Because You Left

"Because You Left"
Season	5
Episode number	1
Airdate(s)	21 January 2009
Writer	Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
Director	Stephen Williams
Guests	Sam Anderson - Bernard Nadler L. Scott Caldwell - Rose Nadler Nestor Carbonell - Richard Alpert Alan Dale - Charles Widmore Tom Irwin - Dan Norton William Mapother - Ethan Rom Sonya Walger - Penelope Widmore Sean Whalen - Neil "Frogurt"
Co-stars	Brad Berryhill - Anxious Guy William Blanchette - Aaron Chantal Boom'la - Counter Girl Michael Dempsey - Foreman Leslie Ishii - Woman Sven Lindstrom - Crew Member Cindy Paliracio - Reporter/TV Anchor Stephanie Smart - Ticket Agent
Uncredited	François Chau - Pierre Chang
Transcript	Because You Left transcript

"Because You Left" is the premiere episode of Season 5 of Lost, originally broadcast on January 21, 2009. It is the 83rd episode of the series. Jack and Ben attempt to assemble the Oceanic Six for a return to the Island while the survivors left behind begin skipping through time following the Island's "move".

Synopsis

Introduction

Chang filming the Arrow orientation video

At 8:15 a.m., Pierre Chang wakes up at his home in Barracks next to his wife. He then gives his baby a bottle before getting ready for the day as the record he puts on starts skipping. Inside one of the buildings, he begins shooting the first take of the second DHARMA Initiative orientation video, this time for the Arrow station, but is interrupted by a worker concerned about a problem at the Orchid.

The worker leads Chang to the Orchid, which is under construction. Men who have been working underground to create the second level of the station have destroyed 6 drill heads trying to drill a seemingly impenetrable wall. The crew's foreman tells Chang that there is an open chamber behind the wall, showing him a sonar printout revealing an image of the frozen wheel behind the wall.

File:FaradayPast.jpg

Faraday is revealed to be among the DHARMA workers

At this moment Chang discloses that there is an incredible amount of energy on the other side of the wall, almost limitless, and enough to make space and time travel possible. Chang tells the worker to do nothing more to the wall because infinite harmful energy could be released by doing so. As Chang leaves, he bumps into another worker who appears to be holding his head down to avoid eye contact with Chang and who is revealed to be Daniel Faraday dressed as a construction worker, Joe.

On the Island

The Beechcraft crashes

The results of the "Island moving" have immediate effects for all the survivors left behind. After the white flash, Locke finds that Richard and the Others have vanished, and that it is now raining. Confused, he frantically shouts for Richard and the rest of the group. On the Zodiac, Neil asks what the strange light was, and Daniel Faraday, noticing that they can still see the island, notes that the raft "must have been inside the radius." On the beach, Juliet and Sawyer notice that the burning freighter has mysteriously vanished, finding Bernard and Rose who frantically report that the survivors' camp has also disappeared. Daniel arrives with the Zodiac passengers and explains that "The camp isn't gone, it hasn't been built yet". Faraday tells everyone that they must go to something that was man-made on the island, and Juliet points out that the Swan station is about a fifteen minute hike from the beach.

As the remaining survivors head toward the Swan, Faraday encourages them to move faster. Sawyer demands that Faraday explain what is happening. Faraday says that it would be too hard to explain to a quantum physicist, much less Sawyer, and again insists that they keep moving. However, after Sawyer loses his temper and slaps Dan (threatening to do the same to Charlotte after she yells at him), he concedes and tells them to imagine the Island as a record that is skipping, due to what Ben Linus did at the Orchid station. As a result, he says, the Island is now dislodged in time, and either the island or the survivors are now moving through time (he seems to suggest that they are the ones moving). Sounding concerned, he asks if the survivors' group is all accounted for. Sawyer says no, realizing that Locke is unaccounted for.

Ethan threatens Locke during what is Ethan's first encounter with him

Meanwhile, while climbing a hill, Locke narrowly misses being struck by a damaged, low-flying plane, which then crashes in the jungle. Finding a Virgin Mary statue which had fallen from the plane, it becomes clear that the plane is the Beechcraft that had previously been found by Locke and Boone, many years after it crashed. Locke arrives at the crash site and tries to climb up, searching for survivors, but is stopped by a bullet piercing one of his legs. A stunned John falls to the ground. The shooter is revealed to be none other than Ethan. Ethan assumes that Locke was on the plane, and demands to know how many others were on board. Locke tries to explain who he is, stating that he wasn't on the plane, and that he knows who Ethan is. Locke tells him that Ben appointed John as the leader of the Others, but Ethan claims that this is "ridiculous," and prepares to shoot him. However, the white light appears again (though Ethan does not appear to notice it), and time shifts again just in time to save Locke's life. Locke looks to see that it is now night, and the Beechcraft has fallen from the cliff edge.

Locke holds on to Alpert's compass

The group arrives at the Hatch, which is still a crater, prompting them to conclude that they are in a time after Flight 815 crashed. Sawyer argues that they could change the past by stopping Jack and the others from launching the helicopter (which they believe crashed in the ocean). Faraday, however, is adamant that the past is like a street - one can move back and forth but cannot under any circumstance create a new street. Meanwhile, Locke is still back at the Beechcraft when a man arrives: Richard Alpert. Alpert, who has brought a first aid kit, removes the bullet from his leg. When Locke asks how Richard knew where to find him and that he had been shot, he says that Locke told him, or rather will tell him. Richard gives him a compass which he must give to Richard again next time he sees him because Richard won't recognize him. He also tells John that the only way to save the Island is to get those who left to come back. In order to do that, Locke is told that he will have to die.

Desmond, in a DHARMA HAZMAT suit, encounters Faraday at the Swan back door.

Another flash occurs and the hiking group finds themself looking at the hatch door to the Swan station, which Juliet uncovers, now intact. The group quickly moves to the rear entrance and Sawyer repeatedly knocks on the door, but nobody responds. Faraday reiterates that Sawyer cannot get to Desmond because if it hadn't already happened, it cannot happen. After everyone else leaves, however, Faraday goes to his knapsack and retrieves his notebook. After paging through it while mumbling to himself, he goes and knocks on the Swan door and manages to speak with Desmond. Faraday tells Desmond that he is uniquely special, and that only he can help them because "the rules" don't apply to him. Daniel instructs a confused Desmond to seek out his mother in Oxford if he escapes the Island. As he is about to say his mother's name, another flash occurs, causing another timeshift.

Off-Island (2007)

Kate is visited by Dan Norton.

Ben and Jack discuss their plan to find the other members of the Oceanic Six. Jack is pessimistic about their chances of recruiting the other five and sadly wonders why so many bad things have happened. Ben responds coldly, "It happened because you left." Later, at a hotel, Jack shaves his beard off, and they discuss the plan some more. Ben then reveals that he has not seen Locke since he left the island, and asks Jack if Locke told him exactly what happened after the Oceanic 6 left. Jack says no.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kate is at home watching cartoons with Aaron when she is visited by Dan Norton, an attorney working for an unknown client. Norton claims to have a court order to conduct a test to determine if Aaron is actually Kate's child. Kate refuses to allow the test and tells Norton to leave, which he does, saying that he will be back with a sheriff. Kate frantically packs a bag, grabbing an envelope of cash and a gun (which were hidden in her room) and, saying that they are going "on vacation." She then takes Aaron and leaves.

Charles Widmore meets with Sun, asking what their common interests are.

At Heathrow Airport in London, while trying to check into her flight to Los Angeles on Oceanic Airlines, Sun is detained by airport security. While yelling at the security guard to let her out, Charles Widmore reveals himself, and says that he had Sun detained. He is angry that she had the "audacity" to approach him the way she did in London, in broad daylight in front of his work associates, but he still wishes to talk about their "common interests." When asked what exactly those interests are, Sun replies, "to kill Benjamin Linus."

In their hotel room, Ben and Jack see a television news report about Hurley's escape from Santa Rosa after apparently murdering a man. Ben realizes that their plan to reunite the Oceanic Six has just become more complicated.

By-standers mistake Hurley for the killer

Meanwhile, Hurley and Sayid stop at a fast food restaurant before going to the safe house, which is in an apartment building. While walking toward the room, Hurley asks Sayid about the man Sayid killed (who Hurley is now accused of murdering). Sayid doesn't know who the man was, but said that he had been watching Hurley for some reason, which made him "an enemy," especially after what happened to Bentham (Locke). When Hurley comments on Sayid's paranoia, Sayid reveals that he has been working for Ben Linus and cautions Hurley that, if Linus ever tells him to do anything, to do the exact opposite. Sayid notices that a piece of tape which he had placed on the door to the room has been broken, indicating that someone has entered the safe house.

Desmond and Penny sailling to Oxford

One man attacks Sayid at the door, and Sayid quickly kills him by throwing him over the balcony. Another man attacks him inside, and after a lengthy fight, Sayid kills him too, but not before he is shot with an anesthetizing dart, which renders him unconscious a moment later. A passer-by notices the dead body of the first man, and takes a picture of Hurley with a gun in his hand and covered in what appears to be blood (it is actually ketchup). Hurley runs inside, rescues Sayid, and the two escape.

Finally, on a sailing boat with Penny in an unknown location probably in the Mediterranean near Monacco, Desmond wakes up, remembering what Faraday told him. While Penny brushes off the experience as a bad dream, Desmond realizes that it was actually a memory. He sets off for Oxford to find Daniel's mother.

Trivia

General

• There is a new shot shown in the recap at the beginning of this episode that features an overhead view of the US Coast Guard plane as the Oceanic Six are greeted by their family members. That shot was not featured in any aired or otherwise officially released version of "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1".
• A green ceramic alien head is visible under the stereo on the shelf as Pierre Chang walks into the Barracks recreation room and films the orientation film for The Arrow.
• The Arrow filming includes workers sporting the main DHARMA logo: Fern ("crew"), Jay ("worker"), and presumably Kyker (the director named on the clapper board, a likely reference to Lost property master, Rob Kyker who also played Jacob for a time). They are interrupted by Eric ("construction") and meet Tony ("construction") and Faraday, dressed as Joe ("construction").
• The various time shifts have been dated:
  • The first time shift occurs in the late 1990s, a few years before the plane crash, during Mr. Eko's adult life in Nigeria and Ethan Rom's on the island. However, time behaving differently on the Island compared to the outside world can cause some changes.
  • The second shift is January 2005 or later, as Richard Alpert finds Locke and tells him that the Oceanic Six are already home.
  • The third shift happens between 2001 (Desmond crashes onto the island), and September 22, 2004 (Kelvin dies).
• Penelope and Desmond are both seen wearing wedding rings in the final scenes, suggesting that they are now married.

Production notes

• Daniel Dae Kim is credited as a regular, despite the assumption that Jin has died.
• Jin does not appear in this episode.
• This episode marks the first time Pierre Chang appears outside a DHARMA video on the show.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• When the alarm clock goes off in the opening scene, the alarm itself isn't actually set. The alarm is set on the left-side of the clock and is set to 12:00.
• On the zodiac raft, Steve Jenkins was wearing a backpack immediately before the Island moved in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2", but when the sky turns normal again in this episode, his backpack is missing. Furthermore, a bearded background extra has been replaced by Neil "Frogurt", and another background extra sitting next to him has disappeared.
• When the Island moves, Locke covers his face with his left arm; but when the flash finishes, he's got his right arm up.
• Sun's passport:
  • Is displayed in Adobe Photoshop on Windows XP, probably filmed soon after it was created by a graphic artist for the show.
  • Has many inconsistencies between the recorded information and the machine-readable zone of the passport:
    • SKA is not a valid ISO code, it should have been KOR
    • Her birthday is encoded as April 4, 1972
    • Her nationality is encoded as Japan
    • Her passport expiry is encoded as May 31, 2006 which would have made it an invalid passport when she was in the airport.
  • Her passport's expiry is 2011.
  • The passport was scanned, so there's a reliable possibility that the scan software opened Photoshop, which is weird in an airport, but not that impossible.
    • There is also no internet connection which is unusual, and the Windows Messenger icon is also up, which while it is already on the computers factory settings, it would not be in the tool bar unless it was frequently used. The computer's time display also does not match the time seen on the clock on the wall just a few seconds later in the show.
• When the witness takes a picture of Hurley with the gun, the man Sayid threw over the railing is shown in a different position than the one in which he landed.
• The rip in Desmond's HAZMAT suit is now on the left leg, as opposed to when it was on Kelvin's right leg in "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1".
• Desmond is lowering the anchor into the water during the final scene instead of raising it.
• During the third time shift that occurs between 2001 and 2004, smoke can still be seen coming out of the Beechcraft like it has just crashed (during the first shift), even though almost a decade has past.

Recurring themes

• The people on the Island are skipping through time. (Time)
• Pierre Chang's record player starts to skip, and later Daniel uses a skipping record as an analogy for what is happening on the island. (Foreshadowing)
• The foreman expressed disbelief at the idea of time travel to Daniel, who is actually a time traveller himself. (Irony)
• The public begins to grow suspicious of Aaron's paternity. (Parent Issues)
• Desmond meets Daniel for the second time before Daniel arrived on the Island. (Character connections)
• In the beginning of the episode, the alarm goes off at 8:15. (The Numbers)
• As Sun goes down the escalator at the airport, the woman on the intercom mentions flight 23 to Paris at Gate 15. (The Numbers)
• Daniel tricks the other people into leaving him alone at the Hatch, so that he can speak to Desmond alone. (Deceptions and Cons)
• The DHARMA orientation films are filmed in front of a movie set in the Barracks recreation room with costumes and props to make it appear that Pierre Chang is in a study or office. (Deceptions and Cons)
• It rains after the island moves. (Rain)
• Desmond recalls his hidden memories in form of a dream. (Dreams)
• Sun is locked in a room at the airport. (Imprisonment)
• Locke finds himself (once more) isolated from everybody he knows, except occasionally from Richard. (Isolation)
• Sawyer calls Daniel "Danny Boy" and "Wizkid", and Charlotte "Ginger". Kate calls Aaron "Goober". (Nicknames)
• In order to save everybody on the Island, Locke will presumably have to die, according to Richard. (Sacrifice)
• Pierre's record starts skipping just as the singer sings the line "You Can't Play The Record". (Irony)
• The name of the law firm hired to get blood samples from Kate and Aaron in order to find out if Aaron really is Kate's son, is "Agostini and Norton" - an anagram for "Aaron isn't, don't go in". (Anagrams)

Storyline analysis

• Sayid kills two men in the safe house. (Crimes)
• Juliet and Sawyer are seen as new leading figures for the castaways. (Leadership)
• Sawyer slaps Daniel for not telling what is happening. (Rivalries)
• Ethan is told that, according to Ben Linus, Locke is supposed to be the new leader of Ethan's people. (Leadership)
• Even though Sayid works for Ben Linus, he warns Hugo against him, telling Hugo to always do the exact opposite of what Linus says. (Rivalries)

Cultural references

• Shotgun Willie: A song by Willie Nelson, from 1973, by the album of the same name.
• Hitler: One of the DHARMA construction workers proposes to use the time effects of the Orchid to kill Hitler. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the German Nazi Party. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945.
  • A common theme of many time travel stories in science fiction is attempts to kill Hitler either fail or else make things worse.
• A Christmas Carol: Sawyer calls himself "the Ghost of Christmas Future," a reference to one of the spirits who visits Ebenezer Scrooge in the book by Charles Dickens.
• Gilligan's Island: Sawyer calls Charlotte, "Ginger" - after he slaps Daniel Faraday. Ginger is a reference to 'ginger-haired' Ginger Grant, a character on 'Gilligan's Island', a classic U.S. television show about a group of people that were stranded on a tropical island. The character had a bit of an attitude (like Charlotte) and hung out with a brainy professor (like Faraday).
• Dilbert: Sawyer calls Daniel Faraday "Dilbert" when Faraday tries to convince him of the futility of his plan to enter the Swan Station through the "back door" to stock up on supplies. Dilbert is a white-collar engineer, the main character of an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams.
• Airplane!: Richard's reply to Locke's question about the compass ("It points north") is a common joke technique used in the Airplane! movies (The hospital, what is it? It's a building where they take sick people").
• Star Trek: Voyager: Daniel Faraday's appearance at the Orchid's construction site is similar to Seven of Nine's similarly anachronistic appearance on the pre-launch Voyager in the episode, "Relativity".

Literary techniques

• The episode begins with a record skipping, which is later used as a metaphor for how the island is moving through time. (Foreshadowing)
• The beginning of the episode is similar to the beginning of season 2 and season 3. In all of these episodes we're introduced to a unknown person, who we're not able to recognize at first. The person then turns on the record player (or cd player as we see in season 3), and begins to do some daily activities - grooming for example. Furthermore all of the season beginnings starts off slowly and calm, but is at some point interrupted by something chaotic (Hurley blasting through the pile of fruits in season 4 for example).
• Kate tells Aaron that the train in his cartoon won't go into a tunnel because he will never come out, foreshadowing their evacuation from their home moments later, and perhaps their return to the island. (Foreshadowing)
• Faraday insists that they can't change the past or stop what's happening, and Sawyer asks him who can; Faraday doesn't respond. This foreshadows Faraday's statement that Desmond is special and the "rules" don't apply to him, implying that Desmond can, in fact, change things. Also the cut after that statement was to Locke which might be a bluff. (Foreshadowing)
• When Locke is separated from The Others, he is left in the jungle with nothing but a knife and his wits; literally the situation he longed for in "Walkabout". (Irony)
• Aaron is watching a cartoon with several vehicles rushing franticly, foreshadowing Kate's running away quickly after being pressed by the attorney Dan Norton. (Foreshadowing)
• Sawyer calls for a "time out", and later Juliet says "it's been a long day". (Irony)
• After running for a long time in her past, Kate will have to become a fugitive again in her future. (Irony)
• Daniel is moved through time in the exact moment he was about to say the name of his mother, which Desmond shall meet at Oxford University. Being like that, the name is never revealed. (Cliffhanger)
• Richard says, "What comes around goes around" in reference to Locke being shot by Ethan--when it was Ethan who was shot and killed by the Losties (Irony)

Episode references

• When Locke explains to Richard that Ethan shot him, Richard replies "What comes around goes around", presumably in reference to Charlie shooting Ethan. ("Homecoming")
• Locke's climb to the Beechcraft is reminiscent of Boone's and Eko's climbs at the same location. ("Deus Ex Machina") ("?")
• The Beechcraft arrival is finally seen. ("Deus Ex Machina") ("The 23rd Psalm")
• The episode begins with Pierre Chang putting on a record, much like in "Man of Science, Man of Faith" and "A Tale of Two Cities".
• Pierre Chang's alarm clock features a black background and white numbers that flips the numbers, this is reminiscent to the Swan Station timer. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
• Chang and Faraday reference "rules that can't be broken" regarding time travel. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes") ("The Shape of Things to Come")
• Locke's position as he falls after being shot is reminiscent to that after Anthony Cooper pushed him through an eighth story window ("The Man from Tallahassee").
• Pierre Chang and Eric ride in a DHARMA van similar to the one used by Ben and his father and discovered by Hurley. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")  ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• Pierre Chang being annoyed after having been interrupted is reminiscent of his reaction in The Orchid Orientation Video's outtakes.
• Charlotte's nose starts to bleed. ("The Constant")
• Following his note, "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant", Faraday establishes Desmond as his constant. ("The Constant")
• A picture of Jack and Aaron together can be seen in Kate's home. ("Something Nice Back Home")
• Richard's compass is similar to the one that Richard offered to Locke as a child in the claiming test. ("Cabin Fever")

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Because You Left/Theories

• What is the nature of the Island's time shifting phenomenon?
• Where/when did the Island go?
• What is seen by people not jumping in time when someone in front of them does?
• Why are Richard Alpert and the Others not affected by the time shifts?
  • Why is Juliet, a former member of the Others, affected?
  • Why does Daniel think the rules of time do not apply to Desmond?
  • Are the Flight 815 survivors who joined the Others affected or not? Why?
• What does the Beechcraft's crash tell us about where the Island might have physically moved to?
• Who built the frozen wheel and how did it end up buried under a wall of rocks?
• How did Faraday get back in time and work as a DHARMA worker when the Orchid was being constructed?
• Why does Richard tell Locke that in order for the Oceanic 6 to return to the island he has to die?
• Why is Richards compass important enough to him that he gave it to Locke?
• Who is Daniel's mother and why does Desmond need to find her?
• Who hired Dan Norton?
• Who are the men that are trying to capture Sayid and/or Hurley?
• Why does Sayid instruct Hurley not to trust Ben when he spent the last years working for him?
  • Why was one armed with a proper gun and the other a tranquilliser gun?
• Why doesn't Desmond remember Daniel Faraday?

External links

• ABC Medianet Press Release (12/31/08): Press release