"What They Died For" is the 16th and penultimate episode of the American

serial drama In television and radio programming, a serial is a show that has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the complete run of t ...

series '' Lost'', and 119th and penultimate episode overall. The episode aired on May 18, 2010, on ABC in the United States. The episode's flash-sideways are centered on

Jack Shephard Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series '' Lost'', played by Matthew Fox. ''Lost'' follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to sur ...

, Desmond Hume, Benjamin Linus and

James "Sawyer" Ford James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Li ...

. In the flash-sideways timeline, Desmond Hume (

Henry Ian Cusick Henry Ian Cusick (born 17 April 1967) is a Peruvian-Scottish actor of television, film, and theatre and a television director best known as Desmond Hume in '' Lost'', for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He also starred as J ...

) continues his attempt to gather all the passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. In 2007, The Man in Black (

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series '' Lost'' (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role i ...

) devises a new strategy.

(

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him G ...

) takes the role as leader of the island while he and his group search for Desmond.

Plot

2004 (flash-sideways timeline)

(

Claire Littleton Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series '' Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a p ...

(

Emilie de Ravin Emilie de Ravin (; born 27 December 1981) is an Australian actress. She first gained recognition for playing Tess Harding on The WB's science fiction television series ''Roswell (TV series), Roswell'' (2000–2002). She went on to portray Clai ...

), and David Shephard ( Dylan Minnette) eat breakfast and discuss David's participation in a concert that night. Jack is notified that

Oceanic Airlines Oceanic Airlines, and less frequently, Oceanic Airways, is the name of a fictional airline used in several films and television programs—typically works that feature plane crashes and other aviation disasters, with which a real airline would p ...

have found Christian Shephard's coffin; unbeknownst to him, this is a ruse planned by Desmond Hume (

). Outside the school where he and

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

(

) work, Ben Linus (

Michael Emerson Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on '' Lost'' (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include ...

) sees and confronts Desmond, who beats him while explaining that his intent was to make Locke "let go". Ben experiences flashes of Desmond beating him in the original universe. Ben relates all this to Locke, who goes to see Jack at the hospital and decides to have the new procedure; he believes his experiences with Desmond and Jack have been fated.

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

's (

Tania Raymonde Tania Raymonde Helen Katz (born March 22, 1988) is a Franco-American actress. Her roles have included Cynthia Sanders on the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' between 2000 and 2002, followed by Alex Rousseau in the ABC series '' Lost'' fr ...

) mother, Danielle Rousseau ( Mira Furlan), offers the visibly injured Ben a ride home. She invites him to dinner, where Rousseau tells Ben that he has become like a father to Alex since her real father's death. Desmond enters

(

Josh Holloway Joshua Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the ABC television show '' Lost'' (2004–2010) as Will Bowman on the USA Network science fiction drama ''Colony'' (2016� ...

) and Miles Straume's (

Ken Leung Kenneth Leung (born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has gained attention for playing Miles Straume in the ABC drama series '' Lost'' (2008–2010) and Eric Tao in HBO drama series ''Industry' ...

) police station, confesses to assaulting Locke and Ben, and is jailed alongside

Kate Austen Katherine Anne Austen is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', played by Canadians, Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. Character biography Prior to the crash Born in 19 ...

(

Evangeline Lilly Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born August 3, 1979) is a Canadian former actress and author. She gained popularity for her first leading role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), which garnered her six nominations for the ...

) and

Sayid Jarrah Sayid Hassan Jarrah (, ''Sa‘īd Ḥassān Jarrāḥ'') is a fictional character from the ABC show '' Lost'' portrayed by Naveen Andrews. Appearances Prior to the crash Sayid originally served as a communications officer in Iraq's Special Re ...

(

Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primet ...

). The three prisoners are to be transported by van, but the driver, Ana Lucia Cortez (

Michelle Rodriguez Mayte Michelle Rodríguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress. She began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film ''Girlfight'' (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Awards, Independent S ...

), releases them and receives a payoff from Desmond and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (

Jorge Garcia Jorge Garcia (born April 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show '' Becker'', but subsequently became best known for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurl ...

). Desmond hands Kate a dress and tells her they are going to a concert.

2007 (original timeline)

After the submarine explosion, Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sawyer wash ashore, alive. Jack determines they must find Desmond, whose importance is revealed by the Man in Black's (

) attempt to kill him. A younger Jacob (Kenton Duty) confronts Hurley, demanding his body's ashes. Hurley gives them to him, and Jacob leaves without answering any of Hurley's questions. Hurley chases him to a campfire, where the adult

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

(

Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in '' Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton H ...

) instructs him to bring the others before the campfire burns out, which will end his ability to manifest as he poured his ashes into the fire. They arrive in time, and are all able to see Jacob for the first time. He explains that they were chosen to come to the island because each of them has an emptiness that can be filled by the island, and that one of them must choose to be the guardian who will protect the light, the "heart" of the island, from the Man in Black. Jack volunteers; Jacob gives Jack a drink of water and declares that Jack is "now like im. Ben, Miles, and Richard Alpert ( Nestor Carbonell) reach the destroyed Barracks of the

DHARMA Initiative The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost''. It was introduced in ...

. Ben enters the secret room where he was previously seen summoning the smoke monster to retrieve a stack of C4 he hid there. He plans to use it to destroy the Ajira airplane and prevent the Man in Black's escape. Charles Widmore (

Alan Dale Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequent ...

) and Zoe ( Sheila Kelley) confront Ben, and Charles claims to be the group's only hope. Zoe and Widmore hide when the Man in Black arrives, while Miles flees. The smoke monster, the Man in Black, attacks Richard. As Locke, he demands Widmore's location from Ben, who reveals it. The Man in Black kills Zoe when it becomes clear she will not talk, then threatens to harm Penny unless Widmore reveals his purpose on the island. Widmore whispers a response, but Ben shoots and kills him to deny him the opportunity to save his daughter. The Man in Black claims to have already gotten the information he wanted, and leaves with Ben. The two later find that Desmond has apparently escaped the well by climbing a rope. However, the Man in Black says this will not prevent him from using what he learned from Widmore: he can use Desmond's resistance to electromagnetism to destroy the island.

Production

The episode was shown for approximately 1800 people at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Royce Hall Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870–1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881–1962) and completed ...

on May 13, 2010 as a fundraiser for scholarships for the Colburn School of Performing Arts. It was written by executive producers

Edward Kitsis Edward Lawrence Kitsis (born February 4, 1971) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work with his writing partner Adam Horowitz on the popular ABC drama series '' Lost'' and ''Once Upon a Time''. Early life a ...

, Adam Horowitz and

Elizabeth Sarnoff Elizabeth Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of ''NYPD Blue'', ''Crossing Jordan'', '' Deadwood'', '' Lost'' and '' Barry''. She was the co-creator of the Fox crime/ mystery series ''Alcatraz''. Car ...

and directed by Paul Edwards.

Reception

Ratings and viewership

1.87 million Canadians watched this episode. 10.17 million American viewers watched this episode, the highest viewed episode since " The Package".

Critical reception

The episode received critical acclaim. Review aggregate website Metacritic gave the episode a score of 89 out of 100, indicating "Universal Acclaim". Both Cindy McLennan and Sam McPherson of Television Without Pity and TV Overmind, respectively, gave the episode a perfect score.Cindy McLennan (May 19, 2010),
Lost TV Show – What They Died For – Lost Recaps, Lost Reviews, Lost Episodes , TWoP
", '' Television Without Pity'' Retrieved May 19, 2010.Sam McPherson (May 19, 2010),
LOST 6.16 "What They Died For" Review « TVOvermind
", ''TV Overmind'' Retrieved May 19, 2010. Chris Carabott of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

gave the episode a score of 9.4, naming the episode "A fantastic setup for the series finale."Chris Carabott (May 19, 2010),
Lost: "What They Died For" Review – TV Review at IGN
''

'' Retrieved May 19, 2010. Noel Murray of

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

stated "It was funny at times, poignant at times, shocking at times, and it made the overall picture a little bit clearer. And I especially liked the way the tone shifted as the episode progressed." In total, he gave the episode the score of 91.Noel Murray (May 19, 2010),
"What They Died For" , Lost , TV Club , TV , The A.V. Club
, ''

'' Retrieved May 19, 2010. Emily VanDerWerff of

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

gave the episode a score of 90, stating, "What They Died For is a lot of things. It's a fantastic episode of "Lost," one that moves like a rocket. It's a big, relatively well-handled infodump that makes sure we know how everything and everyone fits into the big picture, mostly."Emily VanDerWerff (May 19, 2010),
'Lost': the one , Show Tracker , Los Angeles Times
, ''

''. Retrieved May 19, 2010. Jeff Jensen of

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

gave the episode the score of 80, saying that it was "A set-up episode, albeit an extremely entertaining one."Jeff Jensen (May 19, 2010),
'Lost' instant reaction: Start talking about "What They Died For" , EW.com
, ''

'' Retrieved of May 19, 2010.

Notes

References

External links

"What They Died For"
at ABC * {{Lost episodes Lost season 6 episodes 2010 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Paul Edwards (director) Television episodes written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz