Kate strides up to Sawyer all faux-tough and demands a gun. She claims that she won’t tell Sawyer why she needs it, but he only has to flash his dimples once before she tells him everything. She and Claire are headed to the jungle to have words with Rousseau and then maybe try to find the medical bunker. Now, it seems out of character for Sawyer to yield so quickly, but I do believe kids are his weak spot. When he offered medicine for Aaron I actually believed his concern – and remember the con he backed out of because the woman had a son? He gives her a gun, but does bring up a good point. Why no boys allowed? Now that I think about it, it’s actually patently ridiculous. There’s no harm in having one of these proven ass-kickers along for the ride. More evidence for those on the “Kate is evil” train.

Sun is going to babysit Aaron while Claire goes on her Goddess Quest. Sun doesn’t think it’s a good idea – she’s pissed that Claire’s ruining her honeymoon, I think. Jin will NOT be pleased to come back from a hard day of fishing to find another man in Sun’s arms. He and Aaron are gonna have words.

In Claire-land, lots more medical stuff. Also, the young woman finally says something: “You have to get out of here.” When the flashback slows down, Ethan is giving Claire another shot in her belly. She claims it “really really hurts” but keeps her composure better than she would during a bikini wax (trust me!), so I don’t believe her. Claire actually seems pretty loopy here, and when Ethan takes her out of the exam room she’s stumbling like an old drunk. He takes her down a creepy hallway to a nursery that has been lovingly decorating. It’s mostly cute, except for the extremely fucked-up mobile with little spinning airplanes on it. Even in her confused state, Claire seems to understand that there’s something off about it.

Ethan is called away by the rather distinct voice of Zeke. Who is clean-shaven and a lot less Deliverance than we’ve seen before. He’s made at Ethan, who was supposed to compile some sort of list before bringing Claire into the hatch. Seems the castaways managed to spook Ethan with the flight manifest, but Zeke is worried about a mysterious “him,” who will apparently wreak great havoc upon them. So there’s a leader that even Zeke is afraid of? Nice.

More speedy shots of syringes and the girl warning Claire, now with shots of the jungle and someone opening a canteen. Claire and Kate take off, and we get some exposition about Rousseau landing here many moons ago with a research team. Kate tells Claire that Rousseau killed her group, which we know is a half truth – Rousseau says she killed them because they were sick. Kate’s right in not telling Claire, but it’s no use. Rousseau is there and tells Claire that everyone got sick. Claire demands to be taken to the spot where she and Rousseau got into a brawl. She believes Rousseau is in cahoots with Ethan, but! With the way the camera zooms into Rousseau when Claire mentions “a teenage girl,” I don’t think Rousseau knows anything about Ethan. That teenage girl has got to be Rousseau’s daughter Alex, and we know Rousseau misses her daughter like crazy.

Back on the beach, Eko strides up to Jack all casual-like and asks who the prisoner in the hatch is. Eko wants to talk to him. We’ll get back to the boys later.

With the girls, the catfighting is starting already. Of course, Kate brings it to another level by drawing a gun on Rousseau. I feel like Kate is kind of an attention whore. And Claire is the spacey hippy, so when she wanders off alone she’s just being true to form. A fallen tree trunk sends her right back into the flashback, where she’s knitting a bootie. Flashback Claire is high as a freakin’ kite. Ethan takes her for a walk outside, though he tells her to keep it a secret because his “friends” think she’ll run away. You know, Ethan’s pretty smooth. He’d be a total player if he had access to more chicks.

He offers Claire a swig from his canteen. She says whatever’s in it is sour, and while Ethan says he didn’t notice, he also very much does not partake of the refreshments. The baby starts kicking, which leads to a heart to heart. Claire starts making noises about keeping the baby rather than leaving him with the Others and going back to the beach alone, which apparently was the plan. This seems to freak Ethan out for a second, but then plays it like a true manipulator, assuring Claire that everything is ultimately her decision and she has to be comfortable with whatever she decides. The camera pans around and present-day Claire is looking at herself and Ethan talking. Well, she’s looking at her body double and Ethan.

She takes off running and finds…Another big ass hatch! It opens easily…too easily, I think. I find it suspicious. The laides descend, and it’s all swampy and spooky and the lights are flickering. Good thing a box of flashlights is conveniently located at eye level! Claire and Rousseau find the nursery right as Kate turns all the lights on. Everything has been taken down. In a locker room, Kate finds costumes and supplies, including a fake beard. Zeke’s, I bet! I guess they figured dressing up as castaways would prevent the newcomers from figuring out the grand scheme.

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