1.18 Numbers

Michael is near to completing the raft, but needs some way to send an SOS to passing ships. He believes Sayid could build something like that, if he had a power source: the batteries kept by Danielle. Jack asks Sayid to tell him how to find Danielle, but Sayid is not very helpful (while not completely refusing to help). While Jack and Sayid bicker, Hurley studies the numbers written by Danielle and appears to have an idea of what they mean.

Sayid wakes up from mid-sleep to see Hurley staring at him, grilling him for information on where Danielle is located. Hurley is intrigued that the six numbers that Danielle wrote repeatedly on the paper are the same six numbers from his winning lottery ticket. He gets as much info as he can, and steals the map.

Hurley packs a number of water bottles for an extended walk, and fends off questions from Charlie, who wants to come.

Locke asks Claire to help him with a project.

Sayid, Jack, and Charlie piece together that Hurley has gone to find Danielle. They head out to find him, starting a couple of hours behind.

Hurley has found the rope that leads near Danielle’s lair.

Sawyer sits near the raft, reading a book and complaining that the hammering is bothering him. Walt asks him to help, which gets a snide remark from Sawyer about how he is helping by keeping guard for arsonists. A large bundle of bamboo, tied by Jin, breaks apart, and Michael unloads on Jin verbally for not tieing it correctly.

Within earshot, Sun tells Kate that Jin will never talk to her again because she humiliated him. She wonders if Jin will leave on the raft.

The three trackers find Hurley just in time to warn him that he is standing on a booby trap. While they search for a replacement rock so he can move, Hurley risks it and moves off the trap, dodging an ugly tangle of sharp sticks. Jack asks why Hurley is really here, but gets no information.

The four guys have literally reached the end of the rope – it disappears into the ground. A little further on, a flimsy rope bridge spans a deep, narrow canyon. Hurley, who seems to have no fear, begins to walk over the bridge, despite the pleas from Jack to come back. The bridge creaks and moans, but Hurley makes it. Charlie is next to go, again, ignoring Jack’s warnings. The bridge collapses, but Charlie is able to dive and make it to Hurley’s side. With the party now split, Jack tells them to wait while he and Sayid find a way around. Hurley wants to keep going, but Charlie tells him to be quiet.

Claire now believes she is helping Locke build a trap.

Sayid and Jack discover Danielle’s booby-trapped hideout. She has left, sensing that Sayid might come back.

Hurley is about to tell Charlie why he is so obsessed with finding Danielle when two shots hit a nearby tree. Charlie and Hurley run in opposite directions. Hurley runs into Danielle, who holds him at gunpoint. Hurley asks her what the numbers mean, but she says she doesn’t know. Hurley, frustrated, demands answers. Danielle tells him that her ship picked up the transmission of the numbers. They found the radio tower by the black rock. Some of the crew searched for the meaning of the numbers, became sick, and died. Hurley tells her that the numbers are cursed. Danielle, who has lost everything, agrees. Hurley hugs her, grateful that someone believes him.

Charlie stumbles upon Jack and Sayid, and, soon after, Hurley walks in, and looks cool as he nonchalantly pulls a battery from his backpack. Back at camp, no words are spoken as Sayid hands the battery to Michael.

Claire tells Locke that she has not selected a name for the baby. She tells Locke that she was going to give the baby away, and that it is her birthday. Locke has finished building the structure, and now turns it over – it is a cradle, a birthday present for Claire.

Back at camp, Charlie once again asks Hurley what his big secret is. Charlie tells Hurley about his own heroin addiction, and Hurley reciprocates, telling Charlie that he is worth 156 million dollars. But Charlie just thinks he is joking.

Finally, the camera zooms in slowly to a series of numbers stamped on the side of the capsule discovered by Locke and Boone: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

Hurley’s backstory flashbacks:

Hurley is at home, having just moved back in with his mother. It is Saturday night and he is watching TV, ignoring his mother’s prodding to go out, find a girl or at least stop eating so much. He catches the broadcast of the Lotto jackpot, and his ticket exactly matches all six lottery numbers. He faints, disappearing from view; we hear glass breaking.

At his press conference, Hurley says the numbers "…just came to me". He introduces his family and says he is going to use the money to help them – in particular, his hard-working, 72-year-old grandfather. As the press conference continues, however, his grandfather grabs his arm and falls to ground after apparently suffering a heart attack.

Hurley has found that the money he won in the lottery has brought him bad luck. His grandfather died, and the priest that performed the funeral ceremony was struck by lightning and killed. His brother broke up with his wife. And when he brings his mother to show her the huge new house he has bought for her, she slips and breaks her ankle, the house catches fire, and cops arrive and arrest Hurley.

Hurley visits his accountant, who tells him that he has doubled his net worth in a few months. Some of the ways it has doubled (like an over-insured factory burning down, or the windfall from his false arrest) still are convincing Hurley that the money is cursed. Then Hurley reaches the conclusion that the numbers he picked, and not the money, is what carries the curse. The accountant says that is ridiculous, just as a body hurtles by outside the glass windows behind him.

Hurley has come back to the mental institution where he spent some time. It was here that he talked to a patient named Lenny. Lenny gave him the numbers he used to win the lottery. Lenny repeats the numbers all the time. Hurley returns to ask what they mean. When Hurley tells Lenny that he used those numbers to win the lottery, Lenny gets agitated, telling Hurley that now he has opened the box, and that he needs to get away from the numbers because it will not stop. As he is dragged away, Lenny says that Sam Toomey heard the numbers in Kalgoorlie (Australia).

Hurley visits an isolated shack in Kalgoorlie and meets Sam Toomey’s wife. Sam has been dead for four years. He and Lenny met in the U.S. Navy. She tells that Sam and Lenny got the numbers while at a listening post, picking up radio transmissions from the Pacific. The numbers bring good luck to the bearer (they were used to win 50 thousand dollars at a fair) but bad luck to those around them (on the way home, Sam’s wife lost her leg in a car accident). Hurley asks if there’s a way to make the bad luck stop. Sam’s wife says there is no curse.

Comments

I love the expression Jack makes in reaction to seeing the flimsy suspension bridge. He kind of simultaneously rolls his head and eyes, and arches his eyebrows. He looks truly worried and frustrated. It’s not the first time he has pulled that face – and it probably won’t be the last.

Hurley gives Charlie a look to kill when Charlie tells him he is acting like a lunatic – I suppose this is because of Hurley’s mental history.

Ironies or ironies, or more? The numbers that Hurley used to win the lottery were broadcast from the island he is now stranded on.

Terry O’Quinn (Locke) is the best actor on the show, in my humble opinion. He combines sincerity with mystery in equal doses to create an intriguing personality. His act of kindness to Claire may lull some viewers into thinking he’s a nice guy, but let’s all remember that he has also discovered a sealed capsule and has decided to hide this knowledge from all but the almost hypnotized Boone.

Nits

Sawyer’s sarcastic comment to Walt about arsonists seems to indicate that he knows Walt burned the boat. How does he know this? We know the Locke figured it out, but there has been no indication that Sawyer knew about it.

Sam Toomey’s wife says that, on the way home from the fair, a ‘pickup truck’ blew a tire. In Australia, a pickup truck is referred to as a ‘ute’ (short for ‘utility vehicle’). The term ‘pickup truck’ is not used.

Are we really supposed to believe that Claire did not flip the structure Locke was building in her mind and realize that it was a cradle? It was my first thought on what he was building, and that was before he even started.

Quotable Quotes

Hurley: Hi. You awake?
Sayid: I was just wondering that myself.

"Yo! French chick!"
- Hurley

"Need a battery? She says, ‘Hey’."
- Hurley, understated about his meeting with Danielle

Locke: That should do it.
Claire: Okay, I give up. What is it? It’s a cradle.
Locke: Happy birthday, Claire.

1.17 ...In Translation

When Jin sees Sun going for a swim in a revealing two-piece bikini, he yells at her and covers her up. When they continue to argue, Michael intervenes. Just as Jin and Michael are about to fight, Sun steps in, slaps Michael, and averts a major fight. Michael is shocked.

Jin confronts Sun with the suspicion that something is going on between her and Michael, and she denies it.

Sun sneaks off to apologize to Michael, saying that she slapped him to protect him from what her husband would have done to him. Michael is cold now, saying that it is not his problem.

Jin is at the golf course, whacking rock after rock as hard as he can. Hurley arrives with two fishing poles and the notion that some relaxing angling would cure Jin’s angst, but Jin keeps whacking the rocks.

Shannon is helping tie knots for the raft, and she and Sayid flirt about knots, ropes, and Saturday nights.

Michael tries to get Walt interested in seeing New York’s great architecture, but Walt wants to go throw the ball with Vincent.

Jack comes by to tell Michael that people are talking about who is going to go on the raft. Michael says the raft can carry four people and one spot is still available – Sawyer traded needed goods for a spot.

Kate asks Sun how long she is going to let Jin treat her this way. They are interrupted by a commotion and news that the raft is on fire. Typically, Michael assumes that Jin is the culprit, and confronts Sun. When Michael gets distracted by Walt, Sun gets away. Sun finds Jin, who is injured, and asks why he destroyed Michael’s raft. Jin is incensed by Sun using Michael’s name, and storms away.

Sayid pays a courtesy call to Boone to let him know that he and Shannon are going to be more than friends. Boone is cold and badmouths Shannon, saying the she likes older men that can protect her, and that she will initially make Sayid feel great while he provides whatever it is she desires – the she’ll move on.

Jin has escaped into the jungle to meditate and heal his wounds. While he is leaning down in a creek to wash his hands, Sawyer kicks him to the ground for burning the raft.

Sayid expresses misgivings to Shannon about being friends with her, and Shannon immediately suspects Boone. She goes off to confront him and instead finds Locke and unloads on him. Locke tells her if she likes Sayid, then Boone has nothing to do with it and she should ignore him and get on with her life.

Sawyer is roughly bringing Jin back to camp, taking time out to knock him to the ground and threaten him with a knife. When they arrive at the beach, Sawyer yells for Michael. As Michael rushes over, others also are arriving to try to avert violence. It is decided to let Michael and Jin fight, but Jin is not fighting back, and Michael is pummeling him. Finally, unable to take any more, Sun cries out in English for them to stop, pleading that Jin did not burn the raft. Michael and Sawyer are not so easily convinced, but Locke eases the tensions somewhat by saying that there was no reason for Jin to destroy their best chance to get off the island. The raft, Locke reasons, was sabotaged by the other people who are sharing the island.

Michael gets over his frustration and tells Walt that he will build a new and better raft. Walt volunteers to help.

Jin is packing, apparently leaving for the beach. Sun pleads with him to start all over together, but Jin says it is too late.

Shannon and Sayid kiss in front of the fire.

Locke stops by to play backgammon with Walt, and asks him why he burned the raft. Walt says it is because he likes it on the island and doesn’t want to move again, after moving all of his life.

Jin arrives at Michael’s place with strips of bamboo, ready to help rebuild the raft.

A music video montage shows Sayid and Shannon sitting together; Sun, standing on the beach, releasing her cloak to reveal her bathing suit underneath. She enters the surf, smiling. Charlie brings Claire a treat, and Hurley sits alone. His walkman has just run out of batteries and he looks depressed.

Jin’s backstory flashback:

We see the meeting Jin had with Sun’s father to ask for her hand in marriage. At the meeting, Jin agrees to work for the man. He does not know yet what this will entail.

Sun is dressing for her wedding ceremony when Jin asks to speak to her. Sun is happy to be getting married, but is disappointed that Jin will not honeymoon for six months, in order to show Sun’s father that he is committed to his work.

Jin is promoted to doing strong arm work for Sun’s father, Mr Paik. It starts innocently, as he visits a government official to express that Paik is ‘displeased’ with him.

Sun makes a special dinner for Jin, obviously because he has been working all the time. When his mobile phone rings, he ignores it, which pleases Sun. But soon after, the house phone rings, and Jin is summoned before Paik. Paik is angry that Jin did not deliver his message of displeasure in the way he wanted. He tells Jin to drive Paik’s associate back to the house to learn how to deliver the message properly. As they drive to the house, the associate is checking a gun with silencer and telling Jin that he will only be inside the house for 3 minutes, and they will ditch the car afterward. When they arrive, Jin jumps out and beats the official brutally, whispering to him that he saved his life.

In a scene first aired in House of the Rising Sun, Jin arrives home covered with blood. When Sun confronts him and asks what he does, he will not say, and she slaps him when he is rough with her. His look is mean as he says he does whatever her father tells him to do.

Jin has been lying about his father being dead. He visits him on a fishing boat. His father is overjoyed to see him. Jin apologized to his father for being ashamed of him. When Jin says that he is locked into doing bad things and that his marriage is failing, his father tells him to walk away.

Comments

This is a highly charged, emotional episode that, despite it’s lack of a cliffhanger ending, is a notch above the others. We get the dual reveals of Sun’s ability to speak English, and Walt’s admission that he burned the boat.

How did Locke become so sure that Walt burned the boat?

When Jin visit’s Han’s house for the first time, the daughter is watching television, and one of the images on TV is a shot of Hurley getting into a car!

I am impressed by the detail used in even the briefest scenes, such as the scene between Jin and his father. The traditional fishing boat is strung with tens of drying fish, and the scenery does look like they did a location shot in Asia somewhere.

It seems that Locke is able to hypnotize people on the island. At least, he has had a major influence on Boone and Shannon so far.

At the end of the episode, there’s a funny parallel drawn between the sitting shapes of Claire, in the distance, and Hurley, in the foreground. The very pregnant Claire and the obese Hurley share the exact same body shape, and are facing in the same direction.

Nits

It’s a little unbelievable (but not impossible) that Jin could have gotten away with what he did – beating a guy up to keep the guy from getting killed. You would think that Paik would want things done the way he specified the second time, and that involved a killing, not a beating.

Memorable Moments

• All the shots of Sun in a bikini, with the big surf in the background

• The ‘shock and irony’ music riff when Sun cries out in English

• The closing music video segment ends abruptly when Hurley’s walkman runs out of batteries (this was set up a few episodes earlier, when Hurley’s walkman music was used to end the episode uneventfully)

Quotable Quotes

"Maybe we should get some rope, spend a Saturday night alone together…and see what happens."
- Shannon to Sayid

"Everyone gets a new life on this island, Shannon. Maybe it’s time you start yours."
- Locke

Sun: What were you doing? What happened?
Jin: I was working.
Sun: Doing what? What do you do for my father? Look at me. Answer me. Look at me!
Jin: I do whatever your father tells me. I do it for us.

"Stop it! Leave him alone! He didn’t burn your raft."
- Sun

Jin: (about Sun) In a good world... she would hate her father, not me.
Jin's father: It is a good world.

(Shannon kisses Sayid)
Sayid: What was that for?
Shannon: Everyone gets a new life on this island. I’d like to start now.

1.16 Outlaws

Sawyer awakens in his tent, sweating, from a dream of his mother and father’s death – a dream he must have had many times. A growling noise brings him back to reality. When a huge boar enters his tent, he bashes it once with a pipe, making it run. He pursues it unsuccessfully into the jungle fringe, and it is there he hears the whispered voices that Sayid heard.

When Sayid comes by to tease Sawyer about the boar who stole his tarp, Sawyer asks Sayid for more info on what he heard, without revealing explicitly that he heard anything himself.

Jack and Kate return 4 of the 5 guns to the case. Sawyer still has the other one. Kate offers to ask for it back, but Jack says she should leave it – he doesn’t want her to owe Sawyer anything.

Claire had some pleasant dreams about Charlie. While he messes with some piece of equipment, she asks him if he wants to go for a walk, but he says he has to do something.

Deep in the jungle, Sawyer finds his tarp. Soon after, he again hears the whispers, and then the boar reappears, chasing him until he knocks him down in a mud puddle. He tells the story to Kate, then heads off with his loaded gun to get revenge.

Charlie had been fashioning a digging tool so he could bury Ethan. Hurley volunteers to help him. Hurley becomes concerned about Charlie’s state of mind, believing he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so he asks Sayid, a veteran of war, to talk to him.

Kate has been following Sawyer’s four hour hunt for the boar, during which time she tells him he has been following tracks made by Boone, a rockslide, and himself. She offers to help him track the boar in exchange for ‘carte blanche’ – any item in his stash, at any time, no questions asked. He agrees. In the evening, they share a campfire together. For a mini bottle of liquor, Sawyer insists they play ‘I never’.

Sawyer dreams the dream, but this time his father is replaced by the boar. In the morning, a boar has invaded their campsite, scattering Sawyer’s clothes and eating his food, but, strangely, leaving Kate’s things intact. When the bushes rustle, Sawyer draws his gun, but it is only Locke. Locke tells a story about an animal that took the place of a dead sibling.

Sayid pays a little visit to Charlie to assure him he is not alone with the trauma oif what he did.

Kate discovers the boar wallow. Sawyer finds and waves around the baby boar. Kate finds this disgusting and stalks off, leaving Sawyer alone. He ends up face to face with the boar, but spares him as a way of alleviating the fatal mistake he once made.

Charlie is finally ready to take that walk with Claire.

When Sawyer gives the gun back to Jack, some innocent words make Sawyer piece together that it was Jack’s father whom Sawyer was talking to in that bar in Sydney.

Sawyer’s backstory flashback: A mother tells her young son to hide under the bed and not come out no matter what, as a madman, his father, bangs at the door of the house. Soon after the boy hides, the man breaks in, shoots the mother, and then enters the young boy’s room. We see it from the boy’s perspective as the man sits on the boy’s bed. Only his legs and boots are showing as he pulls the trigger and kills himself.

As an adult, Sawyer carries a laughing woman onto a bed as they flirt together. They are interrupted by an intruder in Sawyer’s apartment, a man who once double-crossed Sawyer but has now returned to make things right. He does this by providing the whereabouts of the real Frank Sawyer – the man who seduced Sawyer’s wife and caused the downfall of his family.

Sawyer is in Sydney (the location of the real Frank Sawyer). There, he buys a gun expressly made for killing. He visits the shrimp truck where Frank works alone. Sawyer gets the gun out but, shaking, cannot make the kill. He retreats to the bar, where he drinks with Jack’s dad. Jack’s dad says he is proud that Jack turned him in. Jack’s dad says he is too weak to phone Jack and set things right by telling him how he feels. His story, and the alcohol, spur Sawyer to return to the shrimp truck, where he kills the man – but it is the wrong man.

Comments

Though he is haunted by a few ghosts from his own past, Sawyer seems to be the quintessential pragmatist. So it will be interesting to see what he thinks about – and who he tells about – the whispering jungle voices.

Now it is Sawyer who knows that Jack’s father forgave him and praised him for his strength of character in turning him in.

Amazingly, Sawyer's character arc has seen him change from someone who is unappealing and has no moral values, to someone who has many strengths, and whose morality could be saved.

Nits

In Australia, ‘prawn’ is used to describe those edible crustaceans that Frank Sawyer is serving in his ‘Shrimp’ truck.

Quotable Quotes

Hurley: Did you ever get that ‘Gulf War Syndrome’?
Sayid: That was the other side.
Hurley: Oh, right.

"Over the last few hours, you have managed to follow the tracks of humans, birds, a rockslide, yourself – basically everything except boar. You have no idea what you’re doing."
- Kate to Sawyer

Kate: Got any more of those [liquor bottles]?
Sawyer: I got a lot more of everything, but you ain’t got carte blanche yet.

Sawyer: I never killed a man.
[Kate and Sawyer both drink, meaning they each killed a man]
Sawyer: Well, looks like we got something in common after all.

1.15 Homecoming

Claire faints, is brought back to camp, wakes up, and is terrified, as she is greeted by the concerned faces of the survivors, but remembers no one. She and Charlie begin to get to know each other again.

Jin asks Sun if the girl and the baby are alright, and Sun says she thinks so. Jin might be starting to realize that Sun can understand English.

Boone asks Locke if he thinks Ethan is still around, and Locke says he hopes not.

Sayid suggests to Jack, Charlie, and Locke that Ethan has manipulated Claire in some way, and that her amnesia may not be real.

Charlie heads back to the caves with Jin. Suddenly, Jin is hit and knocked out by a slingshot rock. Ethan emerges and tells Charlie that he must return Claire to him, or he will kill one person a day.

Jin blames his attack on something that the other people have done.

Claire tells Charlie that everyone is avoiding her. She realizes something is going on, but Charlie doesn’t tell her anything.

Upon hearing about what happened to Charlie, Locke suggests that they set up rotating sentries and a series of booby traps, and coordinates with Sayid and Boone.

Charlie wants to hide Kate away in another cave, but Jack assures him that she is safer with the group.

Kate suggests to Jack that he break out the guns and ammo, but Jack thinks if he puts guns in untrained hands, they will most likely shoot each other.

It is night, and Boone, Locke, and Sayid are keeping watch over the camp while fires burn to light the darkness.  Before long, Boone, mesmerized by the campfire, nods off. He is awakened in daylight by the sound of the booby trap triggering, and runs into the jungle, pursuing an unseen intruder. When he trips a different alarm, he is discovered by Locke and Sayid. A scream brings the three men back to camp, where a castaway (Scott) is dead. The killer came in from the water and evaded the perimeter defenses.

Shannon tells Claire everything that is going on, and Claire confronts Charlie.

Faced with another night and another loss of life, Jack confides in Locke and opens the case, revealing the handguns.

The plan is to use Claire as bait. Charlie objects, but Claire says she has no memory of what Ethan did, and she wants to help save the lives of the castaways.

When Locke suggests that they should use all four guns, Jack asks Sawyer to come along. Kate is there, and wants to go too, but Jack says only armed people can come. So Sawyer pulls out another gun – the one he took from the Marshall.

The trap is set on a rainy night. Claire stands in a designated area, surrounded by five armed and hidden sentries. Ethan swoops, and Jack tackles him, and, after a long fight, triumphs. Perhaps now some answers can be found. But Charlie arrives unseen, picks up Jack’s discarded gun, and shoots Ethan numerous times.

Charlie’s backstory flashback:

Out of money and drugs, his friend hooks him up to seduce a girl whose dad has plenty of cash. They head back to Lucy’s place.

A day later, Charlie has accepted a dinner reservation with Lucy and her dad. Finding Lucy and the situation appealing, and facing the fact that his band Driveshaft is dead, Charlie takes a job selling copiers, which greatly upsets his scammer druggie friend.

It’s Charlie’s first day of work, and he is coming down from heroin, too – he’s nervous, sweating, and stealing, even as Lucy is giving him special presents. Nervous, Charlie makes a mess of selling the copier, and then vomits on it. At

At Lucy’s door, Charlie tries to say he is sorry, and explains that he took the job to prove he could take care of her.

Comments

Charlie seems to have valid emotional reasons for killing Ethan, but could it be based on something more? Could Charlie be protecting the knowledge that Ethan could have been forced to give?

Memorable Moments

• Sentries Boone, Locke, and Sayid keep watch, while numerous fires dance in the background

Quotable Quotes

Claire: Who’s Ethan?
Charlie: Ethan…Ethan’s the bad guy.

Sawyer: So Steve drew the short straw.
Hurley: Dude, that was Scott.

Jack: Do you know how to use a gun?
Sawyer: Well, there's one polar bear that seems to think so.

Jack: Why did you do it, Charlie?
Charlie: ‘cause he deserved to die.
Jack: He could have told us where he came from, what he wanted with Claire, why he -
Charlie: Do you really think he would have told us anything, Jack? I wasn’t gonna let that animal anywhere near her again…ever!

1.14 Special

Walt has gone missing and Michael is searching for him. Charlie is looking for Claire’s luggage, which has also gone missing.

Walt is with Locke and Boone, practicing his knife throwing. Michael is quite unhappy when he arrives and sees what is going on. He sends Walt back and waves the knife at Locke, telling him to stay away from them. Boone tackles him to protect Locke and gets a punch in the face. Locke tells Michael that he needs to treat Walt like an adult and nurture his potential.

Michael tells Sun that he doesn’t know how to talk to Walt, and he expresses concern that Walt might have to grow up on the island.

Sayid tells Shannon and Jack that he may have deciphered the maps – they point to a location on the island that could have some significance. Michael bursts in to say that he is building a raft, and that he will leave and take his son with him.

Charlie finds Claire’s bags but tells Kate that her diary is missing. They ask Sawyer and, after taunting Charlie about the contents (which he later admits he hasn’t actually read), he gives up the diary after getting punched in his sore arm.

Michael and Walt start work on the boat, but Walt takes off when he sees Locke and Boone go off into the jungle.

Shannon asks Boone when they are going to start bringing back some food. She asks him to join her and Michael to build a raft. But Boone is no longer controlled by Shannon, and he says no.

Locke tells Walt that he must listen to his father and not hang around any more. But before Walt leaves, Michael catches them together. He whispers a death threat to Locke, then throws Walt’s comic in the fire and tells him he must listen to him.

Hurley tells Michael that Walt and his dog are ‘gone’. Michael confronts Locke and finally accepts Locke’s story that he told Walt to stay away. Locke offers to help Michael find Walt.

Charlie shares his feelings of loss for Claire with Kate. After Kate leaves, Charlie successfully fights the urge to read her diary.

Deep in the Jungle, Walt and Vincent are stalked by something. Vincent breaks free and, barking, pursues it, with Walt following at high speed. Walk, alone, hears growling coming from an unseen beast. Locke and Michael find Vincent’s discarded leash and take off in the direction of Walt’s cries. A polar bear has trapped Walt in t tree thicket. Michael climbs down from above and Locke pulls Walt to safety. Michael stabs the bear, who runs off. Michael finally acknowledges Locke’s help.

The box contains every card and letter that Michael sent to Walt and that Walt had never seen.

Charlie has giving in to reading Claire’s diary. After finding some nice comments about himself, he tells Jack and Sayid about Claire’s dream she wrote down – something about a ‘black rock’.

Locke and Boone are out in the middle of the jungle. Locke is blowing his dog whistle, but it is Claire who emerges from the bushes, bleeding and scared.

Michael’s backstory flashbacks:

• Michael and his pregnant partner Susan shopping for cots.
• Walt as a toddler, watching Michael and Susan argue. She wants some time apart and is moving to Amsterdam, with Walt, to take advantage of a job opportunity. Despite Michael’s complaints and his obvious love for Walt, they are separated.
• Michael on a payphone, speaking to Susan and finding out that she is involved with the man who hired her. He yells that he is coming to Amsterdam to get his son back, then walks across the street and is hit by a car.
• Michael in the hospital, where he is visited by Susan, who is getting married. In return for covering all his medical costs, Susan wants Michael to allow Susan and new partner Brian to adopt Walt.
• Walt, Susan and Brian. Susan is not feeling well. Walt is studying birds, and, ironically, a bird flies into the glass doors and dies.
• Brian arrives unannounced at Michael’s apartment, to tell Michael that Susan is dead and that her dieing wish was that Michael take custody of Walt after nine years of being separated from him. But that story is a lie – Brian made it up to unload Walt. Brian says that Michael is ‘different’ – that ‘things’ happen when he is around. Michael travels to Australia to take custody of Walt. The woman who is minding him gives him a box with letters. Michael has to carefully explain to Walt that he is now his legal guardian.

Comments

I liked the dialogue between Michael and Susan. With a minimum of words, it is apparent that communication has broken down and that Michael doesn’t really understand or listen to what she wants.

Perhaps now Michael can stop being such an angry person. I wonder also if this incident will make him friends with Locke, or if he will go back to despising him. Either choice will fit into his current character arc.

Memorable Moments

• Michael and Walt bonding

Quotable Quotes

Hurley: He [Michael] seems to hate it, being a dad.
Jack: No, it’s just a lot of hard work.
Hurley: No…he hates it.

Susan: We’ve talked about taking some time apart.
Michael: I thought that was - hey, we said a lot of things! You said you wanted to live on a boat! (laughs)

Walt: A penguin with a sunburn? That’s dumb.
Michael: I know. That’s what I said.

1.13 Hearts and Minds

Boone is watching the blossoming friendship between his sister Shannon and Sayid, but is distracted by Hurley asking him why he and Locke have not been bringing back any much-needed meat for the camp.

We see Boone and Locke in the jungle, still working on the ‘something’ they found. It is a metal door leading down into the ground. They have hidden this discovery from everyone else.

Hurley shares his digestive problems with Jack. They seem to be caused by a lack of protein in his diet. Hurley believes that Jin has not been sharing his catch with him because Hurley offended him early on by not accepting sea urchin sushi.

Jack discovers Sun and Kate’s herb garden. Kate puts forward the idea that perhaps Locke is purposefully holding off from catching any boar.

Hurley asks Jin where to find the fish, but gets a Korean answer.

Boone tells Locke that he wants to tell Shannon about the doorway. When he turns his back Locke knocks him out with the blunt end of a knife. When Boone wakes up, he is tied up. Locke treats his head wound, leaves him a knife so he can work himself free, and tells his camp is four miles due west.

Kate is blabbing to Sun in English and realizes that Sun understood her. Sun asks her not to tell anyone.

Hurley, fishing unsuccessfully near Jin, steps on an urchin and begs Jin to pee on his foot to eradicate the poison.

Locke gives Sayid a compass to help with his orienteering.

Boone, motivated by cries of help from Shannon, frees himself and finds Shannon tied to a tree. He frees her just before the monster reaches them. They hide in a thicket of trees. Shannon asks Boone what he did to anger Locke, but Boone gives no information.

Sayid tells Jack that the compass Locke gave to him is defective.

Locke tells Jack that he hasn’t seen Boone all day. He also says he believes the boar have migrated out of their valley to avoid "…the most dangerous predator of all."

Sun tells Kate that only Michael knows that she speaks English.

Jin gives Hurley another sea urchin. Hurley promptly throws it up.

Charlie expresses his utmost trust in Locke to Jack.

Jin gives a beautiful cleaned fish to Hurley.

Jack gives a handful of guava seeds to Kate.

Boone tells Shannon about the hatch. Soon after, she is caught and carried away by the monster.

Boone finds Shannon’s lifeless, half-devoured body in a stream flowing red with her blood. Boone makes it back to camp and jumps Locke, blaming him for Shannon’s death. But Locke tells him that Shannon is fine. Locke had put a drug in the ointment he used to treat his head wound, and it was all a hallucination meant to make Boone let go of the strange protective/love relationship he has with his step-sister.

Boone and Shannon’s backstory flashbacks:

Shannon rings Boone to ask for his help, while an abusive boyfriend screams things at her in the background. Back in the present, Boone tells Sayid to stay away from Shannon.

Boone visiting Shannon in Sydney, Australia. Boone discovers that Shannon is being beaten, but she sends him away, too scared to say anything in front of her boyfriend.

Boone, sitting in a Sydney police station, trying to convince a cop to take action for Shannon. While they speak, Sawyer is dragged through, protesting about his arrest. Boone pays off the boyfriend to leave, saying it is the third time he has done so.

We find out that Shannon hustled her step-brother to get money for her and her boyfriend, and it isn’t the first time it has happened.

Shannon telling Boone that he is in love with her. They kiss, and fall to the bed. Later that night, Shannon asks Boone to forget about the whole thing.

Comments

This is an exciting episode, focusing on the psychological aspects to build tension from a variety of plot threads.

Kate states that the castaways have been on the island for over three weeks.

Nits

The Sydney cop whom Boone talks to has a British accent, not an Australian one.

Memorable Moments

• Shannon’s death

Quotable Quotes

Locke: Hi.
Sayid: I didn't hear you.
Locke: Sorry. I'm sneakier than I give myself credit for.

"You sure you don’t speak English? Because there’s a rumor that you do….you’re wife’s hot."
- Hurley, testing Jin

1.12 Whatever the Case May Be

Kate’s foray for fruit deep in the jungle is interrupted by an intruder. She picks them off with a rock and finds out it is Sawyer, there, he says, to protect her. When they discover a waterfall and deep pool, they go for a frolicking swim together. But their fun ends when they discover a couple of bodies at the bottom of the pool. Sawyer salvages a wallet, while Kate is interested in a metal case. This appears to be the case that her captor was holding. But Sawyer takes it from her, and Kate acts as if she does not care.

With the tides rising, Sayid and Jack plan to move people down the beach. Jack would like people to move to the caves, but people are wary of the jungle, especially after Claire’s disappearance. Jack asks Sayid for information about the French woman, but Sayid has little to share.

Boone and Locke have been searching for Claire for four days. Boone berates Shannon for doing nothing to help.

Sayid asks a reluctant sunbathing Shannon to help him decipher the French notations.

Sawyer is trying to pick the lock on the case. Michael tells him the only way he will get into a Halliburton case is with brute force, and suggests using the axe.

Charlie comes out of his lifeless funk to help Rose move her stuff up the beach.

Sawyer moves to the jungle to try bashing the case on rocks. When he throws it down off a drop-off, not only does it still not open, but Kate runs through and steals it. Sawyer tracks her down and wrestles it away.

Kate tells Jack that the case has guns and ammo in it, and that Sawyer has it. Kate knows that the key is in the back pocket of the ranger (whom Jack buried). Jack agrees to help on the condition that he and Kate open the case together. Sun is nearby and hears this, because no one suspects that she can speak or understand English.

Rose tells Charlie that he is not to blame for Claire’s disappearance.

Jack and Kate exhume the body, but the key is not in the wallet where Kate said it would be. Or is it? Jack realizes that Kate palmed the key while dropping the wallet to distract him.

Shannon is working with Sayid but she is getting nowhere.

Jack gets the case from Sawyer by threatening to stop his antibiotic treatments, even if it means Sawyer loses his arm.

Kate and Jack open the case together, and Kate gets back the trinket that she says belonged to the man she loved, to the man she killed.

The beach group has moved camp. Rose, who still has faith that her husband is alive, comforts the weeping Charlie with a prayer.

Shannon tells Sayid that the French woman’s notations were the lyrics from a song. She then sings, ‘Beyond the Sea’ in French.

Kate’s backstory flashbacks:

Kate is in a bank where, as she was applying for a loan, two masked gunman broke in a robbed the place. In the real world, she sneaks into Sawyer’s tent and tries to get her case back, but he wakes up and is able to fight her off, even after sustaining a head butt.

Kate at the bank robbery, where it is revealed that she is in on the whole thing, not a victim as it seemed before.

The bank, where we learn that Kate was there not to help the robbers, but to get the contents of a safety deposit box.

Comments

It was blatantly obvious that Shannon was going to make a contribution by translating the French notes that Sayid mentions to Jack.

Shannon looks really nice in a bikini, and Kate looks even better viewed from above than she does when swimming in her underwear.

It is interesting to see how Jack’s ‘caring physician’ personality has begun to evolve into more of a doctor who is trying to survive on an island among partial savages like Sawyer.

Nits

In the previous episode All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues, Boone and Locke found a metal ‘something’ in the ground. We didn’t find out anything else about that in this episode – it seems like this plot thread has been dropped.

Memorable Moments

• The emotional moment when Kate breaks down

Quotable Quotes

Sawyer: I’m just gonna give it [the case] to you. Why would I do that?
Jack: Cefelexin.
Sawyer: Yeah, go on.
Jack: That’s the antibiotic I’ve been giving you for the knife wound in your arm. You’re right in the middle of a treatment cycle. Now if I keep giving you the pills, you’re gonna be as right as rain. But I’m gonna stop giving you the pills. And for two days, you’re gonna think you’re all good. Then it’s gonna start to inch. Day after that, the fever’s gonna come, and you’re gonna start seein’ red lines running up and down your arm. Day or two after that, you’ll beg me to take the case, just to cut off your arm.
Sawyer: That’s a nice story, Jack, and even if it were true, I don’t think you could do it.
Jack: You’re wrong.

"It’s a fine line between denial and faith. It’s much better on my side."
- Rose to Charlie