5.06 - 316

Title’s significance: Ajira Flight 316 brings the survivors back to the island. (Tell me the allusion to John 3:16 isn’t intentional. Just try.)

Recap: The episode beings with Jack rescuing a drowning Hurley and finding Kate after waking up in a jungle somewhere. 46 hours ago, Mrs. Hawking takes Jack, Ben, Sun, and Desmond to The Lamp Post, a Dharma station which plots the location – both temporal and spatial – of the island. Desmond thinks this is poppycock, but Mrs. Hawking says the island’s not done with Desmond. When Desmond storms out, Mrs. Hawking reveals that Ajira Airways 316 will fly through the window and return them to the island, as long as they recreate the circumstances of the crash “as best as possible.” Mrs. Hawking delivers Locke’s suicide note to Jack and asks him to use Locke as a proxy for his father, encouraging a “leap of faith.” Jack visits his grandfather Ray, who gives him Christian’s shoes, which Jack then gives to Locke; Kate returns to Jack and asks to come back to the island, but Aaron’s not with her. A drenched and bloodied Ben calls Jack, asking him to pick up Locke’s body. At the airport, Jack learns that Sayid is in the custody of a marshal, and Hurley’s arrived with a guitar case; at the last second, Ben arrives on the plane, much to Hurley’s chagrin. What’s more, Frank Lapidus is the pilot of the aircraft, and he deduces that the plane won’t make it to Guam. Jack reads Locke’s suicide note – “I wish you had believed me” – as the plane hits turbulence; a white light flashes. Jack wakes up in the jungle – he’s back on the island, but no one remembers crashing. Suddenly a Dharma van rolls out of the jungle, and out steps Jin, wearing a Dharma jumpsuit.

Thoughts: Mrs. Hawking delivers a crucial monologue in this episode, one that probably would have flopped if Damon & Carlton hadn’t written it. This whole episode is yet another indication of why these two are the top writers on the show – because they know what they’re doing, and it shows, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. The fifth season really gets in gear with this episode, now that we’re back on that little ole island.

Favorite moment: Jack asks Mrs. Hawking if Ben’s telling the truth; she responds, completely deadpan, “Probably not.”

Characters introduced (in order):

• RAY, Jack’s grandfather
• CAESAR, Ajira 316 passenger
• ILANA, Sayid’s marshal

What we learned:

• The Lamp Post is a Dharma station used to find the island.
• The survivors were never rescued because no one could find the island.
• To return to the island, one needs to recreate the circumstances that brought them to the island.
• The Ajira flight that crashed on the island brought some of the Oceanic 6 with it – Flight 316.

Questions:

• How did Eloise come to man the Lamp Post?
• Why would Locke kill himself?
• What promise is Ben going to fulfill?
• Where’s Aaron?
• Why was Ben all drenched and bloody?
• Why is Sayid in custody?
• Whose guitar case did Hurley have?
• How did Hurley know that Ajira 316 was going to crash?
• What happens to the other people on Ajira 316?
• What’s going to happen when Ben returns to the island, since he’s not supposed to come back?
• Why didn’t Ilana seem concerned about the plane hitting turbulence?
• Where are Ben, Sayid, Sun, and Frank?
• Why is Jin wearing a Dharma suit and driving a Dharma van?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• What does Mrs. Hawking mean when she says that the island isn’t done with Desmond?
• Mrs. Hawking’s interaction with Jack and Ben’s monologue about St. Thomas raises the issue of faith. I think as viewers we need to have faith that all this will work out, but I’m wondering also what role faith is going to play in the lives of the survivors this final season.
• Notice that Jack’s switching over toward being a man of faith in this episode.