Season 1 - Episode 23 (Exodus 1) and Episode 24 & 25 (Exodus 2)
Episode 23 (Exodus 1)
The episode opens with Walt opening the curtains in a hotel room, overlooking Sydney. I'd say that it's significant that the writers chose to open an episode named after the book of the Bible wherein Moses leads his people to the Promised Land with a shot of Walt dramatically parting the red curtains.
Walt then wakes Michael by turning on the Power Rangers. When Michael won't let him watch it as loud as he wants, Walt leads his people...er, Vincent the dog on a rebellious trek down the hotel hallway. He punctuates his rebellion by repeating, loudly and often, "You're not my Father!" when Michael runs after him.
Walt wakes up on the beach beside Michael and heads down the beach to answer the call of nature. While he's doing his business, he hears something in the jungle. It's Danielle, that crazy French chick.
Her arrival on the beach puts the camp in an uproar, but Saayid calms everyone down and asks her what she's doing in their little island settlement.
"The Others are coming."
Danielle relates her tale to the assembled group. It seems that shortly after her team ran aground on the island, she delivered a baby girl, Alex. A week later, they saw a pillar of black smoke rising from the jungle and that night the Others came and took Alex. According to Danielle, the Others are coming again. The camp has only three choices.
Run.
Hide.
Or die.
Jack chooses option number 4: Launch the raft. He gathers the entire population to help Michael get the boat in the water. A Herculean effort gets the raft on the rails, but disaster strikes and damage is done. While the group is busy trying to place blame, Walt notices something inland. Black smoke.
Danielle endures questioning by Saayid and Jack, but can tell them nothing more than what they already know. When she asks them where they plan to hide 40 people, Jack and Locke share a knowing look. The hatch.
The group debates the idea of hiding in the hatch from the others. It's really moot until they can open the hatch, so Locke asks Danielle where she got the explosives to booby trap her shelter. It was dynamite she got at the Black Rock in the Dark Territory.
To quote Hurley: "Well, that's three reasons to go right there."
She agrees to lead them to the explosives, but they have to leave within the hour.
In the airport bar, Jack is having a pre-flight cocktail when he's approached by a really hot young lady who wants to know why he was yelling. Turns out that she heard him say that his Dad died and she was just being polite when she asked what he was yelling about. It's too bad she didn't know his Dad, or they could have had a really good conversation over that tequila and tonic Jack buys her. They have a little flirt and we learn that her name is Ana Lucia. We also learn that Jack is sitting in 23B and she is sitting in 42F. Just when the conversation looks to be getting interesting, Ana Lucia's cell phone rings and she excuses herself to talk. They promise to have their next drink together on the plane. Ana's parting words to Jack? "And Jack, the worst part's over." If you don't count a horrific plane crash, getting stitched up by someone who can barely sew curtains, hallucinations of your dead father running around the jungle in a business suit, falling off a cliff and being rescued by a knife wielding man who might be harbouring a deep dark secret or ten, burying two patients who died under your care, struggling against the egos, maladies, foibles and personalities of a group of stressed out castaways, getting the crap kicked out of you by a guy who somehow got to the island and yet wasn't on the plane, beginning to fall in love with a fugitive from the law, and having to wipe your ass with palm leaves, she's absolutely right.
Back on the beach, Jack reassures the group that they have a plan. He issues instructions for those staying on the beach to help Michael with the raft and then head to the caves for safety. High School science teacher, Arzt, tells Jack that he'd better go with the dynamite retrieval team to ensure that they handle the dynamite correctly and no one blows up.
Michael and Jin are working frantically to salvage the raft situation. Sawyer wants to help, but Michael and Jin have an English/Korean communications method that only the two of them really have and handle on, and they work faster without anyone else getting in the way.
Sawyer lands in a chair, in handcuffs, in a police station in Sydney. He's there because he got into a bar fight and head butted the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the altercation. The police are putting con man James Ford on a plane and deporting him, saving themselves the trouble and cost of running him through the justice system.
In the jungle, con man James Ford cutting down a tall stalk of bamboo. Jack comes upon him and hands him a gun to take with him on the raft. Just in case. Jack throws Sawyer a "Good luck, Sawyer" and heads into the jungle after the boomsticks. Sawyer calls him back. Sawyer tells Jack about an American doctor he met in a bar. He tells him that the Father knew it was his fault and how he, Christian, wishes he had the stones to pick up the phone and call his son to tell him he's sorry, he's proud and that he loves him. Small world. Sawyer throws Jack a "Good luck, Jack" and gets back to work.
In the airport security office, the late marshall is talking to an Australian security officer. He tells the marshall that he'll have to stow the case with the guns in the crew luggage compartment, up front in the plane. While searching the case, he finds the toy plane that Kate went to so much trouble to retrieve, the one that belonged to her childhood sweetheart who she got killed. When the security officer asks why the marshall needs five guns, the marshall responds by telling him all about the toy plane, taunting Kate by calling her love "whatshisname" when he obviously knows exactly what his name was. Kate snaps, put the marshall in a hold against the office door, but he is able to elbow her in the face and get out of it.
"And that...is why I need five guns."
On the beach, Kate volunteers for the dynamite retrieval team.
Charlie is collecting messages to put in an empty wine bottle for the sailors to take with them. Jack shakes hands with Michael and Jin and tells Walt to take care of his Dad. Kate looks around but can't find Sawyer anywhere. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Rousseau, Arzt and Locke head down the beach, to find the Black Rock.
The group treks across the island. Locke notes some scratches on Danielle's arm, which she claims she got from a bush. I'm betting that bush was on some pretty mean pre-natal amnesia drugs.
Eventually, they enter the Dark Territory.
"The Black Rock is not far. This is where it all began, where my team got infected. Where Montagne lost his arm."
At this point, Arzt decides that he's going back. He was fine with helping, up until Montagne lost his frickin' arm. He leaves, but not before telling Jack to be very, very careful with the dynamite. That's good advice, Arzt.
On the beach, Sawyer delivers a mast to a surprised Jin and Michael.
The intrepid band of dynamite seekers is trekking through the jungle, in the rain. They hear a strange sound and stop to try and figure out what it is. It's Arzt and he's running from something. That something is Great Tree Pusher. The group scatters, but the threat passes them by. As it leaves, the rain stops. I call that "Island in a Bottle Moment #9".
When Kate asks Rousseau what Great Tree Pusher was, she tells them that it's a security system. Its purpose is that of any security system, to protect something. In this case, it protects the island.
The little band regroups and heads off to get the dynamite.
On the beach, Walt gives Shannon care of Vincent. Vincent is a good listener who helped Walt though the time after his Mom died when everyone pretended that nothing had happened and no one would talk to him. Walt figures that Shannon could talk to Vincent about Boone. Shannon agrees to take the dog, but only until Walt gets them rescued.
In the airport in Sydney, a very bored Shannon agrees to watch Saayid's bag. Boone comes back from the ticket agent to deliver the news that he couldn't get them into first class. The two of them head up the escalator, abandoning the luggage she agreed to watch. Shannon wants to try again to get them in to first class and when Boone tells her to drop the subject, she threatens to get him kicked off the flight. He dismisses her as a helpless, harmless little girl and to prove him wrong, she finds a police officer and with an innocent tone covering her malicious intent, she points out the bag abandoned by "Some Arab guy" as being suspicious. The airport security runs off at her behest and she smuggly turns a smile to Boone.
Speaking of Arab guys, Saayid has a surprise for Michael. He's salvaged a radar emitter from the Beechcraft for them to use. It will show them any ships within a twenty-five mile radius, but with their limited power, they should only turn it on once an hour. He also found a flare gun with one flare.
Back in the Dark Territory, the gang finally arrives at the Black Rock. Stunned looks cross the faces of the intrepid explorers as the true nature of the Black Rock is revealed. Turns out that the "Black Rock" isn't a rock at all, but an old style wooden sailing vessel, which somehow ran aground miles inland. Island in a bottle moment #10.
In the food court of the airport in Sydney, Sun brings an impatient Jin a coffee and pastry. She places a napkin on his lap. An American couple observes this behaviour and the wife is derisive of Sun's submissive gesture. Loudly. English speaking Sun must endure the criticism stoically, lest her planned escape be given away. Whether by accident or design, she spills coffee on Jin and then tries to help clean him up. Sun does her best not to react to the rude American's derogatory comments.
On the beach, she brings Jin a book. She's translated English words for him, phonetically, so he can communicate with the others without her there to interpret. When they finally start talking, Sun pleads with him not to go. He tells her that he believes that his presence on the island is a punishment and that he has to go on the raft to try his best to save her from sharing his fate. Crying and hugging in Korean ensue.
At the raft, the remaining castaways gather to say goodbye to their would be rescuers. Sun and Michael share one of the awkwardest moments ever filmed. More crying and hugging ensues, but not in Korean. Sawyer scans the tree line in vain, for no Kate emerges from the jungle to run to him in slow motion.
The collective efforts of the group launch the raft triumphantly into the surf.
Vincent tries to swim to Walt, but eventually turns back to shore to be with Shannon. Personally, despite her annoying tendency to be a bitch, I'd probably have made the same choice. She looks much better in a bikini.
The men on the good ship "Get us the hell off this island" raise the sail and head off to find civilization and rescue. I wonder what their heading is? 325 maybe? Probably not. Oh well, if they sail due West, they should reach Fiji in less than a week. Unless of course they're actually trapped in an Island in a Bottle like figurines in a snow-globe. Nah.
Discussion
Episode 24 & 25 (Exodus 2)
This is Turnip-Head's eye. This is Turnip-Head's eye watching someone change his nappy. This is Turnip-Head's eye realizing that he's eventually going to be named after Moses's brother and that he is the first thing we see in an episode named after the book of the Bible in which Moses frees the slaves and leads them to the Promised Land. Oh, and this is Aaron's eye watching Claire panic as she tries to cope with a wet, crying child and eminent doom. Charlie tries to help Claire, but she's inconsolable. To protect her, Charlie tries to get Saayid to give him a gun. Saayid gives him advice instead. Get Claire packed and carry her child to the caves.
Cut to the jungle and the intrepid band of dynamite retrievers. They all stand in silence, soaking in the sight of a large ocean going vessel somehow situated miles inland on a deserted tropical island amid lush foliage and dense jungle growth.
Hurley, as usual, sums it up for everyone:
"How, exactly, does something like this happen?"
Rousseau provides the rejoinder:
"Are you on the same island as I am?"
Her job of guiding the group to the Black Rock and the explosives complete, Rousseau heads back into the jungle. When Jack looks ready to try to convince her to stay with the group, Locke tells him to let her go.
Jack rallies the troups and gathers them to explore the Black Rock and find the dynamite. Arzt declines the invitation to explore the ghost ship and Hurley heads back to keep him company. Locke, Jack and Kate enter the derelict ship in search of salvation. What they find are the skeletal remains of what appear to be slaves, still chained to the bulkheads. When he finds some mining equipment, Locke postulates that the ship might have been en route to a mining colony, leaving from the Eastern Coast of Africa, perhaps Mozambique. A further search of the hold leads the group to the cache of explosives.
Outside the Black Rock, Arzt is regaling Hurley with stories of his failed marriages. He catches Hurley not paying attention. Arzt figures that the clique that has formed around the "main" group of survivors isn't paying attention to the rest of the group in much the same fashion.
Back in the hold, Jack convinces Kate not to pry open the box labled "Explosives" while they're in the hold. He and Locke carry it outside.
Outside, Arzt is still detailing all the "in-crowd" slights that have been directed at him. Hurley doesn't buy it.
"Dude, this is all in your head."
Mid-tirade, Arzt looks up to see Jack and Locke carrying the crate of explosives out of the ship. He leaps into action, shouting at them to immediately, but carefully, place the wooden crate on the ground. Being the only one of the group to really have any understanding of the proper handling of dynamite, he takes charge of the salvage operation.
He shoos and shushes the rest of the crew away from the crate and moves it to assess the situation.
As he gently prys open the lid, here begins the lesson.
"Do any of you have any idea what happens to dynamite in ninety plus degree heat? Huh? Do you know? Any of you? It sweats...Nitro Glycerine."
Jack tries to get a closer look.
"Whoa, ho, whatareyoudoing? Did I ask you to come closer?"
Jack backs off. Arzt very gently lifts a stick of dynamite free of the crate.
"Dynamite is nitro glycerine, stablized by clay. Nitro glycerine is the most dangerous and unstable explosive known to man."
Arzt, holding the single stick of death in two fingers, gestures to Kate with his chin.
"Hey, Kate, gimme your shirt."
She looks at him the way women always look at me when I ask them for their shirts.
"Now. Princess, gimme your shirt, I need to wrap the dynamite." Arzt must have the knack because the shirt comes off.
"Just throw it to me, right here. Be careful. C'mon. Hurry up. Okay, good. Now back up. Back up. Back up. Just back up, get out of my way!"
The group gingerly moves back to give Arzt room as he wraps the dynamite in Kates now mud soaked shirt.
"Any of you ever hear about the guy who invented Nitro Glycerine? Probably not. Because he blew his friggin' face off! His lab assistant came into the room, saw that his mentor detonated and said 'Huh, I guess this stuff does work.'"
Arzt finishes his delicate wrapping operation and begins to issue the instructions for the next stage of the excercise.
"Alright, we're not going to take any more of this stuff than we need, because Nitro Glycerine is extremely tempermental." Confident in his work, Arzt carelessly gestures with the mud wrapped stick of doom and sets off a massive explosion. Everyone who is not blown immediately into itty bitty pieces is knocked solidly back on their collective asses.
Hurley, once again, puts it all into words.
"Dude."
Here endeth the lesson.
In the airport, just before boarding Flight 815 for L.A., Sun spills coffee on Jin, sending him off in search of a washroom. On his way, the camera pans by Saayid, being led by Airport Security. It seems that some spoiled, blonde, pain in the ass turned him in for his unattended bag. She really should apologise for that and make up for the inconvienience. Maybe she can attend his...nevermind.
Jin finds the washroom and does his best to wash the coffee stain out. As he is working on the stain, a man using the next sink asks him to pass the paper towels. Jin, of course, doesn't understand his English request. With a smile and a polite bow, the American acknowleges the communications barrier and moves to the towel dispenser. He then begins to speak in Korean. The American works for Mr. Paik. He's there to make sure that Jin delivers the watch and returns to Korea as instructed. It seems that Mr. Paik knows that Jin plans to run away and he does not approve. Through his emmissary, he sends Jin the message that he isn't free and he never will be.
On the ocean, Jin looks like he's feeling pretty free. He's smiling into the sun, enjoying the open ocean by the looks of it. Walt draws everyone's attention back to the island, which they can now see in it's entirety.
"How's a place this big never get discovered?"
We can call that "Island in a bottle moment number 11."
As they sail, Sawyer sings some Bob Marley under his breath. It's "Redemption Song". No subtext there.
Sun' standing on the beach, looking out at the water, thinking about Jin. She caresses her wedding ring, looking pensive. I hope she never loses that ring and has to spend an entire episode looking for it, 'cuz that would be really dull.
Shannon struggles with an uncooperative Vincent the dog and a suitcase full of memories. She has all of Boone's stuff with her to take to the caves to hide. Saayid tries to convince her that she doesn't need everything, but she points out the pointlessness of the excercise. Surely the "Others" will find their hiding spot. She breaks down, moaning that it's too much. Saayid comforts her and lets her know that it won't be too much if he carries it for her. No subtext there either. She's really going to have to repay his kindness one day. Maybe she can attend his...nevermind.
Back in the jungle, Kate saddles up to Hurley to check on the big man's Post Exploding Arzt Condition.
"That was messed up. He just...exploded...in front of us."
Hurley feels that the curse of the numbers has followed him into the jungle. Kate reassures him that it was just an accident. I think Arzt might agree with Hurley.
Locke and Jack have taken over the duties of explosives master. Jack reluctantly agrees that this is the only way that they can proceed. As they work, Locke notes the similarity of what they are doing to the childhood game, "Operation". He recounts with a "Bzzt" sound effect, how he always got nailed on the funny bone. Jack doesn't seem to share his sense of humour about the situation.
"You like to play games, John?"
"Absolutely."
No subtext there.
On the beach, Charlie has solved the Turnip-Head transport issue, by making a bjorn. Byorn? Beeorn? Biorn? Whatever.
Just as he's about to help Claire load the baby into the improvised carrier, Rousseau comes tearing out of the jungle, shouting for Saayid. Charlie eventually heads off to find him, leaving Claire and Rousseau alone. Claire's finely honed maternal instincts tell her that this Crazy French Chick might just be crazy. Possibly French as well. She tries to move out of crazy range, but Rousseau draws her back with a guilt filled "You don't want me to hold him."
As she tries to cajole Claire into letting her hold the baby, Claire has a flashback to a time when she scratched Rousseau, trying to get away from her.
Back in a hotel, Charlie is searching the room for something. He looks under scattered clothing, through items on the desk and even in the garbage and finds nothing. When he rips the covers from the bed, he finds a half dressed girl. Personally, most of my frantic hotel room searches stop right about...now. Not Charlie though, he's on a mission. He seems pretty agitated. When Half-Naked Girl asks what's going on, he tells her that he has to catch his flight to L.A. in a couple of hours. She wonders if he wants to do one more bump for the road, but despite finally laying hands on his stash of drugs, he claims to be all out. Suddenly, she's even more frantic than he was during his search. In her early stage withdrawl, she reveals that she only hung out with Charlie for his drugs, not for any almost equally shallow groupyism. Poor Charlie, even hollow Rock God sex has been reduced to even hollower sex-in-return-for-drugs. The moment erupts in violence when Half-Naked Girls sees the stash in Charlie's hand. She attacks but he manages to fight her off and hang on to the drugs. Yay!
Running down the beach, Charlie finally finds Saayid leading the slaves to the promised land...er, leading the castaways to the caves. He informs him that Rousseau has returned. As Saayid asks what Rousseau wants, the sound of someone yelling for help is heard. Sun has discovered Claire, her head bleeding and almost out cold. It seems that Rousseau has decided to adopt with extreme prejudice. Charlie unleashes his fists of fury on Saayid, blaming him for not helping Charlie protect Claire by giving him a gun. Saayid only lets him have one punch before grabbing him by the throat and forcing him to move past assigning blame and on to trying to rescue the infant.
Back at the Black Rock, the undetonated portion of the expedition is finishing up their preparations to move the dynamite. Jack wants to carry all of the dynamite in one pack, but Locke feels that it would be wiser to split the load between them as a failsafe. Since they figure three sticks will blow the hatch's hinges, two separate packs with three sticks in each is called for. Jack suggests that he and Locke each carry a pack, but Kate wants to carry one too. Just as Jack lays down the law, and for once makes a firm desision, Locke pulls the leadership platform out from under the good doctor by stating that they will draw straws. Jack isn't happy, but he goes along. The three of them will draw straws to see who will risk their life carrying the boomsticks. Jack wonders if Hurley wants to carry any of the explosives but when he asks, he gets only a silent stare in return. On prompting, Hurley informs him:
"You got some... Arzt on you."
The three intrepid adventurers draw straws. Kate and Locke "win".
Out on the ocean, Walt is getting a lesson in "Unbelievably Well Equipped Raft of Desperation 101." Michael shows him the S.O.S. transmitter and the radar (powered by a battery???) screen that they managed to scavange from the Beechcraft. Puts the Professor's coconut radio to shame. Walt catches an unrepentant Sawyer reading the messages that were put in the bottle for the raftees to bring to civilization. Sawyer idly wonders who "Hugo" is and how he has a hundred and sixty million dollars to leave to his mom.
Walt asks him how he would feel if someone were to read his letter. Sawyer's answer is that no one could read his letter, since he never wrote one. When asked why he didn't write a letter, he tells Walt that the only letter he ever wrote was to the man he's going to kill. He needs to kill him. Still.
On their way to the stash of guns, Charlie questions why Saayid thinks that Rousseau is taking the baby to the spot where the black smoke is coming from. Saayid figures that Rousseau wants to make a trade for her child that was taken all those years ago. It isn't rational, but she's a mother who has lost a child. Speaking of irrational, Claire catches up with the two would be rescuers and demands to go with them. Charlie finally hugs her out of the idea.
"Get him back, Charlie. Get Aaron back."
So she's named the boy. Makes sense. It wouldn't have been nearly as powerful a moment if she had said: "Get him back Charlie. Get Turnip Head back."
In the airport, Walt studiously ignores Michael while the two of them wait to board the plane. Michael excuses himself to use the phone. On the phone, he talks to his Mother, suggesting that maybe she could help him out by taking Walt off of his hands. He whines that he can't be a parent, Walt wasn't even supposed to be his. Naturally, Walt is standing right behind him.
On the ocean, Michael gives Walt the chance to steer the boat. The island has definately healed his crippled parenting skills. During the sailing lesson, Walt quizzes Michael about his relationship with Walt's Mom. Just as Walt let's Michael know that he thinks his Mom should have included Michael in his life, they hit a log that tears off the rudder. A quick thinking Sawyer strips off his shirt and dives in after the rapidly sinking metal rudder. Between Michael and Jin, a rootin' tootin' rope wranglin' rescue is mounted and both Sawyer and the rudder are saved. Handing Sawyer back his shirt, Michael discovers the gun that Jack gave him. He doesn't look happy about it, but he does give it back.
Jack gently places a napsack that he packed with the dynamite on Kates back. She tells him she's sorry, and he chalks it up to the luck of the draw. Dr. Jack lays out the plan to get back to the camp and some ground rules about what to do in the event of an encounter with the "security system." Locke only undermines Jack's authority a very little bit at this time. And off they go...
Sun guides a distraught Claire into the cave. When she sees Shannon staring at the spot where Boone died, Sun brings a bowl of water over to Vincent for her and offers some words of comfort. She tells Shannon that her brother died bravely, reminding us that by Boone dying the island's precious supply of medication was preserved. By dying, Boone has also helped preserve and stretch the island's precious supply of blush.
Sun wonders if the castaways are being punished by fate for all their past sins. Claire doesn't believe in fate.
Charlie and Saayid are making good time across the island toward the black smoke. They want to get there while it is still light out, so Saayid pushes Charlie to keep up. The two men race through the jungle until Saayid calls a break when they come across the Beechcraft. He helpfully points out that the plane was loaded with heroin stashed inside Virgin Mary statues.
Elsewhere in the jungle, Jack and his explosive pals are gingerly making their way back to camp. Hurley asks Locke what he thinks is in the hatch. In true Locke fashion, the older man asks Hurley what he thinks might be in the hatch. Hurley figures on TV dinners from the '50s, TVs with cable, cell phones, clean socks, soap and twinkies. Little does he know how close to the bull's eye he is.
The big man again asks Locke what he thinks might be inside. Locke answers "Hope."
Two things stand out about this statement.
One, Pandora opened her box and let (depending on which version of the myth you know) either all of the world's ills loose on mankind or she let all of the gifts the gods had given mankind escape. Either way, she was left with only "Hope" at the bottom of the box.
Two, Locke's definition of "Hope" obviously includes dirty dishes, burned out lightbulbs, a lot of guns and a metaphorical apron.
As they make their way through the jungle, a giant bird startles them. It makes no mention of Hurley.
Speaking of the big guy, he puts it all together, yet again. "Whoever named this place 'Dark Territory'...Genius."
As they briefly stop to let the others catch up, Kate and Jack see an odd wisp of black smoke shoot through the trees nearby. Both are fully aware that smoke doesn't usually travel that fast or in that fashion. In answer to Jack's unspoken question, Kate confirms that she too saw the odd phenomenon.
As they move to get as far away from the smoke as possible, something erupts out of the jungle floor. Let's call this "Island in a bottle moment #12." Jack sets down his pack and runs. Kate keeps hers on and oddly, fails to detonate. Locke freezes in place and gently removes his own pack. Unlike the rest of the party, Locke heads toward the sound and fury of the security system. Looking around, he finds that whatever caused the disturbance has disappeared. At least until it erupts out of the ground right beside him, knocking him on his ass.
We hear that "Coney island roller coaster chain sound" again as the big bad descends on a frightened looking Locke. Locke's Zen Cool deserts him and he decides that running like hell is the better part of valour. More mechanical chain/winch sounds accompany Locke's panicked shout for help as the big bad scoops him up by the ankles and drag him backwards at incredible speed.
Jack just manages to catch hold of his wrists before he is dragged into a pit. Holding Locke just above the gaping maw of the pit, Jack tells Kate to get the dynamite that's (Surprise!) in his pack, not hers. No wonder there was no "Kaboom" when she ran off into the jungle.
Locke tells Jack to let him go. Somehow, he figures he'll be alright. Jack hangs doggedly on, ignoring the suggestion.
On Jack's insistance, over Locke's objection, Kate throws a stick of dynamite into the hole. A huge billow of oddly cohesive smoke floats up and out of a spot back from where Locke is dangling and then floats away in an unnatural hurry.
Jack and Kate haul Locke out of the hole.
On the raft, Michael finds Jin's Korean to English dictionary. Michael tells him how lucky he is. The rudder is fixed and in a final cementing of the friendship, when Michael tries to return that contentious watch that nearly got him killed, Jin gives it to him as a gift.
In the cave, Sun is trying to comfort Claire. She asks what the name "Aaron" means, but Claire doesn't know. Sun reassures her that Charlie will bring the baby back.
Running through the jungle, Charlie and Saayid come across a baby blanket. Foolishly, Charlie picks it up, only to trigger a trap that drops a bunch of rocks on his head. When Saayid sees how bad the gash on Charlie's head is, he tries to send Charlie back. Charlie stubbornly refuses, forcing Saayid to field dress the wound using gunpower to cauterize the wound.
"This is not going to be pleasant," says Saayid. No kidding.
Hurley wakes up in a hotel room, only to discover that the transformer powering his diskman with it's external speakers has blown and shorted out the plug powering the alarm clock. In a panic, he calls the front desk for his car as he packs. He can't miss this flight, since his Mom's birthday is tomorrow. He runs down the hall to the elevator, but the lift is packed with people, including Charlie, so he opts for the stairs. Moving remarkably fast for such a big guy, he gets himself and his luggage out of the hotel and into a rental car in record time.
Driving along to the airport, something inside the engine gives way with a loud bang. At that moment, the vehicle only has 42 kilometers on the trip meter. It's temperature is a comfy 23 degrees Celcius, but he's only travelling 16 kilometers and hour. Then 15. Then 8. Then 4.
Seeing a plane coming in for a landing overhead, he decides that he's close enough to hoof it. Abandoning the car, off he goes. And he makes it!
Slapping his passport on the airline counter, he anxiously taps his fingers while the lady behind the counter taps her keys.
The officious little so and so, ever so sweetly, forces Hurley to buy another ticket to compensate for his size. He isn't impressed, but he buys the one next to him.
As she hands him his revised ticket, she says "Uh oh."
"Uh oh, what, uh oh?" he asks.
"Well, it appears that your flight is already boarding in the Oceanic International Terminal. Well, this is the Domestic Terminal. I don't think your meant to make this flight, dear."
With that, Hurley collects his tickets and barrels off to the International Terminal. He tries to cut into the line for security, but gets pushed to the back of the line. We see a yet to blow up Arzt berate the man ahead of him for not pulling his laptop out earlier.
Once throught the security, Hurley continues his marathon run through the terminal, finally bribing a man who just had a hip replacement to let him borrow his electric scooter. For 16 hundred dollars.
On the last leg of his journey he passes a girls' uniformed sports team who's jerseys are numbered 4,8,15,16,23 and 42.
Finally, he reaches gate 23, just as they're shutting the doors on the boarding proceedure.
He begs the attendant to let him on the flight. Looking at him, she picks up the phone.
"Hunter, this is Jenna. We've got one more," then she says to Hurley, "This is your lucky day."
I tend to disagree.
As he walks by her onto the jetway, Hurley picks up the attendant and spins her around in a heartfelt, if sweaty, bearhug.
Walking throught the dark jungle by torchlight, Hurley repeats the numbers to himself. Kate asks if he said something, but he denies speaking.
She thought he heard him say "23" so he asks if that number would mean something to her. The guy who turned her in did so for a $23,000 reward.
Jack and Locke discuss Locke's desire to be dragged into a pit by a plume of smoke. Locke doubts that the smoke wasn't going to kill him. He thinks he was being tested. Locke thinks that the fact that Jack is a man of Science and since Locke is a man of Faith the two of them are destined not to see eye to eye. Locke asks Jack if he believes their situation is an accident, that this particular group survived by coincedence? Locke feels that each one of them was brought to the island for a reason. When Jack asks who Locke thinks brought them, he answers "The island." It was destiny.
Jack wonders if Locke spoke to Boone about their destiny. Locke tells him that Boone was a sacrifice that the island demanded.
Locke feels that all the events have been leading the group to this point. To the hatch. Locke sees destiny in the hatch. Jack sees safety.
Neither one of them sees and alcoholic sailboat racer.
Sawyer and Michael argue briefly over turning on the radar, but Sawyer eventually gets Michael to turn it on for five minutes. Michael learns that Sawyer's father shot himself when Sawyer was only 8. Michael wonders if his father's suicide might be the source of Sawyer's death wish, since such a selfish guy wouldn't be on the raft trying to save everyone unless he was a hero or he wanted to die. Sawyer doesn't see himself as a hero.
Just then, the radar beeps, showing them that something is out there.
At gate 23, Locke watches the old and infirm preboard as he sits in his wheelchair, waiting his turn. When the time comes, the special wheelchair used to board passengers in his condition can't be found. A helpful attendant suggests that two of them could carry him on. Not very dignified, but after his losing battle with the walkabout company, Locke doesn't seem to have much fight left in him and he agrees.
The dynamite crew finally reach the hatch. Locke directs Hurley to take the extra sticks back away from the demolition operation.
"Can I have a flashlight? Cuz' the torch around the dynamite thing not making a whole lot of sense to me."
Kate runs the fuse, Jack and Locke rig the dynamite.
Saayid and Charlie cautiously approach the fire that is the source of the black smoke. Oddly, there are no tracks. A baby's cry cuts thought the night. Danielle is close.
Saayid tries to coax her to give back the baby.
She just wanted her Alex back. But the others weren't there. They didn't come for Aaron. Tearfully, she gives the child back.
Charlie berates Rousseau, but she stands by what she said that the others were coming for the boy...
Jack and Locke carefully position the explosives at the hinge of the hatch, gently attatching the fuse. With everything set, they move off to the end of the fuse. Locke offers to light it, figuring there's enough time to get clear. Kate confronts Jack about his putting the dynamite in his pack not hers.
Jack reminds her that everyone wants him to be leader until he makes a descision that they don't like. Changing the subject, he points out that if they survive, they're "Going to have a Locke problem."
Making his way back to the group, Hurley drops his flashlight. When he picks it up, the beam focusses on an engraving in the side of the hatch. 4,8,15,16,23,42
He yells for them to stop. To not blow the hatch. The numbers are bad.
Ignoring him, Locke lights the fuse and blows the hatch.
Sawyer watches as the blip on the radar gets closer. Sawyer wants to fire the flare, but Michael isn't sure. As they talk about it, the blip starts moving away. Finally, Michael agrees.
"Please, God."
The blip disappears entirely. Nothing. Nothing. Something.
From the darkness a sound. An engine and then a sudden flare of a spotlight.
The raft crew waves and yells to their rescuers.
"What's going on? What're you folks doing this far out here?"
Michael tries to explain.
"A plane crash? Well, ain't that something."
"Only the thing is, we're going to have take the boy."
Sawyer tries to use the gun, but gets shot and falls into the water. They take the boy anyway. A short fight ensues and then a molotov cocktail destroys the raft. I call that "Island in a bottle moment #13" since there wasn't any danger of a sail powered raft chasing down a boat with a motor. Why bother destroying the raft unless there's a danger that it might reach the edge of the snow globe?
"Waaaaallllllttt! Waaaaaaaallllllllttttttt!
Saayid and Charlie return to cave with Aaron. As he's cleaning his wound, we notice that Charlie seems to have found religion. Mother Mary is right there at his side as Claire helps tend to his injury.
A montage of the doomed group boarding the plane accompanied by stark piano music. Claire, struggling with her bag and her pregnacy. Kate, sheepish and trying to hide the handcuffs with her coat. Sawyer stalking angrily out of Australia for good. Jack, watched by Locke as he puts his luggage in the overhead bin. Charlie, struggling to force his guitar into the front luggage compartment. Saayid noticing a fellow passenger's suspicion of him. Jin and Sun, sitting quietly as Jin stares at the watch. Michael and Walt, Michael buckling his son in as he is studiously ignored by a gameboy playing Walt. Back to Kate as she is secured to her seat by the Marshall. Saayid again, looking at his one of his pictures of Nadia. Shannon, frantically searching her bag for her inhaler which Boone hands to her with a longsuffering look. Hurley, pushing his way past a flight attendant to his seat, not stepping on any toes that we can see, flashing Walt a "thumbs up" for no reason, sinking gratefully into his assigned seats, putting on his headphones and opening up the comic to the page right after the polar bear shot. Back to Claire getting help with her luggage from Arzt. Jack and Locke share a "nod 'n' smile" moment.
In the jungle, Locke and Jack work together to move the hatch lid that they've blown open. Looking into the hole they've revealled, they see a concrete shaft with a ladder built into one side. The rungs appear to have been cut at a point far above the ground, making any descent impossible. The camera continues to descend, pulling father and farther down...
All the way to season 2...
Discussion.
The episode opens with Walt opening the curtains in a hotel room, overlooking Sydney. I'd say that it's significant that the writers chose to open an episode named after the book of the Bible wherein Moses leads his people to the Promised Land with a shot of Walt dramatically parting the red curtains.
Walt then wakes Michael by turning on the Power Rangers. When Michael won't let him watch it as loud as he wants, Walt leads his people...er, Vincent the dog on a rebellious trek down the hotel hallway. He punctuates his rebellion by repeating, loudly and often, "You're not my Father!" when Michael runs after him.
Walt wakes up on the beach beside Michael and heads down the beach to answer the call of nature. While he's doing his business, he hears something in the jungle. It's Danielle, that crazy French chick.
Her arrival on the beach puts the camp in an uproar, but Saayid calms everyone down and asks her what she's doing in their little island settlement.
"The Others are coming."
Danielle relates her tale to the assembled group. It seems that shortly after her team ran aground on the island, she delivered a baby girl, Alex. A week later, they saw a pillar of black smoke rising from the jungle and that night the Others came and took Alex. According to Danielle, the Others are coming again. The camp has only three choices.
Run.
Hide.
Or die.
Jack chooses option number 4: Launch the raft. He gathers the entire population to help Michael get the boat in the water. A Herculean effort gets the raft on the rails, but disaster strikes and damage is done. While the group is busy trying to place blame, Walt notices something inland. Black smoke.
Danielle endures questioning by Saayid and Jack, but can tell them nothing more than what they already know. When she asks them where they plan to hide 40 people, Jack and Locke share a knowing look. The hatch.
The group debates the idea of hiding in the hatch from the others. It's really moot until they can open the hatch, so Locke asks Danielle where she got the explosives to booby trap her shelter. It was dynamite she got at the Black Rock in the Dark Territory.
To quote Hurley: "Well, that's three reasons to go right there."
She agrees to lead them to the explosives, but they have to leave within the hour.
In the airport bar, Jack is having a pre-flight cocktail when he's approached by a really hot young lady who wants to know why he was yelling. Turns out that she heard him say that his Dad died and she was just being polite when she asked what he was yelling about. It's too bad she didn't know his Dad, or they could have had a really good conversation over that tequila and tonic Jack buys her. They have a little flirt and we learn that her name is Ana Lucia. We also learn that Jack is sitting in 23B and she is sitting in 42F. Just when the conversation looks to be getting interesting, Ana Lucia's cell phone rings and she excuses herself to talk. They promise to have their next drink together on the plane. Ana's parting words to Jack? "And Jack, the worst part's over." If you don't count a horrific plane crash, getting stitched up by someone who can barely sew curtains, hallucinations of your dead father running around the jungle in a business suit, falling off a cliff and being rescued by a knife wielding man who might be harbouring a deep dark secret or ten, burying two patients who died under your care, struggling against the egos, maladies, foibles and personalities of a group of stressed out castaways, getting the crap kicked out of you by a guy who somehow got to the island and yet wasn't on the plane, beginning to fall in love with a fugitive from the law, and having to wipe your ass with palm leaves, she's absolutely right.
Back on the beach, Jack reassures the group that they have a plan. He issues instructions for those staying on the beach to help Michael with the raft and then head to the caves for safety. High School science teacher, Arzt, tells Jack that he'd better go with the dynamite retrieval team to ensure that they handle the dynamite correctly and no one blows up.
Michael and Jin are working frantically to salvage the raft situation. Sawyer wants to help, but Michael and Jin have an English/Korean communications method that only the two of them really have and handle on, and they work faster without anyone else getting in the way.
Sawyer lands in a chair, in handcuffs, in a police station in Sydney. He's there because he got into a bar fight and head butted the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the altercation. The police are putting con man James Ford on a plane and deporting him, saving themselves the trouble and cost of running him through the justice system.
In the jungle, con man James Ford cutting down a tall stalk of bamboo. Jack comes upon him and hands him a gun to take with him on the raft. Just in case. Jack throws Sawyer a "Good luck, Sawyer" and heads into the jungle after the boomsticks. Sawyer calls him back. Sawyer tells Jack about an American doctor he met in a bar. He tells him that the Father knew it was his fault and how he, Christian, wishes he had the stones to pick up the phone and call his son to tell him he's sorry, he's proud and that he loves him. Small world. Sawyer throws Jack a "Good luck, Jack" and gets back to work.
In the airport security office, the late marshall is talking to an Australian security officer. He tells the marshall that he'll have to stow the case with the guns in the crew luggage compartment, up front in the plane. While searching the case, he finds the toy plane that Kate went to so much trouble to retrieve, the one that belonged to her childhood sweetheart who she got killed. When the security officer asks why the marshall needs five guns, the marshall responds by telling him all about the toy plane, taunting Kate by calling her love "whatshisname" when he obviously knows exactly what his name was. Kate snaps, put the marshall in a hold against the office door, but he is able to elbow her in the face and get out of it.
"And that...is why I need five guns."
On the beach, Kate volunteers for the dynamite retrieval team.
Charlie is collecting messages to put in an empty wine bottle for the sailors to take with them. Jack shakes hands with Michael and Jin and tells Walt to take care of his Dad. Kate looks around but can't find Sawyer anywhere. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Rousseau, Arzt and Locke head down the beach, to find the Black Rock.
The group treks across the island. Locke notes some scratches on Danielle's arm, which she claims she got from a bush. I'm betting that bush was on some pretty mean pre-natal amnesia drugs.
Eventually, they enter the Dark Territory.
"The Black Rock is not far. This is where it all began, where my team got infected. Where Montagne lost his arm."
At this point, Arzt decides that he's going back. He was fine with helping, up until Montagne lost his frickin' arm. He leaves, but not before telling Jack to be very, very careful with the dynamite. That's good advice, Arzt.
On the beach, Sawyer delivers a mast to a surprised Jin and Michael.
The intrepid band of dynamite seekers is trekking through the jungle, in the rain. They hear a strange sound and stop to try and figure out what it is. It's Arzt and he's running from something. That something is Great Tree Pusher. The group scatters, but the threat passes them by. As it leaves, the rain stops. I call that "Island in a Bottle Moment #9".
When Kate asks Rousseau what Great Tree Pusher was, she tells them that it's a security system. Its purpose is that of any security system, to protect something. In this case, it protects the island.
The little band regroups and heads off to get the dynamite.
On the beach, Walt gives Shannon care of Vincent. Vincent is a good listener who helped Walt though the time after his Mom died when everyone pretended that nothing had happened and no one would talk to him. Walt figures that Shannon could talk to Vincent about Boone. Shannon agrees to take the dog, but only until Walt gets them rescued.
In the airport in Sydney, a very bored Shannon agrees to watch Saayid's bag. Boone comes back from the ticket agent to deliver the news that he couldn't get them into first class. The two of them head up the escalator, abandoning the luggage she agreed to watch. Shannon wants to try again to get them in to first class and when Boone tells her to drop the subject, she threatens to get him kicked off the flight. He dismisses her as a helpless, harmless little girl and to prove him wrong, she finds a police officer and with an innocent tone covering her malicious intent, she points out the bag abandoned by "Some Arab guy" as being suspicious. The airport security runs off at her behest and she smuggly turns a smile to Boone.
Speaking of Arab guys, Saayid has a surprise for Michael. He's salvaged a radar emitter from the Beechcraft for them to use. It will show them any ships within a twenty-five mile radius, but with their limited power, they should only turn it on once an hour. He also found a flare gun with one flare.
Back in the Dark Territory, the gang finally arrives at the Black Rock. Stunned looks cross the faces of the intrepid explorers as the true nature of the Black Rock is revealed. Turns out that the "Black Rock" isn't a rock at all, but an old style wooden sailing vessel, which somehow ran aground miles inland. Island in a bottle moment #10.
In the food court of the airport in Sydney, Sun brings an impatient Jin a coffee and pastry. She places a napkin on his lap. An American couple observes this behaviour and the wife is derisive of Sun's submissive gesture. Loudly. English speaking Sun must endure the criticism stoically, lest her planned escape be given away. Whether by accident or design, she spills coffee on Jin and then tries to help clean him up. Sun does her best not to react to the rude American's derogatory comments.
On the beach, she brings Jin a book. She's translated English words for him, phonetically, so he can communicate with the others without her there to interpret. When they finally start talking, Sun pleads with him not to go. He tells her that he believes that his presence on the island is a punishment and that he has to go on the raft to try his best to save her from sharing his fate. Crying and hugging in Korean ensue.
At the raft, the remaining castaways gather to say goodbye to their would be rescuers. Sun and Michael share one of the awkwardest moments ever filmed. More crying and hugging ensues, but not in Korean. Sawyer scans the tree line in vain, for no Kate emerges from the jungle to run to him in slow motion.
The collective efforts of the group launch the raft triumphantly into the surf.
Vincent tries to swim to Walt, but eventually turns back to shore to be with Shannon. Personally, despite her annoying tendency to be a bitch, I'd probably have made the same choice. She looks much better in a bikini.
The men on the good ship "Get us the hell off this island" raise the sail and head off to find civilization and rescue. I wonder what their heading is? 325 maybe? Probably not. Oh well, if they sail due West, they should reach Fiji in less than a week. Unless of course they're actually trapped in an Island in a Bottle like figurines in a snow-globe. Nah.
Discussion
Episode 24 & 25 (Exodus 2)
This is Turnip-Head's eye. This is Turnip-Head's eye watching someone change his nappy. This is Turnip-Head's eye realizing that he's eventually going to be named after Moses's brother and that he is the first thing we see in an episode named after the book of the Bible in which Moses frees the slaves and leads them to the Promised Land. Oh, and this is Aaron's eye watching Claire panic as she tries to cope with a wet, crying child and eminent doom. Charlie tries to help Claire, but she's inconsolable. To protect her, Charlie tries to get Saayid to give him a gun. Saayid gives him advice instead. Get Claire packed and carry her child to the caves.
Cut to the jungle and the intrepid band of dynamite retrievers. They all stand in silence, soaking in the sight of a large ocean going vessel somehow situated miles inland on a deserted tropical island amid lush foliage and dense jungle growth.
Hurley, as usual, sums it up for everyone:
"How, exactly, does something like this happen?"
Rousseau provides the rejoinder:
"Are you on the same island as I am?"
Her job of guiding the group to the Black Rock and the explosives complete, Rousseau heads back into the jungle. When Jack looks ready to try to convince her to stay with the group, Locke tells him to let her go.
Jack rallies the troups and gathers them to explore the Black Rock and find the dynamite. Arzt declines the invitation to explore the ghost ship and Hurley heads back to keep him company. Locke, Jack and Kate enter the derelict ship in search of salvation. What they find are the skeletal remains of what appear to be slaves, still chained to the bulkheads. When he finds some mining equipment, Locke postulates that the ship might have been en route to a mining colony, leaving from the Eastern Coast of Africa, perhaps Mozambique. A further search of the hold leads the group to the cache of explosives.
Outside the Black Rock, Arzt is regaling Hurley with stories of his failed marriages. He catches Hurley not paying attention. Arzt figures that the clique that has formed around the "main" group of survivors isn't paying attention to the rest of the group in much the same fashion.
Back in the hold, Jack convinces Kate not to pry open the box labled "Explosives" while they're in the hold. He and Locke carry it outside.
Outside, Arzt is still detailing all the "in-crowd" slights that have been directed at him. Hurley doesn't buy it.
"Dude, this is all in your head."
Mid-tirade, Arzt looks up to see Jack and Locke carrying the crate of explosives out of the ship. He leaps into action, shouting at them to immediately, but carefully, place the wooden crate on the ground. Being the only one of the group to really have any understanding of the proper handling of dynamite, he takes charge of the salvage operation.
He shoos and shushes the rest of the crew away from the crate and moves it to assess the situation.
As he gently prys open the lid, here begins the lesson.
"Do any of you have any idea what happens to dynamite in ninety plus degree heat? Huh? Do you know? Any of you? It sweats...Nitro Glycerine."
Jack tries to get a closer look.
"Whoa, ho, whatareyoudoing? Did I ask you to come closer?"
Jack backs off. Arzt very gently lifts a stick of dynamite free of the crate.
"Dynamite is nitro glycerine, stablized by clay. Nitro glycerine is the most dangerous and unstable explosive known to man."
Arzt, holding the single stick of death in two fingers, gestures to Kate with his chin.
"Hey, Kate, gimme your shirt."
She looks at him the way women always look at me when I ask them for their shirts.
"Now. Princess, gimme your shirt, I need to wrap the dynamite." Arzt must have the knack because the shirt comes off.
"Just throw it to me, right here. Be careful. C'mon. Hurry up. Okay, good. Now back up. Back up. Back up. Just back up, get out of my way!"
The group gingerly moves back to give Arzt room as he wraps the dynamite in Kates now mud soaked shirt.
"Any of you ever hear about the guy who invented Nitro Glycerine? Probably not. Because he blew his friggin' face off! His lab assistant came into the room, saw that his mentor detonated and said 'Huh, I guess this stuff does work.'"
Arzt finishes his delicate wrapping operation and begins to issue the instructions for the next stage of the excercise.
"Alright, we're not going to take any more of this stuff than we need, because Nitro Glycerine is extremely tempermental." Confident in his work, Arzt carelessly gestures with the mud wrapped stick of doom and sets off a massive explosion. Everyone who is not blown immediately into itty bitty pieces is knocked solidly back on their collective asses.
Hurley, once again, puts it all into words.
"Dude."
Here endeth the lesson.
In the airport, just before boarding Flight 815 for L.A., Sun spills coffee on Jin, sending him off in search of a washroom. On his way, the camera pans by Saayid, being led by Airport Security. It seems that some spoiled, blonde, pain in the ass turned him in for his unattended bag. She really should apologise for that and make up for the inconvienience. Maybe she can attend his...nevermind.
Jin finds the washroom and does his best to wash the coffee stain out. As he is working on the stain, a man using the next sink asks him to pass the paper towels. Jin, of course, doesn't understand his English request. With a smile and a polite bow, the American acknowleges the communications barrier and moves to the towel dispenser. He then begins to speak in Korean. The American works for Mr. Paik. He's there to make sure that Jin delivers the watch and returns to Korea as instructed. It seems that Mr. Paik knows that Jin plans to run away and he does not approve. Through his emmissary, he sends Jin the message that he isn't free and he never will be.
On the ocean, Jin looks like he's feeling pretty free. He's smiling into the sun, enjoying the open ocean by the looks of it. Walt draws everyone's attention back to the island, which they can now see in it's entirety.
"How's a place this big never get discovered?"
We can call that "Island in a bottle moment number 11."
As they sail, Sawyer sings some Bob Marley under his breath. It's "Redemption Song". No subtext there.
Sun' standing on the beach, looking out at the water, thinking about Jin. She caresses her wedding ring, looking pensive. I hope she never loses that ring and has to spend an entire episode looking for it, 'cuz that would be really dull.
Shannon struggles with an uncooperative Vincent the dog and a suitcase full of memories. She has all of Boone's stuff with her to take to the caves to hide. Saayid tries to convince her that she doesn't need everything, but she points out the pointlessness of the excercise. Surely the "Others" will find their hiding spot. She breaks down, moaning that it's too much. Saayid comforts her and lets her know that it won't be too much if he carries it for her. No subtext there either. She's really going to have to repay his kindness one day. Maybe she can attend his...nevermind.
Back in the jungle, Kate saddles up to Hurley to check on the big man's Post Exploding Arzt Condition.
"That was messed up. He just...exploded...in front of us."
Hurley feels that the curse of the numbers has followed him into the jungle. Kate reassures him that it was just an accident. I think Arzt might agree with Hurley.
Locke and Jack have taken over the duties of explosives master. Jack reluctantly agrees that this is the only way that they can proceed. As they work, Locke notes the similarity of what they are doing to the childhood game, "Operation". He recounts with a "Bzzt" sound effect, how he always got nailed on the funny bone. Jack doesn't seem to share his sense of humour about the situation.
"You like to play games, John?"
"Absolutely."
No subtext there.
On the beach, Charlie has solved the Turnip-Head transport issue, by making a bjorn. Byorn? Beeorn? Biorn? Whatever.
Just as he's about to help Claire load the baby into the improvised carrier, Rousseau comes tearing out of the jungle, shouting for Saayid. Charlie eventually heads off to find him, leaving Claire and Rousseau alone. Claire's finely honed maternal instincts tell her that this Crazy French Chick might just be crazy. Possibly French as well. She tries to move out of crazy range, but Rousseau draws her back with a guilt filled "You don't want me to hold him."
As she tries to cajole Claire into letting her hold the baby, Claire has a flashback to a time when she scratched Rousseau, trying to get away from her.
Back in a hotel, Charlie is searching the room for something. He looks under scattered clothing, through items on the desk and even in the garbage and finds nothing. When he rips the covers from the bed, he finds a half dressed girl. Personally, most of my frantic hotel room searches stop right about...now. Not Charlie though, he's on a mission. He seems pretty agitated. When Half-Naked Girl asks what's going on, he tells her that he has to catch his flight to L.A. in a couple of hours. She wonders if he wants to do one more bump for the road, but despite finally laying hands on his stash of drugs, he claims to be all out. Suddenly, she's even more frantic than he was during his search. In her early stage withdrawl, she reveals that she only hung out with Charlie for his drugs, not for any almost equally shallow groupyism. Poor Charlie, even hollow Rock God sex has been reduced to even hollower sex-in-return-for-drugs. The moment erupts in violence when Half-Naked Girls sees the stash in Charlie's hand. She attacks but he manages to fight her off and hang on to the drugs. Yay!
Running down the beach, Charlie finally finds Saayid leading the slaves to the promised land...er, leading the castaways to the caves. He informs him that Rousseau has returned. As Saayid asks what Rousseau wants, the sound of someone yelling for help is heard. Sun has discovered Claire, her head bleeding and almost out cold. It seems that Rousseau has decided to adopt with extreme prejudice. Charlie unleashes his fists of fury on Saayid, blaming him for not helping Charlie protect Claire by giving him a gun. Saayid only lets him have one punch before grabbing him by the throat and forcing him to move past assigning blame and on to trying to rescue the infant.
Back at the Black Rock, the undetonated portion of the expedition is finishing up their preparations to move the dynamite. Jack wants to carry all of the dynamite in one pack, but Locke feels that it would be wiser to split the load between them as a failsafe. Since they figure three sticks will blow the hatch's hinges, two separate packs with three sticks in each is called for. Jack suggests that he and Locke each carry a pack, but Kate wants to carry one too. Just as Jack lays down the law, and for once makes a firm desision, Locke pulls the leadership platform out from under the good doctor by stating that they will draw straws. Jack isn't happy, but he goes along. The three of them will draw straws to see who will risk their life carrying the boomsticks. Jack wonders if Hurley wants to carry any of the explosives but when he asks, he gets only a silent stare in return. On prompting, Hurley informs him:
"You got some... Arzt on you."
The three intrepid adventurers draw straws. Kate and Locke "win".
Out on the ocean, Walt is getting a lesson in "Unbelievably Well Equipped Raft of Desperation 101." Michael shows him the S.O.S. transmitter and the radar (powered by a battery???) screen that they managed to scavange from the Beechcraft. Puts the Professor's coconut radio to shame. Walt catches an unrepentant Sawyer reading the messages that were put in the bottle for the raftees to bring to civilization. Sawyer idly wonders who "Hugo" is and how he has a hundred and sixty million dollars to leave to his mom.
Walt asks him how he would feel if someone were to read his letter. Sawyer's answer is that no one could read his letter, since he never wrote one. When asked why he didn't write a letter, he tells Walt that the only letter he ever wrote was to the man he's going to kill. He needs to kill him. Still.
On their way to the stash of guns, Charlie questions why Saayid thinks that Rousseau is taking the baby to the spot where the black smoke is coming from. Saayid figures that Rousseau wants to make a trade for her child that was taken all those years ago. It isn't rational, but she's a mother who has lost a child. Speaking of irrational, Claire catches up with the two would be rescuers and demands to go with them. Charlie finally hugs her out of the idea.
"Get him back, Charlie. Get Aaron back."
So she's named the boy. Makes sense. It wouldn't have been nearly as powerful a moment if she had said: "Get him back Charlie. Get Turnip Head back."
In the airport, Walt studiously ignores Michael while the two of them wait to board the plane. Michael excuses himself to use the phone. On the phone, he talks to his Mother, suggesting that maybe she could help him out by taking Walt off of his hands. He whines that he can't be a parent, Walt wasn't even supposed to be his. Naturally, Walt is standing right behind him.
On the ocean, Michael gives Walt the chance to steer the boat. The island has definately healed his crippled parenting skills. During the sailing lesson, Walt quizzes Michael about his relationship with Walt's Mom. Just as Walt let's Michael know that he thinks his Mom should have included Michael in his life, they hit a log that tears off the rudder. A quick thinking Sawyer strips off his shirt and dives in after the rapidly sinking metal rudder. Between Michael and Jin, a rootin' tootin' rope wranglin' rescue is mounted and both Sawyer and the rudder are saved. Handing Sawyer back his shirt, Michael discovers the gun that Jack gave him. He doesn't look happy about it, but he does give it back.
Jack gently places a napsack that he packed with the dynamite on Kates back. She tells him she's sorry, and he chalks it up to the luck of the draw. Dr. Jack lays out the plan to get back to the camp and some ground rules about what to do in the event of an encounter with the "security system." Locke only undermines Jack's authority a very little bit at this time. And off they go...
Sun guides a distraught Claire into the cave. When she sees Shannon staring at the spot where Boone died, Sun brings a bowl of water over to Vincent for her and offers some words of comfort. She tells Shannon that her brother died bravely, reminding us that by Boone dying the island's precious supply of medication was preserved. By dying, Boone has also helped preserve and stretch the island's precious supply of blush.
Sun wonders if the castaways are being punished by fate for all their past sins. Claire doesn't believe in fate.
Charlie and Saayid are making good time across the island toward the black smoke. They want to get there while it is still light out, so Saayid pushes Charlie to keep up. The two men race through the jungle until Saayid calls a break when they come across the Beechcraft. He helpfully points out that the plane was loaded with heroin stashed inside Virgin Mary statues.
Elsewhere in the jungle, Jack and his explosive pals are gingerly making their way back to camp. Hurley asks Locke what he thinks is in the hatch. In true Locke fashion, the older man asks Hurley what he thinks might be in the hatch. Hurley figures on TV dinners from the '50s, TVs with cable, cell phones, clean socks, soap and twinkies. Little does he know how close to the bull's eye he is.
The big man again asks Locke what he thinks might be inside. Locke answers "Hope."
Two things stand out about this statement.
One, Pandora opened her box and let (depending on which version of the myth you know) either all of the world's ills loose on mankind or she let all of the gifts the gods had given mankind escape. Either way, she was left with only "Hope" at the bottom of the box.
Two, Locke's definition of "Hope" obviously includes dirty dishes, burned out lightbulbs, a lot of guns and a metaphorical apron.
As they make their way through the jungle, a giant bird startles them. It makes no mention of Hurley.
Speaking of the big guy, he puts it all together, yet again. "Whoever named this place 'Dark Territory'...Genius."
As they briefly stop to let the others catch up, Kate and Jack see an odd wisp of black smoke shoot through the trees nearby. Both are fully aware that smoke doesn't usually travel that fast or in that fashion. In answer to Jack's unspoken question, Kate confirms that she too saw the odd phenomenon.
As they move to get as far away from the smoke as possible, something erupts out of the jungle floor. Let's call this "Island in a bottle moment #12." Jack sets down his pack and runs. Kate keeps hers on and oddly, fails to detonate. Locke freezes in place and gently removes his own pack. Unlike the rest of the party, Locke heads toward the sound and fury of the security system. Looking around, he finds that whatever caused the disturbance has disappeared. At least until it erupts out of the ground right beside him, knocking him on his ass.
We hear that "Coney island roller coaster chain sound" again as the big bad descends on a frightened looking Locke. Locke's Zen Cool deserts him and he decides that running like hell is the better part of valour. More mechanical chain/winch sounds accompany Locke's panicked shout for help as the big bad scoops him up by the ankles and drag him backwards at incredible speed.
Jack just manages to catch hold of his wrists before he is dragged into a pit. Holding Locke just above the gaping maw of the pit, Jack tells Kate to get the dynamite that's (Surprise!) in his pack, not hers. No wonder there was no "Kaboom" when she ran off into the jungle.
Locke tells Jack to let him go. Somehow, he figures he'll be alright. Jack hangs doggedly on, ignoring the suggestion.
On Jack's insistance, over Locke's objection, Kate throws a stick of dynamite into the hole. A huge billow of oddly cohesive smoke floats up and out of a spot back from where Locke is dangling and then floats away in an unnatural hurry.
Jack and Kate haul Locke out of the hole.
On the raft, Michael finds Jin's Korean to English dictionary. Michael tells him how lucky he is. The rudder is fixed and in a final cementing of the friendship, when Michael tries to return that contentious watch that nearly got him killed, Jin gives it to him as a gift.
In the cave, Sun is trying to comfort Claire. She asks what the name "Aaron" means, but Claire doesn't know. Sun reassures her that Charlie will bring the baby back.
Running through the jungle, Charlie and Saayid come across a baby blanket. Foolishly, Charlie picks it up, only to trigger a trap that drops a bunch of rocks on his head. When Saayid sees how bad the gash on Charlie's head is, he tries to send Charlie back. Charlie stubbornly refuses, forcing Saayid to field dress the wound using gunpower to cauterize the wound.
"This is not going to be pleasant," says Saayid. No kidding.
Hurley wakes up in a hotel room, only to discover that the transformer powering his diskman with it's external speakers has blown and shorted out the plug powering the alarm clock. In a panic, he calls the front desk for his car as he packs. He can't miss this flight, since his Mom's birthday is tomorrow. He runs down the hall to the elevator, but the lift is packed with people, including Charlie, so he opts for the stairs. Moving remarkably fast for such a big guy, he gets himself and his luggage out of the hotel and into a rental car in record time.
Driving along to the airport, something inside the engine gives way with a loud bang. At that moment, the vehicle only has 42 kilometers on the trip meter. It's temperature is a comfy 23 degrees Celcius, but he's only travelling 16 kilometers and hour. Then 15. Then 8. Then 4.
Seeing a plane coming in for a landing overhead, he decides that he's close enough to hoof it. Abandoning the car, off he goes. And he makes it!
Slapping his passport on the airline counter, he anxiously taps his fingers while the lady behind the counter taps her keys.
The officious little so and so, ever so sweetly, forces Hurley to buy another ticket to compensate for his size. He isn't impressed, but he buys the one next to him.
As she hands him his revised ticket, she says "Uh oh."
"Uh oh, what, uh oh?" he asks.
"Well, it appears that your flight is already boarding in the Oceanic International Terminal. Well, this is the Domestic Terminal. I don't think your meant to make this flight, dear."
With that, Hurley collects his tickets and barrels off to the International Terminal. He tries to cut into the line for security, but gets pushed to the back of the line. We see a yet to blow up Arzt berate the man ahead of him for not pulling his laptop out earlier.
Once throught the security, Hurley continues his marathon run through the terminal, finally bribing a man who just had a hip replacement to let him borrow his electric scooter. For 16 hundred dollars.
On the last leg of his journey he passes a girls' uniformed sports team who's jerseys are numbered 4,8,15,16,23 and 42.
Finally, he reaches gate 23, just as they're shutting the doors on the boarding proceedure.
He begs the attendant to let him on the flight. Looking at him, she picks up the phone.
"Hunter, this is Jenna. We've got one more," then she says to Hurley, "This is your lucky day."
I tend to disagree.
As he walks by her onto the jetway, Hurley picks up the attendant and spins her around in a heartfelt, if sweaty, bearhug.
Walking throught the dark jungle by torchlight, Hurley repeats the numbers to himself. Kate asks if he said something, but he denies speaking.
She thought he heard him say "23" so he asks if that number would mean something to her. The guy who turned her in did so for a $23,000 reward.
Jack and Locke discuss Locke's desire to be dragged into a pit by a plume of smoke. Locke doubts that the smoke wasn't going to kill him. He thinks he was being tested. Locke thinks that the fact that Jack is a man of Science and since Locke is a man of Faith the two of them are destined not to see eye to eye. Locke asks Jack if he believes their situation is an accident, that this particular group survived by coincedence? Locke feels that each one of them was brought to the island for a reason. When Jack asks who Locke thinks brought them, he answers "The island." It was destiny.
Jack wonders if Locke spoke to Boone about their destiny. Locke tells him that Boone was a sacrifice that the island demanded.
Locke feels that all the events have been leading the group to this point. To the hatch. Locke sees destiny in the hatch. Jack sees safety.
Neither one of them sees and alcoholic sailboat racer.
Sawyer and Michael argue briefly over turning on the radar, but Sawyer eventually gets Michael to turn it on for five minutes. Michael learns that Sawyer's father shot himself when Sawyer was only 8. Michael wonders if his father's suicide might be the source of Sawyer's death wish, since such a selfish guy wouldn't be on the raft trying to save everyone unless he was a hero or he wanted to die. Sawyer doesn't see himself as a hero.
Just then, the radar beeps, showing them that something is out there.
At gate 23, Locke watches the old and infirm preboard as he sits in his wheelchair, waiting his turn. When the time comes, the special wheelchair used to board passengers in his condition can't be found. A helpful attendant suggests that two of them could carry him on. Not very dignified, but after his losing battle with the walkabout company, Locke doesn't seem to have much fight left in him and he agrees.
The dynamite crew finally reach the hatch. Locke directs Hurley to take the extra sticks back away from the demolition operation.
"Can I have a flashlight? Cuz' the torch around the dynamite thing not making a whole lot of sense to me."
Kate runs the fuse, Jack and Locke rig the dynamite.
Saayid and Charlie cautiously approach the fire that is the source of the black smoke. Oddly, there are no tracks. A baby's cry cuts thought the night. Danielle is close.
Saayid tries to coax her to give back the baby.
She just wanted her Alex back. But the others weren't there. They didn't come for Aaron. Tearfully, she gives the child back.
Charlie berates Rousseau, but she stands by what she said that the others were coming for the boy...
Jack and Locke carefully position the explosives at the hinge of the hatch, gently attatching the fuse. With everything set, they move off to the end of the fuse. Locke offers to light it, figuring there's enough time to get clear. Kate confronts Jack about his putting the dynamite in his pack not hers.
Jack reminds her that everyone wants him to be leader until he makes a descision that they don't like. Changing the subject, he points out that if they survive, they're "Going to have a Locke problem."
Making his way back to the group, Hurley drops his flashlight. When he picks it up, the beam focusses on an engraving in the side of the hatch. 4,8,15,16,23,42
He yells for them to stop. To not blow the hatch. The numbers are bad.
Ignoring him, Locke lights the fuse and blows the hatch.
Sawyer watches as the blip on the radar gets closer. Sawyer wants to fire the flare, but Michael isn't sure. As they talk about it, the blip starts moving away. Finally, Michael agrees.
"Please, God."
The blip disappears entirely. Nothing. Nothing. Something.
From the darkness a sound. An engine and then a sudden flare of a spotlight.
The raft crew waves and yells to their rescuers.
"What's going on? What're you folks doing this far out here?"
Michael tries to explain.
"A plane crash? Well, ain't that something."
"Only the thing is, we're going to have take the boy."
Sawyer tries to use the gun, but gets shot and falls into the water. They take the boy anyway. A short fight ensues and then a molotov cocktail destroys the raft. I call that "Island in a bottle moment #13" since there wasn't any danger of a sail powered raft chasing down a boat with a motor. Why bother destroying the raft unless there's a danger that it might reach the edge of the snow globe?
"Waaaaallllllttt! Waaaaaaaallllllllttttttt!
Saayid and Charlie return to cave with Aaron. As he's cleaning his wound, we notice that Charlie seems to have found religion. Mother Mary is right there at his side as Claire helps tend to his injury.
A montage of the doomed group boarding the plane accompanied by stark piano music. Claire, struggling with her bag and her pregnacy. Kate, sheepish and trying to hide the handcuffs with her coat. Sawyer stalking angrily out of Australia for good. Jack, watched by Locke as he puts his luggage in the overhead bin. Charlie, struggling to force his guitar into the front luggage compartment. Saayid noticing a fellow passenger's suspicion of him. Jin and Sun, sitting quietly as Jin stares at the watch. Michael and Walt, Michael buckling his son in as he is studiously ignored by a gameboy playing Walt. Back to Kate as she is secured to her seat by the Marshall. Saayid again, looking at his one of his pictures of Nadia. Shannon, frantically searching her bag for her inhaler which Boone hands to her with a longsuffering look. Hurley, pushing his way past a flight attendant to his seat, not stepping on any toes that we can see, flashing Walt a "thumbs up" for no reason, sinking gratefully into his assigned seats, putting on his headphones and opening up the comic to the page right after the polar bear shot. Back to Claire getting help with her luggage from Arzt. Jack and Locke share a "nod 'n' smile" moment.
In the jungle, Locke and Jack work together to move the hatch lid that they've blown open. Looking into the hole they've revealled, they see a concrete shaft with a ladder built into one side. The rungs appear to have been cut at a point far above the ground, making any descent impossible. The camera continues to descend, pulling father and farther down...
All the way to season 2...
Discussion.
posted by Greybishop at 11:20 AM
