In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
The episode title, "The Little Prince" is an homage to the book of the same name. And I'm sure it's meant to make us think of Aaron, but that's not where it stops. The book is about a little boy who leaves his planet to visit a bunch of others, but only finds stupid grown-ups on them, who don't even know basic things -- like that you truly see with your heart; and that you can't own something unless you care for it and it cares for you. The only way the boy can get back to his home planet is to die and leave his body behind. O HAI JOHN LOCKE! Why, I will start by talking about the strand-aways first; thanks for the suggestion. You know summing up an hour of this show in a few hundred words is like trying to truly see a thing using only eyes.
The Strand-Aways: Charlotte's not dead. It's just a flesh-wound. Of the brain. Okay, no, it would be like a flesh wound of the brain if FWotB were caused by magical jet-lag of the brain, and if jet-lag caused hemorrhaging. Blame Daniel for that mess, by the way. Even Juliet's like OMIBBQPOLARBEAR worst explanation ever, dude -- and I never explain things. Locke realizes he has to get everyone to the Orchid Station, to stop the flashing and to get the escape-aways to return. Sawyer's less than confident he'll find a way, but maybe he's never read The Little Prince, bookworm though he is.
The flash at the end of Jughead brought them to the night Boone died/the night Aaron was born. Locke steers everyone clear of the hatch, from which Desmond's light is emanating. He's so into who/what/where/when he is today, that he doesn't want to do anything to screw up the journey he's now on. Meanwhile, Sawyer's too broken up about seeing Kate help Claire deliver Aaron to argue much, or even use nicknames. Along the way, Miles' nose starts bleeding, and Daniel asks if he's ever been to the island before. Miles doesn't think so, but I'm feeling fairly certain he's Pierre Chang's baby from the season premiere. He should read the recaps. Or maybe not, because then he might suss out that extended exposure to the island seems to be a predictor that a patient will succumb to (fatal) nosebleeditis, the natural consequence of magical jet-lag of the brain.
When the strand-aways finally get to the beach, they find their seemingly long-abandoned camp, but no Zodiac (and no Rose and Bernard) which they were intending to take to the Orchid side of the island. Someone conveniently left a canoe though (with a bottle of water from an airline, and we'll hit that in the full recap). Also? Juliet's nose starts to bleed, but only she and Sawyer know this. While paddling their way 'round the island, another small craft approaches the strand-aways' canoe and starts shooting. Soon they FLASH to the middle of a thunder storm, and make their way to shore, where they find some curious French jetsam.
On The Mainland: Ben's moving his chessmen around like the master he is. Kate leaves Aaron with Sun to go see the lawyer Norton (who wanted blood samples from her and Aaron). He won't out his client, so Kate puts her island-honed skills to use tracks his ass. Meanwhile, at the hospital, the still-suspended Jack gets his ass handed to him for treating Sayid, and Sayid is nearly drugged again by another dart-wielding assailant disguised as a nurse. Sayid overcomes him, and goes all Jack "Who are you working for" Bauer. He gets a slip of paper out of the assailant's pocket, which reads: 42 Panorama Crest. Jack recognizes this as Kate's address, so he sends Sayid off with Ben (Sayid's *thrilled* as you can imagine, and insists on driving). They'll meet up later at a pier.
Jack tracks down Kate, who's still hunting lawyer, so he joins her and they trail the lawyer to a motel where he meets with Claire's mother. After the lawyer leaves, Jack talks to Claire's mum, who has no clue about Aaron or anything else, and is just there to collect a settlement from Oceanic (and to serve as an unwitting pawn in getting Kate back to the island). Kate drives Jack to the pier and is freaked when she sees Ben. She realizes Ben is the one who's behind the blood test court order. Jack says Ben would never do something like that, but Ben's all, "No, it was totally my lawyer and me. Psyche!" Norton will soon have Hurley free from jail, so it won't be long before the Oceanic Six are reunited. Truly. Sun's already at the pier watching the whole scene play out from her car. Aaron's with her, as is dossier on Ben and Jack, and the handgun that was delivered to her in the false bottom of a box of fine chocolates. Mrs. Gump was totally right.
At Sea: A bunch of French people are in a huge rescue raft during the middle of a big storm. They spy some interesting looking flotsam. It's JIN! He's alive and has been close enough to the island to be jumping along with everyone else. He's alive. He's alive. He's alive. (Quick, someone tell Sun, before she guns down everyone on the pier.) On the beach, poor Jin manages to say he doesn't understand French. So then he and the very pregnant French woman introduce themselves in broken English. Her name? Danielle Rousseau! (But you totally figured that out as soon as the people started Frenchifying at each other, right?)
Want more? The full recap starts right below! Previously on Lost... Jack urgently needs fresh undies when he meets Carole Littleton at his father Christian's memorial service, and learns not only that daddy had an Aussie paramour, but that he -- Jack -- has/had/will have (on this show, it depends) a half-sister. She's fellow lost-away Claire Littleton, the actual mother of baby Aaron, whom Jack's sometime-lover Kate is currently passing off as her own. Thankfully, clean underthings are plentiful on the mainland, because Kate needs them too, when lawyer Dan "Angela Chase's father" Norton shows up at her door, representing an undisclosed client and bearing a court order for blood tests to (dis)prove she is the biological mother of baby Aaron, which she totally is not. I hear the casting director wanted Jordan Catalano for the role of Norton, but he insisted on a rare, fresh delicacy at the craft services table, and Lost is current weathering a hobbit scarcity.So anyhow... Kate loads up the truck and moves to Beverly... Hills, that is -- okay, somewhere in L.A. -- all right, she doesn't actually move, she flees, and tells Aaron they're just on "vacation." They do catch a little Sun, who greets her with a smile (or a "smile", again, on this show it depends). Meanwhile, Sayid is shot with an overdose of tranquilizer darts, so Hurley brings him to his father, like Cheech ever helped anyone sober up. Cheech, at least, does not bogart the Sayid, and instead passes him to Jack. He brings Sayid around, who then asks about Hurley's whereabouts. Meanwhile, on the island, Richard tells Locke he's got to get all the escape-aways back to the island, but before he gets a good answer as to how, there's a bright light and we FLASH to the island, where Charlotte's busy with a bloody nose and a dramatic collapse, as if trying to get a straight answer out of Daniel wasn't draining enough. We fade to black as it's FINALLY time for the latest installment of Lost.
If you read the recaplet, go ahead and skip to the paragraph. For those of you who haven't, I just want to take a moment to discuss this episode's title. "The Little Prince" pays homage to the book of the same name. And I'm sure it's meant to make us think of Aaron, but that's not where it stops. The book is about a little boy who leaves his planet to visit a bunch of others, but only finds stupid grown-ups on them, who don't even know basic things -- like that you truly see with your heart; and that you can't own something unless you care for it and it cares for you. The only way the boy can get back to his home planet is to die and leave his body behind. O HAI JOHN LOCKE!
Nighttime at Sea; Three Years Ago: Two days after escaping the island, Jack stands on the deck of Penny's boat, Searcher. Kate, holding baby Aaron, approaches and tells him Claire was originally flying to L.A. to give her baby up for adoption. Kate wants to keep Aaron -- say he's hers -- they can claim she was six months pregnant when arrested and that she gave birth on the island. Jack assures her there are other ways to handle this, but Kate says, "After everyone we've lost -- Michael, Jin, Sawyer -- I can't lose him, too." Jack assures her that Sawyer isn't dead. Kate seems to agree, but adds, "No, but he's gone." She bids Jack goodnight, and tries to take her leave, but Jack stops her. He introduces her to the big lie -- his plan for the six escape-aways to declare they're the only survivors of the crash. He insists it's the only way to protect them and those they left behind. Kate agrees, and we'll gloss over that logic, because every time I think I agree, I find myself trying to poke more holes in this rationale, and you all want to know what happened on the show, not the extent of my island fever. Jack tells Kate that the rest of the escape-aways will never go along with it if Jack's the only one pushing the lie, so he needs to know if she's with him. Still clutching baby Aaron to her bosom, Kate moves closer to Jack, wearing a warm, glowing expression, as if she were the Blessed Virgin Mother cradling the Christ child. "I have always been with you." See, Jack? If you love something -- set it free. Let it have sex in a cage with Sawyer, and if it comes back to you, it's yours, at least as long as Sawyer's a world away on an island that's disappeared into thin air. She turns and walks away, and just before she fades from view, she smiles. I think it's a Blessed Mother expression. My husband thinks it's a smirk. I'll spare you our argument... For now.
Three Years Later; On the Mainland; My So-Called Reunion: Kate dons one of Sun's suits -- or a dress and jacket. Whatever. It's black, and Kate manages to look wholesome yet sexy, and very professional. Sun asks Kate if she's sure she wants to do "this." Kate replies that this was Sun's idea, and toddler Aaron says, "Mommy" as he waves around what looks to be a bottle of pills. What the heck, Kate? Giving a toddler pills is bad enough, but letting him play with the bottle... Oh shoot, I need to take mine. BRB. That's better. Don't worry, I'm not sick; they're just crazy pills. (I totally called them that before that grandma did too, or at least before she was on TV.) When am I? Oh, yes. So Aaron's only actually waving around a mini-bottle of ketchup (I think it is Heinz, and it's the cutest ketchup bottle I've ever seen). Kate LIES to Aaron that she's just running out to do an errand and will be right back. Sun's going to get him jacked up on candy and let him watch whatever he wants on TV, so Aaron doesn't actually care that he's being left with someone who is (now, to him) a complete stranger. As Kate leaves Sun's hotel suite, a man approaches, but Kate keeps going. He hands Sun a package. And is it just me, or is it not odd that Kate -- whose custody of Aaron is being threatened -- doesn't even wait to see what's being delivered? You know, just in case it's something that could harm Aaron and/or Sun, or give her more information, or something? Well she can't wait, see, because then she would be privy to what Ms. Kwon is having delivered.
We can wait, and do see. After the bellman leaves, Sun closes the suite door, makes her excuses to Aaron and shuts herself in her bedroom. The package contains a dossier from "Surveillance Data Investigations, Inc." and the focus of their surveillance? Ben... and Jack. Included with the written report are pictures of our latest dynamic duo outside the Hoffs/Drawler Funeral Home. Some internet detectives have done some internet detecting and transcribed pages from the dossier. So far, the report seems to be nothing but a physical prop (one that may have been borrowed from this online game). How disappointing. If I have to Google more than once, I want to find real clues. More importantly, there's also a lovely, golden box of Godiva-esque chocolates, which I like to think of as the Emergency P.M.S. Pack with Perks -- because sometimes, regular old chocolate just won't do. Not only do the chocolates look divine, the second layer of the box contains a beautifully... deadly... gun. Mrs. Gump was totally right, y'all. Ladies, put the Emergency P.M.S. Pack with Perks on your Valentine's Day Wish List. Let him prove his love and... trust. And possibly poor judgment.
On the Island; Time Not Yet Known: Miles fills a flask with water and hustles back to Daniel and crew who are trying to revive the still unconscious-Charlotte, whom Sawyer informs us has been out for ten minutes. Daniel wets a hanky (who carries a hanky these days? I thought my father was the last one, and he's been dead for six years) and starts dabbing the blood off Charlotte's face. Juliet's gaze burns a hole through his skull. "If there's something that you want to tell me Daniel, now would be a good time."
Daniel tries to play dumb, like he doesn't know what she means, but Sawyer will have none of that. "She's asking if you know why your girlfriend had a seizure." Juliet asks Sawyer to give them some space, but our dear James is tired of all the Other and other-Other B.S. "She's like this 'cause the sky keeps lighting up. He knew this would happen and he didn't say squat about it."
If she ever tires of her work as a fertility specialist, Juliet should look into teaching kindergarten, because she has the kind, calm, but stern voice down cold. "James. Go away." Motherless boy that he is, he responds to this better than many men might. He all but mumbles "Yes, mum," before he stalks off to stand with Locke. Quietly, Juliet asks Daniel if he did know this would happen.
Daniel says, "I thought -- I thought it might. I think it's neurological. Our brains have an internal clock, a sense of time. The flashes throw the clock off. It's like really bad jet lag." Oh my word. From which writer's ass did they pull that explanation? The look on Juliet's face says: OMIBBQPOLARBEAR worst explanation. Ever. Dude. And I never explain myself. She points out that jet lag doesn't cause hemorrhaging, and asks if he knows why it's not happening to the rest of them. Daniel LIES that he doesn't, and adds his thanks to God that it's not. Lightning strikes him dead for lying and then invoking the deity. Okay, I made that up, but it totally should. And we close in on Charlotte's face, which, despite minutes' worth of dabbing from Daniel, is still covered in blood. He's not so good at coming clean in any way, is he?
Mainland; Current Day; My So-Called Maternity: Kate looks out the window of a high-rise, at the little people down in the street. Luckily, Lawyer Dan Norton of Agostino and Norton (or is it Norton and Agostino), enters to terrorize her, before she suffers an existential crisis and ends up in Santa Rosa, mumbling about them all being ants... or pawns. Let's go with pawns there, because the crosswalk below, and the arrows and cars look like they're part of a game board. Norton starts out well enough, thanking Kate for waiting, uttering the usual niceties like you do, and they recap for us that Norton's client is remaining anonymous, at least for now. Kate proposes a deal. She'll give him the blood samples, but first, she wants to talk to his client. Norton discloses that he's meeting with his client later that day, and he'll pass along her request, but he's pretty sure that's going to be a big NO. He points out Kate is in no position to negotiate, since she isn't actually Aaron's mother, and since Norton's already secured a court order for the blood samples. He reminds her he could already have the sheriff on her tail (like that would stop our Katie), and it's only his client's reticence that's prevented him from doing so. "My client insists that we handle the exchange of custody quietly." Kate (understandably) panics at the idea of a custody exchange. She repeats that she just wants to know who is doing this to her. Norton replies, "You did this to yourself." His voice drips with ice you could only find on a frozen donkey wheel. "Now it is time you prepare yourself, Ms. Austen. You are going to lose the boy."
On the Island; Time STILL Not Yet Known: Miles looks on as Daniel and Juliet try to revive Charlotte -- which seems only to involve forcing open her eyelids then letting them close. Maybe they helped Miles drain his flask before he filled it up with water, and this is some stupid drinking game. If we turned up the volume enough, would we hear them snicker? Locke and Sawyer stand a distance apart in an area of the clearing that's serving as their makeshift dunces' corner, and Locke tells Sawyer that they have to get back to the Orchid Station. "That's where all this started. Maybe it's where it'll all stop." Sawyer thinks that's just crazy talk. That poor bugger has been wandering the island for a couple of days straight anyhow (if we don't count the weeks, months and years through which he's been jumping). Seriously, do they nap? I don't want to watch it, but I'd like some indication of them catching some ZZZzzzs.
Sawyer points out that "the greenhouse" is far away. So Locke suggests they return to the beach and take the Zodiac raft around the island and get there in double time. Sawyer snarks that he supposes Locke will know exactly what to do once they arrive at the Orchid. Snap out of it, Sawyer. Locke never knows exactly what to do. Most of his tenure on the island would have been well served by doing exactly the opposite of what he felt was best. I think you're overheated. Take your shirt off, honey. And snag Miles' flask from Daniel, as he doesn't seem to be actually washing Charlotte off with the water, anyhow. Sawyer ignores my ministrations while Locke answers him. "No... I know that Ben used it to leave the island, and if I can do the same thing, I believe I can save us.... This is all happening because they left. I think it'll stop if I can bring them back." Sawyer wants to know who Locke means by "them," so Locke obliges: "Jack, Sun, Sayid, Hugo, Kate..." And baby Aaron, whom we hope isn't playing with Sun's shiny new gun. Sawyer reminds Locke that the freighter blew up and the chopper with their escape-aways was probably on it, but Locke assures Sawyer that their friends aren't dead. When Sawyer wants to know how Locke knows that, Locke gives him a standard non-answer like any Other would, and says that doesn't matter. "All that matters is they've got to come back. I've got to make them come back. Even if it kills me. Don't you want 'em to come back, James? Don't you want her to come back?"
It's Hurley on the horn, making sure Cheech got Sayid to Jack and that Sayid's fine. Jack wants to know if he's okay and where he is. The camera pans back to show Hurley in a bright orange jumpsuit. "Dude. I'm totally cool. I'm in L.A. County lock-up. Oh, and tell Sayid I did exactly what he said. I'm totally safe. Ben's never gonna get me now." He hangs up with a "Thanks, dude," before Jack can get him to explain. Jack snaps his phone shut, as Ben appears through the doors at the end of the hospital corridor. Ben's glad to see Jack and asks after Sayid.
Meanwhile, Sayid's still chilling in his room, when a nurse enters and tells him he's got Sayid's meds. Sayid tells him he must have the wrong room, but the nurse insists he's in the right place, and tells Sayid not to worry, he can put the meds right into the I.V. line. Sayid looks up at the I.V. bag as the nurse turns back toward the wall and fiddles with the meds -- WHICH HE'S TOTALLY GOING TO INJECT VIA ANOTHER ROUND OF TRANQUILIZER DARTS! Ah, Sayid's so totally awesome. By the time nursey pooh turns around, aims, and fires the dart gun, Sayid's out of bed. The blue darts land right below the pillow, and nursey pooh's all, "Which way did he go? Which way did he go?" Sayid comes up behind him and... they fight. Sayid finally gets the better of nursey pooh, and seems to be ready to strangle him to death with his I.V. line. They're not just for breakfast anymore. Sayid turns into Jack "Who Are You Working For" Bauer, and nursey pooh manages to choke out that in his pocket, there's a slip of paper containing an address. Sayid jumps to his feet, retrieves the dart gun, shoots two tranq darts into nursey pooh's chest, and screams, "How do you like eeet, you filthy American scum. I throw my shoe at you. Metaphorically, because I've got things to do, and I'll be much more comfortable, not to mention safe, if I keep my shoes where they belong, on my feet. Please don't stereotype me, Ms. Recapper." Or, perhaps he just retrieves the paper, which reads: 42 Panorama Crest. Jack and Ben enter the room and survey the scene. Sayid asks if they know anyone who lives at the aforementioned address. Jack says, "That's Kate's address," as the music of dramatic tension takes us to commercial, which undercuts the dramatic tension (unless you're biting your nails to the quick, waiting to see Confessions of a Shopaholic).
Exiting the hospital with Sayid and Ben behind him, Jack calls Kate and asks her if she's okay. He's babbling -- like you do when you're blindly following the guy who is moving you around like a pawn on a chessboard -- that she's got to take Aaron and get out of the house. Kate explains that Sun's in town and Aaron is with him, and since she's hunting wild lawyer, she tries to cut the call short, but Jack gets her to give him her location: "Downtown. Wilshire and Olive." He tells her he's on his way, hangs up, and then tells Sayid and Ben he's off to meet Kate, as if they hadn't been standing there the entire time. Ben says he'll go deal with Hurley, but Sayid's all not so fast my former "friend" or at least employer who had me working as a hitman. Ben tries the rational approach. "You have friends in trouble. Let's get them to safety and save the dirty linen for later." Sayid acquiesces, but only if he accompanies Ben, and only if he drives. Sheesh, Sayid. You're easier than I thought. As Jack gets ready to drive off, Ben tells him, "After you get Kate, meet us at the Long Beach Marina, Slip 23. And, Jack? Hurry. We're running out of time."
On the Island; Time STILL Not Yet Known; but It's Dark: Sawyer and his merry band of strand-aways trudge through the jungle, toward the beach. He wants to know what Locke will say to Kate to get her to come back. Locke hasn't figured it out yet, and Sawyer reminds him that Kate was pretty hot to leave. I don't know if you can actually round a corner in a jungle, but they sort of do, and once they do, they spy a pillar of light streaming up from the ground, into the night sky. The gang does their best deer in the headlights imitation, but Miles is the only one with the presence of mind to speak. "What the hell is that?" Locke reels back in recognition. He knows that light. He knows that night, but because he's another Other now, he doesn't share with the class. He only says, "Whatever it is, we'd better stay clear of it." He veers off to the left, thinking his sudden change of course will be lost on the rest, but, although not an Other, Sawyer's like a brother from another mother (and father), so he calls Locke on the fact that the beach is in the other direction and that now might not be the best time for the scenic route. Daniel asks John if he knows when they are. Locke grimaces such that I'm surprised Daniel doesn't shout, "This is my verse, hello!" But he doesn't. And Locke simply says they need to keep moving. Sawyer is frustrated, but he's come to realize he's not going to get straight answers from any of these fools, so he's the first to head off on their altered course. Locke takes a long, lingering glance at the pillar of light, but does not turn into a pillar of salt. Unless you count the sweat, which seems to be pouring off all the strand-aways.
Daniel's behind Charlotte and asks about her headache. She tries to make light of it by pointing out that her feet are so sore, they've distracted her. Daniel reminds her that once they get to the Zodiac, she can rest. She appreciates how sweet he's being, but tells him he doesn't need to baby her and my stomach lurches. A few people have emailed me that they think Daniel might actually be Charlotte's father. I wouldn't care, because they've been written as having less heat between them than Ben has with the Frozen Donkey Wheel, but Daniel did tell Richard he was "in love" with Charlotte (not just that he "loves" her -- I checked). Despite the fact that I covered Supernatural for a couple of months, Flowers In the Attic gave me more than enough of that to last a lifetime. I mean I still can't scrub it out of my head, m'kay? My mother clearly, CLEARLY had no idea what V.C. Andrews was all about. Shudder. Oh shoot, when am I?
So yeah, that whole conversation is just a set up for what happens . Miles gets a bloody nose! Oh, noes. Not Miles. He's just getting interesting. Besides, what's he going to do if he dies -- sit around and talk to himself all day? It's hard to tell if Juliet sees the blood on Miles's hand, or just notices the change in his stride, but she asks him if he's okay. She's a pace or two behind him, so Miles actually rolls his eyes, and says, "I'm peachy!" Can we keep him? Please. It's like we have a recapper on set. Just then, we hear a woman's screams. Sawyer turns back to face the rest of his crew, and Miles says, "Now what?" LOVE!
Sawyer orders them not to move. Locke tries to get him to stop and think, because those who can't -- teach, but Sawyer does his best Barackian, "I've got this." Rifle at the ready (is there any difference between a rifle and a shotgun, and if so, which does Sawyer have), he heads out toward the source of the screams. We hear two women talking, and one has an Australian accent. It's Claire, and although she's in labor, she's practically invisible to Sawyer even though he likes Claire well enough, because her very own jungle midwife is none other than Kate. He watches as Claire confesses she originally planned to give her child up for adoption, and is afraid the baby knows that. Kate talks her through it and assures her everyone is there for her, and she's not just an instant midwife, but also a prophet, because she adds, "This baby is all of ours."
Sawyer can't see Jin and Charlie from his angle, but we know they were there, waiting for the all clear letting them know the dirty woman's work was done. Ahem. Anyhow, I've given birth three times, so I am going to gloss over Claire's labor, because I have no desire to recap every pain, groan, and push. I will note that unlike me, Claire's a screamer, even though Kate's way nicer than the nurse I threw out of the delivery room during the birth of my second child. (I'm a crier and occasionally a bouncer, it seems.) Eyes wet, Sawyer looks on in lurrrrrrrrrrrve, as Kate, lit only by the soft light of a torch we can't see, tearfully delivers little Aaron from his mother's womb to her waiting arms. Meaningful music drives home the point that this is a powerful moment, particularly for Sawyer (screw Claire who's just produced a new human), since Sawyer seems to be in lurrrrrrrrrrrve with Kate, and the director is highlighting this just in case you just started watching tonight and don't realize that Sawyer's in lurrrrrrrrrrrve with Kate. Perhaps the island is in love with Kate too, because all of a sudden, the sky glows even more than she, and Sawyer FLASHES, but not like that. (Sadly.)
As soon as Sawyer's FTL Drive spools down, he whips his head around to the spot which was once blessed with the blessed mother and the Blessed Mother, but they're not there. Locke approaches him from behind and whispers, "James." Their eyes meet, and Locke can see Sawyer looks shell-shocked. "What happened? Did you see something out here, James?"
Sawyer looks back over his shoulder doing what he's done his whole life -- wanting a woman who can't be there -- and says, "Don't matter." He faces Locke. "It's gone, now." He leaves Locke standing there wondering, as he walks away. But don't mistake Locke's look of concern as actual concern for Sawyer. He's concerned for John Locke. Did he see what I did to Boone? That'll totally ruin my career as politician here on Craphole Island.
Mainland; Current Day; My So-Called Stakeout: Although Kate grows weary waiting for her prey to appear, her senses are still sharp like the jungle cat she is. She hears a car door shut clear across the street and turns to see Jack. She's so happy he's gotten rid of his druggie beard, she considers jumping him in the middle of the road, but there's no time. She doesn't know why he called but she can't be dealing with his prettiness right now. She's got a schedule to keep. Jack wants to know what could be dragging her attention from his now nekkid face, and looks to see if Sawyer's around. Relief floods his veins in a way only narcotics can match, as he remembers his rival jumped from their rescue chopper, three years prior. Jack nearly says, "Still the prettiest," aloud, which would not have gone over well with Kate, because did you not see her in Sun's duds? Jack assesses the situation with a surgeon's precision and decides that clearly, Kate's just being Kate -- probably planning her felony. Or whatever. He doesn't care. He's in lurrrrrrrrrrrve with her. Too. All the cute boys are. No, not Sayid, and Desmond. They're all man (men? man? man). Jack works his smooth skin, head contusion, and eye-bags to his favor and gets Kate to admit that someone knows they're lying and that a lawyer -- right in that building she's haunting -- wants to prove she's not Aaron's mother. She doesn't have time to answer any of Jack's questions, because Angela Chase's father pulls out of the parking garage at just that minute. Ready to give Chase chase, she tells Jack, "Look, I gotta go. Either get in or don't." He does, and we jump.
On the Island; Time Once Known, But Now Sadly Not: Sawyer and crew continue their endless march to the beach, and scenic route or not -- this is getting frakking ridiculous. I keep waiting for them to run into Tom Bombadil. Locke catches up to James. "You ready to tell me who you saw back there?" Sawyer's not in a sharing mood, but Locke's a persistent fellow. "You and I both know when we were before the flash, James. So who was it you saw -- Charlie? Shannon? Yourself?" Oh Locke, don't corner happy fun Sawyer.
Sawyer sneers at Locke. "And how is it that you knew when we were, Johnny boy? That light in the sky -- it was from the hatch, wasn't it?"
Locke looks back, front, left, right, up, down and all around. "The night that Boone died, I went out there, started pounding on it as hard as I could. I was... confused... scared..." Guilty? Don't mind me; Locke isn't. Sawyer, meanwhile, is looking at Locke like he's scared to death that Locke is going to confess to a homo-erotic encounter. Locke pays him no mind either, and continues: "Babbling like an idiot, asking, why was all this happening to me?" And by "me" you mean "Boone", right? The wee little Locke that lives in my top left desk drawer says, "Don't be preposterous, Cindy. It's all about me." Quite right, wee Locke. Pardon me. Meanwhile, the Sawyer that lives in the TV asks Locke if he ever got an answer. And the Locke that lives in the TV says, "Light came on, shot up into the sky. At the time, I thought it meant something." Sawyer asks if it did. "No. It was just a light." Oh my -- is our resident Man of Faith eschewing his role? Sawyer asks why Locke turned them around, why he avoided encountering his past self, and informing himself to do things differently, thereby saving himself from a world of pain. Locke is disturbingly sanguine. "No, I needed that pain to get to where I am now." On the other hand, he's still clearly a man of faith if he thinks where he is now is a place worth being.
Meanwhile, Miles informs Daniel that he just had a nosebleed. Um -- just? It was dark, and okay, maybe that was only a couple of minutes ago. Never mind. Daniel is alarmed, because that's one of his pre-programmed speeds, but Miles doesn't want to freak out the rest of their party. He just wants to know why it's happening to him, and to Charlotte. Daniel says, "Uh, I think it might have something to do with duration of exposure -- you know -- the amount of time you've spent on the island." Miles says that doesn't make any sense, because those "yahoos" have been on the island for months, whereas Miles has only been there for two weeks. Yahoos! I must smish him. And you know he'd get all gruff about being smished, but then he'd confide in me about how Daniel seems way more into Charlotte than him, and how it's so not fair. Then we'll drink Appletinis and... oh crap, I'm channeling J.D. I'd blame all the Appletinis, except I've never had one, so let's blame the flashes. I just hope I don't have magical hemorrhagic jetlag. Anyhow... Daniel wants to know if Miles is sure that he's never been on the island before, and Miles gives him the old are-you-whack look, while the rest of us start thinking something smells, and it might just be Dr. Pierre Chang's baby's diapers.
The strand-aways reach camp, but there's no beer, no Bernard and Rose, and no whoever else hasn't been offed by flaming arrows. The camp looks beat up, but I can't remember whether or not it should. Locke says, "I wonder how long ago all this happened," and as Sawyer curses the empty beer cans, Locke finds Vincent's homemade leash. Then, Daniel realizes the Zodiac is gone. In its place are two canoes Daniel deems pretty old, but Miles, retrieving a bottle of water from one, begs to differ. Sawyer reads the label: "Ad-jur-ah," but Juliet corrects him. "Ajira -- it's an airline. It's based out of India, but they fly everywhere." The production team has even created a website -- check out the "destination unknown" package, but still... it's no Barney's Blog. The gang wonders if Bernard, Rose and whoever else is left took the Zodiac to flee the canoe people.
Sawyer cracks that maybe Ajira has a flight off Craphole Island -- to Vegas, but I'm thinking it's more likely they have a flight to there -- from LAX. What? The escape-aways have to get back, somehow. He then gestures towards the canoes and asks, "Who came in these -- other Others?" Juliet's all, "Don't look at me," but if I were Sawyer, I'd have at least her, Locke and Daniel up against a bamboo pole right about now, with my gun pointed in their faces, and I'd be demanding better answers -- even if they had to make them up. And they probably would, which is probably why Sawyer doesn't expend the energy. Poor thing doesn't even have a piss warm skunked Dharma beer to quench his thirst. Locke, trying something new, decides to be the voice of reason and suggests that whoever came in the canoes, perhaps it would be best not to wait and find out who they are and when they're coming back. Finally, the entire gang of misfits agrees on something, and pulls the canoe towards the ocean.
At sea with grim faces, our strand-aways row, row, row their boat. Miles is the first to break the silence. "This plan sounded a hell of a lot better when we were going by motorboat. How far is this place?" Locke motions to the horn of the island and explains it's around that point and won't be more than a couple of hours. Miles says, "Oh, joy."
Juliet looks back at Sawyer and asks if he's all right. He tells Juliet that before the flash last night, he saw Kate in the jungle -- delivering Claire's baby. When Juliet mentions that happened two months ago, Sawyer says, "Time travel's a bitch." Suddenly, a shot rings out and someone (Juliet, I think) hollers at everyone to get down. Sawyer looks behind him, and there's another small craft -- possibly the canoe -- following them. Another shot fires and Sawyer yells at everyone to paddle, which causes me to dissolve into fits of giggles. I can't describe the image it gives me -- suffice it to say I've watched too many cartoons. The gang paddles frantically, with Locke yelling at them to pull (which makes no sense) or move, and I'm giggling so hard I'm going to get the hiccups. Miles says, "I think they want their boat back," and I have to pause the TV to catch my breath, even though the music is trying to tell me this is a desperate serious scene and in no way at all funny. Okay, better now. Miles asks Juliet if these are her people. Juliet says no and asks if they're Miles's people. Sawyer tells them both to shut up and keep paddling, and a bullet leaves a whole smack dab in the middle of his paddle. He drops it and asks Juliet for a little help, so she hands him her oar and breaks out the rifle, and gets off three or four more rounds, while Sawyer yells for the crew to paddle harder, because "they're" getting closer. Just then, we hear the buzzing sound of an approaching flash. Everyone looks around, and then cringes from the sound and light -- while Sawyer looks heavenward and screams, "Thank you, Lord!" And? FLASH! They jump to the middle of the night -- in the pouring rain. Thunder and lightning make the night more exciting, and Sawyer yells at God, "I TAKE THAT BACK!" And my hiccups start, now. What's your hiccup cure? I take a spoonful of sugar and water. It probably works 75% of the time, which isn't too bad. Meanwhile, Locke tells everyone to paddle and head toward shore.
Mainland; Current Day; My So-Called Hot Pursuit: Kate and Jack trail Dan "Angela Chase's Dad" Norton to a motel. As Norton climbs the external stairway to his client's room, Jack tries to convince Kate that they won't necessarily know if Norton is meeting with his top seekrit blood-demanding client, or someone else. He also tries to cajole her into abandoning this plan. They can go get Aaron, take him somewhere safe and figure everything out. If you watch closely, you can almost see Benjamin Linus pulling Jack's strings. He's just a wee puppet man, but maybe if he's good he can be a real boy, someday. Norton's client answers her door. It's Carole Littleton -- Claire's mother! Jack and Kate take this in and we jump to... a commercial.
While Norton was in Littleton's room, the skies must have opened up, because he leaves in a torrential downpour and I'm stuck wondering whether there's any connection between the strand-aways' weather and the escape-aways' weather, but that way lies madness, so I back the heck up from the abyss. Jack and Kate watch him leave, and Kate's ready to drive off in defeat, but Jack stays her hand on the emergency brake release. He suggests that maybe they should take a moment and think things through. Maybe Ms. Littleton doesn't know about Aaron, but Kate insists she must. Just in case things aren't quite royally screwed up, Jack decides to go up to her room and talk to her. He thinks he can make her understand why he helped Kate steal the grandchild she didn't even know she had -- the son of her daughter whom she presumes is dead. Oh yeah, that'll work. Jack tells Kate he can fix this, and adds, "Aaron is my family, too." As a means of consent, Kate allows one pretty little tear to fall, while she closes her eyes, and smiles the smile of emotional depth -- or possibly Sun's shoes are giving her corns. Jack and Kate share A Meaningful Silent Moment, and Jack heads out into the pouring rain.
Littleton's looking at a tarted-up picture of Claire in happier days, when a now-drenched Jack knocks on her door. She recognizes him immediately and invites him in while thinking: Thank goodness I don't own this rug. He's dripping all over it. What an ugly, ugly American. Where's his umbrella? His Mac? His Wellies? Why is the recapper putting Brit words into my antipodean mouth? I blame that insidious Charles Widmore, who can't decide from whence he came. Where are my Tim Tams, damn it? All this internal narration has left me a bit peaked. Claire's mum exclaims she hasn't seen Jack since his father's funeral and asks how he even knew she was in L.A. Jack doesn't meet her eyes at first. "I knew you were here, Ms. Littleton, because I followed your lawyer." Why she doesn't kick him out of there or run out herself is beyond me. TV people are... different. When she asks Jack why he'd follow her lawyer, he finally returns her gaze. "I did it because, um -- I understand that you feel the need to do this, but I need you to know that everything that Kate and I have done -- it was for Aaron." Jack waits for a spark of recognition in her eyes. I hope he's not holding his breath, because all she can says is, "Who's Aaron?" And she means it. Jack blinks his eyes and looks at the floor for the brick that must have just fallen from his pants. Carole then adds, "I'm afraid I'm not following you." Jack recovers and asks what he should have asked at the outset. "Ms. Littleton, what are you doing here in Los Angeles?"
We jump to Jack running through the rain -- back to Kate's car. He orders her to drive away, call Sun, and tell her to bring Aaron to the Long Beach Marina -- where they'll all meet. Kate wants a little explanation of what happened inside the motel room, so Jack says Carole doesn't know anything; she's just in town to pick up her settlement from Oceanic. She still thinks Claire is dead and doesn't know Aaron exists. He conveniently leaves out the part where he may have tipped her hand to that last bit, and it's just as well, because I'm pretty sure Kate could kill him with her pinky. Kate says, "What, and it's just a coincidence that her lawyer happens to be the same one that's trying to take my son?" Jack doesn't know -- all he knows is that whoever is trying to take Aaron, it's not Carole Littleton. Let's think really hard Jack. Who manipulates the truth into a lie? Come on. I know you probably killed some brain cells on the Oxycontin, but you can do it. Think. Think. Think.
Sayid drives Ben through the city in the latter's Canton-Ranier Carpet Cleaning van. Poster Un Bel Di points out that reincarnation is an anagram of Canton-Ranier, and I'm sure Locke's corpse will appreciate that as much as the rest of us do. Inside it, Ben's trying to be besties with Sayid again. He asks Sayid why he took it upon himself to rescue Hugo. Sayid says he had to make sure Hurley was safe. Ben nods and directs Sayid to pull into a nearby parking garage, where they meet up with Dan "Angela Chase's Dad" Norton. SURPRISED? No, by this point, I'd expect not. Norton hands Ben a file on Hurley and says that they don't have a solid case against him, because the first body found outside Santa Rosa was dead before Hurley escaped. He predicts Hurley will be a free man after his prelim tomorrow. Ben thanks him, and Dan takes his leave. Sayid asks Ben who that was, and Ben -- all bug-eyed innocent -- says, "That's my lawyer."
On the Island; Time? What's Time? All We Know Is It's Nighttime: the rain has stopped. Our strand-aways lug their stolen canoe up onto shore. Miles tries to catch his breath. "Remind me never to do that again." Now he's just trying to make me love him. Oh, Miles, it's already done. Locke says they can't really figure out where they are until it gets light, and I at first think Charlotte's having a seizure, but apparently she's just walking really weirdly, in the front of the frame. What was that supposed to be? Sawyer and Juliet lean against the canoe to rest, and Juliet says they didn't get to finish their conversation. He wants to know what she's talking about so she says, "The one before they started shooting at us, where you were about to tell me how it felt to see Kate again?" Wha? Where you were about to tell me how it felt to see Kate again? Really, Show? I'm not even going to blame Juliet. Who wrote that dross? Sawyer wasn't about to tell her anything of the sort, but Juliet says, "Why don't you tell me now?" Oh my word, when did Cooper and Violet's brains flash into Juliet and Sawyer's bodies? Undo it! Undo it! Juliet stares Sawyer down like the broken little boy he is, until he spills. "I was close enough to touch her. If I wanted to, I could've stood right up and talked to her." Juliet asks why he didn't, and Sawyer says, "What's done is done." Yeah that, and the gigantic FLASH, Sawyer. I wonder if the flashes have some sentience or purpose -- if they are big interrupters, that keep "the rules" from being broken. Sawyer looks at her, and pauses. "Juliet?" She asks what's wrong, and Sawyer mimics wiping his nose with his hand, because her nose is bleeding. Sawyer looks away and Juliet tries to tidy up and tries not to freak out.
Just then Charlotte calls everyone over to the jetsam she's found on the beach -- a fresh wreckage of some sort. Locke kicks over a large metal canister which reads BESIXDOUZE (with some sort of diacritical mark over the first E), and asks, "Does anybody speak French?" Well, Snicker Bitch did, but she's been sort of scarce, lately.
Meanwhile, out at sea, there's an octagonal rescue raft full of Frenchies! It's still pouring out there, or maybe this isn't a meanwhile, but a flashback, and does it actually matter? They're all yelling at one another in French, but the Lost producers didn't see fit to give us subtitles, and all my pidgin belongs to Español. The French woman spies some flotsam a ways off and yells about it. In French. Then the guys all yell some more in French, and one of them shines a flashlight on the flotsam. It's a MAN! A man floating on a something. Board. Door. Who can see in all that rain? The Frenchies row over to him and lift him into their raft. They flip him over and it's... JIN! Hooray. I knew if I just clapped my hands and said that I believed in fairies, my dream would someday come true. Goodness, even in the dark, in the middle of a storm, the man's facial bone structure just cries out, "Cut glass on this, bitch." And all the other men's faces slink away, which leaves a mess, but who cares about faceless-man messes when JIN's alive. Okay, he could be dead. But he's here, or there, so why would they bring him back just to be a corpse? I'm going with alive, and that's all there is to it.
Mainland; Current Day; My So-Called Marina Meet-Up: Kate pulls in at (by, on?) Slip 23, parks, and asks Jack why he called her today. He says he was worried about her. Kate asks why today -- why was he worried today? He hands her the paper with her address written on it, and says, "Right before I called you, Sayid was attacked and the guy that did it -- your address was in his pocket." In all the driving they've done today, this hasn't come up before now? Awkward silence of that magnitude boggles my mind. Kate didn't even know Sayid was in town. She asks Jack why, but he says that right now, all that's important is getting her and Aaron someplace safe. Kate says, "Safe from who?" and I struggle not to correct her.
Another vehicle drives up and Jack's out of his seatbelt and car door like a shot. Perplexed, Kate follows his lead. She watches a man pass in front of the Canton-Ranier Carpet Cleaning van, and her eyes grow wide as she lets his face register. It is so not Sayid. "Hello, Kate," says Ben, being all hands-in-pockets-I-wouldn't-hurt-a-fly. Sayid flanks him and gives Kate a look that I'm pretty sure says: you say the word, and I will kill this amoeba-on-flea-on-rat. Meanwhile, our wee little puppet man Jack stands up like a big boy and tells her, "It's okay. He's with me." You can hear Kate thinking, "He really didn't seem like he was still on drugs. And no, not just because he's clean-shaven, but he must be tripping, if he thinks I'll let him live after setting me up like this." Her mouth, however, only says, "He's with you?"
Jack talks to her as if she were the very slow dog of a very slow child. "I know this is gonna be hard to understand, but he's here to help us -- to help everyone that we left behind. We all need to be together again." Like a family, Daddy?
During Jack's sales talk, Kate and Ben size one another up. And then she catches right up. "It's him... He's the one who's trying to take Aaron." Jack's still all, no way, it's different, he has a soul now, but Ben says, "No Jack, she's right. It was me." A beat and then, "Sorry." Did he just scoff? I think that bug-eyed bugger just scoffed. Kate gets in his face and demands to know why Ben doesn't just stay away and leave her and her son alone. And maybe Ben needs to die to get back to the island, because he takes his life in his own hands when he answers: "Because he's not your son, Kate." The music intensifies and we zoom out from this not-so-tender scene, and then in on Sun. She's sitting in a nearby car, with a sleeping Aaron in the backseat. Upon the front passenger seat sits the surveillance photos of Jack and Ben, the investigative report and her purse, from which she removes... THE GUN! She opens the car door and we jump to...
The beach! Jin's still out cold, lying in the sun (not... oh, you know). He wakes with a start to find himself surrounded by the French castaways, and they're speaking French, like I hear the French do. The painfully young woman comes over to him and asks him a question in French. Poor Jin's like what the heck, I have to learn another new language?! He tells her, "No understand," and the woman switches easily to English. She asks how he got there and he says, "Boat." This sets the French people atwitter and one of the men, Robert -- I think -- asks Jin what boat he means. He says, "It's gone. Sink." The woman figures he was caught in the same storm they were -- the woman figures wrong.
Another of the French men demands to know who Jin is and asks how long he was in the water. Jin says he doesn't know, and the guy says, "How do you not know how you wound up in the middle of the ocean, ah?" The woman barks back at him in French, seemingly in Jin's defense. She then gives some sort of an order to the man named Robert, and removes her outer cloak to reveal her pregnant form. Robert returns with a canteen, and smiling, she thanks him.
The rest of the French men walk away, leaving Robert and the woman to watch Jin chug the water. When he stops for a breath, he thanks the woman. She smiles and asks what his name is. He tells her: "Kwon Jin-Soo... Jin."
The woman smiles kindly at him. "Hello, Jin. I'm Danielle. Danielle Rousseau."
Jin looks as though he's seeing a ghost, because he kind of is. We close in on her earnest young face. She's puzzled by Jin's reaction and we... fade to black.
Cindy McLennan, who also covers How I Met Your Mother will not share her crazy pills with you no matter how nicely you ask, but you can e-mail her about the recap or the show at CynthiaMcLennan[at]gmail.com.
Discuss this episode in the Lost forums, and see our list of best Lost back stories!