Day: October 5, 2004

Flashback: Locke attends a support group meeting after his father abandoned him. He finds little comfort there; instead he lashes out at those complaining about problems that seem insignificant compared to his. The outburst attracts the attention of Helen, a member of the group, and the two begin seeing each other. Their relationship is complicated by Locke’s continued haunting of his father, driving through his neighborhood and parking in front of his own. His father tells Locke in no uncertain terms that he is not wanted. Helen does want Locke, though – but only if he lets go of his pain. She sets an ultimatum: Locke will have to take a leap of faith to keep their relationship alive.

The Island: As Desmond and Jack confront each other, Kate gets the drop on Desmond. An errant shot hits the computer, which sends Desmond into a panic. Kate returns to the caves to get Sayid to fix the machine while Desmond explains that he washed up on the island about three years ago. Another man found him and brought him into the bunker and told him that they had to enter the six-digit code into the terminal every 108 minutes or disaster would ensue. He shows Jack and Locke an orientation film made in 1980 by the Dharma Institute, an experimental research collaboration devoted to the physical and social sciences. The film narrator explains that something at this installation – The Swan – has gone wrong, and now the essential thing for Dharma staffers to do is to keep inputting the code. Two men are supposed to be assigned to the task, and replacements are supposed to arrive every few months. But Desmond has been on his own since his rescuer died.

Locke is eager to fix the terminal and continue the work, but Jack wants nothing to do with it, convinced that the whole thing is just some sort of behavioral experiment. Desmond decides to leave the bunker; Jack follows him. Desmond tells Jack the code and then finally remembers their previous meeting. He asks if Jack was able to fix the girl. An anguished Jack screams that he married her, before letting Desmond go and returning to the group. Sayid has fixed the computer, but Locke can’t remember the code, and Hurley is quite deliberately silent on that score. If they’re going to carry on Desmond’s mission, Jack is going to have to be part of the effort.

Elsewhere on the island, Sawyer, Michael and Jin are captured by the Others and thrown into a pit cage. They are soon joined by another prisoner, a woman who claims to have been on the back of Flight 815 when it crashed. Sawyer is determined to use what bullets he has left to try and get out, but their new colleague has plenty of questions and loyalties of her own.

written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Craig Wright
directed by Jack Bender
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Island Man), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Kevin Tighe (Cooper), Curtis Jackson (Security Guard), Katey Sagal (Helen), Roxie Sarhangi (Francine), Jeanne Rogers (Moderator), Marvin Candle (himself), Michael Lanzo (Waiter)

Notes: Locke’s discovery of, and kidney donation to, his father were shown in season 1’s Deus Ex Machina.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer