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So Jack's sudden illness? It's appendicitis. Juliet is ready to remove his appendix, but she needs Sun, Jin, Daniel, and Charlotte to go to the medical station to get all of the necessary supplies. On the way, Jin realizes two things. First, that Daniel likes Charlotte in that special way. And second, that Charlotte can understand Korean. So he takes the opportunity to tell Charlotte that if she doesn't arrange for Sun to get off the island, he'll take it out on Daniel (and his fragile finger bones). Jack, acting as butch as he possibly can, insists on being awake during the surgery so he can talk Juliet through it. And how will he see his own appendix? By making Kate hold a mirror. This doesn't go well, as he naturally freaks out when Juliet's cutting into his belly. She ends up knocking him out and sending Kate out of the room. In the end, the surgery seems to be a success. And Juliet tells Kate that she thinks Jack is crazy about her (Kate).
In the flash-forward, Jack is shacking up with Kate and playing daddy to Aaron. Things seem to be going great, until he catches a quick glimpse of Christian (his father) at the hospital. And then he visits Hurley, who tells him that Charlie passed on the message that Jack "isn't supposed to raise him," (perhaps meaning Aaron). Hurley also tells Jack to expect a visitor of his own. Jack gets a little freaked out, and proposes to Kate. And then he freak out some more after seeing his father again and starts to suspect Kate of stepping out on him. He starts drinking and popping pills, and then pushes Kate to tell him what she's up to. What she's up to is doing something she promised Sawyer she would do before she left the island (we don't actually learn what). This pisses Jack off, and he walks out on her.
And in our other story line, Sawyer, Claire, Aaron, and Miles make their way back to the beach. Miles is being a bit friendly to Claire, and Sawyer warns him to back off or Sawyer will beat the crap out of him. The gang runs into helicopter pilot Frank and Keamy and his gang of soldiers, most of whom seem to have survived their encounter with Smokey. With advance warning from Frank, our heroes manage to hide from Keamy until he leaves. And then that night, as they sleep around a campfire, Claire wakes up and sees Christian (who is also her father) holding the baby. When Sawyer wakes up in the morning, Claire is gone.
And we get absolute, undeniable proof that Rousseau is dead. God damn it!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!No previouslies this week. The producers obviously don't care about you if you have a bad memory.
A bleary-eyed Jack wakes up to find Juliet saying his name. He's kind of out of it, and looks like crap. But those could both just be the result of having been woken from a nap. There are some shouty voices outside his tree-branch shelter, and Juliet leads him outside. Where we find Bernard, clearly the smartest Lostie left on this show since Arzt died, angrily demanding that Daniel finally answer some fucking questions. (By the way, if you read that entire recap you'll find a million predictions about how Dancing With The Stars was going to be a colossal failure. TWoP, your home for accurate television prognostication since 1999.) Bernard is particularly upset that the satellite phone is no longer picking up any signal at all, and he's convinced that Daniel knows what's going on. Charlotte tries to defend Daniel, and Rose gets in on the fight, telling her, "Just watch your tone, Red." There are times when I wouldn't mind if the only survivors at the end of the show were Rose, Bernard and Aaron. Rousseau would have been on that list, but... Well, you'll see. Jack tells everyone to calm down, and tells an anguished Bernard that he obviously knows that Daniel and Charlotte are liars. But he thinks it would be good to have them around when their friends from the boat come back, essentially announcing that they will make excellent hostages. Which isn't such a bad plan, except that Jack already knows that the Boaties killed their own doctor, so it doesn't seem wise to rely on their desire to preserve the lives of their crewmates. Jack tells them to be patient: "I've gotten us this far. I said I was going to get us off the island, all of us. I promised that I would." And then he collapses under the weight of his own ego. Everyone rushes over to him. There's no stare of impending flashback, but only because Jack is unconscious and his eyes are closed. But the crescendo tells us that we're going to flashback (or flash-forward) anyway.
Aaaaargh! Sorry, I was just overcome with revulsion at the sight of Jack's pale, hairless torso. I guess this is what the promo monkeys meant when they said "all will be revealed." Some things could stand to be kept covered up. Jack's asleep, until a ringing phone wakes him up. It's his office, calling to remind him about a scheduled surgical consult. Because apparently, he's smart enough to lead a band of crash survivors but too stupid to update his calendar. He gets up, wrapping a towel around his waist to spare us more than a tiny glimpse of his ass, and heads out of the room (stopping on the way to pick up a pair of lacy panties off the floor and put them in the hamper).
And now Jack is downstairs in the kitchen, still dressed in his makeshift sarong. He steps on a plastic model of the Millennium Falcon, cleans up a couple of half-empty wine glasses, and makes some coffee. He picks up the paper and reads an article about the Yankees beating the Red Sox in a series of games. Super mad props to the Eagle-Eyed Forum Posters, who determined that the game mentioned in the article took place on August 30, 2007. (Unless a game with the exact same details happens some time in the future, which is always possible.) And then Jack walks into the bathroom (which I hope is back upstairs, or else this house makes no sense) and smiles when he hears the sounds of someone splashing around in the shower. He sticks his head in, and an unseen woman tells him that she bought him a razor. If he didn't have a razor before, how's he been keeping his chest so smooth? Jack looks at the razor; as the water is turned off in the shower, he grabs a towel and hands it to... Kate. Were you in suspense? They make out. Credits.
It's nighttime, and Jack is reading to Aaron (who appears to be three or so). Jack is reading what I think is Alice in Wonderland, and he's doing a crappy job of it, all monotone and too hard to hear. I would think that after raising his four brothers and sisters, he would be better at this. Kate, wearing a blouse and her panties, comes to look in on this domestic scene. Aaron falls asleep, so Jack turns out the light and joins Kate in the hall. Kate calls Jack a "natural" (liar!), and Jack tells her that his father used to read him that story. Kate points out that Jack rarely has anything nice to say about his father. It's hard to say nice things about the dead when they won't stay dead. If my grandmother were a zombie, I probably wouldn't be saying that many nice things about her. For example. Anyway, Kate's glad that Jack changed his mind. And then they make out some more, and Jack carries Kate off the boudoir.
On the island, the Losties are leaning Jack against a tree. Juliet, as the only doctor not currently passed out, runs off to get some water, which is clearly a task that requires her medical training. Ah, but she has to leave so that Kate can arrive and learn the news that Jack passed out. Jack has actually woken back up, and is insisting that he just needs a little rest. He staggers back to his shelter.
In a field of palm trees, Sawyer, Miles, Claire, and Aaron are walking back to the beach. Well, Aaron's not walking. Lazy. Miles is being nice to Claire, asking her how she's feeling in the aftermath of having her house blown up around her. Sawyer tells Miles to back off, explaining that all this chat is slowing them down. And then Miles has a vision or hears some voices or something. If you listen closely, you can hear Alex's and Rousseau's voices from two episodes ago, when Rousseau got shot. Sawyer notices that Miles is standing still, and asks him what's up. Miles asks who Danielle and Karl are. And then Miles digs around in the dirt and finds Rousseau and Karl buried there. I'm sad to say that Rousseau is most definitely dead. If you'll excuse me, I have to go put on my black armband, which I will be wearing for the month. Sawyer asks how Miles knew the bodies were there, and asks if the other Boaties killed them. Miles tells them that he "didn't sign up for this," (indicating that "this" is murder). No, he just signed up for extortion. Claire just wants to get away from the dead bodies.
Jack is taking some pills and drinking some water in his shelter. Juliet answers and grills him about his symptoms until he agrees to let her examine him to see if he has appendicitis. He does, but the appendix has not yet ruptured. Juliet tells him it's time for an appendectomy. Yay! Commercials.
Beach. Juliet wants to Sun to go to the medical station and retrieve a bunch of supplies she'll need to perform the surgery. Sun's happy to make the trip, but she doesn't actually know how to identify the medical equipment Juliet is asking for. Daniel offers to help, based on his knowledge of surgical instruments obtained while performing autopsies on rats. Sun and Jin both say they don't want Daniel coming with them because they don't trust him. Charlotte tells Daniel that she knew the Losties wouldn't trust them, so they might as well just give up. Daniel tells her that her bad attitude is why the Losties don't trust them. I think it might have more to do with the two of them keeping obvious secrets and lying all the time. But what do I know? Daniel pleads with Juliet, and she gives him the list of instruments she needs. And then gives Jin a gun, telling him to shoot either of them if they try to run away. Why exactly are they letting Charlotte go? Are you really going to let both of your hostages wander off into the jungle? And then Juliet enlists Kate and a bunch of other nameless Losties to create a sterile area where they will perform the surgery. Kate wonders why they don't just bring Jack to the medical station; Juliet tells her that he probably wouldn't survive the trip. Only probably? I say give it a shot.
Sawyer and his gang have stopped at a watering hole. Sawyer notices Miles looking at Claire, and tells him not to even think about her. Sawyer tells Miles that he has a twenty-foot restraining order keeping him away from Claire. Miles asks if Sawyer is her big brother. No, her big brother is currently being prepped for surgery. Sawyer threatens to put a boot in Miles's face unless he agrees to back off.
Back at the beach, Rose and Bernard are scrubbing down a piece of airplane wing (which will serve as operating table) with some Dharma Brand Medical-Grade Antiseptic. Bernard tells Rose that he's certain Jack will be fine, as an appendectomy is a simple surgery. Rose's real concern is why Jack got sick in the first place; the island is supposed to be a place that cures your cancer or enables you to walk again, not a place that allows your useless organs to become infected.
Okay, all you shaving fetishists -- this is the scene you've been waiting for. Juliet is in Jack's shelter, shaving his stomach in anticipation of the surgery. Juliet reassures him that when she was a resident, she did a lot of appendectomies, and Jack points out that the actual incision will be two inches lower than the place she's shaving. She knows, but decided he could use a little manscaping. Jack tells her that he wants to be awake during the surgery so he can talk her through it. She asks him how he's planning on seeing his own stomach, and he tells her that he wants Kate to hold up a mirror. 'Cause nothing says you love a person like forcing them to watch your surgery.
At the hospital, Jack is walking a patient out, telling her not to eat any solid food before her surgery in the morning. As she walks away, he notices a man stand up and follow her. We only see him in partial profile from the rear, but it looks an awful lot like Jack's father, Christian. And then a lady doctor with an aggressively fashion-forward haircut asks him to look at an X-ray. A receptionist interrupts to tell him that a doctor is calling from Santa Rosa hospital about a friend of his.
Jack and another doctor walk down a very institutional-looking corridor. The other doc is telling Jack that "he" has refused to take his medication and has stopped sleeping. And therapy's not too helpful, since the patient refuses to acknowledge his doctor's existence. The doctor unlocks the door and lets Jack into the patient's room. It's Hurley. You were expecting someone else? Hurley's just sitting there, staring into space. Is he about to have a flashback of his own? No, he's just depressed. He tells Jack he's not taking his meds because he's already dead. As are Jack and the other members of the Oceanic 6. Jack thinks that's a silly theory, but Hurley asks him what he did that day. It turns out that the things he did (being with Kate, see Aaron, not be a drunk) sound an awful lot like the kind of perfect life you might get in heaven. Does that mean Hurley thinks he's in hell? Jack is offended at the idea that he could only be happy if he were dead. No, that's me -- I can only be happy if Jack is dead. Hurley tells Jack that Charlie comes to visit him, and likes to sit with him on the bench on the front lawn of the hospital. Jack tries to humor Hurley and asks what he talks about with Charlie. It turns out that yesterday, Charlie told him that Jack would come for a visit. And also to pass on a message to Jack: "You're not supposed to raise him, Jack." Jack is clearly thinking that this is a reference to Aaron, and he's kind of angry. And then he gets scared when Hurley tells him that Charlie said that Jack should expect a visitor of his own. Commercials.
Jungle. Jin, Sun, Daniel, and Charlotte have arrived at the medical station. Charlotte pulls the hatch open, but Daniel stops her from entering and offers to go first. Maybe it's me, but I'd probably send in the guy with the gun first. Sun and Jin exchange gossip (in Korean) about whether Charlotte knows that Daniel likes her in that special way. Charlotte gives them a glance that just screams "I understand everything you're saying." I've said it before and I'll say it again, she is lousy at this secret conspiracy thing.
They all enter the room where the equipment is kept. Daniel wonders where all the power is coming from. If only he could answer questions as well as he asks them. While Daniel and Charlotte look for the equipment, Sun gets all nostalgic over the exam table that she was on when Juliet performed the ultrasound. Sun and Jin chat in Korean. She tells him that she's certain the Boaties are not going to help them get off the island. Jin promises her that he will get her and her baby off the island. Again, there's a totally obvious glance from Charlotte that tells us that she's following this entire conversation.
Sawyer's gang is trudging through the jungle. Claire nearly trips, and Miles offers to carry the baby. Sawyer again tells him to back off. And then there's a sound in the trees. It's Frank, the chopper pilot, carrying a first aid kit in his hand. Sawyer doesn't know who he is, but Miles obviously recognizes him. Frank tells them that Keamy is on the way there, so they should hide but quick. Frank has one of the phones with the GPS tracker on it, and he shows them that Keamy and some other little dots are on the way. They hide in some trees, and then just a few seconds later Keamy and four other soldiers emerge from the trees. One of them is injured. Is that the best you could do, Smokey? Keamy asks Frank where the chopper is; it's about a kilometer back in the direction Frank was coming from. Keamy hands the first aid kit to one of his men. And then Aaron makes a noise, which raises Keamy's suspicions but which also sounds enough like a bird chirping to make him uncertain of what he heard. Keamy starts staring around, but Frank tells him that they have to leave before it gets dark because he won't fly again at night. So they leave.
Beach. Kate tells Juliet that the surgical tent is all ready. Juliet asks her if she'll help out by holding the mirror. Kate is uncertain, but seems to agree. They share a laugh over what a stubborn ass Jack is. And then he proves it by stumbling out of his shelter, insisting that he's well enough to walk to the operating table. Juliet leaves Kate to walk Jack to the surgical tent. She tells him, "Looks like I'm going to be your nurse." Jack: "Wouldn't be the first time." He starts go give her an "in case I die" speech, but she shuts him up.
Flash-forward. Jack is sitting in his car/jeep thing, parked in front of Hurley's mental hospital and staring at the bench where Hurley claimed to have spoken with Charlie. He gets back to Kate's house and finds her asleep in bed. So he wakes her up and asks her if she really thinks he'd make a good parent. She does. So he proposes. With a ring and everything. She cries and tells him the answer is "yes." Commercials.
Beach. Nighttime. Juliet is lighting torches when Bernard tells her that the surgical scavengers are back. Juliet takes the supplies and then enlists Sun's help to sterilize the instruments in boiling water. Can't Sun get a rest? Aren't there some unnamed slackers who can sterilize things? As everyone else leaves, Jin asks Charlotte to stay. In Korean, he tells her that he knows she can understand him. She finally remembers to try to act innocent, and tells him she doesn't understand what he's saying. He keeps trying, and she keeps denying understanding him. Until Jin tells her that if she doesn't 'fess up, he's going to break Daniel's fingers one at a time. That does the trick, and Charlotte asks him, in Korean, what he wants. He tells her that when the chopper returns, she's going to make sure that Sun gets on it and gets off the island. He doesn't care what happens to anyone but her. Charlotte agrees.
Surgical tent. Bernard prepares to administer a local anesthetic, but tells Jack that he would really advise going under: "Wouldn't you rather be dreaming about something nice back home?" Jack, tough guy that he is, thinks he'll be fine with the lidocaine. But he apparently doesn't trust Bernard (who is a dentist) to give him a shot, because he has Kate hold the mirror so he can watch the needle go into his belly. Bernard points out that the lidocaine will only help with some of the pain -- after the first incision, Jack will feel a lot. And now it's time for surgery. One of the reasons I stopped recapping Grey's Anatomy was because I can't stand to watch this surgical shit. So for the few minutes, just assume that Juliet is cutting into Jack, Jack is kind of freaking out over the pain and refusing to stay still, and Kate is crying at the sheer torture of being forced to watch someone she cares about being hurt. Juliet has finally had enough, and screams at Bernard to knock Jack out with the chloroform. She also screams at Kate to get out of the tent. As Jack goes under, we go to...
Flash-forward. Jack is alone in his exam room (or some kind of medical room) late at night, examining x-rays and dictating case notes. There's an intermittent beeping noise, which he goes to investigate. He follows the noise to the lobby, which is abandoned, and sees that a smoke detector is beeping overhead. Really, they have battery-operated detectors in a joint like this? Shouldn't there be a central smoke detection system with its own power supply? Anyway, the smoke detector is beeping because the battery is low, so Jack climbs up on the reception desk and removes the battery. And then he hears a deep voice say his name. Christian, still in his suit and white shoes, is sitting on a couch in reception. Jack, near tears, slowly walks towards Christian. And then Dr. Lesbian Haircut walks up behind him and says his name. Startled he turns around, and when he turns back, Christian is gone. She's clearly feeling some embarrassment at having startled Jack, and he tries to laugh it off before he starts to cry. He mumbles something about the smoke detector, and she tells him, "Okay, thank you for keeping us safe." As she leaves, he asks her if she could write him a prescription for clonazepam. He spins a story about stress and not being able to sleep, so she pulls out her pad and writs the scrip. She also suggests that if his engagement is causing him stress, he might want to talk to someone.
Jack comes home and overhears Kate on the phone making some kind of social plans. She tells whoever it is that she'll have the nanny stay late and that she can stay for at least an hour. She ends the call when she sees that Jack is home. They make some small talk, and he asks her who she was speaking with. She claims it was Noreen, one of the mothers from the park. He clearly doesn't buy the story, but she is cool as a cucumber. Kate heads upstairs, and Jack takes a couple of clonazepam with a beer.
Jungle. Claire, Sawyer, and Miles are sleeping around a campfire. Really, you leave the fire burning while you sleep? These guys are a threat to the island. Claire wakes up with a start when she realizes that Aaron is not nestled in her arms. And then she looks across the fire and sees Christian holding Aaron. I guess if they left the fire burning for dramatic purposes, it's okay. Claire is startled to see Christian, and can only say, "Dad?" Just in case you forgot that Christian is also her father. But, shhhh, Jack doesn't know that. Commercials.
Bernard emerges from the surgical tent and finds Kate sitting on the ground waiting. He tells her not to worry; Juliet was great, and said that Kate can go into the tent if she wants. So she does, and finds Juliet still stitching Jack up. Juliet gives her a quick update of the surgery (prognosis: A-ok), and Kate is thrilled to hear that he should be fine. Juliet apologizes for yelling at Kate, and then tells Kate that Jack kissed her. But Juliet wants Kate to know that she thinks Jack did it because he was trying to prove he doesn't love someone else. Kate thanks Juliet for saving Jack's life. Kate leaves, and Juliet tells Jack that she knows he's awake.
Jack is sitting at home when Kate walks in the house, having just come from somewhere else. He says "hey," and she jumps, startled. She clearly wasn't expecting him home so soon. She asks where the nanny is; Jack sent her home. Kate sits down on the sofa and notices that Jack has several empty beers and a bottle of hard liquor on the coffee table. And then Jack tries to get Kate to tell him where she was. It's all kinds of hostile. Kate claims to have had errands to run. She asks him what's going on, and he tells her that he went to see Hurley the week before. And then he asks again where she was. She asks him to trust her and leave it be. But I guess all of the Jack's time on the island left him feeling question-deprived, because this is one question he wants the answer to. He keeps pressing, getting louder and acting drunker. Kate finally tells him, "I was doing something for him." For who, you ask? Well, so does Jack. Kate: "For Sawyer." She made him some kind of promise before leaving the island, but she never tells us exactly what the favor was. Jack can't believe that this fucking triangle is still going on, even after Sawyer made a decision to stay on the island. Kate's crying, and she tells Jack that if he's going to act all hostile and drunk, she can't have him around her son. Jack: "Your son? You're not even related to him!" But it's not clear whether Jack knows that he is. And guess who woke up to hear that little speech? Yes, that's right, Aaron. The little tyke is standing in the doorway, clutching a stuffed orca and looking kind of upset. Kate picks him up, and Jack leaves. Well, that was a short engagement.
Jungle. Sawyer wakes up and finds Miles stirring up the remains of the fire with a stick. Sawyer notices that Claire is gone, and asks Miles where she went. Miles tells him that she just walked into the jungle in the middle of the night. Sawyer: "You just let her go alone?" Miles says that she wasn't alone; she was with some dude she called "dad." And I think this may be the first time that someone on the island has seen a person that we know is dead and someone else has also seen that person. Miles: "I'd have followed them, but I have a restraining order." Nobody would blame you if you shot him, Sawyer. But before Sawyer can at least beat him up, he hears a baby crying. Sawyer calls Claire's name and runs into the trees to investigate the sound. He finds Aaron in a cabbage patch (at least, that's what it looks like to me), but there's no sign of Claire. That doesn't stop Sawyer from shouting her name a few times. WAAAAALT! Um, I mean, "CLAAAAAAIRE!" Credits.