Jack is nearly delirious from lack of sleep and struggles to overcome the haunting events that brought him to Australia and, subsequently, to the island. Meanwhile, Boone gets caught in a treacherous riptide trying to save a woman who went out swimming. A pregnant Claire's health takes a bad turn from lack of fluids, and a thief may have stolen the last bottles of water. Veronica Hamel guest-stars as Jack's mother, Margo.

Also, Jack flashes back at 12 years old, to find himself on the playground in an altercation with a bully, who ultimately beats him up, and later learns a life lesson from his father.

Shannon's inhaler runs out and Boone believes Sawyer has the remaining three in his stash. When Sawyer refuses to give them up, Jack and Sayid resort to torturing Sawyer until he agrees to reveal the location of the inhalers. In flashback we hear Sawyer's story and find he is not who he says he is.

Survivors wonder why Charlie and Claire have been abducted - and by whom - and a search party ventures into the treacherous jungle to look for the pair. Suspicions focus on Ethan Rom (guest-star William Mapother), who, it was recently discovered, was not a passenger on the doomed flight. Jack battles inner demons relating to his father, while Boone and Locke discover another island mystery.

Violence ensues and a mysterious island beast makes a re-appearance when Michael and Locke clash over Walt's upbringing. Meanwhile, Charlie is tempted to read the missing Claire's diary, and Sayid enlists Shannon to help decipher the French woman's map.

When the raft the survivors have been building mysteriously burns down, Michael is convinced that Jin is responsible for the sabotage, which only serves to escalate their rivalry. Meanwhile, Sun stuns her fellow survivors with a surprising revelation, and Boone gives Sayid a warning about his step-sister Shannon. Lastly, more details of Jin and Sun's troubled marriage are revealed through flashbacks.

Jack tends to a severely wounded Boone after Locke returns him to the caves. In the confusion, Locke slips away to deal with his guilt over the crisis. Meanwhile, Claire unexpectedly goes into labor while deep in the forest.

The French woman-Danielle Rousseau-shocks the survivors by showing up to the camp with a dire warning about "the Others" who are on the island, and the black smoke that precedes them. Meanwhile, Michael and Jin ready the raft for sailing. In flashbacks, we see the survivors final moments before they boarded their fateful flight.

Jack, Locke and Kate explore the mysterious hatch but Jack decides to wait before going down into the hatch. Kate and Locke aren't so patient. When Shannon chases after Vincent the dog, she encounters a familiar face in the jungle.

Hurley struggles with an assigned task inside the hatch as he flashbacks to disturbing memories in his life before the crash. Meanwhile, Sawyer, Michael and Jin learn the identities of their captors on the island. Claire uncovers a startling piece of information about the fate of the raft.

The harrowing first 48 days in the lives of the tail section survivors are revealed. Flashbacks reveal the point of view of Ana-Lucia, Mr. Eko, Bernard and Libby and other survivors as they landed on the other side of the island on the beach. As the days progress danger hits their camp as well when "The Others" start taking people against their will. As the survivors race inland, trying to stay a step ahead of The Others, they realize that someone among them wasn't on Flight 815.

This episode will shed more light on why Eko took a mysterious 40-day vow of silence, and possibly information on his stick. Also, Claire begins to lose faith in Charlie after Eko begins to question him about the Virgin Mary statue, and Kate gives the recovering Sawyer a much-needed haircut.

Some of the island survivors fear that "The Others" may have returned when Sun is greatly injured during a failed kidnapping attempt at her plant garden. Also, the trust barrier becomes very thin between Locke and Jack in terms of locking up the guns and being kept safe. Meanwhile, Sawyer is an amused but highly interested bystander when tension escalates between Jack, Locke, Kate and Ana Lucia. When Jack purposely takes Sawyer's medication from him he pushes more in favor of helping Locke. Lastly, flashbacks reveal more of Sawyer's con artist past.

Sun comes to the realization that she might be pregnant. She struggles on whether to tell Jin about the situation. Meanwhile, with no success from Jack or Sayid, Ana-Lucia is called in by Locke to interrogate the new prisoner Henry Gale to get more information out of him about the balloon that he and his wife supposedly landed on the island with.

Rose is surprisingly and vehemently opposed to Bernard's plan to create an S.O.S. signal; romantic sparks are rekindled between Jack and Kate when they trek into the jungle to propose a "trade" with "The Others"; and Locke begins to question his faith in the island.

A determined Michael convinces Jack and several castaways to help him rescue Walt from "The Others." With Jack away, Locke is left in charge of the hatch and must decide if he should believe Henry and not push the button, risking everyone's safety. Meanwhile, the events that happened to Michael after he left are finally revealed. Meanwhile, Charlie struggles with Eko's decision to discontinue building the church.