“Maternity Leave”
Although not necessarily the most riveting episode, we do finally find out what happened to Claire when she was abducted. And, more importantly, some more light is shed on the wacky, illusive Others, who may or may not be part of the Dharma Initiative (they probably are).
It starts off with Rousseau showing up at camp and telling Claire that her baby, who’s running a fever, could be “infected”–by, you know, that mysterious illness that has apparently wiped out legions of people on the island, including Rousseau’s scientific team. Good old Rousseau.
Triggered partly from Rousseau’s appearance and partly from Libby’s relaxation techniques, Claire starts having memory flashes about what happened to her in those two weeks Ethan took her away–and gets sufficiently freaked out. Remembering that while she was with the Others she was being given vaccine for the baby, Claire sets out to find the place she was being held, convinced that the only way to cure Aaron is to find the vaccine. She drags Rousseau and Kate along for the ride.
Slowly but surely, Claire pieces things together about that missing chunk: In another strange and far more modern hatch, Ethan keeps the pregnant Claire happily drugged, promising her the baby would be well taken care of if she left him with them. They even fix up a cute nursery for Aaron. But Claire is awaken one day by a beautiful teenage girl (could she be Rousseau’s daughter?), who tells her she has to get out there immediately because they are about to cut Claire open and take the baby. Yikes. Claire doesn’t believe it in her drugged state but finds herself in the middle of the jungle, with Rousseau helping her to escape.
The three women finally find the hatch, which has now been deserted (gee, the Others are a wily bunch). There’s no vaccine but there is proof Claire’s memory flashes were real. In the end, Aaron turns out to be just fine, and Claire is resolved more than ever to be a good mother.
Meanwhile, in another fascinating puzzle piece to this whole Lost phenomenon, the captive Henry Gale causes some trouble. Jack and Locke continue to try and keep him a secret from the camp, but when Mr. Eko ventures down into the hatch to borrow some tools, he figures out that they are keeping a man inside the armory and tells Jack he wants to speak with the prisoner. While Henry maintains that he is not an Other, Eko treats him as such and confesses to killing two of his friends.
Jack and Locke continue to butt heads about how to handle the situation, further straining the power balance between our two heroes. And when Henry uses this information to try and get inside Locke’s head, John Locke’s composure snaps for the first time, giving way to his complete frustration at being trapped by his responsibilities to the hatch.
Why would you let him get to Locke? You know better than that…