Ajira flight 316 flies through the night as it suddenly hits turbulence. Lapidus and his co-pilot struggle to control the plane. A white light begins to flood the windows, alarms blare, and the plane shakes violently. Lapidus is able to right the plane as the white light washes over them -- and suddenly it's day. Lapidus has no time to figure out why because the plane is about to crash into a jungle-covered island mountaintop! He yells out an order for more power, slams the controls over and they bank steeply around the mountain. The co-pilot screams mayday into his radio. Lapidus spots a smaller island with a dirt landing strip. He aims for it and is able to put the plane down, but they're going too fast and running out of space quickly. They crash into the trees at the end of the runway --
Blackness. Lapidus regains consciousness and sees that a huge tree branch has exploded through the window and impaled his co-pilot. He stumbles into the main cabin and sees the hellish conditions. Luggage and human bodies have been tossed around indifferently. He finds Sun, and she's okay. But where are Jack, Kate and Hurley? Gone, a man says from behind, and Lapidus turns to see Benjamin Linus standing there. Lapidus asks gone where? Ben says how would he know.
WHOOSH to thirty years ago on the island. Sawyer watches as Hurley, Jack and Kate step out of Jin's Dharma van. It's been three years for them, and the shock of seeing each other again registers. Sawyer can't believe they're actually there. Locke said he was going to bring them back. Sawyer asks where Locke is, and Jack tells him Locke is dead. Sawyer is saddened. Hurley asks why he and Jin are dressed in old Dharma jumpsuits. Sawyer explains they're in the Dharma Initiative. Jack asks if they came back to the island, and Sawyer says no. It's 1977. Jack, Kate and Hurley are thunderstruck. They try to get their bearings. Sawyer says he's been with the Dharma Initiative for three years, the same amount of time the Oceanic Six have been gone. Sawyer wants to take them back to the barracks, but Hurley wants to find everyone else from the plane. Jin asks who's everyone else, and Jack says Sayid, Lapidus... and Sun. Jin's face falls. He races to the van, shouting out that he's going to the Flame. If a plane landed on the island, Radzinsky would know it.
Sawyer tells them to stay put until he can figure out a way to explain how they got there, and he goes back to the barracks. He finds Juliet at home and explains that Jack and Hurley are back... along with Kate. It hits Juliet hard. Sawyer says he's got to figure out a way to bring them in before someone else finds them. Juliet tells him a sub is coming in this afternoon, and Sawyer starts formulating a plan.
Jin races into the Flame station asking Radzinsky if the radar picked up a plane that crashed on the island. Radzinsky scoffs, says it didn't happen. Jin makes him check with the other stations -- but then an alarm goes off. They've got a hostile inside the perimeter. Jin sees the location, grabs a rifle and takes off, Radzinsky right behind him.
WHOOSH to Hydra island as Lapidus gathers the survivors around him. He explains that the radio is dead. They need to stick together and wait for help to get there. Caesar asks where they are, and Lapidus doesn't know. The island isn't on their maps. Caesar points out that there are buildings close by. And animal cages. And a bigger island across the water. He says maybe they should go look in the buildings -- maybe they'd find a radio. Some of the survivors nod, and Lapidus realizes Caesar is going to be a problem.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sun sees Ben sneak away and she follows him. Ben says he's going back to their island, and asks Sun if she wants to go. She asks if that's where Jin is, and Ben says he doesn't know but it's a good place to start looking. Lapidus catches up with them and asks Sun why she's trusting Ben. Sun says she has to.
WHOOSH to Dharma times as Juliet checks in on Amy. Since Amy just had her baby, Juliet doesn't want her working and offers to take the sub manifest. Amy says it's almost a full load. A couple recruits dropped out because they didn't want to take the sedative. Juliet checks on the baby and asks if they decided on a name. Amy says yes, they've decided on Ethan. Juliet tries to hide her reaction and smiles.
Jin searches through the jungle and comes face-to-face with Sayid! Sayid is wearing a pair of plastic handcuffs and is dumbstruck to see Jin. Jin asks where Sun is, but Sayid doesn't know. Then Radzinsky burst through the brush and Jin has to think fast. Jin shoves Sayid to the ground and aims the rifle at his head. He tells Sayid not to say another word or he's dead.
Sawyer returns to Jack, Kate and Hurley and explains that they'll be part of the recruits coming off the sub. There isn't another sub coming for six months, so they have to hurry or they'll be camping in the jungle for a long time. He hands them '70s clothes to change into and drives them to the barracks to be processed. He explains that Juliet has put their names on the list. They go through intake and get their assignments: Hurley is in the cafeteria, Kate is in the motor pool, and Jack is a workman. Miles arrives and is shocked to see them again. He tells Sawyer that Jin has a hostile at the Flame, and it's Sayid.
Sawyer drives to the Flame station and asks Jin what's going on. Jin says Radzinsky thinks Sayid is a hostile and won't leave them alone. Sawyer talks to Radzinsky, who says the hostile saw the model of the Swan station. He thinks Sayid's a spy and wants to shoot him. Sawyer takes Sayid out of the storage room, and before Sayid can say anything, Sawyer jumps in. He tells Sayid to identify himself as a hostile according to the terms of the truce... or they have the right to shoot him. Sayid says yes, he is one of them. Sawyer tells him now they can proceed like gentlemen and takes him to the security station. Radzinsky is not happy about it and tells Sawyer he's going to take this to Horace.
WHOOSH to Hydra island where Ben uncovers three outriggers. Sun asks Lapidus to come with them, but he says he has those people to take care of. Ben agrees and says he needs to take care of his people, too. He explains where the dock is on the main island -- but THWACK! Sun smashes Ben in the head with a paddle and knocks him out. Lapidus thought she trusted him, and Sun says she lied.
It's night by the time they paddle over to the dock at the main island. Something black and ominous scurries through the bushes. Sun says it's just an animal. They continue into the empty barracks. No one is there. It's abandoned, a ghost town, and it's eerily quiet. Suddenly they are surrounded by disembodied whispers that fill the night air. As the whispers fall silent, a single light flicks on in a building. The door opens, and in the doorway stands a man. It's Christian Shephard. Sun asks if he knows where Jin is, and Christian tells them to follow him.
Christian leads them into the old processing center and over to a wall of framed photos. He points out the one from 1977 and says her husband is with their friends. Sun and Lapidus look at the washed-out old photo of new recruits in their Dharma jumpsuits and see Jack, Kate and Hurley in the group. Christian tells them they have a bit of a journey ahead of them.
WHOOSH back to Dharma times as the photographer takes the new recruit photo and makes everyone say, "Namaste!" As they disperse to their new homes, Jack, Kate and Hurley see Sawyer pull up and take Sayid into the security station. Sawyer gives them a look that says don't ask, I'll explain it later. In the security station, Sawyer locks Sayid in a cell. He orders them to bring Sayid some food.
Later that night, Jack knocks on Sawyer's house and is surprised to find Juliet there. He says he was looking for Sawyer and must have the wrong house, but she says he doesn't and invites him in. Sawyer is there reading, and Jack suddenly realizes they're a couple! Juliet leaves them alone to talk, and Jack asks what's going on. Sawyer tells him that Sayid is safe and that he's working on what happens next. Jack isn't happy with that answer. Sawyer says he wants time to think, which he's sure makes no sense to Jack. When Jack was calling the shots, he liked to simply react -- and a lot of people wound up dead. Jack says he got them off the island, but Sawyer points out that he's right back where he started. Jack leaves, and Sawyer watches him go. He looks over and sees Kate standing on her porch watching him. He nods and then walks back into his house and closes the door.
In the security station, a young bespectacled kid enters carrying a sandwich for Sayid. He asks Sayid if he's a hostile. Then the kid asks his name, and Sayid tells him. The kid says his name is Ben, and Sayid realizes this is young Benjamin Linus. BOOM.
[Edit]
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