The Island: Jack and the rest of the castaways begin their trek to the radio tower. On the Looking Glass station, two Others capture Charlie and radio Ben for instructions; Ben sends Mikhail to the station to evaluate the situation. When the raiding party arrives at the beach, Sayid and Bernard hit their targets and kill seven of the Others, but Jin misses with his handgun and the surviving three capture them. Bernard explains the plan in order to save Jin’s life, and Ben sets out to intercept Jack before he reaches the tower. He brings Alex with him after he learns of Karl’s involvement in the castaways’ escape.
At the beach, Desmond wakes up just as Mikhail starts shooting at him. Desmond dives into the ocean and finds himself in the Looking Glass, where Charlie is able to signal him to hide. When Mikhail reaches the station, he contacts Ben. Ben tells him to kill Charlie and the two women at the station. Mikhail agrees, despite his irritation at having been lied to by Ben. After he shoots the women, Desmond shoots him with a harpoon, and one of the women gives Charlie the code to shut off the jammer.
When the castaways see only two explosions, they surmise something has gone wrong. Jack pushes on, as Sayid requested. But after Kate says she wants to go back, Sawyer says he will go alone. Juliet claims that she can take Sawyer to a hidden gun cache, but that’s only a lie to get Jack to let them go. Hurley wants to come along, but Sawyer won’t allow it. When the rest of the group meets Ben, he takes Jack aside for a private conversation, and tells him that if he does not bring back Naomi’s phone, Ben will have Sayid, Bernard, and Jin killed. Jack refuses, and when he hears three gunshots over the walkie talkie he beats Ben savagely. When Jack drags him back to the group, Ben introduces Alex to her mother, Rousseau.
On the beach, Sawyer and Juliet observe the situation. Their planning is interrupted by Hurley crashing onto the beach in the Dharma bus. The surprise enables Sayid and the rest to turn the tables, kill two of their captors and capture Tom – at which point Sawyer shoots him. On the Looking Glass, Charlie turns off the jamming and gets a signal – there’s an incoming transmission from Penny. She tells Charlie that she does not have a boat near the island, but before Charlie can get Desmond, Mikhail knocks at the window. He’s outside the station, holding a grenade. Destiny is coming due.
At the radio tower, Jack gets word from Hurley that everyone is OK. Rousseau turns off her distress signal, and Naomi finds a channel. Before she can complete the call, she gets a knife in the back – from Locke. A vision of Walt told him that he has work to do, and he begs Jack not to call for help. But Jack is through with Locke, through with Ben . . . and after a moment, he’s in touch with the outside world.
Flash-forward: Nearing the end of a flight to Los Angeles, Jack sees a newspaper item that shakes him up considerably. He drives to a bridge, calls someone to leave a stumbling message, and then steps out onto the bridge, ready to kill himself. Before he can, he hears the sound of a car crash and turns around to rescue the occupants. But even though he’s being hailed as a hero, Jack can’t pull himself together. He’s drinking heavily and taking oxycodone, stumbling through his days. He goes to a funeral home – the newspaper item was a death notice, but no one has attended the service for whomever has passed away. As he sits drinking in a room with books and maps strewn across the floor, he makes another phone call and asks someone to meet him near the airport. It’s Kate. They’re home. But Jack is convinced that this is a mistake – he wants to go back to the island. As Kate drives away, saying that someone is expecting her, Jack screams after her that they need to go back.
written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
directed by Jack Bender
music by Michael GiacchinoGuest Cast: M.C. Gainey (Mr. Friendly/Tom), Tania Raymonde (Alex), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), Blake Bashoff (Karl), Andrew Divoff (Mikhail), Ariston Greene (Jason), Sonya Walger (Penny), Mira Furlan (Rousseau), Brian Goodman (Pryce), Marsha Thomason (Naomi), L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), Sam Anderson (Bernard), Lana Parilla (Greta), Tracy Middendorf (Bonnie), James Lesure (Dr. Hamill), Nigel Gibbs (Funeral Director), Loreni Delgado (Pharmacist), Larry Clarke (Customer), Kate Connor (Doctor)
LogBook entry by Dave Thomer