Charlie's dying message casts doubt on the intentions of the people that Jack believes to be their rescuers. A power struggle ensues between Jack, who wants to leave the island, and Locke, who thinks that they're supposed to stay.
The surviving members of the supposed "rescue team" are scattered around the island. Once they are located, they reluctantly reveal that they are indeed not there to rescue the Oceanic 815 survivors.
Sayid negotiates a deal with Locke to hand over Charlotte from the "rescue team," so that he can get on their helicopter and reach their ship. Kate joins Sayid for the mission, but she decides to stay behind with Sawyer.
Kate goes behind Locke's back to arrange a meeting between Miles and Ben, where Miles offers his terms for not giving Ben up to his colleagues. Locke discovers what she has done and banishes her from his camp.
During the helicopter ride to the ship, Desmond's consciousness begins jumping back and forth between present day 2004 and 1996. He is forced to find Daniel Faraday in 1996 in order to get answers and stop the jumps.
Daniel and Charlotte leave Jack's camp to fulfill their objective, and Jack and Juliet try to track them down before they are successful. Juliet's romantic history on the island with The Others is exposed.
Juliet exposes Sun's pre-island affair to Jin so that they won't defect to Locke's camp. Sayid and Desmond meet the ship's captain and discover who is working on the boat.
Michael's journey from escaping the island to working as Ben's spy on Widmore's ship is revealed, as well as his mission. Ben tells Danielle and Alex to leave Locke's camp and go to the island temple, but they are ambushed on the way.
The team from the ship attacks Locke's camp looking for Ben, with Alex as a hostage. The doctor from the ship washes up on shore at Jack's camp and Faraday provides some distressing news.
Juliet is forced to perform an emergency appendectomy on Jack, Jack's post-rescue relationship with Kate is revealed, and Sawyer, Claire, and Aaron head back to Jack's camp with Miles.
Locke, Ben, and Hurley continue their search for the cabin so that Locke can talk to Jacob. Back on the boat, Keamy prepares to take off again, this time for an all-out assault on the island.
Ben, Locke, and Hurley go to The Orchid, only to find Keamy and his men already there. Jack and Kate go after the helicopter and come across Sawyer in the jungle. Sayid comes back to the island with a rescue boat and goes after them too.
Ben tries to escape Keamy's custody so that he and Locke can follow through with Jacob's request to move the island. Michael tries to neutralize the explosives on the boat, while the "Oceanic 6" move closer to rescue.
