Solitary (Lost)

"Solitary" is the ninth episode of the first season of Lost, an American television drama series following the survivors of a plane crash stranded on a tropical island. The episode was directed by Greg Yaitanes and written by David Fury. It first aired on November 17, 2004, on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) is captured by a mysterious French person, who is later revealed to be Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), a woman who shipwrecked on the island sixteen years before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and was alone for almost the entire time. At the island's camp, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) creates a golf course in an attempt to relieve the survivors' stress and worry. In flashbacks, Sayid meets a childhood friend, but must interrogate her.

"Solitary" marked the introduction of mythology into Lost, and also solved the first mystery of the series: the origin of the transmission heard in part two of the pilot episode. It also introduced Danielle Rousseau, who would be in a total of 22 episodes through the show. The episode's initial broadcast in the United States attracted 17.64 million viewers. It has had a generally positive reception by critics.