This episode also contained another side story with interesting implications. As the unlikely trio of Sawyer, Claire (and Aaron) and Miles trekked across the Island, two significant questions were raised.#60 Why were Karl and Rousseau buried? If the freighter commandos were sent to the Island to find Ben and kill everyone, why did they bother wasting time burying two individuals no one would miss in the middle of the jungle? If, on the other hand, the freighter commandos were not the ones to bury Karl and Rousseau, who then did? It could not have been any of the castaways since all were accounted for at other locations on the Island. If it was the Others, why would they bury them (poorly and shallowly) when they burned Colleen at sea? The only remaining option, then, is that the bodies were somehow "swallowed" by the Island.
#61 Why did Claire leave Aaron behind? For those who do not know, there was apparently a scene cut from the previous episode (in which Claire was nearly killed in her house's explosion) wherein the writers possibly foreshadowed her new "visions" and interactions with her father. Ignoring for the moment that Christian, dressed differently than he has been in all other on-Island visions, was "real" enough to physically hold Aaron, one wonders why Claire did not react with greater alarm. Instead of screaming and lunging for her child, she merely asks "Dad?" (echoing Jack's similar reaction the first time he saw Christian in "White Rabbit") and supposedly abandons her child to fend for himself in the middle of the jungle. Even assuming Sawyer and Miles, or someone, would find Aaron, Claire is breaking her promise in allowing Aaron to be "raised by another".
As it turns out, Aaron is raised, prior to Hurley's warning, by Kate and Jack in the future as they "play house". Their perfectly happy future (which I am sure fulfilled the greatest wishes of many 'shippers) proved temporary as Jack's deep-seated paranoia finally ruptured (like an appendix). In my view, Jack's reluctance to see Aaron in Kate's flashforwards was out of fear that he would be a horrible father figure.
In regards to the flashforwards, while some might take great notice of the newspaper article, which may or may not place the scene in 2007 depending on which set of facts from the article one references, I feel it was merely a bad use of imperfect props. In addition, while some also take great notice of Jack's new tattoos, the ladybugs on Kate's fridge, or the painting of the man trapped in a circle, I feel these are trivial matters not worth particular attention.
Instead, what I noticed while (re)watching the flashforwards was the excellent progressive use of lighting and color. In the first flashforward, Jack is initially shown lying (naked) in bed, covered in white sheets, in a brightly lit bedroom. Throughout the rest of the scene he walks around, cheerfully, in a white towel as he starts his day. When he is next seen reading to Aaron and talking to Kate he wears a light blue shirt in a moderately well-lit hallway. However, then he visits Hurley and begins to lose control as the shadows envelop him. In Hurley's room Jack sits with the primary light in front of him casting a large, ominous shadow over Jack's shoulder. Later, he sits outside the hospital in the darkness. Finally, Jack skulks in the shadows drinking before confronting Kate in the last flashforward. In each scene he is also dressed in dark suits, unshaven and unspooled. While usually the show's directing and cinematography is basic and unimportant, I feel I must point out when they masterfully use such devices to underscore their themes.
#62 What favor did Kate do for Sawyer? To conclude, I would like to ask this simple question and see what theories anyone might have. The leading theory, to which I subscribe, is that Kate went to see Sawyer's daughter. Another theory is that she performed some act for some third person in order to carry out a promise new-hero-Sawyer made with someone on the Island. Let me know what you think.
On a scale of 1-5, I would rate this episode a 2. While the flashforwards were wonderfully conceived and acted, the main Island story was incredibly insignificant. Unless the surgery, or the operation-tent-confessions, are referenced in the future I do not feel this episode will have lasting importance.
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