At the end of season 4, the Oceanic Six (Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, and Aaron) got off the island, which seemed to be a good thing since it disappeared and all. They decided they had to lie to everybody about everything in order to protect those who remained on the island.
Ben has told Jack that they need to go back to the island, all of them. First they’ll grab Locke’s body. Since he’s dead, he should be easy to convince. Next, Hurley should be pretty easy since he’s in a mental institution. Jack believes he needs to go back to the island because John told him that, if he didn’t, everybody on the island would die.
Going back three years to the day the island was moved, we see that Locke was standing there next to Richard until a bright light flashed. Then Richard disappeared. Dan and the others heading back on the boat were inside the radius and were moved with the others on the island. The freighter, however, is gone. Sawyer’s plans to go back to the camp are dashed when Bernard tells him there is no camp. Dan tells them the camp isn’t gone and that he needs to go somewhere manmade. He says the camp isn’t gone. It just hasn’t been built yet.
Some lawyers show up on Kate’s doorstep and ask for blood samples from her and her son to determine whether they’re actually related. They don’t divulge who they’re working for, but it’s enough to scare her. She throws them out and says to come back with the sheriff. While they’re off getting him, she tosses some stuff in a bag and grabs Aaron. Farewell house.
Dan doesn’t want to explain, so Sawyer slaps him. He compares the island to a skipping record, saying that Ben’s actions at the orchid station dislodged them from time.
Elsewhere on the island, Locke almost gets hit by a plane, the Nicaraguan one where Boone died. Not having learned his lesson from Boone’s collapse, he tries climbing up to it until shots are fired, striking him in the leg. It’s their old pal Ethan. John decides to tell him the truth, which is a bad idea. As Ethan prepares to shoot him, the bright light flashes again. At least the crazy guy with the gun is gone now, although the sun has gone down with it. Sawyer asks Dan when they are now. His response is that they’re either in the past or in the future. Brilliant answer.
Sun’s at an airport flying to LA. When the airport agent is checking her in, she asks her to wait there after taking her passport. Then they lock her in a room with Widmore. He wants to know about their “common interests.” She wants to kill Benjamin Linus, too.
As they’re watching the news, Ben and Jack hear that Hugo is being accused of killing someone. As for Hurley, he’s at a drive thru with Sayid, who Hugo suggests should get some more comfort food so he doesn’t have to go around shooting people. Sayid says he’s been working for Ben. To clear up any confusion about this, he tells him to do the opposite of whatever Ben tells him, should he ever have the misfortune of running into him again. After a shootout in which Sayid kills someone else, Hurley’s spotted with a gun in his hand. Hurley says they never should have left that island.
Dan and the others arrive at the hatch to find it’s all blowed up, which at least means they’re at a point after when they crashed on the island. He warns them that it’s not possible to change anything. If they try to do anything different, they will fail every time.
Locke gets up to find the plane upside down on the ground. Richard’s back, and he knows there’s a bullet in Locke’s leg. He told him he was shot. Or he will tell him that anyway. Like Dan, Richard doesn’t want to explain anything, but he warns him that he won’t recognize him the next time they meet, so he gives him a compass. Oh, and by the way, he’s going to have to die. Then there’s another flash, and the plane’s back where it was before.
The others are also back in time, and the hatch is back, albeit closed. Sawyer heads to the back door for some supplies, and he plans to get Desmond to let him in, except Desmond didn’t know him back then since they never met. Dan tells him to stop wasting his time because if it didn’t happen, it can’t happen. Sawyer doesn’t like that answer because everybody he cares about just blew up. Juliet wants to head back to the beach. When they get started, Charlotte’s nose begins bleeding. She says it’s nothing, but Dan doesn’t seem to agree. Having just told Sawyer not to bother banging on the door, he does so for 20 minutes, and Desmond finally answers, gun in hand. The rules don’t apply to Desmond because he’s special. Dan tells him that everybody is in danger and that he has to go back to Oxford and find his mother. Desmond wakes up from his island nightmare and knows it was real. He has to get to Oxford.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Lost Season 5 Episode 2 The Lie, which airs next on ABC.