Welcome to the LOST Rewind for episode 1x23, "Exodus, Part 1"

Timestamp: Day 44 - November 4, 2004 (Credit PapaThor with the suggestion to timestamp.)

*Exodus feels almost like a series finale than a season finale. Many of the intra-Lostie conflicts have been resolved or will be resolved by the end of these episodes. The flashbacks recall the Losties pre-Island baggage demonstrating how far they've come since crashing on the Island and giving the episode an added poignancy. And the lingering question of how they will get off the Island seems to be answered with the launching of the raft. At this point, it's very difficult to see what the following season could be about, apart from what's in the hatch. But Walt's kidnapping and the destruction of the raft spin the show in entirely new directions, based on keeping the Losties apart from each other. Is this because the internal conflicts have been mostly resolved, so the easiest way to create drama is to break that newfound unity? The raft launch is more or less the last time everyone will be together till episode 2x08, "Collision." A similar, perhaps more excessive, length of separation among the Losties also kicks off Season 3.

*Jack considers the hatch a place to hide from the Others' impending attack. At the end of Season 3, he tells everyone he's tired of hiding and is ready to take them on. Is some of this due to The Others becoming more humanized over the course of the series? At the start of Exodus, Rousseau tells the Losties they only have three choices: run, hide, or die. But by the end of Season 3, they are no longer such terrifying boogeymen. By then, the Losties have learned an important truth: to borrow a line from Predator, "If they can bleed, they can die."

*Jack and Sawyer come to an understanding: Jack trusts Sawyer with the raft's gun while Sawyer finally tells Jack about his encounter with Christian. While Sawyer passed up the first opportunity to do so he didn't this time, giving all of Sawyer's interactions in Exodus a sense of finality.

*Sawyer seems to resolve his last on-island conflict (apart from his drama with Kate) by building the raft a new mast, thus making piece with Michael and Jin. He doesn't really get on the bad side of everyone again till episode 2x13, "The Long Con."

*What is the Dark Territory? The Black Rock is there. The monster roams about there, too. And Rousseau says that's where her crew acquired the Sickness and one of them lost an arm. But is there anything really different about this area than any other area on the Island?

*Jin tells Sun, "I'm in this place because I'm being punished." Can this still be considered true, since without the Island Sun wouldn't be pregnant? Or have the Losties focussed too much here on punishment and reward?

*Jack and Sawyer come to an understanding: Jack trusts Sawyer with the raft's gun while Sawyer finally tells Jack about his encounter with Christian. While Sawyer passed up the first opportunity to do so he didn't this time, giving all of Sawyer's interactions in Exodus a sense of finality.
This is my very, very favorite scene ever in LOST! The fact that they simply didn't develop the Jack/James friendship in the following seasons is one of my greatest disappointments with this show. There is just so much they could've done with these two (and still could)! But nooooooooo. THEY had to go with the TRIANGLE! :hissy:

What a waste!


Jin tells Sun, "I'm in this place because I'm being punished." Can this still be considered true, since without the Island Sun wouldn't be pregnant?
Conception occurring on the Island is NOT a good thing, remember! Jin feels he is being punished because of what he has become under Paik's thumb. We now understand Sun's guilt about this: it is because of her actions, asking for the blackmail payoff money, that Jin was recruited as one of Paik's thugs in the first place. Though happy she is pregnant by Jin, Sun knows what the pregnancy means--and must be wondering if SHE is on the Island because SHE is being punished! The Kwons' story gets more detailed by the season; the resolution of it over the next three seasons should be something to see!

The beauty of their Exodus scene, though, is that this is the first major reconciliation between them, a major step forward toward their actually resolving their issues and living out their lives as partners. It remains to be seen if that will actually happen, but at this point, there is definite hope for them. (It has, of course, been a bumpy road since. But by the end of S3, the two have again reached a point of togetherness. Of course, Sun knows there's only 2 months left, while Jin's thinking lifetime. S4 should be back to bumpy.)


*Sawyer seems to resolve his last on-island conflict (apart from his drama with Kate) by building the raft a new mast, thus making peace with Michael and Jin. He doesn't really get on the bad side of everyone again till episode 2x13, "The Long Con."

But of course, this was GOING to happen. James' self-loathing would NOT allow him to be on these people's thumbs-up list. In S3, though, those barriers were rapidly coming down--until Locke led him to Cooper. Now, we can look for more of the TLC James, pushing everyone away. (Including Kate.) Again, he is not worthy of being liked or loved. Especially not by himself! At the end of Exodus, I assumed James would live, and this would be the start of his self-redemption. But he's short-circuited that time and time again. I love James, but suspect his future is going to be dark, indeed! :frown:


Exodus is one of the best set of eppys LOST has ever aired. I sure hope you get a good response from people on this Rewind, Crimson!

There were lots of ambiguous moments in this episode that could be pointed at as hints of a time loop or could easily be taken as meaning something else. I watched the ep a couple days ago, so none of them are really fresh in my mind (i'm sick), but things like Jack giving Sawyer the gun and saying that he'd see him soon are examples.

The Jack and Sawyer scene is one of my favorites, STH, and I was just waiting for this rewind to see you gush about it ;).

The next thing I have in mind, for myself, when season 3 comes out on DVD, is to watch the episode per character. Like all of Kate's etc., etc and maybe try and watch them in the order of the FB's.

The Jack and Sawyer scene is one of my favorites, STH, and I was just waiting for this rewind to see you gush about it ;).
So--was it as good as you'd imagined, or a letdown? :71:

Even better ;)

The raft launch is more or less the last time everyone will be together till episode 2x08, "Collision." A similar, perhaps more excessive, length of separation among the Losties also kicks off Season 3.

Going back over Season 3, I'm noticing that there are actually a couple (possibly more) instances where characters go "away" for a while and then reunite again. When Kate and Sawyer return, there is a big reunion then, and when Kate and Sayid return later with Jack there is also a reunion scene for that. While I love the Sawyer/Kate hug at that point, I can't help but think "Geez, man, she just left only like 3-4 episodes ago!"

But at the same time, Sawyer did a lot of his "nice guy" stuff (with a little help from Hugo) while she was gone, so he was definitely taking some big steps toward becoming a better man at that point. Which makes his unfortunate run-in with Cooper all the more tragic. 'Cause he was THAT close!

Exodus is without a doubt one of the greatest episodes there is.

*Exodus feels almost like a series finale than a season finale.

I did get that feeling back then and even moreso now. It's interesting to compare the tone and the atmosphere with TTLG, even the swelling, epic music. This time around, I have so much iside knowledge of the show, my head hurts. I know it will end in 2010, I know there's three more seasons, etc. But I watched season one in a marathon and I didn't watch a lot of TV so I had no idea if this was really the last hour of Lost or if there was more to come. :eek2:

*Jack considers the hatch a place to hide from the Others' impending attack. At the end of Season 3, he tells everyone he's tired of hiding and is ready to take them on. Is some of this due to The Others becoming more humanized over the course of the series?

At the start of Exodus, Rousseau tells the Losties they only have three choices: run, hide, or die. But by the end of Season 3, they are no longer such terrifying boogeymen. By then, the Losties have learned an important truth: to borrow a line from Predator, "If they can bleed, they can die."

Yep. You've already answered that question. He's had one under his knife and seen another one die in their ill equipped OR and more importantly, when he was given the chance, he kicked Ethan's :censored: and kicked it good. They bleed just like the losties, he's seen their inner strife, he's seen them plot against each other... they're nothing like the supernatural almighty beings that Rousseau's tales suggested.



*What is the Dark Territory? The Black Rock is there. The monster roams about there, too. And Rousseau says that's where her crew acquired the Sickness and one of them lost an arm. But is there anything really different about this area than any other area on the Island?


Any blastdoor map experts out there? I really have no clue, but I'm guessing the map would tell us something if there really is something about that particular part of the island.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Arzt going :blowup: yet. (It's in part II, but I'm not going to make another post just for this...) After the initial shock, I laughed till I had tears in my eyes. Which makes me a horrible, horrible wench... but... Hurley was no help: "Dude! You've got some... Arzt on you..."

I liked Ana's introduction. I like all her scenes where she's drinking in bars with Shephard men.

I do have to say that the Jack/Sawyer scene was one of my favorites.

Welcome to the LOST Rewind for episode 1x23, "Exodus, Part 1"

Timestamp: Day 44 - November 4, 2004 (Credit PapaThor with the suggestion to timestamp.)

At the start of Exodus, Rousseau tells the Losties they only have three choices: run, hide, or die. But by the end of Season 3, they are no longer such terrifying boogeymen. By then, the Losties have learned an important truth: to borrow a line from Predator, "If they can bleed, they can die."

I missed the Predator reference! :D Locke’s boxed set of knives is marketed as ‘Predetor’. (but best not get me started of the light-bending Entity in the woods thing again. It’s all a bit ‘third man’ defence set around the Beechcraft/Boone incident.)

While you may be right about the separation of the group (above) as a counter to a number of issues having been resolved, Jack flags his growing conflict with Locke with a comment to Kate, that while perhaps not designed to put a rift between her and John, certainly wasn't meant to aide that relationship.

Prior to his suggesting to Kate, John was something to be wary of - and the look of contempt he gave John - Jack was to be applauded for his attempt to reach an understanding. Damn it but he always lets me down. I think he's making an effort - and I've no doubt it is an effort for him - but it's too short lived.


*What is the Dark Territory? The Black Rock is there. The monster roams about there, too. And Rousseau says that's where her crew acquired the Sickness and one of them lost an arm. But is there anything really different about this area than any other area on the Island?

Who marked the area with the rags on the trees – Danielle, or someone else?

Hopefully a Danielle flashback in S4 or beyond will tell us more about Dark Territory. We also get her take on Smokey, at least partially:

KATE: What was that thing?
DANIELLE: It's a security system.
JACK: Security system? What does that mean?
DANIELLE: It's purpose it that of any security systems -- to protect something.
KATE: Protect what?
DANIELLE: The island.

Does Danielle really know what Smokey is, or is "security system" her best guess? It does, in a sense, protect the island; but it did try to take Locke down into the death hole in Exodus 2, and he seems to be a Protector of sorts... it was also thwarted by the Others'/Dharma's "security system" in Left Behind.

*Exodus feels almost like a series finale than a season finale. Many of the intra-Lostie conflicts have been resolved or will be resolved by the end of these episodes. The flashbacks recall the Losties pre-Island baggage demonstrating how far they've come since crashing on the Island and giving the episode an added poignancy. And the lingering question of how they will get off the Island seems to be answered with the launching of the raft. At this point, it's very difficult to see what the following season could be about, apart from what's in the hatch. But Walt's kidnapping and the destruction of the raft spin the show in entirely new directions, based on keeping the Losties apart from each other. Is this because the internal conflicts have been mostly resolved, so the easiest way to create drama is to break that newfound unity? The raft launch is more or less the last time everyone will be together till episode 2x08, "Collision." A similar, perhaps more excessive, length of separation among the Losties also kicks off Season 3.

*Jack and Sawyer come to an understanding: Jack trusts Sawyer with the raft's gun while Sawyer finally tells Jack about his encounter with Christian. While Sawyer passed up the first opportunity to do so he didn't this time, giving all of Sawyer's interactions in Exodus a sense of finality.

*Sawyer seems to resolve his last on-island conflict (apart from his drama with Kate) by building the raft a new mast, thus making piece with Michael and Jin. He doesn't really get on the bad side of everyone again till episode 2x13, "The Long Con."


*Watching this left me with a lot of...ponderances (?) There could have been all sorts of flashforward types interactions: Ana Lucia telling Jack, "the worst part is over"...Shannon one up-ing Boone by getting Sayid in trouble, Jack telling Sawyer, "just in case" while giving Sawyer the gun.....so much to ponder!

*Absolutely LOVED this scene. My God! What acting!

*Forget about all the resolution....Sawyer half nekid is what did it for me!!!!! Wowzers!


There were lots of ambiguous moments in this episode that could be pointed at as hints of a time loop or could easily be taken as meaning something else. I watched the ep a couple days ago, so none of them are really fresh in my mind (i'm sick), but things like Jack giving Sawyer the gun and saying that he'd see him soon are examples.

The Jack and Sawyer scene is one of my favorites, STH, and I was just waiting for this rewind to see you gush about it ;).

As you can see, we agree.

"Dude! You've got some... Arzt on you..."[/i]


LOL! I thought it was funny! Guess I'm pretty wench-like as well...I'm sure it was meant to be tongue in cheek.

I was wondering during this episode whether or not Walt knew that the plane would go down. He seemed adamant that he was not getting on the plane with Michael.

Re-watched the finale for S1 a few weeks ago, and the parting scene between Jin and Sun still chocked me up...okay, fine, I cried...there! :laughing: What a beautiful cinematic treasure those two episodes were. The raft launch. Our first look at the Black Rock. The scene between Sawyer and Jack (one of the series best) Vincent swimming out after the raft and Shannon quietly wading out into the water to gather his leash as he paddles back to shore. The cliff hangers of the raft being blown to bits, Sawyer being shot and Walt snatched along with blowing the hatch door...just a fantastic finale...the best of the series, IMO.

Actually this is probably been mentioned heaps of times before, but what stood out for me watching this ep last night was the order that Hurley appeared to be saying the numbers. I looked at a couple of transcripts of the ep and it appears he does begin ( or is heard to begin ) with 8. And then listening to it again to me it sounded like he pauses after he says 4 like you would when you are repeating a phone number to yourself and you pause at the end just before repeating it.

I've don't think I've heard the numbers said in this way during another ep but it was interesting to me all the same :biggrin:

Danielle comes into camp and tells them the Others are coming. I reminded me of Jacob at the end of The Incident

JACOB: They're coming.

We know Danielle made up this story to take Aaron, thinking she could trade him for Alex. She told the story of the Others taking Alex. In season 5 they showed us that Ben was there with Ethan, why Danielle said she never saw them?

Would Ana-Lucia have known that Christian Shepherd was Jack's dad back then, ever realize it?

Another mention of tree cutter = lumber jack.

I have always loved this scene between Jack and Sawyer - about Sawyer meeting Christian.

The Halliburton case - the lock number has changed from 206 to 202.

There are no visible numbers on Kate's plane now.

Danielle has scratches on her arm like Ethan had on his face.

So the Black Rock is close to where Montand lost his arm - so it's not far from the temple wall?

Arzt is being chased by the monster - Locke tells Hurley to be still. Kate and the group hide in the trees. We hear lots of the Monster noises but also Giant like footsteps, I don't think we hear them when we see Smokie in the following season.

Vincent is a good listener.

Very few people on this show actually say they are sorry - then there's Jin and Sun.

If Vincent was Smokie, why would he turn back from going to the raft if that is where he wanted to go?

Another mention of tree cutter = lumber jack.

Possibly a foreshadowing of Sawyer's involvement in the DHARMA initiative? Dharma = technology = tree cutters (as opposed to tree huggers). Horace was also caught blowing up trees.


The Halliburton case - the lock number has changed from 206 to 202...There are no visible numbers on Kate's plane now.Good eyes, Sam. I would put this in the same category as Jack's tattoo switching arms. I think these hints are intentional (although I have no idea what they mean at this point, other than that things are not necessarily as they seem).


Danielle has scratches on her arm like Ethan had on his face.Aren't these the scratches she got while subduing Claire before leaving her for the lostaways to find?


Just before Walt spotted Danielle strolling into camp, we had the flashback ending with Walt screaming to Michael, "You're not my dad". Lots of child-swapping will follow in subsequent episodes, including Daniel's attempt to kidnap Aaron, Ben's appropriation of Alex, and Kate's foray into motherhood.

Locke and Rousseau seemed to be playing off one another in this episode. Rousseau planted the seed of fear in the lostaways ("The Others are coming"). She then offered her opinion that they had three options...run, hide, or die. She later ruled out running, as there were 40 of them, and asked "Where will you hide them?". How convenient was this? Hadn't Locke just unearthed a potential hiding place? Hmm. And after showing Danielle the hatch, John asked Rousseau, "You booby-trapped your shelter with explosives...you have any more?". And, by golly, she just happened to know where to find some dynamite. Hmm, again.

Is it possible that these two could have been working together? We know that Danielle wanted to be reunited with Alex, and 'the island' may have been influencing John in ways we could not see during season one. Danielle's claim that the Others were out to get them seems right in line with a tactic the MiB would have used to prove his point to Jacob ("They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt"). And her abduction of Aaron may have represented not only a payoff for cooperation, but an attempt to insure that Aaron was raised by another.

Did Anna Lucia know something when she told Jack, "the worst part's over"? And who was she kidding, anyway?

Arzt wasn't exactly prophetic when he told Jack, "Unless you wanna blow up, I'm coming with you".

The scene where Sawyer told Jack about his conversation with Christian in the bar has always been one of my favorites. His acknowledgment of their common bond ("kids are like dogs, you knock them around enough they'll think they did something to deserve it"), and his words of encouragement had a healing effect for each of them, IMO. I can't help but think that Christian may have had an inkling that this conversation would eventually take place.

Is it just me, or was there a touch of sarcasm in Locke's voice when he told Charlie, "Message in a bottle...that's sweet".

How did Rousseau have any idea that Smokey was a security system for the island. It sure sounded like a monster in this episode, yet when she left Sayid in Solitary, she assured him that "there's no such thing as monsters".