"The Little Prince" is the fourth television episode of the fifth season of ABC's ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''. The 90th episode of the show overall, "The Little Prince" aired on February 4, 2009, on ABC in the United States, being

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

on A in Canada. The episode was written by producer Brian K. Vaughan and co-producer

Melinda Hsu Taylor Melinda Hsu Taylor is an American television writer and producer, co-creator and showrunner of ''Tom Swift'' and showrunner of ''Nancy Drew'' for the CW Network. Hsu Taylor is well known for her work on the ABC series '' Lost''. She was nomina ...

and directed by Stephen Williams. In 2007,

Kate Austen Katherine Anne Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'', played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. Character biography Prior to the crash Born in 1977 and raised in Iowa, Kate is the daughter of diner worker Dia ...

tries to find out who wants custody of Aaron.

Benjamin Linus Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series ''Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flig ...

and

Jack Shephard Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC television series ''Lost'', played by Matthew Fox. ''Lost'' follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survi ...

continue their quest to reunite the " Oceanic Six". At the island,

James "Sawyer" Ford James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'', portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, he first a ...

and John Locke devise a plan which might possibly stop the time flashes, but encounter hostiles; while

Jin-Soo Kwon Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'' played by Daniel Dae Kim. Character biography Prior to the crash Jin-Soo Kwon was born on 27 November 1974 in Namhae, South Korea, to a ...

, revealed to be alive, meets the younger Danielle Rousseau in 1988.

Plot

The episode opens with a flashback of

(

Evangeline Lilly Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born 3 August 1979) is a Canadian actress and author. She is the recipient of various accolades including a Screen Actors Guild Award and an MTV Movie Award. She has also received nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a ...

) and

(

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned h ...

) on Penny Widmore's (

Sonya Walger Sonya Walger (born 6 June 1974) is a British actress who also holds American citizenship. She had starring roles in the short-lived sitcoms ''The Mind of the Married Man'' (2001–2002) and ''Coupling'' (2003) before landing her role as Penny W ...

) boat, following their rescue in early January 2005. Kate convinces Jack that once returning home that they should claim that Aaron (William Blanchette) is Kate's biological son, while in fact his mother is

Claire Littleton Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series ''Lost'', which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pre ...

(

Emilie de Ravin Emilie de Ravin (; born 27 December 1981) is an Australian actress. She starred as Tess Harding on '' Roswell'' (2000–2002), Claire Littleton on the ABC drama ''Lost'' (2004–2008, 2010), and as Belle on the ABC drama '' Once Upon a Tim ...

On the Mainland

In late 2007, Kate leaves Aaron in the care of Sun-Hwa Kwon (

Yunjin Kim Yunjin Kim (Hangul: 김윤진), also known as Kim Yun-Jin (born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean-American film and theater actress. She is best known for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series ''Lost'', and as the North K ...

) in order to confront attorney Dan Norton ( Tom Irwin), who is pursuing a maternity test for Kate and Aaron. Sun receives a package with a gun and pictures of Ben and Jack. Norton tells Kate that he is going to meet his client later and Kate decides to follow him. Meanwhile,

Ben Linus Benjamin Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series '' Lost''. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flig ...

(

Michael Emerson Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on ''The Practice'', Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'', Zep Hindle in the first '' Saw'' film, Cayden James on ''Arrow'', and ...

) meets up with Jack and

Sayid Jarrah Sayid Hassan Jarrah ( ar, سَعِيد حَسَّان جَرَّاح, ''Sa‘īd Ḥassān Jarrāḥ'') is a fictional character from the ABC show '' Lost'' portrayed by Naveen Andrews. Appearances Prior to the crash Sayid originally served as ...

(

Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primet ...

) at the hospital. An orderly armed with a tranquilizer gun attacks Sayid, but Sayid overcomes him, and when he finds Kate's address in his wallet he, Ben and Jack suspect Kate is the next target. The three decide to split up, with Jack going after Kate, and Sayid and Ben going to the prison where

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes Hugo "Hurley" Reyes is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'', played by Jorge Garcia. For most of the show's run, Hurley served as the show's comic relief, but occasionally, and most notably in the final season, he was shown ...

( Jorge Garcia) is being held. Jack and Kate follow Norton to a motel where he meets with Claire's mother, Carole (Susan Duerden). Once Norton leaves, Jack confronts Carole, who is only in Los Angeles to collect on a successful suit against

Oceanic Airlines Oceanic Airlines, and less frequently, Oceanic Airways, is the name of a fictional airline used in several films, television programs, and comic books—typically works that feature plane crashes and other aviation disasters, with which a real ...

and has nothing to do with the maternity test. At the prison, Ben meets with Norton, who is also acting as Hurley's lawyer and is confident that he can have Hurley released the following morning. Ben and Sayid meet up with Jack and Kate, where Kate figures out that Ben has hired Norton to do the maternity test, while Sun, armed with a gun, watches the conversation from a car with Aaron.

On the island

Following the latest time jump, Charlotte is still unconscious. She eventually wakes up and the group of her,

Daniel Faraday Dr. Daniel Faraday is a fictional character on the ABC television series ''Lost'' played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the Season 4 premiere as a physicist from the Queen's College, University of Oxford. He suffers from short-term ...

(

Jeremy Davies Jeremy Davies (né Boring; born October 8, 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Ray Aibelli in ''Spanking the Monkey'' (1994), Corporal Upham in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Snow in '' Solaris'' (2002), Bi ...

Miles Straume Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series ''Lost''. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the ''Kahana'' tha ...

(

Ken Leung Kenneth Leung (; born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. His roles include Sang in '' Rush Hour'', Miles Straume in ''Lost'', Admiral Statura in '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', and Eric Tao in HBO's ''Industry''. Early life Leung was ...

), John Locke (

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series ''Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and '' Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', ...

(

Josh Holloway Josh Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the television show ''Lost'' and as Will Bowman on the science fiction drama ''Colony''. Most recently he had a recurring role in sea ...

) and

Juliet Burke Dr. Juliet Burke (née Carlson) is a character on the ABC television series ''Lost'', portrayed by Elizabeth Mitchell. Created by J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the character was introduced in the third season as a member of the hostile grou ...

(

Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson) is an American actress known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC drama mystery series ''Lost'' (2006–2010). Mitchell also had lead roles on the television series '' V'' (2009–2 ...

) leave to travel to the Dharma Initiative Orchid Station, where Locke believes he can find a way to leave the island. Several other characters begin to show similar symptoms to Charlotte's. Daniel informs them that the nose bleeds may have something to do with one's time spent on the island; however, this makes no sense to several of the group since Charlotte, who has the worst symptoms, has only been on the island for a few days. The latest time jump brings the group to nighttime, where Locke observes in the distance the light coming out of the hatch. Following screams, Sawyer witnesses the then-Claire and Kate during Aaron's birth. Another time jump brings them to the future. At their abandoned beach camp, they find a canoe which they use to paddle to the other side of the island. They are attacked by unknown assailants and another time jump brings them to the past, in the middle of a storm that caused a French science team's boat led by Robert ( Guillaume Dabinpons) to run aground on the island. In their emergency raft, the French team, Montand ( Marc Menard), Brenan ( Bruno Bruni), Lacombe (Chris Marvin), and Nadine (Alexandra Tabas) find

(

Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born Kim Dae-hyun ( ko, 김대현); August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in ''Lost'', Chin Ho Kelly in '' Hawaii Five-0'', Gavin Park in ''Angel'', and Johnny Gat in the '' Saints Ro ...

) unconscious floating on flotsam from the freighter that exploded. They land on the island and question Jin after he wakes up. The episode ends with Danielle Rousseau ( Melissa Farman) revealing her identity to a befuddled Jin.

Production

"The Little Prince" is the first episode of ''Lost'' to be co-written by Melinda Hsu Taylor, who joined the writing staff prior to the start of production on season five. The nocturnal ocean scenes were shot in a swimming pool, which had its bottom covered in black plastic. Over ten thousand gallons of water were used to create the storm. The

outrigger canoe Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...

s were made of painted fiberglass, and had their designs based on ancient Hawaiian canoes.

Reception

The episode gained 12.855 million American viewers. The episode brought in 380,000 viewers in Australia, ranking 33rd for the night. "The Little Prince" received mostly positive reviews from critics. ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

s Noel Murray graded the episode a "B+", stating " ..this episode made good use of Kate at different points on the timeline: showing her now, anxious about losing Aaron, and showing her three years ago on Penny’s boat, prepared to lie for Jack in order to keep Aaron safe, and showing her three years ago on the island, helping Claire bring Aaron into the world. In just a few short scenes, Lost lays the foundation for what that boy means to Kate."

Notes

References

External links

"The Little Prince"
at ABC * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Prince Lost (season 5) episodes 2009 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Stephen Williams (director) Television episodes about time travel Fiction set in 1988