ON THE ISLAND

Jin is alive and understandably surprised to learn from young Rousseau that it's 1988. Robert wants to find the radio tower, and Jin wants to find the camp. He can only find it from the tower, so they set off.

They walk through the jungle to the tower and hear the smoke monster. The French people are confused but Jin knows it well. The monster takes one of the French people, Nadine, and drops her to her demise.

They run, but the huge pillar of black smoke rises up, stares into the eyes of a Frenchman and drags him away across the jungle floor.

They chase him back to a temple when the monster is retracting into its hole with Frenchman in tow. His team holds on for dear life to try and save him, but they rip off his arm as the monster pulls him down.

It's rather graphic and scary. The Frenchmen decide to go down that hole after him, against Jin's frantic urging not to. Ultimately, he convinces Danielle to stay behind because of the baby, but the rest go.

[cue blinding light and time flash]

Jin didn't go far this time, as he stumbles across several dead Frenchmen on the beach and a still-pregnant Danielle pointing her gun at another, Robert, because she claims the monster stole his soul.

He says the monster is just a security system for the temple, but then he tries to grab a gun and shoot her. That's when suddenly bad ass Danielle shoots and kills the last member of her "infected" team.

She spots Jin watching this and assumes he is also infected, firing at him on sight. Jin runs for his life and ...

[cue blinding light and time flash]

... arrives at a new point in time with another gun pointed at the back of his head. Fortunately, it's just Sawyer. The reunited Oceanic 815 survivors smile and compare notes as to what the hell is going on.

Locke (with Charlotte translating) explains the plan to leave the island and bring the Oceanic Six back at the Orchid. Jin is not pleased and doesn’t want his wife to come back to this terrible place.

[cue blinding light and time flash x2]

The time flashes are starting to get even more unpredictable and frequent, and the effects more serious.

Charlotte faints, then comes to and starts speaking gibberish before she super-seriously instructs Jin not to let them bring her back because this place is death. Ominous.

Desperate to make it to the Orchid, Locke wants to leave weakened Charlotte behind but Faraday doesn't. Daniel stays with her while Locke and the rest of them carry on. When someone asks the million-dollar question - what do they do if the Orchid isn't around yet - half-lucid Charlotte tells them to look for the well, whatever that means.

Locke, Juliet, Sawyer, Miles and Jin arrive at the Orchid, and sure enough ...

[cue blinding light and time flash]

... a jump through time makes it disappear. Locke immediately takes a walk around the vicinity and finds a well nearby.

How did Charlotte know it would be there? Back with Faraday, she confesses she lived on the island when her parents worked for the DHARMA Initiative.

One day, though, she suddenly left the island, never to return until this mission, after a scary man told her she had to go and never come back or else she would die... and she is convinced that man is Daniel Faraday.

Faraday swears his mother can fix this, and that Desmond is on his way to find her. But Charlotte is making little sense now and seizing violently.

She appears to die, but you never know.

Locke grabs a role and is about to lower himself down the well when Jin - terrified after what Charlotte said - makes him promise not to bring Sun back. Jin wants Locke to tell Sun he's dead, and gives Locke his wedding ring as proof.

Locke agrees, and Sawyer is lowering him down the well when ...

[cue blinding light and time flash]

... another time jump occurs and the well is completely covered. Sawyer is holding a rope that leads into nothing but solid earth.

Locke crashes to the bottom of whatever subterranean world he was venturing into, and hurts his leg pretty badly, screaming in agony. That's when a man emerges from the shadows: Christian Shephard!

He is disappointed that John didn’t listen to him and move the island after they met at Jacob's cabin. Locke explains what Ben said, and Christian asks why he would listen to that guy.

Christian says he cannot help the hobbled Locke up - but instructs him to go an readjust the broken wheel on the other side of the wall. After a lot of struggle, Locke fixes it and the room glows.

Before leaving, Christian asks him to say hi to his son. Locke disappears before he can find out who this man’s son is.

OFF THE ISLAND

At the marina, Sun is ready to ice Ben for good. She pulls a gun on him but he wrangles out of trouble yet again - by vowing that he can prove Jin is alive (!?). Sun agrees to give him 30 minutes to prove it.

At this time, Kate is retrieving Aaron from the back of Sun's car and taking off. To where, we don't know. Sayid also bolts, telling Jack and Ben that if he sees either of them again it will be very unpleasant.

On the car ride over to see the person Ben says will give Sun her proof, she and Jack talk about who wants to kill Ben more. This pisses Ben off, and he pulls the car over, swearing that THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW what he's done for them.

The number of times he’s saved them is innumerable (apparently), and they ought to be thanking him around the clock. They arrive at the church where Ben gives Sun Jin’s wedding ring and explains he got it from Locke.

He also promises that the woman inside can help them go back.

Just then, Desmond shows up! He supposes they’re here for the same reason he is, to find Faraday’s mother, Eloise Hawking.

Ben, Sun, Jack and Desmond go inside to meet her, and while Eloise is a bit disappointed every member of the Oceanic Six is not present, she says that it will do for now. So, she says, let's get started.

BONG.