Changes: LA X, Parts 1 & 2

Revision as of 10:53, 4 February 2010

"LA X, Parts 1 & 2" is the 1st episode of Season 6 of Lost and the 104th/105th produced hours of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on Feb 2, 2010.

Synopsis

Previously on Lost

At the Swan construction site in 1977, Jack awakens to find Kate pulling Sawyer away from the shaft that Juliet fell into. At the bottom, Juliet awakens, pinned beneath several tons of wreckage, and begins to cry. Seeing the Jughead core nearby, she grabs a rock and begins slamming it, yelling at it to go off. Finally, after 8 strikes she appears to be successful, and a white flash envelops everything.

Parallel Timeline

September 22nd, 2004

(See Differences between flash-sideways timeline and original timeline)

6x01RoseJack — Jack and Rose greet again near each-other on the plane.

Aboard Oceanic Flight 815, Jack Shephard gazes out the window at passing clouds. Cindy, a flight attendant, asks him how his drink is, then smiles when he admits it's not very strong. She gives him a small bottle of vodka and asks him to keep it between them.

Suddenly, the plane begins shaking, and the pilot announces they are running into some turbulence ahead. Rose, the woman across the aisle, assures Jack it's normal, and jokes that her husband always says planes are meant to be in the air. They chat for a while before the turbulence worsens, and Jack grips the armrests with an expectant look. However, the plane passes through, and Bernard returns safely from the bathroom.

6x01Desplane — Desmond appears on Flight 815.

Jack gets up to go to the lavatory, and inspects himself carefully in the mirror, noticing a bleeding sore under his shirt collar. Going back to his seat, he meets a man named Desmond Hume in the seat next to him. Both characters struggle to remember whether they have met before. The view then shifts out the window and down into the ocean, where the remains of the Island are shown, now completely submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean and crusted over with sea life. Underwater, the remains of the DHARMA Barracks are visible, and a DHARMA shark is seen swimming near Tawaret's four toed foot.

6x01 TakingAdvantage — Sawyer warns Hurley about his lottery win.

Jack heads to the forward lavatory, where Edward Mars waits for his "friend." Kate bursts out of the door and runs into Jack, apologizing before the Marshal hauls her back to her seat.

Kate receives her meal, but the Marshal won't allow her a knife or fork. Just then, Sawyer brushes past the Marshal, and Kate hides her hands under her tray table, presumably to conceal her handcuffed wrists. Sawyer shares a meaningful look with Kate before apologizing and moving on. Sawyer goes back to his seat, where Leslie Arzt is pestering Hugo Reyes to do an impression of a character in his Mr. Cluck's commercial. Arzt finds it hysterical, then asks how a guy like him came to own a major corporation like Mr. Cluck's. Hurley replies that he won the lottery and happens to like chicken, leading a downcast Arzt to quickly excuse himself. Sawyer warns Hurley not to share his lottery win with strangers, saying it will make them try to take advantage of him, but Hurley brushes it off: he says he's the luckiest man alive.

6x01 BooneAndLockeAgain — Boone and Locke exchange their reasons for being in Australia.

Smiling, Sun gazes at Rose and Bernard a few rows ahead; she tells Jin that they look so happy together. In response, Jin reminds her to button the top of her sweater.

John Locke reads a safety brochure, leading Boone, sitting nearby, to say it won't be any use if the plane goes down. John replies a good pilot could negotiate a water landing, and the fuel tanks would keep the plane afloat until the survivors could get onto the liferafts. They strike up a conversation: Boone explains he was in Australia to get his sister out of a bad relationship, but she didn't want to come back with him. Locke says he went on a walkabout for ten days in the Australian outback, which greatly impresses Boone. Boone remarks if the plane does crash, he'll stick with Locke. Frogurt is sleeping in the seat next to Locke.

6x01 AmIAlive — Charlie is revived by Jack, wondering if he is alive.

Cindy makes an announcement asking for any doctors on board to press their call buttons, and eventually comes over to ask Jack for help: one of the passengers has been in the lavatory for half an hour and is no longer responding to any knocks. With the help of Sayid and a flight attendant, they force open the door to find Charlie Pace, who is sitting unconscious on the toilet. Jack can tell something is blocking his airway and cannot reach it, he then tries to use the pen in his pocket to perform a tracheotomy and realizes it is mysteriously gone. After a few minutes, Jack and Sayid manage to clear his airway, which was blocked by a baggie of heroin, and revive him. However, he isn't happy when he realizes he is still alive.

6x01 SafeLanding — Oceanic Flight 815 lands safely in Los Angeles.

As Charlie is led in handcuffs to his seat, he angrily tells Jack he was supposed to die. Jack returns to his seat, and notices Desmond has gone missing. Rose and Bernard, having been asleep, don't know where he is, nor do they remember anyone sitting next to him. Rose remarks to Jack to buckle up, as they buckle up as the plane begins its descent into Los Angeles. Sayid looks at a photo of Nadia, while Jin inspects the watch he is supposed to deliver. Finally, the plane touches down; police come to escort Charlie away, Boone shakes hands with Locke before leaving, while the others gather their belongings and disembark including Rose and Bernard very much happy as a couple, followed shortly by Sun and Jin whom both appear very unhappy, and Kate in handcuffs with Edward, Jack and Locke are the last two passengers on the plane, and Jack watches as two airline employees bring a wheelchair on board and lift an apparently paralyzed Locke into it.

6x01 KoreansInTrouble — Jin and Sun run into trouble involving Jin's money.

At Los Angeles International Airport, Jack is paged to an Oceanic Airlines desk, where a company representative informs him that his father's coffin apparently was not put onto the plane in Sydney, and they are uncertain of its current location. Jack is clearly upset.

Jin and Sun attempt to go through customs and the officials are frustrated at their language barrier. They find the watch Jin is transporting, and, failing to understand it is a business gift, continue to search his bag. Finding a pouch containing stacks of undeclared cash, Agent Smalley leads Jin away for questioning. Agent Anne advises Sun (referring to her by her maiden name, Ms Paik) that if she knows some English and can explain it would clear things up, but Sun appears not to understand.

6x01 PregnantAndHijacked — Claire is frozen in fear as Kate hijacks her taxi.

Meanwhile Kate talks the marshal into letting her go to the bathroom, where she attempts to pick the handcuffs with a pen she pick pocketed from Jack during their encounter outside the lavatory. When the marshal discovers the spring to the pen on the floor, he demands she come out and Kate shoves open the bathroom stall door, knocking him down and causing him to his head on the sink, knocking him unconscious. Kate escapes with the marshal's gun, but is seen by two women who enter the restroom and call for help as Kate tells them that he had tried to attack her. Kate runs into an elevator, and finds Sawyer inside. Sawyer notices her handcuffed wrists, despite Kate's attempt at concealment with the marshal's coat Kate stole after knocking him unconscious. Ganson and Calhoun, two TSA employees, come on the elevator and are alerted there's been a security issue. Sawyer presumes Kate is involved, and the next time the elevator opens, Sawyer holds the door and says "ladies first" so that Kate can get away before the TSA employees realize who they're looking for. Once out of the elevator and in baggage claim, Kate notices airport employees looking for the marshal's attacker. Kate sneaks into an employee's only area. From there, Kate runs outside and tries to get a cab. She is told by an angry Neil "Frogurt" there is a line, and Kate gets in line behind Hurley. When Edward Mars sights her, Kate hops in the back of someone else's cab. When the cab driver says he already has a passenger, Kate pulls a gun on him and tells him to drive. Sitting beside Kate in the back seat of the cab is Claire.

6x01 HereIsMyCard — Jack hands Locke his business card for a free consultation.

In an small Oceanic Airlines office, Jack speaks back and forth on the cell phone with his mother, who apparently has told Jack she had never wanted to hold the funeral that quickly (in two hours) and we hear Jack say he just wanted to get it over. Jack meets Locke, who is finishing up filling out paperwork on his case of knives, which the airline had also misplaced. Jack tells Locke Oceanic lost his father because they can't locate his coffin. Locke tells Jack Oceanic has no idea where Jack's dad is; the airline lost his dad's body, not his dad. Seemingly grateful to hear this perception of the ordeal, Jack notices Locke's condition and asks him about it. "My condition is irreversible," Locke says. "Nothing is irreversible," Jack replies. He offers him a free consultation, gives him his business card and holds the door open for Locke to wheel out.

Original Timeline

2007

At the Swan and the Temple

File:6x01 EyeSeeYou.jpg

Kate awakens following Jughead's detonation.

Out of the white, Kate's eye opens. The sound is muffled, she falls, but grabs on. She's in a tree, and climbs back onto the tree. She yells and then shakes her head and messes with her ears until her hearing returns. She climbs down out of the tree. She yells, "Hello?" and it echoes. She finds Miles. They trek back to the Hatch to find it completely obliterated, as it was after Desmond turned the fail-safe key three years before. Kate sees both Jack and Sawyer lying in the grass. She chooses to go to Jack's aid. Jack shakes his head and wakes up. Sawyer kicks him and he falls down into the hatch hole. Kate climbs down into the hole and Sawyer yells at Jack, "You were wrong!". Kate tries to hold him back.

6x01 HelloI'mJacob — Jacob appears to Hurley an hour after his murder.

Hurley and Jin are next to a Dharma van with Sayid, who is bleeding from the bullet wound in his stomach. Jin steps out of the van. Hurley points out that the sky turned from day to night. Jin informs Hurley he has just found a flashlight. He also adds that they must have time-traveled, as the experience was very similar. At the remains of the Swan Station, Jack concludes that the bomb must have gone off, but Sawyer yells back that they wouldn't still be here if the bomb had actually gone off. Juliet is suddenly heard screaming from underneath the amassed wreckage. The survivors attempt to move the wreckage, but there is an I-beam blocking the way. Sawyer orders Jin to return to the van in order to use it to lift the I-beam away. Meanwhile, at the van, Hurley is tending to Sayid when Jacob appears from the Jungle. He tells Hurley that he died an hour ago. Jacob then tells Hurley he needs to take Sayid and the guitar case he had given him previously to the Temple.

6x01 GoodbyeJules — Juliet succumbs to her injuries, before delivering her message to Sawyer.

Jin, together with Hurley and the injured Sayid, return to the Swan where they manage to remove the wreckage covering Juliet. Sawyer climbs into the hole beneath the wreckage and briefly talks to Juliet. Juliet mumbles something about getting coffee sometime and smiles as she says, "We can go dutch." She then seems to realize where she is, and her last words are "I have to tell you something important". She then dies from her injuries.

Sawyer vows to Kate that he will kill Jack for being responsible for her death. After tending to Sayid, Jack realizes that he will die, until Hurley tells them that he can help. The group leave for the Temple - guided by Jin - and leave Sawyer and Miles behind to bury Juliet. After she is buried, Sawyer orders Miles to communicate with her, in order to find out what important news she wanted to give him. After a brief commune with Juliet, during which engine and turbulence sounds from the Alternate 815 are heard, Miles informs Sawyer that the news was "It worked".

6x01 PlayThat Ankh — The content of Hurley's guitar case is revealed to be an Ankh.

The remainder of the group make their way to the Temple. The group enters the temple via a hole at the base of the wall. Inside they find a skeleton missing an arm (Montand) and take the skeleton's book, a French copy of Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. While making their way through the tunnels beneath the Temple, the survivors are captured one by one in the darkness by the Others. This group of Others take the captured group to the Temple proper, where they are introduced to Dogen, the Japanese leader of this particular group, who talks through his interpreter Lennon. Cindy informs her fellow Others that Hurley and crew were on Oceanic 815, as she was. She doesn't seem at all flustered when Dogen orders them to be shot. Hurley quickly tells Dogen that Jacob sent him and told him to bring the guitar case. The guitar case is opened, revealing a large wooden Ankh which Dogen promptly smashes. Hidden inside the ankh is a piece of paper. Dogen reads it and asks for each of their names. Hurley demands to know what the paper says and Lennon tells him that the Temple dwellers will all be in trouble if Sayid dies.

6x01 CoverHisEyes — Dogen covers Sayid's eyes after his death.

The Others bring Sayid into the Temple, where a large spring bubbles in the center, Lennon comments that the spring is not running clearly. Dogen approaches the water, cuts his hand and then submerges it in the water, noting that the water did not heal it. After informing Jack that there are risks, Dogen orders his followers to submerge Sayid in the water and turns over a hourglass. As Sayid appears to be revived the Dogan refuses to lift him out of the water until the timer is finished. It soon appears that Sayid is drowning. Jack protests but when he tries to stop them he is prevented. After the last sand grains fall Sayid is lifted lifeless from the water. Dogen announces to the shocked group that "your friend is dead". He leaves the survivors alone to mourn Sayid. Later, Cindy enters along with Zach and Emma, the children from the tail section, bringing the survivors some food. Miles and an unconscious Sawyer are also brought to the Temple at this point, after being captured by Others in the jungle.

File:6x01 WhatHappened.jpg

Sayid is mysteriously brought back to life.

Hurley visits Dogen, where it is revealed that he understands English, but refuses to speak it as he dislikes "the way it tastes on my tongue". After a brief conversation, Hurley reveals that Jacob is dead, which shocks Dogen and Lennon who rush out of the room. The two issue orders to the rest of the Others, who hurriedly pour lines of ash around the Temple, barricade the entrances, and launch a rocket flare. Lennon reveals that they are not keeping the survivors in, but rather keeping "him" out.

While waiting in the Temple spring room, Hurley and Miles sit near Sayid's body, as Hurley says goodbye to his friend. Sawyer awakens and affirms to Kate that he doesn't plan to kill Jack, because "he deserves to suffer on this rock just like the rest of us." Lennon enters and asks to speak with Jack in private, but Jack argues and scuffles with several of the Others. The fight is interrupted when all present are shocked to see Sayid sit up, very much alive. He pauses, confused, and says "What happened?"

At the statue

6x01 ManipulatingOnceMore — Jacob's nemesis sends Ben with a message.

Inside the statue, Jacob's Nemesis (as Locke) picks up the bloodied knife Ben had used to stab Jacob. He tears off a piece of fabric from the floor and uses it to clean the knife. He tells a visibly disturbed Ben that he can stop staring at the fire and that Jacob is gone. Ben asks why Jacob didn't fight back. Jacob's Nemesis replies that Jacob must have known he was beaten and asks Ben to go outside and tell Richard that he needs to talk to him. Ben inquires as to what they have to discuss. Jacob's Nemesis states that it is between himself and Richard.

6x01 IsThatYouJohn — Ben comes face-to-face with the real, dead John Locke.

Meanwhile, outside, Ilana and Bram discuss entering the statue with Richard. Richard tells them firmly that they cannot go in, and that only those summoned by Jacob may enter. Ilana replies that she and Bram were brought to the island by Jacob, and thus should be allowed inside. Ben comes out and is immediately set upon by Ilana and her men. When he informs Richard that he is summoned by Locke,Richard becomes furious with Ben, and shoves him onto the beach next to Locke's corpse, revealing to Ben for the first time that Locke is indeed dead. After a brief discussion, Ilana orders her men to enter the room with Ben, despite Richard's protest.

6x01 TauntingNemesis — Jacob's nemesis taunts Bram and the rest of Jacob's followers.

Inside the statue, the four men including Bram enter Jacob's chamber and point their guns at Jacob's Nemesis. They ask him where Jacob is, and upon being informed that Jacob is dead, they become enraged and fire several shots at Jacob's Nemesis. One shot appears to strike him, after which he disappears behind a column. As one of the men investigates the room, he finds the bullet that was thought to have hit Nemesis lying on the ground. Confused, he turns around, just as the Monster enters the room.

6x01 HelloSmokey — Bram faces the smoke monster inside the statue.

There is a brief fight, but the Monster quickly overpowers three of the four men, killing them. Bram produces a container of ash which he proceeds to hurriedly spread around himself in a circle. This circle protects Bram from the Monster's direct advances towards him, so the Monster dislodges a chunk of rock from the statue interior, which knocks Bram out of the circle of ash. Bram, now vulnerable, is grabbed by the Monster and thrown through Jacob's tapestry, where he is impaled on a piece of wood, and killed. During the entirety of the fight, Ben cowers in a corner, looking on in shock. At the conclusion of the fight, Jacob's Nemesis (once again as Locke) reappears behind Ben and states that he is "Sorry that you had to see me like that," thus definitively revealing the link between the Monster, Jacob's Nemesis, and post-Ajira Flight 316 Locke.

File:6x01 SmokeyGoHome.jpg

Jacob's nemesis tells Ben he simply just wants to go "home."

Ben, noticeably shocked, finally manages to ask Jacob's nemesis, "what are you?" He only answers that he's not a "what" but a "who." Jacob's Nemesis then tells Ben that John Locke was very confused when Ben killed him and his last thought was "I don't understand." As Ben grapples with these revelations, Jacob's Nemesis goes on explaining how sad and pathetic Locke's life was. He continues that Locke's only redeeming virtue was to have been the only one of the Oceanic 815 survivors not to want to go back to their worthless pre-Island life, but rather to stay on the Island. He finishes his speech to Ben by reflecting on the irony of this situation, because unlike Locke, he just wants to go "home."

6x01 OutsideTheStatue — Richard and Jacob's nemesis face each other.

The flares from the Temple are seen from the beach as Ben and Nemesis leave the statue. The remaining Others lift their guns to shoot at the Nemesis, but are promptly halted by Richard from taking action. Richard confronts the Nemesis, who responds to Richard that it is good to see "you without your chains." Richard is stunned and replies "You?!," indicating some familiarity with who the Nemesis is. Nemesis promptly knocks Richard out and hoists him onto his shoulder. He turns to the rest of the Others, including Sun and Frank, and shouts angrily that he is "very disappointed with all of you," before making his way past the real John Locke's body.

Trivia

General

Damon and Carlton promised that a new device would be introduced at Comic-Con. This appears to be the "flash sideways" (as Carlton Cuse calls them[1]) to a timeline where 815 never crashed introduced in this episode.
The flash sideways "whoosh" is different from the previous flashback sound. It bears a striking resemblance to the noise heard during the time flashes in Season 5, with hints of the noise heard when Juliet detonated Jughead.
Unusually, there was no guest cast list given before the airing of the episode in the ABC press releases, to avoid spoiling the episode.
As of this episode, Jack and Kate are the only characters to appear in every season premiere of the series.
This is the first time that the Monster is seen in such close proximity to the beach and ocean. All previous encounters have occurred relatively far inland on the Island.
Sayid's passport, shown at LAX, is an Iranian passport instead of being Iraqi.
Shannon, Nikki, Paulo, Scott, Steve, Sullivan, Michael, Walt and other characters from previous seasons known to be on board Oceanic 815 were not seen, although Shannon was referenced by Boone.
Desmond was seen by Jack to be on the flight, but he was not on it originally. In the original timeline he was on the island, working at the Swan Station. It's not known whether Desmond was actually on the flight as he appears and disappears with only Jack actually noticing him.
Ana Lucia Cortez, Eko, and Libby who were in the tail section, were not shown to be on the flight.
The first episode of season 1 and 6 starts from Jack's POV.
This is the first season premiere since the Pilot where Jin actually appears with speaking lines. He did not appear in season 2, 3 and 5's opening episodes, and had no lines in season 4's opener, making him the original cast member credited in all seasons to appear the least in season premieres.
When viewing the address shown on Jack's business card (8444 Wilshire Blvd) on Google Map's Street-View, you can see a film crew. It is not clear if this is a Lost-related shoot. The Street-View image at the intersection of Wilshire and Hamilton also appears to have been recorded at a different date than the surrounding four sections, as evidenced by the changing text on the nearby marquee and the disappearance of the crew.
This is the first and likely final time that Jack, Kate, Locke, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Claire, Boone, Desmond, Charlie, Ben, Juliet and Arzt have appeared in the same episode since season 3's "Exposé."
This is the first, last, and only 2 hour season premiere of Lost.
One of the Ankhs the four toed statue was holding is now visible to its right, underwater.
In healing young Ben at the Temple in 1977, Richard notes that Ben will not remember what happened, that he would lose his innocence and would always be "one of us." ("Whatever Happened, Happened")
Hurley has clearly gotten over his fear of blood as evidenced by his tending to Sayid's wounds.
John Locke assuages Boone's anxiety about a crash landing on water by telling him that with a good pilot and calm seas that they all can survive a crash landing on water; the plane could land intact and float on the water with the fuel tanks providing buoyancy for some time, enough for everyone on board to make it into life rafts. Despite the events of Oceanic Flight 815 occuring on September 22, 2004, this may have been an inside reference by the writers to the controlled ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in New York City's Hudson River on January 15, 2009 due to bird strikes and subsequent dual engine failure. The plane floated totally intact (but slowly sinking) and the passengers made it out onto the wings waiting to be picked up by the tourist and transport ferries converging on the site. There were no fatalities.

Production notes

Emilie de Ravin (Claire) does not appear in the first hour of the premiere. Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) does not appear in the second.
Jack and Kate are the only two characters to appear in every season premiere of the series.
Emilie de Ravin rejoins the main cast. Nestor Carbonell, Jeff Fahey and Zuleikha Robinson are promoted to main cast.
While Henry Ian Cusick was not named a member of the main cast by ABC prior to the episode's airing, he is credited with them. He is credited during Part 2 in the separated episodes, making the situation non-episode specific and as peculiar as the case of Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro in season 3 (or Jeremy Davies, Ken Leung and Rebecca Mader in season 4), being deemed guest stars by ABC but regulars in the on-screen credits.
This episode features three former regulars: Elizabeth Mitchell, Dominic Monaghan and Ian Somerhalder.
- Like Cynthia Watros and Malcolm David Kelley before them, they are not credited as special guest stars.
This is the first season premiere since the series pilot episode where every main credited cast member appears.
- This is the first season premiere since "Pilot, Part 1" to feature Jin in a speaking role.
Shannon is explained to not be on the plane by Boone. Originally, Shannon was set to make an appearance, but Maggie Grace was unable to film any scenes due to her busy schedule. Thus, the backstory was rewritten to accommodate this. [2]
Greg Grunberg is heard as pilot Seth Norris.
Claire appears for the first time outside of stock footage since Season 4's episode "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2", after a 17 episode absence.
Cindy, Zach and Emma appear for the first time since the Season 3 episode "The Brig".
This is the first episode to begin the opening credits with "An ABC STUDIOS PRODUCTION". This is now becoming a standard for all ABC shows.

Bloopers and continuity errors

When Sayid is removed from the spring, his hair is soaking wet. Just a few seconds later, when he's being laid on the ground, his hair is much drier.
- This may be intentional.
When Sayid is being taken down the steps in the temple to the water, a background extra removes the stretcher twice between the shots.
When Sawyer finds Juliet at the Swan site, her hands move into various positions between shots, though she is obviously unconscious at the time.
Oceanic 815 is supposed to be a Boeing 777. The approaching scene showed a correct 777, however:-
- The sequence where you can see the landing gear on touch down shows four wheels on the main landing gear. A Boeing 777 has six wheels.
- The plane approaching the gate has four engines (you can see the engine shadows). The actual plane at the gate is an Airbus A340.
When Charlie is being taken from the plane by policemen, he looks left to Jack and all the passengers are facing him. In the next image, Jack looks right, but all the passengers faced opposite.
Jack is carrying one side of the stretcher up until the time when Kate moves out of sight under the Temple wall. When Jack becomes concerned for her, he grabs the flashlight from Hurley and goes after Kate. However, he never set down his side of the stretcher or handed it off to anyone else.
When the plane shakes for a second time, footage from the previous storyline can be noticed as luggage starts to fall out of the overhead compartments, the next shot the luggage is no longer falling, and the latches of the compartments are still closed.
When Hurley and the others enter the tunnel under the Temple, after Hurley says "this is gonna be awesome", a can of soda can be seen on a ledge behind Kate's torch.

Recurring themes

Animals • Black and white • Character connections • Children • Coincidence • Death • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Economics • Electromagnetism • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Games • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Leadership • Life and death • Literary works • Mirrors • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Pairings • Parapsychology • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Psychology • Rain • Redemption • Relationships • Religion • Revenge • Salvation • Secrets

Juliet dies. (Life and Death)
Sayid dies and comes back to life. (Life and Death) (Rebirth)
Kate cares for Sawyer. (Relationships)
Charlie nearly dies from choking (i.e. he could not breathe), but is revived. (Life and Death) (Irony)
Sawyer threatens to kill Jack. (Revenge)
Sawyer calls Juliet "blondie". (Nicknames)
Sawyer calls Cindy "Earhart" on the plane. (Nicknames)
The scene with Kate on the tree opens with her eye. (Eyes)
Sawyer tells Hurley he shouldn't tell people he won the lottery because people will take advantage of him. (Deceptions and cons)
Jacob's Nemesis is wearing a black shirt throughout the episode. (Black and White)
While Jacob's Nemesis explains his motivations to Ben, he leans infrequently back into the darkness and forward into the light cast by the hole in the roof of the statue base. (Black and White)
Kate comes across the corpse of Montand whose arm is missing. (Missing body parts)
Jacob's Nemesis speaks to Richard about being freed from his chains and to Bram's group that they are free now Jacob is dead. (Imprisonment)
Charlie says that he was "supposed to die". (Fate versus free will)
The secret hidden in the guitar case was an ankh which secretly contained a piece of paper. The ankh is a symbol of eternal life. (Secrets) (Religion)
The monster kills Ilana's group. (Life and Death)
Jacob's Nemesis says he wants to "go home." (Imprisonment)
When they enter the hole in the wall, they find a book on the dead french man's body. (Books)
In the alternate reality where Oceanic 815 does not crash, many of the main characters past and present still make contact with each other. (Character connections)
Jack's father's coffin was lost and never landed in Los Angeles. (Parent Issues)
Lock explains to Jack that his condition is irreversible. Jack responds that nothing is irreversible and offers him a free consultation. (Fate versus free will)
Locke gives Boone a detailed description of a walkabout he never took. (Deceptions and cons)
Kate steals a pen from Jack, which she attempts to pick the lock on her handcuffs with. (Deceptions and cons)
Kate and Edward Mars go through security at LAX at a booth labeled 4F. (Numbers)

Storyline analysis

Storyline analysis
A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries • S-Missions

Kate attacks US Marshal Edward Mars. (Crimes)
Sawyer blames Jack for the death of Juliet and threatens to kill him. (Rivalries)
Charlie is arrested for bringing drugs on the plane. (Crimes)
Jin is revealed to be smuggling undeclared money into the US for unknown purposes. (Crimes)
Jack's decision to drop the bomb is questioned, particularly by Sawyer, and even by himself. (Leadership)

Cultural references

Cultural references (direct references only)
Art • Automobiles • Games • History • Literary works • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

Earth X: The "X" in 'LA X' stands for an alternate reality. It is commonly used in comic books including Marvel Comics which have an alternate history/timeline called "Earth X". (Books)
Haroun and the Sea of Stories: Desmond is reading this book by British Indian writer Salman Rushdie. "It is a phantasmagorical story set in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name". It is an allegorical story about a 10 year old boy in an imaginary world called "Kahani" and his father is the story teller. After but after his mother leaves his father, the father is unable to tell stories anymore. There is a water genie who controls the Ocean of the Stream of Stories. (Books)
Fear and Trembling: The book encountered in the Temple is "Fear and Trembling" (original title: Frygt og Bæven), an influential philosophical work by Danish philosopher, theologian, and psychologist Søren Kierkegaard, published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de silentio (John the Silent). In the book, through alternative re-tellings of the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, Kierkegaard examines the role of faith and its relationship with morality and ethics. The title is a reference to a line from Philippians 2:12, "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Books)
"Crocodile" Dundee: Boone compares Locke to the main character of this 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback. (Movies)
Amelia Earhart: As Cindy rushes to the back of plane with medical supplies for Charlie, Sawyer asks "What's goin' on back there Earhart?" Amelia Earhart was the noted American aviation pioneer who went missing in 1937 during a circumnavigational flight of the globe over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.
Kumbaya: As Sayid is taken out of the Dharma van and Hurley takes the guitar case out, Miles asks "Are we gonna sing Kumbaya on the way?" "Kumbaya" is an African-American spiritual song from the 1930s that enjoyed newfound popularity during the folk revival of the 1960s and became a standard campfire song in nature-oriented organizations. More recently it is cited or alluded to in sarcastic or cynical ways. (Music)

Literary techniques

Literary techniques
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock characters: Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character Story: Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Flash sideways • Framing device • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator

In the alternate timeline, Boone tells Locke "If this thing goes down, I'm with you." In the original timeline, this led to his death. (Irony)
In the alternate timeline, Jack offers John Locke help with his disability and shakes his hand. (Irony) (Juxtaposition)
On the alternate Flight 815, a calm Rose reassures a nervous Jack. Rose says "You can let go now," a substitute for the original "I'm letting you off the hook." (Irony)
Ben was healed at the temple after Sayid shot him. Now Sayid is healed in the pool after he has been shot by Ben's father. (Irony) (Juxtaposition)
Boone asks Locke if he's just "pulling his leg". (Irony)
A character named Bram is killed by being impaled by wood, like how a vampire is killed by a stake. (Irony)
"Locke" is revealed to be the Smoke Monster, who is one and the same with Jacob's nemesis. (Plot twist)
Sayid is revealed to have survived his treatment by the Others, despite the initial suggestion of his death. (Plot twist)
Charlie says he was supposed to die. So although it is an alternate reality the notion of destiny is still intact. Desmond attempted to save Charlie multiple times and failed and ultimately Charlie resigned to the fact that he must die. In this alternate reality Charlie references this same theme.
Jack tells Locke that "nothing is irreversible". Jack seems to be unaware that he himself managed to change the course of time, even if in an alternative timeline. (Irony)
The Police code "341" that we can hear in the elevator is : "Discharging Firearms".
The appearent motivation behind Jacob's Nemesis actions is to go back "home". To do so, he took the guise of John Locke, who wanted to remain in the Island and never go back. (Irony)

Episode references

The scene where the plane lands is very similar in style to the scene where the plane takes off. ("Exodus, Part 2")
In the scene where the Island is underwater, a shark with the DHARMA logo can be seen swimming past. ("Adrift")
Jack saves Charlie from suffocation. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
Jack's attempt to save Sayid mirrors his attempt to save Charlie. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
Jack and Desmond wonder have they met before Oceanic Flight 815. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
Charlie says that he was "supposed to die." ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")
Jack asks for a pen to save someone who isn't breathing. ("Pilot, Part 1")
Boone mentions Shannon's troubled relationship. ("Hearts and Minds")
Jin is stopped at customs for carrying the watch and money that Mr. Paik gave him. ("...In Translation")
When Sawyer climbs through the rubble of the Swan station, he pushes aside an excercise bike. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
Jack explores a dark, dank, underground hallway with a flashlight to try to find Kate, who has been taken captive by mysterious people. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
Hurley gives the Others the guitar case he received from Jacob. ("The Incident, Part 1")
US Marshal Edward Mars gets hit in the head (again). ("Pilot, Part 1")
Rose tells Jack her husband is in the bathroom and tells Jack not to worry about the turbulence. ("Pilot, Part 1")
Jacob references Jin's meeting at the Temple with the French team. ("This Place Is Death")
The opening both parallels the opening in the Pilot and A Tale of Two Cities. It takes place at the exact same time as both events, and the barracks are also seen in both. ("Pilot, Part 1") ("A Tale of Two Cities")
Ash is used to protect from the smoke monster and was seen surrounding Jacob's cabin when approached by Ben and Locke, and the Ajira air group. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")("The Incident, Part 1")

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: LA X, Parts 1 & 2/Theories

Parallel timeline

General

What exactly happened in 1977 after the bomb went off?
What is the history of this new timeline?

Flight 815

What is the significance of the blood on Jack's neck in the plane bathroom?
How did Desmond end up on Flight 815, and where did he go when Jack returned to his seat?

LAX

Where is Christian Shephard's coffin and body?
What was Jin's real purpose to travel to America, hinted at by his hidden stash of money

On-Island