1.09 - Solitary

Sayid goes in search of the source of the distress call and finds more than he bargained for. Meanwhile, Hurley comes up with a plan to entertain the survivors.

We're surviving here. My main concern is keeping everyone alive. Things could be worse.
How? --- Jack Shepherd, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes

Go on Sayid, do your work. I'm not going to tell you anything.
Then I'm going to hurt you.
I know. --- Nadia, Sayid

Dudes, listen. Our lives suck. Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max. I mean, we're lost on an island, running from boars and monsters and frickin' polar bears...
Polar bears?
You didn't hear about the polar bear? --- Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Michael, Charlie Pace

This is a problem, man.
Yeah.
I mean, I know what I'd do, but... it's gotta be your call.
OK. (pause) Give me a 7-iron. --- Michael, Jack Shepherd

A doctor playing golf? Boy howdy, now I've heard everything! What's next, a cop eating a donut? --- "Sawyer"

Sayid is sitting alone on a beach, looking at the picture of a woman. He turns it over to read something in Arabic on the back.

Something catches his attention and, replacing the picture in his pack, he walks down the beach to where a cable of some kind runs from the ocean and into the jungle. He examines it for a moment then follows it inland.

Back at Lostaway beach, Jack is changing a bandage on Sawyer's arm. Sawyer asks if he is treating him to help his conscience and Jack responds that his conscience is clean; he is there because no one else wants to have anything to do with Sawyer.

Sawyer thinks about this for a moment then responds "She does". Jack stares at him for a moment then, telling Sawyer to change his own bandage, leaves.

Outside he encounters Kate, looking down the beach. She admits to being worried about Sayid. Jack says Sayid can take care of himself.

Sayid, still following the cable, comes across a tripwire on the path. He carefully steps over it but obviously trips something else. A snare catches him and he is pulled into the air. He swings into a tree where a branch impales his leg. He manages to pull out the branch but he is left hanging upside down in the air.

Some time later, someone approaches. He calls to them and suddenly drops to the ground. He looks up long enough to see someone approaching him with a knife before passing out.

In the caves, Jack is examining Sullivan, another of the survivors, who is complaining of a rash. Sullivan thinks it is some horrible infection but Jack says it is just hives.

Hurley arrives as an argument erupts outside. Hurley says that everyone is suffering mentally from the strain of being stranded, leading to stress and the arguments. Jack says he is only concerned with keeping everyone alive.

Some time later, Sayid wakes up strapped to a metal bed frame. A strange woman is in the room with him and keeps asking "Where is Alex?" in several languages. Sayid says he has no idea what she is talking about and she does something to shock him through the bed. He passes out again.

Flashback: Sayid and Omar, both in Republican Guard uniforms, are interrogating a prisoner about a bombing. Sayid is leading the interrogation but the prisoner does not provide any information.

Later, Omar compliments Sayid on his handling of the interrogation, though Sayid says the prisoner really doesn't know anything. Omar tells Sayid that he will approve his transfer to the intelligence division. As he talks, Sayid watches as several guards bring a woman into the facility.

Hurley is at the caves when Locke and Ethan arrive. They have been hunting together and have found some luggage that apparently fell from the plane. They give the luggage to Hurley who starts to go through it.

Locke is preparing to leave to continue the hunt when Walt wakes up and asks if he can come along. Before he can answer Michael also wakes up and tells him he can't. Walt, upset, goes back to bed.

Looking through the luggage, Hurley finds something that seems to give him an idea.

Elsewhere, Sayid is still being shocked as he shouts that he does not know who "Alex" is. He quickly tells about the plane crash, how he found the cable on the beach and how he thought it may have something to do with the distress signal.

The shocks suddenly stop. The woman repeats the message originally heard on the distress signal, then asks if it has really been 16 years. She says she knows what Sayid is and hits him, knocking him out.

When Sayid wakes up, the woman is looking through his backpack. He looks around and sees a jacket with the name Rousseau on it. He says the name and, after her surprise that he knows it, admits that it is hers. She then calls him by his name, which she says she found on an envelope in his backpack. She holds up the pictures of the woman he was looking at earlier and asks who she is. Sayid tells her the woman's name was Nadia.

Flashback: Omar is telling Sayid that the woman knows something about the bombing and Sayid must find out what it is. Sayid enters the cell with the woman and starts to interrogate her but is surprised when she calls him by name. He recognizes her as Nadia, a girl he went to school with. She liked Sayid, an affection he was unaware of, and she was upset that he ignored her as a child.

Sayid tries to continue with the interrogation and Nadia tells him that she has been interrogated before, showing him scars from previous visits. He says he will have to hurt her if she doesn't talk and she says she knows, but she won't talk.

Back in the present, the woman sits on the side of the bed and observes that Sayid has a bullet wound in his leg. He says he was a soldier once but not anymore. The woman asks him to tell her more about Nadia but he instead asks who Alex is. She does not answer.

At the caves, Michael is sketching something. Hurley is digging through some suitcases, looking for something. Walt complains about being bored and Michael tells him to find a way to entertain himself; he is busy.

Hurley finds whatever he is looking for then takes a bamboo pole away from a startled Michael. Jack arrives and starts to ask Hurley something but Hurley says he is busy. Jack asks what is going on and Hurley points at him and laughs before leaving. Jack and Michael look at each other in confusion.

Back in Rousseau's hideout, the woman is again questioning Sayid. He says he came looking for her transmission but she accuses him of lying. She also doesn't believe that there are 40 or more other survivors. She asks why he left them and he says it was because he did something he wasn't proud of. She then asks if he left Nadia too and he tells her she wasn't on the plane. He says Nadia is dead, because of him. The woman caresses his cheek for a moment then says she wants to show him something.

In the caves, Michael is showing Jack the drawing he had been working on. He has designed a piping system (using bamboo) to create drinking basins and showers. Jack is impressed at the drawing and Michael says he was an artist. Jack says he thought Michael was in construction and Michael says he was that too and that it is a long story. Before he can get into it however, Charlie appears and says Hurley wants to show them something.

He leads them to an open area in a valley where Hurley has set up a golf course! Hurley says they need to have some way to relax or all of them are going to go crazy waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Jack and Michael look at each other.

In the hideout, the woman shows Sayid a music box and tells him that it is broken. It was a gift from her love for their anniversary. Sayid asks if it was Alex and she corrects him, saying it was Robert.

Sayid says he may be able to fix it for her, if she freed his hands. She instead asks what is written on the back of Nadia's photograph. As she talks, she fills a syringe with something and approaches Sayid. He tells her she doesn't need the syringe but she asks if what is written on the photo causes him pain. She injects him with the contents of the syringe and he passes out.

Jack and Michael are involved in a deep discussion, which is finally resolved when Jack selects a golf club. Charlie and Hurley attempt to distract him but he is lining up his shot when they are suddenly interrupted by Sullivan, still concerned about his rash. Sullivan asks if they are playing golf and, when Jack admits they are, asks if he can play too.

Sayid suddenly wakes up to find himself sitting at a table. The woman apologies for the sedative, saying it was the only safe way to move him. She then asks if he can really fix her music box. Sayid starts to work, asking questions as he does so.

The woman reveals that her name is Danielle and that she was part of a science expedition. Sayid wonders why a science expedition was armed but she does not explain. She says that their ship was three days out of Tahiti when their instruments malfunctioned and they ran aground on the island. They survived in this shelter for several months.

Sayid asks what happened and she says the rest of the team was returning from the "Black Rock" when something happened. She only says it was "them" and that they were "carriers".

Sayid asks what the "Black Rock" is and who the "carriers" were. She only says that it was the "others". He asks if there are others on the island and she says that she has not seen them but has heard them whispering in the jungle.

Danielle looks at him and asks if he thinks she is insane. He gently says he thinks that she has been alone too long.

Flashback: Sayid enters a cell and gives Nadia some bread. He then shows her some pictures and says if she will just identify one of them as her accomplice then he may be able to convince his superiors to let her go. She simply says that if he did, then she wouldn't have his visits to look forward to any more.

He angrily tells her that they aren't playing a game but she points out that he keeps playing it by pretending to be something she knows he isn't.

At the beach, Boone approaches Shannon and tells her that the people from the caves have built a golf course and that Jack is playing golf. The two of them leave to check it out. Kate hears them and, surprised, starts to go as well.

Sawyer comments about Jack playing golf and Kate says he could come too. Sawyer dismisses the idea, saying that he doesn't like crowds and that the crowd doesn't like him. Kate suggests, "as one outcast to another", that he try making an effort. She leaves.

At the hideout, Sayid demonstrates the now working music box to Danielle. She thanks him. He then asks if she would let him go. She says she can't; she says he needs her and that it isn't safe. He asks what she means. During this conversation, he hides a screwdriver that he had used to fix the music box.

They are interrupted by the roar of an animal outside. Danielle grabs a rifle and starts to climb the ladder from the hideout. Sayid asks what it is and she says that if they are lucky it is just one of the bears. Sayid asks what she means by "if we're lucky" then says that it could be the monster. Danielle stops and looks at him.

"There's no such thing as monsters." she tells him. She leaves.

Flashback: Omar tells Sayid that he is taking too long getting Nadia to talk and that he has to execute her. Sayid hesitates and Omar asks if there is a problem. Sayid says no.

Sayid enters Nadia's cell, throws a hood at her and tells her to put it on. She asks if he is going to hurt her and he says nothing.

In the hideout, Sayid uses the screwdriver to free himself. He hurriedly grabs several maps and other items from the hideout then, taking another rifle, he leaves. We see he has left the pictures of Nadia behind.

At the golf course, there is now a large audience watching Jack and the others play golf. Kate approaches Jack and says that she could hardly recognize him because he is smiling. Jack says that he has been trying everything he could to make everyone feel safe. Then, Hurley builds a golf course and everyone feels safe. Indeed, everyone seems to be relaxed and having a good time.

Walt appears with Vincent and Michael wants to know what he is doing there. He had left Walt with Claire but Walt says she was asleep. Michael apologizes to him and offers to let him play golf with him but then someone calls to him and says it is his turn. Michael immediately goes to play, leaving Walt behind. Walt watches for a moment then leaves.

Sayid is moving as fast as he can with his injured leg when he sees Danielle. She seems to see him too but he gets behind her and aims his rifle at her. He tells her to drop hers but instead she turns and points her rifle at him.

Flashback: Sayid and a guard are walking a hooded and chained Nadia down a corridor. Sayid dismisses the guard then removes Nadia's hood and releases her. He tells her that there is a truck outside the building and, if she hides in it, she can escape.

She asks him to come with her and he says he cannot; if he deserted his family would be killed. He says he doesn't have her courage and she says he has more than he thinks. She takes her picture from his pocket and writes something on the back.

Omar suddenly appears and demands to know what is going on. He turns to yell for the guards and Sayid shoots him. He tells Nadia that he will say that she took his gun, shot Omar then shot him. He shoots himself in the leg then gives her the gun. She gives him the photo then leaves.

Sayid says he doesn't want to hurt Danielle and she says he already has. She starts to raise her rifle again and he fires his, to no effect. Danielle points out that the firing pin has been removed and that Robert didn't notice either, when she killed him.

Sayid says she loved Robert and she says she did but that he was sick and that she was afraid of what would happen if they were rescued.

Sayid throws his rifle away and says he isn't sick, so why kill him? Danielle says she can't let him go; she has someone to talk to and be with again and can't give that up.

"You'll find me in the next life, if not in this one." Sayid says. She seems confused and he tells her that is what is written on the back of Nadia's photo. He says he knows what it is like to hold onto someone but that the more he does the more he pulls away from those around him. He says he must go back to the others, since only together will they be able to escape from the island. He then says she doesn't have to be alone and asks her to come with him.

Danielle thinks a moment, then starts to walk away.
"Your people." she says. "The ones you're determined to get back to. Watch them. Watch them closely."

Sayid watches her go for a moment, then calls after her. "Who is Alex?"

Danielle pauses. "Alex was my child." She continues into the jungle.

At the golf course, a large crowd is now watching the game. Jack is about to take his final shot. Hurley suddenly bets five dollars that Jack makes the shot. Sullivan bets his dinner and Boone takes the bet.

Abruptly, Sawyer arrives and bets flashlights and sunscreen that Jack misses. Kate takes his bet, as does Boone. As Shannon points out that Boone just bet against himself, Jack smiles and takes his putt.

Elsewhere, Locke is practicing knife throwing. Walt appears and asks if Locke can teach him to do that. Locke asks if Michael knows where Walt is and Walt says no. Locke thinks a moment then hands the knife to Walt.

In the jungle, Sayid is hurriedly making his way back towards the other survivors. The wind is blowing but he suddenly stops and looks around. Another sound is on the wind, a sound of whispering. He looks around, trying to find the source of the sound, but cannot.

The wind, and the whispering sounds, continue.

Episode ends.