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"Because You Left" is the premiere episode of Season 5 of Lost, originally broadcast on January 21, 2009. It is the 84th episode of the series. Jack and Ben attempt to assemble the Oceanic Six for a return to the Island while the survivors left behind begin skipping through time following the Island's "move".

Synopsis

Introduction

5x01 ArrowFilm

Chang filming the Arrow orientation video.

At 8:15 a.m., Pierre Chang wakes up at his home in Barracks next to his wife. He then gives his baby a bottle before getting ready for the day as the record he puts on starts skipping. Inside one of the buildings, he begins shooting the first take of the second DHARMA Initiative orientation video, this time for the Arrow station, but is interrupted by a worker concerned about a problem at the Orchid.

File:5x01 FaradayBackInTime.jpg

Faraday is revealed to be one of the DHARMA workers.

The worker leads Chang to the Orchid, which is under construction. Men who have been working underground to create the second level of the station have destroyed 6 drill heads trying to drill a seemingly impenetrable wall. The crew's foreman tells Chang that there is an open chamber behind the wall, showing him a sonar printout revealing an image of the frozen wheel behind the wall. At this moment Chang discloses that there is an incredible amount of energy on the other side of the wall, almost limitless, and enough to make space and time travel possible. Chang tells the worker to do nothing more to the wall because infinite harmful energy could be released by doing so. As Chang leaves he bumps into another worker who is revealed to be Daniel Faraday dressed as a construction worker.

On-Island

5x01 NoCamp

The survivors find out their camp is gone.

The results of the "Island moving" have immediate effects for all the survivors left behind. After the white flash, Locke finds that Richard and the Others have vanished, and that it is now raining. Confused, he frantically shouts for Richard and the rest of the group. On the Zodiac, Neil asks what the strange light was, and Daniel Faraday, noticing that they can still see the island, notes that the raft "must have been inside the radius." On the beach, Juliet and Sawyer notice that the burning freighter has mysteriously vanished, finding Bernard and Rose who frantically report that the survivors' camp has also disappeared. Daniel arrives with the Zodiac passengers and explains that "The camp isn't gone, it hasn't been built yet". Faraday tells everyone that they must go to something that was man-made on the island, and Juliet points out that the Swan station is about a fifteen minutes hike from the beach.

As the remaining survivors head toward the Swan, Faraday encourages them to move faster. Sawyer demands that Faraday explain what is happening. Faraday says that it would be too hard to explain to a quantum physicist, much less Sawyer, and again insists that they keep moving. However, after Sawyer loses his temper and slaps Dan (threatening to do the same to Charlotte after she yells at him), he concedes and tells them to imagine the Island as a record that is skipping, due to what Ben Linus did at the Orchid station. As a result, he says, the Island is now dislodged in time, and either than island or the survivors are now moving through time (he seems to suggest that they are the ones moving). Sounding concerned, he asks if the survivors' group is all accounted for. Sawyer says no, realizing that Locke is unaccounted for.

5x01 HelloEthan

A hostile Ethan crosses paths with Locke.

Meanwhile, while climbing a hill, Locke narrowly misses being struck by a damaged, low-flying plane, which then crashes in the jungle. Finding a Virgin Mary statue which had fallen from the plane, it becomes clear that the plane is the Beechcraft that had previously been found by Locke and Boone, many years after it crashed. Locke arrives at the crash site and tries to climb up, searching for survivors, but is stopped by a bullet piercing one of his legs. A stunned John falls to the ground. The shooter is revealed to be none other than Ethan. Ethan assumes that Locke was on the plane, and demands to know how many others were on board. Locke tries to explain who he is, stating that he wasn't on the plane, and that he knows who Ethan is. Locke tells him that Ben appointed John as the leader of the Others, but Ethan claims that this is "ridiculous," and prepares to shoot him. However, the white light appears again (though Ethan does not appear to notice it), and time shifts again just in time to save Locke's life. Locke looks to see that it is now night, and the Beechcraft has fallen from the cliff edge.

File:5x01 CompassInMyHand.jpg

Locke holds on to Alpert's compass.

The group arrives at the Hatch, which is still a crater, prompting them to conclude that they are in a time after Flight 815 crashed. Sawyer argues that they could change the past by stopping Jack and the others from launching the helicopter (which they believe crashed in the ocean). Faraday, however, is adamant that the past is like thread - one can move back and forth but cannot under any circumstance begin a new one. Meanwhile, Locke encounters Richard Alpert, who removes the bullet from his leg and gives him a compass which he must give to Richard again in a different time frame. He also tells John that the only way to save the Island is to get those who left back. In order to do that, Locke is told that he will have to die.

5x01 AnOldDesmond

Desmond, back as a DHARMA member, encounters Faraday.

Another flash occurs and the hiking group finds themself looking at the hatch door to the Swan station, which Juliet uncovers, now intact. The group quickly moves to the rear entrance and Sawyer repeatedly knocks on the door, but nobody responds. Faraday reiterates that Sawyer cannot get to Desmond because if it hadn't already happened, it cannot happen. After everyone else leaves, however, Faraday himself knocks on the door and manages to speak with Desmond. Faraday tells Desmond that he is uniquely special, and that only he can help them because "the rules" don't apply to him. Daniel instructs a confused Desmond to seek out his mother in Oxford if he escapes the Island.

Off-Island (Three Years Later)

5x01 WillNeverKnow

Ben implies the stranded survivors' fates will never be known.

In 2007, Ben and Jack discuss their plan to find the other members of the Oceanic Six. Jack is pessimistic about their chances of recruiting the other five and sadly wonders why so many bad things have happened. Ben responds coldly, "It happened because you left." Later, at a hotel, Jack shaves his beard off, and they discuss the plan some more. Ben then reveals that he has not seen Locke since he left the island, and asks Jack if Locke told him exactly what happened after the Oceanic 6 left. Jack says no.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kate is at home watching cartoons with Aaron when she is visited by Dan Norton, an attorney working for an unknown client. Norton claims to have a court order to conduct a test to determine if Aaron is actually Kate's child. Kate refuses to allow the test and tells Norton to leave, which he does, saying that he will be back with a sheriff. Kate frantically packs a bag, grabbing an envelope of cash and a gun (which were hidden in her room) and, saying that they are going "on vacation," takes Aaron and leaves.

File:5x01 SunAndCharles.jpg

Sun and Widmore meet again, to discuss their common interests.

At Heathrow Airport in London, while trying to check into her flight to Los Angeles on Oceanic Airlines, Sun is detained by airport security. While yelling at the security guard to let her out, Charles Widmore reveals himself, and says that he had Sun detained. He is angry that she had the "audacity" to approach him the way she did in London, but he still wishes to talk about their "common interests." When asked what exactly those interests are, Sun replies, "to kill Benjamin Linus."

In their hotel room, Ben and Jack see a television news report about Hurley's escape from Santa Rosa after apparently murdering a man. Ben realizes that their plan to reunite the Oceanic Six has just become more complicated.

File:5x01 HurleyTheAngry.jpg

Hurley stares at the dead body, while by-standers mistake him for the killer.

Meanwhile, Hurley and Sayid stop at a fast food restaurant before going to the safe house, which is in an apartment building. While walking toward the room, Hurley asks Sayid about the man Sayid killed (who Hurley is now accused of murdering). Sayid doesn't know who the man was, but said that he had been watching Hurley for some reason, which made him "an enemy," especially after what happened to Bentham (Locke). When Hurley comments on Sayid's paranoia, Sayid reveals that he has been working for Ben Linus and cautions Hurley that, if Linus ever tells him to do anything, to do the exact opposite. Sayid notices that a piece of tape which he had placed on the door to the room has been broken, indicating that someone has entered the safe house. One man attacks Sayid at the door, and Sayid quickly kills him by throwing him over the balcony. Another man attacks him inside, and after a lengthy fight, Sayid kills him too, but not before he is shot with an anesthetizing dart, which renders him unconscious a moment later.

5x01 GoingToOxford

Desmond informs Penny he is leaving to Oxford.

A passer-by notices the dead body of the first man, and takes a picture of Hurley with a gun in his hand and covered in what appears to be blood (it is actually ketchup). Hurley runs inside, rescues Sayid, and the two escape.

Finally, on a sailing boat with Penny in an unknown location, Desmond wakes up, remembering what Faraday told him. While Penny brushes off the experience as a bad dream, Desmond realizes that it was actually a memory. He sets off for Oxford to find Daniel's mother.


Trivia

General

  • A green ceramic alien head is visible under the stereo on the shelf as Pierre Chang walks into the Barracks recreation room and films the orientation film for The Arrow.
  • The Arrow filming includes workers sporting the main DHARMA logo: Fern ("crew"), Jay ("worker"), and presumably Kyker (the director named on the clapper board, a likely reference to Lost property master, Rob Kyker who also played Jacob for a time). They are interrupted by Eric ("construction") and meet Tony ("construction") and Faraday, dressed as Joe ("construction").


Production notes


Bloopers and continuity errors

  • When the alarm clock goes off in the opening scene, the alarm itself isn't actually set. The alarm is set on the left-side of the clock and is set to 12:00.
  • Pierre Chang can be seen wearing a Swan logo despite making the orientation video for the Arrow.
  • After Desmond recalls his "memory" he goes above deck to begin pulling up the anchor, but in actuality the chain is going in the reverse direction, lowering the anchor.
  • Goldie parachuted from the Beechcraft into the trees near the crash site, but we see the plane fly very low and crash quickly, leaving him no time to have done this. This also does not match Locke's Vision in "Deus Ex Machina", where he sees the plane crashing directly down into the trees from the sky.
  • The DHARMA worker wearing the Fern shirt is portrayed by a different actress than the one seen in (Lost: The Complete Third Season (DVD)).
  • Sun's passport is displayed in Adobe Photoshop, probably filmed soon after it was created by a graphic artist for the show.
  • When the witness takes a picture of Hurley with the gun, the man Sayid threw over the railing is shown in a different position than the one in which he landed.


Recurring themes



Storyline analysis

  • Sayid kills two men in the safe house. (Crimes)
  • Juliet and Sawyer are seen as new leading figures for the castaways. (Leadership)
  • Sawyer slaps Daniel for not telling what is happening. (Rivalries)


Cultural references

  • "Shotgun Willie" a song by Willie Nelson, from 1973, by the album of the same name.
  • A Christmas Carol: Sawyer calls himself "the Ghost of Christmas Future," a reference to one of the spirits who visits Ebenezer Scrooge in the book by Charles Dickens.
  • Dilbert: Sawyer calls Daniel Faraday "Dilbert" when Faraday tries to convince him of the futility in his plan to enter the Swan Station through the "back door" to stock up on supplies. Dilbert is a white-collar engineer, the main character of an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams.
  • Quantum Leap: Faraday begins his explanation of the rules of time travel by saying "Time is a string," which is how Dr. Sam Beckett begins his theory of Quantum Leap time travel.

Literary techniques

  • The episode begins with a record skipping, which is later used as a metaphor for how the island is moving through time. (Foreshadowing)
  • Kate tells Aaron that the train in his cartoon won't go into a tunnel because he will never come out, foreshadowing their evacuation from their home moments later, and perhaps their return to the island. (Foreshadowing)
  • Faraday insists that they can't change the past or stop what's happening, and Sawyer asks him who can; Faraday doesn't respond. This foreshadows Faraday's statement that Desmond is special and the "rules" don't apply to him, implying that Desmond can, in fact, change things. (Foreshadowing)
  • When Locke is separated from The Others, he is left in the jungle with nothing but a knife and his wits; literally the situation he longed for in Walkabout. (Irony)


Episode references


Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
  1. Do not answer the questions here.
  2. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer.
For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Because You Left/Theories
  • What is the nature of the Island's time shifting phenomenon?
    • Where did the Island go? (It appeared to vanish from the POV of the outside world.)
    • Why are Richard Alpert and the Others not affected by the time shifts?
      • Why is Juliet, a former member of the Others, affected?
    • Why does Faraday think the rules of time do not apply to Desmond?
    • Is Claire moving through time like the rest of the Oceanic survivors?
  • Why does Richard tell Locke that in order for the Oceanic 6 to return to the island he has to die?
  • Who is Daniel's mother and why does Desmond need to find her?
  • Who hired Dan Norton?
  • Was Pierre Chang's baby born on the island? If so, how?
  • Who are the men that are trying to assault Sayid and/or Hurley?
  • Why did it take Daniel two hours to get back to the beach after talking with Desmond?
  • Who were the men trying to kill Juliet and Sawyer?
  • How did Daniel end up working for DHARMA?
  • Does Ethan remember Locke from their encounter by the smuggler's plane?
  • Why doesn't Desmond remember Daniel from their 1996 meeting?
  • Why does Sayid instruct Hurley not to trust Ben when he spent the last years working for him?

External links

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