The Oceanic Six are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 who left the Island and returned openly to civilization on January 7, 2005, 108 days after the crash. The lives of these characters —Aaron, Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sayid and Sun — following their return to civilization were featured in flash-forwards in the final episode of Season 3 and throughout Season 4. Although the existence of an "Oceanic Six" was revealed in "The Beginning of the End", the membership of this group was revealed and confirmed gradually only over the course of the first several episodes of the fourth season.
Members[]
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Revealed | "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2" | "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2" | "The Beginning of the End" | "The Economist" | "Ji Yeon" | "Eggtown" |
Fabricated story[]
Before the Oceanic Six left the Island, Locke told Jack that in order to protect the Island, he would need to lie to the public when he returned to civilization. Just before the survivors of the helicopter crash were picked up by the Searcher, Jack came to agree with Locke's instruction and told his fellow survivors that a cover story must be fabricated to protect themselves and the people left behind from people like Charles Widmore, the man who sent the mercenary team on the Kahana to kill them all. Kate believed it would be too elaborate to keep up, but Jack insisted that he do the talking to their rescuers, and they follow his lead. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2") During the week spent on the Searcher they made up the lie. Kate was the one who came up with an idea to make Aaron her son. ("The Little Prince") Jack, with the help of Kate, made everyone agree to the story - although Hurley was the one that was most against it. ("The Lie") Eventually, they all agreed and adhered to a fabricated story about their time following the crash, using the excuse of being "in shock" to explain any awkwardness or misstatements during their reintroduction to civilization. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")
The Oceanic Six stated that Oceanic Flight 815 crashed into the Indian Ocean, thereby tying in with the purported discovery of the plane's wreckage by the Christiane I. ("Confirmed Dead") As the plane was in the ocean filling up with water, several passengers got to the emergency door and swam out before the plane sank. They were in the water for over a day, afloat on cushions and some life jackets, before being carried by the ocean's current to an uninhabited island in the lesser Sunda Islands known as Membata. By then, there were only eight of them left: Boone, Charlie, Hurley, Jack, Kate, Libby, Sayid, and Sun. ("Eggtown") Jack was injured, and Kate dragged the survivors out of the water and onto Membata's beach. Kate administered first aid to some of the survivors and found food for them. Kate was said to be six months pregnant with Aaron at this time, which drew suspicion from one reporter ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"). Boone and Libby, severely injured during the crash, died within a week of their arrival on the island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") Approximately 75 days after the crash, Kate gave birth to Aaron. Approximately 80 days after the crash, Charlie drowned. After 103 days on Membata, a typhoon washed up the remnants of an Indonesian fishing boat, including basic supplies and a survival raft. The group of six (five crash survivors including Aaron) used this raft to journey to an island called Sumba, which they reached on day 108, and were photographed coming ashore by a local fisherman. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") From this point forward, the story of their rescue was true.
Some elements of this story were derived from the truth. The order in which Boone, Libby, and Charlie supposedly died matched the order in which they actually died, as well as the rough timeframe of each death. Boone did in fact die of internal injuries following a plane crash (though they were sustained in a different plane, which fell from the trees) ("Deus Ex Machina"), and Charlie did drown shortly before they left the Island. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Libby's actual cause of death (accidental gunshot) ("Two for the Road") was never revealed.
Jack maintained this story under oath at Kate's trial ("Eggtown"), and Hurley maintained the story while under police questioning, telling Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Walton that he never met Ana Lucia ("The Beginning of the End"). A grave marker for Jin in South Korea listed the date of the crash as his date of death ("Ji Yeon"). After Hurley was re-admitted to Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute, Jack visited him and questioned him to make sure his apparently deteriorated mental health status wouldn't diminish his adherence to the story ("The Beginning of the End"). Matthew Abaddon suspected the story to be false and questioned Hurley about it ("The Beginning of the End"). After three years of maintaining the story, however, Jack told Kate that he was "sick of lying." ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2") Walt met with Hurley at his hospital and asked why the group was lying. Hurley told him it was the only way to protect everyone that didn't come back. Walt asked if that included his father, and adding another lie, Hurley confirmed this, even though Hurley knew Michael had died the day they left the island. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
A number of people knew the truth – or at least were aware that some of the story was untrue – and did not expose it. Frank and Desmond agreed to go their separate ways and remain quiet, and Penelope Widmore and her crew cooperated. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2") Walt knew much of the truth but kept the secret. Ben, and later John, living in civilization under aliases, did not reveal what they knew to the public. Sun told Charles Widmore not to pretend with her that he didn't know the truth. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2"). Hurley confided the truth to his mother, Carmen Reyes ("The Lie") and Kate told both Cassidy Phillips and Carole Littleton the truth or at least some of it. ("Whatever Happened, Happened")
Multiple elements of the story of the Oceanic Six are described as not credible with known facts by the Season 4 DVD extra The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy of Lies.
Status[]
Upon their return to civilization, three of the Oceanic Six were immediately reunited with their families: Hurley's parents, Jack's mother, and Sun's parents. Nadia reunited with Sayid following their initial press conference. Kate had no one come to greet her since her mother was dying of cancer and Kate herself murdered her father, nor did Aaron (whose family did not know who he was). ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") They immediately became international celebrities with television news coverage in countries ranging from the United States to Tunisia to Korea. Hurley tried to use this status to receive gentler treatment from the police when he was arrested for reckless driving. ("The Beginning of the End") At Kate's trial, photographers and news people swarmed the outside courthouse to get coverage of Kate entering. ("Eggtown")
Sayid initially thought Ben was a reporter when he caught him taking photos of Nadia's funeral procession in Tikrit. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
The members received golden passes for unlimited free travel from Oceanic Airlines ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") as well as a large cash settlement from Oceanic. ("The Economist") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") Kate purchased a large home in the Hollywood Hills for just her and Aaron (and, for a time, Jack), ("Eggtown") Sun was able to buy a significant share of her father's business out from under him with her settlement, ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") and Sayid mentioned an expensive golf membership which was likely a cover for a hit he was contracted for. ("The Economist")
There were interpersonal tensions among the Oceanic Six. Jack initially wouldn't visit Kate at her home, not wanting to see Aaron after his discovery of their relation. ("Eggtown") He eventually relented, and they were engaged, but after he began to abuse medication and she performed a chore that Sawyer asked her to do before she left the Island, their relationship deteriorated. ("Something Nice Back Home") ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Sun blamed Jack for leaving Jin on the freighter, and after the birth of her baby Ji Yeon, Hurley was the only one to visit her; Hurley was relieved to be the only one there. ("Ji Yeon") Sayid's work as an assassin for Benjamin Linus was said to be to protect his "friends", but it is unknown who he was referring to -- the rest of the Six, the people still on the Island, or both. ("The Economist") Following the death of Jeremy Bentham, Jack told Ben he didn't even know where Sayid was. While being visited at a mental hospital, Hurley did not look too pleased to see Sayid, and expressed reluctance to go anywhere with him, before hearing about Bentham's death. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
Three years after the return of the Oceanic Six, their fame had faded. One man recognized Jack for saving a lady in a car wreck rather than being one of the Oceanic Six. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Hurley had quietly returned to his life in a mental institution, and Kate continued parenting Aaron.
Return to the Island[]
Shortly before leaving the island, Locke warned Jack that his knowledge of the Island and the truth behind his lies would haunt him, and eventually drive him to return to the Island. Jack disagreed and left the Island. Three years after the rescue, Jack met with Ben at a funeral parlor. Jack told him that Locke had come to him under the alias "Jeremy Bentham" about a month ago and told him that after he left the Island, some very bad things happened, all of which were Jack's fault for leaving. Some time after giving Jack this information, Locke passed away (from an apparent/alleged suicide) in Los Angeles while living under his pseudonym. Feeling guilty and severely depressed, Jack told Kate and later Ben that he had to go back to the Island. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
According to Ben, however, the Island would not permit just one of the Oceanic Six to return; all of them must return together, along with Locke's body (and possibly Frank, Walt, Ben, and/ or Desmond). According to Jack, Sayid was unreachable, Hurley was insane, Sun blamed Jack for something unspoken (most likely, the death of Jin), and Kate no longer wanted to talk to him. Ben offered to help Jack, saying he had "a few ideas". ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
Five of the Oceanic Six (minus Aaron, whom Kate had given to Claire's mother) took Ajira Airways flight 316 to get back to the island, because it happened to fly over the location where Eloise Hawking had calculated the island would appear. Flight 316 was piloted by Frank Lapidus.
Eloise also informed the Oceanic Six that they had to, as best as possible, recreate the circumstances in which they originally arrived at the Island. They did so by having a few original passengers of Flight 815 with the body of John Locke representing both himself and as a proxy for Christian Shephard's body (thanks to a particular pair of shoes being placed upon his feet by Jack). ("316")
Upon the return of the five to the island, three of them died (Jack, Sayid, and Sun) and one remained on the island (Hurley). Kate was the only member to escape the island a second time.
Appearances in each others' flash-forwards[]
- Kate appeared in Jack's flash-forward at the airport. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2")
- Jack appeared in Hurley's flash-forward at Santa Rosa. ("The Beginning of the End")
- Ben appeared in Sayid's flash-forward at the animal clinic. ("The Economist")
- Jack appeared at Kate's trial. ("Eggtown")
- Aaron appeared in Kate's flash-forward, as he was in her care. ("Eggtown")
- Hurley appeared in Sun's flash-forward to meet Ji Yeon. ("Ji Yeon")
- Sayid appeared in Ben's flash-forward at Nadia's funeral. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
- Kate appeared in Jack's flash-forward, when they got engaged. ("Something Nice Back Home")
- Aaron appeared in Jack's flash-forward as he lived with him and Kate. ("Something Nice Back Home")
- Hurley appeared in Jack's flash-forward when he stopped taking his meds. ("Something Nice Back Home")
- All six appeared in flash-forwards in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1" depicting their lives recently after rescue, and "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2" depicting their lives three years after rescue (though Aaron didn't directly receive a flash-forward, he was depicted in Kate's).
Appearances of other Survivors in the Sixes' flash-forwards[]
- Charlie appeared to Hurley at Santa Rosa. ("The Beginning of the End")
- Claire appeared in Kate's flash-forward in Kate's dream. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
- Mr. Eko was invisibly present in Hurley's flash-forward or Hurley was imagining his presence. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
- Ana Lucia appeared to Hurley as a cop. ("The Lie")
- Ben and John Locke were present at the funeral parlor in Jack's flash-forward. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
Trivia[]
- Half of the Oceanic Six died on the Island, the first being Sayid Jarrah, who died when a bomb detonated; the next was Sun-Hwa Kwon, who drowned, and Jack Shephard, who died after saving the Island from sinking by replugging the Source and being stabbed by the Man in Black.
- Oceanic Six was a diverse group, consisting of a Latino-American, an Iraqi, a Korean, an American couple, and an Australian child.
- Only two attempts at escaping the island were successful, the Oceanic Six Escape and the Ajira Escape. Only one of the Oceanic Six was on the second rescue, Kate. The other members of the Oceanic Six (minus Aaron) died upon returning to the island, with the exception of Hurley, who remained behind.
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