The episode was written by executive producers and showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Jack Bender.

[2] Jack Shephard's (Matthew Fox) plan to change the future is met with resistance from others, while John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) assigns Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) a difficult task.

Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) are on a submarine leaving the Island.

On the island, they are greeted by Vincent, who has been in the care of Rose Henderson (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) for the past three years.

Meanwhile, Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) dismantle the bomb in the tunnels under the barracks to remove the core.

Richard (Nestor Carbonell) and a younger Eloise (Alice Evans) assist them in entering the barracks through the basement of one of the houses.

Jack and Sayid escape in a van driven by Hurley (Jorge Garcia), along with Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Miles (Ken Leung).

Hurley drives to the construction site of the Swan, while Jack treats Sayid's wounds; however, they are stopped by Juliet, Sawyer and Kate.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chang (François Chau) continues drilling into the energy source beneath the construction site of the Swan station on the orders of Stuart Radzinsky (Eric Lange).

With everyone now in agreement, Jack enters the construction site while security officer Phil (Patrick Fischler) arrives with a team of armed men.

A gunfight ensues, wherein the survivors gain the upper hand, allowing Jack to drop the bomb into the pit while the drill hits the energy source.

Locke, Ben (Michael Emerson), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and the Others travel to the remains of the Taweret statue, where Jacob resides.

Meanwhile, a group of survivors from Ajira Flight 316, including Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) and Bram (Brad William Henke) travel to Jacob's cabin, with Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) and a crate from the plane's cargo.

Another factor to prevent the leak of spoilers was that only the writers, director, and actors involved with the scene were allowed access to the script.

During a May podcast, executive producers/writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse invited fans to choose the code name for the finale of season five.

This episode breaks the tradition of ending with the "LOST" title screen, with the words in white and a black background.

Due to being in a state park area, the producers had to get permits and work with geologists to excavate and build the set, as well as restoring the location to how it was before.

[10] She speculated that they are the Adam and Eve skeletons found by the survivors early in season one,[10] which Jeff Jensen from Entertainment Weekly also suspected.

[15] The Huffington Post's Jay Glatfelter incorrectly thought their decision not to participate "all but solidified them as the 'Adam and Eve' from the caves".