Lost Episode 16 – What They Died For – Episode Play By Play

It seems like the closer we get to the finale of Lost, the more theories emerge around how it will all end. Some would question why this is, but the answer should be simple enough – the writers have created such an intricate and far reaching tale that no one would bet their life savings on guessing the outcome. You may as well bet on who will win the Grand National in 2020…it just isn’t going to happen. So going into the last full episode before the two and a half hour Series finale, “What They Died For” fans are once again waiting desperately for answers but with such a long finale still to come it is doubtful over just how much this episode will reveal.

Play By Play

Jack’s eye opening dominates the opening shot, as it has on more than one occasion in the series. We are in the flash sideways and Jack goes into the bathroom to find a bloody cut on his neck (last seen when he looked in the mirror on board Oceanic 815. Claire is staying with Jack and his son. Jack takes a call saying they are from Oceanic telling him that his father’s body has been found and will be arriving in LAX later that morning. On the other end of the phone however is not an Oceanic representative but Desmond, who is continuing his mission to reunite the flight passengers.

We see Desmond soon after outside the school where he ran over Locke.Locke has just returned from sustaining those injuries and it looks like Desmond is all set to do the same again but before he can Ben jumps in front of the car. He tells Desmond he won’t let him run over Locke again. Desmond gets out of the car and beats Ben up, causing Ben to have a flash of when Desmond did the same to him on the Island. Desmond gets back in the car and speeds off leaving Ben on the side of the car park.

As Ben gets cleaned up Locke visits him. He tells Locke that he was attached by the same man who ran him over. Ben tells him that Desmond say he wasn’t trying to kill him, he was trying to get him to let go. Desmond meanwhile arrives at the police station asking to speak to Sawyer.

Desmond tells Sawyer that he was the one who ran over Locke and attacked Ben that morning. Desmond is put in the cells, where he finds Sayid and Kate already locked up.

Ben leaves the school later in the day and meets Alex who introduces him to her mother – Danielle. They invite him over for dinner and he accepts.

Danielle tells Ben that she is grateful for what he has done for her daughter and that he is as close to a father as Alex ever had.

Locke visits Jack at the hospital. Locke tells Jack about Desmond and tells Jack that maybe everything is happening for a reason and he is willing to let Jack fix him if the offer still stands.

The county police arrive at the police station to collect Kate, Desmond and Sayid. In the van on the way, Desmond asks the two of them if they are ready to leave and get out. He says that they have to trust him because when he sets them free that they must promise to do something for him. The van stops and Ana Lucia opens the door having took a bribe from Desmond to let them go. Hugo pulls up beside them in his car and gives her the bribe money. Desmond says that he has brought his Camero for Desmond to use, Desmond tells Kate she has to come with him while Sayid goes with Hugo.

On the Island, Jack tends to Kate’s bullet wound. Kate tells Jack about Jin and Sun’s child that they will never see again and says they have to kill Locke for what he did and Jack agrees. Alongside them are Hugo ans Sawyer, the only other supposed survivors of the Submarine explosion. Jack tells them they need to get going and find Desmond.

After an absence of many weeks, Richard, Ben and Miles are caught up with on the Island as they head to destroy the plane Locke intended using to leave the Island. They approach the Dharma village and Miles senses the dead around him. Richard tell Ben it is his daughter Alex and that he buried her after Keamy killed her. Inside one of the Dharma huts BEn collects his collection of dynamite. Before they can leave they are desturbed by Charles Widmore. Ben asks what he is doing there. Widmore tells him that if they shoot him they will take away their only chance of survival. He tells them that the plane is already rigged with explosives so they don’t need those that Ben has come for. Ben asks how he got back to the Island, to which Charles replies that he was invited by Jacob. He says Jacob visted him after the freighter was destroyed and showed him both the error of his ways and how to get back to the Island to do what needed to be done. Charles gets a radio message telling him that Locke is on the way.

JAck and Sawyer head through the jungle to the Well where Desmond is. Sawyer begins to blame himself for the bomb going off on the submarine but Jack tells him it wasn’t him, it was Locke to blame. Following behind, Hugo sees a vision of Jacob as a child. Jacob takes from him the ashes that he took from Illana’s pack and runs away. Hugu gives chase and finds adult Jacob waiting for him. He tells Hugo that the ashes have been put on the camp fire next to him and when it burns out they will never see him again. He says that Hugo should get the others as they are close to the end.

Locke arrives on the dock and sees Widmore’s boat there. Ben tells Widmore that he isn’t going to hide and while Widmore uses Ben’s secret passage Ben stays behind. Richard steps out into the village to face Locke and reason with him. Miles takes off into the jungle. As Richard waits the smoke monster blasts through the villiage slamming Richard off his feet. BEn settles into a chair to wait for Locke to come to him.

Locke sits down next to Ben and tells him that he needs him to kill some people for him and he can have the Island to himself after he has gone. Ben tells Locke that Widmore is hiding in the house.

They go inside and Ben directs Locke to the secret passage. Ben sends Locke inside and follows. Charles and Zoe are inside and in moments Zoe is dead and Locke tells Charles that soon everything will be over and unless Charles talks to him or when he gets off the Island he will kill his daughter.

Charles tells Locke that he returned to the Island to bring Desmond becasue of his immunity to elecrtomagnetism as a measure of last resort. When Locke asks what that means, Widmore says he will not say in front of Ben. Locke tells him to whisper it which he does. As he begins to speak, Ben shoots Widmore, saying that he shouldn’t have a chance to save his daughter. Ben then asks about the other people he has to kill.

Back at the clearing, the group finally get to see Jacob. Kate says she wants to know if he wrote their names on the wall. Jacob tells her he did. Kate says she wants to know that they didn’t die for nothing and Jacob says to sit and he will tell

them what they died for and why he chose them. HE also tells them that by the time the fire burns out one of them will have to start protecting the Island.

Jacob tells the group that he brought them to the Island because he made a mistake many years ago. He tells them about how he created the Smoke Monster and how the Smoke Monster has been trying to kill him ever since. Sawyer asks why they have to suffer for his mistake. Jacob tells them he chose them because they were all alone and flawed in their other lives. He says he crossed Kate’s name off the list because she became a mother and had a purpose but she can still have the job if she wants it. Jack asks what the job is. Jacob says it is to keep the light at the center of the Island burning and protect it from the Smoke Monster. Jack asks if he means he wants them to kill the Monster and Jacob tells him yes. Jacob tells them that he won’t pick who takes over but leave the choice to them. Jack steps forward and says he will do it. Jacob tells him that in that case it is time.

Jacob leads Jack out to the jungle. He tells Jack that the light is beyond the bamboo field where her woke up after the crash. Jacob tells him to go there. He then fills a cup with stream water and tells Jack to drink it and that he will have to do the job for as long as he can.

Ben and Locke walk through the jungle to the well Desmond was last seen in but Desmond is gone. Locke says that this is not a bad thing and when Ben asks why, Locke says because when he finds Desmond he will get him to do the one thing that he couldn’t himself. Destroy the Island.

All the pieces are now in place for the final episode that will end the mind-bending ride that has been Lost. How will it end? Well only a small number of people know that, and I don’t think even they know everything. In less than a week the answers will be revealed and some of the questions that have swirled in the ether for the last 6 years will finally be brought to a conclusion. There are rumors that the Flash Sideways could actually turn out to be the real timeline while the Island story from this season has been the flash. Will Locke succeed in destroying the Island and is that why it was seen underwater at the beginning of the season? Will that destruction bring about a similar flash to the hydrogen bomb? And what will happen when Desmond gets everyone together again in LA? The Lost fanbase wait with baited breath.