The internets swoon. Claire does not. Feh.

Heh.

Also, I have to rewatch. I must've been multi-tasking or something, because I missed Sawyer's sunglasses.

So the psychic was saying the flight number and not the time when he was repeating eight fifteen? That makes more sense than what I was thinking. It reminded me so strongly of Sun being told when the car would pick her up that I got confused.

Terry O'Quinn's distinctive looking, and he's been in so many shows I've watched that he's easily recognizable amidst a sea of extras.

From cleolinda's recap:

"I can tell you--this is important. It is crucial that YOU raise this child. The father of his child will play no part. This child [cannot be] parented by anyone else--danger surrounds this baby. Your aura, your spirit, your goodness must be an influence." [...] "The baby needs your protection!"

Hmm. I thought the psychic was saying that the baby itself is evil, so Claire needs to raise it because she is the magical embodiment of all that is pure and good in this world. But maybe he was just saying that the baby is in grave danger and will die without her? But then I don't think that he would have been so scarily persistent about it. I got the feeling, from the fact that he kept calling her all the time for MONTHS, that he was worried about more than just the baby's fate--I thought that he was worried that the baby would turn out to be evil and dangerous without Claire's influence, and would end up like starting a nuclear holocaust or something.

Yeah, I got the same vibe, Kate. Not that the baby was in danger, but that unless Claire raised it it would be dangerous.

Usually, I'm all, "Eh. Let the TiVo get it," but this show has turned into an appointment TV in the old, pre-DVR sense of the word.

Wrod. I tape them every week. I don’t think I could wait until the DVD’s come out.

Oh, yeah, and it was another eye episode. Is there any discernable pattern? 'Cause we overanalyze like that.

Helps put focus on the person, not the action of island and being stranded?

Okay, so: was Claire actually imagining it all, or was she actually being attacked? Was Ethan maybe doing something to her in her sleep?

Maybe Ethan’s been doing something to her in her sleep when she didn’t wake up to cause the dreams. The first time she woke up screaming, I thought it was an island/drug induced dream controlled by the island. The second time, I thought Ethan really was doing something to her.

If there were someone/something on the island that would bring out the Essence of Evil in the baby, then why would the psychic have sent her there? Gah.

Agent of the First? Wolfram & Hart lackey?

No doubt the physic was driven to get her on the plane, but I am not convinced he knew what would happen. At all.

Maybe there’s some entity forcing him.

From Cleolinda:

Claire is sitting in a giant plush lawyer's office (the office interior is plush, not the lawyer. No one would ever hire, you know, Tickle Me Attorney or anything).

This made me laugh

My interpretation is that the baby would be born with some great power, which can be used for good OR ill, depending on whose hands he falls under. Sort of like Scully's alien miracle sprog. (Oy.)

This is all terribly exciting now, but there are so many ways this particular storyline can turn into a steaming pile of incoherent crap that I'm beginning to get a bit worried.

I'm in it for the ride, not the outcome. I'm reasonably certain (she typed, buffing her fingernails on her sleeve) that I could write a better one, anyway.

A funny, terribly fannish article on EW online today about last night's episode (plus a capsule summary of The Story So Far.) [link] I think you need a subscription to the magazine to get at the article, but no doubt it'd be up at lost-media.com, who seems to have no fear of the pesky copyright issues.

The writer obviously frequents the discussion boards, as she mentions the "Other Man" thing as well as the untranslated-on-show bits of French transmission Megan had so helpfully translated for us here. (So, TwoP, for sure, and hey, maybe she lurks here as well. Hmmm.) Her writing tells me that she's a fan first, and a writer second, which makes me happy. It appears this would be a regular post-ep feature. Yay!

I liked her quick blurbs about the characters;

Jack Shepherd Recognized group leader. Angsty doctor, on plane because his dad died in Australia.

Kate Angsty convict, on plane because she'd been caught by a U.S. marshal.

U.S. Marshal See above (dead now).

Sawyer Angsty con man, on plane because . . . ?

Sayid Angsty former intelligence officer in the Iraqi Republican Guard, on plane because . . . ?

Charlie Angsty formerly drug-addicted rock star, on plane because he was visiting his brother in Australia.

The Koreans, Sun and Jin Angsty Koreans, on plane because she wasn't strong enough to leave him, although it's blurry to me why they were flying to L.A. in the first place, and as we learned tonight, blurry is bad. She secretly speaks English.

Locke Angsty former paraplegic, on plane returning from failed attempt to go on walkabout but miraculously cured in crash. Only one to see monster face to face. Revealed in last week's EW that it looks like ''a camera on a stick.'' Since that encounter, has taken on weird/scary spiritual/evil leader/manipulator role. Has a fetish for knives.

Even quicker descriptions of the people who haven't yet had a turn:

Hurley Smart fat guy. Invented golf.

Michael Smart black guy. Invented showers.

Walt Michael's kid. Has a fetish for knives.

Vincent Dog.

Shannon Rich snotty girl with asthma.

Boone Her do-gooder lifeguard brother.

Ethan Tom Cruise's cousin, showed up last week as a former nameless extra who helped Locke hunt and gather some suitcases that contained golf clubs (see above).

Scott and Steve Former nameless extras plucked out of obscurity to work for slightly more than scale!

Yeah, I got the same vibe, Kate. Not that the baby was in danger, but that unless Claire raised it it would be dangerous.

Me too with the "Rosemary, you CANNOT let Guy and the biological father raise this baby without you!" vibe.

Interesting point that Cleolinda made about the psychic sending Claire on the flight not to ensure that she raised the baby, but to make sure that no one else got the chance.