Essentials
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Down the Hatch
Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off, however, initially the viewer is lead to believe that the opening scene is a character flashback. We see a man wake up, enter something into a computer, and then go about a daily routine of eating, exercising, showering, etc. We never see his face. Then, there is a loud explosion and the room shakes. The man inside turns out the lights, grabs a gun, and adjusts some mirrors that give him a view down a long corridor and up a shaft, where we see Jack and Locke peering down. That's when we realize that this isn't a flashback at all, everything we just saw was inside the hatch!
Locke lowers Kate into the hatch, and she is taken prisoner by the man inside. Locke goes down to find out what happens, and he too is captured by the strange man living in the hatch. When the man sees Locke, he asks, "Are you him?", but Locke is unable to answer a query that would prove he is one of the replacements. Locke convinces the man to lock Kate up in the food pantry instead of himself (because he's just a lowly box man). Before Kate is locked up, Locke is able to slip her knife that she uses to cut the rope tying her hands together. Locke learns that the man's name is Desmond, and he tells him about the plane crash and survivors. During the conversation, an alarm begins to sound, and Desmond forces Locke to enter some numbers into a computer. The numbers are THE NUMBERS, 4 8 15 16 23 and 42.
Meanwhile, Kate has crawled into an air duct, and Jack has descended into the hatch to find out what happened to Locke and Kate. Desmond hears Jack approaching, and sets a trap for him. Holding Locke as a hostage, Desmond tells Jack to drop his weapon - and Jack realizes that he met Desmond several years ago in Los Angeles. The standoff comes to an end when Kate intervenes, and ends up shooting the computer. At that point, Desmond starts to freak out about the computer being broken, and how they will all die, and how they must fix it.
As Desmond works on the computer, he explains that he crashed on the island on a sailboat three years ago. A man named Kelvin rescued him, and brought him to the hatch. Kelvin explained that pressing the numbers in every 108 minutes was "saving the world". According to Desmond, Kelvin died, and Desmond has been alone pressing the button ever since. As proof of all of this, Desmond tells Jack and Locke to watch an instructional film that explains more about the button.
The instructional film is presented by an asian man in a lab coat who calls himself Dr. Marvin Candle. He explains that this facility, called the Swan Station, is part of a project called the DHARMA INITIATIVE. Parts of the film are missing, but it gives a quick background on DHARMA, and talks about an INCIDENT involving the magnetic properties on this part of the island. Since the incident, the numbers have to be entered into the computer every 108 minutes. The film indicates that replacement button-pushers will be sent on a regular basis, but that apparently hasn't happened for some time. The film also suggests there are a total of six stations on the island.
Desmond is unable to fix the computer, and fearing for his life (or perhaps realizing he can escape and leave the button-pushing to these newcomers) he flees into the jungle. Sayid and Hurley are brought to the Swan Station, so Sayid can try to fix the computer. Hurley discovers the pantry full of food (of course), and Sayid is able to fix the computer in less than five minutes (of course). Locke convinces Jack to push the button with him, and thus the survivors of Flight 815 becomes the new denizens of the Swan Station, taking turns pressing the button every 108 minutes.
Item Last Updated: September 26, 2006, 04:40:42 PM by sledgeweb
