Episode Analysis of 1.10 "Raised By Another"

WARNING: If you have not already seen all of LOST, please DO NOT READ THIS.

My LOST re-watch and in-depth episode analysis will include major details from the entirety that was LOST, and will be written with the perspective of having seen everything already. You will be SPOILED if you read any further. It is far better if you learn the story of LOST for yourself, as it is meant to be seen. Trust me on this, and don't say that I didn't warn you first. Seriously. Stop it. Now. Go watch it. Then, come back here.

First off, let's clear the air first. I'm back after taking two months or so off from blogging altogether. While it was much longer than I had originally anticipated, I didn't realize how much time I needed until I actually got back here. Sometimes, I need a break from these things to clear my head and reset. It's good to be back now.

What happened while I was gone? Well, apparently all the actors from LOST have literally lost their damn minds after leaving the Island. First, Doug Hutchison, who played Horace Goodspeed, and is fifty-one years old, married a sixteen year old aspiring country singer. Then, Matthew Fox got arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman on a damn party bus or something. Sounds like he's pulling a Jack Shephard to me. I wonder if he was wearing a fake beard when he did it..

And, in much less disturbing news, Evangeline Lilly had a baby without anyone even noticing she was pregnant. Apparently she's dating Norman Kali, who was a Production Assistant on LOST. I recognized this dude right away because he's in a bunch of the LOST DVD Extras.. Their baby's first words? "We have to go back, Kate." Yes, babies speak immediately when they are born. Evangeline was also cast in the new film, The Hobbit, and was seen in New Zealand with her baby boy. So, that's pretty exciting. Especially for LOTR nerds like myself.. Also, congrats to Evangeline and Norman. And, that's probably the first and last time I will ever write about "gossip" or whatever the fuck that was that I just did..

So, now that we're done with that quick recap and LOST news, let's get back to business as usual, shall we?

To read my original post on this episode, please refer to Raised By Another.

This episode was written by Lynne E. Litt, and directed by Marita Grabiak. It originally aired on December 1st, 2004.

This is a Claire Littleton flashback-centric episode.

We begin with a close-up of closed eye. We hear a baby crying in the distance and a waterfall in the background. Claire Littleton's eye suddenly opens. As she wakes, her eyes shift, looking around to catch her bearings. It's dark, and a baby continues to cry. Claire suddenly springs up from her sleep, short of breath, and looking around the caves. She feels her stomach to realize that she is no longer pregnant.

2.15 Maternity Leave

1. Night, Aaron crying, fever, rash, Locke goes to get Jack, Rousseau shows up.
2. "He's infected." Rousseau tells Claire, but Claire has a flash of a vaccine, a girl, needle, Claire's pregnant stomach, Ethan, Claire, scratching Rousseau.
3. "It's a vaccine. You don't want him to get sick." Ethan
4. Jack says that Rousseau is crazy, that Aaron isn't infected.
5. Claire asks Libby for help, tells her what happened, that she was taken.
6. Locke gives Henry a book to read in the armory. From Lost Hatch
7. "Did you know that Hemingway was jealous of Dostoevsky?" Locke tells Jack.
8. Locke and Jack argue about what to do with Henry Gale and pushing the button.
9. Libby help Claire meditate, to try to remember what happened to her.
10. Claire sees a flash of a mobile on the crib.
    
    From Lostpedia
    
11. Claire sees a doctor's office, a man talking, mild sedative, Claire says he was going to Los Angeles, giving the baby up for adoption, Ethan giving her shot, vile with the numbers on it, same as Desmond's, medicine for her baby. From Lostpedia
12. Claire wakes from her meditative state. "It was Ethan."
13. Eko cuts down the trees he marked, he goes to the hatch for a saw while Jack hides Henry in the bathroom.
14. Kate gets a gun from Sawyer to go find the place where Claire was taken.
15. Claire gives Aaron to Sun. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Sun asks, which causes Claire to have a flashback to when she was taken.
16. Claire sees Ethan "You need to be sure," airplane, girl again, covering mouth, needle.
17. Claire is heavily drugged, Ethan has a surprise, he shows her baby's room, nursery, baby crib, Oceanic crib mobile plays Catch A Falling Star, toys, stuffed animals, furniture.
18. "What happened to Charlie?" Claire asks Ethan. From Lostpedia From Lost Hatch
19. "You were supposed to make a list and then bring her in." Mr. Friendly
20. Ethan says they knew he wasn't on the plane, that they had the manifest.
21. "What am I supposed to tell him? You know what he's going to do when he finds out. Damn it, Ethan." Mr. Friendly
22. Kate and Claire explore to find what happened to Claire, they get Rousseau to help.
23. Eko asks Jack about the man in the hatch, Jack assumes Locke told him.
24. Rousseau takes Claire to where she scratched her, Claire has another flashback, room, knitting, Ethan brings her out for a walk, he says when Claire has the baby, she goes, that it's her choice, but there's not enough vaccine for her and the baby.
25. "We're good people, Claire. We're a good family." Ethan
26. Claire finds a medical hatch, The Staff, baby's room, everything is gone, cleared out. Kate, locker room, hat, glue, beard, dirty costumes.
    
    From Lostpedia
    
27. Claire finds baby's sock, has another flashback, teenage girl wakes her up, Claire is heavily drugged again, tells her they're going to take the baby, Claire doesn't want to go, but Alex helps her escape.
28. "They're gonna cut him out of you." Alex
    
    From Lostpedia From Lost Hatch
    
29. Claire finds examination room where the medication was, she has a flashback of being on the ground, Rousseau finds her, knocks her out, she saved her from the Others.
30. "You're not the only one who didn't find what they were looking for." Rousseau
31. "She was good." Claire tells Rousseau that Alex helped her.
32. Locke and Jack allow Eko to talk to Henry Gale.
33. "The first night I spent on this island I was dragged into the jungle by 2 men. They never spoke a word to me, nor I to them. I killed these men, smashed in their head with a stone, felt their blood on my arms. I need you to know how sorry I am for this. I need you to know that I am back on the righteous path now, and that I regret my actions. I ask you for your forgiveness." Eko makes a sacrifice and cuts off his beard. From Lostpedia
34. Aaron gets better, he's not sick anymore. Claire gives him the booty.
35. "Now I know that we're supposed to be together." Claire tells Aaron.
36. Henry Gale tries to get to Locke, manipulate him. Henry asks about Hemingway and Dostoevsky, why Locke allows Jack to call the shots.
37. "Are you the genius, or are you the guy who always feels like he's living in the shadow of a genius?" Henry
38. Locke starts to do the dishes, but smashes them because Henry got to him, we see Henry's menacing face.

Questions:

1. Why did the Others want Claire's baby?
2. What drugs was Claire on?
3. How did Claire have a dream of the Oceanic mobile before she was in The Staff?
4. Why did Alex help Claire?
5. Why did Eko want to talk to Henry?
6. Was Eko's beard a sacrifice the island demanded?

Favorites:

1. "Dostoevsky? You don't have Steven King?" Henry Gale
2. "Well, Thelma, seeing as I got all the guns, I do get to ask why." Sawyer "No, you don't." Kate "Yes, I do--watch. Why?" Sawyer
3. "No cheeseburgers, huh?" Henry Gale
4. "You have good ears." Locke "You have thin doors." Henry

Notes:

1. The story of Dostoevsky and Hemingway parallels Jack and Locke's relationship.
2. The Oceanic Airlines crib mobile in Claire's flashback of the medical hatch, The Staff, is the same one she saw in the dream that she had in Raised By Another.
3. Claire is so annoying and irrational.

1.10 Raised By Another

From Lostpedia

1. In Claire's dream, there is a baby crying, she's walking through the jungle, she sees Locke and he says "he was your responsibility, but you gave him away. Everyone pays the price now."
2. Locke's eyes are black and white when he is speaking to Claire.
   From Lostpedia
3. There is a baby's crib in the middle of the jungle, with an Oceanic plane mobile, blood in the crib, and blood on her hands when she wakes. From Lostpedia
4. "She was okay with letting you fly in your third trimester?" Jack, asks Claire about her doctor.
5. Thomas, Claire's boyfriend says that they can make it work. He is a painter. Claire says her mom would disown her if she had a baby. From Lostpedia
6. Sayid's been gone for almost a week.
7. Claire goes to psychic with her friend, Rachel, he knows she's pregnant, that she hasn't told her mom, he freaks out and turns her away.
8. Claire with hand over mouth and knife. She says he had a needle. "He was trying to hurt my baby!"
9. Hurley starts a census, asking everyone why they were on the plane.
10. Locke says, "I was looking for something." Hurley asks if he found it. "No, it found me." Locke is from Tustin, California.
11. Claire is due in a little more than a week, maybe two.
12. Ethan Rom, from Ontario, Canada.
13. The psychic tells Claire that she has to raise the baby, that if anyone else does it will be dangerous. "There is no happiness for this child without you."
14. Claire is going to give up the baby for adoption to Arlene and Joseph Stewart for $20,000, she asks if they know Catch A Falling Star, that her dad sang it to her. She has a bad feeling and backs out, goes to psychic again. From Lostpedia
15. Richard Malkin spent the last 4 months saying that Claire has to raise the baby, then he pays her to give the baby away to a couple in Los Angeles, $6,000 when she leaves and when she gets back. "They're good people."
16. Claire tells Charlie about the psychic while she's having contractions. Charlie says maybe he knew they would crash.
17. "It has to be this flight." Richard Malkin
18. "There was no couple in LA. He knew about the plane, what was going to happen." Claire
19. Sayid comes back. "I found the French woman. We're not alone."
20. "One of them isn't in the manifest. He wasn't on the plane." Hurley From Lost, The Untold

Questions:

1. How did Claire get on a plane when she was about to have a baby?
2. Why does Claire tell Thomas that her mom will disown her when we find out later that she was in a coma at that time?
3. Was the psychic for real? Did he see the plane crash or was he working for someone?
4. Did Claire's dream foresee the future?
5. Is this when Claire got into astrology?
6. Where did Hurley get his nickname from?
7. Does the baby really need to be raised by Claire?

Favorites:

1. "I have this dream. I'm driving a bus, and my teeth start falling out. My mom's in the back making biscuits. Everything smells of bacon. It's weird." Charlie
2. "My name's not even Hurley. It's Hugo Reyes. Hurley's a nickname. Why? I'm not telling." Hurley, to Jack about doing the census because they don't know people.
3. Hurley after talking to Locke. "Yeah, I know I already talked to you. I just need to get away from that guy."
4. "Lance? Your name's Lance, right?" Hurley "Yeah, definitely not Lance." Ethan
5. "Canada? Right on, right on, love Canada. They have great..." Hurley
6. "Name, Shannon Rutherford. Age, 20. Location, Craphole Island."
7. "One sugar plum fairy, two sugar plum fairy. If I can kick drugs, I can deliver a baby." Charlie, to Claire, in the jungle when she's having contractions.

Notes:

1. Raised by an other.
2. Ethan Rom is an anagram for Other Man.
3. Jack says Claire will have the baby soon.
4. This is the first time Oceanic Flight 815 is mentioned.
5. Charlie told Claire that he did drugs when she's having contractions.
6. The survivors find out that there are, in fact, other people on this island.