There weren’t too many new developments in last weeks’ episode of Lost. Akin to the earlier episodes of the series, one primary character was chosen as the focal point of the plot. Kate’s story within the dual realities was in the spotlight while Sayid’s bewildering resurrection functioned as the back story. The interesting aspect of the parallel universe created by the hydrogen bomb explosion is in connections between the characters that seemed to survive the shift in the different realities. The current turmoil on the island as a result of Jacob’s death is still shrouded in mystery, but some details emerged to shed some light. This episode weaved Sayid’s reawakening, Claire’s whereabouts and Kate’s search for her together while exhibiting how everything is all related.

Kate and Claire became extremely close after Kate was present during the birth of Aaron on the island; the same bond is persistent when their paths cross for the first time off the island. Claire doesn’t actually end up giving birth this time around, but Kate is there for her when she is going into labor and offers her advice for the important decision Claire is wrestling with over giving the baby up for adoption. There are other elements from the alternate reality that appear to still show a conjunction between the two worlds. In the first episode it was the appearance and quick disappearance of Desmond and the vanishing of Jack’s father, this episode the connection was conjured when Claire frantically yelled Aaron’s name and explained later she didn’t know where the name came from. Back on the island Kate admits to Sawyer her true reasons for returning—-to find Claire. The episode displayed the surviving bond between the two women that crossed over in during “flashes sideways” and brought it back to Kate’s mission on the island as well as a connection to Sayid’s reawakening.

While Jin and Kate are away from the temple, Jack is still trying to figure out Dogen and Lennon’s true intentions in regards to Sayid. I posed the question in my last post about Sayid’s identity once resurrected, that suspicion was shared by Dogen and Lennon as they subjected Sayid to a series of torturous ‘tests’ and later attempted to poison him. Jack questions the contents of a pill emant for Sayid and swallows it in an effort to force an explanation. When Dogen removes the Pill from Jack’s mouth, he reveals the it as poison and clarifies his reasons for trying to kill Sayid. Dogen claims that the darkness that he believes possessed Sayid is the same that has taken over Jack’s sister. The “darkness” that Dogen speaks of can only be the power of the Smoke Monster. That would explain why Claire has appeared as an apparition to Kate and others on the island since the Smoke Monster is able to take on the forms of others. In the typical cliff hanger fashion that has become synonymous with Lost, Claire returns at the very end of the episode to rescue Jin from some of the temple guards. The links between Claire’s disappearance and Sayid’s return to the world of the living are prevalent, but what remains to be seen is if Claire or Sayid are truly vessels of the Smoke Monster.

Mansa Motif

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