On September 22, 2004, a plane breaks apart in mid-air, scattering survivors on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. A few dozen of these survivors, after the initial shock passes, attempt to set up a camp, and figure out where they are, but are disturbed by loud roaring noises and crashing trees emanating from the nearby jungle.Three of the survivors set out to find the cockpit. An injured pilot, shortly before he dies, tells them tha...
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On September 22, 2004, a plane breaks apart in mid-air, scattering survivors on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. A few dozen of these survivors, after the initial shock passes, attempt to set up a camp, and figure out where they are, but are disturbed by loud roaring noises and crashing trees emanating from the nearby jungle.
Three of the survivors set out to find the cockpit. An injured pilot, shortly before he dies, tells them that the plane had lost radio contact six hours after take off, turned back for Fiji and hit turbulence. The plane was a thousand miles off course when it crashed.
One of the survivors, an Iraqi Republican Guard communications officer named Sayid Jarrah, attempts to repair a transceiver. They take it to a higher point on the island in an attempt to get a signal, and are attacked by a polar bear along the way. When they finally do turn on the transceiver, they learn that its signal is being blocked by a transmission of a woman's voice speaking in French, which Shannon translates: "I'm alone now, on the island alone. Please someone come. The others are dead. It killed them. It killed them all." The message repeats, with a count implying that it has been repeating for over sixteen years (according to Sayid's computation).
Sayid finds a cable running out of the ocean and into the jungle. He follows it, but it results in him being trapped by a mysterious woman who takes him to a bunker and tortures him, asking where "Alex" is. She eventually identifies herself as Danielle Rousseau, the person who sent out the distress signal. Sayid eventually escapes, and over the course of the season, Rousseau has other intermittent contacts with the survivors, telling them more of her own story, such as that she was pregnant when she came to the island, but after she gave birth, "The Others" came and kidnapped her baby, with their arrival heralded by a column of black smoke.
Hurley conducts a census of the survivors, and discovers that one of their castaways, Ethan Rom, is not on the passenger manifest. Ethan kidnaps Charlie and Claire, but then discards Charlie, since Claire was the one who "The Others" wanted. She eventually escapes and stumbles upon Locke in the jungle. She doesn't initially remember her experience, but her memory slowly returns to her.
Locke discovers a mysterious hatch in the jungle with no handle, and becomes obsessed about what may be inside. He and Boone spend many days digging it out of the ground, thinking of how to open it. While exploring the island, Locke and Boone also discover a Beechcraft lodged on the side of a cliff. Boone climbs up the cliff and into the plane. Inside, he finds a radio and sends a distress call. A male voice answers, "Is someone out there?" to which Boone responds, "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." The voice replies, "We're the survivors of 815." The Beechcraft then falls from the cliff and badly injures Boone. Locke takes Boone back to the camp, but Jack is unable to save his life and blames Locke, who supplied him with false information on how Boone succumbed to his injuries.
Michael decides to build a raft to escape with his son Walt, and they are joined by Sawyer and Jin. In the first night after launching, they are surprised and initially delighted to encounter another boat, but it turns out to be a group of the Others who demand that Walt be handed over to them. In the ensuing chaos, the raft is destroyed, Sawyer is shot, and Walt is kidnapped.
Rousseau leads a party of survivors to the Black Rock, a wooden ship in the middle of the island, containing a cache of dynamite which can be used to open the hatch. Along the way, one of them is chased by a black cloud, the "monster", which Rousseau calls the island's "security system." Jack and Locke bring the dynamite back to the hatch, and use it to force open the hatch door to look inside. The season ends with them looking down into the darkness of the shaft below.
By the end of season one, the group of survivors comprises over 40 people who have been on the island for 44 days (set at November 4, 2004).
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