Lost 1.10: "Raised by Another"
Written by Lynne E. Litt
Directed by Marita Grabiak
In which Claire begins having nightmares about threats to her baby, prompting Charlie to offer his protection, while Hurley discovers that not all of the survivors were on the plane…
Status Report
In the previous episode, Sayid stumbled across the French woman who started the distress signal 16 years earlier, as discovered at the end of the pilot. Now that this little plot device has been revealed, the writers begin complicating the plot even further by revealing what has long been suspected: the survivors are not alone, not even in their own camp.
The writers hinted at this in the previous episode, but they wisely leave Sayid out of play as long as possible, letting the audience wonder who the ringer might be. Suspicions and questions are raised when Claire is apparently attacked, prompting Hurley to consider that most of the survivors know nothing about each other. It’s hard to believe that it took more than two weeks for basic paranoia to set in, but Claire’s situation is unique enough to trigger it.
Claire’s story continues a process that has been developing over the past few episodes. Unlike the first few episodes, where the flashbacks were a large part of the story, the action is shifting more towards the intrigue on the island. In fact, Claire’s story seems to be intimately connected to the mystery of the island. That is decidedly not a good thing.
Not much is revealed about Claire as a person; her personality is not the focus of her story, and several questions about her life situation were never answered. What was her family situation, beyond the judgmental attitude suggested by her decision not to immediately tell her mother about the pregnancy? Claire has a certain carefree spirit in the early episodes, and while that is consistent in this case, she also seems more troubled and emotionally scarred than her demeanor has suggested.
Perhaps there’s a part of her that knows, on some instinctive level, that her arrival on the island was no accident. If dreams are at least partially the processing of subconscious information, then Claire could be slowly recognizing that the hints and warnings about her child are connected to the bits and pieces of information the survivors have gathered about the island.
This episode establishes something very important that might seem trivial at first glance, but actually could be very important to understanding the island and the world in which it resides. In this episode, it is established that psychic abilities are in fact real. Malkin knows that the plane will crash, and that Claire will survive with her baby at least long enough to have a chance of raising it herself.
That means that Claire’s nightmares could be more than just dreams; she could actually be seeing her possible future. If that’s the case, then the dream in which she’s attacked and her baby’s life is threatened is only the beginning. The more important nightmare is the first one. In that dream, she’s searching for her baby, who appears to have been taken from her. Within the dream, she encounters Locke.
The version of Locke in Claire’s dream suggests his role as the voice of the island. He seems to be playing solitaire, but that could be symbolic; traditional playing cards are based on versions of the Tarot, which is a tool of divination. More importantly, Locke’s eyes are replaced with stones of white and black, like those found on the bodies in the caves. This suggests that Claire’s child is tied to the same symbolism, which still hasn’t been explained.
Malkin’s visions, however, could provide a partial context for the white/black stones and their relation to Claire’s baby. In earlier reviews, it was speculated that the island is inhabited by a powerful consciousness, and that the survivors were all purposefully drawn to the island to undergo a spiritual test of some kind. This appears to have come down to two warring philosophies: embracing transformation in the form of the island (living in the caves) and rejecting change and risking death (living on the beach).
The implication is that one side is “good/white” while the other is “evil/black”. This could have much to do with the manner in which a person reacts to the spiritual challenge presented by the island itself. If a person is found worthy and changes into something better, then perhaps that is deemed “good’, while someone who fails the test falls into madness and never leaves, ultimately possessed by the “evil” within. If that is indeed the case, then there are really three groups in play: the good, the bad, and the untested. One could say that Jack’s group is leaning towards the “good”, while Sawyer’s group remains untested, like Danielle Rousseau.
Malkin’s reaction to the future for Claire’s baby, the potential for a great evil if Claire fails to raise the child herself, plays into this interpretation. If the island is testing the survivors on a spiritual level, based on their past history and their available choices based on that history, what would happen if a baby were born into that situation? That child would likely become the embodiment of whatever influence was primarily placed upon it during development; in essence, it would be either “good” or “evil”, depending on the alignment of the person raising it.
Claire seems to be “good”, or at least open to the process, and Malkin’s prediction fits with that assumption. But Malkin makes it very clear: if anyone else raises the child, something very bad will happen. Perhaps Claire’s decision to raise the child herself is her moment of transformation, and it all ties together. The revelation that Ethan is really a survivor of an earlier crash could also tie into the concept.
What if Ethan comes from a group of former survivors that failed the island’s spiritual test? If they have embraced the darkness within, then they might recognize that a child raised in the same philosophy would effectively be the embodiment of the island’s darkness. Whatever power has the ability to influence human fate so completely as to draw all these people to the island at once for a singular purpose would have enormous use for a child with no moral proclivity. It might even be possible that the island entity needs something like the baby to get off the island, and what form it takes depends entirely on which group raises the child.
This plays into the theory that Ethan is Alex, Danielle’s child, who could have likewise been raised under the island’s influence and turned to darkness. Perhaps the island saw how much influence it could exert on a young child and wanted to take it that much further. The island consciousness feeds information to Malkin, pushing him to direct Claire onto the plane, and then the island entity makes sure that enough people are on the plane with the right backgrounds to test their spiritual development.
Why would all of this take place? Perhaps it’s some kind of test of humanity’s development. Whatever exists on the island could have determined, after the fall of Danielle’s cohorts and child, that it should judge humanity. So it brings an unborn child to the island with the intent to take possession of it, but also brings enough people to the island to test them and see whether more find redemption or fall to darkness. Whichever side wins, in this theory, would ultimately determine the fate of humanity itself.
So if Jack’s group finds redemption and Claire survives with her baby in the caves, then the theory would suggest that the island would find humanity worthy. Perhaps the baby would grow up to be some kind of spiritual leader or something akin to the Second Coming. But if things go badly and more people fall into Ethan’s camp (literally or figuratively), then theory would suggest that the island would find humanity has “lost its way”, and needs to be wiped out.
Alternatively, this is all more of the same chemically induced altered point of view that Danielle hinted at in the previous episode, and Malkin’s attempt to understand visions of that madness led him to believe that the baby is more important than it really is. Even if the vast spiritual implications are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, it’s still quite certain that psychic ability is very real in the “Lost” mythology. But the idea that this is all in the heads of the survivors is seeming less and less likely; after all, when Claire tries to sign the adoption papers, the pens continually fail to work, suggesting something is making that happen, sending her a message.
While on the topic of Claire and her rather massive importance to the series mythology (if all the hints add up to something), something should be said about the absolutely wonderful performance by Emilie de Ravin. There are moments in this episode where she beams that gorgeous smile, those blue eyes light up, and you can hear the sound of millions of men (and some women) falling instantly in love. Emilie has certainly grown from her days on “Roswell”, and Claire presents the perfect outlet to display her talents.
With all the focus on Claire in this episode and the related mysteries of the island, it’s not surprising that the rest of the characters get little or no screen time. Jack is mostly there to cast doubt on Claire’s condition, so she can run off on her own and be vulnerable when the time comes for Ethan to make his move. Kate gets very little screen time; she’s mostly there to support Jack.
Sawyer is still holding court on the beach, recovering from his torture in “Confidence Man”, but he continues to take his reputation somewhat seriously. He could have easily told Hurley to jump off a cliff, but he took Hurley’s point for what it was worth and did the right thing. Of course, there’s more than a little interest in it for him as well; why else would he have grabbed the passenger manifest, if he didn’t want that kind of information already?
Sayid only shows up at the end, during the proscribed dramatic moment, and there are still a number of questions about him that need to be answered. What did he encounter in the clearing at the end of the last episode? How much does he knew about Danielle and her fellow research scientists? And what else was he able to take from Danielle’s pile of maps and documents? His knowledge will become very important in the episodes to come; very likely, he will give Jack and the others something to work with in terms of rescuing Claire and Charlie.
Charlie plays a huge part in this episode, proving that he is indeed (and rightfully) smitten with Claire in a major way. Helping her apparently helps him with the whole withdrawal situation, because his symptoms haven’t been very obvious over the past several days. That could be part of the island’s intent, however; once Charlie made that decision to get clean, he hasn’t had an issue. Now, of course, he’s joined fates with Claire, to the point of offering his companionship and protection once the baby is born. The two of them make a very good couple!
Hurley finally realizes that it might help to know more about the people on the island. It’s already been established that Hurley doesn’t like to have time on his hands, and out of all the survivors, he’s probably the one who gets along with everyone else the best. It’s interesting to note how many of the survivors wanted to remain anonymous; it’s easier to avoid the truth about oneself when there’s no need to acknowledge one’s identity. The timing of the “census” was clearly plot driven, but given the circumstances leading to this episode, there really was no driving need for everyone to be counted.
Boone and Shannon have very little to do, and most of the other relatively minor cast members don’t even appear in the episode. Locke, as always, commands a certain amount of presence, both in his role in Claire’s nightmare and his role as “shaman” at camp. It’s still not clear whether or not he knew something was different about Ethan, but it wouldn’t be very surprising to discover that Locke knew about others on the island and kept it to himself.
With the cast more or less introduced in the first third of the season, the traditional arc structure has kicked in, and the situation is becoming far more complicated as the mysteries deepen and new questions emerge. If the current pace continues in terms of the plot and character threads and the series timeline, Claire’s baby will come right around the time that answers should begin trickling in (around episode 15-16). That leaves plenty of time for the writers to continue laying the foundation for a satisfying resolution.
As time has passed, the novelty of the series’ format has worn off, and for some, that has lessened the enjoyment of the series as a whole. It would be easy to say that the writers have to work a little harder to be shocking, but in all fairness, it’s closer to the truth to say that the audience has gotten used to the level of storytelling at work. If this episode seems to lack something, compare it to the average episode of any other series. There’s little contest. After ten episodes, the writers have managed to avoid any major mistakes, consistently producing some of the best material currently in first run. That level of quality has simply become the norm.
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode was another strong effort by a solid writing staff, strongly supported by the wonderful performance by the stunning Emilie de Ravin. Claire’s background added yet another layer of mystery to the series and the island itself, while the plot and character threads continue to advance at a measured but inexorable pace.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Season Average (as of 1.10): 8.0
Directed by Marita Grabiak
In which Claire begins having nightmares about threats to her baby, prompting Charlie to offer his protection, while Hurley discovers that not all of the survivors were on the plane…
Status Report
In the previous episode, Sayid stumbled across the French woman who started the distress signal 16 years earlier, as discovered at the end of the pilot. Now that this little plot device has been revealed, the writers begin complicating the plot even further by revealing what has long been suspected: the survivors are not alone, not even in their own camp.
The writers hinted at this in the previous episode, but they wisely leave Sayid out of play as long as possible, letting the audience wonder who the ringer might be. Suspicions and questions are raised when Claire is apparently attacked, prompting Hurley to consider that most of the survivors know nothing about each other. It’s hard to believe that it took more than two weeks for basic paranoia to set in, but Claire’s situation is unique enough to trigger it.
Claire’s story continues a process that has been developing over the past few episodes. Unlike the first few episodes, where the flashbacks were a large part of the story, the action is shifting more towards the intrigue on the island. In fact, Claire’s story seems to be intimately connected to the mystery of the island. That is decidedly not a good thing.
Not much is revealed about Claire as a person; her personality is not the focus of her story, and several questions about her life situation were never answered. What was her family situation, beyond the judgmental attitude suggested by her decision not to immediately tell her mother about the pregnancy? Claire has a certain carefree spirit in the early episodes, and while that is consistent in this case, she also seems more troubled and emotionally scarred than her demeanor has suggested.
Perhaps there’s a part of her that knows, on some instinctive level, that her arrival on the island was no accident. If dreams are at least partially the processing of subconscious information, then Claire could be slowly recognizing that the hints and warnings about her child are connected to the bits and pieces of information the survivors have gathered about the island.
This episode establishes something very important that might seem trivial at first glance, but actually could be very important to understanding the island and the world in which it resides. In this episode, it is established that psychic abilities are in fact real. Malkin knows that the plane will crash, and that Claire will survive with her baby at least long enough to have a chance of raising it herself.
That means that Claire’s nightmares could be more than just dreams; she could actually be seeing her possible future. If that’s the case, then the dream in which she’s attacked and her baby’s life is threatened is only the beginning. The more important nightmare is the first one. In that dream, she’s searching for her baby, who appears to have been taken from her. Within the dream, she encounters Locke.
The version of Locke in Claire’s dream suggests his role as the voice of the island. He seems to be playing solitaire, but that could be symbolic; traditional playing cards are based on versions of the Tarot, which is a tool of divination. More importantly, Locke’s eyes are replaced with stones of white and black, like those found on the bodies in the caves. This suggests that Claire’s child is tied to the same symbolism, which still hasn’t been explained.
Malkin’s visions, however, could provide a partial context for the white/black stones and their relation to Claire’s baby. In earlier reviews, it was speculated that the island is inhabited by a powerful consciousness, and that the survivors were all purposefully drawn to the island to undergo a spiritual test of some kind. This appears to have come down to two warring philosophies: embracing transformation in the form of the island (living in the caves) and rejecting change and risking death (living on the beach).
The implication is that one side is “good/white” while the other is “evil/black”. This could have much to do with the manner in which a person reacts to the spiritual challenge presented by the island itself. If a person is found worthy and changes into something better, then perhaps that is deemed “good’, while someone who fails the test falls into madness and never leaves, ultimately possessed by the “evil” within. If that is indeed the case, then there are really three groups in play: the good, the bad, and the untested. One could say that Jack’s group is leaning towards the “good”, while Sawyer’s group remains untested, like Danielle Rousseau.
Malkin’s reaction to the future for Claire’s baby, the potential for a great evil if Claire fails to raise the child herself, plays into this interpretation. If the island is testing the survivors on a spiritual level, based on their past history and their available choices based on that history, what would happen if a baby were born into that situation? That child would likely become the embodiment of whatever influence was primarily placed upon it during development; in essence, it would be either “good” or “evil”, depending on the alignment of the person raising it.
Claire seems to be “good”, or at least open to the process, and Malkin’s prediction fits with that assumption. But Malkin makes it very clear: if anyone else raises the child, something very bad will happen. Perhaps Claire’s decision to raise the child herself is her moment of transformation, and it all ties together. The revelation that Ethan is really a survivor of an earlier crash could also tie into the concept.
What if Ethan comes from a group of former survivors that failed the island’s spiritual test? If they have embraced the darkness within, then they might recognize that a child raised in the same philosophy would effectively be the embodiment of the island’s darkness. Whatever power has the ability to influence human fate so completely as to draw all these people to the island at once for a singular purpose would have enormous use for a child with no moral proclivity. It might even be possible that the island entity needs something like the baby to get off the island, and what form it takes depends entirely on which group raises the child.
This plays into the theory that Ethan is Alex, Danielle’s child, who could have likewise been raised under the island’s influence and turned to darkness. Perhaps the island saw how much influence it could exert on a young child and wanted to take it that much further. The island consciousness feeds information to Malkin, pushing him to direct Claire onto the plane, and then the island entity makes sure that enough people are on the plane with the right backgrounds to test their spiritual development.
Why would all of this take place? Perhaps it’s some kind of test of humanity’s development. Whatever exists on the island could have determined, after the fall of Danielle’s cohorts and child, that it should judge humanity. So it brings an unborn child to the island with the intent to take possession of it, but also brings enough people to the island to test them and see whether more find redemption or fall to darkness. Whichever side wins, in this theory, would ultimately determine the fate of humanity itself.
So if Jack’s group finds redemption and Claire survives with her baby in the caves, then the theory would suggest that the island would find humanity worthy. Perhaps the baby would grow up to be some kind of spiritual leader or something akin to the Second Coming. But if things go badly and more people fall into Ethan’s camp (literally or figuratively), then theory would suggest that the island would find humanity has “lost its way”, and needs to be wiped out.
Alternatively, this is all more of the same chemically induced altered point of view that Danielle hinted at in the previous episode, and Malkin’s attempt to understand visions of that madness led him to believe that the baby is more important than it really is. Even if the vast spiritual implications are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, it’s still quite certain that psychic ability is very real in the “Lost” mythology. But the idea that this is all in the heads of the survivors is seeming less and less likely; after all, when Claire tries to sign the adoption papers, the pens continually fail to work, suggesting something is making that happen, sending her a message.
While on the topic of Claire and her rather massive importance to the series mythology (if all the hints add up to something), something should be said about the absolutely wonderful performance by Emilie de Ravin. There are moments in this episode where she beams that gorgeous smile, those blue eyes light up, and you can hear the sound of millions of men (and some women) falling instantly in love. Emilie has certainly grown from her days on “Roswell”, and Claire presents the perfect outlet to display her talents.
With all the focus on Claire in this episode and the related mysteries of the island, it’s not surprising that the rest of the characters get little or no screen time. Jack is mostly there to cast doubt on Claire’s condition, so she can run off on her own and be vulnerable when the time comes for Ethan to make his move. Kate gets very little screen time; she’s mostly there to support Jack.
Sawyer is still holding court on the beach, recovering from his torture in “Confidence Man”, but he continues to take his reputation somewhat seriously. He could have easily told Hurley to jump off a cliff, but he took Hurley’s point for what it was worth and did the right thing. Of course, there’s more than a little interest in it for him as well; why else would he have grabbed the passenger manifest, if he didn’t want that kind of information already?
Sayid only shows up at the end, during the proscribed dramatic moment, and there are still a number of questions about him that need to be answered. What did he encounter in the clearing at the end of the last episode? How much does he knew about Danielle and her fellow research scientists? And what else was he able to take from Danielle’s pile of maps and documents? His knowledge will become very important in the episodes to come; very likely, he will give Jack and the others something to work with in terms of rescuing Claire and Charlie.
Charlie plays a huge part in this episode, proving that he is indeed (and rightfully) smitten with Claire in a major way. Helping her apparently helps him with the whole withdrawal situation, because his symptoms haven’t been very obvious over the past several days. That could be part of the island’s intent, however; once Charlie made that decision to get clean, he hasn’t had an issue. Now, of course, he’s joined fates with Claire, to the point of offering his companionship and protection once the baby is born. The two of them make a very good couple!
Hurley finally realizes that it might help to know more about the people on the island. It’s already been established that Hurley doesn’t like to have time on his hands, and out of all the survivors, he’s probably the one who gets along with everyone else the best. It’s interesting to note how many of the survivors wanted to remain anonymous; it’s easier to avoid the truth about oneself when there’s no need to acknowledge one’s identity. The timing of the “census” was clearly plot driven, but given the circumstances leading to this episode, there really was no driving need for everyone to be counted.
Boone and Shannon have very little to do, and most of the other relatively minor cast members don’t even appear in the episode. Locke, as always, commands a certain amount of presence, both in his role in Claire’s nightmare and his role as “shaman” at camp. It’s still not clear whether or not he knew something was different about Ethan, but it wouldn’t be very surprising to discover that Locke knew about others on the island and kept it to himself.
With the cast more or less introduced in the first third of the season, the traditional arc structure has kicked in, and the situation is becoming far more complicated as the mysteries deepen and new questions emerge. If the current pace continues in terms of the plot and character threads and the series timeline, Claire’s baby will come right around the time that answers should begin trickling in (around episode 15-16). That leaves plenty of time for the writers to continue laying the foundation for a satisfying resolution.
As time has passed, the novelty of the series’ format has worn off, and for some, that has lessened the enjoyment of the series as a whole. It would be easy to say that the writers have to work a little harder to be shocking, but in all fairness, it’s closer to the truth to say that the audience has gotten used to the level of storytelling at work. If this episode seems to lack something, compare it to the average episode of any other series. There’s little contest. After ten episodes, the writers have managed to avoid any major mistakes, consistently producing some of the best material currently in first run. That level of quality has simply become the norm.
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode was another strong effort by a solid writing staff, strongly supported by the wonderful performance by the stunning Emilie de Ravin. Claire’s background added yet another layer of mystery to the series and the island itself, while the plot and character threads continue to advance at a measured but inexorable pace.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Season Average (as of 1.10): 8.0
posted by John Keegan | 16:57
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