The 48 survivors of a mid-air plane disaster dazedly gather their wits about them in the opening episode of the ABC hit series Lost. Marooned on an island somewhere in the Pacific, the survivors must now rely upon their inner strength -- and each other -- to stay alive, having been stripped of virtually all vestiges of civilization. Making matters worse is the island's harsh, almost impenetrable terrain and bizarre variety of animal life. Emerging as the most prominent of the castaways in the opener are Jack (Matthew Fox), a somber doctor who frantically helps survivors who are clinging to life, and Kate (Evangeline Lilly), a beautiful and mysterious survivor who seems to be a concerned do-gooder. The two meet when she reluctantly agrees to suture a wound on his back despite having no medical experience. On the first night after the crash, the survivors are terrified by the loud animal-like roar of something large rustling around in the jungle -- even the trees shake with its presence. The next day, along with washed-up rock star Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), Kate and Jack venture out to find the front end of the plane -- and hopefully the plane's transceiver (radio transmitter) -- in the jungle. This two-hour pilot episode was originally telecast in two separate installments.

In the conclusion of Lost's two-part series opener, the individual character traits of the survivors of a mid-air plane disaster come into sharper focus. While Jack (Matthew Fox), a troubled doctor, Kate (Evangeline Lilly), a mysterious, concerned survivor, and washed-up rock star Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) have gone to look for the front end of the plane in the jungle, the others get to know each other. Among the remaining survivors who are trapped on that somewhat surrealistic Pacific island are perennial jokester Hurley (Jorge Garcia), eternally bickering siblings Shannon (Maggie Grace) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder), nervous Korean couple Mr. and Mrs. Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim), hair-trigger-tempered Sawyer (Josh Holloway), former Iraqi Republican Guard Sayid (Naveen Andrews), father and son Michael and Walt, very pregnant Aussie Claire (Emilie de Ravin)...and the secretive and possibly slightly sinister Locke (Terry O'Quinn). Still reeling from a close encounter with a terrifying (though unseen) beast in the jungle, Jack, Kate, and Charlie return to the beach with the transceiver, hoping that someone will be able to get it working. Not only are some of the surviving passengers not getting along very well, but the group later encounters an incongruous animal in the jungle and finds that there may have been a dangerous prisoner on board the plane.

The title of this episode translates as "Blank Slate," which is as good a way as any to describe what the 48 survivors of a mid-air plane crash truly know and understand about one another as they acclimate themselves to their new Pacific-island surroundings. Almost as mysterious as the strange topography and stranger wildlife of the island is the clouded past of Kate (Evangeline Lilly), who, it is revealed through flashback, was a recently a fugitive on the run. Only one passenger, who may be dying, knows her secret...until he passes it on to two other survivors. Meanwhile, the mysterious Locke (Terry O'Quinn) forms a bond with young Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), much to the dismay of Walt's father, Michael (Harold Perrineau).

When Locke leads Kate and Michael on a hunt for food, a tantalizing secret about the island's most mysterious survivor suddenly comes to light. As Locke dreams about the moments just after the crash, Vincent's incessant barking wakes up the entire camp. Something is in the fuselage, and as the group attempts to get a better look by using a flashlight three wild boars come dashing out. Apparently the beasts had been attracted to the bodies that had been roasting in the fuselage for the last few days, leading Jack to recommend that the corpses be cremated. With food supplies running short, Locke recommends that the group go hunting the boars for meat - they can even use his personal collection of knives to slay the swine. As Locke reflects on his past, it's revealed that he was not the military man one would suspect but the average cubicle dweller. Later, Michael and Locke prepare to go out on the hunt while Sun keeps an eye on Walt and Sayid attempts to trace the source of the mysterious French transmission. Back on the beach, Claire collects the possessions of those killed in the crash in order to stage a eulogy. Claire asks Jack to conduct the ceremony but he refuses, leaving her reluctantly saddled with a weighty responsibility. Boone has noticed that a survivor named Rose has been sitting alone on the beach and refusing to east, though when he mentions it to Shannon she tells him to mind his own business. As the hunt continues, Locke hones in on the boar's tracks just as one of the beasts begins to charge. Immediately after, Locke drifts back to the time that he purchased the tickets for he and Helen to take an Australian walkabout and was casually rejected - leaving him more determined to slay the boar than ever. Meanwhile, Shannon attempts to manipulate Charlie into catching her a fish as Jack learns that Rose's husband Bernard is missing. Though she hasn't seen him since the crash, she instinctually knows that he is still alive. After Claire discovers an envelope marked for Sayid and containing a picture of a woman, Kate climbs a tree to attach an antennae to trace the broadcast and sees an enormous monster heading directly towards Locke. Jack too has noticed something in the trees, making a mad dash to find out just what it could be. Much to his surprise, it was just Locke returning with a wild boar for dinner. That night, as the fuselage is ignited and the memorial service begins, Michael asks Locke about the monster. While Locke claims to have seen nothing, it's obvious that he has more than his fare share of secrets.

Veronica Hamel of Hill Street Blues fame makes a guest appearance as the mother of plane-crash survivor Jack (Matthew Fox) as he experiences another of his character-revealing flashbacks during a period of delirium. Elsewhere on the island, the pregnant Claire (Emilie de Raven) suffers from unforeseen complications, and Boone (Ian Somerhalder) gallantly attempts to rescue a drowning woman, only to be nearly drowned himself. It seems that there may be a thief on the island, as the last of the water bottles mysteriously disappear just when Claire desperately needs them. And Jack continues to "see" a mysterious man in a suit at a distance; when he goes to investigate, he finds that the stranger may be, impossibly, someone very close to him.

Only Korean couple Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yunjin Kim) know the real reason that Jin savagely beats Michael (Harold Perrineau) before the eyes of the astonished survivors, but they aren't talking. Actually, they couldn't talk even if they wanted to, since they are still separated from the others by impenetrable language barriers (or so it seems). Another crisis arises when several of the castaways quarrel over where everyone should pitch camp, leading to a schism between two separate factions. And the truth about Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is made known to the equally secretive Locke (Terry O'Quinn). Flashbacks in this episode focus on Jin and Sun and reveal that they were once madly in love. He was of a lower social standing, but convinced her powerful, rich father to allow them to marry, if Jin would come to work for him...a job that Jin soon learned required a lot of dirty work.

The reclusive Locke (Terry O'Quinn) is willing to help Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) wean himself away from his drug habit -- but he won't explain why he has suddenly become so generous with his time. Flashbacks reveal how Charlie's life as a rock star and his troubled relationship with his bandmate brother (Neil Hopkins) led to his drug habit in the first place. In other developments, Michael (Harold Perrineau) sets Hurley (Jorge Garcia) straight as to the ethnic origins of Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yunjin Kim); and the efforts by Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Boone (Ian Somerhalder) to find out who has been sending radio transmissions in French are thwarted by an unknown antagonist. Worse still is the plight of Jack (Matthew Fox), who is buried alive in a collapsing cave.

Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) resort to drastic measures (reminiscent of old Fu Manchu movies!) when Sawyer (Josh Holloway) refuses to surrender one of the inhalers he claims he has to help the short-of-breath Shannon (Maggie Grace). Elsewhere on the island, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) has made a home for himself in the caves, and hopes that Claire (Emilie de Raven) will join him. And in the obligatory flashback "revelation" scenes, the truth about Sawyer's background is revealed; meanwhile, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) gains some insight into his troubled childhood, and we learn for the first time that killing a man is nothing new for Sayid.

The mystery of those French radio transmissions is revealed to Sayid (Naveen Andrews) -- but he may not live long enough to tell the other survivors. On a less serious note, roly-poly Hurley (Jorge Garcia) comes up with a silly plan to bring a bit of entertainment to the island, involving a set of golf clubs recovered from the wreckage of the plane. And an extended flashback tells us more than we'd like to know about Sayid's previous life as an Iraqi Republican Guard. Mira Furlan guest stars as Danielle Rousseau, a character who was decidedly not on the passenger list.