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Lost: Raised by Another

Charlie: "Dear Diary: Still on the bloody island. Today, I swallowed a bug. Love, Claire."

Unsettling episode. And I was impressed with Emilie de Ravin, whose acting skills have never impressed me before.

The most fascinating part of the episode was the psychic Mr. Malkin and his changing stories. At first, he refused to read her at all; he saw a "blurry" thing. The obvious conclusion is that, initially, he saw her death, or the baby's death... or that the baby was going to be evil. Then, he told her that under no circumstances could she let someone else raise her baby ("It is crucial that you yourself raise this child; no one else can raise it"). There was a Rosemary's Baby feel to that, with Malkin referring to the baby needing Claire's nature, spirit, and goodness. (The name "Claire" actually means "light.")

But then, after months of trying to talk her into keeping it, he told her that he had set her up with a couple in L.A. who would adopt. A lie, of course. It's possible he was a pro-life wingnut sending her on a wild goose chase in order to stop her from adopting out, but that doesn't explain his insistence that she take that particular flight, and no other. So he must have known the plane would crash.

Did he know it would crash in a strange place, and that she would survive and be forced to raise her baby? Or was he trying to kill her and the baby? And did he succeed? Does this give us ammunition for "the Island is the afterlife" theory?

If Claire really was attacked (with a needle, no less, and yuck) was it the very scary Ethan? I was also thinking that it might be Locke. He was the one in her first nightmare playing the part of the psychic, with one black eye and one white eye representing life and death, like those two stones they found in "House of the Rising Sun." One thing Locke said in the dream sounded ominous: "Everyone pays the price now." For what?

Charlie has become Claire's advocate and friend, which is interesting because he is a devout Catholic. Is this symbolic of Claire being protected by the Church, perhaps? Or that she chose giving birth over abortion? He confessed to her about his drug addiction; there was an interesting parallel there, too, with Jack trying to get Claire to take pills, and her refusal to do so. At any rate, Charlie and Claire are now a couple of sorts. Adam and Eve? Mary and Joseph?

Have I mentioned yet how much I love Hurley? He's a terrific character; love him to bits. Hurley's census was fascinating, and it catapulted us into that wild final scene. We learned that Hurley's real name is Hugo Reyes; Claire's last name is Littleton; John Locke is from Tustin, California; Shannon Rutherford is twenty years old; her brother Boone is a liberal. There is also Steve and Scott, and Lance, whom we haven't met yet.


And then there is the creepy Ethan Rom, from Ontario. "Ethan Rom" doesn't sound like a real name; it's an anagram for "Other Man." Could he be Danielle's child, Alex? (Nah, too old.) If not, where did he come from?

Character bits:

"Today I swallowed a bug" must be another reference to the possibly evil baby Claire is carrying.

In Claire's first dream, there was a baby mobile over the crib made out of Oceanic airplanes.

There were a couple of "mom" references. Claire's mom disowned her (her father abandoned her, too.) Kate, in the "sinking into the sand" scene, talked about doing the sinking thing with her mother.

Thomas, the jerk who knocked Claire up and dumped her, was an artist. The only art I saw in those scenes was something that looked like a cartoon version of "The Scream," and I think there was a caption that said, "Hell." Since everything on this show is supposed to be intentional, take that symbolism any way you like.

Sawyer was cooperative this time. I think he was just amused by Hurley's approach.

Ethan was played by Tom Cruise's cousin, William Mapother.

Jack revealed that he talks in his sleep.

Sawyer called Hurley "Stay-puft."

Bits and pieces:

— The action began with a close-up of Claire's right eye.

— There were still 47 people on the Island. It's nearly a week since Sayid left, so that makes it, let's say, twenty days since the crash. Of flight 815. Did we know the flight number before? (I didn't tape the first three episodes.)

— Am I wrong about the number 47, by the way? I was assuming Danielle brought the count up to 47. If Ethan isn't on the manifest, shouldn't there be 45 names on it?

Quotes:

Dream Locke, one black eye one white eye, tells Claire: "It was your responsibility. But you gave him away, Claire. Everyone pays the price now."

Charlie: "I have this dream. I'm driving a bus, and my teeth start falling out. My mom is in the back, eating biscuits. Everything smells of bacon."

Hurley: "So I had an idea. I'm out here looking for some psycho with Scott and Steve, right? And I'm realizing, who the hell are Scott and Steve?"

Shannon: "I am so not moving to the rape caves." Things really aren't going well in the caves, are they?

Hurley: "Hurley's just a nickname I have. Why? I'm not telling."

Charlie, counting: "One sugar plum fairy, two sugar plum fairy..."

Hurley: "So, did you find it?"
Locke: "No, it found me."

Three out of four polar bears,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

3 comments:

  1. Great catch on the anagram of Ethan's name! I was struck by the similarity to the name Ethan Frome, another broken character. In this book, one of the themes is the effect that nature has in shaping man's fate or destiny -- something that Rousseau wrote about as well. Of course, the English major in me is probably over-thinking the symbolism again...

    I was struck by the fact that two pens didn't work while Claire was trying to sign the contract. Add in the psychic, and this is the first time we have seen "magic" play a role in any of the flashbacks. It seems fitting that it should play a part of Claire's story as she strikes me as a bit of a free spirit and someone willing to use astrology and listen to psychics.

    I, too, absolutely adore Hurley. He's got some of the best lines and I love the way that he is with people. Great character.

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  2. Such a fun, spooky episode with such a strong ending.

    As I said on the previous episode, this is when Lost begins to feel like Lost for me: mysteries, lots and lots of running through the jungle, more Hurley than we got in the first 4 or so episodes, and awesome cliffhangers.

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  3. One of the reasons this show quickly became an all time favorite was because of how effortlessly it could switch genres without impacting the nature of the characters within. Was this sci-fi (Pilot), supernatural (White Rabbit), mystery (Walkabout)? This episode is a thriller, tinged with a little horror.

    Unsettling indeed. Well said Billie. When I watched this 20 years ago, I was definitely unsettled by the creepy behavior of the clairvoyant, whether he was legit, and what it might meant for this baby, born on this island. 20 years later, the world has changed, and the most unsettling part of this episode are the actions ON the island and their inherent result. How well do we know the new neighbor at the block party, or the friend of a friend that shows up for game night, or the fellow soccer parent that offers a ride for your kid if its ever needed? And with the advent of social media, its easy to read the horror stories if so inclined. There are always Ethan’s out there, and I found that the most unsettling part of this episode.

    Lastly, I just have to say, I miss the days of episodic television. Obviously I’m binge watching this with my son, but he’ll never know the combo joy/pain of having to wait an entire week for the resolution to an episode like this one!

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