‘Lost’ Season Two Recap: Ep. 1

“Man of Science, Man of Faith”

We’ve been anxiously waiting on pins and needles to see what the heck is down that hatch–and lo and behold, they give it to us in the first few moments of the second season. We see a man roused from sleep by an alarm. He immediately jumps out of a top bunk bed and goes over to an antiquated computer, types something in briefly and presses the “execute” button. He then goes back to his “room,” and puts on a record (Mama Cass). At this point, we still haven’t seen his face but we watch him go through what seems to be a daily routine. He works out, takes a shower, makes a protein shake and gives himself an injection of…well, something yellowy green. And then–BOOM! We hear the explosion and follow the man’s frantic reaction into a gun locker where he grabs pistols and a rifle and goes to a primitive type of periscope he uses to discover the cause of the emergency. There, at the top of a very deep shaft, are Locke and Jack–who’ve just blown the hatch. And so it begins… Seeing the depth of the shaft–and the fact the ladder going down is broken–Jack decides now is not the time to go jumping into the abyss. After all, the reason they blew it open to begin with was to hide everyone inside–and clearly, that’s not going to be possible. Locke, of course, thinks otherwise but agrees with Jack they should go back to the camp and tell everyone about the hatch. On the way back, Hurley tries to explain the curse of the numbers to Jack, the numbers he saw on the side of the hatch. Hurley desperately wants Jack to believe him. But Jack doesn’t. “They’re just numbers,” Jack says. “Dude, your bedside manner sucks,” Hurley replies. We flashback to Jack as a doctor, tending to a patient who has just been in a horrible car accident. We see it’s the same woman, Sarah, from the first season who Jack ends up marrying and who, at the wedding rehearsal, tells everyone Jack saved her life. Aha! Sarah is indeed in dire shape, with her spine nearly crushed, and Jack’s bedside manner leaves much to be desired as he tells her there’s little chance she’ll ever walk again. But he’s going to operate anyway and in operating room, is inspired when she longingly tells Jack all she wants is to dance at her wedding. Talk about prioritizing. Caught up in the moment, Jack promises to fix her. Back at the camp, Jack uncharacteristically reassures everyone that, regardless of what they may have heard, they will ALL survive to see the next day, as long as they all stick together. But Locke can’t wait any longer and openly defies Jack’s orders by going back to the hatch. And of course, Kate follows. In flashback mode again, the operation doesn’t go nearly as well as Jack hoped, and he knows he has to tell his patient and bride-to-be he couldn’t keep his promise. The day before the surgery, Jack takes a late-night run and meets a man, Desmond, while climbing stairs in a sports stadium. Turns out Desmond was going to be a doctor too, but after realizing there was more to life than medical school, gave it up to go on a race around the world. He tells Jack miracles can happen if you just believe. Jack thinks he’s crazy but is forced to reconsider when, against all odds, Sarah regains feeling in her legs. Back on the island, we see Shannon frantically searching for Walt’s dog, Vincent. She and Sayid venture out into the dark and Shannon has an eerie encounter with Walt himself. He can’t really be there, can he? He’s out on the raft. But there he is, dripping wet and looking terrified. Before Sayid joins her, Walt disappears and she is left to wonder if she ever really saw him at all. Meanwhile, Jack decides to follow Locke and Kate down the hatch. As he makes his way through the bizarre surroundings, that same Mama Cass song starts up again and Jack suddenly finds himself in the middle of a stand-off. A man is holding a gun to Locke’s head, and when he steps into the light, Jack gets the shock of his life: It’s Desmond.