Lost/Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever
Season 4, Episode 11
Airdate	May 8, 2008
Production Number	411
Written by	Elizabeth Sarnoff Kyle Pennington
Directed by	Paul Edwards
← 4x10 Something Nice Back Home	4x12 → There's No Place Like Home (1)
Lost — Season Four

Cabin Fever is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of Lost, and the eighty-third episode overall.

Locke is enlightened as to the whereabouts of Jacob’s cabin, and life aboard the freighter becomes perilous.

Starring: Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Jeremy Davies (Daniel), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Ken Leung (Miles), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Terry O'Quinn (Locke), Harold Perrineau (Michael).

Guest Starring: Anthony Azizi (Omar), Grant Bowler (Captain Gault), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), Kevin Durand (Martin Keamy), Jeff Fahey (Frank Lapidus), Doug Hutchison (Horace Goodspeed), Lance Reddick (Matthew Abaddon), John Terry (Christian Shephard), Marc Vann (Ray).

Co-Starring: Phil Abrams (Mr. Gellert), Amanda Carlin (E.R. Nurse), Sarah Duval (Melissa), Matthew Pedersen (Physical Therapist), Holland Roden (Emily Locke (Age 16)), Caleb Steinmeyer (John Locke (Age 16)), Rebecca Tilney (Mrs. Locke), Patrick Torres (E.R. doctor), Mandy June Turpin (Florence), Charles Henry Wyson (John Locke (Age 5)).

Plot Overview

The Island

• In the jungle, Locke, Ben and Hurley continue their search for Jacob's cabin. As they've been walking all day, Hurley wonders when they'll reach the cabin. Locke turns to Ben for an answer, but Ben doesn't know and has only been following Hurley; he has no idea where the cabin is as Hurley was the last one to see it. Locke decides they'll make camp where they are and rest.

  In the morning, Locke wakes up to the sound of an axe hitting wood. He discovers the source is a man in a DHARMA Initiative jumpsuit bearing the Arrow logo. The man greets Locke and identifies himself as Horace. He's building a cabin for himself and his wife as sometimes you need a break from the DHARMA Initiative. Horace tells Locke he's probably not making any sense since he's been dead for twelve years. He tells Locke to find him and thus find Jacob, who has been waiting for Locke for a real long time. Locke wakes up to find Ben watching him. He rouses Hurley as he knows where to go now. Ben remarks to Locke that he used to have dreams.

  Locke leads the group to the pit full of the corpses of the DHARMA Initiative. Hurley wonders what happened to them and Locke tells him that Ben was what happened to them. While Locke roots through the corpses, Hurley and Ben have a talk. Hurley asks Ben if the location is where Ben shot and left Locke for dead. Ben tells him it is and he should have known it was pointless at the time, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind. Turning to the others in the pit, Ben tells Hurley that the Others did wipe out the DHARMA Initiative, but it wasn't his decision. Rather the decision was made by the leaders of the Others and he isn't always the leader. Locke uncovers Horace's body and retrieves a map to the cabin Horace was building.

  Darkness settles over the island by the time the group nears the location of the cabin. Ben believes the cabin may have moved again, but Locke tells him he was told the cabin would be there. Ben remarks that he was told a lot of things too; that he was chosen, that he was special. Yet he ended up with a tumor on his spine and the death of his daughter. Locke expresses his sadness that those things happened to Ben, but Ben tells him they had to happen as it was his destiny. But he warns Locke that there are consequences to being chosen as destiny is a fickle bitch. The two are interrupted by Hurley who has found Jacob's cabin.

  Ben refuses to go inside as the island wanted him to get sick and wanted Locke to get well; his time is over and it is now Locke's. Hurley opts to stay outside with Ben. Locke heads inside the cabin and confronts a man who identifies himself as the man who can speak on Jacob's behalf, Christian. Christian asks Locke if he knows why he's there. Locke tells him it's because he was chosen, and Christian tells him that's absolutely correct. Locke hears another noise inside the Cabin and finds it's Claire. She says she's fine and is with Christian. Locke asks about the baby, but Christian tells him the baby is where he's supposed to be. He warns Locke that the men from the freighter are on their way back to the island and that Locke should ask the question that matters. Locke asks Christian what he needs to do to save the island. Outside, Hurley shares an Apollo candy bar with Ben as Locke exits the cabin. He tells the two that Jacob wants them to move the island.

• On the freighter, Keamy and his mercenaries arrive on the helicopter with their wounded. Ray asks what caused the man's serious injuries and Keamy tells him a pillar of black smoke threw him fifty feet into the air and ripped his guts out. Noticing Sayid on deck, Keamy questions him and demands to know the number and location of everyone on the island. Sayid refuses. Captain Gault demands to know what's going on and Keamy turns on him, thrusting his pistol to Gault's jugular. He thinks Gault warned Linus about him. Gault tells Keamy it wasn't him and shows him to Michael's cabin where Michael is handcuffed inside. Keamy knocks out the cot, pinning Michael's leg to the floor and interrogates him. After confirming that Michael is the traitor, Keamy pulls out his pistol and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. Keamy tries again several times, but his gun refuses to fire. Gault persuades Keamy to leave Michael alive as he's the only one who can fix the engines.

  Below deck, Keamy asks Gault for his key. The two are interrupted by Lapidus who informs him the injured man died. Keamy orders Lapidus to gas up the helicopter as they're going back to the island. Gault tells Keamy that members of the crew have been experiencing a sickness and that the same sickness may be happening to Keamy. Keamy dismisses Gault's concerns and forcibly removes the key from him. Using his key and Gault's key, Keamy opens up a safe and removes the secondary protocol which bears a DHARMA Initiative logo. The protocol will tell them where Linus is going as Charles Widmore is a very smart man. As Linus will know they'll torch the island, there's only one place for him to go. Gault demands to know what Keamy means about torching the island as he only signed up for an extraction mission. Keamy gives Gault the pistol that wouldn't fire and tells him to fix it before leaving. Gault goes above deck and has Omar go below, leaving himself to watch Sayid and Desmond. Gault tells the two they need to hide, but Sayid refuses and wants to use the freighter's dinghy to ferry survivors from the island to the freighter. Gault agrees to Sayid's plan.

  As the sun sets, Lapidus goes below deck and frees Michael. He can't believe Michael didn't tell him he was a survivor of Oceanic 815. Michael tells Lapidus that he wouldn't have believed him, that he didn't know who to trust as Lapidus's boss was the one who put the fake wreckage down there. He warns Lapidus not to fly Keamy back to the island as Keamy will kill everyone. The two head into the corridor and see Omar strapping a device to Keamy. Lapidus tells Keamy that he's escorting Michael to the engine room, but Omar shuts the door. Above deck, Gault hands Sayid a compass and supplies, warning him to stay on a bearing of 305 as Faraday says that is the only safe way to and from the freighter. Sayid prepares to leave, but Desmond declines to go as he was stuck on the island for three years and refuses to go back to it. Sayid leaves the freighter for the island.

  The sun set, the mercenaries prepare to head back to the island and load up with more rocket launchers and machine guns. Omar tells Ray that the morse code he received from the beach said the doc's body washed ashore with his throat slit. Lapidus asks Keamy about all the weapons being loaded onto the helicopter and, after being dismissed, refuses to take Keamy and his men to the island. Keamy threatens to kill Lapidus, but Lapidus points out he's the only pilot left on the freighter. Offering up a meaningless apology, Keamy slits Ray's throat, tosses his body overboard and threatens to keep killing until Lapidus agrees to go. Gault confronts Keamy with Keamy's fixed gun, threatening to shoot the man if he doesn't stand down. Keamy motions to the device strapped to his arm and warns Gault that he shouldn't do it. Gault demands to know what's on Keamy's arm, but Keamy shoots and kills him when his head is turned. Lapidus reluctantly agrees to pilot the helicopter, but secretly activates and programs his satellite phone as he starts up the helicopter.

• During the night at the beach camp, Juliet discovers Jack up and out of his shelter. She reminds Jack that he needs to rest or he might tear his stitches. They hear an approaching helicopter and the Oceanic survivors gather to witness a helicopter coming in from the ocean. The helicopter flies over the camp and a pack is tossed it, landing in Claire's shelter. Jack discovers a working satellite phone inside and surmises that the helicopter crew wants them to follow.

The Flashback

• Flashback: Locke

In the late 1950's, Emily Locke gets ready to go out on a date. Her mother tries to stop her, reminding her that the man she's seeing is twice her age, but to no avail. Emily runs out of the house, yelling to her mother that she can't stop her and that she loves him, but is struck by a car. She regains consciousness in the hospital and informs the nurse attending to her that she's only six months pregnant. Going into premature labor, Emily gives birth to a baby boy who is placed into an incubator and taken away. She tells them the boy's name is John.

Emily and her mother visit John in the hospital. The nurse remarks that John is the young premature baby to ever survive in their hospital. John has had infections, pneumonia and other problems, but has fought all of them off. The other nurses believe he's a miracle baby. The nurse informs Emily that they'll be taking John out of the incubator so she can hold him for the very first time. But the sight overwhelms Emily and she tells them she can't do it before she runs out of the room. Emily's mother turns to the nurse and inquires who she needs to talk to about adoption. She notices a man watching them outside, Richard Alpert, but doesn't know who he is.

As a five-year-old, Locke is at a foster home playing backgammon. One of the other children tells Locke it's a stupid game and hits the backgammon board before being shooed away. Locke is introduced to a visitor, Richard Alpert. Alpert tells Locke he runs a school for kids who are extremely special and has reason to believe Locke may be one of them. He notices a drawing on the wall of what appears to be black smoke attacking the man and learns Locke drew it. Alpert pulls out several items from his satchel: a baseball glove, a Book of Laws, a vial of sand, a compass, a comic book and a knife. He asks Locke to look at the objects and identify which object already belongs to him. After looking over the objects, Locke settles on the knife. Alpert asks him if he's sure and then snatches the knife away, telling him that it doesn't. He quickly packs up his things and leaves.

As a sixteen-year-old, Locke is roughed up and locked inside a locker at school. One of the teachers frees Locke and takes him to his office. He informs Locke that he received a call from a Dr. Alpert at Mittelos Laboratories in Portland, Oregon who's interested in having Locke attend their summer camp. Locke hates the idea as science camp is the reason he gets stuffed inside lockers; he exclaims that he's not a scientist. The teacher tells Locke that he may not want to be the guy in the lab surrounded by test tubes, but that's who he is. He can't be the prom king or the quarterback or a superhero. Locke tells the teacher to not tell him what he can't do and leaves.

After his father pushed him out of an eight story window, Locke's spine was crushed and he is left trying to recuperate via physical therapy at the hospital. He finds it too difficult and his physical therapist ends the session, placing Locke back into his wheelchair. Locke is wheeled back to his room by Matthew Abaddon, who tells Locke not to give up as anything is possible. He reminds Locke that he fell eight stories out of a building and survived, which is a miracle. However, Locke doesn't believe in miracles. Abaddon tells Locke that he should as one happened to himself. He believes Locke needs to go on a walkabout; a journey of self-discovery where one goes out into the Australian outback with just a knife and your wits. Locke points out that he can't walk. Abaddon went on his walkabout convinced he was one thing, but came back another as he found out who he was. Dismissive of Abaddon, Locke reminds him that despite the walkabout he's just an orderly. Amused by the comment, Abaddon tells Locke he's more than an orderly and wheels him into an elevator. He leaves Locke in the elevator and tells him that, once he's ready, he'll listen to what he's saying and, when they run into each other again, he'll owe him one.

Notes

Mysteries

• Who are the other "leaders" of the Others?
• What is the secondary protocol?
• What was the device strapped to Keamy?
• What miracle happened to Abbadon?
• Where are Keamy and the mercenaries going?
• Why should Locke say he never saw Claire?
• How will they move the island?

Answers

• Claire abandoned Aaron because Aaron wasn't meant to be at the cabin. 4x10 - Something Nice Back Home

The Cursed Numbers

• Abbadon reminds Locke that Locke fell 8 stories out of a building and yet survived.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Locke finds Jacob's cabin and receives his instructions on how to save the island.
• Sayid heads back to the island to ferry the survivors off it.
• The mercenaries head back to the island to get Ben.

Characters

• Ray is murdered by Keamy and his body dumped overboard.
• Gault is murdered by Keamy.
• Michael is freed to work on the engines.

Referbacks

• 3x20 - The Man Behind the Curtain: Hurley asks Ben if the pit is where he shot Locke and left him for dead. In "The Man Behind the Curtain", Ben shot Locke by the pit of corpses and left him there for dead.
• 4x07 - Ji Yeon: Gault believes Keamy may be experiencing the same sickness that overcame other members of the crew. He tells Keamy of how Regina drowned herself. In "Ji Yeon", Regina draped herself in heavy chains and threw herself off the freighter.
• 4x09 - The Shape of Things to Come: Ben tells Locke that he was told he was special, yet ended up with the blood of his daughter on his hands. In "The Shape of Things to Come", Ben's daughter was executed in front of him when he believed she would be safe.

Trivia

The Show

• Timeline: Locke's vision of Horace claims to have been dead for twelve years. As he died in the Purge, that would place the Others' purge of the DHARMA Initiative in the year 1992.
• Secondary Protocol: The secondary protocol Keamy thumbs through bears the same DHARMA Initiative logo as the one on Ben's parka in "The Shape of Things to Come".
• Time Delay: As Omar is relieved by Gault, he notices morse code coming over his satellite phone. In "The Shape of Things to Come", Daniel sent a morse code signal over his broken satellite phone to ask about the doctor's body that washed ashore onto the island.
• Geronimo Jackson: A Geronimo Jackson picture is seen inside Locke's locker. In Locke's flashback in "Further Instructions", Eddie is first seen wearing a Geronimo Jackson t-shirt. One of the albums that was inside the Swan was a Geronimo Jackson album, seen in "The Hunting Party".
• Mittelos: Locke's teacher tells him a Dr. Alpert at Mittelos Laboratories in Portland, Oregon was interested in having him attend a summer science camp. In "Not in Portland", Alpert recruited Juliet under the guise of working for Mittelos Bioscience in Portland, Oregon. Mittelos is an anagram for "lost time."

Behind the Scenes

• Missing in Action: Jeremy Davies, Josh Holloway, Ken Leung and Rebecca Mader are credited but do not appear.

Allusions and References

• Everyday: The song Emily listens to as she gets ready for her date is "Everyday" by Buddy Holly and the Crickets and released in early July of 1957.
• Mystery Tales: One of the items Alpert shows Locke is the comic book Mystery Tales featuring the stories "Hidden Land!" and "Voice of Warning!" The comic book was published in April of 1956.
• Dalai Lama: Alpert showing Locke a collection of objects is similar to the selection process of the new Dalai Lama. Upon the death of the Dalai Lama and consultation with the Nechung Oracle, a search for the Lama's reincarnation is conducted. Familiarity with the possessions or attributes of the previous Dalai Lama is considered the main sign of the reborn Dalai Lama. The search for the reincarnated mind stream typically requires a number of years. The reincarnated being is then installed and trained by the other Lamas.