LOST

Overview

The logo that appears after each episode of LOST

LOST is a show with history. The initial idea of a drama set on a deserted island was birthed by Jeffery Lieber and Damon Lidelof in 2004, with J.J. Abrams hopping on later to give it it's famous mystical touch. Debuting later that year to 16 million viewers, LOST was an instant success and was one of the most watched and talked about shows on TV.

The show itself tells the story of 48 survivors of a plane crash who wake up on an (initially, it seems deserted) island and must fend for their survival from both the elements and a mysterious, powerful beast that lives in the jungle. Leading the pack is Jack Shepard (Matthew Fox), a doctor who soon becomes the impromtu leader; Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Jack's flame and a murderer on the run; Sawyer (Josh Holloway), a con man and the island's resident asshole, Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), an Iraqi man with a sordid past, and John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), an ordinary man changed by the powers of the island.

As the show progressed along it's six seasons, more and more characters and places were added to the island. In Season 1's episode "Raised By Another," the idea of "Others" living on the island is introduced, before being expanded upon in "Exodus: Part 2" and subsequent seasons. In the Season 1 episode "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues," Locke and Boone find a metal hatch embedded into the ground which then becomes the main fixture of Season 2. Many other changes occur as the show becomes less about the characters and more about the mystery of the island and what it can do.

Ending on May 23, 2010 in its sixth season with the appropriately titled "The End," LOST left behind a legacy that will be hard to follow. No other show before it (other than perhaps Twin Peaks) has created such discussion about each episode and what they meant as a whole. Mysteries, inevitably, went unanswered, but as a show that captivated a generation and spawned a devoted following, what more could you ask for?

Season 1

The Beginning

The show begins with a shot of our protagonist, Jack Shephard ( Matthew Fox). It's rapidly revealed that Jack along with fourty-seven other passengers survived the crash of Oceanic flight 815. Jack, along with Kate Austen ( Evangeline Lilly) & Charlie Pace ( Dominic Monaghan) go in search of the cockpit. There they find a radio along with the pilot who tells them they crashed a thousand miles of course. The pilot is then ripped from the plane by what appears to be a smoke monster.

Throughout the season the survivors go in search of water, food, and what remains of their belongings. One of the survivors John Locke ( Terry O'Quinn) was in a wheelchair before the crash, but can now walk and believes the Island has saved him. He becomes emotionally attached to the place and along with Boone Carlyle ( Ian Somerhalder) discovers a hatch in the ground. In one of the most emotional moments of the show Boone dies as fellow survivor Claire Littleton ( Emilie De Ravin) gives birth to a son Aaron. Locke is devastated at the death and wonders why the Island would do this, banging on the hatch lid, a light shines through the small window.

Claire, along with her baby, and Charlie are kidnapped by Ethan Rom ( William Mapother), an original island inhabitant pretending to be a crash survivor. The survivors race to find them, but only manage to find Charlie. Former republican guard interrogator Sayid Jarrah ( Naveen Andrews) follows a mysterious chord into the jungle where he eventually is captured by Rousseau, she believes him to be a previous island inhabitant (an other) and only lets him go after a severe interrogation. And warning him of the others, however it is too late to stop Ethan from kidnapping Claire.

The Raft

Meanwhile fellow survivor Michael Dawson ( Harold Perrineau) along with Jin Kwon ( Daniel Dae Kim) and his son Walt ( Malcolm David Kelley), begin to build a raft to escape the island and return home. Despite the initial raft being burnt down, and requiring help from the crashes resident con man and seemingly low life Sawyer ( Josh Holloway) to complete the raft. Locke finds Claire wandering the jungle with amnesia after weeks later, and Ethan shows up demanding to have her back. Ultimately this leads to Ethans demise as Charlie shoots him before the survivors could interrogate or ask him anything about the island. Locke reveals the hatch to everyone else and Jack, Rousseau, Hurley ( Jorge Garcia), Locke, and Doctor Artz take off to find dynamite to blow the hatch open. Doctor Artz get's blown up.

The season concludes with the raft taking off and the hatch being set to be blown up. As the match is lit Hurley recognizes the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 on the hatch as the same numbers he won the lottery with. However, Hurley Hurley believes the numbers only bring bad luck. The hatch is blown open anyway. The raft is intercepted by the others who capture Walt, shoot Sawyer, and leave Sawyer, Jin and Michael floating in the ocean. The season concludes with Locke and Jack staring down the hatch into darkness.

Season 2

The Countdown clock

The second season begins immediately where the first left off. Kate, Locke and Jack go down into the hatch. It's in this hatch where they meet the man inside it, Desmond Hume ( Henry Ian Cusick), who believes by entering the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 and pushing the button he is saving the world. He shows the crash survivors a film left to him by the man previously inside the hatch. During the initial confrontation the computer is damaged and Desmond flees fearing the worlds end. Sayid manages to fix the computer in time and they begin to push the button. They watch a video which explains the importance of pushing the button and is the first introduction to the Dharma initiative, a group of scientists who inhabited the island at some point in the 1970's. The video also refers to the hatch as the swan station, one of six Dharma stations on the island.

Mr. Eko attacks Jin, Sawyer & Michael

Michael, and Sawyer are floating back to the island on remnants of the raft when Sawyer removes the bullet enlodged in his shoulder by hand. Michael spends the entire time yelling WAAAALLLLLLLT thinking his son can hear him and knows he coming. When they arrive back on the island Jin runs out to them with his arms tied only managing to get the words others out before they are attacked. It's revealed that this group of people is in fact not the others but the survivors from the tail section of the plane. Despite the lack of trust, eventually the five members remaining from the tail, Ana Lucia ( Michelle Rodriguez), Mr. Eko ( Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Libby ( Cynthia Watros), Bernard Nadler ( am Anderson), & Cindy Chandler ( Kimberley Joseph), take Jin, Sawyer, and Michael to their base, another old Dharma station The Arrow. However, with Sawyer's wounds getting worse all of the crew take off to find the main beach with the rest of the survivors. During the march there, Cindy disappears seemingly into thin air.

Shannon ( Maggie Grace), who had been left in charge of Walt's dog Vincent, loses him and chases after him into the jungle, where she sees Walt. unfortunately, Sayid, her boyfriend doesn't believe her. Later n she takes vincent to go find Walt in the jungle, Sayid eventually catches up to her and the two profess their love for each other. Shortly after Shannon sees Walt again, but amidst confusion is shot by Ana Lucia who believed her to be an other. This leads to the collision of the two sections and though initially cast as an outsider even Ana Lucia is accepted in, as Sayid blames the Others for Shannon's death.

"Henry Gale" from Minnesota

Rousseau, who had returned to living in the jungle, has captured an other who proclaims himself to be Henry Gale from Minnesota who crashed on the island in a hot air balloon. The Survivors don't believe his story and he is brutally interrogated by Sayid. The Swan station then undergoes an odd lockdown procedure when only Henry and Locke are inside, Locke becomes trapped before he can enter the numbers in, and tells Henry to crawl through the vents and enter the numbers. One of the doors in hatch that sealed in the lockdown is revealed to have a map on it in the blacklight. Later, Henry claims to have never pushed the button, however anything he says is called into question when Sayid proves he is not Henry Gale, who was a black man buried at the site of his balloon.

Following the blast door map, Mr. Eko and Locke set out of the find the (?) station, later revealed to be the pearl, a monitoring station. Seeing the swan through the station gives both men conflicting views, Locke believes that the button is now meaningless, and Eko believes the button now must be pushed. When Claire's baby gets sick, Kate goes with her to find medicine which Claire believes exists at the place she was kidnapped. This place is revealed to be the The Staff station for the Dharma. They do not find medicine, but find glue and fake beards, causing them to question the appearance of the Others. Michael meanwhile communicates with Walt through the computer, despite the Dharma video forbidding outside contact at anytime or using the computer for anything other then entering the numbers, he rushes off into the jungle to find Walt. Arriving at a series of huts, he is captured by the others who give him 3 minutes with Walt. He then is kicked out of the camp with a list of requirements to free himself and Walt.

Michael Shoots Libby & Ana Lucia

Returning to the crash survivors camp he shoots Ana Lucia and in the heat of the moment kills Libby as well who was just getting blankets for her picnic with Hurley. He then frees Henry Gale who had revealed himself to be an other earlier, and shoots himself in the arm to cover up his own story. Desmond returns to the island on a boat saying that no matter what direction he used it all just led back to the Island. Michael convinces Jack, Saywer, Kate and Hurley to come with him to raid the others camp and get Walt back. Sayid believing it to be a trap, says himself, Jin & Sun will take Desmond's boat and meet them at the other camp to help ambush the Others.

The four toed statue

Despite figuring out the trap, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, & Hurley are still captured and taken to a dock, where Michael and Walt are allowed to leave the island, and Henry Gale is revealed to be the leader of the others. Hurley is set free to warn the other survivors not to come after them. Sayid, Jin & Sun arrive at the now abandoned other campsite, where a hatch door is revealed to be merely blocking a solid wall, as well as the foot of a statue that only has four toes.

In the hatch, Locke and Desmond lockdown the doors to keep Mr. Eko and Charlie out while they let the countdown timer run to zero. To ensure it they destroy the computer. As the timer hits zero a series of hieroglyphics appear and everything metal begins to fly toward what is believed to be a gigantic electromagnet. At the last second, Desmond grabs a failsafe key and turns it, imploding the hatch and turning the entire sky purple. The season concludes with two polar researchers noticing the electromagnetic blip on a radar and calling Desmond's former love Penelope about what they witnessed.

Season 3

Jack trapped in the Hydra station

The season begins with Jack, Kate, & Sawyer being held on a separate smaller island from the main island. Sawyer and Kate are held in polar bear cages, while Jack is in a room with a large glass wall. Both are part of the Hydra station from the Dharma initiative where Polar Bears and other animals where brought to perform tests on. Henry Gale admits that his real name is Benjamin Linus, and he is the leader of the others. We are introduced to a new other, Juliet Burke ( Elizabeth Mitchell), who resembles Jack's former wife. The others use the crash survivors against each other to try to convince Jack to perform surgery to save Ben's life, as he has a tumor on his back. Jack agrees to do the surgery as long as Kate and Sawyer are set free. Kate and Sawyer, who are fleeing the island are helped by Ben's daughter Alex who gives them a boat as long as they rescue her boyfriend Karl who was being brainwashed. With Karl in tow, they escape to the main island. After performing the surgery, Jack along with the rest of the others head to the barracks.

Desmond, after turning the fail safe key is sent back to 1996, initially have limited memory of the future. However when he tries to tamper with time he comes across Ms. Hawking, who informs of the universes way of course correcting, he breaks up with Penny as he did before, and in a bar receives a smack sending him back to the Island. He awakens nude in the jungle, and comes across Hurley, and now has the ability to see future events.

Mr. Eko is killed by Smokey

Sayid, concerned by the lack of contact from Sawyer, Jack, and Kate sets a trap, however the plan backfires and the others escape with Desmond's boat, suffering only one casualty as Sun shoots Colleen. After the hatch implosion, Locke is mute, but travels with Charlie to save Eko who was trapped inside a polar bear cave. Locke begins to take leadership of the camp and informs them that he heading to the pearl station to contact the others on the computer to find the missing survivors. At the pearl they see an other on a camera, and Eko flees the station. Outside the station he is attacked by the smoke monster who initially took the form of Eko's dead brother. As they bury him Locke sees a message on Eko's stick telling him to open his eyes and look north.

The Flame hatch goes down in Flames.

As Kate and Sawyer return to the main camp, Locke is planning to head North. Kate, along with Rousseau and Sayid agree to accompany him to find Jack. Desmond informs Charlie that he will die, as he can see the future. Shortly after Hurley finds a Dharma van, which Charlie and him take for a ride and prove that they can make their own luck as they get it working in time to avoid the rocks. Sayid, Locke, and company arrive the Flame station, a communication station for the Dharma initiative, where its lone inhabitant, Mikhail Bakunin, claims to be the last surviving member of the Dharma initiative. Sayid, doesntt believe him and discovers a basement to the flame which has another other as well as numerous books on the Dharma initiative. Meanwhile Locke wins at computer chess on the flames computer, prompting a pre-recorded message from the Dharma initiative, saying to enter 77 if it has been taken over by hostiles. They capture Mikhail, some C4, & some notebooks, and shortly after exiting the flame station explodes, revealing that Locke did enter 77.

Locke blows up the Submarine

As they approach the sonar fence surrounding the barracks, they push Mikhail into it, seemingly killing him. As they near the barracks they see Jack playing football with one of the others. Locke sneaks around the camp, and eventually explodes the submarine that would have taken Jack & Juliet off the island. Rousseau sees Alex, who is in fact her daughter, not Ben's but doesn't approach her. Sayid and Kate are captured, and later Kate wakes up in the jungle handcuffed to Juliet, who escapes with Kate. They are attacked by the smoke monster, who lets them go after scanning Juliet. They reunite with Jack and Sayid, and everyone else at the beach camp, where Juliet earns everyone trust by saving Claire who had fallen ill. Juliet takes sun to the staff, where it is revealed Sun is pregnant and that Juliet is a mole for Ben.

Locke leaves the barracks with the others and his estranged father who stole a kidney from him and then ignored him. Ben reveals his plan to steal the pregnant women from the crash survivors and ridicules Locke for being unable to kill his father. Richard Alpert, a seemingly ageless recruiter for the others, provides Locke with information that Sawyer may be able to complete the deed as Locke's father is the man responsible for the death of Sawyer's parents, and the reason he goes by Sawyer instead of James Ford. Locke recruits Sawyer giving him Juliet's recording as well as allowing him to kill the man who ruined his childhood.

Desmond has another vision of a parachutist landing on the island, Hurley, Jin, and Charlie join him to rescue the parachutist who is revealed to be Naomi Dorrit, a member of the research team trying to find the island. She has a satellite phone to contact her boat, but something on the island is blocking the signal. As Sawyer returns to the camp with the tape, Naomi is revealed to everyone. Juliet defends herself saying she informed Jack of everything, and they have a plan to get rid of the others once and for all. Locke, meanwhile rejoins the others, and demands to be taken to their actual leader. Mikhail, who was merely knocked unconscious and not killed by the fence, protests but Ben agrees anyway, taking Locke to a seemingly empty cabin. Ben, threatened by Locke's leadership skills, is delighted when he can't see Jacob initially, however, Locke sees a brief glimpse of something and hears "help me" before they are chased out of the cabin. Ben takes Locke to a mass grave of dead Dharma workers and shoots him leaving him in the pit to die.

Through the Looking Glass

You've Got work to do John.

The season 3 finale is one of the most memorable episodes of Lost. The crash survivors plan to blow up the others by placing dynamite in the tents is fully revealed. To unblock the cell phone, Charlie will swim to the Looking glass station to turn off the jammer, although Desmond warns him it will kill him. Locke awakens in the jungle to a vision of Walt telling him he has work to do. Sayid, Jin, and Bernard stay to blow up the dynamite while the rest of the oceanic passengers head to the radio tower.

The plan doesn't go as hoped and only two of the dynamite piles are blown up, while Sayid, Bernard and Jin are captured. Sawyer, Juliet, and secretly Hurley head back to rescue them. Arriving at the camp, Sawyer and Juliet seem puzzled as to how to stop them without guns, when Hurley comes racing through in the Dharma van, killing Pickett. Sayid breaks one of the others necks, and then Sawyer kills an unarmed Mr. Friendly, saying "that was for taking the boy", a reference to Mr. Friendly kidnapping Walt in the season one finale.

R.I.P Rockstar Charlie Pace

In the looking glass, Charlie is captured, but then freed by Desmond who arrives after him. Charlie unlocks the jammer as Mikhail arrives. Desmond shoots Mikhail from behind with a harpoon gun leaving him at the side of the water entrance to the station. After being unjammed, Desmond's love Penny appears on the screen saying it is not her boat, that Naomi was on. Then a tapping appears as Mikhail, who is still alive blows open a window in the station, killing himself in an attempt to flood the station. In a moment of sadness and true heroism, Charlie seals the room to save Desmond, writing on his hand that it is not penny's boat.

With the jammer off, and the radio message from Rousseau off the signal is clear to make the call for the rescue, when Locke appears and throws a knife into Naomi's back, warning Jack the freighter can only bring trouble to the island. Jack ignores Locke and seemingly celebrates the survivors rescue from the island.

The flashes in the episode focus on Jack's story where he attends a funeral for someone who he says is "neither friend nor family". The final scene is Jack meeting Kate at an airport saying they need to go back, and that they never should have left. Ultimately revealing that the flashes were not in fact flashbacks, but flashforwards from the island storyline, and that at some point Kate and Jack do escape the island.

Season 4

Season 4 has two separate distinct storylines. The Flashforwards storyline which deals with the Oceanic six who made it off the island, and the on island storyline which builds on the events leading up to the oceanic six leaving the island.

On the island

Picking up where season 3 left off, the survivors believe they have made the rescue call. Naomi has crawled off bleeding out, and the survivors chase after her to find the satellite phone. When they find her Naomi uses her last breathe to tell the ship in code that she has been attacked. The survivors then split into two groups, the ones with Jacks head to the camp to be rescued, the ones with Locke head to the barracks heeding Charlie's dying message.

My name is Daniel Faraday. I look dashing in a skinny tie.

A team of parachutists land on the island with a helicopter, the team is made up of Daniel Faraday ( Jeremy Davies), Charlotte Staples Lewis ( Rebecca Mader), Miles Straume ( Ken Leung), and the man who should've piloted Oceanic 815 Frank Lapidus ( Jeff Fahey). Miles reveals that their objective is to kidnap Ben, though flashbacks detail that they were hired by Charles Widmore ( Alan Dale), who once led the others, to find the island. Another one of the team's primary missions is to shut down the Dharma station known as the Tempest which can release toxic gases, and is how the others killed off the Dharma initiative.

True Love.

Locke, unable to find Jacob's cabin for additional help returns to the barracks with Charlotte as a hostage. Charlotte is later traded for Miles, and Frank flies Sayid and Desmond to the freighter. However, they deviate from the bearing they had to follow, causing them to arrive a day late. On the freighter, Desmond's conscienceness begins to deviate between the island and earlier part of his life. Faraday tells him that he needs to find a constant, and using a phone on the boat he connects with his true love Penny, in one of the most touching moments of the entire series. Ben, now with Locke, is aware of the boat's intentions due to a spy he placed on the boat, Kevin Johnson or better known to survivors as Michael Dawson.

Keamy is a cold hearted prick.

After he escaped the island, Michael was tormented by the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby to the point where he tried to commit suicide three times. However the island would not let him die, and after talking to Mr. Friendly (who is revealed to be homosexual), he agrees to become a spy for the others. The team of mercenaries hired by Widmore on the freighter, head for the island, and infiltrate the barracks. As there leader Martin Keamy ( Kevin Durand) storms in with Ben's daughter Alex as a hostage he demands Ben come out. Ben doesn't and murders Alex in cold blood. Using a hidden room inside a hidden room, Ben unleashes a drain which releases the smoke monster who attacks the mercenaries. The group is divided, and Ben, Locke and Hurley head for Jacob's cabin. Arriving there they notice a break in the ash surrounding the cabin. Christian Shepherd, Jack's deceased father, appears to Locke and tells him he must move the island.

The mercenaries, return to the freighter, and discover that Michael is the spy. Keamy opens the secondary

Locke receiving further instructions.

protocol to find Ben again, and loads up for the freighter. Sayid, goes to the captain and tells him the only way to save his people is to ferry them from the island aboard the zodiac raft. The captain gives him permission, though Desmond says he won't go back having spent too much time aboard the island already. After attaching a heart rate monitor to himself, if the heart rate stops, a bomb on the freighter will blow up. Keamy, his mercenaries and Frank take off back to the island, along the way frank drops his phone over the beach so they can hear what is going and monitor his progress. Keamy has the plane land and takes off the Orchid station.

Jack and Kate go off in search of the Helicopter, where they bump into Miles, Sawyer, and the baby Aaron as Claire ran off into the jungle. Kate takes Aaron and heads back to the beach with Miles while Sawyer heads with Jack to the helicopter, where they rescue Frank. Frank tells them the mercenaries are the Orchid to capture Ben. Sawyer, realizing this is where Hurley is convinces Jack to head there in an effort to rescue him. As Sayid reaches shore with the raft Kate comes running out of the jungle with Aaron. Hearing of Sawyer and Jack, Sayid and Kate take off into the jungle, while Sun, Jin, Aaron, and a few other survivors head with Faraday back to the Freighter. As they are running through the jungle, Sayid and Kate are confronted by the Others and taken away.

The bomb aboard the freighter

Sawyer and Jack find Hurley and Locke at the Orchid, as ben gave himself up and is being dragged to the helicopter. Jack and Locke have a discussion, where Locke informs Jack he must lie about the island after he escapes and begs him to stay on the island, Jack refuses saying he is getting off this island. At the helicopter, ben and the mercenaries arrive as Kate comes running out of the jungle, and tells Keamy she's being chased by Ben's people. The others attack the mercenaries, killing the bulk of them. Keamy runs into the jungle where he is attacked by Sayid. The two engage in combat with Sayid seemingly killing Keamy, however the bomb on the ship doesn't blow up indicating he still alive.

aboard the freighter, Michael, Jin, and Desmond, discover the bomb, and fearing Keamy's death begin to use liquid nitrogen to freeze it, while searching for a way to disarm the bomb. Frank, Hurley, Sawyer, Jack, Kate, and Sayid board the helicopter and take off for the freighter. Lapidus informs them they are running out of gas and need to lighten the load, Sawyer gives Kate a message to find his daughter, and leaps from the airplane to swim back to shore. The remaining members land on the freighter and immesiately begin to refuel as they are informed of the bomb.

The freighter explodes

At the orchid, Ben opens it for Locke and they head to the basement and shortly after Keamy comes down. In a moment of pure rage over the death of his daughter, Ben murders Keamy. Aboard the freighter Desmond runs out and on the helicopter as well as Jin and Aaron, as Faraday had delivered two loads of people and begun to head back to the beach again. The helicopter takes off as Jin runs out. Michael runs out of liquid nitrogen, and Christian Shepherd appears to him telling him he can go now. The freighter explodes, and Sun screams with fear and dread as she believes Jin to be dead, though his fate remains unknown. while the high weight and low fuel Frank heads back to the island.

Ben turning the donkey wheel.

In the Orchid, Ben gives Locke an orientation video to watch, which discusses the properties of duplication and time travel while he blows open a hole in the wall. Ben informs Locke he must move the island and heads into the hole. Deep in the hole, there is ice surrounding a gigantic frozen Donkey wheel. Ben uses all his strength and begins to cry as he realizes what the island has done to him. He disappears as does the island. Frank and the survivors witness the island disappearing and bail out of the copter and into a raft. Shortly after they are rescued by a boat owned by Penny Widmore, Desmond's true love. Jack informs them they must lie about what happened, and him, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Sayid & Aaron take off in the raft forming the oceanic six while the remainder go into hiding. Sawyer washes up on the beach as the sky changes and the freighter disappears from sight.

The Oceanic Six

The press conference

The Oceanic six are rescued on the island of Mumbata, 108 days after the plane crash. They land at the airport and are greeted by immediate family, though Kate and Sayid are greeted by no one. Shortly after they have a press conference where they lie about what happened and say there are absolutely no more survivors of the crash. They all receive a large settlement from Oceanic, and after the conference, Sayid is reunited with his lost love Nadia. The six then head there separate ways, Kate to LA with Aaron, Jack goes back to work at the hospital, Hurley goes home, Sayid gos off with Nadia, and Sun heartbroken by Jin's death goes home and uses her settlement money to buy her father's company, Paik industries.

Ben arrives in the Tunisian desert

At the funeral for Jack's father, all of the oceanic six except for Sun are present, as well as Carole Littleton, Claire's mom. After the funeral Carole notes how cute Aaron looks, unaware it's her grandson and tells Jack that him and Claire are half-brother and half-sister. This starts a tale spin for the oceanic six. The numbers begin to reappear in Hurley's life though he does take the time to visit Sun and her newborn child Ji Yeon. After 8 months, Nadia is killed, just before Ben returns to their lives. Arriving ten months after he turned the wheel in the middle of the desert, Ben makes his way into town and meets up with Sayid, informing him that one Charles Widmore's men was responible for Nadia's murder. After initial doubts Sayid believes Ben and agrees to work for him in killing Widmore's men to protect the Island and the fellow members of the Oceanic six.

You all everybody!

Hurley begins to see dead Charlie and checks back into the Santa Rose Mental Institution. There he is visited by Matthew Abaddon ( Lance Reddick) who asks him if "they" are still alive. He is also visited by Jack who asks him if he is going to break the cover story they made. Lastly, he is visited by dead Charlie who tells them that he needs to go back to the island because "they" need him. Ben later visits Charles Widmore, and tells him that he broke the rules, and that for killing Alex he's going to kill Penny. At Kate's trail for blowing up her step-dad before the crash her mother refuses to testify and Jack testifies as a character witness. Reluctantly the D.a. offers here a deal of no jail time but Kate can't leave the state for 10 years. Kate immediately accepts the deal. Jack, still troubled over his relation to Kate and Aaron turns to alcohol and begins to distance himself from Kate and Aaron.

However, later in the next year Jack changes his mind and begins to live with Kate and Aaron eventually proposing to Kate. Jack also pays another visit to Hurley who i having regular conversations with dead people and tells Jack that Charlie says "he isn't supposed to raise him" and that Jack will be getting a visitor of his own. Shortly after Jack sees his dead father in a lobby, and turns to heavy alcohol and pill abuse. This, coupled with kate doing a favor for Sawyer causes Jack to call off the engagement and leaves Kate house in a fit of rage. Kate also receives a visitor when she has a dream of Claire appearing and telling her to not bring Aaron back to the Island.

WAAAAAAALLLLTTTTT

At this point, a character named Jeremy Bentham begins to approach each of the Oceanic six to convince them to come back to the island. Picking up where the season 3 finale flash forward left off, Jack and kate have more to there conversation where Kate believes Bentham is crazy and Jack says he listened to him and thatbad things happened on the island after they left. Walt visits Hurley at the mental institution and asks why they're lying about the Island, and Hurley replies to protect them all, not mentioning that Walt's father has died. Sayid also pays him a visit assassinating a man in the parking before informing Hurley they must escape, are being monitored and that circumstances have changed with Bentham committing suicide two days prior.

R.I.P. John Locke

Sun approaches Widmore and says that they have common interests, referring to finding the Island, and that she will work with him because hes knows the oceanic six and have been lying. Before she leaves she adds that he knows the oceanic six aren't the only ones who left at the island. At the funeral parlor from the season 3 finale, Jack breaks in to approach the coffin. A creepy looking Ben approaches him from behind, and notes that Jack taking all the flights trying to crash on the Island is very dark, and to get back to the island they'd all have to go together. Jack confesses to Ben that he has no idea where some of them are and that Sun especailly hasn't forgiven him for what happened. Ben says he has some ideas but they all must go including Jeremy Bentham in the coffin. The camera then pans to reveal that Jeremy Bentham is John Locke.

Season 5

Season 5 has multiple storylines and is the first season to deal prominently with time travel. After Ben turned the frozen donkey wheel, time begins to skip on the island. Meanwhile, Jack and Ben put in action a plan to get back to the Island.

On the Island

Ethan shoots Locke

With Ben having turned the wheel the Island begins to skip through time. The crash survivors find the beach camp is no longer there and along with Miles, Faraday, and Charlotte head to the swan to help figure out what year they are in. Locke meanwhile watches the others disappear before his eyes and is all alone in the jungle, when Ethan approaches him and shoots him in the leg. The island then time flashes again, and Richard approaches John. He takes the bullet out of his leg and hands him a compass saying he must bring the others back, and to do it he will have to die. After the second set of flashes, Charlotte begins to have nosebleeds, and he contacts Desmond to find his mom to help them all out. He also introduces the theory of whatever happened, happened, meaning regardless of their actions in the past, they have already occured and that they can't change anything.

Jughead

Back at the beach they are attacked by flaming arrows, killing ten survivors and dividing the group. Sawyer and Kate find Locke, who says the others attacked them. As they approach the Other camp, they find Miles, Charlotte, and Faraday are being held hostage aand that they believe they are americans here to retrieve their hydrogen bomb. Faraday orders them to bury deep in the ground under concrete and Locke recognizes one of the others as a much younger Charles Widmore. Locke says he must go to the orchid to stop the flashes, realizing what Ben did must have affected the Island. Along the way, they witness the hatch lighting up from season 1, and Sawyer watches Kate give birth to Aaron. At the beach camp the survivors find it ransacked, with new boats ashore as well as the presence of Ajira water bottles.

Tawaret

Jin, surviving the freighter explosion is rescued by Rousseau's research team in the past. With the team he witnesses a pregnant rousseau, watches them find the outskirts of the temple, as well as be attacked byt he smoke monster. He also discovers that the sickness Rousseau referred to was the smoke monster taking the form of her fellow scientists. He eventually is reunited with his fellow castaways, as they all trek to the orchid. Along the way, a time flash occurs and Charlotte collapses, fatally dying, using her last breaths to inform Daniel they met when she was just a child. Because the orchid hasn't been built yet, Locke descends to the donkey wheel through a well, however a time flash occurs causing him to fall and break his leg as the well disappears. Miles looks up and sees the four toed statue from behind fully in tact. Locke in the well reaches the wheel to find it off-axis which is causing the time skipping. As he straightens the wheel out, Christian Shepherd appears to him and tells him to find Eloise Hawking and that to say hi to his son.

The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham

I'll miss you John. I really will.

Similar to Ben, Locke arrives in the tunisian desert after turning the wheel. There he is picked up and rescued by Charles Widmore who agrees to help him and provides him with Matthew Abaddon to drive him as well as the identity of Jeremy Bentham. He tells Locke he knows of all the location of the oceanic six. Locke goes and meets with the six but gets rejected for different reasons. Sayid is doing charity work to atone for his sins and won't go back, Hurley doesn't trust Abaddon, and Kate believes he is crazy. While visiting his ex-girlfriends Helen's grave, Abaddon is shot by Ben Linus. Locke drives off in the car but eventually crashes and is taken to St. Sebastien hospital. Awakening beside Jack he tells Jack that bad things have come to the island and that they must go back. He tells Jack his father says hi, and thought startled and troubled Jack replies that his father is dead. Beleving his mission to be a failure, Locke decides to hang himself. Ben talks him off the ledge and after learning of Eloise hawking, strangles him from behind. He hangs Locke to make it look like suicide, and closes the door saying "I'll miss you John, I really will".

Recurring Themes

Black and White

Two sides.

The colors black and white together appear often in Lost, always in contrast. It is often used to symbolize the contrast in ideologies, particularly Jacob and The Man In Black. A few examples of black and white include:

• John Locke's Backgammon set. He holds up two pieces when teaching while Walt how to play, saying "two sides. One is light. One is dark."
• The introduction to the show is a black background with white text saying "LOST." The episode " The Incident Part 2" uses a white background with black text for the title card.
• Locke's eyes in Claire's dream are black and white.
• The Adam and Eve stones are white and black.
• The countdown clock.
• Jacob is often seen wearing white. The Man in Black is often seen wearing black.
• When Juliet hit the bomb the screen faded to white instead of black

Eyes

The Pilot Part 1 opens on a close up shot of Jack's eyes opening, after the crash. The End closes with Jack's eyes closing, about to die. Many episodes begin on a close up of a character's eye.

Conflict

With 42 strangers on a mysterious, deserted island, there's bound to be conflicts. An early example is Sayid and Sawyer fighting the day after the plane crashed while weeks later Sayid tortured Sawyer for Shannon's Inhaler. With many of the conflicts and differences that characters have, they usually set them aside for the greater good.

• Jack and Locke: The most prominent conflict on the show. The two often argue about how to lead the island, Jack being a "Man of Science" and Locke being a "Man of Faith." Jack has trouble trusting Locke after he lied about the hatch and how Boone died. The rivalry continues in the hatch, when Jack and Locke debate on whether or not they should enter the numbers to stop the timer. Locke and Jack eventually resolved their conflict.
• Jack and Sawyer: The root of Jack and Sawyer's conflict is Kate. Both are vying for her attention, which leads to them to square off several times. Sawyer and Jack also argue over the control of the resources leftover from the crash. Sawyer often withholds them, while Jack wants them for the other survivors. Sawyer also blames Jack for the death of Juliet. Jack and Sawyer were able to resolve their conflict.
• Jacob and The Man in Black: The oldest feud on the island is between the fraternal twins Jacob and The Man in Black. The Man in Black killed their foster Mother, and for revengeJacob threw him into the Source, turning him into the smoke monster. The two are prevented from harming each other because of their Mother's rules, so The Man in Black must find a loophole. The conflict was resolved when both Jacob and The Man in Black died.

Revenge

Revenge is a common theme used on LOST, usually ending in death. Many characters pursue revenge throughout the six seasons.

• Sawyer: Sawyer killed Anthony Cooper for conning his parents and cheating with his mother. Anthony was inadvertently responsible for Sawyer's parent's death. Sawyer was able to extract revenge against Cooper in the episode The Brig, by choking him.
• Charlie: Charlie killed Ethan Rom for capturing Claire.
• Shannon: Shannon held Locke at gunpoint, feeling he was responsible for Boone's death. She also asked Sayid to kill him.
• Ben: Ben killed Roger for his bad parenting.
• Ben: Ben killed Keamy and Charles Widmore to avenge Alex's death.
• Kate: Kate killed Wayne for abusing his mother. Kate also shot and killed The Man in Black.
• Sawyer: Sawyer sought revenge against a boar for destroying his tent.
• Sawyer: Sawyer killed Tom for taking Walt off the raft.

The Numbers

The Numbers, appearing mysteriously on the Hatch.

The Numbers, 4 8 15 16 23 42, make several appearances throughout the series' run. Their first appearance is the Season 1 episode Numbers. The episode's flashbacks follow Hurley, after he won the lottery using the Numbers. He originally heard them in Sant Rosa Mental Health Institution, from a fellow inmate Leonard. The Numbers caused bad luck for Hurley, making him curious as to their true meaning. They pop up several times throughout the series:

The odometer.

• Jacob's candidates all have a Number associated with them (4-Locke, 8-Reyes, 15-Ford, 16-Jarrah, 23-Shepard, 42-Kwon).
• Danielle's math equations feature the Numbers.
• The numbers for several players on a girl's soccer team in the airport.
• Written on the side of the hatch.
• Kate's trial number.
• The odometer of Hurley's Camaro.
• The Numbers must be entered in The Swan computer in every 108 minutes. This is called "pushing the button."

Literary Devices

Irony

Irony often plays a part in Lost. There are many different types of irony used.

• Sawyer spent most of his life hunting for the "Sawyer" who conned his parents and orphaned him. He takes the name Sawyer and becomes a conman. He also orphans a child.
• Charlie drowned, after he claimed he was a champion swimmer.
• Boone discusses the red shirt concept with Locke. Boone is later sent up to the beachcraft, and dies, becoming a red shirt.
• Kate who was "born to run," crashed on a inescapable island.
• Jack always thought of his father as an alcoholic and even got his medical license revoked. After coming back from the Island, Jack becomes an alcoholic and an irresponsible surgeon.
• The Man in Black killed his Mother, but later agreed with her ideals.
• Artz blows up while describing how dangerous and unstable dynamite is.
• Frogurt dies after getting shot with a flaming arrow. Before that he complained about Bernards inability to make fire.
• Boone's attempt to save Joanna from drowning caused her to die.

Cliffhanger

Lost is notorious for it's cliffhangers, forcing viewers to wait for the next episode to find out the conclusion. Cliffhangers are most commonly used before commercial breaks, with a quick cut to black after a revelation.

• Pilot Part 2: The survivors try to send an SOS but fail to when a 16 year old record of an french woman describing the death of her team revealed that this show is something to watch for.
• Walkabout: In a surprise ending to a rather traditional episode, we are revealed why Locke did not go on the walkabout
• Dues Ex Machina: Locke's faith into the island is at its weakest as he pounds on the hatch door only to show faith can be enlightened
• Exodus Part 2: Locke and Jack gaze down the recently opened hatch only for the camera to cut to black

Flashbacks

Flashbacks are one of the most prominent literary devices used in Lost. For the first three seasons, every episode featured Flashbacks to a character's past, before they landed on the island. Often times these flashbacks served as parallels for the story on the Island. Mostly these flashbacks focus on a particular, major character. Occasionally, there will be multiple character's flashbacks in one episode.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary technique where the writer drops hints about forthcoming events. Foreshadowing can be found as early as the Pilot in Lost. In the Pilot Part 1, subtle hints are dropped about Kate's true identity. She is seen rubbing her wrists, having just been wearing handcuffs. She also says "I would have run for the door," foreshadowing her tendency to run away from problems in her life.

In the Pilot Part 2, Locke teaches Walt how to play Backgammon. He holds up two pieces, and says "Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark." This foreshadows the conflict between good and evil, represented by Jacob and The Man in Black in the later seasons. These conflicts involve two players, and two sides, one good, one evil.

Symbolism

Items, or dialogue often symbolize greater character emotion in Lost. Symbolism is entirely subjective, so feel free to add your own thoughts.

• Kate bathes in the Pilot Part 2, symbolic of her shedding her criminal past. Sun watched, symbolizing her jealousy, after Jin yelled at her for exposing to much cleavage.
• Rousseau's music box is broken, symbolizing the silence of her isolation. Sayid fixes it, symbolizing that she now has another person in her life. It breaks as he leaves, symbolizing she is again alone.
• At a young age, Sun broke a glass ballerina figurine. This represents Sun's broken childhood, or her willingness to harm others in order to protect herself. The ballerina itself could represent Sun's innocence a purity, that was lost once it was broken.
• Jacob uses a wine bottle and cork to show Richard the meaning of the Island. The symbology here is stated by Jacob himself, the wine represents evil , the cork represents the island. The cork must be in place to keep the wine contained.
• As stated above, black and white are often used to symbolize a conflict in ideologies, or opposites.
• The title of the show itself is symbolic. The characters are "lost" in their own lives, both literally, on the island, and metaphorically.
• Rain can symbolize a number of things. Locke stands in the rain, having just regained his ability to walk, symbolizing his connection with the Island. Rain can also symbolize crimes. Ana Lucia accidentally shoots Shannon in the rain, for example.