On the boat Jin, Michael and Desmond manage to delay the explosion of the bomb temporarily. The helicopter lands on the freighter to refuel and it takes off with the Oceanic 6 as well as Desmond. The rest of the survivors on the freighter abandon the freighter just before it explodes, killing Michael and possibly Jin. Jin misses the flight off of the freighter because he is running up from the communications room, he runs out onto the deck for the boat waving and yelling for the helicopter to return for him. Jack will not allow the helicopter to pick him up as there is no time. When the chopper is clear of the boat, the bomb destroys the boat. It seems that Jin could have jumped or was thrown overboard by the blast, but we aren't given any confirmation.
Just before the bomb goes off Michael sees Christian Shephard in the in the communications room. Christian tells Michael he can finally go now just as the bomb explodes. This is our confirmation that Michael has done his good deed and the island is through with him. At first I was surprised we see Christian relay this message to Michael, it would have been a perfect opportunity to have Libby come back and give Michael the same message. Having Libby deliver this line would have been much more powerful. After thinking this over though, I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't have made sense for Libby to appear again to Michael. When we last saw Libby she was telling Michael not to blow up the engine room, seeming to be acting in contradiction to Ben's plan. It could be said that Libby was telling Michael to wait and not blow the boat up at that moment, but we know that the bomb wasn't activated then and he couldn't have damaged anything if he wanted to... and as he tried to. I think Libby was telling Michael not to follow Ben's instructions and abandon the plan to destroy the boat. Jacob/Christian on the other hand, is content or happy with Michael completing his mission and dying, basically the same position as Ben.
"Just wait until you see what I'm about to do."
As the helicopter makes it's way back to toward the island, the sky turns purple and the island disappears. It seems as if the island implodes or disappears into itself, leaving a void for the ocean water to rush in to. The last time the sky went purple, everyone on the island was unharmed. I think this is what we'll find out next season, that there was a radius around the island that was also transported. We'll see the raft of survivors return to the island and possibly even Jin. The Helicopter of course was just outside of this radius and thus wasn't affected.When Jack sees the island vanish he realizes Locke was right when he told Jack about how the island was a place where miracles happen. Jack knows that he has to get everyone to lie just like Locke told him at the Orchid. Since Jack literally cannot get back to the island now, he can no longer directly save those who remained on the island. Jack has to trust that Locke will provide for them, whether he likes it or not. The only thing Jack can do to help those on the island is to help ensure no one else goes looking for the island. Hence the lie.
The helicopter carrying the Oceanic 6 runs out of fuel and crashes at sea after the island is moved. The survivors are adrift in a raft when they are picked up by Penny Widmore's boat. The deckhand on Penny's boat, the Searcher, is the same man that we saw at the end of season two. Penny even confirms that she has a listening post, which is what we saw in that finale. With the help of Penny the Oceanic 6 are taken to Indonesia so that the lie can be perpetuated. The rest of their story happens just as we are told at the press conference.
Picking up right where we left off
The flash forward at the beginning of this episode picks up exactly where 'Through the Looking Glass' leaves off. We see Kate confront bearded Jack at LAX, identifying the man in the newspaper clipping as Jeremy Bentham, a name we haven't heard before up until that point. Bentham, we learn convinced Jack of lying because it's the only way to keep everyone safe. After about 10 minutes into this episode it should be rather clear that John Lock is the prime candidate to be Jeremy Bentham. Locke is the one who told Jack to create the lie.
Throughout the flash forwards we learn that Bentham has visited nearly all of the Oceanic 6, telling them that they all need to go back to the island. Ben pays Jack a visit at the funeral home where we learn Bentham told Jack that the events on the island have taken a very bad turn for the worse and it's all Jack's fault for leaving. Ben tells Jack that the island won't allow Jack to return without the rest of the Oceanic 6. It's not clear whether or not Frank and Desmond also have to go back with Jack in order for the island to allow them passage. The big reveal at the end of the episode is that Bentham's body must also be returned to the island, this is when Locke is shown to the audience in the casket. I'm thinking that Locke's return to the island will mirror, in some ways, Christian Shephard's arrival. I'm sure Locke won't stay in the coffin for long once they return to the island.
Continued on Page 3.