Live Together, Die Alone
Encyclopedia
"Live Together, Die Alone" is the second season finale of the ABC
television series
Lost
, consisting of the 23rd and 24th episodes of the second season. It is also the 48th and 49th episodes overall. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
, and directed by Jack Bender
. It first aired in the United States on May 24, 2006 on the American Broadcasting Company
. The episode was watched by 17.84 million people and received positive reviews.
In the episode, flashbacks reveal how Desmond came to the island. In realtime, Desmond unintentionally returns to the beach and is enlisted by Locke to help him stop the button in the hatch from being pushed. Meanwhile, several castaways head off to rescue Michael's son, Walt, from the Others.
(Henry Ian Cusick
) is being released from a military prison for unknown reasons. Upon leaving, he runs into Charles Widmore
(Alan Dale
) who reveals that he prevented communication between his daughter Penelope (Sonya Walger
) and Desmond while he was in prison, and strongly warns Desmond against attempting to reform a relationship. Desmond, wanting to prove that he is not a coward, travels to the United States from the United Kingdom to train for a race around the world, sponsored by Charles Widmore. He meets Libby
(Cynthia Watros
) in a cafe, and after a deep conversation, Libby gives Desmond a yacht owned by her late husband. While Desmond is training, Penny tracks him down and angrily questions him. He tells her that he is determined to win Widmore's race and promises that he will return. However, while sailing, Desmond gets caught in a bad storm, and washes up on the island. He is rescued by a man in a yellow HAZMAT suit, Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown
) (who also is the American intelligence officer that blackmails Sayid in one of his flashbacks) who takes him to the Dharma Initiative Swan Station. The two live together for three years before Desmond finds out that Inman is secretly planning on escaping the island using Desmond's boat. Desmond violently confronts Inman about this, accidentally killing him in the process. After almost letting the countdown timer run down, Desmond starts drinking liquor and contemplates suicide. Before he shoots himself however, he hears John Locke
(Terry O'Quinn
) banging on the hatch door
, and turns on a light. Desmond then realizes that there is still hope and decides not to kill himself.
(Michelle Rodriguez
) and Libby, a boat comes into view out at sea. Jack, Sayid, and Sawyer swim out to it and climb onto the boat. They hear music coming from inside it. Shots are fired from inside the boat through the boat hatch entrance. After breaking the hatch open, they find a drunken Desmond piloting the boat. The next day, after Mr. Eko
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
) prevents Locke from destroying the computer that controls the timer, Locke enlists Desmond's help in letting the timer run down to zero. Desmond hotwires the blast doors shut, locking Eko outside the computer room and Desmond and Locke inside of it. Eko, distraught, seeks Charlie Pace
's (Dominic Monaghan
) help. The two attempt to use dynamite to blow the blast door open, but the blast doors are unscathed, while they are both injured.
Meanwhile, Desmond and Locke discuss the purpose of the stations and discover that when Desmond accidentally allowed the timer to run out, the magnetic force pulled Oceanic Flight 815 toward the island, thus causing the crash. Locke continues to doubt that the timer has any meaning, but Desmond assures him that it is all real, as the timer passes zero, Desmond retrieves a failsafe key and crawls underneath the hatch to reach the system termination switch, and inserts the key. A shrill humming noise and violet-white light envelops the entire island, causing the Oceanic 815 survivors and the Others alike on opposite sides of the island to bend in apparent pain. That night, Charlie is the only person to return from the hatch; the whereabouts of Desmond, Eko, and Locke are not revealed. Charlie reconnects with Claire Littleton
(Emilie de Ravin
), and they kiss as they sit among their fellow plane survivors.
The survivors split up into two groups to head to the Others' camp. Michael Dawson
(Harold Perrineau), Jack Shephard
(Matthew Fox
), Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
), James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
), and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
) walk on land to the camp, bringing guns and ammunition with them. Meanwhile, Sayid Jarrah
(Naveen Andrews
), Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), and Jin-Soo Kwon
(Daniel Dae Kim) plan to use Desmond's sailboat to go by sea. Sayid plans to use black smoke as a signal, saying that "this time, they will know that we are coming", a reference to the attacks in the first season finale
. When the boat reaches the Others' camp, Sayid finds it to be deserted. Meanwhile, Michael, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate engage in a gun battle with some Others that were following them, and Sawyer kills one. Jack confronts Michael about leading the group into a trap, and Michael confesses to the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby. They realize that Michael has led them to a location other than the beach, ruining their former plan to meet up with Sayid. They hear whispers, and suddenly Sawyer, Kate, and Jack are incapacitated by electric darts. The hostages, bound and gagged, are brought to a dock, where it appears that the Others are led by Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
). Gale keeps his bargain with Michael, returning his son, Walt Lloyd
(Malcolm David Kelley
), to him and giving them an old fishing boat with instructions to sail on a heading of 325 degrees until they are rescued. Michael threatens Henry telling them that he could tell the outside world of the Islands location. Henry responds by telling him that it wouldn't matter as they would not be able to find the island. He gives Michael a counter-threat telling him that if he did tell people of the islands location, people would know what he did to get his son back. Michael reluctantly accepts but asks who Henry and his people are, to which Henry responds "We're the good guys Michael". Michael uses the boat to get him and Walt off the island. Hurley is then released and sent back to the other survivors with a message that they are to stay away from the Others' part of the island. As Hurley is let go, the other captives are taken away.
(Sonya Walger
) in the middle of the night, telling her, "I think we've found it."
"Live Together, Die Alone" was the thirteenth episode of the series directed by Jack Bender
. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
, the ninth episode that the two had written together.
Due to being two hours long, more time went into shooting "Live Together, Die Alone" than most episodes. It was shot in 17 days by two separate crews. Several scenes had to be shortened or cut due to time constraints. One scene that was cut was: after it is revealed that Michael was a traitor, Sawyer wanted to go back to the camp, because he thought it would be stupid to keep following someone who lied to him. In the past, Lost has had an issue with spoilers being leaked from the set, so for the production of "Live Together, Die Alone", the crew took extra steps to ensure secrecy of pivotal scenes. Alex Petrovitch, who played Henrik, recalled that when auditioning for his part "names, places, and circumstances (of his scene) were shifted so that you couldn’t link the scene to the show." Even other cast members were not told about Petrovitch's scene. Another measure used by the cast and crew to limit the release of spoilers was calling the final scene by the code name "Challah" instead of referencing anything in the scene. However, the attempts to cover up the flashback scenes were less successful and a call sheet was leaked by Lost fan Ryan Ozawa onto the internet, detailing the full plotlines of Desmond's flashbacks, about a month before the episode aired. It is in this episode that it is revealed that Henry Gale is in fact the leader of the others.
. The episode was watched by 17.84 million viewers.
"Live Together, Die Alone" has been generally well-received. IGN
's Eric Goldman praised actor Henry Ian Cusick
(Desmond Hume
) for giving "a likable, sympathetic performance". Goldman went on to say that the episode "was a much better finale than last season", and that it contained one of the "more interesting flashbacks of the entire season". Entertainment Weekly
writer Scott Brown described his viewing experience as "I was up, I was down, I was frustrated, I was thrilled, and finally I was...well, a bit numb." Brown criticized the way Charlie reacted to the hatch explosion, stating that he felt the writers were trying to "get us to hate Charlie".
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, consisting of the 23rd and 24th episodes of the second season. It is also the 48th and 49th episodes overall. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, and directed by Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
. It first aired in the United States on May 24, 2006 on the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The episode was watched by 17.84 million people and received positive reviews.
In the episode, flashbacks reveal how Desmond came to the island. In realtime, Desmond unintentionally returns to the beach and is enlisted by Locke to help him stop the button in the hatch from being pushed. Meanwhile, several castaways head off to rescue Michael's son, Walt, from the Others.
Flashbacks
Desmond HumeDesmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
(Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
) is being released from a military prison for unknown reasons. Upon leaving, he runs into Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. He is primarily portrayed as an older man by Alan Dale; Tom Connolly and David S...
(Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
) who reveals that he prevented communication between his daughter Penelope (Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:...
) and Desmond while he was in prison, and strongly warns Desmond against attempting to reform a relationship. Desmond, wanting to prove that he is not a coward, travels to the United States from the United Kingdom to train for a race around the world, sponsored by Charles Widmore. He meets Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
(Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
) in a cafe, and after a deep conversation, Libby gives Desmond a yacht owned by her late husband. While Desmond is training, Penny tracks him down and angrily questions him. He tells her that he is determined to win Widmore's race and promises that he will return. However, while sailing, Desmond gets caught in a bad storm, and washes up on the island. He is rescued by a man in a yellow HAZMAT suit, Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown
Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
) (who also is the American intelligence officer that blackmails Sayid in one of his flashbacks) who takes him to the Dharma Initiative Swan Station. The two live together for three years before Desmond finds out that Inman is secretly planning on escaping the island using Desmond's boat. Desmond violently confronts Inman about this, accidentally killing him in the process. After almost letting the countdown timer run down, Desmond starts drinking liquor and contemplates suicide. Before he shoots himself however, he hears John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
(Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
) banging on the hatch door
Deus Ex Machina (Lost)
"Deus Ex Machina" is the 19th episode of the first season of Lost. The episode was directed by Robert Mandel and written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. It first aired on March 30, 2005 on ABC...
, and turns on a light. Desmond then realizes that there is still hope and decides not to kill himself.
On the Island
While at the funeral for Ana Lucia CortezAna Lucia Cortez
Ana Lucia Cortez is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Michelle Rodriguez. Ana Lucia made her first appearance as a guest star in the first season finale, and became part of the main cast for season two. After Oceanic Flight 815 splits in mid-air, the tail section...
(Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
) and Libby, a boat comes into view out at sea. Jack, Sayid, and Sawyer swim out to it and climb onto the boat. They hear music coming from inside it. Shots are fired from inside the boat through the boat hatch entrance. After breaking the hatch open, they find a drunken Desmond piloting the boat. The next day, after Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko
Mr. Eko Tunde is a fictional character, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the ABC television series Lost. He is introduced in the second season episode "Adrift" as one of the plane-crash survivors from the plane's tail section. Flashbacks reveal that he became the leader of a gang of guerrillas...
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
) prevents Locke from destroying the computer that controls the timer, Locke enlists Desmond's help in letting the timer run down to zero. Desmond hotwires the blast doors shut, locking Eko outside the computer room and Desmond and Locke inside of it. Eko, distraught, seeks Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
's (Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
) help. The two attempt to use dynamite to blow the blast door open, but the blast doors are unscathed, while they are both injured.
Meanwhile, Desmond and Locke discuss the purpose of the stations and discover that when Desmond accidentally allowed the timer to run out, the magnetic force pulled Oceanic Flight 815 toward the island, thus causing the crash. Locke continues to doubt that the timer has any meaning, but Desmond assures him that it is all real, as the timer passes zero, Desmond retrieves a failsafe key and crawls underneath the hatch to reach the system termination switch, and inserts the key. A shrill humming noise and violet-white light envelops the entire island, causing the Oceanic 815 survivors and the Others alike on opposite sides of the island to bend in apparent pain. That night, Charlie is the only person to return from the hatch; the whereabouts of Desmond, Eko, and Locke are not revealed. Charlie reconnects with Claire Littleton
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 pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
(Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
), and they kiss as they sit among their fellow plane survivors.
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
(Harold Perrineau), Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
(Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
), Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
), James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
), and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) walk on land to the camp, bringing guns and ammunition with them. Meanwhile, Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
(Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
), Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), and Jin-Soo Kwon
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.- Prior to the crash :...
(Daniel Dae Kim) plan to use Desmond's sailboat to go by sea. Sayid plans to use black smoke as a signal, saying that "this time, they will know that we are coming", a reference to the attacks in the first season finale
Exodus (Lost)
"Exodus" is the first season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd through 25th episodes of the first season and the show overall. The episodes were directed by Jack Bender, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. "Part 1" first aired on May 18, 2005 and "Part 2"...
. When the boat reaches the Others' camp, Sayid finds it to be deserted. Meanwhile, Michael, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate engage in a gun battle with some Others that were following them, and Sawyer kills one. Jack confronts Michael about leading the group into a trap, and Michael confesses to the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby. They realize that Michael has led them to a location other than the beach, ruining their former plan to meet up with Sayid. They hear whispers, and suddenly Sawyer, Kate, and Jack are incapacitated by electric darts. The hostages, bound and gagged, are brought to a dock, where it appears that the Others are led by Henry Gale (Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
). Gale keeps his bargain with Michael, returning his son, Walt Lloyd
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
(Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley is an American teen actor. He starred in the 2004 film You Got Served as "Li'l Saint". He also appears in the television series Lost as the character Walt Lloyd. A regular cast member in the show's first season , he has appeared only occasionally since due to a dramatic...
), to him and giving them an old fishing boat with instructions to sail on a heading of 325 degrees until they are rescued. Michael threatens Henry telling them that he could tell the outside world of the Islands location. Henry responds by telling him that it wouldn't matter as they would not be able to find the island. He gives Michael a counter-threat telling him that if he did tell people of the islands location, people would know what he did to get his son back. Michael reluctantly accepts but asks who Henry and his people are, to which Henry responds "We're the good guys Michael". Michael uses the boat to get him and Walt off the island. Hurley is then released and sent back to the other survivors with a message that they are to stay away from the Others' part of the island. As Hurley is let go, the other captives are taken away.
Epilogue
The scene shifts to a cramped research station somewhere far from the island, in a polar climate; two men (who speak Portuguese) who are playing chess are interrupted by an alert on a monitor (displaying the message ">/ 7418880 Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected," the number 7418880 being the product of the numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 & 42. One of the men makes a frantic phone call that wakes up Penelope WidmorePenny Widmore
Penelope "Penny" Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Sonya Walger. Penny is introduced in the last episode of the second season of Lost as the long-lost lover of Desmond Hume as well as the daughter of British tycoon and antagonist Charles Widmore...
(Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger
Sonya Walger is an English actress known for her roles in the ABC series Lost as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, and as Olivia Benford on ABC's FlashForward.-Education:...
) in the middle of the night, telling her, "I think we've found it."
Production
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, the ninth episode that the two had written together.
Due to being two hours long, more time went into shooting "Live Together, Die Alone" than most episodes. It was shot in 17 days by two separate crews. Several scenes had to be shortened or cut due to time constraints. One scene that was cut was: after it is revealed that Michael was a traitor, Sawyer wanted to go back to the camp, because he thought it would be stupid to keep following someone who lied to him. In the past, Lost has had an issue with spoilers being leaked from the set, so for the production of "Live Together, Die Alone", the crew took extra steps to ensure secrecy of pivotal scenes. Alex Petrovitch, who played Henrik, recalled that when auditioning for his part "names, places, and circumstances (of his scene) were shifted so that you couldn’t link the scene to the show." Even other cast members were not told about Petrovitch's scene. Another measure used by the cast and crew to limit the release of spoilers was calling the final scene by the code name "Challah" instead of referencing anything in the scene. However, the attempts to cover up the flashback scenes were less successful and a call sheet was leaked by Lost fan Ryan Ozawa onto the internet, detailing the full plotlines of Desmond's flashbacks, about a month before the episode aired. It is in this episode that it is revealed that Henry Gale is in fact the leader of the others.
Reception
"Live Together, Die Alone" received a 7.6 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. The episode was watched by 17.84 million viewers.
"Live Together, Die Alone" has been generally well-received. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Eric Goldman praised actor Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
(Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
) for giving "a likable, sympathetic performance". Goldman went on to say that the episode "was a much better finale than last season", and that it contained one of the "more interesting flashbacks of the entire season". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Scott Brown described his viewing experience as "I was up, I was down, I was frustrated, I was thrilled, and finally I was...well, a bit numb." Brown criticized the way Charlie reacted to the hatch explosion, stating that he felt the writers were trying to "get us to hate Charlie".