The Hunting Party
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Episode transcript
[[{{{transcript2}}}|Part Two]]
[[{{{audiotranscript}}}|Commentary transcript]]
"The Hunting Party" is the eleventh episode of Season 2 of Lost and the 36th episode of the series as a whole. Jack faces tension as he wakes to find a gun-toting Michael, who leaves to find Walt. With the help of Locke and Sawyer, Jack heads out to bring Michael back before the Others kill Michael.
Contents |
Synopsis
Previously on Lost
- The raft is ambushed by the Others. Walt is abducted. ("Exodus, Part 2")
- Michael begins communicating with Walt over the hatch computer. ("The 23rd Psalm")
- Gravely ill, Sawyer asks after Kate, saying he loves her. Some time later, Kate kisses Jack in the jungle and then runs off, leaving Jack confused. ("What Kate Did")
Flashback
Jack and his father Christian diagnose an elderly man with a spinal tumor and determine that he's not a candidate for surgery. But the man and his daughter reveal that they specifically sought out Jack, whom they know helped his wife to walk after her spine was crushed in a car accident. They are looking for a miracle, and much to his father's dismay, Jack agrees to perform the surgery.
Jack and the man's daughter, Gabriela, form a connection - a dangerous one, according to Christian, who warns Jack to keep his distance. But Jack is spending nights and weekends at the hospital, working overtime, while Gabriela is there at her father's side through myriad tests and pre-surgical procedures. And this is causing disharmony at home - Jack and Sarah's marriage is paying the price because Jack is considered a "miracle worker". She tells Jack that the pregnancy test she took was negative. He asks if she wants to talk about it, but she refuses. She claims she has papers to grade, and leaves the room.
After seven and a half hours of surgery, Jack loses his patient on the operating table. Christian blames the man's age and weakened heart, but Jack blames himself, frustrated at his inability to save him. Jack leaves the hospital and finds a distraught Gabriela in tears, waiting in the parking lot. And in a moment of grief and weakness, they share a kiss. But Jack pulls away and tells Gabriela that he can't. He returns home to Sarah and comes clean about the encounter. He vows that things will be different; that he's going to put more effort into their marriage; that he's going to fix it. But Sarah feels that Jack will always need something to fix and reveals some news of her own that leaves Jack reeling. Sarah informs Jack that she is leaving him and that she has been having an affair for some time. Jack lets her leave without much of a fight.
On the Island
Jack wakes up at the Hatch to find an unconscious Locke, lying on the floor in the armory. Behind him Michael shows up with a gun, aiming to Jack's body. He tells him he is going for a journey after his son, because this is his right, his right as a father. Jack offers help, saying that he will join his journey, but Michael says he has to do it alone, and locks both of them in.
When Locke finally wakes up, Jack tells him what happened. Locke confesses and says he gave him a gun for shooting practice. Back at the beach, Kate wakes Sawyer up (throwing a banana at him, claiming she did not find a rock), telling him that Jack needs to change his bandages. They enter the Hatch, and discover that Locke and Jack are locked up in the armory. While Kate enters the Numbers to the computer and pushes the button, Sawyer opens the armory door, finding Jack and Locke collecting guns for their mission to try and save Michael. Sawyer decides to join them, claiming that he needs his doctor around him.
On their way across the Island, Sawyer asks Jack why he did not let Kate join them. Jack responds with a sarcastic remark about going back to see if he hurt her feelings. Locke figures out that Michael is not going back to where the Tailies came from. Back at camp, Hurley tells Sun (who translates to Jin) that Michael took off, stole some guns and "went all commando". Jin begins to pack, hoping to catch up with the hunting party, but Sun stops him. He tells her Michael is his friend, and Sun responds that she is his wife.
Back on the trek, Jack and Locke debate whether they have the right to tell anyone what they can or can’t do, and what Jack will do once they catch up with Michael. The three of them climb a mountain in the jungle, while Locke and Sawyer discuss the meaning of Sawyer's nickname. Locke says he knows his real name is James Ford, and asks who he got his nickname from. Sawyer asks "Who says I got it from anybody?", when seven gun shots are heard in the distance. They run towards the sounds, hoping to find Michael alive. Locke finds a mark on a tree, where a bullet grazed it. They also find three of Michael's shell casings. Sawyer encourages them to keep going, and Jack asks him if he is out here for Michael or for "pay back for getting shot?". Sawyer asks Jack the same question, which he does not answer.
At night, the three of them argue after Locke loses Michael's track. Their disagreement is interrupted by a familiar face in the middle of the jungle, who apparently knows their names. Sawyer recognizes him as "the son of a bitch that shot me on the raft" and tries to shoot him, but a bullet from the bushes grazes Sawyer's ear. Jack asks where Michael is, but the man responds that Michael is not going to find them, and asks John to build them a fire.
Back at the Swan, Charlie and Hurley thumb through records and discover an old album by an unheard-of band called "Geronimo Jackson". They discuss whether Claire misses Charlie, and whether Hurley has a chance pairing with Libby. Sayid shows up, asking where Jack and Locke are. Hurley and Charlie update him and tell him about Michael's quest, and that everyone went after him—Jack, Locke, Sawyer, and Kate.
Back in the jungle, the bearded man says that Walt is fine, and he's a very special boy. He chastises them for walking into someone's kitchen, eating food that is not theirs, opening doors to rooms they have no business opening. He also quotes "somebody a whole lot smarter than anybody here", saying that "from the dawn of our species man's been blessed with curiosity." Jack says he doesn't believe him, and points out that Ethan was sent as a spy, and that Locke, Sawyer, and himself outnumber the Other. The man remarks that it's an interesting theory, and shouts "Light 'em up!" In a moment, a ring of torches lights up, and the hunting party discovers they are surrounded.
The bearded man warns the three of them that right there, there is a line, and they are not allowed to cross it. If they do, they would go from "misunderstanding" to "something else". He also says that the Island is theirs, and the survivors still live on it because "they" let them live on it. He calls an Other named "Alex" to bring "her" out. A head-bagged and gagged Kate comes out with her hands tied tightly behind her back and her bare feet tied tightly together. Jack is enraged, and for a few seconds it seems that he'd rather allow Kate to be murdered rather than hand over the guns. But he relents, and Kate is allowed to go free. The Others disappear, and the four castaways return to camp.
On the trek home, Jack is still angry that Kate disobeyed his orders. She tries to apologize, but he shuts her down and gives her the cold shoulder. Sawyer offers a few encouraging words as the group leaves her at her tent. On the beach, he turns to Ana Lucia, and says he heard she was a cop, and that she killed one of "them". When she confirms these facts, Jack asks her how long it would take to build an army.
Trivia
General
- Tom says, in reference to the island "Tell me, you go over a man's house for the first time, do you take off your shoes?". Locke did take his shoes off when he first got into the Hatch, but Jack did not. However, it should be noted that in many cultures, removing your shoes when entering a house is not a sign of over-familiarity, but just commonplace. Although since Tom was speaking American to American, the commonplace practice of other cultures is not relevant.
- Jack says "I'm sorry, too" to Kate, after she says she is sorry. A flashback then commences and one of the first lines of the flashback is Sarah telling Jack she is sorry, with Jack somewhat quietly responding "I'm sorry, too."
- Tom tells Jack not to "cross the line", and in a flashback, Christian warns Jack of crossing a line, though metaphorically.
- Tom also tells Jack: "Somebody a whole lot smarter than anyone here once said 'Since the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity.'" This is the first half of a quote from Alvar Hanso in his 1967 address to the United Nations Security Council (as shown on the Hanso Foundation website).
- He completes the sentence with "You know the other one about curiosity, don't you Jack?'". He was referring to the famous proverb "curiosity killed the cat", used to warn against being too inquisitive lest one comes to harm.
- Tom is using a Luger P08 pistol which is famed for it's usage by the Nazis during World War II.
- Angelo and Gabriela both have strong American accents when they speak in Italian.
- Here is the full transcription of dialogues in Italian:
- Father: "Digli di smettere di bisbigliare, non sono un idiota!" - Tell them to stop whispering, I am not an idiot!
- Daughter: "Papà lui è come gli altri, non lo farà." - Dad, he's just like the others: he won't do it.
- Father: "Non ci proverà? Perché?" - Won't he try? [For] Why?
- Father: "Signore, non sono venuto fino a qui per lei, sono venuto qui per suo figlio." - Sir, I didn't come here for you, I came for your son.
- Father: "La ringrazio tantissimo!" - Thank you very much.
- Hurley finds a record from Geronimo Jackson.The producers claim that it is indeed a real, very obscure, band from the '70s. (Official Lost Podcast/May 15, 2006)
- The events of this episode are revisited, from Michael's perspective, in "Three Minutes".
Production Notes
Bloopers and continuity errors
- In the flashbacks, Jack stares for a moment at the X-rays behind him. In the corner of the X-rays there is the date '16 Nov 2005'. This would suggest that its more likely, another continuity error.
Recurring Themes
- Angelo dies on the operation table. (Life and death)
- In the flashback, Jack tells Sarah that he has kissed another woman. (Secrets) (Redemption)
- In the flashback, Jack only had a few minutes to keep his patient alive before he died. (Time)
- Sun says she used to be told what to do for 4 years. (Numbers) (Time)
- Sawyer calls Tom "Zeke". (Nicknames)
- Kate is taken hostage by the Others. (Imprisonment)
Literary techniques
| Literary techniques in Lost |
|---|
| Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock Characters: Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character Story: Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator |
- Sawyer tells "Zeke" that they aren't finished yet. (Foreshadowing)
- Tom refers to Walt as a "very special boy." (Regularly spoken phrases)
Cultural references
| Cultural references in Lost (direct references only) |
|---|
| Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science |
- Daniel Boone: Sawyer calls Locke "Daniel Boone", after the American pioneer and hunter whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States.
- Mr. Clean: Sawyer calls Locke "Mr. Clean". Mr. Clean is a mascot brand name of a popular cleaning product. He is a muscular, tanned, bald man who cleans things very well. (Movies and TV)
- The Wizard of Oz: Sawyer calls Tom "Zeke", after the Kansas farmhand, who also represented the cowardly lion, in this movie. (Movies and TV)
- "Fall on Me" in the bunker, Hurley and Charlie listen to this song by the Pousette-Dart Band (PDB) (Music)
- Warren Commission: When Jack, Locke and Sawyer hear the gunfight ahead of them and then find the shell casings left behind, they find only three, yet claim to have heard seven shots fired. This is likely to be a reference to the Warren Commission of the John F. Kennedy assassination, which concluded that three shots were fired, and three shells were found in the Book Depository, even though more are audible of video evidence of the event.
Flashback timeline
- This episode's flashbacks take place in-between the flashbacks in "Do No Harm" and "A Tale of Two Cities"
