In an office that looks familiar, a man walks in and searches through the room. He finds an old record player and turns it on. Music plays as he continues his search. He breaks open a wooden file cabinet and finds research papers with the Dharma logo and formulas on them. They spill out onto the floor, and he bends down to pick them up. Out of the corner of his eye he spots something under the desk -- it's a sawed-off shotgun. He stuffs it in his satchel when a woman enters. She calls him Caesar, and asks what he just put in his bag. He reaches in, takes out a flashlight and tosses it to her. He calls her Ilana and tells her if she wants it, it's hers. Ilana tells him they found a man standing in the water wearing a suit. Caesar is intrigued, and they head out.
It's night as they cross through a jungle area. Ilana says the man wasn't one of the ones who disappeared, and he wasn't on the plane. And at that very moment they pass by a huge airplane with its nose stuck in the jungle. In the torch light, we see the plane is smoke-stained, banged up and has a hole in the bottom. It has landed on its belly with the landing gear up, and the wings have sheered some of the surrounding foliage, but it is otherwise intact. Painted on the side is Ajira Airways and a tiger logo on the tail.
Caesar and Ilana ignore the plane and continue to the beach where they meet this mysterious man. He introduces himself as none other than John Locke. Sure enough, he's wearing a suit and a tie, and he talks. Locke is no longer a dead man in a coffin.
The next morning Locke takes off his wingtip shoes with the mismatched laces and stands in the ocean barefoot looking at a bigger island across the way. Is he standing on the smaller Hydra station island? Could the office Caesar had searched be Ben's old office? Ilana comes over and offers him some mango. Locke nods to two outriggers on the beach and asks if those are hers. Ilana says no, the were already here. There were three, but the pilot and some woman took one. Locke asks for a passenger list of the plane, but Ilana says he'll have to talk to Caesar about that. Ilana says no one remembers him being on the plane. Locke says he doesn't remember being on it either. Then what does he remember? Why is he dressed up so nice? Locke says he thinks he was going to be buried in this suit. Locke remembers dying, and he turns and looks at the big island.
WHOOSH to Locke in the room with the frozen donkey wheel with Christian Shephard as he turns the wheel. The deafening hum begins as a bright white light fills the room. Christian tells Locke to say hello to his son, and Locke asks who's his son when the light washes over him and FAAZAAM! Locke suddenly finds himself in the Tunisian desert during a hot day. His leg is broken from the fall into the wheel chamber, he's in horrible pain, and there's nothing there -- except a few yards away a video camera. It's pointed right at him. A black cord runs from it to a rusted box mounted at the bottom of a telephone pole, which is part of a line of telephone poles that run over some rocks and disappear in the distance out of sight.
Locke calls out for help. Desperate. Louder. Cut to night, and Locke is still waiting there. He hears an engine quickly approaching, and headlights wash over him. The old desert jeep skids to a stop right in front of him. Four men jump out and roughly pick him up, throw him in the back and speed away.
Locke is taken to a run-down, decrepit hospital. A doctor comes in and forces Locke to swallow some pills with some dirty, cloudy water. He looks at Locke's broken leg and immediately barks out orders. The men bring over a bucket, old sheets, and prepare a plaster mixture. The doctor shoves a wood block in Locke's mouth and ties it in place with a leather cord around Locke's head. One guy takes hold of Locke, and the doctor grabs Locke's broken leg -- and yanks the broken bone down, realigns it, and jams it back into place. Locke screams in intense pain. He tries to struggle free, but the men hold him down. Then the men begin ripping the sheet into pieces, dip them in the plaster, and wrap them around his leg forming a cast. Before Locke passes out from the pain, he sees a tall, bald black man watching from the shadows.
Locke wakes up at night in a hospital room -- and Charles Widmore is sitting next to his bed, watching him. Widmore says it's nice to see Locke again. He had a compound fracture but Widmore flew in a specialist to set it properly. Locke has no idea who this man is. Widmore says it is confusing. They met when Widmore was 17, and here they are all these years later, and Locke looks exactly the same. He asks how long it's been for Locke since he came into the camp and asks to talk to Richard Alpert. Locke says four days. He asks Widmore about the camera, how he knew Locke would be there. Widmore says because that's where you exit. He was afraid Ben would fool Locke into the leaving the island... the same way Ben fooled Widmore.
Widmore explains that he was the Others' leader. They protected the island peacefully for over three decades. But then he was exiled by Ben. Locke tells him that Ben was already gone. He chose to leave. Widmore is confused and asks why? Then he realizes that Locke came back for the ones who left. He tells Locke that they've been back for three years now, and Locke is amazed at how much time it's been. Widmore says they've gone on with their lives, and none of them have told the truth about the island. Then Widmore says he'll help Locke try to bring them back. Locke asks why, and Widmore says there's a war coming. And if Locke isn't on he island when it happens, then the wrong side is going to win.
The next morning, Widmore gives look a fake passport under the name "Jeremy Bentham" along with money and a file folder with Locke's friends' information. Widmore admits he's been watching them because he's deeply invested in the island's future. But he warns Locke not to mention his involvement. He can only imagine what they think after listening to Benjamin's lies. Locke doesn't entirely trust Widmore, who sent the freighter people to kill everyone, but Widmore says he needed Benjamin removed. The island needs Locke, and it has for a long time. Locke tells him that Richard Alpert said the only way Locke could bring them all back is if he dies. Widmore doesn't know why Alpert said that, but he's not going to let that happen.
Now Locke is back in a wheelchair, and Widmore introduces Matthew Abaddon. He'll be Locke's escort and protector. Abaddon drives Locke to the Tunisian airport and asks where they're going first. Locke looks at the folder and says Santo Domingo.
In Santo Domingo, Locke finds Sayid working in construction. Sayid tells Locke he is not going back. He felt used, like a pawn, manipulated by Benjamin Linus into thinking he was protecting everyone on the island. Disappointed, Locke tells him if he changes his mind he's staying at the Westerfield Hotel in Los Angeles.
In New York, Locke talks to Walt. Walt says he figured Locke would show up sooner or later. Walt says he's been having dreams about Locke on the island wearing a suit, surrounded by bad people who wanted to hurt him. Locke sees that Walt is happy and can't ask him to come back. Locke leaves, but in the distance we see that someone is watching Locke. It's Benjamin Linus!
In Santa Rosa, Locke visits Hurley. At first Hurley thinks Locke is dead, but a nurse confirms that Locke is really there. Hurley is surprised. Locke explains what he wants, but Hurley doesn't seem interested. Then he spots Abaddon and freaks. He tells Locke that Abaddon is evil and that Locke shouldn't trust him. Hurley's not going anywhere with Locke.
As Abaddon helps Locke back into the car, Locke asks Abaddon what he does for Widmore. Abaddon asks if Locke is finally ready to talk about their previous meeting when Abaddon was an orderly at the hospital right after Locke's accident. Abaddon was the one who told Locke to go on the walkabout, which put him on the plane that crashed on the island. What he does for Widmore is help people get to where they need to get to.
In Los Angeles, Locke talks to Kate. She understands that everyone will die on the island, but she says no. Doesn't she care about them? Kate says she loves her son, and he loves her. She's never going back because she'll never leave Aaron. Kate tells John to find someone to love.
There was one person Locke loved, and he asks Abaddon to find Helen Norwood. Abaddon does and takes Locke to her gravestone at a cemetery. He explains that she died from a brain aneurysm. Locke says she loved him, that they could've been together. But Abaddon says that wouldn't have changed anything. She'd still be gone. She's where she's supposed to be, and Locke's path leads back to the island.
As Abaddon helps Locke into the car, bullets riddle the car. Abaddon is shot and killed. Locke scrambles into the driver's seat, and with his broken leg, speeds out of the cemetery. He's driving erratically, trying to get the car under control when BAM! He slams into an oncoming car.
Locke is taken to Jack's hospital and wakes up with Jack sitting next to him. Locke tells him they have to go back, but Jack refuses to go. Nothing Locke says convinces Jack. He's tired of Locke's delusions, thinking that he's special, that it's their fate to be on the island. Jack starts to leave, and Locke quickly says his father says hello. Jack stops. Locke seizes the moment by telling Jack about the man who told him to move the island. It couldn't be Sayid's father or Hurley's. That leaves Jack. The man's name was Christian. Jack refuses to believe it. His father is dead. Locke pleads for Jack to come back. He's the only one that can convince the rest. Jack says it's over. They left, and they were never important. Then he warns Locke to stay away from them all.
Locke is released and goes to his low-rent hotel. Defeated, he prepares to hang himself with an extension cord. But then someone knocks on the door -- it's Benjamin Linus. He's there to protect Locke. Yes, Ben killed Abaddon, but it was just a matter of time before Abaddon killed Locke. Ben tells Locke that Widmore is extremely dangerous, and that he's using Locke to get back to the island. Ben says Locke has no idea how important he is. But Locke says he failed, that he couldn't get any of them to come back.
But Jack booked a ticket from LA to Sydney and back first thing in the morning. Whatever Locke said to Jack worked. And if Locke got Jack, he can get the rest of them. They can start with Sun. No, Locke says, Jin doesn't want her to come back. Ben is surprised that Jin is alive. Locke shows Ben Jin's wedding ring. Jin wanted Sun to have it as proof he died. Locke says there's a woman named Eloise Hawking in Los Angeles who will help them get back. Yes, Ben knows her --
And then in one sudden move, Ben wraps the extension cord around Locke's neck and pulls, chocking him to death. Locke struggles trying to fight Ben off, but Ben holds on tight. Tighter. And then Locke goes still. Ben looks into Locke's unblinking eyes and says he's sorry. He hoists Locke's body up in a noose and makes it look like a suicide, pockets Jin's wedding ring and leaves.
WHOOSH to Hydra island. Locke finds Caesar back in the office looking through a folder. Locke explains that the logo and the building were for the Dharma Initiative. Caesar asks how Locke knows that, and Locke says he knows a lot. Caesar then asks him to explain how, when the plane started going down, that a man with curly hair who was on the plane literally vanished right before his eyes. And it wasn't only him. Some of them saw it happen to other people, too. Locke asks if he can look at the passenger list, but Caesar says the pilot took it with him when he left. Locke asks if everyone who didn't disappear is accounted for, and Caesar says yeah, except for the people who got hurt.
Caesar takes Locke to their makeshift infirmary, and Locke finds Benjamin Linus there, battered and unconscious. Caesar asks if Locke knows him, and Locke says yeah. He's the man who killed him.
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