A man wakes up from his bunk bed
and immediately presses a few keys on what appears to be a late
1970s-era computer. He then gets dressed and begins his day, as the
viewpoint pans about the surrounding rooms, which contain an assortment
of objects from the 1960s to the present (accompanied by the song Make Your Own Kind of Music by Mama Cass, which is playing off of a vinyl record player). During this routine he injects something into his arm, from a vial labeled 4 8 15 16 23 42.
He is interrupted by an explosion, spurring the man to arm himself with
a rifle from an armory, before using a telescope-and-mirror system. As
his gaze reaches further and further through the complex, it continues
up a shaft to the faces of Jack and Locke standing around the now-open Hatch.
At the Hatch entry, Jack says that they should wait for the sun to
come up. Locke, on the other hand, feels that their entry should not be
delayed, even after Kate points out that the back of the Hatch door
reads 'QUARANTINE.' At the same time, at the caves, Shannon and Sayid search the jungle for Walt's dog Vincent,
who has run off. The pair find Vincent in a clearing, and attempt to
catch him, but he continues to escape. During the search, the two are
separated, and while alone, Shannon hears whispers in the jungle, and
then Walt appears, dripping wet and speaking incoherently; it turns out
that Walt says, backwards, "Push the button, Don't push the button.
Bad." When Sayid returns, he finds Shannon lying on the ground.
During the walk back from the hatch, Hurley
shares with Jack his story about the numbers inscribed on the outside
of the hatch and how they are bad luck, but he is disappointed by
Jack's disbelieving response.
Upon reaching the caves, Jack explains the situation to the
survivors, promising them they will all be all right, as long as they
stay together. No sooner has he finished saying this, then Locke
appears, carrying cable and saying he is going into the hatch. Soon
after, Kate follows behind him.
At the Hatch, Locke eases Kate down the shaft, when suddenly Kate
realizes that there is something in there, and in a sudden burst of
light from within the hatch, Kate mysteriously disappears.
Back at the caves, after informing the survivors why they went into the jungle and that Arzt
is dead, Jack changes his mind about staying together, and decides that
he is going after Kate and Locke. Upon reaching the Hatch, he finds no
one there, and rappels down the shaft on his own to look for them.
While exploring, he comes across a colorful painted mural which
features the numbers, and also discovers a wall where the key hanging
around his neck is pulled by a strong magnetic force.
Finally, after being surprised by a bright light and loud music
(specifically the Mama Cass song that played at the start of the
episode), he enters what appears to be an underground geodesic dome, which contains an array of computer equipment from various earlier decades, including the 1970s-style computer with its command prompt
glowing. As Jack is about to use it, Locke appears and tells Jack not
to touch it. Jack raises the gun and asks, "Where's Kate?" Locke does
not answer, as it is revealed that the as-yet-unnamed resident of the
Hatch has a gun pointed at the side of his head.
Meanwhile, in flashback sequences, Jack encounters his future wife, Sarah, who has arrived in his emergency room
after a horrific car crash. The other victim, who dies when Jack has to
choose which patient to work on first, shares Shannon's last name of
Rutherford. Jack works to save Sarah, but even with surgery, is unable
to restore full use of Sarah's lower body due to a spinal cord injury.
In the events that follow, Jack is first chastised by his father
about his pessimistic bedside manner. Then, while Jack is blowing off
steam by jogging up the steps of a stadium, he falls, and as a result
meets a stranger, another runner named Desmond,
who tells him that he is training for a race around the world. Jack
shares with Desmond how he failed Sarah, and Desmond advises him about
his need to feel and provide more hope. When Jack returns to Sarah's
room, he discovers that she has experienced a miraculous recovery.
Back in the underground dome, Locke tells Jack to put the gun down.
The gunman threatens that he will shoot Locke if Jack does not
surrender. Jack refuses, instead taunting Locke about his destiny.
Finally, the gunman steps out and Jack recognizes him as Desmond.
