LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 19, S.O.S.

On-Island Events: Bernard and Rose disagree about how best to proceed with their new island lives; Locke attempts to reconstruct a drawing of the question mark map on the blast door. Jack tends to "Henry's" shoulder and informs him that he will try to trade for Walt. 

Bernard rounds up a group of survivors and suggests making a sign on the beach for a new rescue attempt. Rose admonishes Bernard for giving people false hope. Later he approaches Eko and Charlie, who decline to help, and criticizes them for building a church instead of aiding in rescue plans. Locke yells at "Henry" through the armory door while "Henry" sits back and smiles at the chaos he's created. 

Bernard accuses Rose of sabotaging his rescue plan; Rose suggests he just let things be. Jack and Kate set out to the disputed area to find "Henry's" people but get caught in one of Rousseau's nets. Locke and Rose sit together on the beach; Rose suggests with a knowing look that despite his broken leg, Locke will heal faster than he thinks. 

Kate explains her theory of the others' sophistication to Jack, who is upset at having been kept in the dark about the hidden medical station. When they arrive at the disputed area, Jack yells to announce his presence and adds that he has their man. Rose discloses to Bernard that the island has healed her, and remembers seeing Locke in a wheelchair in the airport before the flight. Bernard understands and tells Rose that they'll never leave the island. As Jack and Kate wait for the others in the jungle, a frantic and exhausted Michael emerges.

Flashbacks: Bernard meets Rose when he helps her out of a snowed-in parking spot; she thanks him by buying him coffee. Five months later at Niagara Falls, Bernard proposes to Rose, who says she's sick and dying, but accepts. In the outback on their honeymoon Bernard takes Rose to a spiritual healer and the two argue about it. Bernard insists he needs to try to do something about Rose's situation despite Rose's own peace with it. The healer explains how he harnesses energy but tells Rose his is not the right place for her healing. Rose states she will tell Bernard he had fixed her anyway.

Greater Meaning: It seems important to note that since Rose and Locke have been healed by coming to the island, they do not wish to leave or get rescued. One wonders how this may play out down the line should an opportunity to leave or get rescued actually arise. Eko and Charlie's building of the church also suggests a comfort in settling in to island life, long-term. Should the survivors actually stay and carve out a new civilization to dwell spread out over the beach, jungle, and cave area, the issues with "Henry," Rousseau, and any others become more than just individual inconveniences. Jack's sentiment of living together or dying alone seems all the more important in this light; will the survivors be able to live alongside the island's more senior residents? 

Rose has proven to be knowledgeable in many instances, in knowing Bernard was alive, in having a funny feeling about the hatch, and as revealed in this episode, in knowing the cancer had left her body once crashing onto the island. Electricity, magnetism, geology, and energy have come up several times in the second season; Rose's healer mentioned pockets of energy under the location in Australia where he practiced, the magnetic energy in the hatch still hasn't quite been figured out, and "Henry's" odd comments about no one being able to see or find the island suggests a unique geological energy at work. Can the island be explained, scientifically, or is there another influence at play? What could the island possibly have going on that would not only cure cancer but also paralysis and broken bones? Does Rousseau know about this property? Does "Henry?"

Further Questions: 

1. Will Locke heal quickly?

2. Does Rose know more about the island's powers?

3. Will the survivors stop trying to get rescued? 

4. Does "Henry" have a plan?

5. What has Michael been doing all this time?

6. Is Walt safe? 

7. Is there more about the island Rose knows? 

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Season 2, Episode 6, Abandoned

The Tail Section: Michael returns to the group as they continue their journey back to the beach camp; Sawyer's bullet injury continues to worsen. Eko is sympathetic toward Sawyer but Ana Lucia is not. When Michael challenges Ana Lucia about her attitude, she explains that the others took several members of their group and that the people are smart but "animals." Eventually Sawyer collapses with fever from his infected wound and the group make a stretcher to carry him forward. As they are working together to lift the stretcher to higher ground, Ana Lucia discovers that Cindy is missing. Soon Michael hears whispering and Ana Lucia commands everyone to run.

On-Island Events: At night inside her tent, Shannon sees Walt, soaking wet and whispering, but no one believes her. After digging through Michael and Walt's remaining clothing, Shannon sends Vincent off in search of Walt's scent, convinced she hadn't been dreaming. When Aaron won't stop crying, Locke helps Claire by swaddling the baby and Claire inadvertently lets slip the fact that Charlie has one of the virgin Mary statues leading to awkwardness between Locke and Charlie. Later Shannon admits to Sayid that the reason she needs him to believe her is that she's convinced he will eventually leave her; he assures her he won't leave and tells her he loves her. Just afterward, during a downpour in the jungle, Sayid and Shannon both see Walt. When Shannon runs after Walt, a gunshot rings out and she collapses in Sayid's arms, having been accidentally shot by Ana Lucia, who with the rest of the group, has finally arrived at their camp.

Flashbacks: Shannon's experiences with her stepmother after her father's death were rife with tension and frustration but Boone is supportive. Shannon looks forward to a ballet internship but her stepmother refuses to give her any of her late father's money or estate. Boone attempts to get the money from his mother himself, but is also denied. He offers to give Shannon money once his trust fund kicks in but she decides she'd rather find a way to support herself rather than remaining dependent on him or his mother any longer.

Greater Meaning: Clearly Shannon has shown that she has the skills to manipulate others to her will, and if Locke's advice ("everyone gets a new life here,") is true, Shannon's relationship with Sayid could indeed be a positive thing built on honesty instead of manipulation. Sayid's unwillingness to believe that Shannon has seen Walt does seem a little paternalistic and man-splainy, Sayid after all must know by now that stranger things have happened on the island, but seeing Shannon show her vulnerable side with legitimate emotion instead of spite is kind of nice. Why Walt chose to reveal himself to Shannon is a mystery, maybe her caretaking of Vincent and Walt's acknowledgement of her pain over Boone before leaving on the raft bonded them, but it could also have been a sort of premonition of her eventual downfall (which Ana Lucia may or may not have instigated had Shannon and Sayid not been chasing Walt through the jungle). It's not yet proven if this was actually Walt or just a vision of Walt (ala Christian Shephard in White Rabbit). If only a vision, how is Walt able to appear to people like that? Walt's episode in season 1 was entitled "Special," is this just evidence of his specialness? And if it's only a vision, does this mean that Walt has died?

Further Questions:

1. What are the whispers in the jungle?
2. Is Walt just hanging out in the jungle by himself?
3. Will Charlie begin using heroin again?
4. Will Sawyer be okay?
5. What will Sayid do to Ana Lucia?
6. Is Shannon dead?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 25, Exodus part 3

On-Island Events: On the way back to the hatch, Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley encounter the moving black smoke monster rippling through the dark territory; Locke does not run, allows the smoke to approach him, and then appears to run after it. The smoke takes hold of Locke's legs and attempts to haul him into a hidden cavern. Kate throws a stick of dynamite into the cavern and the smoke releases its hold on Locke.

Charlie falls for one of Rousseau's jungle traps and sustains a head injury, but refuses to give up the search for Aaron; Sayid cauterizes the wound with gunpowder and a match. Hurley and Kate discuss the number 23; Kate discloses that the person who turned her into the feds in Australia did so for a $23,000 reward. Jack and Locke disagree about the danger of the smoke monster that attempted to take Locke. Locke explains their disagreements stem from the fact that he, Locke, is a man of faith, Jack is a man of science, and that the island brought them here for a purpose, being there is their destiny. The path they were meant to follow, Locke insists, ends at the hatch. Jack concludes the conversation by stating he does not believe in destiny.

Charlie and Sayid find an elevated fire pit on the beach creating black smoke but no others. Soon they hear Aaron's cries and Rousseau emerges with the baby, explaining she thought she'd get her daughter back but the others did not show up as she'd planned. She claims she heard whispers that the others were coming for the boy; Charlie dismisses her as being crazy. Jack and Locke rig the dynamite with Kate's help; Kate and Jack discuss leadership, Jack suggests they may soon have "A Locke Problem." As Hurley gets into position before Locke ignites the dynamite, he sees the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 have been engraved into the side of the hatch. He rushes Locke, demanding they stop what they're doing but Locke lights the fuse, setting off the dynamite.

Charlie and Sayid return to the caves with Aaron; Shannon is relieved to see Sayid unharmed. Charlie has brought one of the Virgin Mary statues back with him. In the aftermath of the explosion, Jack and Locke lift a metal door from the hatch and peer lengths down into it.

The Raft: As Michael and Jin discuss English phrases, Jin presents Michael with the watch originally meant to be delivered to one of Paik's associates in Los Angeles that had caused so much trouble between them immediately after the crash. As night falls, Sawyer insists they keep checking the radar as Sayid instructed. Sawyer and Michael discuss Walt's behavior and Sawyer's history with his parents; Michael accuses Sawyer of wanting to die and Sawyer admits he's no hero. When a blip on the radar suddenly rings out, the crew disagrees about whether or not to launch a flare but chances doing so. The craft on the radar spots it and moves in closer, bathing the raft in a harsh spotlight. The group cheers and waves as Michael tells the new boat's bearded captain their story; the bearded man surprises everyone by replying, "We're gonna have to take the boy." The men on the other boat kill the spotlight, Sawyer attempts to shoot the bearded man, and in the chaos, the men from the boat take Walt and blow up the raft as they sail off with him.

Flashbacks: Hurley oversleeps the day of the Oceanic flight and continues to deal with setbacks on his way to the airport. Showing up late, he implores the agent at gate 23, "For all that is good and holy, please let me on this flight!" Locke is carried onto the flight after the boarding wheelchair couldn't be located and deals with further frustration when he drops something in the aisle of the aircraft and is unable to retrieve it on his own. The rest of the survivors are shown in turn onboard the flight preparing to leave; as Hurley finally arrives, Walt smiles at him as he passes. Jack and Locke make eye contact but do not speak.

Greater Meaning: Rousseau believed the others would take Claire's baby having heard the whispers state they were "coming for the boy." This was misleading only until the group of men on the boat took Walt from Michael on the raft; Rousseau had good reasons to believe what she did (her own infant was taken and Claire was abducted while pregnant with Aaron) but was only wrong about which boy the others planned to take. The others, whoever they are, are takers of multiple children.

Hurley has a difficult time in this episode, not only because he blames himself for Arzt's death and takes far longer than Jack, Locke, or Kate to process it, but because he's unexpectedly faced with the numbers that have caused him so much trouble in the past via the hatch, something that's being touted as a sanctuary for the survivors. Once he sees the numbers, Hurley does not want the hatch opened but Locke disregards his wishes and blasts it open anyway. What possible connection could the numbers have to the hatch, and why is Hurley involved? Hurley has shown himself to be honest, empathetic, and wholesome throughout each of the past episodes but isn't viewed as a leader or in this case, even listened to when presenting an argument. In "Numbers," Hurley tries to explain to multiple people (his mother, his accountant, his father, and later Jack) how the numbers, his winning the lottery, and his general presence seems to be bad luck or cursed but is repeatedly blown off. Despite his honesty and ability to articulate his thoughts intelligently on these matters, Hurley continues to be disregarded.

The mystery of the hatch will continue into the second season, but there have been several instances leading up to its opening that suggest the hatch is dangerous: Locke and Boone spent weeks using scientifically-engineered methods to open it; Locke's use of his legs and Boone's life were jeopardized in efforts to open it; Walt grabbed Locke's hand and specifically told him not to open it; Hurley sees the cursed numbers engraved on the side and implores Locke not to open it. Should the survivors breach the hatch now that it's been opened, the downward descent into it is significant---why are they going deeper into the island when their goal was to be rescued from it? What traditionally dwells in deep, underground spaces, both in the physical and spiritual world? We already know of three unique threats on the island, 1., the smoke monster, 2., polar bears, and 3., the others, and the hatch could be related to any or all of these threats as well as some new, unidentified ones. 

The island has been shown to have powers of healing and danger, the characters are shown to be dealing with the pushes and pulls of their past lives together with the new struggles of island survival; how they deal with these challenges given their own issues seems to be the main point in determining what the show is trying to show us. In that, the idea of the island as a character or governing force emerges.

Further Questions:

1. Who were the men on the boat who took Walt? 

2. Will Michael ever get his son back?

3. Is Rousseau's daughter still on the island? 

4. Are the numbers bad? 

5. Who engraved them on the hatch?

6. What is inside the hatch?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 24, Exodus part 2

On-island Events: As Sayid prepares the beach group to head to the caves, Charlie asks him for a gun to protect Claire; Sayid refuses. As Hurley marvels at the spectacle of The Black Rock, Rousseau takes her leave of the group. Inside the ship, Jack and Locke discover its background as a slave vessel and Kate finds the dynamite. Arzt explains the dangers inherent in unpacking the dynamite but suddenly explodes in the process.

Shannon becomes emotional as she attempts to bring Boone's things along to the caves; Sayid validates her worries and offers to help. Hurley admits to Kate that he's bad luck and blames himself for Arzt's death. Jack and Locke work together to carefully unpack and transport the dynamite. Rousseau returns to the beach, shouting for Sayid, but in speaking with Claire, stirs up a memory of Claire scratching her in the dark. Charlie returns with Sayid to discover that Rousseau has taken the baby from Claire. Sayid reasons that Rousseau has taken the baby to give to the others who took her own child sixteen years ago; Claire begs Charlie to bring the baby, which she has suddenly named Aaron, back to her.

When the group reaches the caves, Sun asks Shannon if she thinks they're being punished by fate, but Claire is adamant there is no such thing. While resting near the Nigerian plane on the way to the black smoke, Sayid shows Charlie the heroin inside the Virgin Mary statues. As they return to the hatch with the dynamite, Hurley asks John what he thinks is inside the hatch. "Hope," Locke replies.

The Raft: The group sails by the unexplored edge of the island and marvels at its vastness; Sawyer sings Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," which catches Michael's interest. Michael explains the transmitter and radar screen to Walt while Sawyer reads everyone's messages from the bottle. As Michael shows Walt how to sail and Walt asks important questions about his parents' relationship, the raft hits something and the rudder breaks off. Sawyer swims off to retrieve it and Michael discovers Sawyer's gun in his shirt.

Flashbacks: In the airport before the flight, Jin encounters one of Paik's spies who knows he plans to run away with Sun and who threatens him. Charlie rummages about a hotel room searching for heroin, fighting a woman for the last remnants. Michael struggles to connect with his son and calls his mother to ask her to care for Walt when they return to New York. Michael ends the call, exclaiming, "He's not supposed to be mine!"

Greater Meaning: In the middle of all the action (kidnapping, explosions, raft in peril), important ideas are being reiterated concerning the characters. While Exodus part one showed several instances of change as well as stubbornness versus adaptability through current island events compared with flashbacks, this episode seems to expand on the same concepts while adding adding an element of redemption (pinpointed in Jin's case by Sawyer's song on the raft thus providing us with a well-defined theme). Jin had formerly been a criminal under Paik's employ, but has changed significantly both personally and professionally, if fishing skills and the building of the raft are to be considered to be occupational. Charlie has successfully kicked his drug habit and continues to write songs and be musical but he's added the role of caregiver and protector of Claire and Aaron to his duties. Michael's devotion to Walt hasn't changed, he's always loved his son, but the flashbacks take us through the challenges the two have faced while also showing Michael's frustration and desperation in those moments.

Together with Exodus part one, and through all of the previous episodes we've seen, LOST has given us a group of seriously flawed characters, each in need of his or her own unique redemption. The raft group (arguably minus opportunist Sawyer) redeems itself for past ills by working together to seek rescue; Charlie redeems himself through his devotion to Claire. Sawyer is a special character as he is motivated not by redemption but instead vengeance, however the Marley song is significant as it hints he may unconsciously be seeking what he sings about eventually (despite his actions thus far) suggesting he's just not there yet. He could have chosen to sing Skynyrd or Hank Williams just as he could have chosen to solely read rifle or porn magazines on the island, but he didn't. Sawyer is flawed like the others, but with complicated criminal influences (ala Kate, Sayid, and Jin), which is a direct contrast to people like Jack, Locke, Hurley, Sun, and Claire.


Further Questions:

1. Will the raft be okay?
2. Will Sawyer need the gun?
3. Will Charlie and Sayid get Aaron back?
4. Is Rousseau's daughter still on the island?
5. Will the others allow Rousseau to trade Aaron for her daughter?
6. Will the dynamite project work?
7. Will Charlie relapse after seeing the Virgin Mary statues?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 23, Exodus part 1

On-Island Events: Walt sees Rousseau lurking around the camp at the beach and alerts the rest of the survivors. Rousseau shares her history with the group; she had been seven months pregnant when her team came to the island. She delivered a baby girl that was taken a week later by others, whose presence was preceded by a pillar of black smoke. Rousseau insists the others are returning to take everyone, and the choices are to run, hide, or die.

Michael leads the group in preparing the raft for launch but Walt notices black smoke off in the distance.

Jack, Locke, and Hurley consider hiding everyone in the hatch and make plans to get dynamite in the jungle to blast it open. In the jungle, Sawyer discloses his experience with Christian Shephard to an emotional Jack and the two part ways. Charlie arranges a bottle for the survivors to write messages to give to the raft crew for when they get rescued as Jack, Kate, Locke, Hurley, and Rousseau head into the jungle for dynamite. Locke notices scratches on Rousseau's arm, which she claims to be from a bush. Rousseau leads the group through the dark territory toward their destination, the black rock, where she explains the rest of her crew was infected. Arzt decides to abandon the mission but is chased back by the island's monster. As it growls, clicks, and knocks over trees, Rousseau, Jack and Kate hide while Locke encourages Hurley to be calm and wait it out. Rousseau suggests the monster is a security system, meant to protect the island; the Black Rock is revealed to be an ancient slave
ship.

As the raft crew makes ready to depart, Walt gives Vincent to Shannon and Sun presents Jin with a book of useful English phrases for the journey. The raft proves to be seaworthy; the survivors cheer and wave goodbye to Michael, Walt, Sawyer, and Jin. The last image to be seen is the pillar of black smoke rising up from the jungle.

Flashbacks detail the survivors' last moments just before boarding Oceanic 815: Michael struggles in parenting Walt in a hotel room; Jack meets a woman named Ana Lucia in a bar. Sawyer is revealed to be an experienced criminal James Ford by Australian police and is banned from ever returning to the country. Kate, in the marshal's custody, attacks him after he taunts her attachment to Tom's toy airplane. In the airport, Sayid leaves his luggage with Shannon, who bickers with Boone and later reports Sayid to a security officer for the sake of being difficult. Sun accidentally spills coffee on Jin while an American couple look on and make rude comments.

Greater Meaning: By providing six different flashback experiences, the episode is broader than any of the previous. Focusing on multiple survivors gives a sense of big events culminating, a large conclusion in the works that will affect each survivor as well as the entire group, but the mystery of two separate narratives is also important. The raft has set sail, exposing its crew to new experiences and new dangers (in such a tiny, confined space, how will the three men who have had multiple conflicts in the past get on with each other? and what about sharks, or storms at sea?), but if Rousseau is to be believed, others are coming to the beach. The title of the episode, Exodus, is significant, but Jack or Locke seem more of a Moses character than Michael or Sawyer, might the title be referring to an into-the-jungle exodus rather than one into the sea on a raft? Are there two exoduses at play here?

Michael and Walt have come a long way since their difficulties in the flashback, so has Shannon. Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Sun, and Jin seem to be wrestling with many of the same issues they'd had before the crash, namely ghosts from their past relationships or crimes, or in Sun and Jin's case, with each other. What does this say about the needs of each of these major players in the narrative? How will the events of either getting rescued or evading attacks from others affect who these survivors are and how they interact with each other? Sawyer and Kate were both previously criminals, and so was Jin. Jack's medical skills have proven useful on the island but is he good at leading? Sun seemed to be marginalized in early episodes but has begun to emerge as more than just a controlling criminal's wife and an interesting character on her own. What part does adaptation play in these characters' successes on the island, and who's had the most trouble with it? Major changes have happened, but not necessarily to everyone in the same measure.

Further Questions:

1. Will the raft succeed in finding rescue?
2. Can Rousseau be trusted?
3. How did The Black Rock wind up in the middle of the jungle?
4. Will they succeed in blasting open the hatch?
5. Are others really coming?
6. Will Jin ever get rid of the handcuff on his wrist?
7. What happened to Ana Lucia?
8. Are there more survivors we haven't met yet?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 22, Born to Run

Events: In flashbacks, Kate colors her hair from blond to brown and receives a letter that makes her cry. She surprises a doctor friend, Tom, and tells him that her mother Diane is dying of cancer. She visits Tom in his home, who arranges for her to see Diane the next day and together they dig up a time capsule. Tom's toy plane is inside, along with a recorded tape from 1989. On the recording, a young Tom predicts the two will be married but a young Kate suggests they run away. When Tom comments, "you always want to run away, Katie," Kate replies, "yeah, and you know why." When Kate visits her mother, Diane reacts fearfully, screaming for help. Kate and Tom leave in Tom's car but Tom is fatally shot by police in pursuit.

On the island, Dr. Arzt encourages Michael to finish the raft and leave the island quickly while Sayid and Locke introduce Jack to the hatch. Kate approaches Michael about getting on the raft, but Michael has promised the open spot to Sawyer. Without warning, Michael becomes violently ill, and Jack discovers someone drugged Michael's water. Michael suspects Sawyer, who in turn exposes Kate's fake passport. Kate admits she was in the marshal's custody and was headed for prison but insists that she didn't poison Michael. Jack confronts Sun and she admits that she attempted to poison
Jin to keep him on the island; later it's revealed that this had been Kate's idea all along. As John Locke encounters Walt at the caves, Walt places his hand on Locke's wrist and implores him not to open it (the hatch).

Greater Meaning:We see that Diane clearly has a problem with her daughter, so who wrote the letter? There was money inside it as well, was this from Kate's father, whoever he might be? When Kate said the toy airplane belonged to the man she killed, she obviously meant Tom, but technically, Kate didn't kill him. Kate's life is messy and has a lot of conflicting stuff going on. There's a case being made for Kate's untrustworthiness---can she be trusted? The previous episodes have shown her to be skilled in the outdoors, brave, and empathetic toward the other survivors, aligning her with Jack and Locke's variety of leadership, but her past is shady and she seems evasive, even standoffish, right down to her core, which is very much like Sawyer.

Further Questions:

1. Will they ever open the hatch?
2. Does Kate ever reconcile with her mother?
3. How many crimes has Kate committed?
4. Will they launch the raft on time?
5. What did Tom mean about Kate not ever wanting to go home?
6. Why does Walt not want Locke to open the hatch, does he know something about it?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 21, The Greater Good.

"I know when I'm being lied to,"

Events: Sayid tries to help Shannon in her grief over Boone's death but she is despondent. Jack, still sleep-deprived and enraged, looks for Locke in the jungle but returns to the beach for Boone's funeral. During the funeral, Locke returns, his clothes still stained with blood, and admits that the accident that caused Boone's death was his fault. Jack confronts and then attacks Locke but then collapses from exhaustion. In order to force Jack to rest, Kate puts crushed sleeping pills into his juice. While Jack is asleep, Sayid convinces Locke to bring him to the crashed airplane and Shannon steals the key to the gun case. While at the crashed plane site, Locke admits to Sayid he was the one who destroyed the radio when they first attempted to triangulate Rousseau's distress signal. While Locke honestly answers all of Sayid's questions, he falters when Sayid brings up the hatch, and Sayid catches it.

In flashbacks, Sayid remembers his friend, Essam Tazia, and the role the two of them played in an attempted terrorist attack in Sydney. Sayid was coerced into taking part by American and British intelligence officers after they promised to reunite him with his lost love, Nadia. Essam confesses that he doesn't want to go through with the attack and Sayid tries to convince the intelligence agents that Essam's superiors are the ones they should be targeting, but to no avail. Just before they are about to leave with explosives, Sayid tells Essam the truth; Essam dies moments later by suicide.

When Sayid realizes what Shannon has planned, he races with Jack and Kate to stop her from shooting Locke in the jungle. Shannon believes that Locke intentionally murdered Boone largely due to Jack's accusations, and attempts to kill him. Sayid tackles her; the bullet injures Locke but is not fatal. After everything calms down, Sayid demands that Locke bring him to the hatch.

Greater Meaning: Sayid's experiences manipulating Essam in order to reach Nadia seem to have made him cautious. He is not willing to simply eliminate Locke outright to please Shannon in her grief, but he does use his skills as an interrogator to attempt to learn the truth about what happened. Locke is honest about what happened, and although Sayid still doesn't trust Locke completely, he accepts that Boone's death was indeed an accident. Knowing it will damage his relationship with Shannon, Sayid does not kill Locke (as she requested) and attempts to stop her from killing him, basing his actions upon the greater good of the survivors and absolute terms of right and wrong (Locke committed no crime, so it would be wrong to kill him simply because Shannon requested it despite Sayid's feelings for her).

The greater good is also in question concerning Jack's actions in both this and the previous episode ("Do No Harm"). Jack was forced (directly by Boone and indirectly by Sun, Michael, and Hurley) to consider what was best for the entire group when his actions to save Boone became dangerous and reckless; he did not decide on his own to take the entire group's best interests into account. Sayid, a former soldier from a war-torn country, considers and applies this in a way a doctor should (but Jack does not). As Shannon attempted to kill Locke, she looked to Jack for validation, saying "You told me he was a liar!" Jack does not contradict her, and after Locke is shot, does not treat him or even check on him; he glares at him and walks away. Jack refuses to consider how his actions directly affect the group and doesn't seem to take any responsibility for any role he may have played in putting Shannon's attack on Locke into motion. Jack's focus always seems to be on the immediate, the personal, and the here-and-now, making him a unique but somewhat immature leader. Christian's previous words describing Jack, "You're just not good at letting go," ring true again and again with each situation both on and off the island, and seem to be important in understanding Jack's personal challenges and strengths. Why can't he let go?

Further Questions:
1. Will Shannon forgive Sayid?
2. Will Locke and Jack patch things up?
3. Is Nadia still in California?
4. Will Jack develop better awareness in his leadership?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 20, Do No Harm

Events: As Jack tries to triage Boone in the caves, the survivors scramble to assist where they can. Jack ends up donating his own blood to Boone and becomes exhausted from the effort. While this is happening, Claire goes into labor in the jungle with Kate.

Flashbacks show Jack preparing to marry Sarah, a woman who had formerly been his surgical patient, with some trepidations he discusses with Christian the night before the wedding. When Jack suggests that he asked Sarah to marry him simply because he saved her, Christian assures him that commitment is what makes him tick, he agrees that Jack is not good at letting go. Unable to write any of his own vows for the wedding, Jack counters Sarah's vows with what seems to be a heartfelt, honest explanation: "I didn't fix you, you fixed me."

On the island, Jack considers amputating Boone's leg but allows Boone to talk him out of it. As Boone breathes his last breaths, Kate assists Claire in delivering a healthy baby boy. Later, after giving Shannon the news about Boone's death, Jack tells Kate that Boone was murdered by John Locke and vows to find him.

Greater Meaning: As Jack has more or less been appointed leader of the survivors, it's concerning how he puts his own health at risk in order to save Boone. Jack's flashbacks seem at first to be simply backstory to his marriage (which he's already disclosed has ended) but as he continues caring for Boone and stubbornly trying to save him despite knowing his medical situation is hopeless, the flashbacks suggest Jack married Sarah because he continued to feel responsible for her and couldn't let go, just as he feels as Boone's doctor.

Putting this situation into philosophical terms, we'd expect a leader to operate as a utilitarian, basing decisions on what benefits the greatest number of people. This would also make sense for a doctor on a deserted island (saving or rationing medicine for the living, quarantining the sick to keep illness from spreading, delegating triage, etc.), and Jack does this to a point. Where his actions get ethically blurry are in refusing to let go, as he's done with both Sarah and Boone, he is in fact, doing harm. Jack believes in his ability to save others, to fix them, but seems unable to give up. This makes Jack a very unique doctor, and suggests he'd sacrifice pretty much anything for a patient's care--a very noble character trait but one that could also bring about exploitation and division moving forward. While it's true that Boone's death was facilitated by John's actions, John Locke did not murder Boone. Jack is so concerned about having based medical treatment on a mistake and blaming Locke that he doesn't take the time to consider what making such an accusation toward another of the island's most important people might do in the long run. Locke was reckless but not murderous; despite the suspicious way Locke behaved by leaving Boone in the caves, Jack is still starting a big issue before he has all the facts.

Hurley did not factor in as a major player in this episode but worth mentioning is the fact that as the entire beach is celebrating Claire and the new baby, it's Hurley who draws Jack's attention to Shannon as she returns with Sayid. Hurley's empathy continues to be a major presence among the survivors.



Further Questions:

1. What will Claire name her son?
2. How will Shannon cope with losing Boone?
3. Will Shannon's relationship with Sayid change?
4. What has Locke been doing all this time?
5. What eventually ended Jack and Sarah's marriage?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 19, Deus ex Machina

Events: Beginning with a flashback, the episode shows toy store associate John Locke (thinner and with dark hair) explaining the game "Mouse Trap" to a young customer and then quickly transitions to Locke and Boone on the island preparing a trebuchet to open the hatch. The trebuchet fails, Locke becomes upset, and Boone notices that a piece of metal has lodged into Locke's leg.


More flashbacks show the history between John and his birth parents, Emily Locke and Anthony Cooper. John purchases information on the two from a private investigator who cautions "this stuff isn't always meant to be," and "it probably won't have a happy ending." John seeks out Cooper, who is revealed to be in kidney failure and the two forge what John believes to be a father-son relationship which ends in John donating one of his kidneys. Cooper is not interested in keeping John in his life and cuts off all contact with him after the operation.

On the island, John fears his paralysis is returning but stubbornly insists on trying to open the hatch. He dreams of a small aircraft, Boone covered in blood reciting "Teresa falls up the stairs, Teresa falls down the stairs", Emily Locke pointing in the direction the aircraft flew, and of himself once again in a wheelchair. The next day he wakes Boone and they set out into the jungle to find the airplane, which has indeed crashed onto the island and is hanging off the side of a cliff. Boone climbs up to investigate while John waits on the ground below, unable to participate as both of his legs have failed. Boone discovers statues filled with heroin inside the plane and attempts to communicate through the plane's radio but the plane pitches off the cliff, seriously injuring Boone. John somehow musters the strength to carry Boone back to the cave but vanishes when Jack tries to get the details of the injuries. After returning to the hatch, beating upon it, and shouting out, "Why did you do this to me?" John
sees a light shine out from inside the hatch's
window.

We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight
815! 

Greater Meaning: There is a case being made for Locke not opening the hatch. The fact that it seems impossible to do so is only part of it, but the bigger and more personal worry is how Locke's own body is responding to his stubbornness. After the trebuchet fails, Locke is stabbed in his right leg by metal debris. The closer Locke and Boone get to the plane (which Locke assumes will hold some secret or tool to aid in the opening of the hatch), the worse Locke's condition gets with not just one but both legs affected. As the island seems to have healed Locke's paralysis it stands to reason that the island could also stop doing so as well, but why? The flashbacks show Locke refusing to listen to reason in regard to his parents (the investigator all but spelled it out for him) the same way Locke is refusing to be influenced by the systematic breakdown of his body as he insists they seek out the aircraft. As his interactions with Emily Locke led to heartbreak, his following of the airplane led to physical demise in both himself and Boone (which was foreshadowed in his dream of Emily pointing, Boone covered in blood, and his own position back in the wheelchair).

I've done everything you asked! 

Locke wants to believe he's doing the right thing, he has faith in what he's seeing, but he isn't interpreting things correctly and he's ignoring hard, logical facts. If the island cured him, why is it suddenly taking it all back? Locke has proven himself to be an able leader, skilled hunter, and quite intuitive when it comes to the island itself; what if the island is taking his legs away from him because he's simply on the wrong track? Why did he have the vision of the plane or Boone's experiences with his nanny falling down the stairs and how would he have known about either one of those two completely unrelated events? If something on the island planted these events into Locke's unconscious mind, why is another force on the island trying to keep him away from the very events these visions set in motion? Are there two forces at play in Locke's head or is he simply cracking up? Are all of the survivors subject to this kind of influence or only Locke? The title "Deus ex Machina" suggests the hand of God coming in to save everyone in the end with an unexpected resolution, but it remains to be seen what (if anything) was resolved or saved.

Further Questions: 

1. How did Locke become injured and require a wheelchair?
2. Did Locke and Anthony Cooper ever reconcile?
3. Did Emily Locke become part of Locke's life?
4. Are Locke's visions working against him?
5. Will Boone survive?
6. What is in the hatch, and will it ever be opened?
7. Who were the men dressed as priests?
8. Who was speaking on the radio to Boone?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 17 . . . In Translation

Events: Brought about by a disagreement over Sun's choice in swimwear, Jin alarms the survivors with his possessive behavior over his wife. Michael attempts to intervene on Sun's behalf, but is slapped by Sun. Later, Sun apologizes to Michael for her actions and tries to convince Kate that she's doing the right thing, that Jin wasn't always so controlling.


The flashbacks show this to be true; Jin was a kind and tender husband, very much in love with Sun. In order to win Sun's hand in marriage, Jin agreed to work for her father, Mr. Paik, as an enforcer in the negative and violent aspects of his business. Jin is not initially violent in nature, but the episode suggests that he became so over time in order to please Mr. Paik and to provide Sun the luxurious lifestyle she expected. Eventually Jin seeks the advice of his father, a poor fisherman, who tells him to escape with Sun to America and to cut ties with Mr. Paik in order to save the marriage.

With everyone already suspicious of Jin because of his interactions with both Sun and Michael, Jin is blamed with the raft is set on fire. Sawyer assaults Jin and brings him to the beach where everyone begins shouting at him. Sun stops Michael from assaulting Jin by screaming in English. John Locke tries to shift the aggression off of Jin onto the others on the island and later reveals that Walt was the one who burned the raft. Jin leaves Sun in the caves and shows up the next morning with harvest bamboo for Michael's second raft.

Greater Meaning: Until now there had not been very many opportunities to empathize with Jin.
We'd seen controlling behavior before and a violent overreaction with Michael over Mr. Paik's watch, which were negative situations, and a few happy moments in Sun's flashbacks of the early days of their engagement and marriage. Seeing Jin bend to Paik's will and become violent does spark empathy for his struggle, as does his apology to his own father for his shame and the on-island scene of the beach confrontation. Jin is innocent of the crime of which he's being accused, but cannot understand what anyone is yelling at him or defend himself. Sun's ability to speak English was another major blow in a long line of major blows, and for better or for worse, he decides to help Michael, someone who he'd had nothing but trouble with until then to presumably see his own way off the island. As we saw in House of the Rising Sun, Sun had been prepared to leave Jin just before the Oceanic flight took off and crashed, and here, with Jin's father, it's shown that Jin was also troubled over the relationship. There seems to be a great deal yet unsaid about the goings-on of the Kwon's marriage, Sun's English, and Jin's secrets of his own. Jin and his father were shown to be caring and interacted easily with one another. Although his actions in the recent past have been unpleasant, it's as if we're being told not to give up on Jin just yet.

Worth noting is the fact that Hurley twice shows his empathy toward Jin, first when he tries to invite Jin to play golf, and second, when Michael charges Jin on the beach Hurley (with Jack) tries to keep the peace. Sawyer instigates aggression while John Locke reasons out Jin's innocence and blames the island's "others." How does Locke know what he knows? He's wrong about who burned the raft (he later discusses this with Walt) but knew enough to convince the group that it wasn't Jin. Walt and Locke both admit they like it on the island, and we've seen insight into Locke's particular reasoning for this. Locke's knowledge of the island and his concern over the "others" seem to suggest Locke may be in this for more than the short-term, raft or no raft.

Further Questions:

1. Did something major happen between Jin and Mr. Paik?
2. Why did Sun learn English and hide it from Jin?
3. Are there bigger reasons for Walt's wanting to stay on the island?
4. Was Locke just deflecting blame away from Walt or is he really worried about others on the island?
5. Will Jin and Sun reconcile?
6. Did Mr. Paik ever find out about Jin's father?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, Episode 16, Outlaws

Events: After a boar repeatedly harasses Sawyer, he and Kate trek into the jungle on a quest to find it. They learn much about each other during a game of "I Never," notably that they'd both killed someone, both have baggage from having done so, and that neither of them really fit in with the rest of the group. In flashbacks, Sawyer relives the violent death of his parents as well as the misleading con that led him to Australia. In his obsession to punish the man he felt was responsible for his parents' deaths and whose letter he'd been carrying around his entire life, Sawyer kills an American shrimp truck cook, proven in his final moments to be the wrong guy. Finally, in a bizarre turn of events, Sawyer is revealed to have met Christian Shephard in an Australian bar, which Sawyer later discovers while talking to Jack after the failed boar expedition.

Greater Meaning: The episode is centered around Sawyer in terms of flashbacks and major reveals, but the events on-island depend on Sawyer's connection with Kate (and is named "Outlaws," plural). Important also are the past and present connections between other characters, and this episode seems to delight in pointing them out: Kate is connected to Sawyer through both secret events and their own personal perceptions; Kate defends her decision to approach Sawyer to retrieve the gun Jack lent out saying, "I speak his language." Charlie is connected to both Locke and Sayid through unpleasant events, his detoxification from heroin and his ambivalence over having killed Ethan, which Sayid attempts to discuss with him. In addition to his connection with Kate, Sawyer is somewhat surprisingly also connected to Jack through his interactions with Christian at the bar, and as the knower of how Christian truly felt about the falling-out he had with his son. One gets the impression that these connections, both on and off the island, are becoming just as important as the threat of the island monster or the existence of others in the group's midst. These three puzzles (supernatural villain, the human threat, and the interrelationships between the survivors), together with the continued idea of rescue/escape from the island make for several further questions and possibilities moving forward.

Further Questions:
1. What were the whispers in the jungle, and why have only Sayid and Sawyer heart them?
2. Is Sawyer's name really James?
3. Is Charlie hiding PTSD?
4. Who did Kate kill?
5. What happened to the real Sawyer?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 15, Homecoming

Events: On the island, Locke and Boone return Claire to the caves, having apparently just escaped from Ethan. Locke, Sayid, and Jack discuss what to do about Ethan and Charlie is suspicious of their abilities to protect Claire and the baby. Ethan assaults Jin and threatens Charlie, demanding that they return Claire to him. When the men decide to offer Claire up as bait to trap Ethan, Jack arms Locke and Sawyer from the cache of guns he'd been hiding; after Jack forbids Kate from getting involved, Sawyer offers her one of his guns and invites her along. Charlie, shown in flashbacks to have taken advantage of a young woman named Lucy during his post-Drive Shaft drug days, increasingly frustrated over the group's inability to protect Claire and refusal to listen to him, shoots and kills Ethan after he'd already surrendered to Jack and Sawyer.

Greater Meaning: Charlie and Claire's budding relationship becomes suspended after Claire loses
her memory of all events after the crash, so in order to maintain any sort of exchange with her, Charlie appoints himself Claire's protector. Charlie's decision to shoot Ethan technically makes sense when considered with the flashbacks of Charlie's humiliation and poor choices regarding Lucy ("you'll never take care of anyone"), but still seems a little forced and unnecessary unless the writers are laying the groundwork to develop Charlie further as an egotistical and unstable person. The episode title is "Homecoming," after all, and Claire is the person who's just come home, but the events largely concern Charlie, Charlie's decisions, and Charlie's reactions. The episode ultimately works as it is, but seems a little disjointed and unsatisfying compared with the neatness and balance of all the previous ones.

Further Questions: 
1. Are Claire and the baby really all right?
2. Where did Ethan come from?
3. Are there more people like Ethan?
4. Why does Ethan want Claire?
5. Is Charlie violent?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 14, Special

"I think Walt should be allowed to realize his potential."

Events: Michael is challenged by the demands of parenting willful Walt, and resents Locke's connection with his son. After witnessing Michael's frustrated reactions to Walt running off, Hurley suggests that Michael hates being a father but through flashbacks, Michael is shown to have been very devoted during Walt's early years. Susan Lloyd, Walt's mother and Michael's ex, took a series of jobs that kept Walt away from Michael, and eventually persuades him to relinquish his custody over his son so her new husband, Brian, can adopt him. Later, when Walt is living in Australia with Susan and Brian, Susan dies from complications of a blood disorder and Brian discloses to Michael that he can't be the boy's father, that there's something different about him.

On the island, John Locke's interactions with Walt are respectful and kind but cross the line once Locke and Boone start involving him in knife-training exercises. Michael insists that Locke stay away from Walt and Locke agrees, but both men eventually put aside their differences and work together to save him once Walt runs off and gets cornered in a tree by a polar bear. After Walt is safe and back in the caves, Michael softens toward him and gives him a box of letters Susan had kept hidden from Walt over the years. At the episode's conclusion, Claire emerges from a thicket of trees and collapses in Locke's arms.

Greater Meaning: As Michael is the only parent on the island, he's the only one that has someone he's directly responsible for (as opposed to Jack or Locke, who are less directly responsible for others through medical care or providing food). The island carries its own risks for a commonsense adult, but for a child hell-bent on defying his father, the risks are even greater and unpredictable. On the surface Michael appears to be rigid and obtuse compared with the rest of the adults, but as a father, he's just trying to keep his son safe and under careful watch.

"A penguin with a sunburn?" 

Locke's connection with Walt isn't that of a father and a son; Locke has experienced ablism as shown through flashbacks where he was confined to a wheelchair, and with Boone, he seems to have an understanding of the island that no one else has. His interest in Walt seems less paternal and more specific, for all the referencing of Walt's "special" abilities that happens, Locke seems to realize more about it than anyone does and this realization (as with Charlie's drug detoxification, as with Boone's disentanglement from Shannon) seems linked to Locke's own role as a leader on the island.

Further Questions:

1. Will Walt and Michael become closer?
2. Will Michael continue building a raft with Walt?
3. Will John and Michael bond over Walt?
4. How many polar bears are on the island and why are they there?
5. What special abilities does Walt have?
6. Are Claire and the baby all right?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 13, Hearts and Minds

Stay away from her.

Events: Boone is having a hard time with Shannon and Sayid's budding friendship and expresses discomfort over lying to her about the hunting expeditions (hatch-digging excursions) with John. Through flashbacks we learn that Boone's relationship with Shannon has been put to the test through abuse and money issues, but more importantly, that Boone and Shannon happened to be in Sydney at the same time Sawyer was having his own little run-in with the Australian police. Boone's flashback also shows that the two are step-siblings and that Shannon manipulated Boone into having a fling that she got over but he didn't.

After John decides that Shannon's behavior has too strong a hold over Boone, he knocks him out, ties him up, and smears a botanical paste over his open head wound before leaving him alone in the jungle. Boone awakens to Shannon's screams and sees that she too has been bound. The bellowing black smoke attacks them both, chasing them through the jungle where eventually it seizes Shannon and leaves her to die on near a stream. Boone finds John and accuses him of causing Shannon's death, but John reveals to Boone he hallucinated the whole thing--Shannon is alive and well.

Greater Meaning: While the episode focuses around two of the supporting characters, Boone and Shannon, much effort was spent on John Locke's strategies as a would-be leader. Boone's attention (and devotion) is important to John, who has put the hatch above everything else on the island, even hunting, so John forces a decision on Boone with the help of whatever hallucinogen he smeared on his head. This is similar to what he did with Charlie's heroin addiction; for whatever reason, John Locke has showed a strong, consistent faith that the people he puts in these situations will emerge victorious. Locke's ability to read people seems to be highly developed, and he uses this to his advantage as a leader in a way that Jack does not. Now, on the island, Locke is confident and comfortable with himself where Jack is comfortable only in relation to his medical experience (off-island).

The questions of hunting boar, catching fish, and planting a garden all speak to the group's sustainability and continued survival on the island. It seems now pretty clear that no rescue is coming, so what they do, how they get along, and how they use the island is all the more important, which is something John seems to have embraced from the very beginning. As Jack is reacting, John is planning. Strategizing. The proverbial "hearts and minds" mean more to John than anyone else on the island.

Further Questions: 

1. Is Claire safe?
2. What is inside the hatch?
3. Will Shannon and Sayid hook up?
4. Will Jin and Michael bury the hatchet?
5. Why has Sun been hiding her English from Jin?
6. How did Jin get to be such a good fisherman?
7. Will Boone and John's relationship change?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 12, Whatever the Case May Be

What's inside, Freckles?

Events: On the island, Kate and Sawyer find a hidden waterfall and underneath it, the bodies of several passengers of Flight 815. Under one of the airline seats is a metal case, which Kate asks Sawyer to help her retrieve. When they are unable to open it, Kate blows off the suitcase, pretending she has no interest in it any longer but Sawyer knows she's bluffing. In flashbacks we see that Kate was involved in a bank robbery, where she used a hot-headed love interest to get inside the bank's vault in order to obtain . . . the very contents that are locked in the case. After trying on two separate occasions to get the case out of Sawyer's hands and failing, Kate recruits Jack's help yet does not disclose why she wants the case, claiming interest in the guns and ammunition that are locked inside, instead. Like Sawyer, Jack sees through Kate's ruse, and becomes disgusted when she repeatedly refuses to tell him the truth about what's in the case, which ends up being a small toy airplane.

Charlie continues to worry about Claire and blame himself, but Rose, who has also lost someone on the island, encourages him to have faith. After being deemed, "useless," by Boone, Shannon attempts to translate Rousseau's markings in French on the documents Sayid took from her hideaway.

Greater Meaning: Kate and Sawyer's swim in the waterfall suggests an escape from the rest of the island, or could even have some Garden of Eden connotations, but nothing evil happens, they just find more dead people and the hidden case. Sawyer doesn't care exactly about the contents of the case, but rather the contents' significance to Kate and furthermore, her desire to lay her hands on them. Jack shares this interest but only because he wants the truth from Kate, and in this way, Sawyer and Jack's mutual desire of Kate seems to be equally strong but for opposite reasons. Sawyer wants the case to prove Kate's badness (to match his own therefore proving them equally matched) while Jack wants the case (or Kate's honesty about it) to prove her virtue. Jack already knows Kate is flawed, criminal even, after the business with the marshal became known, but he holds her to higher moral standards nonetheless, like Sawyer, on equal footing with himself. In the end Kate provides both men with what they're seeking---the toy plane belonged to a man she "killed," which she admitted honestly to Jack, who didn't believe her. Who this man is, how he died, and why all have yet
to be revealed.

It belonged to the man I killed!

In addition to Kate's obsession over the toy plane, two other mysteries continue to build throughout the episode: Sayid's attempts with Shannon to decipher Rousseau's papers and John and Boone's daily digs in the jungle under the guise of looking for Claire. Where will these mysteries lead? Both relate directly to the island, itself, but what do they mean?

Further Questions:

1. Is Claire safe (again!)?
2. Is Rose's husband alive, and if so, why is Rose so certain?
3. Who did Kate kill?
4. What is the significance of the toy plane?
5. Is Rousseau crazy?
6. Is Kate dangerous?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 10, Raised by Another

Raised by Another

"They want to hurt my baby!"

Events: Claire's backstory reveals that she became unexpectedly pregnant and that her boyfriend, Thomas, suggested they give parenthood a try. Claire, being into astrology, goes to a psychic just after this decision, who begins her palm reading but abruptly stops. Thomas changes his mind about commitment and fatherhood a few months later and Claire goes back to the psychic to find out what the deal was the first time. The psychic explains that Claire must raise the baby herself. Convinced she won't be able to provide for her baby alone, Claire meets with a prospective family but is stopped from signing adoption papers when three pens fail to work. Claire's presence on Oceanic flight 815 is to get her to a different adoptive family in Los Angeles and was arranged by the psychic, who claimed his initial position about the baby's upbringing was wrong.

HE WAS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

On the island, Claire dreams of a baby crying but after searching through the jungle, only finds a
strange John Locke with black and white eyes, flipping cards. He informs her, "Everyone pays the price, now, Claire." She wakes, screaming, after she experiences a presence of someone trying to physically harm her and the baby. Charlie leads a group to pursue the assailant who fled but they find no one. Claire wakes a second time after having the same experience of someone trying to harm her in her sleep, but again, no one is found. Jack assumes stress is to blame but Charlie is adamant that Claire must be telling the truth. Hurley, concerned that the survivors really don't know anything about each other, decides to create a census of residents with Sawyer's help using the flight manifest. Sayid returns from his island exploration and shares what he learned; eventually Hurley discovers that the one person not on the flight manifest is Ethan Rom.

Greater Meaning: There are several implications at play in this episode. First, Claire's dream shows John Locke at a table, flipping over cards with one black eye and one white, suggesting the game we've seen him play with Walt, backgammon ("Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark."). Why the pieces in Locke's eyes, is he playing a game? Is he both light and dark as a character? What interest does he have in Claire or her baby? Locke's words echo those of the psychic, so Claire might just be projecting the psychic's vision and insistence that she raise the baby herself onto John, but in the end Charlie suggests that the psychic may have been right---Claire's seat on Oceanic flight 815 ensured that no one else would raise the baby; he knew all along that the plane would crash. Does John Locke possess "knowing" as well? Jack seems totally convinced that Claire is hallucinating her attacker, and in all other instances Jack's knowledge has been respected and expected. Here, he's wrong and Charlie was right, with Claire's dream of Locke suggesting that Locke may also know things that Jack can't or won't accept: things, events, feelings that don't coincide with his doctor's evidence-based values.

Second, Ethan Rom tried to attack Claire twice and wasn't on the flight manifest. Where did he come from? If he is one of the island's "Others," then Rousseau also was telling the truth and must be given at least partial credibility (which Sayid shares with the other survivors). If there are Others on the island, where are they, what are they doing there, and why do they want to hurt Claire?

Further Questions:

1. Will Claire safely deliver her baby on the island?
2. Is it a boy or a girl?
3. Why must Claire be the one to raise the baby herself?
4. Did the psychic know other things about the plane crash or the island?
5. How many "Others" are there?

LOST: It Wasn't Purgatory, episode 8, Confidence Man

Confidence Man

"Hold on!"

Events: Sawyer and Boone have a confrontation over Shannon's missing asthma inhalers. Jack gets involved but Kate intervenes, explaining that she might have better luck as Sawyer says they have "a connection." He doesn't give her the inhalers but when Kate asks about the mysterious letter he's been reading, and insists she believes that he still has human emotions, somewhere, Sawyer invites Kate to read the letter aloud. Written by an angry young boy, it implicates him in a murder/suicide after a con gone wrong,

As Sayid attempts to find out who hit him during the transceiver incident, Locke suggests Sawyer and gives Sayid his hunting knife. After Jack saves Shannon without medication he demands that Sawyer give up the inhalers, which Sawyer refuses to do. Sayid, who has experience with torture, can't get Sawyer to admit where the inhalers are so Kate agrees to kiss him instead but it turns out he knows nothing about them anyway. Convinced that Sawyer is lying, Sayid charges him with Locke's knife and inflicts a serious stab wound on his arm. After Jack treats the wound, Kate confronts Sawyer's self-destructive behavior, asking why he brings such anger and hatred upon himself. Sawyer admits he was the boy who wrote the letter and explains that he ironically became just like the confidence man who ruined his own family (which is illustrated in multiple flashbacks although he neglects to tell Kate that the sight of a young blonde boy seeking his mother's attention was enough to make him walk off a con job).

Unprompted, Sayid decides to leave the beach camp, disgusted with himself for having committed violence against Sawyer after he vowed never to do so again. He says goodbye to Kate and sets off up the unexplored area of the beach, alone.

"I know who you are and I know what you done."

Greater Meaning: Kate is specifically interesting for Sawyer in two ways: she's a criminal, like him, and she pays attention to him. It's clear that he desires her, having made suggestive comments several times before this, but after his letter is explained, we learn that it was Sawyer's mother who was conned and killed; he is a boy who grew up without a mother. Despite the fact that Sawyer went on to con women, it was the questioning little boy that drove him from the phony investment deal, which along with his obsession over the letter he wrote to the original "Mr. Sawyer" proves Kate was right in thinking he still had humanity. The exterior is of utmost importance for Sawyer, making people think of him a certain way, but Kate is really the only one who gets to learn the truth about him.

Further Questions: 

1. Did Sawyer's boss come after him for the money he left on Jess and David's floor, as he promised he would?

2. Will Jin find out that Sun speaks English?

3. Will Shannon's asthma come up again?

4. Is Jack jealous that Sawyer and Kate made out?

5. Where will Sayid go?