Episode Report Card LTG: B- | 0 USERS: N/A YOU GRADE IT Meet Kevin Johnson
By LTG | Season 4 | Episode 8 | Aired on March 20, 2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.It's old home week on Lost. Sayid confronts Michael and forces him to tell the story of how he came to be on the boat. It seems that after he left the island, he destroyed his relationship with his son by telling him that he killed Libby and Ana Lucia. Despondent, he tries to kill himself, "tries" being the operative word. He survives, only to be haunted by visions of Libby and visited by a not-yet-dead Tom (who claims that Widmore is actually behind the faked wreckage of Oceanic 815). Tom tells him that the only way he'll redeem himself for his murderous ways is to destroy the freighter, preventing the Boaties from killing everyone on the island. Michael signs on to the boat's crew, and his resolve is strengthened when he sees Keamy and the other tough guys gleefully planning mayhem. Michael sets a bomb he was given by Tom, but it fails to go off. Why? Because, as Ben tells him in a phone call, there are some innocent people on the boat who don't deserve to die -- Michael's mission is to allow those innocent people to get away before killing everyone else.
After hearing this story, Sayid smacks Michael around, drags him to the captain's office, and turns him in as a traitor.
Meanwhile, on the island, Ben convinces Rousseau to take Alex and Carl to the Temple to keep them safe from the Boaties' impending attack. But along the way, they are attacked by snipers. Who kill Carl. And then Rousseau. Noooooooo!!! Alex, who clearly learned a thing or two about survival from Ben, seems to save herself from being killed by shouting out that she's Ben's daughter (and therefore a nice hostage). Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Sawyer follows them and asks Locke why he's still keeping secrets. He's referring to the enormous bribe that Miles requested from Ben to tell the Boaties that he's dead. Locke claims he didn't mention it because he knew Ben was already over the limit on his ATM withdrawals and wouldn't be able to get the money. Miles laughs -- he's certain Ben will find a way to get the money. Sawyer: "And how will he do that?" Miles: "He wants to survive. And considering a week ago you had a gun to his head and tonight he's eating pound cake, I'd say he's a guy who gets what he wants." Man, we never have pound cake at my neighborhood association meetings.Back in the house, Ben is creepily watching Alex playing with Aaron (the baby formerly known as Turniphead). Everyone else is leaving the house. There are pictures of Alex on the walls -- does this mean Locke let Ben live in his old house? Even though he knew there were all kinds of secret cubbyholes around the place? Alex, Karl, and Rousseau are the last to leave. Ben calls out to Alex as she approaches the door, and all three of them turn to hear what he has to say. Alex, by the way, is looking totally glam. It seems that she visited the Craphole Island Salon, because her hair is looking incredibly full and shiny, and her makeup is just perfect. It's too bad she used up all the conditioner and left none for Rousseau -- her hair is still looking like a nest. Rousseau doesn't think they're interested in anything Ben has to say. But after Ben gives Alex a map of the way to the temple and tells her to flee there to avoid the Boaties' impending assault, Rousseau changes her mind and agrees with him. She's swayed by the idea that the Boaties would love to use Alex to get to Ben.
It's morning on the boat. Sayid and Desmond are on the deck, where Sayid has just found out from a crewmember that Michael is in the engine room. They find him there with another crew-type dude, fixing (or pretending to fix) the engines. Sayid feeds them the line that the captain sent them to help with the repairs. Michael sends his partner off to the supply room to get a pressure valve. After he leaves, Sayid throws Michael up against a piece of machinery and tells him to explain why he's on the boat, starting from the beginning.
And now it's the mother of all flashbacks. Michael is sitting in a crappy apartment in a big city. There's water dripping in the sink; that's a sure sign of squalor and depression. There are also unwashed dishes, so we know he's really hurting.