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"The Other 48 Days" is the seventh episode of Season 2 in Lost and the thirty-second produced hour of the series as a whole. The entire episode is a flashback, showing what happened to the survivors of the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815 from the moment of the crash right up until the "present day" on the Island.

Finding out that she has survived a terrible plane crash, Ana Lucia becomes the de facto leader of an eclectic group of survivors. However, the newly formed community is put through extreme stress as they become targeted in attacks by strange indigenous individuals on the Island.

Synopsis[]

Oth1

The crash of the tail section.

Day 1[]

After the tail section of the plane crashes into the water off the beach, the survivors swim ashore. Zach, a child holding a teddy bear, points out his sister floating in the water. Mr. Eko, in a black suit, pulls her out, and Ana Lucia performs CPR on her, saving her life. A man runs out of the woods asking for help, saying that there's someone alive in the jungle. The man brings Ana to Bernard, who is still belted into his airplane seat, stuck up in a tree. Ana persuades him to grab the tree branch, just before the seats crash to the ground. Back on the beach, Goodwin, who claims to be in the Peace Corps, builds a signal fire, so "they can find us." A worried Bernard asks Eko if he found an "African-American woman" among the bodies, referring to his wife, whom he can't find; Eko tells him no, but he will pray for her and for their rescue.

Eko kills two of the Others with a rock when they try to take him. From that night on, he refuses to speak.

Day 2[]

2x07- eko&zach

Zach and Eko

A survivor who identifies himself as Nathan announces that, from the previous night, three other people are missing and suggests staying on the beach. Ana Lucia protests stating that they have satellites as well as the black box.

Cindy, a flight attendant, backs up Nathan by informing the group that the plane was going in the wrong direction for 2 hours, so rescuers won't be able to find them if they don't keep the signal fire burning.

Day 3[]

Libby kneels to sit beside Ana Lucia, as she searches for food through clothing. Libby informs her that Donald's leg infection is getting worse; he will be the fourth to go. Ana asks Libby, "What are we supposed to do about that?" Libby pauses, but then does not respond. Instead, she slowly leaps up again and leaves.

Day 5[]

2 days later, Donald has since died from the infection. He is buried by Nathan and Goodwin.

Day 7[]

Goodwin catches a chicken for the Tailies to eat. Later, Libby is seen passing the cooked chicken around. She then sees Eko from a distance, sitting in solitude.

Libby approaches Eko, offering him food. But he does not respond to her offer. She then reminds him he hasn't spoken in a week, and wants to know why. But Eko still does not respond.

So Libby tells him, "It wasn't your fault, you know". Eko then acknowledges her briefly, looking over at her, then turning away in a state of guilt. He continue engraving his stick.

Day 12[]

5 days later, Ana Lucia sharpens up her hunting stick for food. Goodwin tells her, "That'll work". She tells him that while out in the jungle sometime earlier, she believes she heard a pig "or something", so they can perhaps have bacon tomorrow.

Suddenly, Nathan comes out of the jungle. Ana Lucia asks where he was. He states he had to go to the bathroom. She reminds him, "We have a system for that. We go in pairs." Nathan responds, "Yeah. Sorry." Ana gives a disapproving look to him then walks away.

That night, the Others come back. This time, they take nine more people. These included Nancy, Jim, Eli, and the two children, Zach and Emma. Ana subdues her attacker during the raid. Libby is unable to point in a direction where the kidnapped were taken, so Ana Lucia tries to awaken her attacker to interrogate. But the attacker, who was struck in the head with a rock, is stated by Goodwin to be dead.

After this, Ana frantically searches the woman's pockets, finding a vintage U.S. Army knife as well as a list. Libby looks at Nathan when Ana mentions a list. And Ana explains that the list entailed descriptions of the nine who were taken, including what they were wearing and what they looked like.

AnaList2x07

Ana Lucia reads the list. (promotional still)

Later, Ana vented frustration at Eko's inability to speak when she spoke about how there is no sign of the kids. Nathan tells her to calm down, which aggravates Ana even further to explain the nature of the list. Nathan excuses this away by explaining that they could've gotten their names from the people they took the first night. Ana retorts that nobody knew anyone's names the first night.

Suddenly, Ana Lucia drills Nathan about being gone for 2 hours the previous day. He states he went to the bathroom yet again. Goodwin intervenes, stating that they're all scared and that they shouldn't get paranoid. Bernard agrees that the idea of them infiltrating the camp is crazy.

Libby states that it doesn't matter who they are, that they need to leave the beach because that's where they know they are. But then Ana reminds Goodwin he said they needed to keep the signal fire burning. Goodwin then says, "I think it's time we let it go out."

The survivors then opt to head into the jungle. They make a camp near a source of fresh water and fruit trees.

Day 15[]

3 days later, the group are shown trudging along, having walked the whole time. The 7 remaining Tailies make a camp in the jungle near a river per Nathan's recommendation. Ana reluctantly concedes to the idea.

Day 17[]

2 days since they made their new camp in the jungle, Ana Lucia is shown digging the Tiger Pit. Libby approaches her, presenting a case of suspicion against Nathan, as being the possible infiltrator of the camp. Ana states sarcastically, "Why do you think I'm digging this hole?" as Libby is silent.

Day 19[]

2 days later, Nathan and Bernard are gathering sticks to catch rabbits. Suddenly Ana knocks Nathan unconscious and throws him into the pit. She interrogates him, believing he is one of those who took the children, due to his unexplained absences and how nobody remembered seeing him on the plane.

When asked where he came from, Nathan replies, "Canada." She begins starving him, demanding to know the location of the children. On that same first night, Nathan cautiously states that he was in the lavatory. Ana is still skeptical, asking "For two hours?". He then gives an alibi that the rest of his retreat weren't on the plane; he stayed an extra couple of days to sightsee, when she asks where they were. Finally, she shuts the pit entrance.

Day 23[]

2X07 GoodwinNathan

Goodwin kills Nathan

4 days later, Ana goes to interrogate Nathan again. But this time, she notices he has been secretly fed by someone with a banana. When nobody admits to it, Ana is left with the assumption it is Eko, who silently walks off in frustration when she asks him.

Ana then tells Goodwin she intends to start torturing Nathan the next day. That night, Goodwin frees Nathan, warning him of Ana's plan; when Nathan turns to leave after Goodwin points in the direction of where the beach is, Goodwin snaps his neck, killing him.

Day 24[]

Cindy wakes Ana Lucia up to tell her that Nathan is gone. Ana is resting beside Goodwin, who looks at her romantically. Ana is unfazed by the look, suggesting they may be a couple. After Ana witnesses the emptiness of the pit, she tells her group that The Others have found them, and it is time to move.

Day 26[]

2 days later, Ana Lucia stops to observe the ocean ahead of where they are walking. She lets the others in her group overtake her. Goodwin, however, stops until he notices she is staying still. So he gently walks on as Ana observes him.

Day 27[]

The survivors move again and find the bunker marked by a DHARMA Initiative logo, with an arrow in the center. Goodwin seems surprised to see it. Inside a box they find a glass eye, a Bible, and a radio.

Oth3

The Tailies find the Arrow station.

Goodwin insists to go to higher ground to try to pick up a signal. Ana says she will go with him. Initially, Goodwin insists he stay there to set up the place as a shelter. Ana says they can all do that, and that she and him can make it back in a couple of hours. He silently complies, smiling.

While they reach the top of the hill, Ana asks why he thinks they're doing this. Goodwin then says, "Why do I think who's doing what?" Ana clarifies "them" (The Others). Then she says, "Don't you ever wonder why they attack us?" Goodwin states that maybe they aren't attacking the camp. Ana sarcastically responds "Yeah. They just drag us into the jungle every now and then, no real harm done". Goodwin smiles saying "Good point".

Ana asks why he thinks they take some of them and not the others. Goodwin states that they took the strongest and the biggest threats of the camp. Ana says "They didn't take you". Goodwin justifies this saying, "Guess they changed their plan after two of them got killed. Want to take a break?" Ana says "Yeah, good idea." They sit down to talk on the hillside. He asks for the knife to peel his apple, which she gives reluctantly.

Ana explains the contents of the knife by pointing to the tang stamp. She asks to have it back, which Goodwin concedes to reluctantly. Ana asks a question: how he saw Bernard. Goodwin says, "I heard him shouting from the beach". The answer is what she uses to incriminate Goodwin as an Other, revealing immediately her awareness he is an Other.

She says, "You ran out of the jungle ten minutes after the crash. You weren't wet. You were never even in the ocean", because the tail-wing landed in the water and his clothes were totally dry.

Goodwin admits he killed Nathan. He also says that those taken were "good people" and that Nathan was not on the list because he was a "bad person". Lastly, he states that the children are fine and that they are "better off now". This provokes Ana Lucia to initiate a fight. And as the two fight for the army knife, they each roll down a hill. Ana impales him with a sharpened stick.

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Ana kills Goodwin.

Ana returns to the survivors and tells them, "We're safe here now", but does not reveal on-screen that she killed Goodwin.

Day 41[]

2 weeks are skipped. On the forty-first day, Bernard picks up Boone's transmission from the Beechcraft on the radio and responds to Boone's "We're the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815" with "We're the survivors of Flight 815." Before any further conversation can take place, Ana turns off the radio, dismissing the transmission as another trick by the Others. "They know our flight number because Goodwin knew our flight number", she argues. "This is our life now", she tells them. She goes off by herself to cry, and Eko, speaking for the first time since the night he was nearly abducted, tells her everything will be all right. She asks him why it took him forty days to speak; he asks her why it took her forty days to cry.

Day 45[]

2x07 cindy libby

Libby and Cindy pull Jin out of the water.

4 days later, Cindy and Libby find Jin washed up on the shore. After pulling him from the water, they tie him up and blindfold him while they try to find out who he is.

As Eko and Ana Lucia argue, Jin breaks free and runs to the beach, at which point the events shown in previous episodes begin to replay as a montage.

This time, we discover Ana Lucia's face injury is because she insisted Eko do it as part of the ruse to figure out if the captured Rafties are okay.

Recap of "Orientation": Ana Lucia punches Sawyer and points a gun at Jin and Michael.

Day 46[]

Recap of "Everybody Loves Hugo": Jin is taken out of the Tiger Pit; Sawyer looks frustrated at Michael then looks over at Ana Lucia who nods; Bernard opens the door of The Arrow after Ana has knocked and Jin looks over at Michael to react; Ana walks in The Arrow; the Rafties observe The Arrow as Libby shuffles with the radio.

Day 47[]

Recap of "...And Found": The group are by the oceanside; Eko looks over at Sawyer who is injured. Recap of "Abandoned": Sawyer collapses; he is carried away. Cindy looks over at something.

Day 48[]

2X06-AnaShooting

Ana Lucia shoots Shannon. (promotional still)

Cindy has been kidnapped. The group are calling out her name. Whispers are heard everywhere frantically. Ana Lucia sees a figure in the bushes. She shoots. It cuts to Shannon having been hit with a bullet to the abdomen. Then the reactions of the group. Michael asks "What was that?"

It time-jumps to a new moment where they see Sayid crying over Shannon's body, her apparent target. It cuts again to Jin looking over at Michael. Then Sayid looking vengeful. Ana Lucia simply stares, closing out the events of the episode.

Trivia[]


Production notes[]

Deleted Scenes[]

  • A deleted scene from this episode shows the tail section survivors pulling a large parcel from the ocean. Zach and Emma hope that food will be inside but are disappointed when the only thing inside are Australian boomerangs.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • Ana Lucia says "We were in the air for 2 hours. I didn't see him once, not once," which contradicts the pilot who said that they were in the air for at least six hours (they changed course after six).
    • The "6 hours in the air" is also reaffirmed by Carole Littleton when she spoke to Jack in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1"
      • It's also possible that Ana Lucia slept on the flight until its last two hours. She was nervous beforehand, drinking several tequila and tonics, and was likely also tired after the long-distance reconciliation with her mother.
  • Ana Lucia says that Goodwin came to the crash site ten minutes after they crashed. However, in "A Tale of Two Cities", Ben says that it'll take him an hour to get to the shore.
  • Goodwin dies in a different place than where Eko and Jin found him in "...And Found". Eko and Jin find his corpse by the hillside, yet the first time we see him dead it is inside the jungle.
    • When Ben and Juliet go to see Goodwin's body, he is back on the hillside. ("The Other Woman")
  • The section of the episode that occurs after the title card "Day 47" is claimed in this episode to take place over two days, which is incompatible with the timeline for the main section survivors. All of the events that the episode claims happen on Day 47 actually happen on Day 48.
  • When Mr. Eko comforts Ana Lucia as she cries, she puts her right arm over his left as she leans into his left shoulder. When the camera cuts to a different angle, his left arm is over her right.
  • The background tail-section survivor played by Julia Summo is one of the three Tailies that died prior to Donald. However, she is briefly seen alive on day 12, after her death.
  • In "Deus Ex Machina", when Boone picks up the transmission heard in this episode, the voice he hears is clearly not that of Sam Anderson. The dialogue is also different. When Boone says "We're the survivors of Oceanic 815", the voice replies with the same thing. However, in this episode, Bernard says "No, we're the survivors!".

Music[]

The Season 2 soundtrack includes the three cues from this episode. "Just Another Day on the Beach" introduces a theme that plays during water rescues. "Ana Cries" is a variation of the main theme, and "The Tribes Merge" closes the episode.

Analysis[]

Recurring themes[]



Cultural references[]


Literary techniques[]

  • Ana Lucia finds a US Army knife on one of the bodies of the Others. This foreshadowed the reveal that there was once a US Army presence on the Island. (Foreshadowing)
  • Five Tailies are introduced and quickly killed. (Redshirt)
  • Goodwin, who was previously implied to have been killed by the Others, was in fact an Other pretending to be a crash survivor. (Plot twist)


Storyline analysis[]

  • Bernard told Mr. Eko that his African-American wife was still missing. (Relationships)
  • Ana Lucia acted as the leader of the Tailies for nearly the entire duration of the 48 days. (Leadership)
  • The Others infiltrated and kidnapped some of the Tailies. (O-Missions)  (Crimes)
  • Mr. Eko killed some of the Others. The rest of the Tailies told him it was okay because it was self-defense. (Crimes)
  • Ana Lucia killed an Other during a kidnapping. She later killed Goodwin after his deception was revealed. She also incarcerated and threatened Nathan for reasons that turned out to be wrong. (Crimes)
  • Goodwin killed Nathan because he did not want the Tailies to find out who he was. He also claimed innocence stating that Nathan was not a good person. (Crimes)


Episode connections[]

Episode references[]

Episode allusions[]

  • Ana Lucia, the de-factor leader of the Tailies, revives Emma using CPR much like Jack did to Rose. ("Pilot, Part 1")
  • Goodwin is discovered to be one of the Others infiltrating the beach camp, much like Ethan. Nathan, believed to be an Other, has a name that sounds a lot like "Ethan," an actual Other. Both Ethan and Nathan claim that they are from Canada. ("Raised by Another")
  • We see why the Tailies dug the pit that they threw Michael, Jin and Sawyer into. ("Orientation")  ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
  • The teddy bear that was being carried by one of the Others belonged to Zach. ("...And Found")
  • Ana Lucia had previously referred to Eko not talking. ("Abandoned")

External links[]

The making of "The Other 48 Days", of the Lost Season 2 Bonus section - On Location [1]

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