Changes: The Other 48 Days

Revision as of 15:55, 14 March 2012

"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 Cortez 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

Days 1-2

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.

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

A survivor who identifies himself as Nathan suggests staying on the beach. Ana Lucia protests but Cindy, a flight attendant, backs up Nathan by informing the group that the plane was going in the wrong direction for quite awhile, so rescuers won't be able to find them if they don't keep the signal fire burning.

Days 3-7

The tail section survivors search desperately for food. Libby tells Ana Lucia that Donald is close to being the 4th to die.

Donald dies two days later and is buried.

AnaList2x07 — Ana Lucia reads the list. (promotional still)

The tailies catch a chicken. Libby tries conversing with Eko, in vain.

Day 12

The Others take nine more, including the two children, Zach and Emma. Ana manages to kill another Other, who is discovered to be carrying a vintage U.S. Army knife and a list and descriptions of the nine to be taken.

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

Days 15-23

After 3 days of walking, the 7 remaining Tailies make a camp in the jungle near a river.

Ana starts digging a pit.

2X07 GoodwinNathan — Goodwin kills Nathan

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, he replies, "Canada." She begins starving him, demanding to know the location of the children, but another member of the group feeds him when she is not looking. Ana 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, Goodwin snaps his neck, killing him.

Days 24-27

Oth3 — The Tailies find the Arrow station.

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. Goodwin and Ana go to higher ground to try to pick up a signal. While there, Ana reveals that she knows Goodwin is one of the Others, because on the first day, he ran out of the jungle with his clothes completely dry, ten minutes after the plane crashed into the water. Goodwin admits he killed Nathan, and confirms that the children are still alive, saying that they are "better off". He also says that those taken were "good people" and that Nathan was not on the list because he was a "bad person". The two fight for the army knife; when they roll down a hill, Ana impales him with a sharpened stick.

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

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 we were on Flight 815 because Goodwin knew we were on Flight 815", 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. ♪♪

Days 45-48

2x07 cindy libby — Libby and Cindy pull Jin out of the water.

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 are replayed.

2X06-AnaShooting — Ana Lucia shoots Shannon.

The remainder of the 4 8 days are shown as a montage of the events already seen, including the tail section's acceptance of Jin, Sawyer and Michael, the trek to the midsection's camp, Sawyer falling ill, Cindy listening to the forest's whispers just before she is taken, and the shooting of Shannon by Ana Lucia. ♪

Trivia

The flashback events of the Tailies synchronize with the real-time events of the middle section survivors from the following episodes: "Pilot, Part 1", "Pilot, Part 2", "Tabula Rasa","Walkabout", "House of the Rising Sun", "Solitary", "Raised by Another", "Hearts and Minds", "Special", "Homecoming", "Deus Ex Machina", and the Tailies point of view of "Adrift". Flashbacks from days 17, 19 and 23 take place in between Season 1 episodes. The montage at the end shows previously seen events from "Orientation" to "Abandoned".
Mr. Eko first created his stick in this episode.
The first killing of an Other by a survivor is committed on the Island and before an Other had killed (or tried to kill) a survivor; Mr. Eko killed two of them when they tried to kidnap him on the first night after the crash.
Bernard received Boone's transmission on the 41st day.
Right after the plane's tail crashes on the water, one of the Monster's sounds can be heard.
In "Jughead", it's revealed that the U.S. Army visited the Island in the 1950s. This is likely the origin of the the pocket knife Ana Lucia and Goodwin fight over in this episode.
This is the first of three episodes to have flashes related to Libby in it but not centered around her. The others are "Dave" and "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1".
This is the last episode to feature the Arrow.

Production notes

This was Maggie Grace's last main cast credit as Shannon until the final episode "The End". She was credited as a special guest star in the next episode.
Josh Holloway only appears in archive footage.
- Naveen Andrews and Maggie Grace appear without lines.
This was the first time Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia did not appear. Consequently, as of this episode, there is no character to have appeared in every episode of Lost.
As this episode focuses on all the tail section survivors, it was also the only one to focus, albeit partially, on Libby. Libby was the only main character from Oceanic 815 who never had any off-Island flashbacks centered on her, though she appeared in other characters' flashbacks in the episodes "?" and "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1", in Eko and Desmond's flashbacks, respectively, and had a brief flashback in the Hurley-centric "Dave".
A podcast rehash for the episode was released on November 21, 2005. (Official Lost Podcast/November 21, 2005)
This is the first episode to take place entirely on the Island. It is also only one of two episodes of the series in which all events are depicted in chronological order, along with "Across the Sea".
This was the first time that the Official UK Lost Podcast was released for Channel 4.
This was the first extended episode of Lost, running five minutes longer than the standard one hour episodes of Lost. Other episodes that were extended were "What Kate Did", "The Long Con", "Maternity Leave", "Dave", "?", "316", "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" and "Ab Aeterno".
This was the only episode until "LA X, Part 2" to credit Kimberley Joseph (Cindy) as a guest star instead of a co-star.
A Lost: On Location for this episode is available on the Season 2 DVD with the Best Buy/TV Guide Bonus DVD or Blu-ray Disc set.

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

Cindy says "we were flying for two hours in the wrong direction," which contradicts the pilot Seth Norris, who said that they changed course after six hours.
- It's possible that Cindy was told only 2 hours before the crash that they were flying in the wrong direction.
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")
In the opening scene, the tail section is shown to come crashing into the water from an offshore direction, which contradicts the apparent mid-air break-up of Oceanic 815 over the island as seen from the Barracks in the episode "A Tale of Two Cities".
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

Animals • Black and white • Character connections • Children • Coincidence • Death • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Economics • Electromagnetism • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Games • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Leadership • Life and death • Literary works • Mirrors • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Pairings • Parapsychology • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Psychology • Rain • Redemption • Relationships • Religion • Revenge • Salvation • Secrets

The title of the episode contains the Numbers 4 and 8. (The Numbers)
Libby said Donald was the 4th to die. (The Numbers)
There were initially thought to be 23 survivors from the tail end of the plane (Goodwin was one of the 23). (The Numbers)
Mr. Eko pulled several dead bodies from the ocean, and Bernard was strapped in his seat next to a dead person. (Life and death)
Emma's lifeless body was pulled from the ocean by Mr. Eko. Ana Lucia resuscitated her with CPR. (Life and death) (Resurrection)
Mr. Eko killed two Others when they tried to kidnap him. (Life and death)
The infection in Donald's leg killed him. He was buried with the rest of the Tailies that died. (Life and death)
Ana Lucia killed the Other that was carrying the list. (Life and death)
Goodwin pretended to help Nathan escape, but then broke his neck and killed him. (Life and death) (Deceptions and cons)
Ana Lucia killed Goodwin. (Life and death)
Zach and his sister Emma were introduced as characters. (Children)
Zach was carrying a teddy bear. (Animals)
Goodwin caught a chicken, and killed it for food. (Animals)
Emma immediately asked for her "mom" after being saved by Ana Lucia. Her mom was going to meet her and her brother in Los Angeles. (Parent issues)
Ana Lucia threw Nathan into the tiger pit. (Isolation) (Imprisonment)
Ana Lucia threatened to cut off Nathan's finger. (Missing body parts)
The Tailies found a glass eye in the Arrow Station. (Missing body parts) (Eyes)
Ana Lucia discovered Goodwin was an Other. (Deceptions and cons)
Goodwin said that "Nathan was not a good person." (Good and bad people)
Mr. Eko observed a 40-day vow of silence as a way of doing penance for killing two of the Others. (Redemption) (Religion)

Cultural references

Cultural references (direct references only)
Art • Automobiles • Games • History • Literary works • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

The Bible: A Holy Bible is found inside the Arrow. (Religion and ideologies) (Literary works)
Temptation of Christ: Mr. Eko spent 40 days on a "fast from speaking" just as Jesus spent 40 days on a fast from eating. (Religion and ideologies) (Literary works)

Literary techniques

Literary techniques
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock characters: Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character Story: Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Flash sideways • Framing device • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator

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

Storyline analysis
A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries • S-Missions

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

Bernard receives Boone's radio transmission. ("Deus Ex Machina")
The events of recent episodes are shown in a montage at the end. ("Adrift") ("Orientation") ("Everybody Hates Hugo") ("...And Found") ("Abandoned")
It is shown that Ana Lucia was the one who killed Goodwin. ("...And Found")
The Tailies found the radio. Sawyer asked if it worked and if they could use it. ("...And Found")

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]

@@ Line 104: / Line 104: @@
 ***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 {{ep|2x05}}. Here he is 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.
+*[[Goodwin]] dies in a different place than where [[Eko]] and [[Jin]] found him in {{ep|2x05}}. 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.  {{crossref|4x06}}
 *In the opening scene, the [[tail section]] is shown to come crashing into the water from an offshore direction, which contradicts the apparent [[mid-air break-up]] of [[Oceanic 815]] over the island as seen from the [[Barracks]] in the episode {{ep|3x01}}.
 *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.