Abandoned
Air Date: 11/09/2005
Our castaways may be stranded on an island, but human nature is a very powerful force. So when Sayid presents Shannon with a brand new shelter, we aren't exactly surprised when she invites him inside to spend the night. And until Sayid leaves to get them a drink of water, we might think that things are finally finding their way back to normal. But when Walt comes strolling into the tent, still dripping wet, any thought of normalcy goes flying straight out the hole in the tarp that serves as a window.
Shannon screams at the top of her lungs but by the time Sayid gets to her, Walt has disappeared again. Half the beach is awake now and they all rush over. Sayid tells her (and everyone listening) that it was only a dream -- everything is fine. But the fact that Sayid publicly refutes her story leaves Shannon feeling angry and hurt. When Claire arrives with the baby, Charlie scolds her for waking the baby up and Claire actually apologizes.
In FLASHBACK, we see a younger Shannon and we're surprised to find her genuinely sweet and caring. She works as a ballet instructor, dreams of landing an internship with a prestigious dance company in New York and lives her life with the ease of someone who knows they have their bet covered. But when her father is killed in a car accident things go from bad to worse. In her father, she lost her best friend. And her relationship with her stepmother Sabrina isn't exactly what you might call loving. Boone does what he can to be there for her, but this type of grief takes time to process. Still, she soldiers on the best she can and even gets word about the internship in New York -- it's hers! There's just one problem -- the internship is unpaid and she doesn't seem to have any money. Her father always took care of that, so Shannon goes to see Sabrina to ask when she is getting the money left to her by her father in his will. And it's here that Shannon's world is turned completely upside down. Her father had no will. And through a living trust, all his assets go to his wife…Sabrina. Sabrina tells Shannon it's time to start taking care of herself -- that everyone has to work for what they have and that the free ride is over. And as Shannon is literally kicked out of the only home she has ever known we see the pain on her face and know she is being pushed down a path that will change her forever.
On the island, Claire finds herself more and more upset about having her parenting skills questioned by Charlie. As Locke helps her get the baby to sleep she rails against Charlie, admitting that she knows very little about him -- he could be a religious freak for all she knows. Why else would he carry a statue of the Virgin Mary around with him? And as this lands on Locke, we realize Charlie is walking a very dangerous line.
Halfway across the island, Ana Lucia and Mr. Eko are leading what remains of their party on a trek to join our castaways and unite the clans. They race against the clock of Sawyer's infection and the ever-present danger of the Others until silently and without warning, another of their clan simply disappears. Mistrust and paranoia reign as they fight their way through the jungle and into the driving rain -- never knowing they are on a collision course with tragedy just moments away.
And elsewhere, Sayid tries desperately to connect with Shannon, who has resorted to using Vincent to try and track Walt. When he finally catches up to her in the jungle, it's all he can do to prevent her from falling into hysterics. She tells him she knows he thinks she is crazy and that they found the message bottle from the raft. She knows he will leave her as soon as they are rescued. She knows this because everyone leaves her. So he should just go now. But Sayid tells her he believes her; promises her that he will never leave her no matter what happens. And then he says something neither of them thought they would ever hear or say again…He loves her. And as they fall into an embrace, Sayid sees something that couldn't be there. He sees Walt -- and Shannon doesn't know whether to be frightened or relieved. She takes off after him into the jungle and it takes a moment for Sayid to jar himself into action. But that second is all it takes for life on this island to take yet another tragic turn.
Observations and speculation:
* We get our first-ever Shannon flashback (everything in season one was from Boone's perspective) and BAM! she's knocked off.
* The Others "took" nearly all of the tail-end survivors shortly after they crashed. That seems to mean the missing passengers were killed, but there are also hints that they kidnapped children among the survivors, and that those children are still alive. Libby (the blond Tailender) asks Mr. Eko is he saw "the kids" after she learns that he, Michael and Jin have spotted the Others. Did Libby lose a child to the Others too?
* Libby is a clinical psychologist, which could come in handy when it comes to figuring out what's up with the Hatch project, etc.
* What's the deal with the Others and their child-snatching ways? Ethan Rom wanted Claire's baby. The sea-bound Others snatched Walt. Evidently the Others took children from the Tailenders. Are they using children to perpetuate whatever society they've established on the island? Are they using the children as slaves? Are the leaders of the Others children who, in some goofy kind of way, lead their society and boss the grownups around? Along these lines, there was a Peter Pan poster in Shannon's apartment during the flashback scenes.
* The Tailender, Cindy, is taken from Ana's group without anyone noticing at all. So the Others are pretty danged sneaky and quiet.
*What's up with all the creepy jungle whispering? As depicted/heard in season 1, this seems to be the sound the Others make when they're around. But how do they make it? What does it mean? Here's a link to transcipts of previous jungle whispers.
* Walt, or some kinda mystical manifestation thereof, appears to warn Shannon to be quiet, putting his finger to his lips. But the warning is unsuccessful as Shannon screams, spooks Ana and is shot. According to a post at 4815162342.com, Walt's saying "They're coming, and they're close." But why is his speech all freaky and backwards-sounding?
* There's speculation here that Ana didn't shoot Shannon. Interesting, but I kinda think she did.
* Was Shannon's fate predicted in the vision Boone had during season one?
* Jack is seen quickly passing by in the background during thehospital scene, when Shannon and her step-mother go there after Shannon's father's car accident. As depicted earlier this season, Shannon's father was killed in a collision with the woman Jack treated and later married.
* Looks like heroin could arise as a problem for Charlie again, particularly if Claire distances herself from him.
Other stuff
* Promo for the next episode.
* Screen caps from "Abandoned."
* Screen caps from the next episode.
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