LOST: Episode 4.02 (Recap)

Confirmed Dead

Recapping this one is a bit of a challenge because not only have we returned to flashbacks but 5 characters (the "rescuers") each had their own!

Flashbacks

All of our rescuers' flashbacks take place around the same event: the discovery in the Indian Ocean (the Sunda Trench) of the apparent wreckage of Flight 815 - all pieces of it - and all passengers and crew have been confirmed dead. I'm not sure exactly when in the timeline this discovery is made - does anyone know?

Daniel Farraday

His FB is short and sweet: He weeps while viewing the underwater video footage of the wreckage on the television news, and when his wife (?) asks him why he's crying, he says he doesn't know.

Miles Straume

Miles hears about the discovery of the plane wreckage on his car radio, as he parks in front of a customer's house. Miles is a medium/ghostbuster/whisperer - basically, he can communicate with the dead. He appears to be legit but uses his powers for evil - or, well, for overcharging his clients and finding out where the dead person hid their money.

Charlotte Lewis

Charlotte is an anthropologist and in her FB she arrives at the site of an archeological dig in the desert of Tunisia. She reads about the discovery of Flight 815 in a newspaper. There is security around the dig and she has difficulty getting through to see the find, but ultimately prevails as she bribes one of the guards. At the dig she discovers the remains - I'm not sure if they're fossilized or not - of a polar bear that had been wearing a collar with DHARMA's Hydra Station symbol stamped on it. And she seems to have been expecting to find it.

Frank Lapidus

Frank looks like Billy Connolly and Nick Nolte's love child. He's sitting in what appears to be the offices of a travel or charter company on a tropical island. He's watching TV and sees the news report about the discovery of Flight 815. There is video footage of a dead person strapped into the pilot's seat and Frank calls Oceanic to tell them that he knows that the person they're showing is not the pilot. They ask him how he knows and he says because he was supposed to be the pilot on Flight 815. Oooo!

Matthew Abaddon/Naomi

Abaddon and Naomi meet in an abandoned office space. Abaddon and whoever he is working for have assembled a team for a mission to be led by Naomi, but we don't find out what the mission is about. When Naomi asks what to do if they come across survivors of 815, Abaddon tells her there are no survivors. When she persists, he insists that there are none. Naomi complains that the people he has chosen (the four mentioned above) are inexperienced, Abaddon tells her that they were chosen specifically for their skillsets and he and the people he works for are counting on her to protect them and ensure the success of the mission. Oops.

On the Island - Jack's Group

First, Jack and Kate meet Daniel (the guy at the end of last week's episode). He's a bit nervous, but seems nice. Except for the gun he's carrying. And since he's a nerdy physicist, he probably doesn't normally carry one. Daniel tells them that the helicopter he was in had mechanical trouble and he had to (was pushed) jump out. There were 4 people in the chopper, including him. Using the GPS transponder on the sat phone, the three of them set out to find one of them: Miles.

I'm not sure what significance it has, but while walking through the jungle they come across a metal lockbox that had been thrown from the helicopter. In the box are gas masks, and Jack asks Daniel why they thought they would need them; but Daniel sidesteps the question. He also tells them that their rescue is not his primary mission but again, does not tell what that mission is.

Jack, Kate and Daniel find Miles on the beach, and Miles immediately draws a gun on them. He tells them that he knows Naomi is dead - "tell my sister I lover her" was apparently code for "They killed me" - and wants to see her body. Kate tells Miles that yes, Naomi is dead but they didn't kill her, Locke did. Miles still wants to see the body. He'll know if she's telling the truth.

After sitting with Naomi's dead body and talking to it or listening to it or whatever he does, he tells Kate and Jack that he believes them. When he tries to lead them on at gunpoint, Jack refuses to go and pulls that lame "My friends have you surrounded with guns pointed at your head" ploy and I roll me eyes but then the bullets start firing and Sayid and Juliet pop out of the woods and it's awesome.

The tables have turned, and Miles and Daniel are now being led at gunpoint, but another transponder has appeared on the sat phone - it's Charlotte. They race off to meet up with her but find only Vincent the dog with Charlotte's transponder around his neck, leading them to the correct conclusion that Locke has Charlotte and is holding her captive.

On the island - Locke's Group

They do a lot of walking and talking and Benry-beating. Locke tells the group that Benry shot him and left him for dead - and showed them the bullet hole for proof - and then Walt came and was taller (heh) and told him he had work to do and that he had to stop Naomi and that's why he killed her. Locke tells the group he needs to take them to the cabin before they go to the barracks.

On their way, they come across Charlotte, who is very pleasant and happy to see them, but Locke doesn't trust her. They all sit around and chat and Charlotte tries to get information from them but Locke tells them not to tell her a thing.

Frank Lapidus climbs up onto a ridge, looking ragged and with some scrapes and bumps. He fires a flare into the sky. Charlotte sees it and tells everyone that they have to go find her colleague. While they are all discussing what to do next and not paying attention to Benry - something one should NEVER do - he grabs a gun from Karl and shoots Charlotte. Whoa! Charlotte is wearing a bullet-proof vest, however, and all Benry gets out of it is another beating from Sawyer.

The Last Act

Jack's group follows the flare and finds Frank and his helicopter, which he has managed to land intact. Jack, Kate, Sayid and Juliet look at it like they can't believe their eyes. They talk about making multiple trips to and from the freighter because of fuel issues and Miles tries to call George Minkiwski back on the freighter. A woman on the other end of the phone tells him that he's unavailable. Hmm.

Juliet tends to Frank's wounds and during their conversation he realizes that she was not on the manifest for Flight 815. When Miles finds out that Juliet is an island "native" he runs at her, demanding to know the location of the man in a photo he is showing her. That man is Benry.

After Charlotte's shooting, just about everyone in Locke's group agrees that it's time to pop a cap in Benry's sneaky little ass. But just when Locke is about to pull the trigger, Benry tells them he knows why Charlotte and her people have come to the island: They have come for him. What's more, he knows everything about them because...he has a man on their boat.

Desmond

Brothah was nowhere to be seen in this episode - unacceptable! - so I decided to share his Valentine's Day card from abc.com. His hair is kind of gay, but hey, Happy Valentine's Day from Desmond!