Season 5, Episode 9:
Namaste
In 2007, after Ajira 316 is engulfed by a flash of white light, Frank Lapidus lands the plane on the runway on Hydra Island, though his co-pilot is killed when a tree branch pierces the cockpit and impales him. The surviving passengers discover that Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid have disappeared. Ben helps Sun and Lapidus find an outrigger to head back to the main Island, but Sun knocks him out with an oar and the two leave him behind. At the Barracks, they meet Christian Shephard, who shows them a photo of new DHARMA recruits from 1977 featuring Jack, Kate and Hurley, and tells them Jin has also travelled back in time.
In 1977, Sawyer welcomes Jack, Kate and Hurley back to the Island, and explains that they have time travelled. Jack tells him that Locke is dead. He arranges for them to join the DHARMA Initiative, disguised as part of a group of arriving recruits. While searching for the Ajira plane, which has not travelled back in time, Jin discovers Sayid, but is forced to pretend that he is one of the Others and have him captured when he is found by Radzinsky. At Sawyer's prompting, Sayid plays along, and is imprisoned at the Barracks. Jack and Sawyer argue over how to get Sayid released. Sayid is brought a sandwich in his cell by a young Benjamin Linus.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Sun turns Ben's catchphrase on him as a Bond One-Liner after she knocks him out with an oar.Lapidus: I thought you trusted this guy.
Sun: I lied. - Call-Forward: Radzinsky appears in person, after having previously been mentioned as Kelvin Inman's partner in the Swan before Desmond. It's revealed that he is the one who originally designed the station, and he is very paranoid about anyone interfering with the project.
- Chekhov's Gun: At the beginning of Season 3, Kate and Sawyer were working with the Others' "chain gang" to build a runway on Hydra Island. It comes in handy when the Ajira flight appears over the Island and Frank desperately looks for a place to land.
- Continuity Nod:
- Radzinsky mentions that the Looking Glass is the last station to respond to his check in about the Ajira plane.
- Miles describes the Others entering DHARMA territory as a "14-J". A "Code 14-J" alert was sent on the phone in the Barracks when Alex entered a distress code at the sonic fence in "The Shape of Things to Come".
- Flat "What": Sawyer reveals that they're in the DHARMA Initiative, not because they returned to the island, but because his group went back in time, and now Jack's group has done the same. Hurley's response is "Uh...what?"
- Foreshadowing: The sounds of the Smoke Monster are heard at the Barracks shortly before Sun and Lapidus meet Christian, who is later revealed to be a form of the Monster.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Frank's copilot is killed when a tree branch impales him on landing.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jin immediately goes to the Flame to try to look for the Ajira plane. However, his search ends up locating Sayid at a moment when his sudden appearance can't be easily explained, causing him to be taken prisoner.
- The Nicknamer: Sawyer calls Hurley "Kong" when he gets a bear hug from him. Hurley says he's actually missed the nicknames.
- San Dimas Time: Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid are sent back to 1977, three years after the time flashes stopped and the group on the Island joined the DHARMA Initiative, meaning that although the two groups have been living in different time periods, approximately the same amount of time has passed for them since the Island moved.
- Wham Line: The reveal of who Horace and Amy's son will grow up to be.Amy: We're gonna name him Ethan.
- Wrong Time-Travel Savvy: Hurley asks Sawyer if he's planning on warning the DHARMA Initiative that they're going to be wiped out in the Purge before Sawyer explains what Faraday has told them about not being able to change the past.
