S03E01: 'A Tale of Two Cities'

Light summary | Full summary

Note: The light summary of this article provides only gentle teasers as to what happens in this episode, and is suitable for reading before viewing. The full summary serves as a more detailed recap of the episode.










Light Summary: In the season premiere, Jack, Kate and Sawyer begin to discover what they are up against as prisoners of The Others.
















































Full Summary: A female character potters around her house to the sound of Petula Clark's 'Downtown', preparing the house for a book club. During the meeting, the group has an argument over the choice of this week's title. Suddenly, the whole house shakes: they make their way outside to see an Oceanic plane crashing through the sky. 'Henry Gale' directs Goodwin to find the tail end of the plane, while Ethan heads to the fuselage. As the camera pans out, we see the entire village situated in the middle of the island…

Flashback: Jack sits in his car watching and waiting. He sees his wife, Sarah, with another man.

Jack wakes in a strange room and is unaware of his whereabouts. There looks to be no way out.

Elsewhere, Kate awakes in a shower room, where a man tells her to take a shower.

And Sawyer regains consciousness trapped in a cage. Another prisoner sits in the opposite cage. Sawyer investigates the strange contraption in his holding cell and he gets an electric shock, despite being warned not to touch it.

Back in the darkened room, Jack continues his escape attempt. A female, Juliette, walks in.

Flashback: Jack arrives at the lawyers' offices where he meets Sarah. He's fired his lawyer and feels it's time to apologise to his estranged wife. Jack simply wants to know the name of the 'other man', but Sarah refrains from telling him.

Meanwhile, Jack is still trying to escape from the room, pulling the chains which hang from the ceiling.

Kate wanders out of the shower only to find her clothes have disappeared. There's a note on a locker which reads 'wear this'. She removes a skimpy dress from the isolated locker and is then led to the beach where 'Henry Gale' is sitting, anticipating her arrival. He forces Kate to put the handcuffs on and when asked why he's served her breakfast on the beach, he warns 'the next two weeks are going to be very unpleasant'.

Flashback: Jack's in his office at the hospital going through Sarah's phone book. His father, Christian, wants to know what he's doing. When Jack dials one of the numbers, Christian's phone rings. Jack wants to know why Sarah's been calling his father…

Juliette arrives with some food for Jack but he can only have it on the proviso that he sits with his back against the wall on the far-side of the room. Juliette tells Jack that he can trust her, but he needs to eat. When Jack asks why he's there, she walks out.

Sawyer's still trying to figure out how to work the mechanism in the cage. The prisoner who's in the other cell escapes and releases Sawyer at the same time. He tells Sawyer to run one way while he heads the other - Sawyer's been tricked.

Juliette warns Jack that if he doesn't eat or drink anything, the medication they injected him with will cause hallucinations. Jack agrees and sits with his back against the far wall of the cell. She makes her way around to the door of the darkened room.

Flashback: Jack's attending to a patient when he sees his father take a call on his mobile phone – he's adamant it's Sarah. Jack follows his father to a hotel and is shocked at what he finds when he bursts into the room: an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Jack confronts his father about his supposed affair with Sarah and a fight ensues.

Just as Juliette enters the room to deposit Jack's food, Jack lunges toward the door grabbing her in the hope she'll lead him to freedom. Jack instructs Juliette to open a door in the corridor but she says she can't because they'll die. 'Henry Gale' appears from nowhere and backs up Juliette's claim. Jack opens the door and a gush of water floods the chamber they're standing in. However, they make their way to safety, and press a button in another room causing the water to drain away. Juliette punches Jack, knocking him out, so she can take him back to the holding room.

Meanwhile, in his cage, Sawyer makes use of a rock to hold down one of the buttons on the food contraption. A fanfare plays and he's awarded with a fish biscuit and water. Kate is then locked up in the opposite cage.

Jack's back in the room where he originally awoke. He realises that the chamber he's sitting in is an aquarium. Juliette explains that they're in an underwater hatch called The Hydra – another hatch of the Dharma Initiative. Juliette starts talking to Jack about his life – she knows everything about him: he's a spinal surgeon out of St. Sebastian's Hospital in LA, he went to Columbia and graduated from medical school a year faster than anyone else. She knows that he was married once, that he contested the divorce, his father died in Sydney. Juliette clutches a folder which she claims documents Jack's life.

Flashback: Jack sits in a prison cell and is given the news that somebody has posted his bail. He's shocked to see Sarah standing in front of him. It's an emotional goodbye for the pair.

All Jack wants to know is if Sarah's happy. Juliette re-affirms his thoughts. As Julitte walks out of the room, she's greeted by 'Henry Gale'. He congratulates her on her work, while she responds 'thank you Ben…'