Lost/Live Together, Die Alone

Live Together, Die Alone
Season 2, Episodes 23 & 24
Airdate	May 24, 2006
Production Number	223-224
Written by	Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Directed by	Jack Bender
← 2x22 Three Minutes	3x01 → A Tale of Two Cities
Lost — Season Two

Live Together, Die Alone is the twenty-third and twenty-fourth episodes of the second season of Lost, and the forty-eight and forty-ninth episode overall.

After discovering something odd just offshore, Jack and Sayid come up with a plan to confront "The Others" and hopefully get Walt back. Meanwhile, Eko and Locke come to blows as Locke makes a potentially cataclysmic decision regarding the "button" and the hatch.

Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko), Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Michael), Michelle Rodriguez (Ana-Lucia), Cynthia Watros (Libby).

Guest Starring (Episode 2x23): Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Clancy Brown (Kelvin Inman), Alan Dale (Charles Widmore), Sonya Walger (Penelope Widmore).

Guest Starring (Episode 2x24): Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Clancy Brown (Kelvin Inman), M.C. Gainey (Tom), Sam Anderson (Bernard), Tania Raymonde (Alex), Michael Bowen (Pickett), April Grace (Bea Klugh), Sonya Walger (Penelope Widmore), Michael Emerson (Ben).

Co-Starring (Episode 2x23): Stephen Page (Master Sergeant).

Co-Starring (Episode 2x24): Len Cordova (Man #1), Alex Petrovitch (Man #2).

Plot Overview

The Island

• Jack, Sawyer and Sayid swim out to the sailboat and hear opera music from inside the cabin. But, when they near the door to the cabin, they are met with a hail of gunfire and then the sound of a trigger clicking. Jack knocks the door in and the group discovers a drunk Desmond inside. Later that night, a despondent Desmond tells Jack that he'd been sailing for two and a half weeks and should have been in Fiji in less than a week. But the first land he saw was the island. He claims that's all, that there is no escape.
• With the appearance of Desmond's sailboat, Sayid tells Jack they can use it to their advantage. Michael can lead them by land while Sayid uses the boat to get to the Others more quickly. He can go ashore undetected and scout their numbers, positions and weapons. With that information, he'll meet up with Jack and his group by a signal fire and they'll go in together. Sayid doesn't know how to sail, but Desmond refuses to help him. However, he is able to get help from Sun and Jin.

  The three sail to the north shore of the island and, on their way there, spot the foot of a giant statue atop rocks. The rest of the statue is missing and the remaining foot only has four toes. The group continues on until they reach the north shore. Sayid sneaks ashore, but finds the Others' village to be completely abandoned. He opens the door to the station that the Others were guarding, but discovers that there's nothing inside but the cliff face it's built into.

• Inside the Swan, Locke finds Eko at the computer. Believing the button to be a lie, Locke tells Eko that he can't push it. He tries to smash the computer with Eko's stick, but Eko is able to stop him. The two come to blows and Eko tosses Locke out of the airlock, telling him to not come back. Outside, Charlie finds Locke and tells him that Desmond came back and is at the beach. Locke talks with Desmond and tells him he found another station - The Pearl — and saw a film there that said everything at their hatch was a psychological experiment. He tells Desmond that tomorrow they're going to find out what happens when the button isn't pushed.

  The next day, the emergency power inside the Swan turns on. Eko investigates the cause and discovers the breaker box has been tampered with. Inside the geodesic dome, Desmond manually trips a lockdown. Unable to get Locke to open the blast doors, Eko climbs out of the Swan through the hatch shaft. He rushes to the beach and asks Charlie for his help as he is absolutely certain that not pushing the button will lead to everyone on the island dying. Charlie shows him where Hurley hid the dynamite from the Black Rock, and Eko brings it down into the Swan. Charlie tries to talk Eko out of going through with blowing up the door, telling him that maybe Locke is right and the button is just a joke. But Eko pushes Charlie against a wall, removes Charlie's belt, and throws it down the corridor — it gets caught in the electromagnetic pull and sticks to the concrete poured over the blocked doorway. Finally fed up with Locke, Eko lights the fuse and the dynamite goes off.

  Desmond is worried about the condition of Locke's friends, but Locke refuses to open the blast doors. He tells Desmond how he thought getting into the hatch was his destiny and Boone died because he believed him. And on that night he was beating on the hatch when a light came on inside and he thought it was a sign, but it was probably Desmond just going to the bathroom. Desmond asks Locke to tell him about the Pearl and Locke explains how two individuals sat in chairs, writing observations about those in the Swan, and then sent them back to their headquarters to be evaluated. But Desmond suggests that Locke has it backwards - the men in the Pearl were the real psychological experiment. Locke refuses to give it any thought and shoves the Pearl's computer printout at Desmond for him to read during the 19 minutes left on the timer. Poring over it, Desmond asks Locke what the date was when they arrived on the island. Locke tells him it was September 22, and Desmond discovers the printout reads "SYSTEM FAILURE" over and over again after 922044:16 - September 22, 2004 - and tells Locke that he thinks he may have crashed his plane.

  Outside in the corridor, Charlie regains consciousness and removes the rubble covering Eko. Inside the dome, the timer is beeping and Desmond demands they push the button. But Locke refuses and smashes the computer to prevent Desmond from entering the numbers. Desmond opens the blast doors and rushes over to the book case to retrieve Our Mutual Friend. Inside is the DHARMA key. Rushing into the dome, Desmond opens the hatch into the dome crawlspace. Before going in he tells Locke that he saw him banging on the hatch door and that he saved his life. Now he is going to save Locke's life. He apologizes to Locke for whatever happened that made him stop believing, but tells him it's all real and descends into the crawlspace as the hieroglyphics begin locking into place on the timer. All five hieroglyphics lock into place and a "system failure" is announced repeatedly over the loudspeakers. As Eko regains consciousness, the Swan begins to vibrate and everything metallic flies to the blocked doorway. Charlie tries to help Eko get out, but Eko pushes Charlie out of the way and tells him to escape. Eko makes it to the dome doorway and finds everything being destroyed from the electromagnetic force. Locke tells Eko that he was wrong. Inside the crawlspace, Desmond inserts the key into the fail-safe and turns it.

  A bright white glow engulfs the entire island, the sky turns violet, and a loud noise causes everyone to cover their ears. After it all stops, the "QUARANTINE" hatch door plummets from the sky and lodges itself into the ground at the castaway's beach camp. Eventually Charlie makes it back to the beach camp and is met by Bernard, who asks him where Locke and Eko are, but Charlie doesn't know why they aren't back yet. That night, Claire tries to find out what happened out in the jungle, but Charlie won't give her a serious answer and claims nothing happened.
• Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Michael and Hurley set off into the jungle. A large bird swoops down from the trees and passes over them. Scared by the animal, Michael tries to fire his handgun wildly into the air, but there are no bullets in the magazine. Hurley asks if the bird said his name. Jack apologizes to Michael for "forgetting" to load his gun. As the group continues along a river, Kate notices they're being followed by at least two men. She and Sawyer begin firing at the Others, and Sawyer manages to hit and kill one who falls into the river. Kate tries to go after the other one, but Jack tells her to stop as it doesn't matter if they catch him - the Others have already been warned. Jack yells at Michael to tell them the truth, and Michael breaks down and tells them about the Others, the list he was given, that he let Henry Gale go, and that he killed Ana-Lucia and Libby. Hurley wants to go back, but Jack stops everyone. The Others will kill them if they realize that Michael's plan has failed.

  They continue on until they discover a pneumatic tube coming out of the ground in a small clearing. Thousands of message tubes containing notebooks filled with handwritten observations are piled in front of the tube. Sawyer finds Locke's hand-drawn map and gives it to Jack, then sees Sayid's signal smoke in the distance. Jack realizes it's miles from where they are and Michael has been leading them in the wrong direction. The group is surrounded by whispering and Sawyer is hit in the neck with an electric dart and collapses. Jack yells for everyone to run, but Kate is hit with a dart and Jack is hit with one as he tries to carry Kate to safety. The Others appear and Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley are bound, gagged, and have hoods placed over their heads.

  The Others lead them to the Pala Ferry dock and the hoods are removed. Kate tries to tell Mr. Friendly through her gag that she knows his beard is fake, but he can't understand her. Miss Klugh tells Tom - Mr. Friendly - that she knows his beard is fake. He removes his fake beard and mustache, thanking Kate because it itches badly and now he doesn't have to wear it, but then he refers Miss Klugh as "Bea" and sarcastically thanks her for telling them his real name. The Others' boat appears and Henry Gale gets off of it. Turning his attention to Michael, he expresses his disappointment in the arrangement that was made with him, but they got more than they bargained for when Walt joined them and they live up to their word. He tells Michael to take a compass bearing of exactly 325 and they'll find rescue. Michael asks him why he doesn't think he'll tell someone what's happened when he's rescued, but Henry tells him that it doesn't matter since he'll never be able to get back to the island. He promises not to hurt Michael's friends. Inside the boat, Michael finds Walt and the two are reunited. On the dock, Henry has Hurley released. Miss Klugh tells him to go back to his camp and that his job is to tell the rest of his people that they can never come to where they are. Hurley asks about his friends, but Henry tells him that they're coming home with the Others. Hurley leaves, as does Michael and Walt on the boat, and the hoods are placed back over the heads of Jack, Kate and Sawyer.
• Out in a snowy wasteland, two Portuguese men are in some kind of observation station playing chess. One of the men notices a red light flashing over a computer monitor that says an electromagnetic anomaly has been detected. The other man rushes to the computer desk and hurriedly opens a combination locked manual, while the other man asks if "that's it" and they've "missed it again." With the manual opened, the man tells his friend they haven't missed it and scans through a list of emergency numbers as an alarm sounds. He begins to type into a computer while he orders his friend to make the call. On the other end of the call is Penelope Widmore. The man tells her they think they've found it.

The Flashback

• Flashback: Desmond

Inside a military prison at the Southway Garrison in Halstead, Essex, England, Desmond is returned the items he had on him before his imprisonment. The prison guard returns him Our Mutual Friend and asks Desmond why he didn't bring that book in with him. Desmond tells him it was to avoid temptation. He has read everything Charles Dickens had written, except for that one book, and didn't intend to read until it was the last thing he has read before he dies. With his possessions returned, the guard notifies Lance Corporal Desmond David Hume that his sentence is complete and he is dishonorably discharged from the Royal Scots Regiment of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Walking outside in the rain, a man sitting in the back of a Bentley tells Desmond to get inside the car. The man - Charles Widmore - has Desmond open a box that is full of unopened letters to Penelope Widmore. Charles tells Desmond that Penelope believes he has forsaken her and that is the way it is going to stay, that she has moved on and is getting married. Inside a second box is a large sum of money and Charles tells Desmond the money is for his new life away from his daughter. He is not to contact Penelope ever again and should just run away. Asking Charles why he would just run away, Desmond is told that he would because he's a coward.

At a coffee shop in the United States, Desmond orders something to drink, but realizes all of his money is British. A woman - Libby - offers to pay his bill. The two sit down and talk, and Desmond shows her a brochure from the International Open Ocean Racing Association for a solo sailing race around the world being sponsored by Charles Widmore. He tells Libby that Charles Widmore tried to buy him off, but, when he didn't take his money, he took away the only thing in the world he ever truly cared about - Penelope. The problem for Desmond is that he doesn't have a boat for the race. However, Libby tells him that she has a boat that belonged to her husband. He wanted to sail to the Mediterranean, but he got sick and passed away a month ago. She decides to give Desmond the sailboat, telling him her husband would have wanted him to take it. The boat is named Elizabeth, after Libby's name. Desmond thanks Libby and promises to win the race for love.

At a stadium, Desmond is at his car and preparing for a run. Another car pulls up and Jack gets out. As Jack heads off for his run and Desmond is still getting ready, a third car pulls up - Penelope. Desmond asks her how she found him, and she simply tells him that she has a lot of money and determination. She asks him if he read his book, but he hadn't. She asks him why he didn't write to her, but Desmond doesn't answer and only asks her when she's getting married. Penelope tells him they haven't set a date. Desmond tells her that he's going to win the race and he'll be back in a year. He has to get his honor back.

Eight months later, during the solo sailing race, Desmond finds himself in the middle of a terrible storm. He goes below deck, wraps Our Mutual Friend in a sealed plastic bag to protect it, and sticks it in his jacket. Heading back up, a wave knocks Desmond backwards, sending his head into a deck cleat and knocking him out. Severely dazed, Desmond washes ashore on the island is dragged to the Swan by a man in a HAZMAT suit. The man tells Desmond that he is Kelvin Inman. Kelvin tells Desmond that he found him washed up on the beach, but there was no boat. The Swan's timer alarm sounds and Kelvin goes into the dome and enters the numbers. Asking Kelvin what that was all about, Kelvin tells him, "Just saving the world." Desmond watches the Swan's orientation film and inquires about the missing pieces. Kelvin tells him that Radzinsky, his former partner, made some edits. He tells Desmond he wears the HAZMAT suit to go out so he won't get infected and shows him the pneumatic injector, telling him to inject himself every 9 days.

Two years later, Desmond wheels a partially crushed safe under the blast door in the passage connecting the geodesic dome with the main living area, while Kelvin is pouring detergent into some concoction. Flicking some wires together, Desmond manually triggers a lockdown, but one of the blast doors is held up by the safe. Using the detergent concoction, Kelvin carefully continues work on the blast door map, even though it's not viewable. He tells Desmond that the map was Radzinsky's idea, that he had a photographic memory, that he was the one who figured out how to manually trigger the lockdown. But Desmond is fed up with Kelvin not telling him what happened to Radzinsky, so Kelvin tells him that the brown stain on the ceiling is Radzinsky - he put a shotgun in his mouth and killed himself while Kelvin was sleeping. Desmond asks Kelvin to let him go out, but Kelvin rhetorically asks why he'd want to go out in the quarantine and the hostiles. Kelvin tells him that he got kicked out of Her Majesty's Army for not following orders, but Desmond asks why Kelvin got kicked out of his army. Kelvin tells him it was because men followed his orders, but then he joined The DHARMA Initiative. From his tone, it is unclear if Kelvin really joined the DHARMA Initiative, or if he was merely stranded here like Desmond. He refuses to let Desmond go outside.

Later, Desmond wakes up to the sound of the timer alarm. Kelvin is nowhere to be seen, so he quickly enters the numbers. With the alarm off, he hears the slurred speech of Kelvin coming from an open hatch leading into the crawlspace below the geodesic dome. He heads down and finds Kelvin dangling a key with the Swan's logo over an access panel in the floor that says, "CAUTION: SYSTEM TERMINATION." Kelvin tells Desmond that he couldn't do it. It's a fail-safe and the only other way out. Desmond asks him what the incident was, and Kelvin tells him it was a leak of geologically unique electromagnetism. So now the charge builds up and, every time the button is pushed, it's discharged before it gets too big. Desmond wonders why they're made to push the button if they could just turn that key for the fail safe, but Kelvin asks him if he has the courage to take the finger out of the dam and blow the whole thing up instead.

Later, Kelvin suits up in the HAZMAT suit to head out of the Swan for a few hours, but Desmond notices that there is a tear in the leg of the suit. He follows Kelvin outside and sees him take off the HAZMAT suit and breathing apparatus. Following Kelvin to the shore, Desmond discovers his sailboat in a lagoon. Kelvin appears behind Desmond and tells him he was a "spook" for ten years and knows when he's being followed. He tells Desmond that he's been fixing the boat and it's about a week away from being finished. He asks Desmond if he wants to come with him, but Desmond is very upset. If they leave then they leave the button, but Kelvin doesn't care about the button anymore. He lied to Desmond so he'd have a sucker to push the button after he left. Furious with Kelvin, Desmond attacks him and accidentally knocks his head against the rocks, killing him. He grabs the DHARMA key from Kelvin's neck and rushes back to the Swan. The timer has reached zero, all five hieroglyphics have locked into place, and the loudspeaker is announcing a "system failure" over and over. Desmond tries to enter the numbers into the computer repeatedly, but "system failure" is displayed continuously on the computer screen while metallic objects inside the Swan fly to the blocked doorway. The numbers are finally accepted, the timer flips back to 108 minutes, everything stops shaking inside the Swan, and the computer returns to the command prompt.

Later, Desmond sits at the Swan's dining booth with a handgun and a bottle of alcohol. He removes the rubber band from Our Mutual Friend and opens it, but a letter falls out. The letter is from Penelope and says she has written the letter to him as he leaves for prison and she has hidden it in the one place he would turn to in a moment of great desperation. She asks Desmond not to give up, because all we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And Desmond has her. She promises to wait for him, always. Upset and frustrated that he's lost everything, Desmond tosses things off the bookshelves. He stops and hears a pounding noise and a man — Locke — screaming at the top of the hatch shaft. He turns on the spotlight at the bottom of the shaft and sees a figure at the top.

Notes

The four-toed foot.

Mysteries

• Why was Desmond sent to a military prison?
• Why is there a giant foot from a statue on the island? Why does it have only four toes?
• What do the Others want with Jack, Kate and Sawyer? Where are they taking them?
• What happened to Desmond, Locke, and Eko when the fail-safe device was used?
• Will Michael and Walt be able to escape from the island and succeed where Desmond failed?
• Did Penelope find the island?
• How is the island apparently hidden?

Answers

• Desmond accidentally caused Oceanic flight 815 to crash. He was unable to enter the numbers in time to discharge the electromagnetic build-up. (1x01 - Pilot, Part 1)
• The source of the strong magnetic field emanating from the wall is geologically unique electromagnetism. (2x01 - Man of Science, Man of Faith)
• Desmond knows about the sickness because Kelvin told him about the injections. (2x02 - Adrift)
• The "incident" in the orientation film was that there was a leak of geologically unique electromagnetism. (2x03 - Orientation)
• Kelvin was accidentally killed by Desmond. (2x03 - Orientation)
• Kelvin's partner, Radzinsky, killed himself. (2x03 - Orientation)
• Desmond returned to his sailboat and attempted to sail away from the island, but found himself only returning to it. (2x03 - Orientation)
• If all five hieroglyphic symbols lock into place before the button is pushed, the electromagnetic charge hasn't been discharged and a system failure occurs. (2x14 - One of Them)
• The mechanical noises and a 'powering up' sound are attributed to the machinery for the electromagnetic charge/discharge system. (2x14 - One of Them)
• The blast doors came down because of the supply drop, but they can also be dropped manually. (2x17 - Lockdown)
• The map was created by Radzinsky, Kelvin's former partner. Kelvin continued his work. (2x17 - Lockdown)
• Henry Gale did push the button. He lied to Locke when he told him he never pushed the button. (2x18 - Dave)
• The Others don't show themselves because they wanted Michael to lead Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley into a trap. (2x19 - S.O.S.)
• The Swan was not the psychological experiment. Rather the Pearl more likely was. (2x21 - ?)
• The pneumatic tube lead to an empty clearing in the jungle. The message tubes appeared to have never been retrieved or meant to have been retrieved. (2x21 - ?)
• The "Pala Ferry" mentioned in the Pearl's orientation video is a dock, thus the ferry would be by boat. Apparently the only way to get away from the island is to head off from the dock and follow a compass bearing of 325. (2x21 - ?)
• The station under guard by the Others was a fake. Behind the doors was nothing but a rock wall. (2x22 - Three Minutes)
• The sailboat came from the island and Desmond was inside, trying to escape from the island. (2x22 - Three Minutes)
• Ms. Klugh and the Others wanted Hurley so he could go back to his camp and deliver a message. (2x22 - Three Minutes)

The Cursed Numbers

• 42 was part of Desmond's address in the prison and 23 was part of Penelope's address in Knightsbridge, London.
• Desmond's drink, which Libby pays for, was 4 dollars.
• Desmond had 8 months to prepare for the solo sailing race.
• Desmond needed 42 thousand dollars for the solo sailing race.
• Desmond's initials are D.D.H., which is the 4th, the 4th and the 8th letter of the alphabet.
• The giant foot of the missing statue has 4 toes on it.
• Kate reads a couple of entries from the Pearl's discarded journals. One is at 04:00 and another is at 04:15.
• Oceanic flight 815 crashed on September 22, 2004 at 4:16.

Scrutiny

• The Others have repeatedly been referring to the people they abducted as "good ones". Now Henry Gale says about the Others "we are the good guys", likely in reference to the same thing. Interestingly, they have now abducted Jack, Kate and Sawyer, who previously considered themselves "damaged goods" and not wanted by the Others. (2x19 - S.O.S.)
• Kelvin and Radzinsky were apparently the last Swan team members who were sent there by the DHARMA Initiative; meaning that after their arrival (i.e. well after the "incident"), something happened that explains why no new team members have arrived in a long time, even though DHARMA is apparently still sending supplies.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Jack, Kate and Sawyer have been taken prisoner by the Others.
• Eko, Locke and Desmond did not return from the Swan Bunker after Desmond activated the failsafe.

Referbacks

• 1x19 - Deus Ex Machina: While talking with Desmond, Locke tells him how he thought the hatch was his destiny and how a kid died because of it.
• 1x24 - Exodus, Part 2: Charlie tells Eko that the dynamite from the Black Rock is very unstable and he doesn't want him ending up like Dr. Arzt. Arzt blew himself up with the dynamite.
• 1x24 - Exodus, Part 2: A giant bird, similar or the same as one that appears in the first season finale, appears in this episode. Hurley believes it said his name. He, Jack and Kate were also present at the bird's appearance in the previous season finale.
• 1x24 - Exodus, Part 2: The boat that Mr. Friendly and the Others used to kidnap Walt returns and is given to Michael.
• 2x01 - Man of Science, Man of Faith: We see the stadium where he and Jack are doing their "Tour de Stade", but from Desmond's point of view.
• 2x02 - Adrift: Kelvin asks Desmond the same question about the snowman that Desmond asks Locke.
• 2x04 - Everybody Hates Hugo: Charlie shows Eko where Hurley hid the dynamite from the Black Rock after Hurley was talked out of blowing up the pantry.
• 2x14 - One of Them: Kelvin Inman is the same man that had Sayid torture a man for information regarding a captured pilot.
• 2x15 - Maternity Leave: Mr. Friendly acknowledges that he is indeed wearing a fake beard and costume like the ones Kate discovered in Maternity Leave.
• 2x19 - S.O.S.: Kate prevents Sawyer from tripping one of Rousseau's traps of similar design to the one she tripped in S.O.S.
• 2x21 - ?: The group discovers the end of the Pearl's pneumatic tube and all of the message tubes. Sawyer finds Locke's hand-drawn map that he sent through the tube.

Trivia

The Show

• Kelvin: Kelvin is the same man that had Sayid torture his superior officer.
• The Outside: This episode marks the first time a scene has been shown outside the island that is not a flashback.

Behind the Scenes

• Awards: For their roles as Desmond and Henry Gale, respectively, in this episode, Henry Ian Cusick and Michael Emerson were each nominated for an IVy Award for the 2005-06 season for Best Guest Actor or Actress in a Drama Series. This episode was also nominated as Best Individual Episode of a Drama Series.
• Awards: Jack Bender was nominated for an Emmy for the 2005-06 season for Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for this episode. Also for this episode, Sue Blainey, Stephen Semel and Sarah Boyd were nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series. David Barr Yaffe, Sean Rush, Frank Morrone and Scott Weber were nominated for Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series. And Kevin Blank, Mitch Suskin, Jay Worth, Scott Dewis, Steve Fong, Spencer Levy, Eric Chauvin, Archie Ahuna and Bob Lloyd were nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.
• Ratings: On its original airing this episode averaged 17.6 million viewers with a 7.5/17 rating in adults 18-49. However, the first hour of the show also competed directly with the season finale of FOX's American Idol, which won the night in a landslide victory and captured almost 33% of all television viewers that night at its peak.
• Location, Location, Location: The stadium in which Desmond is preparing to run and meets Penelope is the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The Aloha Stadium is home to the University of Hawaii's Warriors football team and host of other events such as the NFL Pro Bowl.
• Penelope's Doppelganger: Desmond's photograph of Penelope and himself, seen in Orientation, is seen again in this episode. However, the woman present in the original photograph has been digitally replaced with Sonya Walger, the actress playing Penelope Widmore.

Allusions and References

• Enough Jibber-jabber: While Michael argues how the Others are scared "hillbillies", Sawyer tells them, "Enough jibber-jabber." "Jibber-jabber" is one of Mr. T's catchphrases.
• Boo!: Kelvin tells Desmond that he was a "spook" for ten years. "Spook" is slang for a spy.
• Opera?: The opera music Desmond was listening to is "Voi Che Sapete" from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.
• David Hume: Desmond's full name is Desmond David Hume. David Hume was an 18th century Scottish philosopher of the Enlightenment. He was influenced by John Locke's works, but was also a critic of some of his theories.
• Penelope: A fairly obvious reference to Homer's Odyssey, where Penelope is Odysseus's wife. On his way home from the Trojan War, Odysseus is lost at sea and believed dead; even though Penelope is wooed and/or harassed by 108 suitors who want to marry her (and thus inherit Odysseus' kingdom), Penelope waits patiently and faithfully for twenty years for Odysseus to return, devising several schemes to ward off the suitors. Similarly, Penelope Widmore may be waiting for Desmond.
• Our Mutual Friend: Our Mutual Friend was the last completed novel written by Charles Dickens and was published in 19 monthly installments between 1864 and 1865. A young man is to receive his inheritance on the condition that he marries Bella Wilfer, a young woman whom he has never met. However, a body is found in the River Thames that is identified as the young man, and the inheritance is instead given to his father's servant.
• Irving and Desmond: Desmond's refusal to read Our Mutual Friend until before he dies is in reference to John Irving. John Irving is an American novelist and screenwriter. Some of his works include The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. In an interview, Irving stated, "[Charles] Dickens was and remains the most important author for me. I have read his books many times, and have even purposely not read one of them. I am saving it for severe illness or a near-death experience. Something I will read when I have to despair of doing anything else. I have not read Our Mutual Friend. That's the one I have saved."
• Kelvin: May be a reference to the physicist Lord Kelvin, who studied thermodynamics, magnetism and telecommunications. May also be a reference to Stanislaw Lem's science fiction novel Solaris, whose protagonist Kris Kelvin is sent to a planet where elements from people's memories can take real form, which also seems to have happened repeatedly on the island.

Quotes

• Locke: You cannot push that button. [is punched by Eko] No, it's not real! We're only puppets! Puppets on strings! As long as we push it we'll never be free!
  [Eko tosses Locke out of the Swan's airlock]
  Eko: Well, you're free now, John. Do not come back.
• Kelvin: See that brown stain there? That's Radzinsky. He put a shotgun in his mouth while I was asleep. The bitch of it was I only had 108 minutes to bury the poor bastard.
• Desmond: I think I crashed your plane.
• Penelope's letter to Desmond:
     Dearest Des,
       I am writing this letter to
  you as you leave for prison. And I've
  hidden it in the one place you would
  turn to in a moment of great desperation.
  I know that you go away with
  the weight of what happened on your
  shoulders. And I know that the only
  person who can ever take it off is
  you. Sorry to be so dramatic, but
  these are dramatic times, are they not?
       Please don't give up, Des.
  Because all we really need to
  survive is one person who truly
  loves us. And you have her.
       I will wait for you. Always.
                      Pen
• Desmond: Three days before you came down here, before we met, I heard a banging on the hatch door — shouting. But it was you, John, wasn't it? You say there isn't any purpose, there's no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.
  Locke: No! No, no! None of this is real! Nothing is going to happen! We're going to be okay!
  Desmond: I've got to go. And you've got to get as far away from here as possible.
  Locke: Go where?! Stop!
  Desmond: I'm going to blow the dam, John! I'm sorry for whatever happened that made you stop believing. But it's all real. And now I've got to go and make it all go away.
  Locke: Wait! Desmond!
  Desmond: I'll see you in another life, brother.
• Locke: I was wrong.
• Michael: Who are you people?
  Henry Gale: [smiling] We're the good guys, Michael.