The New Man in Charge

"The New Man in Charge"
Season	Epilogue
Episode	01
Airdate	August 24, 2010
Length	11:56
Characters	Michael Emerson - Benjamin Linus Jorge Garcia - Hugo "Hurley" Reyes
Days	N/A
Writer	Melinda Hsu Taylor & Graham Roland & Jim Galasso
Director	Paul Edwards
Production code	N/A
Guests	Ray Porter - Glen Ted Rooney - Hector
Uncredited	François Chau - Pierre Chang Grisel Toledo - Susie Lazenby Malcolm David Kelley - Walt Lloyd
Transcript	The New Man in Charge transcript

"The New Man in Charge" is the epilogue of Lost that was released on August 24, 2010 on both the Complete Sixth Season DVD and the Complete Collection boxset. The epilogue is divided into three segments: Ben's mission to Guam, the Hydra Orientation film, and Ben's visit to Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute to see Walt.

Synopsis

Orote Peninsula, Guam

Ben retrieves the Hydra Orientation film.

An old fashioned printer is seen printing "DHARMA Peas" onto successive labels in what is revealed to be the present day DHARMA Logistics Warehouse in Orote Peninsula, Guam. Two DHARMA Initiative workers, Hector and Glen, argue over the loading of the food pallet, specifically about missing their launch window. Suddenly, Ben enters the warehouse. The workers are startled, demanding to know who he is. Ben introduces himself and explains that he is from the home office. ♪♪ Ben informs them there is a new man in charge and Ben has been sent to tie up a few loose ends. He instructs the workers that this facility is being shut down and they are free to go. The workers protest, claiming they have been loading food pallets under unmanned drone planes for the past twenty years. Ben gives them wallets containing their severance pay and explains that the DHARMA Initiative has not been in existence for over twenty years. The DHARMA workers are visibly confused and claim that they "deserve answers". ♪♪

Chang explains the nature of Room 23 in the Hydra Orientation film.

Ben says that they can each ask one question in return for their departure. Glen wants to know where they have been sending the pallets for the past twenty years. Ben explains that the launch information they receive from the typing machine is automated, sent from the Lamp Post station. It changes every launch because the pallet is being sent to a moving Island. Glen tries to ask how it is that an Island can move, but Ben reinforces his one question only policy. Hector infers that since they are in Guam, this Island that Ben has talked about must be in the tropics; yet one of the items in the pallet is a box of polar bear fish biscuits. Hector questions the presence of polar bears on a tropical island, to which Ben leafs through a DHARMA Initiative binder filled with DVDs, and asks the workers if they have a DVD player.

Ben then tells the two workers that they should watch it together. The video starts playing, and is revealed to be the Hydra orientation film with Dr. Pierre Chang, not using an alias. The video explores the nature of the Hydra experiments on birds and polar bears, as well as the purpose of Room 23. After the video, they all leave as Ben eats a DHARMA granola bar.

Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute

Ben tells Walt that he is "special".

Ben arrives at Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute and asks the nurse to allow him to see Walt, who has taken up residency there. Walt has been going by the name of Keith Johnson. The nurse lets him into the facility after being shown a note that Ben says Walt will want to see him after reading. Ben finds Walt playing Connect Four alone. He sits down at the table with the now 16-year-old boy he once kidnapped and proceeds to tell him that he was sent by a friend. Walt is hostile at first, having not seen Ben since he left the Island, but Ben stays calm and apologizes for taking him. He says that although he can't change the past, he can take responsibility for it. Walt gets frustrated and begins to put away the Connect Four set but stops when Ben tells him that he's special. He listens as Ben explains that Walt has work to do; work that starts with helping Michael. When Walt objects to that point on the grounds of his father being dead, Ben says that Michael can still be helped. ♪ Ben makes one final plea that Walt go back to The Island with him. Walt finally agrees.

Hurley reunites with Walt in a DHARMA van.

Outside the mental hospital, Ben leads Walt to a DHARMA van parked in the parking lot. To Walt's surprise, Hurley is waiting for them in the back seat. ♪ Walt confesses to Hurley that he had long waited for the survivors to come back for him, and that he had been labeled crazy because no one believed his story. Hurley reassures him that he's not crazy at all, and attributes Walt's existential duress to his separation from the Island. He tells Walt that the Island is his home, and that he intends to talk to Walt about a job. Hurley then suggests they all go home, and the van drives away into the night on their way back to where they belong; the Island. ♪

Trivia

• The epilogue does not take place on the Island, but the Hydra Orientation film does.
• Although the epilogue is Ben-centric, the title is a reference to Hurley's new position as the protector, and perhaps Walt's future position on the Island as well.
• The print out at the DHARMA Logistics Warehouse states the launch window to be "WED-24-08-10 -- 15:23:09:00-12:47:33". This puts the date of the epilogue on August 24, 2010 - the day the Season 6 DVD was released. However, August 24, 2010 was a Tuesday, not a Wednesday (August 24, 1910 was a Wednesday as the computers would likely have experienced Y2K issues).
  • August 24th is also Walt's birthday. ("House of the Rising Sun")
• The folder Ben takes from his bag appears to contain contents found in the folder included with the Season 5 DVD DHARMA Intiative Orientation Kit. The sleeve which contains DHARMA patches can be seen, as well as some of the disc sleeves containing Season 5 episodes.
• One of the machines used for printing is an Original Heidelberg.
• Walt is going by the name Keith Johnson, sharing the same last name and initials as his late father's alias while on the freighter, Kevin Johnson.

Production

• The epilogue was leaked online on August 6, 2010, 18 days before the official release.
• This is the second instance that Malcolm David Kelley has been uncredited after his cameo in "Meet Kevin Johnson".

Pre-release rumors

A number of rumors circulated about this epilogue before it was released.

• TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, and the A.V. Club website stated that this epilogue would “address some of those lingering questions, including as much as 20 minutes of ‘Why does turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel transport you to Tunisia?’-solving material”. These rumors turned out not to be entirely accurate.
• The Movieline website quoted Jorge Garcia stating that “It will address some of the issues, like the food drops, and it will deal with what happened on the island after Hurley took over and how he handled things.” It also quoted an unnamed person who stated that Walt would appear.
• At the Times Talks Live, four days before the series finale, executive producer Carlton Cuse stated that Walt would appear "before all is said and done".

Analysis

Recurring themes

• Hector and Glen were stationed at the DHARMA Logistics Warehouse for twenty years. (Isolation)
• Ben bargains with Hector and Glen, offering answers to their questions for their departure. (Economics)
• The Hydra Orientation film explains the presence of the Hurley Bird and polar bears on the Island. (Animals)
  • Pregnancy problems are explained to be caused by high levels of electromagnetism present at the Orchid Station and other locations on the Island. (Pregnancies)  (Electromagnetism)
  • Room 23 is explained to be used to create a state of amnesia in the captured Hostiles, after the interrogation. (Deceptions and cons)  (Imprisonment)
• Walt goes by the alias Keith Johnson. (Secrets)
• Walt is seen playing Connect Four. (Games) (Black and White)
• Walt is sitting by himself at Santa Rosa. (Isolation)
• Walt reveals that he knows of his father's death. (Parent issues)  (Secrets)  (Life and death)
• One of the DHARMA workers in the Hydra Orientation film is shown to have an amputated hand. (Missing body parts)
• Ben asks for and receives Walt's forgiveness. (Redemption)

Literary techniques

• Ben, once again, refers to Walt as "special." (Regularly spoken phrases)
• "We're gonna need to see that again." (Regularly spoken phrases)
• The epilogue ends with Ben, Hurley and Walt leaving for the Island. (Cliffhanger)
• Ben and Hurley left the Island in order to bring Walt back with them. (Plot twist)
• Pierre Chang asks that his name be kept secret so he would not need to use an alias in the future. (Foreshadowing)  (Irony)

Episode connections

Episode references

• The Hydra Orientation film addresses a few issues:
  • Pierre Chang's aliases. ("Orientation")  ("Three Minutes")  ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2") ("Because You Left")
  • The Hurley Bird's origins, in that it is a genetic research hybrid. ("Exodus, Part 2")  ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2")
  • The nature and purpose of Room 23. ("Not in Portland")  ("The Package")
  • That there will be further tasks given to the polar bears at the Orchid station. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
  • Dr. Chang asks to affix a tracking device around polar bears' neck. ("Confirmed Dead")
  • The pregnancy problems in the Island's later history are due to electromagnetic properties that have been released, most likely as a result of the accident at the Swan site. ("Not in Portland")  ("One of Us")  ("D.O.C.") ("Ji Yeon")  ("LaFleur") ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")
• Ben apologizes for kidnapping Walt. ("Exodus, Part 2")
• Hector asks Ben about the purpose of the polar bear fish biscuits. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
• The DHARMA Logistics Warehouse workers are in charge of loading and sending the periodic resupply drop. ("Lockdown")  ("Dave")
• Walt's alias is Keith Johnson. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
• Walt reveals that he knows about his father's death. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
• Ben reveals the launch information regarding the windows they receive is automatically sent from the deserted Lamp Post station. ("316")

Episode allusions

• Ben refers to Walt as "special." ("Special")  ("The Hunting Party")  ("Three Minutes")
• Walt is staying at the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute, playing Connect Four. ("Numbers")  ("Dave")  ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
• After watching the DHARMA Orientation film, Hector says he wants to see it again. ("Orientation")  ("?")
• Hurley waits for Walt and Ben inside a DHARMA van. ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")  ("The Man Behind the Curtain")  ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2")
• During the Hydra Orientation film, a scientist is seen putting a rat into a wooden maze, just like the one Daniel Faraday used on Eloise. ("The Constant")  ("Jughead")