2.15 Maternity Leave
Sawyer: "No boys allowed, huh?"
This show is dominated by male characters, and it was refreshing to
have an episode that focused almost exclusively on the women. How about
that girlpower? Kate got to take charge and lead an expedition into
the jungle, which is just her thing. Claire got to do something more
than scream about someone hurting her baby. And I loved that there was
absolution for Danielle Rousseau.
Danielle saved Claire's life way back when, and got nothing but grief
in return. I desperately want Danielle to get her daughter back now.
(Wasn't Mira Furlan wonderful in this episode?) Alex, or the teenager
I'm assuming is Alex because she looks so much like Mira Furlan, saved
Claire's life and certainly didn't appear to be "infected."
Does she take the vaccine? I wonder if the "infection" is
still real. I wonder if it ever was. Maybe sixteen years ago when Danielle's
crew "changed," but is it now?
The raggedy costumes and the spirit gum for Zeke's beard imply that
the Others are faking the whole "lost boys" bit. Are they
playing roles in the social experiment? Creating an illusion to perpetuate
fear? Ethan said that there wasn't enough vaccine for both Claire and
her baby. That implies that there are no new supplies of anything. Maybe
the experiment, whatever it is, was abandoned a long time ago.
The nasty Henry Gale is now working on Locke. That's such an old trick
that I'm disappointed in Locke for falling for it. I'm also disappointed
that Jack and Locke haven't told anyone about Gale. Why haven't they?
Claire didn't know about Danielle killing her crew, either. This is
a common problem on the Island -- no one shares information. And it's
unbelievably stupid. Aren't they in permanent danger? Don't they have
a common enemy? They need to have town meetings and share everything.
Like the forty days of silence, Eko carried out another ritual to atone
for the two men he killed. He held on to a reminder of his sin -- those
two tiny chin braids -- until he could confess to a member of his victims'
family, in the form of Henry Gale. Eko is even scarier-looking than
Sayid. When Eko came into his cell, Henry Gale must have thought that
Eko was going to take up where Sayid left off. And for a moment, so
did I.
Character bits:
-- This episode allowed Claire to work through her guilt about her
plans to give up her baby for adoption. Let me add that there's nothing
wrong with giving up a baby for adoption.
-- We got to see Libby in full shrink action, hypnotising Claire.
-- I had a problem with Claire leaving her baby behind for one major
reason. Isn't she breast feeding? What did Sun feed Aaron while Claire
was gone? Diluted coconut milk?
-- Zeke and Ethan appear to have a boss, or someone they're afraid
of. "Well, what am I supposed to tell him? You know what he's going
to do when he finds out."
-- Sawyer has new reading glasses. I liked the old glasses better.
-- What is Eko doing with the trees? Is he building something? A church,
perhaps?
-- Sawyer called Kate "Thelma." "Thelma and Louise"
reference. More girlpower.
-- Danielle advised Claire to kill her own son if he was infected.
I wonder if Danielle would be capable of killing Alex under those circumstances.
I think not.
Bits and pieces:
-- Jack said they'd been on the Island for two months. In which case,
how did Aaron catch roseola? Did it come from the Others, somehow?
-- All of the episode flashbacks took place on the Island. That was
new.
-- Claire dreamed about the airplane mobile over the crib back in episode
10, "Raised by Another." Wasn't that before she was kidnapped
by Ethan? I'm going to have to re-watch that one. Also, Claire mentioned
the song it was playing, "Catch a Falling Star," at some point
earlier in the series.
-- The vaccine bottle had the same numbers on it that Desmond's did:
4-8-15-16-23-42.
-- This is a stretch, but the tree trunk that Claire saw had branches
in the shape of the Hebrew letter shin.
-- This third bunker had a Dharma symbol with a medical caduceus. The
Others abandoned this bunker. Are there so many that they can afford
to leave one behind? Or were they just worried Claire would lead the
Fusies back to it, which she eventually did?
-- The sliding horn at the end of a segment is back. I hate the sliding
horn.
-- The book Sawyer was reading was "Lancelot" by Walker Percy.
(I thought at first that it was the car manual.) And Locke gave Henry
Gale a copy of "The Brothers Karamazov" to read. "Dostoevsky.
You don't have any Stephen King?"
-- Claire: "Are you a mother?" Sun: "No. I'm not."
Sun looked odd there, as if there was something she wasn't saying. Did
she lose a baby? Is she pregnant?
-- Danielle: "You're not the only one who didn't find what
they were looking for."
-- Ethan: "We're good people, Claire. We're a good family."
Did he really believe that?
-- Henry Gale: "Are you the genius? Or are you the guy who
always feels like he's living in the shadow of the genius?"
Locke and Jack were compared to Hemingway and Dostoevsky. Locke is certainly
the kind of guy who would admire Hemingway. I don't know enough about
Dostoevsky to compare him to Jack.
-- My favorite line, as usual, was Sawyer's.
Kate: "I need a gun. And you don't get to ask why."
Sawyer: "Well, Thelma, seeing as I got all the guns, I do get
to ask why."
Kate: "No, you don't."
Sawyer: "Yes, I do. Watch. (pause) Why?"
Very, very good. At least three polar bears,
Billie
©Billie
Doux