"Whatever Happened, Happened" is the 11th television episode of the fifth season of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's '' Lost''. The 97th episode of the show overall, "Whatever Happened, Happened" aired April 1, 2009, on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by

executive producers Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In films, ...

show runner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine named ...

Carlton Cuse Arthur Carlton Cuse (born March 22, 1959) is an American screenwriter, showrunner, producer, and director, best known for the American television series '' Lost'', for which he made the ''Time'' list of the 100 most influential people in the wo ...

and directed by "

The Man Behind the Curtain The Man Behind the Curtain may refer to: * Wizard of Oz (character), the titular character of the various works in the ''Wizard of Oz'' canon * Other fictional characters, or other things, called by this phrase in allusion Allusion, or alluding ...

" director

Bobby Roth Robert Jay Roth (born 1950) is an American television and film director, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Born and raised in Los Angeles, Roth began his tertiary education at the University of California, Berkeley studying philoso ...

. In 1977,

Kate Austen Katherine Anne Austen is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', played by Canadians, Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. Character biography Prior to the crash Born in 19 ...

(

Evangeline Lilly Nicole Evangeline Lilly (born August 3, 1979) is a Canadian former actress and author. She gained popularity for her first leading role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), which garnered her six nominations for the ...

) goes to extreme measures to save young

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 ...

(

Sterling Beaumon Sterling Beaumon is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Max Doyle in the 2008 film, ''Mostly Ghostly (film), Mostly Ghostly'', and as young Benjamin Linus in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series, ' ...

) when

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 sur ...

(

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is 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 him G ...

) refuses to help. In flashbacks, Kate takes care of

Sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. Places in the United States Communities * Sawyer, Kansas * Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * Sawyer, Minnesota * Sawyer, Nebraska * Sawyer, New York * Sawyer, North Dakota * Sawyer, Oklahoma ...

's (

Josh Holloway Joshua Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the ABC television show '' Lost'' (2004–2010) as Will Bowman on the USA Network science fiction drama ''Colony'' (2016� ...

) favor and begins to tell the truth to protect

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

(William Blanchette).

Plot

Flashbacks

Shortly after the Oceanic six's rescue,

and a baby Aaron visit Cassidy, who is an ex-girlfriend of

James "Sawyer" Ford James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer" () and later as "Jim LaFleur", is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', portrayed by Josh Holloway. Created by Jeffrey Li ...

. Kate gives Cassidy and Sawyer's daughter Clementine (Olivia Vickery) money from the severance pay from Oceanic. Cassidy deduces that Aaron is not Kate's baby, prompting her to tell her the truth about everything that happened on the island. Cassidy eventually leads Kate to realize that the reason she took Aaron as her own, is because Kate needed him in order to get over her emotional attachment to Sawyer. After the survivors' confrontation with

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

, Kate momentarily loses Aaron in a supermarket. She recovers him from a woman who bears a strong resemblance to

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 p ...

(

Emilie de Ravin Emilie de Ravin (; born 27 December 1981) is an Australian actress. She first gained recognition for playing Tess Harding on The WB's science fiction television series ''Roswell (TV series), Roswell'' (2000–2002). She went on to portray Clai ...

), Aaron's mother. After this, she decides to return to the island with the others who left. She leaves Aaron in the care of Carole Littleton (Susan Duerden), Aaron's biological grandmother. Kate also tells Carole that she is returning to the island to find Carole's daughter, Claire, and bring her home.

1977

After Sayid shoots a young Ben,

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 ...

(

Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in network television and theater. In 2025, ''Time'' magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people. On television, he portray ...

) wakes up and notices the situation. He brings Ben to the barracks so that his injuries can be treated by

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

(

Elizabeth Mitchell Elizabeth Mitchell (born Elizabeth Joanna Robertson; March 27, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her lead role as Juliet Burke on the ABC mystery drama series '' Lost'' (2006–2010), for which she received a Primetime Emmy A ...

). Juliet is unable to perform the necessary surgery on Ben and sends

(

) to retrieve

(

), a spinal surgeon. Meanwhile,

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 Jorge Garcia (born April 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show '' Becker'', but subsequently became best known for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurl ...

) and

Miles Straume Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series '' Lost''. He made his first apperence in the season four episode " Confirmed Dead" and his last in the series finale. Miles is depicted as a hotheaded and s ...

(

Ken Leung Kenneth Leung (born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has gained attention for playing Miles Straume in the ABC drama series '' Lost'' (2008–2010) and Eric Tao in HBO drama series ''Industry' ...

) debate the nature of

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

. Hurley is convinced that they have changed the past, as in ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'', but Miles tells him that these events always happened in the past. Hurley, however, points that an older Ben didn't recognize Sayid when he was tortured in 2004, as the man who shot him as a kid. Jack, knowing what Ben does in the future, refuses to help, saying that "he already saved him once". This drives

(

) to do everything she can to help Ben. Kate goes to the sick bay where Ben is being treated and donates her blood because she is a universal donor. She strikes up a conversation with Ben's father, Roger (

Jon Gries Jonathan Gries ( '; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Uncle Rico in '' Napoleon Dynamite '' (2004), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, the recurring rol ...

), who is upset that Ben stole his keys and freed Sayid from the jail. Once it becomes clear that Ben will succumb to his injuries without further intervention, Kate decides to take Ben to the

Others Others or The Others may refer to: Fictional characters * Others (''A Song of Ice and Fire''), supernatural creatures in the fictional world of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' * Others (''Lost''), mysterious inh ...

, the island's native population. Sawyer comes to Kate's aid and they bring Ben to

Richard Alpert Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and writer. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...

(

Nestor Carbonell Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...

), who warns them that if he treats Ben, he will not remember what has happened and will never be the same again. They agree anyway. Another Other urges Richard to inform "Ellie" of his intentions and implies that "Charles" will not be pleased if he finds out, but Richard says he doesn't answer to either of them. Richard then carries Ben into the temple.

2007

After being knocked out unconscious by

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, Ben (

Michael Emerson Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on '' Lost'' (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include ...

) wakes up in the infirmary, and is greeted by

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

(

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series '' Lost'' (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role i ...

), who welcomes him back to "the land of the living".

Notes

References

External links

"Whatever Happened, Happened"
at ABC * {{Lost episodes Lost season 5 episodes 2009 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Bobby Roth Television episodes written by Damon Lindelof Television episodes written by Carlton Cuse