LA X
"LA X" is the two-part premiere of the sixth and final season of the American television series Lost, comprising the 104th and 105th episodes overall.[1] Aired on ABC on February 2, 2010, the episodes were written by co-creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Jack Bender.[1] They advance the storyline from the fifth season's cliffhanger involving a hydrogen bomb detonation, juxtaposing events on the island in 2007 with a divergent timeline in which Oceanic Flight 815 lands safely at Los Angeles International Airport.[1] The premiere drew 12.1 million viewers and an 8.6/10 rating on IMDb, establishing the season's "flash-sideways" structure that explored character arcs across realities, though this narrative device later fueled divisions among fans over its resolution and integration with the main plot.[2][1][3]Plot
Flash-Sideways Timeline
In the flash-sideways timeline, Oceanic Flight 815 endures turbulence but lands intact at Los Angeles International Airport on September 22, 2004. Jack Shephard, seated nearby, displays visible anxiety, clenching the armrest until Rose Nadler intervenes, assuring him that "everything is going to be okay" and urging him to release his grip. Bernard Nadler returns from the lavatory moments later, joining his wife in exuding composure amid the post-turbulence calm. This exchange underscores Jack's internal tension persisting beyond the resolved crisis.[4][5] John Locke, confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis, navigates baggage claim where he encounters Ben Linus, portrayed as a high school teacher assisting with luggage. Their dialogue turns philosophical, with Locke recounting his decision to abandon a planned walkabout in Australia owing to his disability, ultimately embracing his circumstances. Ben counters by sharing his familiarity with such journeys, prompting Locke to affirm contentment with his life's path despite unfulfilled ambitions.[1] Hugo "Hurley" Reyes purchases a lottery ticket using the sequence 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 at a convenience store counter, numbers previously associated with misfortune in his original timeline experiences. Contrary to the clerk's warning of their unluckiness, these digits secure Hurley a jackpot win equivalent to $114 million, positioning him as a celebrated figure rather than one plagued by curse-related paranoia.[6] Sayid Jarrah, upon arrival, reunites with his brother Omer, who enlists his aid in confronting debtors threatening their family restaurant. Sayid infiltrates the establishment, dominated by Keamy and associates engaged in poker, and subdues them through physical force. As he departs, however, he sustains a gunshot wound to the abdomen from a surviving assailant, collapsing outside in a scene marked by abrupt finality and hinting at unresolved divergences.[7]Island Timeline
In the aftermath of Juliet detonating the core of the Jughead hydrogen bomb at the Swan station construction site in 1977, Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, James "Sawyer" Ford, Miles Straume, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, and Jin Kwon are transported forward in time to 2007, awakening amid the rubble of the Swan station as it appeared following Desmond Hume's earlier implosion of the electromagnetic pocket.[8][9] Sawyer digs frantically through the debris to extract Juliet, who whispers final words to him before dying from her injuries.[8] Jack attempts to revive Sayid Jarrah, who had been shot in the abdomen by young Ben Linus in 1977 and was barely stabilized beforehand, but after prolonged CPR fails, Jack pronounces him dead.[8][9] As the group processes the losses, Hurley encounters the ghost of Jacob, who instructs him to transport Sayid's corpse to the Temple—a structure known to the island's indigenous Others—for potential salvation, emphasizing that time is critical.[8] Jack, Kate, Hurley, Jin, and Miles proceed toward the Temple, with Jin guiding based on prior encounters with the Smoke Monster; Sawyer, embittered by Juliet's sacrifice and blaming Jack's plan, initially refuses to join, vowing retribution.[8] En route, the group is intercepted and taken captive by the Others, led by Dogen, who immerse Sayid's body in a murky pool within the Temple walls; after a ritual, Sayid revives, emerging from the water and uttering the ominous words, "It was too late."[8][9] Parallel to these events, the Man in Black, masquerading as the deceased John Locke, exerts growing influence over factions of survivors and Others. At the ruins of the Taweret statue, where Jacob's body is being prepared for burial by Ilana Verdansky's team—including Bram and Christopher Maling— the disguised Locke approaches; Bram fires at him with a makeshift explosive, prompting the Man in Black to transform into the Smoke Monster, slaughter Bram, and revert to human form.[8][9] Confronting Ben Linus, who admits to murdering Jacob out of resentment, the Man in Black reveals his entrapment on the island and desire to escape, manipulating Ben's guilt while Ilana's group recognizes the impostor, having learned of Locke's prior death.[8] Ben, already isolated by Richard Alpert's silent rebuke and Ilana's accusations of betrayal, grapples with his actions amid the escalating distrust.[8] The survivors' camp fractures further over leadership and direction, with Sawyer encountering the Locke impostor in the jungle and agreeing to follow him for answers, leading to a rendezvous at the beach camp where Sun-Hwa Kwon awaits news of Jin.[8][9] Jin, separated at the Temple, and Sun, now aligned with the Locke-led group including pilot Frank Lapidus, initiate a subplot of anxious reunion efforts amid the island's threats, underscoring the divide between those seeking the Others' protection and those drawn to the Man in Black's promises of departure.[8] Ilana's team, bearing Jacob's ashes and intent on safeguarding remaining candidates, also converges on the Temple, heightening tensions with the Smoke Monster's demonstrated lethality.[8]Production
Development and Writing
The development of "LA X," the two-part premiere of Lost's sixth season, followed the season 5 finale "The Incident," which concluded with the detonation of the Jughead hydrogen bomb on July 23, 1977, intended to prevent the Oceanic Flight 815 crash by altering history. Executive producers and co-writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof decided to resolve this cliffhanger by depicting the bomb's failure to reset the timeline on the island while introducing a parallel "flash-sideways" narrative exploring an alternate reality where the detonation succeeded, averting the crash.[10] This structure diverged from prior seasons' flashbacks and flash-forwards, aiming to revisit character origins in a "what if" scenario reminiscent of season 1's mystery-driven format.[10] The flash-sideways concept originated earlier, between seasons 3 and 4 after ABC committed to concluding the series after six seasons, drawing inspiration from spiritual notions like the Bardo state in The Tibetan Book of the Dead, where deceased souls experience an intermediate realm unaware of their death.[11] It was refined in subsequent writers' room sessions, including post-season 5 planning in 2009, to disguise the spiritual undertones as a time travel paradox tied to the bomb, thereby sustaining the series' emphasis on unanswered mysteries over definitive resolutions.[11] Cuse and Lindelof prioritized narrative misdirection, evaluating options like a direct timeline tweak against the parallel approach for greater viewer engagement and thematic depth.[10] Script revisions balanced intense island action—such as the Smoke Monster's emergence and John Locke's apparent resurrection—with introspective flash-sideways moments, establishing the Man in Black's arc as the season's central antagonist.[1] The writing process underscored causal continuity from season 5, rejecting a full historical rewrite in favor of dual timelines to probe character agency and fate without prematurely unveiling mythological elements.[11]Casting Decisions
The principal cast members from prior seasons returned to their roles for the season 6 premiere "LA X", including Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard, Terry O'Quinn as John Locke, and Naveen Andrews as Sayid Jarrah, who appeared in both the island and flash-sideways timelines depicted in the episode.[1][12] Terry O'Quinn's performance demanded particular nuance, as he portrayed the authentic John Locke in the flash-sideways sequence—depicting a more subdued, post-crash version of the character—while simultaneously embodying the Man in Black's impersonation of Locke on the island, marked by a scornful and menacing undertone to signal the entity's true nature.[13] O'Quinn later reflected on the difficulty of distinguishing these dual personalities through subtle shifts in posture, expression, and vocal delivery within the same form.[14] Zuleikha Robinson continued as Ilana Verdansky, having transitioned from recurring guest status in season 5 to a series regular for season 6, with her portrayal in "LA X" aligning seamlessly with prior episodes and involving no recasting or alterations.[1] No major casting disputes or replacements arose for the episode, though the ensemble collectively addressed the final season's escalated dramatic requirements after the post-season 5 production hiatus.[15]Filming and Post-Production
Principal photography for "LA X" primarily occurred on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, where the majority of the series' island-based scenes were shot, including those depicting the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815 and survivor activities following the detonation at the Swan station.[16] Off-island sequences, such as the flash-sideways timeline at Los Angeles International Airport, utilized locations and sets in Los Angeles to capture the urban and terminal environments.[17] Filming for season 6, encompassing the premiere, took place throughout 2009, aligning with the production's need to complete principal photography ahead of the February 2010 premiere.[18] Logistical challenges arose from the episode's dual-timeline structure, requiring coordinated shoots between remote Hawaiian exteriors and controlled studio work for the alternate reality sequences, which demanded precise actor scheduling across disparate settings. The final season's compressed timeline, driven by ABC's broadcast commitments, necessitated efficient on-location work to allow sufficient post-production time.[19] In post-production, significant efforts focused on visual effects to depict the aftermath of the island timeline's events, including enhanced renderings of the plane crash debris field and the Smoke Monster's assumption of John Locke's form. LOOK Effects contributed over 1,000 VFX shots across season 6, with key sequences in "LA X" involving CGI integration for the monster's manifestations and environmental destruction from the electromagnetic event.[19] Budget constraints for the series' high VFX demands influenced editing pace, prioritizing seamless timeline transitions while adhering to the episode's extended runtime as a two-part premiere.[19]Broadcast
Airing Details
"LA X" constituted the two-part sixth-season premiere of the television series Lost, broadcast on ABC in the United States as a two-hour special event on February 2, 2010, encompassing both parts from 9:00 PM ET/PT.[1][20] The episodes were directed by Jack Bender and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.[1][21] The premiere followed ABC's announcement in November 2009 of the final season's Tuesday-night slot and February start, positioned as an all-night event including a preceding clip-show recap.[22] Promotional materials released from October 2009 onward built anticipation from the season-five finale's unresolved atomic detonation, emphasizing ongoing mysteries without revealing the introduction of the alternate "flash-sideways" timeline structure debuted in "LA X."[23][24] Internationally, the episode aired concurrently on CTV in Canada on February 2, 2010, while other regions like Ireland broadcast it on RTÉ Two on February 4, 2010.[1]Viewership Metrics
The two-hour premiere episode "LA X", aired on ABC on February 2, 2010, drew 12.1 million total U.S. viewers according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day measurements.[25] This figure marked a 6% increase from the season 5 premiere's 11.4 million viewers, reflecting sustained audience retention heading into the final season.[25] In the key adults 18-49 demographic, the episode earned a 5.6 rating with a 14 share, up 12% year-over-year from the prior season's opener, underscoring strong engagement among younger adults despite the series' narrative complexities.[25][26] These numbers positioned "LA X" as a top performer for scripted network programming that night, outperforming competitors and aligning with ABC's Thursday lineup dominance in the demo.[27] Relative to the series' historical averages, which had declined from season 1 peaks exceeding 18 million viewers to around 11-12 million by later seasons, the premiere demonstrated resilience amid risks like the introduction of dual timelines.[2] Demographic breakdowns highlighted a skew toward urban and coastal audiences, with particular strength in the 18-34 subset, consistent with the show's established viewer profile from prior seasons.[28]| Metric | "LA X" (Season 6 Premiere) | Season 5 Premiere Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (millions) | 12.1 | 11.4 (down 6%) |
| Adults 18-49 Rating | 5.6/14 | ~5.0 (up 12%) |