Lighthouse

"Lighthouse" redirects here. For other uses of "Lighthouse", see Lighthouse (disambiguation).

Lighthouse
Season	6
Episode number	05
Airdate(s)	February 23, 2010
Centric	Jack
Writer	Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Director	Jack Bender
Guests	Veronica Hamel - Margo Shephard Dylan Minnette - David Shephard Mark Pellegrino - Jacob Hiroyuki Sanada - Dogen
Co-stars	Dayo Ade - Justin Sean Kinerney - Japanese boy
Transcript	Lighthouse transcript

"Lighthouse" is the 5th episode of Season 6 of Lost and the 108th produced hour of the series as a whole. It was first broadcast on February 23, 2010.

Synopsis

Previously on Lost

• The Oceanic flight lands and Jack is told that the coffin is lost. Jack explains the loss to Locke. ("LA X, Part 1") ("LA X, Part 2")
• The Others bring the survivors to the Temple, Sayid is immersed in the spring and revives saying "What happened?" and Jack is given the poisonous pill for Sayid. Sayid is tested with the red-hot iron and Dogen tells Jack the darkness growing in Sayid also infected Jack's sister. ("LA X, Part 2") ("What Kate Does")
• Jin is caught in the animal trap and saved from being shot by Aldo when Claire shoots him. ("What Kate Does")

Flash-sideways timeline (2004)

Jack and David are having communication issues.

Jack arrives from work at his apartment in Los Angeles. While changing his shirt he notices an appendectomy scar. His mother calls on the phone, asking for an update on the lost coffin, and Jack asks her about the scar. She tells him his appendix was removed when he was seven or eight after he collapsed at school. However, Jack doesn't seem to recall it, saying he "guesses" he remembers it. He also agrees to go to her home to help look for his father's will, which she cannot find because there are numerous paper's in Christian's office. On noticing the time, Jack excuses himself, hangs up and leaves.

Jack drives to a school (St. Mary's Academy) where he picks up David, his son. Jack apologizes several times for being late but David is dissatisfied and impatient with Jack. At Jack's apartment there is an awkward conversation between Jack and David. Finding a copy of The Annotated Alice, Jack asks whether David is reading it but when Jack reminisces about reading the book to David when he was younger, David walks out.

Margo questions Jack's knowledge about "a Claire Littleton."

In the kitchen David asks why Jack wants to have a conversation with him as they only see each other once a month and he wants to "get through it." Margo Shephard calls, asking where Jack is and Jack leaves. Jack drives to his mother's large house where they search for the will. Margo Shephard offers Jack a drink which he refuses and she replies, "Good for you." She asks after David saying he was very upset at the funeral. Jack says that he was unaware of this as "communication is not one of [David's] strong suits." Jack explains that he didn't communicate well with his father as a child because he was terrified of him. Margo, mentioning that David might be terrified of Jack as well, suggests that he should ask his son.

Jack notices photos of him and his son.

At last Margo finds the will in an envelope and upon reading it asks Jack whether his father ever mentioned a Claire Littleton.

Jack arrives home with a pizza and drinks but David is not at home. Later Jack phones David and leaves a message that he is sorry if he did something to upset him. He explains that he is going to drive over to David's mother's house and asks David to wait there if he is already there. At David's mother's house Jack finds the key under a pottery rabbit and while looking goes to David's room. David is not here. Jack sees sheet music for Chopin's "Fantaisie Impromptu." He also notices photo booth shots of David with Jack which make him emotional.

Jack listens to two messages on the answering machine. The first is from the Conservatory confirming David's slot at 7:00pm on Friday the 24th.

Jack meets Dogen at the audition.

The other is a message from Jack in Sydney where Jack says that something happened and he "just needed to hear [David's] voice," causing Jack to tear up. Jack goes to the auditions at the Williams Conservatory. When he arrives David is playing Chopin's "Fantaisie Impromptu" on the piano. A boy says that David is a really good musician and as he leaves is hugged by his father. "They are too young to have this kind of pressure," says the man, as he turns and reveals himself as Dogen.

Jack vows to never make the same mistakes as his father.

Dogen says "it is hard to watch and be unable to help" and adds that David "has a gift." When asked, Jack says that he does not know how long David has been playing.

Jack waits for his son outside. David says that he made his mom promise not to tell Jack that he was still playing because Jack always made such a big deal of the piano playing. He says that he did not tell Jack about the audition because he did not want Jack to see him fail. Jack says that at David's age his father did not want to see him fail either and that he said that Jack "didn't have what it takes." Jack says he has carried that statement all his life and that he never wants David to feel that way. He also tells David that he loves him and that in his eyes David can never fail.

Original timeline (2007)

Hurley and Jack

Jack and Dogen discuss the different options.

Jack is looking at his reflection in the pool in front of the Temple. Dogen joins him and says he was afraid that Jack had left. Jack asks whether leaving was an option to which Dogen replies that "everything is an option," but that if Jack did leave, he would have to stop him. He then asks Jack whether his friends are coming back. Jack says that they are probably not. The two men say how they appreciate each other's honesty.

Jacob tinkers with the pool and directs Hurley to the kitchen.

Hurley and Miles draw a makeshift game of tic-tac-toe. Hurley asks Miles if he is hungry and goes to the pool to find food. In the temple he spots a man crouched by the pool and asks where the kitchen is. The man says "it is down the hallway, Hugo," whereupon Hurley realizes it is Jacob. Jacob tells Hurley that he needs him, that Hurley should get a pen to write a few things down and that someone is coming to the Island and he needs Hurley to help that someone find the island.

Outside the Temple, the Others look at Sayid suspiciously as he approaches Jack. He asks what Jack is hiding from him. Jack says The Others wanted Jack to kill Sayid with the pill, which was poison. Jack explains that whatever has happened to him has happened to someone else too, and Sayid asks who.

Hurley has instructions from Jacob, written in ink on his forearm.

Later, Dogen discovers Hurley, who now has detailed instructions written on his left arm, searching a hallway in the temple. Dogen orders Hurley to return to the temple's square but Jacob appears to Hurley and says he can do what he wants and instructs Hurley to tell Dogen he is a candidate. Hurley uncertainly asserts his status as a candidate and his right to do as he pleases. Dogen says something in Japanese to Hurley ("You're lucky that I have to protect you. Otherwise I'd have cut your head off."). After Dogen leaves, Jacob reminds Hurley that he has to bring Jack with him. Hurley is frustrated and doesn't believe he will be able to convince Jack to come and asks Jacob for suggestions on how to persuade Jack. Jacob only gives a wry smile.

A startled Kate aims her gun at Jack.

Hurley goes to Jack and uses a false drama of whispers and secrets to tell him of a secret tunnel and the mission from Jacob. When Jack declines to go, Hurley tells him that Jacob said that Jack "has what it takes." Jack is disbelieving as to what he just heard and demands to see Jacob. Jack is convinced to come when Hurley explains that although Jacob is "kind of dead" he is at the place they are going to. Hurley leads Jack out of the temple and as they walk along a stream Jack sees a backpack. It is Kate's and she points a gun at them until she realises who it is. She says Jin has gone back to the temple and that "Sawyer is on his own." Kate says she's not going back to the Temple but she intends to find Claire. Jack says Claire is not at Beach Camp and that the Temple people said something happened to her. She remains determined to find her alone.

Jack comes across his father's smashed coffin.

Hurley and Jack continue on their way. Hurley is naively sorry for wrecking Jack's game with Kate. Jack says that there was nothing left to wreck. Hurley wonders what went down between Jack and Kate but Jack explains he wasn't cut out for marriage and kids. Jack finds Shannon's inhaler, upon which Hurley and Jack realize they are at the caves. While there, Hurley speculates that Adam and Eve might be the remains of some of the 815 survivors who have been sent back in time. Jack tells Hurley of how he discovered the caves while chasing after his dead father. Jack looks at his father's broken coffin which Jack says he smashed because his father "wasn't in it."

Further along Hurley reflects that what they are doing is "old school": "trekking through the jungle on [their] way to do something they don't quite understand." Hurley asks why Jack came back to the island. Jack turns the question back on Hurley, who says that he came simply because Jacob told him to. Jack pauses and emotionally explains that he came back because he was "broken" and that he was stupid enough to think the Island could fix him.

Jack and Hurley examine the Lighthouse mechanism.

Finally, Hurley and Jack arrive at a five story brick tower: the Lighthouse. Jack kicks in the door and they climb to the top, where they discover a wheel surrounding a fire bowl and a series of mirrors to reflect the firelight. Hurley says that they have to turn the wheel to heading 108, per Jacob. He begins to turn the wheel and asks Jack to tell him when it reaches that number.

Jack recognizes his childhood home in the Lighthouse's mirror.

As Jack watches he sees scenes reflected in the mirrors and hundreds of names alongside the heading numbers which are engraved around the circumference. His name, "Shephard" is adjacent to the number 23. As he watches the mirror, Jack sees a strange reflection and tells Hurley to stop, but the image vanishes. He then asks Hurley to turn the wheel to his number. Hurley refuses, trying to keep to Jacob's instructions, so Jack takes over and turns the wheel to 23. They see a reflection of Jack's childhood home. Jack speculates that Jacob has been watching all of them. Jack insistently says he wants Hurley to ask Jacob "right now" why Jacob has been watching him and why his name was written on the mechanism. Jack falls into a rage, wanting to know what Jacob wants from him, and furiously smashes the mirrors.

Jack looks out at the ocean, as Jacob and Hurley discuss the nature of Jacob's plans.

Afterward, Hurley is sitting outside the Lighthouse. Jacob appears and Hurley apologizes for failing in his mission and that the plan for the people to find the Island is "totally screwed." Jacob is unperturbed, telling him the person will find another way. Jack is sitting some distance away, staring out to sea, and Hurley realizes that Jacob actually wanted Jack to see what he did. Jacob explains that it was the only way for Jack to see how important he is. Jacob also explains that Jack is here to do something. To get some people to do something you just tell them, but for people like Jack you need to "let them look out at the ocean for a little while." He also explains that he had to get them away from the Temple, because someone bad is about to arrive there. Hurley wants to warn the people at the temple but Jacob explains that it is already too late.

At Claire's camp

Claire interrogates an injured Justin about her son. (promotional still)

Claire checks to make sure that Aldo and Justin are dead and then frees Jin from the animal trap. She explains that she has been living in the jungle since the other survivors left the Island three years ago. She starts to help Jin but he passes out. Later at a rough camp where Jin has been brought, Jin discovers a cradle with a makeshift doll constructed from an animal carcass and fur. Claire soon returns with Justin in tow and alive. She indicates that she intends to torture Justin in order to find out where Aaron is. She ties him to a tree and goes to prepare to treat Jin's wounds. When Claire leaves the two men alone, Justin insists that Claire intends to kill them both and says that Jin must free him so that he can snap Claire's neck. Claire boils the medical equipment and sharpens an axe with a stone.

Claire is shocked at Jin's revelation of Aaron's fate.

Claire returns and treats Jin's wound and stitches the gashes. She explains that she hasn't been alone in the jungle but has a friend who has told her that The Others have Aaron. She also says her father told her The Others have Aaron. She doesn't reveal who her friend is but is keen to know that Jin is still her friend. She threatens Justin with the axe, demanding to know where Aaron is. Justin denies knowing anything about Aaron and says they captured her earlier because she was "picking our people off." She says that The Others at the Temple had stuck her with needles and branded her and shows Jin a nasty scar on her shoulder. Jin stops her from killing Justin by saying that Kate took Aaron off the Island. Claire appears mollified by this but eventually violently strikes Justin in the chest with the axe and kills him.

Claire's friend smiles on arrival at Claire's camp.

Jin later tells Claire that he lied in the hope of saving Justin's life and that he had actually seen Aaron at the temple with The Others and that she will need him to get to Aaron. Claire says that this is good, because if Kate had really taken Aaron she would have to kill her.

The Man in Black then walks into Claire's camp, asking if he is interrupting anything. The Man in Black smiles warmly at Claire, and Claire seems pleased at this new addition to the group. A stunned Jin assumes given the new arrival's form that he is John Locke, but Claire corrects him: "This is not John, this is my friend."

Trivia

General

• The sign for David's recital reads "Welcome all Candidates."
• Jack's son, David, is shown reading an annotated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Jack refers to Alice's two kittens, Kitty and Snowdrop, one black and one white. Also in this episode, Jack finds a key to his ex-wife's house hidden under a rabbit statue. Both these things refer to the fifth episode of Season 1, entitled "White Rabbit". In that episode, Jack chases his dead father to the caves, eventually finding Adam and Eve, along with two stones, one white and one black, in the pocket of one of the corpses. In the flashback, Jack's father tells him he doesn't have what it takes.
• The lighthouse protractor reveals the following potential candidates that weren't previously known from the Cliffside cave:
  • Pryce crossed out at number 14.
  • Rousseau crossed out at number 20.
  • Stanhope crossed out at 48.
  • Austen at number 51. Austen is not crossed out and was not shown in the scene in the cave in "The Substitute."
  • Burke crossed out at number 58.
  • Faraday crossed out at number 101.
  • Lewis crossed out at number 104, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 140.
  • Rutherford crossed out at number 32, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 31.
  • Wallace crossed out at number 108.
  • Friendly crossed out at number 109.
  • Linus crossed out at number 117.
  • Dawson crossed out at number 124.
  • Littleton crossed out at number 313, which is different from "The Substitute" where she has number 212.

Production notes

• Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jeff Fahey (Frank), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Yunjin Kim (Sun), and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana) do not appear in this episode.
• This is the 108th produced hour of Lost. The number 108 plays an important role in this episode's plot.
• This episode continues the Season 6 pattern of copying Season 1's centric characters for episodes.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• During the conversation where Jacob tells Hurley that he has ink on his forehead, the ink is in a different position in one shot.

The lighthouse shadow is too short. It is cast by the first floor only.

• There is a visual difference between the first floor of lighthouse (built as a prop) and the rest of the building (created as CGI). When Hugo and Jack get close to the lighthouse's door you can see their relatively long shadows, implying it is not near noon, compared to one cast by the lighthouse which should be much longer.
• During the conversation between Dogen and Jack at the Temple the lighting changes unrealistically in one shot. The natural lighting (sunlight) was changing due to clouds so this was a continuity error.

Recurring themes

• When Claire is tending to Jin's bear trap wound, she states that one of the jungle's killers is "infection." (Infection)
• Jin and Justin are taken inside Claire's camp. (Imprisonment)
• Jack and his son, David, do not get along. (Parent issues)
• Jack mentions the Red Sox to David. (Character Connections)
• Justin is killed by Claire. (Life and Death)
• Hurley was instructed by Jacob to turn the mirror of the lighthouse to 108 degrees. (Numbers)
• The Lighthouse has 4 mirrors. (Numbers)
• Jack instructs Hurley to turn the compass to 23 degrees. (Numbers)
• Jin tells Claire that the Others have Aaron. (Deceptions and Cons)
• Jacob tells Hugo that Jack will have to find "it" himself. (Fate versus free will)
• Claire is friends with the Man in Black. (Relationships)
• Claire states that if Kate was responsible for taking Aaron, she would have killed her. (Revenge)
• Hurley calls Dogen "a samurai". (Nicknames)
• In the flash-sideways timeline, Jack is told by Dogen that his son is "gifted" similar to when Juliet told Michael that Walt was "special". (Parent Issues)
• Miles and Hurley play tic tac toe. (Games)
• The numbers in Jack's truck's license plate (2SAQ321) add up to 8. (Numbers)
• The hands on Jack's clock point to 51, 6, and 3. 51-6-3=42. 51 is also the Lighthouse number for Austen. (Numbers)
• The numerical address for the home of David Shephard's mother is 233. It also adds up to 8. (Numbers)
• David's phone number is 734-235-6787, which contains 42 and 23 melded together. 734 is also the area code for Ann Arbor, MI where Daniel Faraday was sent to work for the DHARMA Initiative. (Numbers)
• In the flash-sideways timeline, Jack meets Dogen after David's piano performance. (Character connections)
• In the caves, Jack tells Hurley he first found the caves not because he was looking for water, as he originally claimed in Season 1, but because he was looking for his father's ghost. Jack says he smashed the coffin because his father's body wasn't in it. (Secrets) (Missing body parts)
• In the flash-sideways timeline, after reading Christian's will, Jack's mom asks Jack if he's ever heard of Claire Littleton. (Character connections)
• In the flash-sideways timeline, Jack talks about the cats "Kitty", a black cat, and "Snowdrop", a white cat, from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. (Black and White)
• The piano David is playing has black and white keys. (Black and White)
• There is a reflection of David in the piano lid's bottom while playing (Reflection)

Cultural references

• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Hurley compares Jacob to Obi-Wan Kenobi in regards to how, although dead, he appears when he chooses to do so. (Movies)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Hurley tells Dogen (as a cover) that he likes temples and all that Indiana Jones stuff. (Movies)
• Alice in Wonderland: Jack's son, David, is reading an annotated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Jack refers to Alice's two kittens, Kitty and Snowdrop, one black and one white. Jack also finds a key to his ex-wife's house hidden under a rabbit statue. (Books)
• The Last Samurai: Hurley refers to Dogen as a samurai. The actor, Hiroyuki Sanada played a samurai in many films including "The Last Samurai". (Movies)
• Tic Tac Toe: Miles and Hurley are seen playing tic tac toe in the Temple grounds before Hurley tries to find some food inside the Temple. (Games)
• Chopin: Jack finds sheet music by the composer Chopin on David's desk. The music is Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, the piece David performs at his audition. (Music)
  • This same piece was played by Faraday in "The Variable."
  • This episode was aired one day after Chopin's 200th birthday.
• To the Lighthouse: Hurley and Jack's journey to the lighthouse may be an allusion to Virginia Woolf's 1927 book To the Lighthouse. Large parts of Woolf's novel investigate the means of perception, attempting to understand people in the act of looking. The previous episode alluded to another Woolf title, Jacob's Room. (Books)
• The Shining: Claire, having lived in isolation and corrupted by an evil spirit, killed Justin with an axe to the chest. This is similar to the movie version of “The Shining” where Jack Torrance, having lived in virtual isolation in the Hotel Overlook and corrupted by the evil spirits within, kills Dick Halloran with an axe to the chest when he returns in an attempt to save the family from Jack’s madness. (Movies)
• Red Sox: Jack sets up a TV in David's room so he can watch the Red Sox. (Games)
• The Bible: Jack's son is David Shephard. David from the Bible was a shepherd and musician. One of his most famous songs is Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd." (Religion)
• Lord of the Flies: Claire's animal carcass is similar to the boars head that keeps company with and speaks to Simon, a character who also lost touch with reality. (Books)
• The Who: There is a large black-and-white poster of the British band The Who in David Shephard's room. In The Who's Tommy, in the song "Smash the Mirror", Tommy is wakened from catatonia when his mother smashes the mirror into which he is staring. (Music)
• Frequency: This film deals with a son traumatized by his father's death, contains parallel universe/time travel storylines. Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) plays the role of the protagonist's mother. There is a character named "Jack Shepard". (Movies)
• Stargate: The symbol of a circle on a footing that Hurley discovers engraved on the wall in the passageway of the temple (indicating a doorway) is the same as the stargate in the TV series.

Literary techniques

• Jack comments on how he would make a horrible father when, in the flashsideways timeline, he is trying to be a great father. (Juxtaposition)
• Claire, who was previously one of the few characters never to have exhibited any violent behavior seems now able to murder a person in cold blood and threaten to murder a friend. (Juxtaposition), (Irony)
• Jack tells Hurley "Let's go see Jacob." (Regularly Spoken Phrases)

Episode references

• The sheet music in David Shepard's room, that he was also playing in his audition, was for Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu" which was the piece young Daniel Faraday was playing in a fifth season flashback. ("The Variable")
• Margo Shephard offers Jack a drink, which Jack declines, a reference to Jack's alcoholism from Season 3. ("Through the Looking Glass")
• Among the drinks in the Shephard's liquor collection is MacCutcheon whisky ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
• This episode, the fifth episode of the final season, contains several references to "White Rabbit", the fifth episode of the first season:
  • In order to motivate Jack, Jacob tells Hurley to tell Jack he "has what it takes." This motivates Jack because Christian once told Jack as a child he didn't have what it takes. ("White Rabbit")
  • Jack explains to Hurley that he discovered the caves by following a vision of his dead father. ("White Rabbit")
  • David is reading an annotated edition of Alice in Wonderland. ("White Rabbit")
  • Jack finds the key to David's mother's house under a ceramic white rabbit. ("White Rabbit")
    • The key and the rabbit also reference "Some Like It Hoth", in which Miles finds a key under a rabbit during the flashback.
• Jack reminds David he used to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to him when he was younger. In a flash-forward in Season 4, Jack reads the same story to Aaron. ("Something Nice Back Home") Two of Jack's centric episodes are named after Alice stories. ("White Rabbit")  ("Through the Looking Glass")
• Hurley looks at and comments on the bodies of Adam and Eve. ("House of the Rising Sun")
• Jack finds Shannon's inhaler on the ground in front of the caves. ("Confidence Man")
• Jack's appendectomy scar in the flash-sideways timeline parallels the scar he received from the same surgery Juliet performed on him on the Island. ("Something Nice Back Home")
  • It also echoes the mysterious cut he found on his neck in the airplane restroom before landing in L.A. ("LA X, Part 1")
• Claire explains that she knows that the Others have her baby because both her father and her "friend" told her that they took Aaron. Before meeting Jin, Claire was last seen with Christian Shephard. ("Cabin Fever")
• Jin tells Claire that Kate took Aaron off of the Island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")
• Both Hurley and Jacob reference their meeting in the cab in Los Angeles. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• The church where Sawyer attended his parents' funeral is one of the buildings seen briefly in the mirrors of the lighthouse. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• The location where Jin and Sun were married and touched by Jacob can be seen in the mirror in the lighthouse. ("The Incident, Part 2")
• Claire talks about how the Others tortured her at the Temple by sticking her with needles and branding her. ("What Kate Does")
• A poster on the wall of David's room advertises the band Meat Coat which is the band Charlie tells his brother they have a chance to open for in LA ("The Moth")
• The dynamite at Claire's camp is from the Black Rock ("Exodus, Part 2")
• Claire's way of life, appearance and behavior mirrors that of Rousseau in many respects. She ties up and tortures an Other in her lair to find out where her child is, similarly to Rousseau torturing someone she mistook as an Other to find Alex. ("Solitary")

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: Lighthouse/Theories

Original timeline

Claire

• How does she know the Man in Black is not John Locke?
  • Why does she consider the Man in Black her friend?

Jacob

• What does Jacob want Jack to perform?
• Why does Jacob not want Jack and Hugo to be at the Temple?
  • Why didn't Jacob want anyone else to be away at that time?
• Did Jacob's presence at the pool mean that the pool's waters will be murkier or more transparent now? Or was he just waiting for Hurley?
  • What was Jacob pouring into the water?

The Lighthouse

• Who is coming to the island?
  • Is it Wallace, or were Jacob's instructions to Hurley merely a subterfuge?
  • How is he going to find the island now?

Flash-sideways timeline

• Why does Jack not remember his appendectomy?
• What did Christian Shephard leave to Claire in his will?
• Who is David's mother?
  • Why are she and Jack separated?

External links

• ABC Medianet schedule
• ABC Medianet press release