Bernard Nadler
From Lostpedia
Portrayed by Sam Anderson
Bernard Nadler is the only tail section survivor of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and the husband of Rose. He is the only tail section survivor that has not been killed or captured by the Others. He wasn't seated in the tail section, and was only there when the plane crashed because he was using the bathroom. Bernard cares very much for Rose and feels a need to fix things, like her cancer, not dissimilar to Jack.
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Before the Island
Bernard worked as a dentist before the crash. According to his wife Rose, he has a "whole mouth full of sweet teeth". ("Everybody Hates Hugo"), ("S.O.S.")
At some point in his life, Bernard also acquired knowledge of Morse Code ("The Shape of Things to Come") and surgery assistance ("Something Nice Back Home"). (Probably he was a boy scout or learned in the military).
Bernard had been a bachelor for 56 years when he met Rose. Her car was stuck in the snow and he offered to help her out. When the car emerged from the snow, Rose proposed to buy him a cup of coffee to thank him. Bernard proposed to her at Niagara Falls after dating for just five months. Rose told him that due to a terminal illness she only had one year left to live and asked him if he is sure he still wanted to marry her. Bernard was not deterred, and during their honeymoon, he took Rose to a faith healer in Australia hoping that she would be cured of her illness. The healer, Isaac of Uluru, told Rose he couldn't help her. Rose lied to Bernard and told him she was cured so they could enjoy their remaining time together. ("S.O.S.")
Bernard was sitting in seat 23E on the plane, but left to go to the bathroom shortly before the turbulence started. As a result, he ended up in the tail section of the plane when it broke off. Since his fingers were prone to swelling when he flew, he had left his wedding ring with Rose. ("Pilot, Part 1")
On the Island
Season 1 (Days 1-41)
After the crash, Bernard was found high up in a tree, still strapped into a broken-off seat. Goodwin spotted him and called for Ana-Lucia, who calmed him down so he could safely descend. ("The Other 48 Days")
Bernard was very worried about Rose after he could not find her or her body anywhere on the beach. As the tail-section survivors were kidnapped by the Others over the following weeks, Bernard found himself among the few remaining. He was one of the few tail section survivors, or Tailies, left to meet Michael, Jin, and Sawyer from the middle section.
Bernard and the Tailies found the Arrow station and used it for shelter and protection from the Others. In the Arrow, Bernard found a working radio. He used it and made contact with someone claiming to be another survivor of the plane crash. Ana-Lucia thought it was the Others trying to trick them and ended the transmission. Bernard later gave the radio to Hurley.
Season 2 (Days 45-69)
Later, Bernard and the other Tailies caught Sawyer, Michael, and Jin and held them in a pit. After Ana-Lucia found out they weren't Others, she brought them to the Arrow, where Bernard approached Sawyer, Michael, and Jin and asked if there was a woman named Rose where they had come from. Bernard was elated when Michael and Sawyer told him that Rose was still alive on the other side of the Island. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
The next day, the Tailies decided to go to the middle section camp. Before the long hike, Bernard, Ana-Lucia, and Jin tried to catch fish, though Jin was the only one who had any success. They then began the long trek. ("...And Found") ("Abandoned")
Upon approaching the middle section camp, Ana-Lucia accidentally shot and killed Shannon, and demanded that Bernard and everyone else not to go back to camp. Later, Bernard asked if he could go see his wife, but Ana-Lucia replied, "How long have I kept you alive out here, Bernard?" Eventually, Bernard, Jin and Libby left for the beach, and Bernard finally reunited with Rose after 50 days apart. They attended Shannon's funeral together and poured a handful of sand into her grave with the other Losties. ("Collision") ("What Kate Did")
Two weeks later, Rose and Bernard were bickering because Bernard had forgotten his wife's birthday. They stumbled upon Sun vomiting. Sun told them she was just feeling lightheaded. Later, Bernard was trying to ask Jin for an oyster for Rose's birthday when Sawyer approached to tell Jin that Sun was pregnant. ("The Whole Truth")
Following the DHARMA food drop, Rose took leadership and organized the food. Bernard commented that she was acting like she "just got back from the store." After this, he came up with the idea of making an SOS sign to be spotted by aircraft flying overhead. He gathered a group together for a meeting in which he told them they have given up getting rescued. Unfortunately, Rose interrupted and told him he should confer with Jack. Bernard got angry and told her Jack was just a doctor. Rose then embarrassed Bernard in front of the group by telling him he was only a dentist. ("S.O.S.")
Only 15 people came to help build the SOS sign. Bernard delegated himself the easy job of marking the letters in the sand, while everyone else dragged heavy rocks to the shore. Later, Bernard told Rose about people not helping and asked her why she wasn't supporting him. They began to argue and Bernard told her, "If I didn't always have to do something you wouldn't be here." Rose then walked away, and Bernard seemed to realize that he was out of line. After he criticized Jin's method of building the sign, Jin left the project, and Bernard was on his own. Rose approached Bernard and apologized, and told him Isaac hadn't healed her. However, Rose claimed to believe that the Island had healed her, and that if she left, the cancer might return. Bernard told her that they would never leave and embraced her lovingly. ("S.O.S.")
Libby saw Bernard and Rose pull wine from the pallet, and Hurley later tracked them down for it. ("Two for the Road")
During the discharge, Bernard held his ears. Just after, he moved Claire and Aaron to safety, helping them to avoid being hit by the quarantine door. Later, Bernard was helping clean up the mess from the discharge when Charlie came out of the jungle. Bernard asked him what had happened and if he was okay. ("Live Together, Die Alone")
Season 3 (Days 90-91)
Following the implosion of the Swan station and the capture of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, Bernard and Rose became less active among the survivors than they were before. At one point, Sawyer stole a Phil Collins tape from Bernard to give to Kate as a "mixtape". ("Catch-22")
When Karl and Juliet informed the survivors of the imminent attack of the Others, a plan was made to fight back. Rousseau retrieved dynamite from the Black Rock and Rose and Bernard searched through the plane wreckage to find wire for detonating the dynamite. The pieces of wire had to be strongly knotted together into longer lengths, which Bernard seemed to have trouble doing well. Rose, who was much more successful at the task, showed Bernard how to knot them correctly. When the survivors realized they needed three shooters to detonate the dynamite, Bernard volunteered and proved his shooting skill to Rose and Sayid by shooting cans of DHARMA food. ("Greatest Hits")
Before leaving for the radio tower, Rose reminded Bernard that he was "not Rambo," and to be careful. Bernard and Sayid successfully shot their tents, setting off the dynamite explosions and killing seven Others. Jin missed, however, and Bernard ran into the jungle where he was caught by Tom, as Ryan and Jason captured Jin and Sayid. Bernard was forced to tell Tom what he knew of the plan concerning the radio tower in order to save Jin, whom Tom had been told to kill if his questions weren't answered. Later, Tom shot three rounds into the sand as part of a ploy to convince Jack (listening on Ben's radio) that his friends had been killed. Hurley then showed up in the DHARMA van, allowing the remaining Others to be killed, and saving Bernard. Later, Bernard looked on happily as he sat on the beach. ("Through the Looking Glass")
Season 4 (Days 91-98)
While Bernard stood on the beach, Hurley told him about the transmission to the freighter. He then urged Hurley to do a cannonball, which Hurley did. Desmond rowed ashore and revealed Charlie had died. The group left the beach to meet everyone at the cockpit, where Bernard was reunited with Rose. He asked her if she wanted to go with Locke and stay on the Island, but Rose preferred to stay with Jack. ("The Beginning of the End")
Several days later, Bernard encountered Jin and Sun on the beach, and asked if he could go fishing with Jin before realizing that Sun was crying and he had intruded on an emotional moment. Jin, however, still invited him to come along, preferring not to talk about Juliet's revelation of Sun's affair with Jae Lee. While fishing from the outrigger, Bernard observed the fact that he and Jin were the only men with wives on the Island, then confided Jin about Rose's cancer and her desire to remain on the Island, and his confusion over Rose's decision, then, to stay on the beach, though he also calls Locke a murderer. In the end, Bernard said, it all comes down to karma. Bernard's taking life in stride out of his devotion to Rose reminded Jin of his own renewed love for Sun, and he returned to her on the beach that night. ("Ji Yeon")
The next day, Bernard is at the beach when he notices something strange in the water. Bernard calls for help, bringing the attention of Jack, Kate and Juliet. Vincent is also there, barking madly. All of them fish the body out of the water. Daniel and Charlotte come forward, and when Jack asks who the person is, Daniel identifies it is Ray, the freighters doctor. They realize that they have to communicate to the freighter. The group covers Ray's body and start to leave to get materials to repair the satellite phone, but Jack quickly calls Bernard aside to discuss something. It is presumed that Jack asked Bernard if he knew Morse Code, because Jack was out to prove Daniel and Charlotte were liars. Bernard was present when Daniel sent and then received the Morse Code message. Daniel lied about what the message said, so Bernard stepped in and corrected him. The group were shocked to find out Daniel and Charlotte had lied about ever taking them off the Island and rescue was never coming from the Freighter. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
The next day, Bernard and Rose continue to interrogate Daniel and Charlotte. Eventually leading into an argument. Jack calms it down but collapses afterwords, Bernard witnesses this. Bernard volunteers to help with Jack's appendectomy after Jack collapses on the beach. Later on, he and Rose wash down the table for Jack to lay on during surgery. They discuss the Jack's surgery and hypothasize the islands healing powers, after Rose beleives it cured her cancer. After this, Jack goes into surgery. He administers the local anasthetic to the area to make Jack able to assist with the surgery. After the pain becomes too great for Jack, he uses chloroform to knock Jack out. After the surgery, he goes outside, where Kate is waiting, and tells her it is okay to go inside the tent. ("Something Nice Back Home")
Trivia
- Bernard was the nineteenth character to ever have a flashback.
- Bernard's total episode count so far (including flashback appearances, voice appearances etc) is 14.
- The flight manifest from the German 108minuten.de website states Bernard's full name as "Bernard Bernstein". However, that manifest is an expanded and partially corrected version of the manifest from the Lost: The Untold website, and since both versions of the manifest contain numerous details that contradict information stated on the show itself, they're to be considered non-canonical.
- "Greatest Hits" is the first episode of Season 3 that Bernard and Rose appear in (apart from Rose briefly appearing in a flashback in "Exposé").
- In the 05/21/07 podcast, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse joked that Rose & Bernard would later have their own romance-themed spinoff show entitled "Rose & Bernard's Love Island", with Charlie as a pool boy.
- The last shot of the episode Adrift shows The Tailies with their "weapons" from Jin, Michael and Sawyer's POVs. In this shot, a man is visible to the left of Cindy and Mr. Eko. The man remained unknown, though it is widely speculated that it was either Goodwin or Bernard. Although, given the timeline, it could not have been Goodwin. It is possible that this man is actually Bernard, although filmed with a stand-in, rather than Sam Anderson himself.
Unanswered questions
| Unanswered questions |
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Bernard Nadler/Theories
- What connection exists, if any, between Bernard and Dr. Gary Nadler?
- Where did he learn Morse code?
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron • Ana Lucia • Bernard • Boone • Charlie • Claire • Desmond • Eko • Hurley • Jack • Jin Kate • Libby • Locke • Michael • Nikki • Paulo • Rose • Sawyer • Sayid • Shannon • Sun • Walt | ||||||
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| Flashback episode | "S.O.S." | |||
| Flashback characters | Australian girl • Aussie woman • Isaac of Uluru • John Locke | |||
| Items | SOS sign | |||
| See also: Main Characters | ||||
