in that he would sooner not torture Tariq, like Kate tries to dissuade the torture of Sawyer, but both Austins give up in the end when it seems there is no other way.

Back on the island, Sawyer’s plagued by more animals, having previously had issues with a boar – this time it’s a frog, but even friendly Jin isn’t willing to help following Sawyer’s hijacking of the camp weapons. Hunting for the frog, Sawyer stumbles across Hurley eating DHARMA foods, and they make an interesting point about DHARMA foods – while Sawyer believes the dressing should be refrigerated, Hurley explains that it keeps at room temperature for 7 years, something that normal food could never accomplish. Seems DHARMA did a lot of work on food and preservation too, not that we’ve ever seen any other proof.

Somewhere on the island, Sayid and Rousseau arrive at their destination – a man caught in a trap. Rousseau tries to warn Sayid that Henry Gale is an Other, a dangerous one at that, but he doesn’t believe her. Despite her insistence that he’s an Other, she never explains how she knows – she of course met our “Henry” years ago when he took Alex as a baby. Of course, she wants Sayid to torture Ben and find out where Alex is, but surely had she explained that to him, Sayid would be far more reasonable and understanding, as opposed to untrusting.

In flashback, Sayid meets another influential man from Lost history – Kelvin Inman. Inman tries to bring Sayid around to his way of thinking, recruiting him and beginning his career as a torturer. Interestingly, Inman talks about finding Sarin gas in Iraq, and later works for the DHARMA Initiative, who manufacture their own chemical weapon at the Tempest. Judging by the effects seen in the purge, it’s not Sarin they use, but it could be a similar weapon.

Inside the Swan, Sayid wakes Locke to introduce him to Ben. Locke and Ben will later have a very interesting relationship, manipulating and pushing one another on, much like Jack and Locke do. Speak of the devil, in walks Jack wondering just what the heck is going on – one day he’s running the camp and knows everything, suddenly Sawyer’s taken control and Locke and Sayid have a wounded man in the Swan.

There’s a glimmer of hope in Ben’s eyes as he sees Jack – he knows who he is from Jacob, and watching at the Pearl. For once, Locke sides with Jack, agreeing that they need to treat Ben’s wounds before anything else, but Sayid is insistent they don’t untie him. For once, Sayid turns out to be right, but it’s another example of him just blinding jumping to negative conclusions.

In the jungle, Sawyer blackmails Hurley to help him find the frog, but Hurley gets sick of it, and only finally agrees to help when Sawyer asks him like a rational human. Somehow, despite everything, Sawyer and Hurley connect with one another, the latter bringing out the good in Sawyer when everyone else gives up on him.

In the Swan, Jack operates on Ben, while Locke and Sayid form a plan to find out if he’s telling the truth – evidence to support your claims, that’s a novel idea Sayid… Turns out Sayid’s grand plan is torture once again, turning Locke against Jack to seal Ben in the armoury. Last time Sayid tortured someone he went on a journey of redemption, yet he’s so quick to jump back – serves him right that he gets tortured in season 5 really.

So quick to jump to conclusions, so quick to turn to violence, and so quick to presume he knows what’s best – it’s little wonder Nemesis seems to hate humanity so much. In flashback, Sayid comes to torture Tariq, spurred on by Inman’s encouragement. A while later he emerges bloody and successful, the beginning of a messy career, all started by the man who started Desmond’s life in the Swan.

Jack confronts Locke about changing the combination, the broken trust between them. Locke however insists that war is messy, and if Jack is raising an army to fight for Walt, then they should do whatever they can to fight back. In the armoury, Sayid questions Ben – the start of their bumpy relationship that culminates in Sayid shooting young Ben for dead. Ben however is quite the convincing liar, as we know, satisfying Sayid’s questions with answers about radio beacons and how his wife got mysteriously sick, just like Rousseau mentioned a certain sickness to Sayid before.

In the jungle, Hurley tries to find a peaceful solution to Sawyers frog problem, but Sawyer turns to the far easier option of violence. It’s like a dumbed down parallel of the story in the Swan really. Ben relays more of Henry Gale’s story, and I must assume that Ben knew the real Henry Gale, who must have told Ben his story over and over – how else would Ben know such meticulous details. Perhaps Henry did crash, and did meet Ben, but fell foul of the Others, ultimately meeting his end.

Finally Sayid slips up, letting Ben get a tiny bit of information – that he buried the girl he loved. While Sayid flies in to a rage and starts uselessly beating Ben to a pulp, Jack insists Locke open the door – or else he’ll prevent him from pushing the button. Suddenly the shoe is on the other foot as Jack has power once again, and Locke doesn’t like it one bit.

The timer drops under a minute, and Jack refuses to let Locke go until he opens the door, making it to the computer just out of time – the counter flips to the hieroglyphs and things start to kick off, much to Locke’s disturbance. Jack pulls Sayid off Ben, and berates him for jumping to conclusions. In flashback, Inman and Austin let Sayid go, thanking him for his service, Inman promising him he’ll torture again.

On the beach, Sayid tells the story of the episode to Charlie, explaining that he knows Ben’s a bad person because he feels no guilt for his actions – citing Charlie’s hanging, Claire’s abduction etc. as proof of the Other’s wrongdoing. The episode ends with Sayid asking Charlie if he’s forgotten everything that happened, setting up the following episode quite nicely.

Locke and Jack stash the guns from Mars’ case inside the armoury of the Swan, showing how things have progressed – no longer is a small case of guns enough, more often than not they’re grabbing more and more guns, bigger and more dangerous. Jack demands the combination lock, which Locke gives up, on the agreement that the door will only open when both men are present – trying to ensure neither man has more power.

On the beach, Sawyer taunts Charlie for having been rejected by Claire and most survivors, but has more to worry about with Jack taking the medicine from Sawyers stash. Jack of course wants to regulate and protect everyone, whereas Sawyer is just looking for a bargaining chip – something to give him power now that Jack and Locke have the Swan over everyone’s heads.

In flashback, Sawyer plays his famous con again, but it’ll soon develop in to a more complex one, when Cassidy figures him out. Of course, we’ll be seeing more of Cassidy in later seasons as she becomes a much more important part of Sawyer’s life. Being smarter than the average bear, Cassidy sees straight through the con, and demands Sawyer teach her his ways, else she’ll spill.

Back on the beach, Sawyer complains about Jack stealing his meds, and laments not being able to read anymore – he lost his glasses on the raft. Kate decides she’ll read to him instead, and the two discuss Locke’s sex life, Sawyer commenting that obviously Locke needs some action. We know he’s never exactly been lucky in love, and I doubt he’ll be meeting anyone now, seeing as he’s dead.

More importantly, Sawyer drops the bomb about Jack and Ana’s war plans for the others – once again Jack’s excluding Kate to protect her. Sayid husks coconuts to take his mind off Shannon, but Hurley brings him a present – Bernard’s radio. Later on (or earlier if I missed it) Charlie does this to get rid of stress too, so it’s clearly a good option if golf’s not your thing. Sayid of course does play golf, but mainly as a cover for his other hobby, shooting people, up in season 5.

Elsewhere, Jack and Ana Lucia plan their attack on the Others, Ana wanting the combination for the armoury, but Jack’s not playing – he doesn’t trust her with guns, and for good reason. At Sun’s garden, things get messy when she’s kidnapped, and Sawyer pitches in to help save her. Of course it’s all just a big con, Sawyer having helped Charlie to put the plan together.

Ana and Jack are quick to jump to war with the Others in retaliation, but Locke is skeptical – he trusts Tom’s word that the Other’s won’t attack unless the losties cross the line. Of course, Jack’ll soon be crossing that line with Michael in search of revenge. Locke also echoes one of Jack’s earlier sentiments by preaching pacifism – if they take guns then they’re more likely to kill one another… Ana Lucia?

Sawyer puts a clever spin on everything, conning Kate in to thinking that perhaps Jack and Ana aren’t so innocent in everything, while covering for Charlie. In flashback, Sawyer teaches Cassidy the fine art of the con, using her to help him rake in even more cash – cons can work better with an accomplice, as we see on the island. Kate confronts Jack, worried that Ana might be the one behind the attack, all part of the plan to make Charlie not the least favourite guy.

Everyone starts to blame Ana, and with good reason, she’s a freaking lunatic. Heh, even Ana Lucia gets Scott and Steve confused, despite never meeting one of them. In her excitement to build an army, she only manages to convince Jack she might not be innocent too. The conversation is cut short by Sun waking up, Jin angry he can’t do anything to help, demanding a gun to fight back.

With everything falling to chaos, Kate suspects it’s all Ana’s plan to get hold of guns, so she can shoot more losties for the heck of it presumably. In flashback, Cassidy asks about pulling a long con, obviously unaware that she’s walking right in to one, having started to trust Sawyer. This happens a lot – people invest trust and have it twisted, like Boone with Locke, and Ben with Jacob.

Ironically, Sawyer suggests buying an island, but promises Cassidy one long con before that happens – he’ll pull his long con with Cassidy, and then end up on the island anyway. However, Cassidy will become a bigger part of Sawyer’s life thanks to their daughter. Cassidy also becomes friends with Kate, who has a relationship with Sawyer, who in his next flashback, is eating at Kate’s mother’s café. Small world.

Inside the Swan, Sawyer works yet another clever trust con, convincing Locke to move the guns – turning Jack and Locke against one another to his advantage, after they took the medicine from him before. In flashback, Sawyer works with yet another con artist (like Hibbs before) who screws him over, demanding Sawyer goes through with it all and con Cassidy – else he’ll kill them both.

In the Swan, Sawyer pushes the button, doing his part to save the world, but doing little to explain to Jack about Locke – taunting him by showing the drugs he’s taken back. On the beach, things really fall apart as Jack and Locke argue publicly over the guns, and Sawyer reveals to everyone that he’s the one with the power now – while the figureheads were arguing, he took the guns.

Sawyer makes his argument, while he was off saving the world, everything went nuts. Sawyer laments his lack of beer, and how he doesn’t want to be told what to do – soon enough he’ll be sipping DHARMA beer and running things in the 70s as LaFleur. The speech really shows how things have transitioned, the medium of trade advancing from mundane items, which are now worthless, to guns – the only thing anyone cares about any more.

In flashback, Sawyer blows the lid on his own long con, pulling an elaborate double cross. It’s because of all this that Cassidy later bears such a grudge against Sawyer, though he admits he does love her – despite telling Kate he’s never been in love previously. Speak of Kate, she’s mad at Sawyer on the island for using her in part of his con, but more importantly she’s hurt – yet another blow in the love triangle to shift things about. To say a lot happened between Jack and Kate, a lot happened between Kate and Sawyer too.

Hurley and Sayid try to use Bernard’s radio to get some signal – finally managing to tune in to a radio station playing orchestral music. Hurley mentions the music could be coming from anywhere, or any time – a hint at the future time travel perhaps? Where was the music coming from though, since the Looking Glass blocks all signals. I guess it was playing over the island at the Barracks, someone listening to their radio.

In the depths of the jungle, Sawyer and Charlie meet to congratulate one another on a con well played – they both wanted revenge, Sawyer on Jack, Charlie on Locke, and both got what they wanted. Sawyer then says a very interesting line, saying Locke got himself a nemesis. Considering everything that transpires in season 5, this line carries a lot of weight, especially if we’re to take it that nemesis isn’t the bad guy.

In flashback, Sawyer takes all Cassidy’s money anyway, as he explains to Charlie – he’s not a good person. Sounds like Others talk to me, and Mikhail did say he wasn’t on the list. The episode ends with Sawyer and Charlie both dealing with the weight of what they achieved, Sawyer reverting back to his old ways once again, but he’ll soon be playing good guy again, so it’s all good.

Today’s story starts with a young Charlie waking up on Christmas morning trying to find presents – everything is for Liam. That is, except for the piano his mother unveils. I just got a tingle listening to her line, she explains how Charlie is special, and with his talents he’ll get everyone out of here someday.

This is excellent since in Through the Looking Glass, it’s only Charlie that can solve the musical code with his special talent, and in doing so, he gets people off the island – it’s direct foreshadowing, that at the time was just a throwaway comment.

The scene gets even weirder when Liam appears grown up in a nappy – just like in the DriveShaft commercial, and Charlie grows up – his father belittling him and cutting up dolls with a cleaver. Dreams on Lost are always important, and this one can be analysed further – is the act of his father butchering dolls representing that children (as in Aaron) will die unless Charlie saves them?

Charlie then plays the piano on the beach, and hears baby Aaron trapped inside the piano, but gets distracted by whispers from the jungle, and the piano with baby floats out to sea. This could show that to keep Aaron safe, Charlie can’t afford to focus on the Others in the jungle – his dreams and hopes lie out to sea, at the Looking Glass. Overanalysing? Almost definitely, but the links and imagery are there.

Back to reality, Charlie wakes up and panics when Aaron is missing from the cradle Locke made, and rushes off to find him – safe with Locke and Claire. Charlie’s jealousy at Locke is very similar to Jack’s jealousy over Sawyer in the previous episode, both men growing bitter and acting because of it. Trying to make ammends, Charlie apologises to Claire – trying to get back to how things were before – just like Jack with Kate. There’s a lot of parallels like that between Charlie and Jack in this episode.

Flashback Charlie visits baby Megan in the hospital – his niece we see grown up in Australia. Charlie lies to cover for Liam, making up a story for why he’s not there to see his daughter. Back at Charlie’s DriveShaft Rock Lair, Liam’s passed out on drugs, and Charlie tries to fix him.

On the beach, Hurley’s still trying to find out more about Libby, asking Sawyer and Kate for help – Sawyer asks if they have a connection, which since she was in Santa Rosa with him, they might have.The love triangle expands a bit, Jack and Ana Lucia wandering together, Kate looking on sadly, while Sawyer taunts them.

On a stretch of beach, Charlie plays his music but finds Aaron’s cradle out to sea, and swims out to save him. Way back in season 1 Charlie lied to Jack he was a bad swimmer, but I suppose he’s motivated, and so he puts his talent to use. Having saved Aaron, things get even stranger when he dreams his mother and Claire recreating a religious painting – where both women tell him he has to save Aaron from terrible danger.

Now either Charlie’s heroin withdrawal has come back to bite him in the ass, or the island is actually telling him something, in that baby Aaron must be kept safe from harm – and needs a guardian. Of course, Claire looks after her child, but in season 4 she does walk away from him in to the jungle, so perhaps he does need extra protection.

In the background of Charlie’s vision he sees a plane crash – Yemi’s beachcraft, which I suppose is just his mind telling him “dude you have heroin, this can all go away” but Hurley comes along and snaps him out of it. It’s the middle of the night, and Charlie’s taken Aaron to the seafront. Everyone comes running, worried there’s been another baby kidnapping incident, and Charlie gets hit by Claire – the first time this episode, though he’ll be black and blue by the end.

On the beach, Hurley is once again gambling his money away – this time at cards with Sawyer, who tells him to go after Libby. If only he’d spent more time with her now they could have had more time together, before the sad events coming up soon enough. Outside the Swan, Charlie turns to Locke as he has before, hoping that he can help him, but Locke is annoyed and refuses.

Charlie raises a good point – everyone sees things and has visions on the island, but when he does it people go nuts. Locke himself has had many visions over the course of the show, so you’d expect him to be sympathetic, or listen to the call of the island, but I suppose he thinks he knows best, and only he has the connection.

In flashback, DriveShaft shoot the nappy commercial I mentioned earlier, and interestingly it appears as if Charlie has become the front man for the band, as his brother’s drug problem gets worse and worse. Much like Jack, Charlie refuses to leave his brother, desperate to save everyone all of the time – another similarity between our two losties.

Inside the Swan, Hurley and Libby chat while washing clothes, and she interestingly questions whether the washer and dryer are newer than most of the Swan contents, but Hurley brushes it aside. It’s a good question – they certainly look newer, perhaps DHARMA dropped them in like a food drop for Inman and Radzinsky, or maybe they came across from the Barracks? either way’s possible.

Hurley suddenly recognises Libby, from Santa Rosa presumably – and she clearly knows what he’s thinking so she distracts him. Why does she try and hide her past – did something happen between them while in Santa Rosa? Just up the beach, Eko begins to plan his church, but takes a great interest in Charlie’s dreams – telling him that they must baptise Aaron.

Charlie runs to tell Claire the news, but Kate refuses to let him near – already standing up for the baby she’ll later raise. Again, I find it most irritating that nobody listens to Charlie, but when they go nuts it must be true. In the jungle, Charlie starts to crack, and breaks open one of his heroin statues, the drugs seeming more and more tempting all the time.

In flashback, Charlie writes his song to save DriveShaft – the song to save them all, but parallel to the island story, Liam’s partner has kicked him out due to the baby – just like Claire and Charlie. Locke follows Charlie, discovering he lied about the drugs, and decides that Charlie can no longer be allowed free choice – he has to intervene in the name of fate.

Charlie agrees with me – the visions are destiny, and explains this to Locke – quoting his own everything happens for a reason line. Locke however, is of course the only one allowed to be chosen by the island, and so he ignores Charlie, belittling him again. To say Charlie’s so popular with the audience, I really feel like people in the island don’t like him much, except for Hurley. Reminds me of The Moth when nobody wanted to thank Charlie.

At the beach, Claire asks Locke if she and Aaron can sleep in the Swan – where they never actually visit – and Locke agrees to stay close at night, to protect them both. Claire shows a bit of worrying about Charlie’s warnings, but Locke dismisses her fears, telling her there’s no danger. At night, desperate to save the baby by baptism, Charlie starts a fire – which everyone rushes to put out, lead by Sayid.

In flashback, Charlie makes a horrible discovery – his brother has sold the piano, using the money to turn his life around in Australia – sacrificing Charlie’s hope his own. This is mirrored on the island with people throwing his life upside down as he tries to make them better. In the ensuing fire chaos, Charlie takes Aaron to baptise him, but Claire notices, and Locke comes to the “rescue” to beat the crap out of him.

Just like Liam off the island, Charlie sacrifices his own hope by returning Aaron to Locke and Claire, and gets beaten up for this troubles. It’s a disgusting truth of human nature that everyone thinks they are so holy – Hurley being disgusted despite his own obsession over the numbers, Kate with her horse, and Locke with his many many visions.

The day after, Jack comes to Charlie to fix him, seemingly the only person willing to give him the time of day. Annoyingly, Claire follows Charlie’s advice after condemning him previously – asking Eko to baptise her and Aaron.

Inside the Swan, Locke seals the heroin statues away in the armoury, while Charlie is left alone. The episode ends almost opposite to how the series has developed – with Charlie putting his hood back up, going back inside himself, isolated and lost once more.

Flashback Jack and Christian struggle with a patient’s x-rays – dealing with a tumour on the spine. Ben’s tumour is similar, and Jack will despair when he sees those x-rays too. The patient appeals to Jack, having hunted him down because of his miracle surgery on Sarah, much like Ben needs him to work a miracle – and he succeeds.

Jack wakes inside the Swan to find nobody manning the computer, Locke having been knocked unconscious by a crazed Michael. Michael takes a rifle, having been trained how to use one by Locke, and threatens to shoot the computer – which has already happened once before. Urged on by talking to Walt via the computer, Michael sets off on his solo mission to save his son, which won’t end well.

Trapped in the armoury, Locke and Jack realise the button will run out of time and there’s nothing they can do – they’re sealed in from Locke changing the combination last episode. On the beach Kate visits Sawyer and mentions throwing rocks, probably not realising just how many he’s had thrown at him by Ana Lucia. Having been away so long, Sawyer makes the most of missing Kate by getting closer to her, much like Jin and Sun being closer now.

Kate and Sawyer head to the hatch to get his bandages changed, where Sawyer frees Locke and Jack from the armoury, and Kate enters the numbers in time. Jack immediately decides they need to go after Michael, arming up. Upon hearing it’s all to save Walt, Sawyer grabs a gun himself – determined to save the boy for Michael, and get revenge on Tom and the Others.

In flashback, Jack’s trying to work another miracle to fix his patient, his hard work and dedication putting a strain on his relationship with Sarah. Jack isn’t a man for married life, he gets too involved in everything else – his obsession with returning to the island and jealousy at Sawyer later ruining his engagement to Kate. In the jungle, the hunting party of Locke, Jack, and Sawyer set off, with Kate desperate to get involved.

Once again, Jack refuses to let her come, despite frequently asking for her backup. Locke realises Michael’s heading North – away from the tailie camp, and more towards the Others. On the beach, Kate fills Hurley in on the events, and Jin with his limited English picks up that something’s going on. Hurley, being a terrible secret keeper, spills the beans, and Jin sets off to join the A-team. Sun however doesn’t want to lose him, and talks him round, as he decides he’d rather be with her.

The group continue onwards, Sawyer’s injury slowing him down, while Locke tries to work out what’s going on. Jack demands he’ll get Michael back, no matter what. Locke however realises that they’re no organised body – everyone’s still their free person, and so Michael is ultimately going to do what he wants. This is true, since he works with the Others twice to earn his son’s freedom.

Flashback Jack prepares for surgery, but Christian berates him, warning him not to get too involved because he’s better than that, not wanting him to fall foul like his father. As the group climb a hill, Sawyer likens it to Mt. Vesuvius – another reference to the volcano somewhere on the island, which I definitely see erupting in season 6. Locke questions Sawyer’s name, knowing he’s James Ford from the flight manifest, asking where he got it from.

Ironically, Locke’s father Cooper was the original Sawyer, and the two men will get their revenge on him later when Sawyer kills him in The Brig. Shots are fired, and Jack charges off despite Locke’s inhibitions – last time the scene was like this, Sayid warned Shannon about running off and she got killed. Locke tries to find the trail, while Sawyer and Jack debate their motivations – Sawyer wanting revenge, and Jack wanting to remain in control of his group.

In flashback, Jack’s mad – he saved the patient, excising the tumour, but fate intervened and his heart gave out regardless. Saving his son from the pain of telling the patients daughter, Christian does the job for him, but Jack has to be involved, needing to face up to his failure. Of course this is why he’s hunting Michael – he failed letting the rafties get caught and Shannon get killed, so he refuses to fail again.

On the island, Jack demands the group press on, when Tom emerges from the jungle, and tells Jack to back off. Sawyer runs forwards for revenge, but an Other takes a shot from the jungle, grazing Sawyer’s neck. Tom assures the losties that Michael will never find them, which proves to be wrong.

In the hatch, Hurley and Charlie talk music and women – Hurley somehow sensing he has a chance with Libby, and wondering what her story is – much like the audience still are. Sayid joins the boys, commenting how lame the music is, and wanting to go join the hunting party – he’s been left out. In the jungle, Tom tells Jack that nobody’s gonna hurt him – he’s far too valuable to Ben and the Others.

Tom also mentions Walt’s safety, and his special powers, while berating the losties for traipsing all over the island and causing mayhem. Jack doesn’t buy any of it, and reveals they killed Ethan, theorising that there’s more losties than Others – which is of course quite wrong, we have no idea how many Others there are, but it’s lots.Tom gets the Others to light torches, revealing just how strong their numbers are, and warns Jack to go home, but Jack’s stubborn nature forces Tom’s hand.

Tom calls Alex (presumably Alex Rousseau) to bring out Kate, who has been captured following the group – Sawyer gets mad and turns his gun on Tom, but it falls to Jack’s decision – he’s willing to let Michael go and leave, in exchange for Kate’s life. Soon enough, Kate, Sawyer, and Jack will be captured and bound again, but for now Tom lets Kate go, in exchange for the guns and Jack’s word. Sawyer promises Tom that they’re not done, and they’ll have many more issues in series 3 culminating in Sawyer shooting him for revenge.

On the beach, Jin struggles to cope with not being able to help, but works at fixing his relationship with Sun instead, the two of them better for it. The hunting party heads home, Kate apologising for not listening, but he’s hurt – he never wanted her to get hurt.

Flashback Jack returns home to a broken home, the pain of failure hanging on him heavily, but he comes clean about kissing the daughter to Sarah – trying to make ammends and fix things, but it’s too late. Some things can’t be undone, which is why Jack sets his heart on jughead – too much has happened between him and Kate that he’d rather start over for her sake.

Sarah reveals she’s been seeing someone else, the same thing Jack fears Kate is doing in season 5, which destroys that relationship too. She warns Jack he’ll always need something to fix, and I believe this is true, until Jack can cope without fixing things he’ll never be free to be happy.

As the party return to the beach, Locke visits Claire and Aaron – with Charlie watching from the sidelines. This sets up the next episode, where things will really come to a head.

The episode ends with Jack turning to Ana Lucia, refusing to give up on Michael, refusing to stop fixing things, as he asks her another one of those iconic Jack lines – “how long would it take to train an army?”

23? Where have we heard that number before… We begin, of all places, in Nigeria. Eko and Yemi enjoy a fairly easy life, before all the chaos begins. A militant group appears and tries to force Yemi to shoot an innocent man, presumably to bring him in to their ranks and cause mayhem.

Eko steps up and kills the man, to save his brother from the pain and consequences. This moment of course sets in motion everything, as Yemi picks up Eko’s cross, and Eko leaves with the group who will later crash on to the island with a plane load of heroin. Fate works in mysterious ways.

On the island, Eko carves scripture and things on to his staff, while Claire comes to meet and greet the new losties. Eko is pleased to hear the baby is called Aaron, being a biblical name. Claire thinks Eko could be of some help to Charlie, who needs to embrace his religion, but Eko is more interested in the statues – they of course held his heroin.

In the Swan, Locke changes the combination on the guns to stop more people getting shot – not that it’ll make much difference when Ana Lucia and Libby are in the ground. Michael expresses doubt about Locke’s age, when the latter talks about silent movies, but Locke assures Michael he’s certainly old. Either he’s just indicating he’s a few years older than he looks (almost certainly) or there’s more of a hint in his words to Nemesis’s possession of him. (almost definitely not, and I’ve gone lost-nuts.)

Jin and Charlie go fishing, the latter singing Kinks songs, much to Jin’s distaste. Eko charges down the beach and grabs Charlie, demanding he take him to the statues, which Charlie reluctantly agrees to. Soon enough Charlie will be having another showdown on the beach, this time with Locke. In flashback, Eko has become everything he tried to protect Yemi from, just like Jack becomes Christian and Sawyer becomes Cooper.

Eko strikes an arrangement with a drug dealer, agreeing to transport the heroin out of Nigeria, but kills the men for claiming he has no soul. Despite falling a long way, Eko is still acting in the interests of the “greater good” by killing drug dealers, and letting a young boy live when his men would have killed. Interestingly, Eko is a merciless killer off the island, and Ben showed he can be too – and both face judgement by Smokey. Only difference being Eko gets killed, and Ben gets let off. I suppose this is because Ben always acted for the island, whereas Eko acted for himself I guess, he got lost in his own darkness.

At the beach, Claire is mad at Charlie for having the drugs, though he manages to lie to her – how would he know there were drugs inside if it was sealed? There’s of course an element of truth to his story though, since he isn’t currently using, as he proves by throwing it all in the sand. In the midst of the jungle, Locke teaches Michael how to fire a gun. This is just like him teaching Walt to throw a knife in series 1, except while we never see Walt throw a knife again, Michael will soon be firing off a few shots.

Pulling the trigger, Michael bursts open some DHARMA ranch dressing – the same kind Hurley will be messing about with in Dave. En route to the Pearl/beachcraft Charlie tries to pass a lie at Eko to hide where he found the drugs, but Eko’s having none of it, revealing he knows about the plane. It’s interesting to see Charlie and Eko arguing, since soon enough they’ll be working together to build the church – which Charlie will continue even after Eko’s death.

In flashback, Eko returns home to confess his sins to Yemi – just like Smokey will judge him as Yemi later on the island too. Eko tries to convince Yemi to help him get the drugs out of the country, but his cries fall on dead ears when Yemi tells him God condones none of his actions. On the beach Kate cuts Sawyers hair – being quite good at changing appearance as we’ve seen with dying her hair blonde, and no doubt cutting it while on the run.

Michael asks her if he can swap shifts – manning the button tonight. Of course he wants to contact Walt again, despite the Swan video. Eko and Charlie bond a little over a strange connection – both men have their brothers to hold directly responsible for where they currently are. Eko spots a parachute, and finds a fallen “priest” – but it’s not Yemi, it’s the man Eko accredits his life to for shoving him off the plane.

In flashback, Eko has to turn to drastic matters, bursting in to the church, demanding his brother ordains him and his cronies, that they may fly the drugs out themselves. Yemi warns Eko that while they have both sinned, God will forgive him for his actions. True enough, on the island, Eko faces judgement and is killed. Having got lost, Charlie clambers a tree to try and find where he is, while Eko hears the monster clicking about, before it bursts forth and approaches him.

Charlie sees the monster for the first time, despite running from it way back in Pilot, having just mentioned never seeing the monster last episode. Smokey confronts Eko, who stands his ground, and much like when Ben faces judgement, Eko sees flashes of his past in the smoke – presumably he too is being judged, and deemed worthy of living, for now. I believe Eko is allowed to live here because he is trying to put Yemi to rest, and is further helping the island folk – he hasn’t finished what he came to do yet.

In the Swan, Michael checks nobody’s around, before checking his watch (that Jin gifted to him aboard the raft) and setting down at the computer. Before he can find out much, Jack comes in and offers his reassurance that the team will go out and bring Walt home. This of course happens, but things never go quite to plan. Eko and Charlie find the plane, and it stirs a flashback.

Eko and his men load the drugs on the plane, dressed as priests. Yemi pleads Eko not to go on the plane, trying everything in his power to stop Eko from going – does he sense something about the island? Perhaps he knows only bad can come of it, and so he sacrifices himself, like his brother did for him many years ago, and Eko takes Yemi’s place as the priest. Inside the plane, Eko sees his own bloody hand print, and finds his brother at last.

Seemingly having repeated his journey on island as off island, Eko becomes a more priestly man, replacing Charlie’s heroin statue for his misgivings, and giving his brother a true funeral – yet another instance of bodies being burned on the island. Charlie and Eko stand together, and recite the 23rd Psalm together – seems Claire was right, Eko does bring out the religion in Charlie.

As they pray, Jin introduces Sun to Ana Lucia, and gives her a fish – showing how much the tailies are becoming integrated. Libby tries to set up camp, and Hurley helps her, the first sparks of their relationship. Sawyer admires his new haircut and plays with Kate, while Jack sadly interrupts to give Sawyer his medicine. Charlie apologises to Claire, but it’s too late and she sends him away.

Of course, with their relationship already strained, things are only going to get worse in Fire + Water. The episode ends as Charlie walks off alone to a hidden stash of heroin statues, losing Claire making him weak again, the drugs being the only constant in his life. We’ll be seeing more of constants in series 4, though Charlie never saw time flashes, poor guy.

It’s a peaceful morning, and all is well on the beach. Jin and Sun emerge from their tent, reunited. Could this be where she gets pregnant? I think it’s most likely. However, at the grave site, Sayid belligerently digs Shannon’s grave beside her brother Boone’s. Nikki and Paulo will later be buried here too, along with Ana Lucia and Libby.

Inside the Swan, Jack tends to Sawyer, the latter murmuring he loves her in his sleep. Jack looks on sadly, fearing he’s losing her, though she’ll still be his main motivation for most of the show. Out in the jungle, Kate collects food for loverboy, but encounters a black horse from her past.

In flashback, Kate plays with a lighter, having laid the trap for her father, who turns up drunk. Wayne smells the gas but Kate tells him to ignore it, tucking him in to bed, and driving away on her bike, just as the house explodes, killing him inside – the start of her life on the run. Interestingly, the comic-con videos portrayed an alternative outcome, wherein Kate had tried to kill Wayne but failed, instead killing his apprentice.

If Jack changed history, or fixed time, could he have condemned Kate to another life on the run? If so, he’d certainly do everything he could to save/help her. Still in flashback, Kate goes to visit her mother – this is before she gets sick, though she’s still more interested in Wayne than Kate. Turns out Kate tried to help her mother more than by just killing Wayne, as she took out insurance on the house too, to give her mother money to live by.

Back on the island, Kate comes to Sawyer and Jack, the latter trying to get Kate away from Sawyer – of course he doesn’t want them falling in love, he’s already falling for her himself. Kate however refuses to leave his side, and so Jack leaves her in charge of the button and Sawyer, as everyone will be at Shannon’s funeral. On the beach, Ana begins to set up camp, avoiding the funeral, though Eko tries to convince her to go. His actions as a guide are not only based upon his good spirit, but also to find redemption for his earlier life in Nigeria, and the murders on the island.

At the grave site, everyone gathers to hear Sayid speak, and he offers up that thanks to 815 he got to meet her – some good can come of all bad. In this same form, will some good come from Jacob’s murder? With Sayid unable to finish the funeral, Jack takes the lead – having moved on a lot since his earlier days where he struggled as a leader, and with the responsibilities at Boone’s funeral and the funeral pyre.

In the Swan, Kate plays music from her past and talks to Sawyer, mentioning how her horse appeared as an apparition due to her not sleeping – much like Jack tried to explain Christian as an insomnia-based vision. However, much like Sawyer previously thought he saw Frank Duckett as a boar, Sawyer wakes up and attacks Kate, as if an apparition of Wayne. Jack and Locke come in to the Swan to hear the final warning alarm – 23 seconds on the clock.

Locke rushes to hit the numbers, and for the second time they get pushed with a second to spare. Jack finds Sawyer passed out on the floor, and helps him up, trying to find Kate. On the beach, Charlie finds Kate, and says how the tailies had gone Lord of the Flies, like I commented a few blogs ago. She asks about horses, and whether there are any on the island – Charlie reminds here there’s a monster and polar bears, so why not. We have seen horses on the island though, outside the Flame, and being ridden by Widmore in series 5. (albeit in the past)

In flashback, Kate tries to get to Tallahassee (Cooper was referred to as the Man from Tallahassee) but runs in to Edward Mars, and realises the whole thing’s a set up. Kate’s caught for the first time, and her relationship with Mars begins – he even comments that he’s got her and nobody else need be involved. Back in the Swan, there’s a very important moment, as Locke finally cuts Jin’s handcuff off, with the comment “free at last” – and Jin thanks him in English.

Michael notices the blast doors, and points them out to Locke, who’ll see the point (ok that was terrible) of the doors soon enough. In his efforts to try and get everyone involved in the Swan effort, Locke takes Michael to the video, and Eko comes with him, ever curious about DHARMA. In the jungle, Jack finally finds Kate, and tries to find out just what the hell happened, when she apologises for not being as perfect or good as Jack.

We know from flashbacks that Jack is far from perfect, and in a future episode Mikhail mentions how Kate isn’t a “good person” while I believe it’s Danny Pickett says Jack also wasn’t on the list. Losing her mind on the island, Kate turns to Jack, and the couple kiss, but presumably thinking of Sawyer, she turns and runs off leaving Jack alone, once again.

In the Swan, Michael and Eko watch the video curiously, while Locke, now perfectly at home there, stands by with a cup of tea. Michael is curious and doesn’t understand, while Eko walks away, speechless. I guess it clashes with his faith to a degree – God wouldn’t let the world hinge on a button would he? Kate, slowly losing it, goes to Shannon’s grave to pay her respects – having missed the funeral.

Sayid tries to help, it seems everyone asks him about visions and whispers, he’s the go to man about dodgy stuff. He reveals he saw Walt in the jungle, much like Kate’s horse, which helps allay her fears. In flashback, Mars is taking Kate in, and trying to understand why she killed Wayne, but really just baiting her and pushing her to the edge. He’s forever taunting and pushing her, just part of his character that he likes to be completely in control.

Kate calls out that there’s a horse in the road, but it’s too late and Mars crashes. In the commotion, Kate kicks him out of the car and drives off, but not before confronting the horse. Smoke monster? Nemesis? We know it’s not Jacob though from comic-con, but it could be some island magic guiding her and helping her on the run to get towards the island.

In the Swan, Locke and Michael consider the computer, Locke mentioning that you can’t type anything until the buzzer starts sounding – which of course will come in to play when Walt and Michael communicate via the computer. Eko tells Locke a story, mentioning a ruined temple where people worshiped – coincidence to the island? He talks of rebuilding the temple using an ancient book of law – the old testament.

Could there be some foreshadowing here for the Temple. Eko hands Locke the bible from the Arrow, with the removed Swan tape inside. Presuming this was Radzinsky’s doing, why on earth would he hide parts of the tape in a bible? And why at the Arrow – unless it had been abandoned in the purge and he used it as storage.

Hurley comes to Jack, expressing a common audience thought at the time – mentioning Rose’s husband being white and nobody seeing it coming. Jack mentions Sun looking after Sawyer, continuing her nursing role, while Hurley points out that when people are stressed on the island, they chop wood. In the Swan, Kate works up the courage to be with Sawyer again, letting Sun take some rest.

In flashback, Kate goes to her father – well, stepfather, whom we’ll later see capturing Sayid (along with Kelvin Inman) in a much later episode. Here, Kate confesses to her crimes, and confronts her father about not telling her the truth. Mr. Austin was stationed in Korea, where later in series 5 Dr. Chang asks Hurley about the war out there. Kate leaves, and will never see her stepfather again, though she may yet in series 6 for whatever reason.

In the Swan, Kate sits by Sawyer once again, but addresses Wayne. More madness and confusion will be addressed on the island soon enough with Dave, but the whole island making you confront yourself aspect has still to be answered. Sawyer wakes up and wonders what the hell is going on, and looking around he guesses he must be saved, much like everyone watching series 2 for the first time thought Desmond was off the island.

Locke and Eko repair the broken Swan tape, talking destiny bringing pieces together, and Eko famously tells Locke not to mistake coincidence for fate – a concept that runs through the show, how much is actually fate, and how much is luck? Sawyer still refuses to believe he’s on the island until Kate takes him outside, though he does call this island home eventually. I’m convinced he’ll be staying for a long time, even if some people get saved.

Outside, Kate and Sawyer see the horse, and it leaves, as if Kate’s dealt with her issues, much like Sawyers boar leaving him alone. On the beach, Jack brings Ana Lucia tequila – what they were drinking before they came to the island. Jack mentions wanting a drink – already starting to show the signs which later flare up off island.

While Eko and Locke watch the edited clips, Michael checks out the computer. Chang explains the computer mustn’t be used for communication, fearing another Incident, but why? What could possibly happen, unless of course there was a previous incident with Radzinsky or someone using the computer to contact someone – maybe they accidentally brought people to the island?

The episode ends when Michael gets a message through the computer, and not having heard the video, starts responding. He finds out that Walt is communicating with him, which of course leads him to run off, and side with the Others. For all his wrongdoings, Michael did finally get his son safe, and since that’s all he ever wanted, you can’t blame the guy.

We start similar to how the previous episode ended – Ana Lucia firing a gun, but we’re in flashback. Oh joy, Ana time. She talks through her problems, importantly mentioning that she’s very happy to have a gun back in her hands. She asks whether “she” will let her back on the force, of course referring to her mother – another tangled and complex parenting relationship.

On the island, everyone stands frozen around the scene, when Sayid draws his own gun to kill Ana Lucia, but Eko intervenes and fights him – of course neither man knows who the other is at this point. Knocking Sayid out, Ana does the most helpful thing, and steals his gun, holding everyone at bay. Despite having just killed a woman, Ana fires another shot off randomly in to the jungle, screaming at Michael and Jin like the crazy bitch she is. Won’t be so happy when it’s the other way around will you Ana?

Oh Michael agrees with me “are you crazy?” but Eko refuses to help her any more, she’s gone nuts, ordering Libby around at gunpoint, despite being friends with her for 48 days. In flashback, Ana Lucia returns to the force, though her captain, and mother, gives her a desk job to keep her out of harms way – and to protect the people, a wise move.

Back at lostie beach camp, things are progressing as usual, with Rose settling in to island life and trying to care for Jack, who has been manning his duty in the Swan, saving the world by pushing the button with Locke. A golf ball lands in the water, almost reminiscent of the flaming arrow attack in series 5, and Jack finds Kate, Hurley, and Charlie playing golf on the beach.

Hurley once again is gambling away his fortunes on the island, eager to get rid of it due to the curse of the numbers. Kate challenges Jack to a golfing match, though it’s really just sexually charged madness. In the jungle, Libby tells Ana Lucia to give up the game and just apologise, though Ana realises the cost of her actions, and everyone turns against her – Eko carrying Sawyer back to camp.

Flashback Ana is out on patrol again, and they talk about her partner Danny. Now knowing how intricately woven our characters are, we only know one other Danny – Danny Pickett, whom Sawyer gets to know rather well next series. We know he was married to Colleen, and was a fairly important Other though, so the two can’t be the same.

On scene at a domestic, we witness another dysfunctional family shouting their problems out, though Ana goes her usual form of crazy, and starts flailing a gun about. On island, Libby once again pleads Ana to free Sayid, but she refuses, fearing for her own safety. Michael refuses to cooperate any longer, helping Sayid out, and interestingly he dares her to shoot him – though it’ll happen the other way.

Michal fills Sayid in on the story of what happened with Walt, Sayid still remaining focused on finding Walt (whom he and Shannon were hunting) despite everything. At the golf course, Kate lands a great shot (where did she learn to swing like that on the run?) while Jack hits a far less successful one, despite his earlier success on the range. Eko emerges from the jungle with Sawyer on his back, fate bringing him straight to the doctor, who looks suitably baffled.

In the Swan, Locke does a crossword, keeping busy while manning the computer, when Jack and Kate burst in to save Sawyer. Locke comes along, concerned, and neglects the button for a moment, until Jack asks him to push it, the opposite of Locke asking him to do the same at the start of the series. Eko examines the area, having previously stayed at the Arrow. He’ll later venture to the Pearl, being quite interested in DHARMA, just like Locke – with whom he shares a strange moment as they just look at one another.

Back at makeshift camp, Bernard tries reasoning with Ana, pleading with her to let him go to his wife, though her stubborn idiocy keeps him at bay. Instead, she comes up with a great plan, asking Michael to fetch her ammo, medicine, clothes, basic supplies. If her plan is to try and survive alone, that really wouldn’t end too well, as she’s not a “good person” in the Other’s eyes.

Michael refuses to leave Sayid’s side, though Jin (in Korean that Michael understands through their growing friendship) tells him to go, and that he will protect Sayid. Flashback Ana gets the book thrown at her for overreacting to things, and she only adds to this issue by refusing to ID the man who shot her previously, despite it being him.

At the Swan, Eko is alarmed to find the armoury, having seen the damage guns cause. He informs Locke of what went on, and Locke is pained to realise Shannon, one of his losties, has been killed, though Eko refuses to take him to the scene, clearly worried that the losties will bring more guns and issues to the already messy table. Jack and Kate continue their efforts to save Sawyer, who is too ill to take his medicine. Kate however manages to talk him round, much to Jack’s discomfort. Upon her success, Jack laments his own bedside manner, which has been commented on many times.

At the chaotic site, Bernard leaves Ana, thanking her for everything she’s done, but not wanting to be a part in her madness any longer. Libby leaves too, and with encouragement from Sayid, Jin reluctantly follows to guide them back to camp. Michael runs back to camp, emerging at Sun’s garden. Sun is startled, obviously, having seen Michael set sail on the raft a few days previous, and having buried the bottle full of letters.

Her concern is of course for Jin, though Michael asks for her help in finding Jack and getting Ana’s supplies. In the Swan, Jack is mad at Eko and demands to be taken to the site, while Locke tries to calm him down. Luckily for Jack, fate intervenes and Michael shows up. Just as Eko predicted, Jack and Michael arm up and prepare to go back, though Eko stands in their way, not wanting any more bloodshed.

Jack is staggered to learn it’s Ana Lucia behind it all, having met her in the flight lobby before boarding 815. This is yet another turn of fate for him, having met Desmond in the Swan in a similar manner, and once again Locke looks on, seeing Jack start to believe in fate and the island’s magic. Eko notes this, and agrees to take Jack alone, with no guns, to try and talk Ana around.

Speak of the devil, she’s getting to know Sayid, who tries to help her understand the repercussions of killing a man, and even mentions how killing someone could be destiny, like his attempt to kill young Ben in series 5. Waving her gun about, Ana recalls her story of being shot in the course of duty, and Sayid learns just how insane she is when she tells him just what she did with her shooter.

In flashback, Ana Lucia follows him around all night, before murdering him, shooting him 6 times at point blank. Sayid prepares for death, but Ana frees him instead, asking Sayid to kill her and put her out of her misery. Taking the gun to prevent her going more crazy, Sayid refuses to let her die, wanting her to feel the pain of her actions, and picks up Shannon. Inside the Swan, Kate cares for Sawyer, telling him he’s home – the same sentiment he expressed earlier.

On the beach, Michael is reunited with Vincent (who is now alone without Walt or Shannon) while Charlie is the first to spot Jin emerging with Bernard and Libby. Rose and Sun spot the commotion and both head over to the reunion, where everyone happily welcomes Jin home.

Rose and Bernard are finally reunited after 48 days apart, her faith in him being well placed, and similarly Jin is reunited with Sun, running to her. Last time they parted in tears, him leaving to make ammends for all their wrongdoings, but now they are together and all is forgiven, though sadly they’ll be parted a few more times yet before the show is over.

The episode ends with a final reunion as Eko takes Jack to Ana Lucia, where he passes Sayid carrying Shannon. He looks sadly, worriedly at her, and she can barely look at him.

We begin on the beach, where all is peaceful on a magic island, until pieces of metal start raining from the sky, the tail section of Oceanic 815 breaks off and lands in the water. Ana Lucia surfaces and sees the chaos that would have happened across the island, except we saw that from Jack’s point of view, and he landed away from everything.

Everything really hit the fan on this side of the island, though none of these folk were touched by Jacob, interestingly. Eko saves the children from drowning, and we see the teddy bear an Other was dragging before – proving the kids are with them. Ana tries to save the young girl, just like Jack is probably trying to save Rose across the island. She promises that she’ll get the girl home safe – one she’ll never keep, just like Jack’s promise to save Boone. It’s an episode of parallels this, so expect plenty.

Eko tasks Cindy with looking after the kids – a job she keeps up even when they join the Others – while he takes the bodies from the water and sets about his priestly duties of burying them. Libby fixes a guys broken leg, and he becomes the ongoing-injured, just like Mars was to Jack. Goodwin comes running out of the jungle, having run the short distance from the Barracks – it took Ethan longer to make it to the beach camp of the losties, since it’s further across the island.

Ana Lucia and Goodwin try to get Bernard out of a tree – Ana’s actions saving his life, while Goodwin’s decisions would have killed him. On the beach, Goodwin lights a fire, his skills as an Other coming in handy – judging by his age he was around pre-purge making him a jungle other. At night, Bernard asks around for Rose, just like she hunts about for him across the island, and where Jack comforted her, Eko comforts Bernard.

The Others come, by night, and take a few of the tailies, presumably because they were on one of Jacob’s lists for whatever reason. Eko kills two of them, and vows not to speak again (as mentioned in the previous episode) due to his actions – he turned his back on his murderous past. To say Goodwin would have known the two dead Others, he holds up pretty well, not letting slip his secret identity.

Interestingly, the tailies get on with everything a lot quicker than Jack’s band of merry men and women, as Ana quickly decides moving off the beach would be a safe idea – where it took Jack a week to reach this conclusion. Nathan acts like Sayid, saying they can’t move offshore since they’ll lose rescue, and Goodwin agrees, obviously not wanting the survivors to bump in to the Barracks. Cindy informs the group of the plane changing course – the pilot tells Jack and Kate this today too, at the cockpit.

The next day Libby worries that their injured man is dying due to an infection, and he winds up dead. Mars dies on the same day across the island, both being long term injured survivors. They bury him, being the fourth person to die on island after the crash, whereas across the island there’s not been so many deaths, though they light the funeral pyre of the fuselage.

The losties managed to find food with Locke hunting for them, whereas the tailies turn to eating a wild chicken they find wandering – which Goodwin catches and kills. He’ll soon enough kill Nathan too, in a similar manner. Eko creates his staff, while Libby tries in vain to console him.

The losties start crafting weapons, and plan to hunt boar having heard them in the jungle. Locke states that the boar are moving away from the beach on a previous episode, and they may have crossed right over to the tail section beach, towards Ana’s gang.

By night, the Others come with a list and take 9 more survivors, including the children. Perhaps Goodwin asked that the children be taken so they could be looked after properly, which we see they are later on. Once again Ana Lucia displays her penchant for being a crazy bitch, screaming and shouting at Eko for his silence, and lashing out at Nathan for trying to rationalise her – accusing him of being a spy, but Goodwin intervenes to stop talking about the subject.

The tailies relocate inside the jungle, Goodwin no doubt leading them away from the Barracks. Nathan gets fed up of Ana’s crap, acting much like Sawyer does when she bitches at him. The witch hunt against Nathan for being an Other is very similar to the torture of Sawyer over Shannon’s inhalers – in both instances a group leader got suspicious and jumped to conclusions – resulting in an innocent suffering.

Cindy leaps to the assumption that Nathan must be an Other because she never saw him on the plane – that’s some good stewardessing skills there considering. Mind you, she was too busy flirting with Jack and giving him extra booze, and chasing Charlie, to be worrying about poor Nathan. Goodwin also tries to defend Nathan, perhaps realising that his actions are leading to Nathan’s incarceration, and perhaps guessing just how far Ana Lucia’s crazy will go.

Day 23 and Ana continues her crazy interrogation, starving Nathan. Eko however refuses to become a full savage, and throws him the occasional piece of food. Goodwin asks Ana if she has kids, and we know that she had a miscarriage thanks to her flashback episode. By night, Goodwin frees Nathan from the pit, guiding him towards the beach, but snapping his neck to hide his identity.

In the morning, Ana Lucia decides its time for the group to move on, suspecting they’ve been found. Incidentally across the island, Locke gives Boone the drug paste on his head to help him move on from Shannon – an interesting parallel. On the 47th day, Ana Lucia’s group find the Arrow, and much like Locke’s enthusiasm to enter the Swan, Eko is the first to run forwards to get inside.

Goodwin looks uneasy that the tailies found the place, even more so when they find the radio, and so he sets out to sort the radio, of course blocking communications. This must be simply to stop them contacting the main section survivors, but then again, Goodwin won’t know about the Looking Glass – everyone was told it had flooded. Ana Lucia asks Goodwin why the Others are attacking, and he tries to explain that maybe it’s not attacks, showing that the first night was a strike to take out the best, most able.

Ana Lucia continues her wondering by pointing out a knife she took from an Other is US Military issue. We know of course that the origins of the Others lie in the military, so in hindsight this is excellent, considering the army don’t show up until season 5. Ana Lucia figures out Goodwin’s one of the Other’s, which is true, but her reasoning is that he didn’t land in the water – neither did Bernard, and Jack woke up far from the crash site too, so her logic is rather flawed. Then again, it’s Ana, her logic is always flawed.

Goodwin explains Nathan wasn’t on the list because he wasn’t a good person. From this we can infer that Jacob’s list had the names of those who were good enough people to join the island, join the Others. Is this why Ethan never took any more people, (well, other than being shot) because the losties were all too flawed? Would certainly make sense, considering the growth they all have to go through to reach the final season.

Goodwin and Ana fight, and just like Ethan he’s incredibly strong and well trained, but I guess he underestimated Ana’s training as a cop, and ultimately ended up impaled on a spear. On Day 41, Locke and Boone make it to Yemi’s beachcraft, and Bernard makes radio contact with Boone – just before he falls to his death. Ana takes the radio from Bernard and refuses to believe there are other survivors, demanding it to be the Others. Would it really be so hard to believe? I mean, they survived, why not more? Of course she’s stressed and worried, but still, why have the radio if you don’t plan to use it?

Overwhelmed by it all, Ana breaks down in tears – not over the fact that her actions lead to Nathan’s death – but more that her life is crap. Eko’s vow comes to an end, and he comforts her, being the man of God and able to forgive her for everything. 4 days later, Jin washes up on the beach following the explosion of the raft, and the group tie him up as per Ana’s instructions.

Nobody believes Jin to be one of the others – considering he doesn’t speak English and just washed up on the beach, but Ana takes the handcuff as evidence. The handcuff was put there by Sayid way back when Jin attacked Michael for Paik’s watch, and eventually comes off in a few episodes when Locke frees him using tools from the Swan.

However, thanks to his determination to get back to Sun, Jin runs in to Michael and Sawyer, and we wind up where we were in Adrift. Determined not to make the same mistakes as before, Ana gets Eko to hit her and throw her in the pit. At least she learned a bit. The episode montages the groups journey together across the jungle, until day 48, when Cindy got taken.

The episode ends as the group stagger about lost and confused, hearing the whispers. Shannon emerges from the bushes, following her vision of Walt, and Ana fires, immediately doubting her actions, and rightly so – soon enough she’ll be going in just the same way, shot in the stomach.

Night time on the beach and Shannon’s taking good care of Vincent in Walt’s wake – she’s become quite the carer. Sayid leads Shannon off again, though the last time he lead her anywhere her brother died… and sure enough this time there’s going to be another death. He’s built her a house, or the closest we see until the Barracks anyway. Ironically, Shannon asks why Sayid has a gun – because he has someone to protect.

Across the jungle, Ana Lucia’s group rest, though Cindy is worried the Others will come – soon enough they will, and it’s her that’ll be going with them. Why did Jacob want these people? Or did he, maybe it was all Ben wanting more Others, claiming Jacob wanted them. Sawyer complains about Michael deserting them, but in true Lost fashion he picks that very moment to show up, and leaves Sawyer feeling like crap.

Back at the beach, Sayid and Shannon are shacked up happy, until he leaves to fetch her water. Once again, WetWalt shows up speaking backwards. So far his powers haven’t been explained, but he does tend to pop up with messages. I would normally point the finger of blame at Smokey, and suppose I could do, but we’ve not had any telltale signs like the clicking noise or anything.

Charlie berates Claire for waking Aaron and running to the screams – why lead a baby in to danger? He has a point to be fair, last time this happened Aaron got taken. We’re being to see the split between Claire and Charlie that’ll reach its pinnacle in Fire + Water when he takes Aaron himself.

In flashback, Shannon teaches dance classes but gets a fateful phone call dragging her to the hospital – there’s been an accident. Jack bustles past Shannon, his choice to save Sarah having lead to Shannon’s father’s death. On the island, Eko leads the tailies/rafties combo towards the beach, but Sawyer’s gunshot wound from Exodus is getting nasty. Libby tells him she’s a shrink – was this before or after her own tenure in Santa Rosa with Hurley?

On the beach, Hurley and Rose refuse to use the hatch to tumble dry clothes, Rose already displaying her simple love of the island that’ll keep her there for another 3 years. On seeing Shannon, Rose comments that it can’t be easy, losing the one person you love on the island – of course in relation to this episode, she’s foreshadowing Sayid losing Shannon, but it makes a nice parallel with Michael losing Walt.

Taking Vincent, Shannon gets pretty clever, and using Walt’s shirt as a scent, tries to get Vincent to find him. Interestingly, the dog wants nothing to do with this plan, and instead leads her to Boone’s grave. If Vincent is as genius as I think he is, then he knows Shannon’s plan will only end badly, and is trying to show her just what could happen if she follows his trail.

Back at the beach, Locke helps Claire deal with baby Aaron – I never noticed before how much this episode sets up the future events between Locke and Charlie. Claire comments that she has no idea who Charlie really is, guessing at a religious nutter thanks to the heroin statue. Of course, flashbacks have shown Charlie did used to be quite religious, but the news of the statues worries Locke – he knows Charlie used to be an addict, and worries for Aaron’s wellbeing. Does he know somehow that Aaron will be important to the island?

Flashback Shannon attends her father’s funeral, and we see Boone once again. Shannon even has a line “you came back” showing the audience’s reaction. Boone mentions Shannon’s internship as a good thing, though we know she never got it. Back on the island, Ana Lucia’s gang clamber across a rocky area that looks very similar to the area where Desmond killed Kelvin, and where the boat was kept. At this time, Desmond’s sailing that boat about, trying to escape, but failing and getting drunk.

Eko changes plans, deciding they need to cut through the jungle to save Sawyer’s life – which Ana disagrees with, why risk their lives? She mentions Eko not talking, which will be explained in the next episode, The Other 48 Days. On the beach, Locke and Claire draw closer, and from Locke’s reaction it looks like he’s never held a baby before, though he quite enjoys it. Locke really had a crappy life before the island, poor guy.

Ana Lucia goes angry bitch on Michael and gang for talking as they move, finally offering up a sample of their story to explain why silence is important. Ana mentions the Others being smart, and animals – while we know they’re intelligent, they’re far from animals, living perfectly civilized at the Barracks. She also mentions it being their jungle, which I suppose is true – the earliest we’ve seen being the US Military with Richard Alpert in the 50s. Then again, I suppose it’s more Jacob and Nemesis’ – but who was there before them, if indeed anyone was?

At Boone’s grave, Sayid tries to console Shannon, saying he knows the pain of loss – sadly he’ll feel a lot more with Shannon, and later off the island losing Nadia too. In flashback, Shannon gets her internship but hits money problems – Boone’s mother has taken all of her father’s money, and is giving her nothing. I think every one of Shannon’s problems can be traced back to this moment – it made her bitter, angry, and untrusting – turning to conning Boone for cash until 815 crashed.

On the beach, Locke and Charlie play backgammon, while chatting casually. Charlie expresses concerns for Aaron’s wellbeing, showing he only has the greater good at heart, while Locke hints that perhaps he should fight his own demons first. In the jungle, Jin tries to carry Sawyer – he respects the man deeply, so much so that he’ll unquestioningly work under him for years. Sawyer collapses, and everyone pitches in to help him, except Ana Lucia, who’s more than willing to leave him to die. Michael’s construction skills come in handy once again (just like in The Moth, and Do No Harm) to save lives – first Jack, then Boone, now Sawyer.

Across the plains, Shannon follows Vincent, telling Sayid about the bottle of notes. Perceptively, she realises that Walt’s no longer on the raft, most probably alone, and needs help – all of which is true except for the alone part. Ana’s crew hit what looks like the dark territory, and begin the hard work of carrying Sawyer up impossible slopes, which is worth it, since apart from Bernard and Jin, he’ll be the only one alive soon enough.

Cindy gets taken rather sneakily by the Others, and everyone panics when they hear the whispers, Ana showing signs of being a cop through the way she holds her gun – if you compare to most characters who just point. Flashback Shannon tries to make ends meet, turning to Boone, who has to turn her down thanks to his mother – who probably only gave Boone a job to keep Shannon in trouble.

On the island, it’s raining, which only means bad things, and Vincent runs off. Sayid begs Shannon to go back to camp, finally believing her about Walt – who picks his moment to show up in the whispers – the same ones that Ana’s gang just heard no doubt. Now it must be said, Walt’s telling Shannon to be quiet, but she ignores him and runs off, shouting and screaming – right at Ana, who shoots her.

Walt was trying to warn her, his message on the beach probably saying there were more survivors, and in the jungle telling her to be quiet or you’ll die. However, ignoring his warnings, she ran to her death. The episode ends as Sayid cradles her in his arms, looking up at Ana, who immediately doubts her actions.

Jin and Michael look on in fear, and I’m suddenly reminded of what Jack first said when Kate showed him the guns – that someone would hear a sound, get spooked, and a lostie would get killed. As ever, Jack hit the nail on the head. What was the point of the tailies, really? I mean, Ana, Libby, and Eko all get killed off this season, surely there’s a better way to tell a story?

This is the second episode to have a title continuing from Lost, the previous being In Translation. Incidentally, both episodes have been Sun/Jin centric. We start on the beach, Claire and Sun doing washing, and wondering about the raft – both women know about the bottle that washed up. Sun however has misplaced her wedding ring, which seems to cause more upset than potentially having misplaced her husband. Wedding rings will be important later on, as Jin’s wedding ring will be motivation for both characters in season 5.

In flashback, Sun is sent to see a matchmaker because she has no bloke. We see in Sun’s mother that Mr. Paik has power and influence, as she forces her daughter along in accordance with his wishes. At the same time, Jin and a friend talk about finding love, and how destiny has decreed it will happen, with the advice… “orange.” Jin decides love can wait though, but by the time he makes it to the island, the rest of the world can wait, love comes first.

In the Arrow, Michael comforts Jin, and discusses the tailies intent with Sawyer. Ana continues her dictatorship, telling the rafties they’ll be gathering supplies – time for an Oceanic reunion on the beaches. Everyone emerges from the Arrow, Sawyer wanting to break ranks and leg it. Michael however cools him and demands an explanation – of course the losties camp is further south on the island away from the Others, meaning fewer incidents.

Libby stands up to Ana Lucia, staying human and showing her compassion, which we’ll later see in her understanding of Hurley. Jin offers to help fish, willing to pitch in no matter what, just like he’ll do with Rousseau and DHARMA. Back at beach camp, Sun still struggles to find her ring, Jack coming along to offer a helpful story wherein he lied to Sarah about wedding rings – yet more lies.

At the tailies fishing camp, Ana Lucia gets mad at Jin for being Korean – I thought the police force encouraged equal opportunities. Thankfully, he pisses on her bonfire by catching a ton of fish. In flashback, we see Jin experiencing just those equal opportunities, by landing a job despite his background. Bit of an episode for that, considering later events.

Michael and Libby wander for food, discussing Ana Lucia’s crazy issues. They talk about the Others, and how they have a hard time getting food, since the Barracks are just inland, whereas the losties have a vast food source just inland. Eko throws a makeshift knife at Sawyer, giving him a weapon. This scene’s a lot like when Locke is introduced – both men throwing knives at Sawyer and both being introduced as “Mr.”

Libby comes back with bad news that Michael’s legged it to the Barracks, though only Jin (who doesn’t speak English) seems to realise he’s gone after Walt. The tailies pack up and roll out, Sawyer startled to find a radio – the same one Boone contacted Bernard on previously. Jin tries to rally the forces to save Michael, turning to violence – a universal language, to win Eko over.

Ana gets pissy that people are ignoring her, and leaves with her gang in the opposite direction. Eko of course realises the cost of losing ones you care about the most – like Yemi, and so wants to help Jin find his friend. Ana on the other hand turned the other way, and wants to protect by running – the very issue that’ll get her killed when she gives Michael her gun.

Hurley helps Sun try find her ring, once again proving his utter out of touch-ness with anything outside the USA by asking if she’s from “good Korea, or bad Korea?” In flashback, Sun and Jin pass one another for the first time, as she goes her matchmaker and meets Jae Lee. Of course this day is vital in their history, as she meets Jin – her husband, and Jae – the man who will teach her English.

We learn that Sun studied Art History, which does absolutely nothing to explain her medicinal and other islandy-skills. Back on the island, Eko and Jin adventure along trying to find Michael and the Others. Jin takes a tumble, and bumps in to Goodwin. Ana of course fought him on the grass here 48 days ago killing him, just like Charlie killed Ethan. Of course, Goodwin was only sent out by Ben as revenge for his relationship with Juliet. Ironically, both Ben and Juliet will be joining the survivors in a series’ time, Ben a bit earlier as Henry Gale.

Eko talks a bit with Jin, of course understanding the issues of speaking another language, and asks about Sun – who is still hunting for her ring. Sun has a bit of a habit of overreacting to things, tearing up her crops now, and later siding with Widmore on a mission to kill Ben – who as far as she knows isn’t responsible for Jin’s “death”. Locke arrives on scene to dispatch wisdom, Sun commenting that she’s never seen Locke angry – she later will get this chance when he kills Naomi, and such.

In flashback, Jin lets Jae in to meet Sun, inadvertently setting the two up almost. He even gives his orange flower to Jae, but the next proper time they meet, Jae will throw himself from a window, rather than face his shame over all his actions. Eko and Jin continue their journey, but thankfully Eko is quite the tracker, just like Locke and Kate.

He comments that the Others never leave tracks, which is interesting since when we see them they’re not being careful. I suppose within the sonic fence at the Barracks, or over on Hydra Island they don’t need to though. Do they only hide their tracks and go in disguise because of the losties? I suppose they must do, who else is out there on the island?

Jin and Eko hide and watch them go by, finally being followed by one carrying a bear. Presumably this is one of the tail section kids, since I haven’t seen any other modern day Others kids. In flashback we’re back to equal opportunities, as Jin sacrifices his position at the hotel to stand up for his morals, and refuses to obey the system. On the beach, Kate comes to talk to Sun, mentioning that Hurley told her – he really has a damn issue with keeping things quiet.

Sun, unlike Rose, worries like mad, and can’t accept Jin to be safe, even though he’s got more lives than superman. Across the island, Sawyer has to stop – the man was shot just the other day, and ripped the bullet out himself. For once, Ana almost shows compassion, realising Sawyer’s far too stubborn to break with conventionally being a bitch. Eko leaves Jin to find the trail, while Jin runs in to Michael – who taunts the Others in to taking him. Ironic considering thats later exactly what they’ll do.

Jin strings together his first English phrase, telling Michael he will find Walt eventually. Sun and Kate dig up the bottle of notes, the latter frantically searching for Sawyer’s note, never having said goodbye to him, needing some closure. This is mirrored in series 4/5 where Sawyer never says goodbye to her, and later meets her again 30 years earlier.

As luck would have it, fate intervenes, and Sun finds her wedding ring hidden in the sand by the notes. In flashback, Jin realises the man he’s become – caring more for morals than career, which will later be flipped by Paik, and then once again by Sun.

The episode ends as Jin sees a woman wearing orange, and stops – bumping in to Sun. The two meet eyes for the first time, and destiny falls in to place, love guiding everyone once again.