| "Because You Left" | |
|---|---|
| Lost episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Stephen Williams |
| Written by | Damon Lindelof Carlton Cuse |
| Production code | 501 |
| Original air date | January 21, 2009 |
| Running time | 43 minutes[1] |
| Guest appearances | |
| L. Scott Caldwell as Rose Nadler Sam Anderson as Bernard Nadler Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert William Mapother as Ethan Rom François Chau as Dr. Pierre Chang Sonya Walger as Penny Widmore Alan Dale as Charles Widmore William Blanchette as Aaron Sean Whalen as Neil "Frogurt" Tom Irwin as Dan Norton | |
"Because You Left" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American Broadcasting Company's drama television series Lost. The episode is the 87th episode of the show overall, and was written by executive producers/show runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by co-executive producer Stephen Williams. It first aired on January 21, 2009, on ABC in the United States and was simulcast on A in Canada. It aired immediately after a clip-show that recaps the first four seasons and aired back-to-back with the next episode, "The Lie".
In 2007, Jack Shephard and Benjamin Linus start their quest to reunite the "Oceanic 6". Hugo "Hurley" Reyes and Sayid Jarrah are ambushed at their safehouse. Sun-Hwa Kwon is confronted by Charles Widmore. Kate Austen and Aaron Littleton flee from their home after being ordered to submit a maternity test. James "Sawyer" Ford, Daniel Faraday, Juliet Burke, Charlotte Lewis, Miles Straume, John Locke, and the other survivors of Oceanic 815 left on the island erratically travel through time upon the island's move. "Because You Left" averaged 11.347 million viewers in the United States, and received good reviews, praising the writing and the unraveling of new elements.