Things I Noticed – "Par Avion" by Vozzek69

Although it didn't appear that much happened this week, there were a lot of little things. First scratch Pickett, then Klugh, now Mikhail... maybe the producers are taking everyone's complaints about too many new characters seriously. Things I noticed:

Goth Claire is Mad Hot
Sorry, but she is. I've always been partial to blondes, but she was extra sexy this episode. This was the first thing I noticed. :)

We Finally Know What Claire 'Did'
Seems everyone on the island has been guilty of something bad, with few exceptions (Hurley, Rose, Bernard). Claire was sorta on this list until this episode. An accident's an accident, but telling your mom you hate her and wish she were dead right before she gets ejected through the windshield of the car you're driving... that's a different story entirely. This is akin to Juliet's 'hit by a bus' episode. Do I think Claire caused her mom's death? Maybe. Do I think she's "special"? Not in that way. More on that at the end. One thing the camera focused on was the red 'no seatbelt' warning light on the dash. Claire was wearing hers, but mom was apparently not.

Good Question Kate
Finally somebody's curious enough about Danielle's fishy behavior to ask why she's been so placid about finding Alex. You'd think she'd be a lot more excited, but she prefers to be kept in the dark about everything. That does seem strange. Maybe as the reunion draws closer she's realizing exactly what she said: that her daughter won't even remember her. Or maybe, like she also told Kate, she "doesn't want to know". Going into such an 'encounter' with preconceived notions might make them true... if you catch my drift.

Charlie - Not Half as Slick a Player as Sayid
Seems Charlie needs to take a few more pages out of Sayid's book of seducing women. Ripping off the picnic idea was a good start, but his execution in choosing of a non-deserted beach was poor. People walking around in the background... Jin(?) surfcasting a few yards away... his whole plan was doomed from the start - way before Desmond showed up to ****block him. At this rate Charlie's gonna be dead before he ever makes it out of the friend zone.

All kidding aside, if Desmond keeps seeing Charlie's death we have to ask ourselves what else is he seeing? Either he's seeing all manner of happenings on the island or his visions are mostly limited to images of Charlie biting the dust. And if that's the case, why does the island choose to keep projecting to Desmond the methods of Charlie's death? It occurred to me that maybe the island wants to keep Charlie alive. Perhaps the Universe has him marked for death but the island needs him for something and is using Desmond to alter that? Hmmm.

It's a Toss-up This Week
Best line this week was a tough one, but I think it's between Sayid and Locke. "It's certainly not as infallible as the magical carvings on your stick!" made me laugh, but "Pardon me for not knowing they had a... a... a sonic weapon fence!" probably edges it out. Not by much, though.

Claire Spots Tagged Seagulls Flying Full Speed at a Quarter Mile Away and is Instantly an Expert on Migratory Birds
"They're only gonna be here today!" I can sum up my reaction to this in only three letters: W T F ?

You're Not Capable of Understanding
Somehow, for some reason, I find myself fully believing the stuff Mikhail keeps saying. His words this episode were carefully chosen, but still Goodwin-like in their honesty. We hear mention of 'the list' again, but this time instead of good (or evil) we hear that the people not on the list are flawed. He goes on to name Locke as angry (no disagreement there), Danielle as weak (maybe during the baby-napping?), and strangely, Sayid as frightened. Sayid would be the last person I'd pick to be frightened, but maybe we haven't seen enough of Sayid's past yet.

Mikhail's facial expressions are the most interesting. He smirks and he smiles, often seeming to laugh inwardly. He watches the 815 survivors with the same mild amusement as someone watching children discovering something for the first time. Aside from the info he offers in his well-rehearsed speech on how he was recruited by Dharma, he hasn't offered a single piece of information that hasn't already been semi-deduced by our main characters. Sayid: "What are these pylons?" Mikhail: "What do YOU think they are?" Sayid thinks they're an alarm perimeter... or a trap. Sure enough, that's what they become. The system "hasn't functioned in years" according to Mikhail. "Of course it hasn't", Sayid says with his best smirk. Not only does Sayid believe the system still works, he even explains later on how it works - as if he's got it all worked out in his head. Oh, and whoever CGI'd those pylons into the jungle... the shadows went in all kinds of different directions. They did look cool, though.

Locke shoving Mikhail into the field was pretty badass, but he played right into his prisoner's hands. His "thank you" was was for both of them: thanking Locke for the push, and thanking Sayid for believing that the field was still armed. Still skeptical? Consider this: If Mikhail knew the field was armed all along, why didn't he just run straight into it? We already know he's got a death wish. He didn't do it because he needed Sayid to arm it first. "But Vozzek, why didn't Mikhail just 'wish' it armed himself?" Because as Klugh would say... it just doesn't work that way.

Finally, the most important thing to take away from the whole Mikhail thing was his apparent recognition of Locke. He mentions a "fleeting memory" but then goes on to say that the John Locke he knew was "para-" (lyzed). This doesn't add up, and here's why: Mikhail's been on the island for eleven years. Locke's only been paralyzed (according to next week's preview) for the past four. So Mikhail's fleeting memory of Locke can only be explained by one of three things: 'implanted memories' (gasp!), Locke somehow being on the island before, or the third thing I'll mention at the end of this summary.


Claire is a Filthy Baby-User
"Oh yeah??? Well I don't want you around the baby anymore!" Jeeze, isn't this like the 78th time she's used the baby as a weapon to wound Charlie whenever he doesn't do exactly as she wants? Is anyone else sick and tired of this? I don't care how goth-hot she was this episode, no one should have to put up with such whiny 'take my ball and go home' crap. Enough already.

Locke the Mad Bomber
I give credit to all the people last week who theorized that Locke was on some mad mission to blow up every station on the island (and then some). It certainly does seem Locke's agenda includes island destruction the likes of which haven't been seen since the movie Commando.

Locke and Sayid's ongoing battle of science vs. faith is nothing new. This episode we have Locke's disdain of Sayid's map over his own faith in Eko's staff. Locke seems once again to be following his heart, and perhaps the island's will, when it comes to his actions. He doesn't seem concerned with what the others think, but then again, he had a great point when he mentioned that they're not exactly consulting him when they make decisions either. His confrontation with Ben next episode looks awesome.

Who's Your Daddy
It's been theorized for a long time now that Jack and Claire were siblings, so it was no big surprise when they finally introduced this. I'm not sure how important it is in the grand scheme of things, but it's a good plot device to set up a future episode where Claire and Jack find this out. The logical way for that to happen would be the sudden reappearance of their walking dead father. I suppose Ben 'knows' this and could probably tell them, but I think the other way would be far more dramatic.

Super-uptight Aunt Lindsay aside, Dr. Shepherd's reasons for not visiting his daughter were pretty weak. Everything he told her was pretty straightforward, but the one line that got me: "Your mother is alive... but she's not really living". That sticks out.

A quick fling and a continent later, why does he care so much if this woman is kept breathing? Trying to free Claire's guilt with some fatherly advice would be one thing, but he grabs her with force and turns her around. He just seemed overly determined to convice her.

Look Ma, No Net
Okay, so Desmond catches this bird with his bare hands. It doesn't try to fly away or escape. It wasn't injured, and it wasn't protecting a nest or it certainly wouldn't have flown into the wild blue yonder at the end of the episode.

Think that's weird? Check out the 'tag' on the bird's leg. Looks a hell of a lot like the metal flashing wrapped around Locke's C4 bundle, doesn't it? Sure does.

Then we've got a folded up paper note and a toothpick. Is this all it takes to attach this thing to the bird's leg? What if it rains? C'mon Charlie, that's weak. Almost as weak as the way the bird launched into the air at the head of a magically appearing flock of seagulls at the exact moment they let it go. The coincidences are astounding.

The Island is Messing With the Flashbacks
The above statement says it all, plain and simple. For a while we took the events happening on the island with a grain of salt, but we always figured we could trust the flashbacks. After all, this was stuff that happened before they all got on the weird island, right? Right.

I don't think so.

Believe me, I'm not saying the flashbacks are complete falsities. And I'm not saying they never happened. But I am saying they probably didn't happen exactly the way the survivors remember them happening. Just as I think the island plucks things from the memories/flashbacks of the those who inhabit it, I think it also adds or subtracts things from those memories as well, in attempts to rationalize things that happen. In short, the island leads people on... in all possible ways.

For example, the whole 'nature show' and migratory bird thing. Claire flips on the TV for her mom and we see a few seconds of geese flying. This is island-induced. This is rationalization (lame rationalization, but nonetheless) for the fact that Claire is suddenly a bird expert. Just as Locke reading some survivalist magazines is lame rationalization for the way he can throw knives, hunt boar, or track people like a bloodhound.

How can Mikhail possibly have known a paralyzed Locke, unless he was 'shown' Locke by the island itself? This isn't a flashback, this is a flash-sideways. Did Claire really wish her mother would die, or does the island just want Claire to feel guilt for her mother's death? Did Desmond and Jack really meet each other at that stadium all those years ago, or is the island just showing them what it wants them to see?

Way, way too deep. That's all I'm saying here, I'm going to get enough hate mail as it is. :)

Mr. Friendly Throws Like a Girl
Wow, he totally does. I'm not saying we needed to see a perfect spiral or anything, but you'd think someone (anyone) on set with the most rudimentary level of athleticism could spend 20 minutes showing him how to toss a football.

The easiest explanation of course, is that Jack's "playing along" with the Others. Sure beats sitting in a dark cell all the time. I guess we'll find out next week, but this was an awesome scene. Kate's expression was priceless. And the face Jack made as he spiked the ball was one of the all-time best things I've seen on this show.