“Through the Looking Glass” is the 22nd episode and 2-hour finale of Season 3 for Lost. The episode was originally broadcast on May 23, 2007. This episode was also the first time a “flashback” has been set in the future.
Synopsis
Flash-forward
The off-island story in this episode follows Jack. He has a beard, is addicted to the painkiller Oxycodone, and drinks heavily. At many points, strangers notice him, exclaiming they saw him on the news in some heroic act. His hospital supervisor challenges his behavior. It is revealed that Jack was attempting to commit suicide on a bridge causing an accident to happen. Jack immediately was on hand to help the accident survivor. Despite this, it is clear that Jack’s life is a mess.
The episode begins with Jack sitting on an airplane. After being refused a drink from the stewardess, he notices a newspaper which he rips out. We then see him sitting in a car, crying while looking at the newspaper clipping. He makes a call to someone, later revealed to be Kate but gets voicemail. After leaving a message, he steps from the vehicle, the camera pulls back revealing that he is parked on the side of the Sixth Street Bridge. He steps up onto the ledge and just as he is leaning forward to jump, a fiery car crashes occurs. He rushes to save them.
Later, Jack is being stitched up at a hospital when his visibly pregnant ex-wife enters. She is still listed as his emergency contact. She asks him if he’s drunk, which he denies. She asks him what he was doing driving around at 2 a.m. he deflects the question by asking her if she can give him a ride. She says no, and says good-bye.
The next day Jack is at the bedside of the woman from the crash. Jack takes an Oxycodone pill, just before Dr. Hammil, the new chief of surgery enters. The woman has a spinal injury and so Jack wants to operate. Hammil refuses to allow it, and tells him to go home.
In the next part of the flash-forward, Jack is driving while listening to Nirvana with the newspaper clip in one hand. He parks, tries to call Kate again but she is not there. He absent-mindedly crosses the street and enters the funeral parlor. The casket is closed but nobody is there, the funeral director comes in and informs Jack that he is the only one to come to the viewing. He then asks Jack if he is a friend or from the family of the deceased. Jack says he is neither a friend nor a family member. When asked if he wants the casket opened Jack says no, the director leaves. Jack lays a hand on the casket, deeply saddened. He then turns and leaves.
Jack is at a pharmacy trying to get his prescription of Oxy refilled but he has used up all his refills. While arguing with the pharmacist he is recognized as the hero from the news. He denies being a hero. He then tries to hand the pharmacists another (fake) prescription from his father. When she tries to call in to confirm the prescription, Jack freaks out on her and storms off, knocking over a rack of sun-glasses on his way out.
The climactic scene, aka “the snake in the mailbox”.
Unable to get his fix legally, Jack raids his hospital’s supply of Oxy. When he comes out of the medicine room, he is visible intoxicated, possibly drunk. Hammil asks him what he is doing. Jack replies that he was trying to find out how the surgery went. Hamil says he left voice messages for Jack but Jack claims his phone is broken. Hamil tells him the woman’s back surgery went well, and that the woman remembers seeing a man about to jump off the bridge, which caused her to lose control of the car. Hamil then begins quizzing Jack on how he got to crash so fast. Jack begins ranting about how long he has worked at the hospital, and how Hammil doesn’t know anything about him or what he has been through. Hammil asks him how much he has had to drink. Jack says he is not nearly as drunk as his father, while implying (under the influence of alcohol) that Dr. Christian Shephard is upstairs.
Jack sits in his apartment, cellphone in hand, hoping to reach Kate in his post-island life.
We then see Jack in his apartment, which is full of dirty dishes and various maps and atlases. While swigging from a bottle of alcohol, he is finally able to reach Kate. They agree to meet at the airport, “she knows where.” Outside the airport’s gate at the end of a runway, Kate pulls up. She asks why he called her, he pulls out the newspaper clipping. She replies, “Why would I go to the funeral?” Jack then confesses that he has been flying a lot. Every Friday night he has been using the “Golden Pass” that Oceanic apparently has given him and most likely to the rest of the crash survivors. On each flight he hopes that the plane will crash and he will be on the island again. He tells her he doesn’t care about anyone else on board, that with every bump he prays that he can get back. He tells her he is sick of lying and that they made a mistake and that he’s “bored”. She tells him she has to go because, “He is going to be wondering where I went.” Jack tells her that they weren’t suppose to leave, she disagrees. She says it can’t be changed. As she is driving away he screams, “we have to go back” several times.
Island events
At the Others camp
Ben gets a call on his walkie from The Looking Glass that tells him that Charlie Pace is in the station which Juliet told him about. Ben also learns that Karl warned the survivors of the impending attack on the camp. He sends Mikhail to the station to take care of things there while he prepares to cut off Jack and the survivors on their way to the radio tower. Richard asks to come with Ben, but Ben orders Richard to take the rest of the others to The Temple. Alex then asks to come along, and Ben agrees, saying that would be good.
While trekking with Alex, Mikhail radios from the Looking Glass and asks what is going on. Why the station is operational and there are people here ordered by Ben to jam the communications, including the Others’. Ben asks him to trust him, that the island and Jacob requested it. He tells Mikhail to kill all three of them and leave the station and tell no one. This causes Alex to ask Ben why she was allowed to come along. Ben tells her he plans on leaving her with the Losties.
Approaching the radio tower
The episode begins with the survivors making their way up to the communications tower to turn off Rousseau’s distress message. Naomi takes Jack aside to show him how to use her sat phone, in case something happens to her. As the survivors are walking, they hear the attack on their camp, but they only see two of the three expected explosions, causing Rose and Sun to believe the plan has failed. Jack convinces them to continue on. After talking to Kate, Sawyer decides to turn back to the beach to help Sayid, Jin and Bernard. Juliet offers to go back with him and she lies to Jack about a hidden stash of guns so that he will let them go. Hurley tries to follow but Sawyer tells him to get lost.
Ben, beaten and bloodied, introduces Alex to her mother.
About an hour away from the tower they are intercepted by Ben and Alex, and Ben asks to speak to Jack. Ben informs Jack that Naomi is not who she says she is, and that if she is successful in making contact with her boat, it will be disastrous for the people on the island. Ben tells Jack to get Naomi’s phone within one minute, or Tom and his crew back at the beach will shoot Jin, Bernard, and Sayid. Jack does not comply, and over Ben’s walkie-talkie three gunshots are heard. Jack then beats Ben severely and takes him back to the other survivors. As Ben is lying on the ground, Rousseau walks up. Ben tells Alex that Rousseau is her mother, and they meet for the first time. Rousseau then ties Ben’s wrists and they all continue to the tower. During the trek, Naomi sees a green light on her phone and tells Jack that Charlie has been successful at turning off the jamming signal.
At the tower, Jack makes contact with Hurley on the beach via Ben’s walkie talkie. Hurley confirms that all survivors are still alive. Rousseau disables her distress message in the control room at the tower. Since Naomi cannot get a signal on her phone while inside the control room, they all go outside. Just as Naomi finally gets a signal for her phone, she falls forward dead, with a knife in her back. The survivors see that it was John Locke who threw the knife and he is now pointing a gun at Jack. Locke tells Jack to back away from the phone or he will kill him. Jack invites him to do so, but Locke is unable to. Locke tells Jack he isn’t suppose to make the call and walks away. Jack communicates with a man on the boat who say they will be right over to rescue the survivors.
At the beach
Hurley uses the DHARMA Van to kill Ryan Pryce.
The Others arrive and go ahead searching the tents unknowingly being watched by Sayid, Jin, and Bernard. When they see that the tents are empty Sayid and Bernard shoot their bundles of dynamite. Jin (armed with a pistol rather than a rifle) misses but shoots a couple of the Others before the rest are able to disarm them. The three survivors radio Ben, telling him seven of the party are dead but they have the three Losties who killed them. Ben tells them to execute Jin to get Sayid and Benard to talk. With the gun to Jin’s neck, Bernard tells the others that the Losties are on the way to the radio tower, and that Karl is the one who warned them about the early attack.
Sawyer executes Tom.
Sawyer and Juliet reach the edge of the beach and watch the Others from the trees. It is revealed that the three shots heard over the radio were fired into the sand, and none of the Losties were killed. Suddenly, Hurley plows towards the beach in the previously recovered DHARMA van, hitting and killing Ryan Pryce. Sawyer is able to get Pryce’s gun and distract another Other while Sayid disables and kills him. Tom surrenders but Sawyer kills him anyway, saying “that’s for taking the boy off the raft.” Ten (presumably, all) of the Others that went to the beach are now dead.
In the Looking Glass
Penelope Widmore converses with Charlie.
Bonnie and Greta tie Charlie to a chair and interrogate him. Bloodied and beaten, he tells them about Juliet’s betrayal, Naomi’s boat, and that he’s willing to flood the station and die if he has to.
Desmond wakes up in the outrigger above the Looking Glass station to realize that Charlie has gone below on his own. Seeing Desmond in the boat, Mikhail begins to shoot at him from the shore. Having no other choice Desmond takes a deep breath and swims down into the station, where Charlie tells him to hide before Bonnie and Greta notice him.
Just then, Bonnie and Greta emerge from an adjoining room as they heard Charlie’s voice, but he claims he was only singing to himself. Desmond hides in a speargun locker. Shortly thereafter, Mikhail appears in the station and tells Bonnie and Greta that a second Lostie has entered the station.
Mikhail Bakunin detonates a grenade, killing Charlie and himself.
Mikhail gets on the radio and speaks to Ben who tells him to kill everyone. The two women and Ben are the only ones who know the code to disable the jamming signal. Mikhail shoots and kills Greta, and shoots Bonnie as she tries to run away. As he is about to finish her off, Desmond emerges, shooting a spear gun through Mikhail’s chest. Before Desmond approaches Bonnie, Charlie convinces her to give him the code to disable the jamming signal. The code is the numeric tone equivalent of the The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations on a computer keypad, as it was apparently programmed by a musician.
Charlie enters the communication room and enters the code, disabling the jammer. As Desmond is gathering SCUBA gear to exit the station, Charlie receives an incoming video transmission from Penelope. She questions Charlie, Charlie states his name and that he was a survivor of flight 815, and when she replies with her name, Charlie recognizes it and calls out to Desmond. Penny hears Charlie say “Desmond”, and immediately asks about him. Charlie questions Penny about her boat offshore, but she says that she is not on a boat, and has no knowledge of anyone named Naomi. As Desmond responds to Charlie’s call, he notices that Mikhail’s body is missing.
At that moment, Charlie sees Mikhail out the porthole holding a grenade. Charlie then rushes to lock the airlock door to the communication room to save Desmond and the rest of the station. The grenade explodes, shattering the window, and flooding the room. As water rushes in to secure Charlie’s fate, Charlie manages to write on his hand “NOT PENNY’S BOAT” and shows it to Desmond. As Charlie drowns, he traces the sign of the Cross.
In the DHARMA mass grave
Walt stands over Locke and the DHARMA mass grave.
Locke awakens in the DHARMA mass grave, having been shot by Ben during The Man Behind the Curtain. He has lost control of his legs and has almost no ability to move. Visibly shaken, he reaches for a gun held by a dead DHARMA worker. He checks the revolver for bullets, cocks the hammer and points it at his head. As he prepares to kill himself, Walt appears standing over the grave and tells John to stand, and to get moving “because you have work to do.”
At the radio tower
Arriving at the radio tower, Rousseau and Jack turn off the transmission. Naomi heads outside to get a signal on her satellite phone. She finally gets a signal, but just as she’s about to speak she is killed by Locke, who threw a knife into her back. He pulls a gun and tells Jack to back away from Naomi. Locke informs them that he can’t allow them to leave. When Jack approaches the phone Locke attempts to shoot the phone, but Jack manages to grab it. Locke threatens to shoot Jack, but Jack calls his bluff and Locke walks off. Despite Ben’s warning Jack makes contact with Naomi’s ship. A man named Spokowski responds and announces that they will be coming for them immediately. Everyone becomes excited about this news.
Trivia
General
- Jack’s cellphone in the “flash-forwards” is a Motorola KRZR. The KRZR was released in the fourth quarter of 2006.
- Jack uses the KRZR in the “map scene” in his apartment, but uses a black Motorola RAZR in his jeep outside of the funeral home.
- The name of the funeral parlor Jack goes to, “Hoffs/Drawlar,” is an anagram for “flash forward”. (Anagrams)
- The full name is “Hoffs/Drawlar Funeral Parlor”, funeral parlor=”plan for real”? / “real plan for forward flash”? (Anagrams)
- Kate’s license plate is 4QKD695
- Jack’s license plate is 2SAQ321
- Kate’s area code 310 could be located in Malibu, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles, the South Bay area of Los Angeles County (including Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, San Pedro) South Los Angeles or the island of Catalina.
- The knife that Locke uses to kill Naomi appears to be a SOG Navy Seal Knife, or a SOG Seal Pup. (Military)
Newspaper article
- The first sentence of the article Jack carries around in the flash-forward seems to read, “Los Angeles, Man found.. [unreadable] downtown.. [unreadable], The body of Jo.. [unreadable] ..antham of New York was.. [unreadable] ..[shor]tly after 4 a.m. in the.. [unreadable] of Grand Avenue. Ted.. [unreadable] ..man at The Tower.. [unreadable] .. heard loud noises.. [unreadable]..m’s loft. Co.. [unreadable] ..entered the.. [unreadable] ..a beam in the.. [unreadable] ..[ac]cordin[g].. [unreadable]..”
- Possible reference to the just-announced Grand Avenue Project, which would place the flash-forwards several years from now, possibly past the 2010 end-date of the show.
Cultural references
| Cultural references in LOST (direct references only) |
|---|
| Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies |
- “Good Vibrations“: Charlie typed the notes to this Beach Boys song on the keypad. (Music)
- “Scentless Apprentice“: Flash Forward Jack is listening to this Nirvana song on the way to the funeral home. (Music)
- Police cruiser: After Jack is almost hit by a car as he is jaywalking to the funeral parlor the first car to pass him is a L.A. City police cruiser. (Cars)
- “Rambo“: Rose makes Bernard repeat he is a dentist, not Rambo. (Film)
- “Alice in Wonderland“: Both the white rabbit and the looking glass are references to this novel. (Literature)
See also: Possible cultural references for “Through the Looking Glass”
Recurring themes
- Charlie’s fate: Charlie sacrifices himself so that everyone else could be saved. (Sacrifice), (Salvation)
- Charlie’s free will: Charlie accepts that his death is inevitable in order to save the other survivors and dies willingly to fulfil Desmond’s prediction rather than attempting to beat death another time, even though escape from the hatch would easily have been possible. (Fate versus free will)
- Car wreck: Jack saves a woman and her kid after he is the cause of their car wreck. He is then called a ‘hero’ by several people. (Car accidents) (Good and bad people)(Irony)
- Sarah: Sarah Shephard is shown to be pregnant. (Pregnancies)
- Obituary: The obituary states that the person in question died at 4 AM. (The Numbers)
- Patchy: We see Mikhail Bakunin without his eyepatch. (Eyes)
- Locke: We discover Locke is alive with a closeup of his eye. (Eyes)
- Juliet: Juliet uses white coral to mark the tents (Black and white)
- Keypad: The keys on the signal-jammer keypad are numbered 1-16 in a 4x4 pattern. (The Numbers)
- 8 stitches: Jack had 8 stitches in his forehead. (The Numbers)
- 15 deaths: 15 people died in this episode.(The Numbers)
- Suicide: Both Locke and Jack contemplated suicide in this episode, but changed their minds. Charlie allowed himself to drown. Sawyer, Juliette, and Hurley embarked on “a suicide mission” to save the three at the camp. Ben claims that Jack’s use of the phone to call for a rescue will kill everyone.(Suicide)
Literary techniques
| Literary techniques |
|---|
| Flashbacks • Irony • Juxtaposition • Mindf*ck • Symbolism |
- The episode has a flash-forward instead of the usual flashback. This was not revealed until the end of the episode. (Flashbacks)
- The moment before Locke was about to kill himself, Walt appeared to him, and gave him instructions. (Mindf*ck)
- It was revealed that the survivors actually escaped the Island. (Mindf*ck)
- Sayid, Jin, and Bernard were not actually killed. (Mindf*ck)
- In the flash-forward, Jack was the hero who saved the family from the burning wreckage. However, he was the one who caused the accident. (Irony)
- After finally getting off the Island, Jack wants to go back. (Irony)
- Jack becomes his father the drunk and irresponsible surgeon, and Kate stops wanting to run and get back home. (Irony)
Production notes
- The executive producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who also wrote this episode, make separate voice cameos. Damon, as the captain apologizing for turbulence on the PA; Carlton, as the off-screen newsperson on “Action 8 News” describing the car crash.[source needed]
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
|
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Through the Looking Glass/Theories
Flash-forward
- Is Jack’s father alive?
- Why would it be inappropriate for Sarah to give Jack a ride home?
- Why did Jack want do to the operation on the woman who crashed?
- Why is Jack so set on returning to the island?
- How did Jack and Kate get off the island?
- Who is the “he” Kate mentions to Jack at the airport?
- Why has Kate insisted that Jack not contact her?
- What did Jack mean when he said he couldn’t lie anymore?
- During what time period did the flash forward occur?
- Who was the woman Jack saved from the burning car?
- Who was the funeral for, and why, after the news of their death, does Jack attempt suicide?
- Why is Oceanic Air still in business? According to the Lost Experience they went out of business.
- As the title alludes to the book Through the Looking Glass, can Jack live backwards? Would the events in the flash-forwards stop him from making the call and leaving the island?
- Who of the other Losties were able to get off the island?
- Now rescued, has Jack begun to “believe in” the island?
- Why is Kate not in jail?
- If Naomi was telling the truth, and the outside world believed they had found Flight 815 and it’s cargo of corpses, how is their apparent return from the dead explained to the world?
- Or is the flash-forward a parallel universe and thus a “flash-sideways”?
On the Island
- Who is Naomi really working for?
- If Penny didn’t send the boat, why was she calling the island when Charlie deactivated the jamming device?
- Was Mikhail hurt or killed by the grenade detonation?
- Where did Locke go after he left the main group of Losties at the end of the episode?
- What is the temple?
- What musician programmed the key pad in the Looking Glass station?
- What assignment in Canada were Bonnie and Greta supposed to be on?
- What are the “forces stronger than anything it has faced in many many years”?
- What will Danielle do if she refuses to leave the island saying there is no place out there for me now?
- Why does Tom disobey Ben? Why does Mikhail still listen to Ben?
- Could Charlie sealed the radio room from the main room? Did he choose to seal himself to ensure that Claire and Aaron were saved?
- What happened between the time Danielle taped the recording and her giving birth?
- Why did Danielle tell people the Others controlled the radio tower when it is in fact abandoned?
- Why can’t Ben just tell Jack why using the phone is a bad idea?
- Why doesn’t Locke explain why he doesn’t want to leave the island?
- Why doesn’t Locke shoot the satellite phone when it’s on the ground?
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