"" is the sixth episode of Season 5 of Lost and the 92nd episode of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on February 18, 2009. The way back to the Island is revealed to members of the Oceanic 6, but there is trouble ahead when not all of them wish to return.
In Los Angeles, Eloise Hawking takes Jack, Sun, Ben, and Desmond into the basement of the church. There she opens a blast door, revealing a room containing a map, a pendulum-like mechanism resembling a Foucault pendulum, and various computers. She announces that this is a DHARMA Initiative station called the Lamp Post and it was through this station that they found the Island. Jack asks Ben if he knew this existed. Ben denies knowledge, but when Jack asks Eloise whether Ben is telling the truth, she says "probably not".
Eloise explains that the Lamp Post was created years ago over a pocket of electromagnetic energy, which is connected to similar pockets around the world. The people who built it knew the Island existed but not where it was. The Island is "always moving", which is why the survivors of Flight 815 were never rescued, Eloise claims. She explains that one of the men built the pendulum in order to predict where the Island would appear in the future. Using those calculations she has determined the position of a "window" to the Island which will close in thirty-six hours. As she is explaining this, Jack examines calculations on a chalkboard and a large photograph of the Island marked "9/23/54 - U.S. Army - OP 264- Top Secret - Eyes Only".
After hearing Eloise's talk, Desmond realizes that Jack intends to return to the Island. Desmond delivers Daniel Faraday's message to Eloise, warning her that Daniel and everyone on the Island needs her help. Eloise tells Desmond the Island isn't done with him, but he angrily recounts how following her past instructions cost him 4 years of his life. Desmond tells Jack that they are being used and that he is "done with the Island" as he storms out of the room. Eloise hands Jack a binder containing lists of airline flights and their coordinates. Eloise then informs Jack that Ajira Airways Flight 316 to Guam will pass over the Island's location and that all of his friends must be on that flight.
Eloise asks to see Jack alone and takes him to another room of the church which appears to be her office. She gives Jack an envelope containing Locke's suicide note. She explains that Jack must recreate the crash of 815 as closely as possible. Locke will act as a proxy for Christian Shephard, and Jack needs to give Locke something belonging to his father. Jack is skeptical, but Eloise tells him "That's why it's called a leap of faith."
In the main hall of the church, Jack approaches Ben, who is kneeling in a forward pew with his hands together up to his nose as though praying, with his eyes open. Jack asks where Sun is; Ben says she left. Jack asks about Locke and his coffin, which Ben tells him he will pick up on his way to the airport. As Ben walks to the votive candles and lights one, both men ask each other about Eloise, but neither provides answers. Ben looks at the painting positioned above the candles: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio. Ben tells Jack about Thomas the Apostle, noting Thomas’ claim to fame was not his bravery, but his doubt regarding the Resurrection of Christ. Jack asks if Thomas was ever convinced. Ben explains that Thomas needed to touch Christ's wounds to be convinced and then says, "We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack." Ben walks toward the doors, and Jack asks where he's going to which Ben replies, "Oh, I made a promise to an old friend of mine--just a loose end that needs tying up." Jack looks again at the Caravaggio.
Later, while sitting in a bar with a seemingly untouched drink in front of him, Jack receives a phone call from an assisted living facility. There, an official tells Jack that the resident in question attempted to run away and that if it happens again they will have to transfer him to another facility. In a common room, Jack greets an elderly man named Ray. Ray, revealed to be Jack's grandfather, had attempted to run away from his retirement home, going so far as to pack a suitcase. As Jack helps his grandfather unpack he notices a pair of black dress shoes. Ray explains that the shoes were among Christian’s belongings which Margo had sent to Ray following Christian's death. Jack asks to take the shoes, and Ray readily gives them to him.
Jack returns home and pours himself a drink (but does not drink it), then hears a suspicious noise. Going into his bedroom he finds Kate in the dark, lying on his bed in tears. She asks if he is still planning on returning to the Island and then offers to return with him. When Jack asks why she changed her mind and where Aaron is, she refuses to answer and makes him promise to never ask her that question again if he wants her to come with him. Jack agrees, and Kate then kisses Jack passionately.
The next morning, Jack prepares coffee and orange juice for Kate. She notices Christian's shoes, and Jack explains why he had put white tennis shoes on his father’s body back in Sydney. When the phone rings, Kate leaves, telling Jack that she will meet him at the airport.
After she leaves, Jack answers the phone. It is from a drenched and bloodied Ben, who is calling from a pay phone at Long Beach Marina. He claims that he has been "sidetracked" and that Jack should retrieve Locke's body from Simon’s Butcher Shop. Jack travels to the butcher shop where he is let in by Jill. In the freezer, Jack opens Locke's coffin and replaces Locke's shoes with his father's. He then places Locke's unopened suicide note in Locke's jacket, claiming that he's "heard everything you have to say" and closes the casket.
At the airport, Jack makes arrangements with the gate attendant for transporting Locke’s body. While doing so, he sees Kate arrive, apparently trying to look discreet in sunglasses and with her head down. As he heads towards the gate a man offers his condolences. He then runs into Sun, who says that if there is the slightest chance of Jin being alive she needs to return to the Island. As they head to gate 15 they see Sayid, apparently handcuffed, and being accompanied by a woman, apparently a federal marshall. At the gate, Hurley, appearing nervous or reluctant and carrying a guitar case, informs the Ajira employee that he has purchased all the remaining 78 available seats on the flight, but not why. It is implied that it is to save innocent people from any forthcoming crash. Jack goes up to Hurley, greets him and asks how did he know. Hurley nervously responds by saying "it doesn't matter. I'm here."
As the flight is about to close their doors, Ben comes running up at the last minute with his boarding pass. His face is battered and his arm is in a sling. Hurley becomes agitated at Ben’s presence, but Jack assures him that Ben is necessary. As Ben takes his seat, one of the flight attendants tells Jack that security had found something of his in the cargo hold and again hands him Locke's suicide note.
Once the plane reaches 30,000 feet, the captain turns off the "fasten seat belts" sign. Jack moves up a few rows and sits with Kate. He remarks how crazy all this is and how it's weird that they are all together again. Kate says "We're on the same plane, it doesn't mean we are together." The captain makes an announcement welcoming them to Ajira Airlines and informing them that he is Captain Frank J. Lapidus. Jack asks the flight attendant to tell Frank about his presence. A clean-shaven Frank comes out and happily greets Jack, saying he "picked up this gig about 8 months ago." However, he then sees Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Ben and Kate. Realization dawns and he asks "We're not going to Guam, are we?"
It then turns to nighttime on the plane, and Ben is reading Ulysses. Jack asks him how he can read (i.e., in view of the tension), and Ben sarcastically answers "my mother taught me." (Just a phrase, since Ben has never met his mother.) He then answers honestly that he can read because it's better than what Jack is doing, "waiting for something to happen." Jack then mentions Locke's suicide note, which he feels is following him. Ben suggests he read it, and says he'll give Jack privacy to read the letter in peace. Jack then opens and reads the note, which simply states: "Jack, I wish you had believed me. JL." Ben is seen walking swiftly to the front of the plane and immediately thereafter the plane encounters turbulence. As everyone buckles up, the turbulence increases and eventually the plane is engulfed in a flash of white light identical to the flashes that accompany the abrupt changes in space/time on the Island.
Jack's eye opens as he awakens in a bamboo grove, dressed in a suit. He looks around in amazement, then notices he's holding a torn piece of paper on which the words "I wish" are legible, a fragment from Locke's suicide letter to Jack. Jack hears Hurley crying for help, drops the note and runs through the jungle, along a stream, to the top of a waterfall, where he sees Hurley flailing in the lagoon below, struggling to hold on to a guitar case. Jack dives into the water and helps Hurley out of the deep part of the water. They notice Kate lying unconscious on the side of the pool, and hurry over where Jack awakens her and informs her that they’ve successfully returned to the Island.
None of the three remember actually crashing and none have seen Ben, Sun, Sayid, any other survivors, or any wreckage of the plane. Jack suggests that they split up and search for survivors, but before they can do anything they hear music. The source of the music is a DHARMA van in what appears to be in new or very well maintained condition, which emerges from the jungle and pulls up next to the lagoon. A man in a DHARMA Initiative jumpsuit gets out and points a carbine at the three survivors. Hurley then recognizes him and the man lowers his weapon; it is an astonished Jin.
The episode's title refers to the flight number of the plane that returns the Oceanic Six to the Island.
This episode aired on February 18 in the United States. On this day there are exactly 316 days left in the year.
Coincidentally, the number of passengers on Flight 815, subtracting those who survived and at one point escaped the Island (Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Hurley, Locke, Michael, and Walt) is 324 - 8 = 316.
This is the second commercial airline crashed on the island containing Losties. First one was Flight 815 thus the second was 316, and containing only the "half" of the Losties which is half of eight literally divided vertically in half.
Also, according to the lie that the Oceanic 6 told the press, there were 316 people who died on the plane, with 5 of the survivors being from the Oceanic 6, and Boone, Libby, and Charlie being the other 3.
The title also possibly refers to the Bible verse "John, 3:16", which reads "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” - This is in direct correlation with John Locke's letter to Jack, which read, "I wish you had believed me," and Ben's Bible story to Jack about Thomas, The Apostle. Jack Shephard is our "Doubting Thomas".
Locke is further symbolized as a Christ figure who sacrifices himself in how he didn't sign his note "John," but "JL," with the L slanted so that it looks like "JC."
As the Ajira Airways plane takes off, an Oceanic Airlines jet is visible in the background.
Behind the passengers being screened for departure is a poster for Oceanic Airlines.
The DHARMA logo on Jin's jumpsuit is mostly obscured by his collar, but later in the series is revealed as a star of five points: the "sheriff star" logo of Dharma Security (being Sawyer the Chief Security)
A photo of the Island taken for the U.S. Army can be seen on The Lamp Post's board. It is labeled "9/23/54" (9+2+3+5+4=23).
This is coincidentally one day shy of being exactly fifty years before Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on the Island.
Hurley is seen reading a Spanish translation of the trade paperback Y: The Last Man Vol. 3: One Small Step, the front cover of which is taken from issue #15 of the series. It is written by Brian K. Vaughan who is also a writer and producer on Lost.
In Jack's dining room, the painting on the wall is of a figue in front of a pueblo type building outlined by the shape of the U.S. state of New Mexico, which is where Sawyer's daughter lives.
Daniel, Juliet, Miles, and Sawyer do not appear in this episode. This is the first time this season in which none of these characters appear in an episode. Jin, Sayid and Locke appear with no lines.
According to Jorge Garcia's personal blog, the scenes by the Waterfall were filmed on November 4, 2008, which was the day of the presidential election.
This episode is the first to feature The Wilhelm Scream, a stock sound effect used in various popular film and television shows. It can be heard a few seconds before the "White Flash" occurs on the plane.
This episode was originally intended to be the seventh of the season, but was later switched to air before "". This is only the third time in the show's history that the order of the episodes had been switched, having happened only in Season One, and in Season Three with "" and "". (Information from the Official Podcast)
File:5x06 Locke'sDeadBody.jpgLocke's new pillow and necktieThe electronic board in the Lamp Post with two columns of updating global coordinates is incorrectly labeled. "Longitude" appears above the column of latitudes, and "Latitude" appears above the column of longitudes.
The suicide note addressed to Jack is written slightly differently between the version he reads on the plane and the torn version after he arrives on the island.
Locke's head is resting on a different pillow and he is wearing a different necktie than in "第4季 第13集" (Original Image).
When Jack awakens Kate on the side of the pool, the piece of hair on Kate's cheek changes in the next scene as she wakes up.
Jack tells Kate that he didn't feel that his father was worth "a nice new pair of shoes," or "the time it would take to go out and get them". (Parent Issues)
As Jack is looking toward the LAX screening area, the gate numbers 1-15 and 16-42 can be seen over the metal detectors. (The Numbers)
Hurley spends the money he won from the lottery and/or money from the settlement from Oceanic to pay for 78 extra seats on Flight 316 to save innocent passengers. (Sacrifice)
Y: The Last Man: Hurley is seen reading a Spanish translation of the trade paperback Y: The Last Man Vol. 3: One Small Step. This comic book series is about the sole survivor of a deadly plague that wiped out every male on the planet Earth. It is written by Brian K. Vaughan who is also a writer on Lost. (Literary works)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The DHARMA Initiative station, The Lamp Post is a reference to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew, the first and sixth books published in the Narnia series. In the books, a lamp post marks the passage between Narnia and the real world. In the episode, The Lamp Post serves a similar function with regard to the Island. In addition, the opening scene of the episode is a reference to the first chapter of Prince Caspian, the second book published in the Narnia series. In the chapter, entitled The Island, the children in the book return to Narnia via a mysterious Island with ancient ruins. The first thing they do is play in the water. (Literary works)
Ulysses: Ben is seen reading Ulysses by James Joyce on Flight 316 before he leaves his seat. The novel is a story about the journey through Dublin on a single day (June 16, 1904) by its main character, Leopold Bloom. The story is considered a rewrite of Homer's Odyssey as a blend of reality with symbolism in a parable of the experience of life. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse told viewers to read this book on one of the Dharma Special Access videos. A quote from page 316 of the novel is also hidden in the source code of the Ajira Airways website. The final chapter is named "Penelope". Fionnula Flanagan who plays Mrs. Hawking is famous for the role of Molly Bloom (a character in the book) in stage and film, including "James Joyce's Women" and "Joyce to the World."
More pertinently, the reference to Ulysses fronts the father-son relationships in the episode and series. In the novel, Leopold Bloom longs to be a father-figure to a son, while Stephen Dedalus struggles with his own identity as son. The events recorded in Ulysses trace Bloom and Dedalus' wanderings around Dublin as they miss each other, cross paths, cross thoughts, and finally meet before parting. In "Ithaca," the seventeenth chapter, the narrating voice refers to the shift between the two characters' thoughts and perspectives as a sort of parallax, an appropriate model for the differences between the perspectives of Lost's main characters (as well as a handy hint concerning the Island's physics?).
Ben's pithy comment (while browsing James Joyce's Ulysses) regarding his mother teaching him to read is Ironic, as both he and the Joycean Ulysses character Stephen Dedalus have issues of guilt over the deaths of their respective mothers despite Ben's mother having died in Childbirth & Dedalus' much later in life.
Also, the fact that Ulysses is built upon Homer's Odyssey should cue the viewer into certain observations. First, the events of '316' are a re-telling, a re-enacting of earlier events. Second, the viewer is left to wonder whether the Oceanic Six are (finally) returning to the Island as Odysseus returns to Ithaca or just on another leg of their voyage. (Literary works)
The Bible: John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John Locke's suicide note states that Jack should have believed. Eloise told Jack to start believing. Ben told Jack that everyone believes sooner or later. Each of the Oceanic 6 that boards the plane ultimately believes that the flight will return them to the island and does not perish during the crash. This verse is also hidden in the source code of the Ajira Airways website. (Religion)
The Bible:Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." The Lamp Post station is used to identify the future location of the island and guides people back to it. This well known verse from the Psalms figuratively uses the lamp as important for people to find their way. (Religion)
The Bible: Ben tells Jack the story from The Gospel of John about Saint Thomas the Apostle, who is not remembered by the incredible bravery he modeled when he insisted that the disciples should follow Jesus to Judea, even if that meant their deaths, but rather he is remembered by his doubt concerning the bodily resurrection of Christ, a doubt only mitigated by putting his hands in Jesus's wounds. (Religion)
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas: Ben looks at this painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610). This painting illustrates the Biblical story of Thomas doubting Jesus' resurrection. "Doubting Thomas" is a phrase used to describe someone who is very skeptical about something. (Art)
Le Petit Prince: The Little Prince visits an asteroid that rotates every minute. Its inhabitant, the Lamplighter, must constantly light, extinguish, and relight the Lamp Post on the asteroid. (Literary works)
The Langoliers: In the Stephen King novel, an airplane takes off from Los Angeles and while in midair in travels through a time warp, leaving only a handful of survivors while the rest of the people on board disappear. For the survivors to travel back through the warp (or window) to their own time, they must recreate several key conditions of their original pass through said window. (Literary works)
Foucault's Pendulum: In addition to the pendulum in the Lamp Post being an example of Foucault's Pendulum, the scene further references the novel by the same name when Eloise Hawking describes the station as being built on a source of magnetic energy that connects to other sources around the world, including the Island. This same idea is often discussed in the novel and these connections are referred to as "telluric currents." Foucault's Pendulum was written by Umberto Eco, whose name is a homonym of Eko. (Literary works)
Fraidy Cat: The magician mentions his fraidy-cat rabbit. Fraidy Cat is a 1975 comical children's cartoon show about an unlucky and miserable cat who has used up eight of his lives, and is now on his ninth and last life. (Movies and TV)
"Excelsior Lady": This song by San Diego band The Donkeys is playing in the DHARMA van when Jin encounters Jack, Kate, and Hurley. A very similar version of this song by Geronimo Jackson was released on iTunes on March 17, 2009. It is called "Dharma Lady". (Music)
Jack dives into and rises out of the pond. Writers have used this age-old literary device (i.e. baptism) to symbolize that someone has accepted another person's plea for forgiveness of their past transgressions and has granted them a chance at a new and better life. (Symbolism)
Sayid is seemingly under arrest on the flight, being watched by a officer similar to Kate and Edward Mars. (Juxtaposition)
Hugo is carrying a guitar case, seemingly in place of Charlie Pace. (Symbolism)
Ben arrives just in time and thanks the crew for not taking off without him, taking Hurley's place from the Oceanic 815 flight. (Juxtaposition)
At the bar Jack's face is split in half by blue and yellow light symbolizing his internal struggle to believe what Eloise has told him. He then gets a call from his grandfather's nursing home which eventually convinces him to do as Eloise instructed. (Symbolism)
Jack is still tempted by alcohol, in a parallel of Christian; however, he never drinks, symbolizing that he is making progress in his recovery, and is making different choices from his father. (Symbolism) (Juxtaposition)
Frank Lapidus, the pilot, was originally supposed to fly Oceanic Flight 815. (4x02)
Ben, despite being "sidetracked," makes the flight at the last possible minute, mirroring Hurley's mad rush to the airport in 2004. (1x24) He also excuses himself just before the plane goes down (presumably to the restroom) mirroring Charlie's location during the crash.
Hurley has another Spanish-language comic book to keep him entertained. (1x24)
Kate is breaking the agreement of her settlement, running from the law. (4x04)
Jack and Kate slept together the night before the flight, shortly after a serious argument that would have cost them any future relationship in most situations, and the next morning, Kate acts cold toward Jack, mirroring the case of Shannon and Boone. (1x13)
Hurley and Ben have a confrontation before the flight takes off, leading to a flight attendant to ask if everything is okay. This is what Libby asked Mr. Eko and Charlotte Malkin before Oceanic 815. (2x21)
The beginning of this episode is a direct homage to the beginning of "", both visually and in terms of the music and sound effects used. Jack awakens in the jungle and hears cries for help, leading him to run off to save the other people from the plane, just as he did when 815 crashed. He is wearing clothing similar to what he wore the day Flight 815 crashed on the Island, including a black tie with a white pattern. (1x01)
Jack explains why Christian wears white tennis shoes in his apparitions. (1x01) (1x04) (mx13)
When handcuffs are found shortly after the crash of 815, Sawyer accuses Sayid of being handcuffed aboard the plane, claiming that he sat with his hands together and hidden under a blanket. (1x02)
Hurley and Kate land by the waterfall they previously visited. Both Flight 815 and Flight 316 deposit two passengers and one case into the pool beneath this waterfall. (1x12)
In regards to Christian's shoes, Kate asks Jack why he would "hold on to something that [made him] feel sad?" Kate held on to her toy airplane for years, even though it reminded her of Tom Brennan's death. (1x12)
Ms. Hawking says, “That’s why it’s called a leap of faith, Jack." These are the same words Helen spoke to Locke outside his father's home, and Locke paraphrases to Jack when urging him to push the button on the Swan's computer for the first time. (2x03)
Ms. Hawking refers to the Lamp Post and the Island as "unique pocket[s] of electromagnetic energy. That energy connects to similar pockets all over the world." Isaac of Uluru also refers to these pockets, citing Uluru as one, when Rose and Bernard went to see him. (2x19)
When questioned about his relationship to Jeremy Bentham, Jack says that he is a friend. When he was at the funeral parlor, Jack said that he was neither friend nor family. (3x22)
Ben doesn't care what happens to the other passengers onboard; Jack didn't care either when he was trying to get back to the island. (3x22)
Locke's letter to Jack is a reference to their argument by the Orchid right before Jack flew to the freighter specifically and to their conflict of faith versus science in general. (4x13)
Jack emerges from the water after arriving on the Island in the same way that Ana Lucia does in "" and Jack does after the helicopter crashes into the water. (4x13)
Desmond warns Jack not to trust what Ben and Ms. Hawking tell him to do, recalling Sayid's advice to Hurley. (5x01)
The photograph of the Island is dated 23 September 1954, the same year that the United States military brought "Jughead" to the Island. It was also classified TOP SECRET and marked for limited distribution to "U.S. Army eyes only". (5x03)
September 23, 1954 is exactly fifty years prior to "Day 2" on the Island after the original crash of Flight 815.
Ben tells Jack that it wasn't Jack's fault that Locke died. (5x07)
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