Lost Episode 5.01 Because You Left

8:15 and BEEEEP! The alarm goes off. A man gets out of bed and goes through his morning routine: feeds his baby, showers, gets dressed and walks to work. He steps into a make-shift studio set, and for the first time we see his face as he addresses the camera. "Hello, I'm Dr. Marvin Candle, and this is the orientation film for station two, the Arrow." It's Dr. Marvin Candle, or Mark Wickmund, or Pierre Chang -- whomever, it's that guy, and we're witnessing the actual shooting of a Dharma film because we are in Dharma times on the island.

Dr. Chang is interrupted: there's a problem at the Orchid station construction site. Chang races out, down into the underground Orchid station. The foreman tells Chang they were digging through the rock per Chang's instructions when the drill melted and the operator grabbed his head and collapsed on the ground. Chang explains that the station is being built there due to the proximity to what they believe is an almost limitless energy, and once they harness that energy they will be allowed to manipulate time. Chang orders the foreman to do nothing further and leaves. On the way out, Chang bumps into a Dharma worker he doesn't recognize but we do. It's Daniel Faraday. What is Daniel Faraday doing back in Dharma times?

Welcome to season five, dear friends. Things are about to get crazy.

Off the island, Jack and Ben remove Locke's coffin from the funeral home. Later, at a motel, Jack finally shaves off his beard. Ben has a suit prepared for Jack so he can go check out Hurley from the mental institution. Ben asks Jack what Locke had said to him to change his mind about going back, and Jack tells him Locke said that everyone they left behind on the island was going to die. As they are about to leave, they overhear a news report about Hurley escaping the mental institute and being the prime suspect in the killing of a man found shot in a car outside the institute. Ben tells Jack they've got a change in plans.

Hurley is with Sayid, and Sayid drives him to a safehouse. Hurley asks why Sayid is so paranoid, and Sayid says he's been working for Ben for the last two years. Hurley is shocked and asks if Ben is on their side now. Sayid tells Hurley that if he ever meets Ben again to do the opposite of whatever Ben tells him. At the apartment door, Sayid sees that a piece of tape he secured to the top of the door is ripped, and he realizes someone is inside waiting for them. He pulls his gun -- but BAM! The door flies open and a guy launches himself on Sayid. As they fight, the gun skitters away and Hurley quickly picks it up. Sayid grabs the man and tosses him over the railing, dropping him three floors below to the hard concrete. Suddenly, a second guy inside the apartment shoots at Sayid, and Sayid races inside to take care of him.

Hurley picks up the gun and looks over the railing. Below, neighbors checking out the dead body look up and see Hurley. One pulls out a cell phone and snaps a photo of Hurley holding the gun -- and Hurley realizes he's going to be blamed for the guy's death. He races inside as Sayid battles the second attacker. It's a fierce hand-to-hand battle, and the attacker manages to get a clean shot at Sayid. PFFT! A dart sinks into Sayid's shoulder. As they bang around in the kitchen, the dishwasher falls open. Sayid grabs the guy and torques him down -- right onto a set of upright knives. The attacker is skewered. But whatever was in the dart is already affecting Sayid. He goes limp in Hurley's arms as Hurley drags him out. Hurley says he never should've left the island.

Meanwhile, Kate prepares Aaron's breakfast when there's a knock at the front door. She answers it and meets attorney Dan Norton. He is there with an associate, and Norton explains he has a court order to get a blood sample from both Kate and Aaron. Kate is shocked. Why? Norton explains it's to determine her relationship to the child, and he won't reveal who his client is. Kate slams the door in his face. Afraid of having Aaron taken away from her, Kate packs an emergency bag to leave and tells Aaron they're going on vacation.

At Heathrow airport, Sun checks in at the Oceanic counter to fly back to Korea. However, she is escorted into a security room where she meets Charles Widmore again. Widmore wants to know what their common interests are. Sun explains that they both want the same thing: to kill Benjamin Linus.

And now it's time to return to the island. Sawyer and Juliet sit on the beach. Ben turns the frozen donkey wheel, and a hum and flash of white light washes over them. Sawyer asks what that was, but Juliet doesn't know. Sawyer notices the freighter is no longer burning out in the distance -- it's gone. Bernard is panicked -- their entire camp is gone. The flash happened, and then everything disappeared.

Locke, who had been standing with Richard Alpert and the Others, finds himself alone in the jungle. He climbs a ridge and sees a twin-engine Beechcraft plane fly right over his head then crashes somewhere in the jungle. Locke sees something in the grass that fell out of the plane and runs over to it. It's a Virgin Mary statue, and Locke realizes the plane is the Nigerian drug plane. He races towards the crash site.

Back at the beach camp, Faraday returns with his group from the raft. Charlotte is relieved to find Faraday alive, thinking he was on the freighter. She tells him everything disappeared, and Faraday says of course it did. He explains he has an idea what just happened but he needs to be taken to something that was built on the island. Juliet suggests the Swan station, but Sawyer says they blew it up. Faraday wants to go see if it's still there.

Locke treks to the clearing where the drug plane crashed. He finds it on top of the cliff, and starts to climb up. But suddenly shots ring out, and Locke is hit in the leg. He falls to the jungle floor, and no other than Ethan Rom steps out pointing a rifle at him. Locke calls Ethan by his name and says that Ben Linus appointed him leader of the Others. Ethan is taken aback but dismisses it. He's about to shoot Locke when -- FLASH! Another loud hum and white light washes over them. Locke is in the same spot, but it's now night instead of day. The plane is no longer on the cliff but on the ground crashed and burned... and Ethan is gone.

Sawyer's group trekking to the Swan station experiences the same flash, and Sawyer is not happy about their new circumstances. They find the crater where the Swan station blew up. Faraday explains that the entire island, including them, are moving through time, that the island is like a record spinning on a turntable. Time moves forwards like it's supposed to, but whatever Ben did in the Orchid station is causing the record to skip. Sawyer asks how they stop the skipping, but Faraday doesn't know.

At the drug plane, Locke sees a torch moving through the jungle and hears someone approaching. He pulls his knife for protection as Richard Alpert enters the clearing. Locke asks Richard how he knew Locke was there, and Richard says because Locke told him. Richard removes the bullet from Locke's leg and dresses the wound. Richard tells Locke he doesn't have time to explain before Locke "moves on" and gives Locke a compass. The next time they meet, he won't recognize Locke, so he tells Locke to give him the compass. Then Richard tells Locke the only way he can save the people on the island is to die. Locke doesn't understand, but he hears the hum start to build and sees the sky brighten as -- FLASH! It's now day, and the drug plane is back on top of the cliff. Richard is gone.

Sawyer's group goes through the flash, too. It's suddenly day, and the crater is gone, too. It's completely filled with dirt. Juliet drops to her knees and starts digging. She finds the metallic hatch and says the station is back. She guesses they just haven't found it yet. Sawyer heads off for the station's back door saying Desmond is inside, along with food and clothes. But Faraday warns him it's not a good idea. Desmond won't know who Sawyer is because they haven't met yet. Sawyer doesn't care and bangs on the back door, yelling for someone to open up. Faraday tells him he can't change the past -- that if it didn't happen, it can't happen. No one comes to the door, so Sawyer angrily turns on Faraday and says he just lost everybody he cared about when the freighter blew up. He knows what he can't change. Juliet calms the situation by suggesting they return to the beach camp. Sawyer agrees and storms off.

Faraday notices that Charlotte's nose is bleeding. Charlotte doesn't think anything of it, but Faraday knows it's not good. He tells her to go on ahead without him. He forgot his pack at the hatch crater and he's going to go back and get it. Once she's gone, Faraday bangs on the Swan station door. Suddenly it opens, and Desmond stands there in a yellow Hazmat suit pointing a rifle at Faraday. Faraday quickly tries to explain that the rules don't apply to Desmond, that he's special and the only one who can help them. If the helicopter made it off the island and they all got home, Desmond has to go back to Oxford University, back to where they first met, and find Faraday's mother. But before he can tell Desmond her name, a flash overtakes him and...

WHOOOSH! Desmond suddenly sits up in bed. He's on a sailboat, and next to him is Penny Widmore. He tells her he was back on the island. Penny tells him he's been off the island for three years. He's safe now. It was just a dream. But Desmond says no, it wasn't a dream. It was a memory. He runs up on deck and pulls the anchor. Penny asks what he's doing, and he says they're leaving to go to Oxford.

BOOM.