Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Flashbacks show Jack attempting to save a woman during an operation his father began while impaired by alcohol. Christian pressures him to sign a report concealing the drinking, arguing that his career is at stake. Jack initially cooperates, then learns during a medical hearing that the patient was pregnant and Christian knew. He changes his statement, telling the board about his father's condition and refusing to let the incomplete account stand after the deaths of mother and child.
With Ethan exposed and Claire and Charlie missing, Jack and Locke follow tracks into the jungle. Locke gathers Kate and Boone to help while Jack presses ahead. Charlie's finger tape marks their route, but two trails divide the search party. Jack and Kate continue together, and Ethan confronts Jack, threatening to kill a captive if he follows. Ethan wins their fight, leaving Jack unconscious before Jack resumes the search despite the warning.
Jack and Kate find Charlie hanging from a tree and cut him down. Kate believes he is dead, but Jack continues trying to revive him until Charlie begins breathing. Back at the caves, Charlie says the abductors wanted Claire, who remains missing. Elsewhere, Boone and Locke continue searching. A dropped flashlight strikes metal beneath the ground, and they clear the surface to investigate it, finding something buried that they cannot yet explain to the other survivors.