I liked this episode better than the first two, frankly, because (1) there's not quite so much insane flashing forwards and backwards every single scene, (2) we're starting to learn more about the Others' early days on the Island, (3) lots of pretty men: Desmond, Richard and Sawyer and (4) best of all, NO KATE OR JACK ANYWHERE! Of course, they have to go and ruin everything by showing those two in a big ol' liplock in the trailer for next week ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
On some Polynesian-y island, Desmond is searching wildly for a doctor. He finds one and brings him back to the boat. Penny’s pregnant and having the baby right now. Luckily the doctor has brought his forceps and the baby comes out in about 3 seconds. It’s a boy! Desmond’s a daddy!
Flashforward: Desmond and his adorably curly headed kid are sailing as he tells the baby about Great Britain– how beautiful it is, how it’s where Desmond and Penny fell in love. Penny comes up on deck and chides Desmond for forgetting to tell the whippersnapper that his evil grandfather lives there too. She reminds Desmond that Widmore tried to kill him and all his friends, and that going anywhere near London is very dangerous right now. But Desmond is resolute, saying that Daniel Faraday told him that he had to go back to help rescue all the Losties. Penny still thinks it’s a bad idea but falls silent.
Island. Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and a couple more extras tromp through the tall grass, searching for Sawyer and Juliet in the aftermath of the flaming arrow attack. Charlotte is still suffering from her headaches etc. and Daniel promises that he won’t let anything happen to her. They get to the creek and Miles sees a trip wire that the extras wander into. BOOM – no more extras. (I do love how the writers are finally thinning the herd.) Next, a bunch of well-armed soldiery types, led by a blonde girl, come out of the jungle to hold the three not-blown-up people at gunpoint. The girl stares at Daniel: “You just couldn’t stay away.” Who the frak are these damn soldiers? First the Dharmites, then the Others, now soldiers – this is an awfully crowded Island.
London harbor. Penny continues to harp about Desmond revealing himself to her father when he goes to Oxford. He tries to reassure her, promising to be right back. She pouts, saying that if he’s going to promise her anything, he should promise not to go back to that damn Island. Desmond chuckles, asking why would he ever want to? That’s called tempting fate right there, brutha. (He’s looking exceptionally pretty today, btw.)
Island. The blonde girl wants to know what happened to the rest of Daniel’s people. Miles sneers that the ones who didn’t get nailed by flaming arrows probably got blown up by land mines. “We didn’t set those,” says the girl, “you did.” Everyone stares at Daniel. She goes on to tell him that she can’t control what happens to them after they leave the creek and repeats her question about the whereabouts of the rest of the Losties.
Locke, Sawyer and Juliet are over there, trying to figure out who these damn soldiers are. The soldiers speak Latin to each other but Juliet is onto them: she speaks it for the same reason they do – they’re all Others.
Meanwhile, the blonde girl Other and her ragged band are marching Daniel et al. through the jungle when Miles suddenly hears dead people: a whole bunch of U.S. soldiers, dead less than a month, some shot and one dead of radiation poisoning. Daniel, seemingly unsurprised that Miles can know this, asks: “Did they mention what year it was?” The group comes out into a clearing set up with a bunch of khaki tents. As the camera pulls back, we see it’s the clearing that will eventually hold the Others’ compound of little yellow houses. Right now, though, it’s just tents. The blonde girl calls out to Richard – who emerges from a tent, looking as gorgeous and young and eyelinered as ever. He looks quizzically at Daniel, saying, “I assume you’ve come back for your bomb?” Everyone stares at Daniel again.
Oxford, England. Desmond is having trouble finding any “Faradays” at the University. The lady says that her records go back quite far if Desmond can tell her what year he last visited. Alas no, he has no idea what year that might have been. As he roams the campus, he finds himself by the Physics building and goes in. He manages to find Daniel’s old lab but it’s a wreck, dusty and abandoned, the door sealed. He busts in and has a look around. A maintenance guy kicks him out but not before Desmond can ask why the University won’t give out any information about Faraday. “Can you blame ‘em?” the man replies, “after what ‘e did to that poor girl.” What girl? What did he do?
Others’ tent camp. The Freighter Three get stuffed in a tent and Miles and Charlotte have many questions. Daniel suggests that they pretend to be the U.S. military people Richard believes them to be, as that might be their best hope for survival. Richard then enters the tent and gives us a nibble more back story: Richard’s people had been on this Island, “their” Island, when the U.S. military (the Dharma folks maybe?) showed up to run their tests. Richard: “Your people attacked us … you expect us not to defend ourselves?” Richard’s people are very unhappy about a hydrogen bomb that the military left behind; Daniel says he’s here to disarm it. And what’s more, Richard can trust him not to detonate the thing because he’s in love with Charlotte over there and would never do anything to hurt her. Richard takes his word for it.
Locke’s group is on the move again. Juliet uses her mad Latin skills to try to gain their captives’ trust. She asks the Others to take them to their camp, asking if Richard Alpert is there. One of the Others starts to give directions to the camp but the other Other jumps on him, snapping his buddy’s neck and then running off into the jungle. Sawyer wants to shoot the fleeing Other but Locke won’t do it: “He’s one of my people.”
Oxford. Desmond now has an address and knocks on the door of a hose. A woman answers. When Desmond says he’s looking for Theresa Spencer, she says she’s Theresa’s sister. Then, when Desmond lets on that he got Theresa’s name from Faraday, the sister gets a funny tone in her voice and brings him into the back room. Theresa is there in a hospital bed, surrounded by monitors, seemingly comatose. She’s “gone” right now, says the sister – zones out then comes back, thinking she’s three years old or has been talking to relatives long dead. Daniel performed his experiments on her and then left her in this wretched, unstuck-in-time state. The sister sheds her bitterness for a moment and says that if it weren’t for Charles Widmore, they’d be in big trouble: Widmore was Daniel’s benefactor and when he learned what Daniel’s research brought about, had been taking care of Theresa ever since. Desmond doesn’t know what to think about that.
Island. Ellie, the blonde girl, is to take Daniel to his “hydrogen bomb.” Before they leave the camp, Richard wants Daniel to know that those military guys they killed, they had to do it. Daniel is skeptical at the “had to” part so Richard informs him that there’s a chain of command and his superior ordered him to do it. My guess: Richard’s commanding officer is Jacob. The young Other that escaped from Locke comes running up, bragging that he escaped. Richard is put out, asking if he was followed when he came back to camp. The Other is sure he wasn’t – how could an old man like Locke track him? Well, he did: Locke, Juliet and Sawyer are checking out the Other camp from the hillside. Sawyer goes off to try to rescue Daniel while Locke heads down into the camp, hoping to pick up where he left off with Richard – learning how he can save the Island.
Marching Daniel at gunpoint, Ellie doesn’t believe he is whom he says and really wants to know what he’s doing on their Island. He insists that he’s the best hope to disarm that bomb. Okay, says Ellie, then get to it. The camera swings around and there it is, a big old bomb (name of “Jughead”), hanging upside down in a wooden scaffold. Daniel checks it out, noticing that it’s seeping. He climbs down and tells Ellie that they need to encase the bomb in lead or cement and bury it. Ellie thinks that’s nuts and they argue a little, until Daniel slips and tells her that it’ll be okay since in fifty years, the Island is still here with no atomic mishaps. Understandably, Ellie freaks out a little about Daniel presuming to know the future and prepares to shoot him. Then Sawyer walks out of the bushes with his own gun, forcing Ellie to hand her rifle to Juliet. Ellie wants to know if Daniel’s friends are from the future too. Sawyer: “What? You told her?” And Ellie gapes and Daniel just looks hangdog.
England. In what is probably a terrible idea, Desmond busts into Widmore’s office. Penny is not going to like this at all. Desmond tells his father-in-law that he’s not here to answer Widmore’s questions – he’s here to get answers to his own questions: Where is Daniel Faraday’s mother? Widmore: How’s Penny? Desmond really must insist so Widmore hands him an address in Los Angeles, saying that Daniel’s mom won’t be happy to see him. Desmond turns to go but Widmore warns him to “deliver [his] message and then get out of this business” so as not to put Penny’s life in danger. “Thanks for the advice,” smirks Desmond.
Island. Locke enters the Others’ camp, shouting for Richard. The young Other who escaped from him is quite unhappy about this and gets up in Locke’s face. Richard comes out but doesn’t know Locke (yet). Locke has a stroke of brilliance: “Jacob sent me.” Richard thinks this is interesting and tells his people to back down, including the irate young Widmore (!!) who still can’t believe Locke tracked him. Locke’s like, “Charles Widmore? Huh.”
Penny’s boat. Desmond returns and his eyes go all soft when he sees his wife and child. Penny asks if he found Daniel’s mum. Desmond lies, saying the woman died a few years ago. Penny: Why are you lying to me? Desmond: She’s in Los Angeles. But he says it isn’t their problem anymore, he’s not getting involved – Penny is his life now, she and little Charlie. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Anyway, he says he’s not going to leave her again, not for this or anything. Again, tempting fate, I think. And Penny shakes her head, knowing that Desmond will be unable to let it go. All three of them will go to California.
Island. Locke has given Richard the compass, explaining that Richard gave it to him in the future … Richard thinks this is all a little crazy, even for on the Island. Locke insists, saying that Future Richard was about to tell him how to get off the Island – and this Richard interrupts, saying, “that is very privileged information” – because he has something important to do, plus Locke is Richard’s leader – Future Richard told him so. Richard, with a smile: “Well, I certainly don’t want to contradict myself …”
And then there’s that damn time-skipping flash of light and the camp and all the Others disappear, leaving Daniel, Miles, Charlotte, Locke, Sawyer and Juliet standing bewildered and alone in the empty field. Then Charlotte staggers a couple of steps, her nose bleeding again, and collapses.
Last time on Lost / next time on Lost
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