Locke goes to find Jack for help with the kid, who has a rash, etc. Claire expects Jack when she hears noises behind her back on the beach, but when she turns around it’s Rousseau. Who, as far as we know, is a crazed baby killer. Rather than immediately picking up the baby, running away, and screaming at the top of her lungs, Claire decides to make some tea and have a chat.

Seriously, she just hangs out and tells Rousseau to go away. Rousseau has a gun. Claire is stupid. Claire also starts having flashbacks something fierce, which consist of medical-looking implements, an enormous syringe sticking in her pregnant belly, a young woman talking to her, and fighting with Rousseau out in the jungle, all accompanied by a voice over talking about protecting the baby.

So Kate comes to the rescue, shooing Rousseau away much in the manner one would shoo a stray dog. It’s very annoying, because they cannot make me think that Kate is a Hero, or a Strong Womyn. She’s just lame Kate, who I thought was beginning to look like Jack but then I realized they both just do the same “I am incredibly earnest and totally focused on your well being” look.

Rousseau’s big news is that there’s something wrong with the baby. Of course it is, that’s sort of her thing. Sayid: “Nice day today, but a bit humid.” Rousseau: “That’s because there’s something wrong…with the child.”

Jack has finally made it over to the beach and is examining the baby. The way he’s treating Claire here, who’s a classic freaked-out first time mom, makes me think his bedside manner had NOTHING to do with his success as a doctor. He’s pretty much being an arrogant prick. I mean, Rousseau’s word isn’t really much to go on, but he doesn’t half to treat Claire like a halfwit.

The next day, Kate and Claire decide to ask Libby to help, since she’s a shrink. Claire thinks she has amnesia, but Libby says she’s just blocking out the memories. Claire wants the memories back because she thinks she’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong with Aaron. Beh, boring setup scene. Yay, now we go to the hatch to deal with the prisoner! Jack and Locke are bringing him food, and Locke gives him a copy of “The Brothers Karamazov.” I’m not much for Russian lit; any one want to take a gander at the significance?

The prisoner isn’t all that grateful for the book and the plate of food. Can’t say I blame him. In the kitchen, Locke and Jack get all edgy with each other, with Locke needing a plan and Jack thinking any plans would just be ridiculous. Jack remarks that they keep pushing the button even though they don’t have a plan for it, which shuts Locke up because as you will recall, the button did not in fact get pushed at one juncture. I can’t concentrate the whole time anyway because Locke has just sent an entire plate of food down the garbage disposal. Seriously? Life has gotten so peachy on the island that they’re throwing food away?

Also, the prisoner shouts something from his room but I’m hard of hearing and despite watching it 5 million times I have no idea what he said. Anyway, on the beach, Libby is having a session with Claire. Libby is suddenly a hippie. She’s utilizing her best SoCal beach bum accent and it’s totally silly. It seems to do the trick for Claire, however, who is sent into a flashback in a doctor’s office where the “soothing” background music is actually creepy as hell. There’s an extended sequence where we find out that Ethan was her “doctor” while she was kidnapped (dun dun dunnnnn….). He was giving her shots, ostensibly for the baby. The scene ends with more of the mish mash of weirdness with lots of quick shots of medical stuff and baby stuff and the young woman again, who appears to have a key role in Claire’s experience. Claire comes out of it screaming about Ethan.

Claire is straight up freaking out, so Kate runs over again. Way to bring the baby into a tense situation, stupid. Kate kills me when she starts yelling at Libby like it’s her fault that Claire is upset. Where’s Ana so I can start liking Kate again?

In the woods, Eko is chopping down some trees. No shirt! Is he building a church, I wonder? He goes down to the hatch to borrow a saw, and Jack has to hide in the bathroom with the prisoner. Doesn’t do much good, however, because the door to the prison is open and Eko spots the cot inside. You know, a lot of the islanders might forget about that, but this Eko is a sharp one. He’s going to be a huge factor in this group, but he’s just biding his time for now. I think if I were stuck on the island, I’d get really cozy with Eko. He’s probably the best ally you could have. Who would y’all mack on?

Posted by Kat on March 20, 2006 11:52 PM