After discovering something odd just offshore, Jack and Sayid come up with a plan to confront "The Others" and hopefully get Walt back. At the same time there will be an answer to the question of where Michael has been and resolution of him and Walt. Meanwhile, Eko and Locke come to blows as Locke makes a potentially cataclysmic decision regarding the "button" and the hatch. Lastly, Desmond returns and he sheds some more light on his experience on the island in the three years prior to when Locke came down into that hatch.
A determined Michael convinces Jack and several castaways to help him rescue Walt from "The Others." With Jack away, Locke is left in charge of the hatch and must decide if he should believe Henry and not push the button, risking everyone's safety. Meanwhile, the events that happened to Michael after he left are finally revealed. Meanwhile, Charlie struggles with Eko's decision to discontinue building the church.
Libby lends a helping hand to Hurley to support him when he begins to think the island is having a strange effect on him. Hurley begins to see Dave (guest-star Evan Handler, Sex and the City) on the island, who was his friend in the mental institution Hurley was in. Also, Locke's sense of purpose is shaken when the prisoner gives him new information about the hatch.
When the hatch suddenly takes on a life of its own, Locke is forced to enlist the help of an unlikely ally to control the matter. Meanwhile, Ana Lucia, Sayid and Charlie go off into the jungle to find out the truth about Henry Gale and see if there really is balloon craft out there in the jungle that carried him and his wife to the island.
Sun comes to the realization that she might be pregnant. She struggles on whether to tell Jin about the situation. Meanwhile, with no success from Jack or Sayid, Ana-Lucia is called in by Locke to interrogate the new prisoner Henry Gale to get more information out of him about the balloon that he and his wife supposedly landed on the island with.
A mysterious illness that baby Aaron suddenly contracts sends a desperate Claire, Kate and French woman Danielle to return to the same area where Claire was initially kidnapped. It is there where she believes she can find a cure for Aaron's illness. In the meantime, Jack and Locke are doing their best to keep their prisoner a secret from the rest of the survivors on the island.
After Sun is attacked, some of the survivors begin to think that one of the "other survivors" might be one of "The Others." When French woman Danielle Rousseau leads Sayid to a mysterious captive in the jungle, he becomes determined to find out if he is one of "The Others". Meanwhile, Sawyer discovers Hurley’s potentially devastating breach of the survivors’ trust and blackmails him into helping track an elusive island creature that won’t leave Sawyer alone.
Some of the island survivors fear that "The Others" may have returned when Sun is greatly injured during a failed kidnapping attempt at her plant garden. Also, the trust barrier becomes very thin between Locke and Jack in terms of locking up the guns and being kept safe. Meanwhile, Sawyer is an amused but highly interested bystander when tension escalates between Jack, Locke, Kate and Ana Lucia. When Jack purposely takes Sawyer's medication from him he pushes more in favor of helping Locke. Lastly, flashbacks reveal more of Sawyer's con artist past.
Jack, Locke and Sawyer follow after a determined Michael after he heads into the jungle toward the dreaded "Others" in search of Walt. Meanwhile, Sun has a surprising reaction to Jin's desire to join the search party, and Hurley and Charlie commiserate over the age-old conundrum of "what women want."
The harrowing first 48 days in the lives of the tail section survivors are revealed. Flashbacks reveal the point of view of Ana-Lucia, Mr. Eko, Bernard and Libby and other survivors as they landed on the other side of the island on the beach. As the days progress danger hits their camp as well when "The Others" start taking people against their will. As the survivors race inland, trying to stay a step ahead of The Others, they realize that someone among them wasn't on Flight 815.
Michael sets off into the jungle by himself determined to find Walt, but discovers that he is not alone. Meanwhile, Sawyer and Jin are ordered by their captors to take them to their camp, and Sun frantically searches for her missing wedding ring. In flashbacks this episode reveals more of Jin's life before ending up on the island.
Jack, Locke and Kate learn more secrets about the hatch. Meanwhile, after being beaten and taken captive, Sawyer, Michael and Jin wonder if their captors are fellow survivors or the dreaded "Others." Flashbacks reveals more of Locke's past in this episode as well as the introduction of Helen (guest star Katey Segal) who shakes things up even more with her revealing personality and past.
With the abduction of Walt fresh on their minds, their raft destroyed, and Jin missing, Michael and Sawyer fight for their lives in the middle of nowhere in the ocean and discover a new predator in the roiling sea. Meanwhile on land, Locke must descend into the hatch when Kate goes missing inside. Also, Jack isn't too far behind Locke as he decides to go into the hatch as well later on. Lastly, flashbacks reveal more of Michael's troubled relationship with ex-lover Susan and their baby son Walt as they fight over custody for Walt and Michael must let go.