Oceanic Six

The Oceanic Six are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 who made it off the Island and resumed their lives in the United States and elsewhere. They were officially rescued on day 108. Their stories have been told in the form of flashforwards. Although several characters have been seen in off-Island flashforwards, these have been referred to by name as "Oceanic Six" members.

Membership

The Oceanic Six
Name	Jack Shephard	Kate Austen	Hugo "Hurley" Reyes	Sayid Jarrah	Aaron Littleton	Sun-Hwa Kwon
Revealed	"Through the Looking Glass, Part 2"	"Through the Looking Glass, Part 2"	"The Beginning of the End"	"The Economist"	"Eggtown"	"Ji Yeon"

• Jack's membership in the Oceanic Six was implied by his conversation with Kate in "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2" and confirmed in "The Beginning of the End" in his conversation with Hurley.
• Kate's membership in the Oceanic Six was implied by her conversation with Jack in "Through the Looking Glass, Part 2", confirmed in the podcast rehash of "The Economist", and confirmed on-screen in "Eggtown".
• Hurley's membership was established when he introduced the phrase on-screen, identifying himself as "one of the Oceanic Six" to the police, in "The Beginning of the End".
• Sayid identified himself as a member of the Oceanic Six in "The Economist", explaining his presence at an exclusive golf course.
• Aaron's membership was implied by his appearance in Kate's care in "Eggtown", and was confirmed on-screen in a preview following "Meet Kevin Johnson", as well as the podcast rehash for the same episode. It was later confirmed in the episode "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1".
• As Sun was being rushed into hospital to give birth in "Ji Yeon", she was recognized by one nurse and another confirms in Korean that she was a member of the Oceanic Six.

The first four members of the group were further confirmed by the producers during the Official Lost Podcast of February 19, 2008. All six members were confirmed in a preview (for the return of the second half of Season 4) shown after "Meet Kevin Johnson", as well as the Official Lost Podcast of March 21, 2008.

Status

Upon their return to civilization, the first people the Oceanic Six were introduced to were their families. Sayid's unknown family was not present, and Kate and Aaron had no one come for them either, leaving them as outcasts. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") However, shortly after the media covers their return story they become international celebrities with television news coverage in countries ranging from the United States to Tunisia to recognition in Japan. 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")

Kate ducking to avoid reporters.

Evidently, the six also became frequent targets of media investigations, such that 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") Kate was also questioned by the media in relation to her state of pregnancy at the time of the crash. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")

Financially, 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 used some money on a large home in the Hollywood Hills for just her and Aaron (and briefly 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 his expensive gold membership which was likely a cover for a hit he was contracted for. ("The Economist")

There are interpersonal tensions among the Oceanic Six. Jack initially won't visit Kate at her home, not wanting to see Aaron due to his discovery of their relation. ("Eggtown") He eventually relents, and they become engaged, but after he begins to abuse medication and she performs a chore that Sawyer asked her to do before she left the island, their relationship deteriorates. ("Something Nice Back Home"), ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1") Sun blames Jack for leaving Jin on the boat and after the birth of Sun and Jin's baby Ji Yeon, Hurley is the only one to visit her; the two are friendly, but Hurley is relieved to be the only one there. ("Ji Yeon") Sayid's work as an assassin for Benjamin Linus is said to be to protect his "friends", but it is unknown who he is referring to. Jack doesn't even know where Sayid is, however Sayid snuck Hurley out of his institution to find somewhere "safe", but not the island. ("The Economist")

Three years after the Oceanic Six return, their celebrity has faded. One man recognizes Jack for saving a lady in a car wreck rather than being one of the Oceanic Six ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1"). Hurley has quietly returned to his life in a mental institution, and Kate continues parenting Aaron.

Secrets and lies

Following their rescue, the members of the Oceanic Six kept the actual story of what happened following the crash a secret. In public, they adhered to a fabricated story about their time on the Island, using the excuse of being in "shock" as a safety for misquotes.

Locke had told Jack to lie to the public when he returned to civilization in order to protect the island. Just before the Oceanic Six are rescued, Jack informs the group, including Frank and Desmond that a cover story must be made in order to protect themselves and the people left behind from Widmore and his company. Kate believed it would be too elaborate to keep up, but Jack just insisted that he do the talking. The story told is very similar to the experiences of Frank's helicopter crash and post-crash events that the Oceanic Six endured. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

According to this story, 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") According to Jack, as the plane was in the ocean filling up with water, a group of the survivors got to the emergency door and swam out before the plane sank. Among those specifically said to have died in the crash are Ana Lucia Cortez ("The Beginning of the End"), Marshall Edward Mars ("Eggtown"), Claire Littleton ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"), and Jin-Soo Kwon ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"). The survivors 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. 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"). At some point three of the original eight survivors died and Kate gave birth to Aaron. The three who did not survive were identified as Boone, Libby, and Charlie ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"). 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 6 (five crash survivors plus Aaron) used this raft to journey to an island called Sumba on day 108, where a photo of the six coming ashore is allegedly taken by the local fisherman who found them. This photo was shown to the press to validate this rescue story. At this point Aaron was said to be 5 weeks old. Once it was discovered who they were, they were transported to Honolulu by the U.S. Coast Guard.("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")

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 lists 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 to protect those on the island. Walt asked if that included his father, and maintaining yet another lie, Hurley confirmed this. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Return to the Island

Shortly before leaving the island, Locke warns Jack that his knowledge of the island and the truth behind his lies will haunt him, and eventually drive him to return to the island. Jack disagrees and leaves the island. However, three years after rescue, Jack meets with Ben at a funeral parlor. Jack tells him that Locke had come to him under the alias Jeremy Bentham and told him that terrible things had happened on the island since his leaving. All of which were Jack's fault for leaving. Some time after giving Jack this information, Locke passes away under his pseudonym and is the man Jack has come to mourn. Feeling this immense guilt for the information Locke has given him, and perhaps for Locke's death directly, Jack tells Kate and later Ben that he has to go back to the island. ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

However, according to Ben, the island will not permit just one of the Oceanic Six to return, all of them must return together, along with Locke's body (and possibly Frank and Desmond). This provides complications as Jack claims that Kate no longer wants to talk to him, Sun blames him for Jin's death, Hurley is "crazy", and Sayid is unreachable. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")

Appearances in each others' flashforwards

• Kate appeared in Jack's flashforward at the airport ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2")
• Jack appeared in Hurley's flashforward at Santa Rosa ("The Beginning of the End")
• Charlie appeared to Hurley at Santa Rosa ("The Beginning of the End")
• Ben appeared in Sayid's flashforward at the animal clinic ("The Economist")
• Jack appeared at Kate's trial ("Eggtown")
• Aaron apperared in Kate's flashforward, as he is in her care. ("Eggtown")
• Hurley appeared in Sun's flashforward to meet Ji-Yeon ("Ji Yeon")
• Sayid appeared in Ben's flashforward at Nadia's funeral ("The Shape of Things to Come")
• Kate appeared in Jack's flashforward, when they get engaged ("Something Nice Back Home")
• Aaron appeared in Jack's flashforward as he lived with him and Kate. ("Something Nice Back Home")
• Hurley appeared in Jack's flashforward when he stopped taking his meds ("Something Nice Back Home")
• Claire appeared in Kate's flashforward in Kate's dream. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
• All six appeared in flashforwards 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 never directly received a flashforward).

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: Oceanic Six/Theories

• Why do several characters feel it is imperative that they return to the Island?
• Why will the Island only let them return if they come together?