Lost - Season 1 - Episodes 24-25

Disc 7
24. Exodus (Part 2)
Flashbacks: Sun spills a drink over Jin, he leaves for the restroom, where he bumps into another employee of Mr. Paik. Jin is warned to do his job, as he'll lose Sun if he doesn't. They know of his plans to run away. Sayid returns with security, and his bag, free to go. Charlie is seen with a junkie groupie in a hotel before the flight. Walt ignores Michael at the airport, playing a hunting game on his portable console. Michael calls his mother from a pay phone to ask her to take him. Walt is standing behind him.

Claire doesn't want to move the baby to the caves because he's crying. Charlie creates a Bjorn, a baby carrier, for him.
At the Black Rock, Rousseau tells them where the dynamite is, and leaves. Inside, they find chained skeletons. Locke thinks it's a mining ship that left from Mozambique. They find the explosives and take them outside. Arzt wraps a stick in Kate's shirt and blows up. Hurley blames his curse. Locke compares removing the dynamite to a game of Operation. Jack asks if he likes playing games. Locke replies "absolutely". They need 3 sticks for the hatch, so decide to take 6- two lots of 3. Kate wants to carry one lot, Jack disagrees. They draw straws- Kate and Locke get the short straws, Jack gets the long one. He tells them to drop the packs and run if there's any trouble. They contemplate what's inside the hatch. Hurley suggests gadgets and food, Locke says hope.
Shannon struggles to carry all of her things off the beach, with Vincent. Sayid helps her and finds Boone's things too. She says she needs them.
Rousseau turns up asking for Sayid. Charlie goes to get him, and Rousseau asks to hold Claire's baby. Claire suddenly remembers scratching Rousseau's arm. Charlie returns with Sayid to find Claire lying on the floor with a bloody wound on the back of her head. Rousseau has taken the baby. Sayid suggests they follow her to the black smoke, suspecting she'll trade the baby for Alex. Claire asks Charlie to "get Aaron back". They find the plane and Charlie sees the heroin.
Jin and Michael try their transmitter for the first time, while Walt catches Sawyer reading the bottle messages. Sawyer mentions that the only letter he's ever written is to the man he is going to kill. Michael lets Walt steer for a while. Walt asks his father why he never saw him, growing up. Michael tells him his mother thought it would be best for him. Walt says she was wrong. The rudder falls off and Sawyer dives in to get it. Michael finds Sawyer's gun and gives it back to him.
At the caves, Sun tells Shannon that Boone died bravely, and asks if they're being punished by fate for secrets and lies. Claire says there's no such thing as fate.

25. Exodus (Part 3)
Flashbacks: Hurley is running late for his flight, various obstacles get in his way but he makes it... Just. Locke has to be carried onto the plane. We see Claire, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Jack, Charlie, Sayid, Jin, Sun, Michael, Walt, Shannon, Boone, Hurley and Arzt on the plane.

In the Dark Territory, Jack and Kate catch a glimpse of flying black smoke, hearing its emitting clicks and rattles. As the trees uproot, they run away, except for Locke who heads for the growling, crashing noise. When it stands over him, he looks terrified and runs. It grabs him and drags him towards a hole. Jack chases and catches him. Jack reveals to Kate that he has her dynamite, and asks for her to throw it down the hole. Locke says no, that Jack must let go, that he'll be fine... but she lights a stick and drops it down the hole. It explodes, Locke is released, and the smoke clears. Jack asks Locke what that was all about. He says he was being tested. He's a man of faith, but Jack's a man of science. He says the island brought each of them there for a reason. It's destiny, and Jack will believe one day.
Sun comforts Claire, reassuring her that Charlie will bring Aaron back. Sun asks what his name means, Claire doesn't know.
Charlie gets caught in a Rousseau trap, cutting his head. Sayid cauterises the wound with gunpowder from a bullet. They get to the source of the pillar of black smoke, but there are no footprints. They hear Aaron cry, and call Danielle out. She comes out, carrying the baby, crying that the others weren't there. Charlie takes Aaron, and says Rousseau had imagined the others. She insists she heard them whisper that they'd take the baby. They leave her.
On the raft, Michael and Sawyer discuss whether Sawyer is a hero or wants to die. Then they pick up a signal. It starts to move away from them so they fire a flare. It comes back for them. It's a small boat with a crew of about four or five men. Michael excitedly tells them the story of the crash, but the bearded man on the boat says he's sorry, but they have to take the boy. They refuse. Sawyer is shot in the shoulder and falls overboard. Jin dives in after him. Michael is punched and knocked overboard as Walt is taken onto the boat. The raft explodes and the boat drives away, leaving the raft crew in the water.
Aaron, Charlie and Sayid return. Shannon hugs Sayid, Claire takes Aaron from Charlie, and we see he has taken a Mary statuette.
At the hatch, Kate confronts Jack about the dynamite. He says he's been nominated as the leader, and made a judgement call. He needs to know if she's got his back, as they'll have "a Locke problem" if they survive this. She says she does. Hurley sees his numbers engraved on the hatch and urges them to stop, but Locke lights the fuse and the dynamite explodes. Jack and Locke remove the hatch and look down a deep, dark hole with a ladder.

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A great season. Interesting to note how much now feels like filler, especially the characters that die, and yet it never feels like a moment is wasted. All of those moments are essential for all of the characters to feel real. I can't wait to follow the story again, and yet remember how much I disliked season two. I am particularly dreading the appearance of Ana-Lucia and Ekko, and the repetitive reveal of station after station. But at the same time, looking forward to the little details and character moments that shape the future. Given the answers we have started getting in season 6, it is clear that they really have planned this all along.

Interesting footnote: Damon Lindeloff states in one of the season one featurettes that they see the show as a video game... You need to do so-and-so before you can progress. An interesting theme to follow in the lead-up to the finale, Game Over.