S1Ep10 - Raised by Another (Claire's first flashback)

[This was originally just an email to friends, loaded into this blog 2.5 years later]

Hello my dear friends,

I have failed you in providing a recap of the latest theories on the message boards after last week's episode. Which is a shame, because there are a ton of new theories out there after the freak-fest that was Claire's flashback. I just ran out of time and now am too swamped in the new job.

However, I have pasted in below a stream of messages from the message boards that are actually a quick read and give a good summary of the current vibe from hard-core viewers. People are starting to become wary of the show after this latest turn of events...

High-level summary of issues:

1) Who is Ethan? Is he "Alex," one of "the others," or just some random freak? People were quick to point out that Hurley did not say Ethan wasn't on the list, he just said "he" wasn't on the manifest... Could Ethan actually be trying to SAVE the baby?

2) Is Claire having the Anti-Christ baby or what is up with this kid?
Many people think that if they did that they would totally alienate tons of viewers and people are all riled up about it. I will say that upon watching the episode again I did notice how Thomas specifically mentioned that Claire was on the Pill but still became pregnant (he was insinuating she went off of the Pill... but I'm thinking "divine intervention/demon child"?). While I do know of people that have gotten pregnant while on the Pill, it still seems odd that they specifically mentioned it, like it will come into play later.

3) Why was Locke in the dream? People said that the table and lamp he had in the dream was the same as the psychic's. Also, Locke was with Ethan gathering luggage in the previous episode, so Locke may know what Ethan's real deal is. Also, Locke had the black and white eyes, an ongoing theme in the show (good/evil).

4) People jumped all over the name of "Ethan Rom" - saying it was an anagram for More Than or Other Man. Also jumped on ROM (Romans) verse
8:15 in the bible (number of flight = 815), but that connection seems weak.

Posts from the boards:

- Or maybe Hurley doesn't want people to start asking the right questions. If you think about it, he's always popping up in important scenes and steering Jack to certain decisions. He takes on a lot of responsibility (going through bags, forming a list), all the while keeping the others in the dark (he revealed his real name to make the point that we don't know anything about anyone, including him). He's up to something...dude.
- Ethan is Alex!!!
- Walkabout was one of the best hours of television I've ever seen. It was so memorable that I compare every episode to that one, and as good as it was this week it didn't come close. Still great, but still...(e: “Walkabout” was Locke’s flashback episode)
- First, if Ethan wasn't on the plane, how did he get there? Assuming he was on the plane, how does he know about the pregnant chick? Assuming he knows (and follows) the pregnant chick, why doesn't fortune teller dude figure it out when he tells her to get on the plane? Why is it such a hurry, and why didn't he see Ethan on the Island. Why doesn't he explain the blur better? Why do the pens run out of ink? Was it divine intervention? If the girl was on the pill, how did she become pregnant? Was this an immaculate conception? Does this plot line remind anyone of the plot of Ghostbusters II? Did anyone else catch Ethan around pregnant chick when she woke up the first time? Is Ethan a manifestation of the "shore leave" aspect of this island? What was the point of Locke in her first dream? He seemed to suggest that she made some bad choice or something... something about blood on her hands. What the fuck happened to Sayid, and why did he come back so quickly? Why is Kate always standing on the beach looking out? Shouldn't people have longer beards? Shouldn't they smelling? Also, with construction dude and Jack at the helm, how come they haven't devised a sewage system? They have plans for an aqueduct, but where do they take a shit?
- As is made very clear in the last five minutes, Hurley collected everybody's personal info...and then compared it to the copy of the plane's manifest they have. he already has a list of everybody on the plane, so by figuring out how many dead bodies there were and subtracting that from the manifest he'd know how many people should be left alive. That's how he found out there was one more of them than there were people on the plane, and how he found out Ethan was the Other Man on the island. I mean, when some dude gives you a name that isn't even *on* the manifest, and there's one more dude than there should be, then...dude.
- Where the hell is that cable going? The one Sayid found? It's been providing power to the French chick for 16 years. Where is the power in the cable coming from?
- Yeah, the Anti-Christ scenario crossed my mind, too.......but, I don't think a Network TV show is gonna go there. And, yes folks, they're gonna drag this show out - they need a few seasons to syndicate - otherwise, this is a poor investment. I can only hope that all of the "red herrings" tie together in the end. And how the hell did anybody get Jack as being gay??
- I agree with the guy who said the cable is the biggest mystery (e: referring to the cable that Sayid originally found in the sand that he followed to the French chic) - although the cable might not be the power source. Notice it seemed quite damaged and exposed to seawater, yet wasn't sparking or anything. Also, that is one *fat* cable - if it was transported on the science vessel, it was a big investment that could easily have been supplanted by a portable generator (which would have run out of gas anyway in 16 years.) Perhaps it connected to a satellite uplink on the boat? Anyway, my guess is that whatever is powering the transmission has to be a mechanical generator, perhaps a water-mill. It was a boat full of scientists, after all. Also, I have to agree that Locke is one of the best written characters in the last couple of decades of television - so long as they don't screw him up. The whole "ancient man knew you need both light and dark pieces for an interesting game" spirit-guide take is superb. Also, he's a convincing badass. You've got to love the strong thinkers.
- Has anyone mentioned how the psychic knew Claire would survive plane crash? Stick with me... He read her palms and wouldn't tell her what he saw. When she returned, he never told what he saw the first time. Just that it was a blur. The second reading he tells her that only she can raise baby. Over the period of a few months, he calls with a plan. Then gets her on the plane. Isn’t it obvious to assume that he knew it was crashing because of a reading of someone else? Whether or not he saw this person surviving is irrelevant, did he see Claire in the vision? If he did, he wouldn’t have to intervene because that means she would be on the plane regardless. If he didn’t, that just means he wanted her to get on a plane that was sure to crash. I'm thinking that he couldn’t trust that she would truly raise the baby on her own and that whatever he saw the baby becoming or doing w/o her was so horrible, he figured it would be better if they both died. And what does Ethan want with her? (e: I think this guy makes a great point about how maybe the psychic read someone ELSE’s palms and saw that flight would crash, so that’s how he knew to put Claire on it. That would start the whole “six degrees of separation” thing.)
- THE BLACK ROCK. Wake up, people! The cable is just one of those cables that run along the floor of the world's oceans. It is obviously still a "live wire" because the French woman had power. The cable is a mystery because we don't know who put the cable their or for what purpose, but still the biggest mystery is the BLACK ROCK. What is the Black Rock? Is it causing the whispers in the jungle and Jack's hallucinations? Is the Black Rock the monster? Is the Black Rock alien or is it from earth? We know the Black Rock changed the rest of the expedition and the reason why Frenchy killed them. Did the Black Rock make Locke's legs work? I have no idea... but that's the biggest mystery... not the cable, or arguing about why Hugo wanted a list of the survivors! (e: The Black Rock was mentioned by the French lady when she talked to Sayid. Other people on the boards who know French said that “The Black Rock” was actually mentioned in the transmission but that Shannon interpreted the message incorrectly)
- I think it boils down to whether you are like Locke or Claire, believing in the supernatural, mystical, spiritual, or like Sayid or Jack, believing in rationality, science, logic. I am going to have to side with the logical/science camp here. I know many want to believe that Locke was really paralyzed before coming to the island and that it healed him, but I don't believe that either. There was too much suggesting in his flashbacks that the guy wasn't right in the head -- his "relationship" with the phone sex lady, his supervisor saying he found nothing about Locke's supposed military career, Locke's obsession with seeking his "destiny". The guy is not exactly sane, let's face it. So does a completely scientific explanation take away from this show? I don't think so. I think the show is about the personal and character drama. What's important is that some of these characters THINK that there is something more, something "meaningful", something "magical" going on in this environment: Locke, Claire and probably Ethan all feel this way about it. The island is a metaphorical Eden: It is providing apparently everything for these people -- food, water, shelter -- and here they can wrestle with their demons...this is their personal salvation, their second chance so to speak. But I think Prof. Pop Cult's theory may be dead-on: The Island is a secret military project, not on the charts, and is in a no-go zone. All the "monsters" are nothing more than zoo animals that have become affected by whatever is going on with this island. (This year, a giant silverback gorilla at the Dallas zoo went, uh, apeshit, climbed a 16-foot wall, and attacked people. So the idea that the pilot was mauled, but not eaten by a deranged gorilla -- gorillas not being meat eaters -- sounds possible.) The Frenchwoman is obviously deranged. And Ethan looks that way, too. The Frenchwoman spoke of "others" out in the jungle: Could she have been talking about shadowy military soldiers/scientists wearing hazmat uniforms that protect them from exposure to whatever is going on with this island? If the producers do plan on making the first five seasons span 9 months in real time for the characters, then it stands to reason we won't see the characters going completely nuts until much later into the series' run.
- Wasn't Ethan introduced in the episode before this one? I thought he randomly was shown with Locke, who said something like "This is Ethan. He knows how to hunt." Or was this at the beginning of this episode? I'm not remembering for sure. But if it was the ep. before, then "Lost" is doing just what the creators said it would do--focus on a small group and have others come forward for subplots as needed. At any rate, this show is awesome. (e: This guy is right, I cannot BELIEVE that NO ONE in any of the boards I’ve read until now has brought up the fact that Ethan and Locke went to the jungle ALONE in the last episode, leading me to believe that Locke knows what’s up with Ethan. Locke and Ethan then returned with a bunch of luggage that they dropped in front of Hurley, when he found the golf clubs)

- e