Because You Left

Because You Left opened the fifth season on January 21, 2009, almost eight months after the fourth season ended. It aired back to back with The Lie as a two-hour premiere. Stephen Williams directed, and Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse wrote it.

Where things stand: the fourth season ended with the Island moved and the Oceanic Six escaping, and with a man called Jeremy Bentham finally identified. The people left behind are still out there, wherever and whenever the Island went.

The season sets its terms straight away: the Island is skipping through time, and the Oceanic Six must return. Off-Island, the crew filmed at Rainbow Drive-In in Kapahulu, a Honolulu plate-lunch institution since 1961 and known for its loco moco. The official magazine sent a reporter to the jungle shoot for this premiere, where heat and the noise of Navy jets overhead were part of the working day. Give yourself the full two hours if you can.