OK, so, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Once again, ABC's action drama 'Lost' brought the goods with the most recent episode, focusing on everyone's favorite young Australian mother, Claire. Thankfully, though, we got a heaping helping of some of the other Losties in the midst of some frightening revelations...
The episode, as I said, focuses on Claire, most specifically during her Goth phase. We first see her with black hair and grungy clothes, in the middle of a devastating car accident that appears to have killed her mother. However, we find out in a later flashback that her mother is in a coma and will remain so for an unknown amount of time. Claire's aunt Lindsay blames her (justly so) for the accident, but Claire, who was the driver, ignores her for awhile. Instead, she wonders who would, according to the doctor, pay for all the expenses of her mother's treatment. On another visit, she finds out who it is: Jack's dad, Christian. Or, should I say, Jack AND Claire's dad? Yes, Christian is Claire's father, so she and Jack are siblings.
Christian tries to talk to Claire, who remembers nothing of him, so he can convince her to pull the plug. Claire is shocked to even think about that, but Christian reminds her that she shouldn't keep her mother alive for the wrong reasons. However, his words don't do anything, it would seem, as Claire leaves in a huff.
This all comes about as Claire hatches a plan to get off the island. She spies some seagulls flying over the island, and assumes correctly that they are tagged and, if they fly South, the castaways can leave notes on the birds, in hopes that someone will read them and come save all our Losties. At first, Charlie is very much against this idea, because Desmond has subtly hinted to him in front of Claire that if he goes along with Claire's idea, he'll die. Claire, finally, shows some brains, figuring out that something's not right.
Meanwhile, Kate, Locke, Sayid, Danielle and the hostage Mikhail are trying to make their way to the barracks, to save Jack from the clutches of the Others. While walking, Kate probes Mikhail about why he's there and how he got there. He informs her that she can't understand since she's not on "the list." First, I'm not a 'Heroes' fan, but wasn't there a list on that show, too? Hmm. Anyway, Mikhail says that none of them are on the list, as they're flawed, except for Locke. Before Mikhail can explain why, Danielle finds some strange objects in the middle of a field: large electric poles. Mikhail says that it's the fence that surrounds the barracks. He taunts them all, to the point that Locke decides to see what would happen if one of them goes past the fence: he shoves Mikhail through it. For a few seconds, nothing happens but then, Mikhail starts foaming at the mouth and bleeding from his ears. He dies; it is very creepy stuff.
Kate berates Locke for killing Mikhail, while Sayid discovers that Locke took some of the C4 dynamite from the Flame. After the argument, Kate, Locke and Sayid make a bridge above the fences and successfully cross over. In the final scene, we see that all four of the good guys have found the barracks, which we know as the little city seen in the first few minutes of the third-season premiere. Suddenly, they see Jack running towards them. Kate is about to shout out his name when they see him...catch a football? Yes, he's playing catch with Tom. And they look happy. Kate, Sayid, Locke and Danielle, however...well, they do not.
during the last flashback, we see Claire as we did in the first season: blond and very pregnant. She apologizes to her mother for the accident and for the words she said; apparently, the two were fighting and Claire said some damaging stuff. Finally, after some prodding and pushing back on the island, she follows Desmond as he goes along the island to catch one of the birds for her. He explains everything about his visions of Charlie's impending death, as Claire deduces something's up. She comes back to Charlie and apologizes, since she didn't know what was really going on.
Like I said, this is another very good episode from 'Lost.' It's nice to see the show back to form. Let's hope next week's episode, a Locke-centric one, doesn't skimp on the big mystery that will be revealed: how Locke got in his wheelchair. Tune in next week to find out!
