Season 3, Episode 12: "Par Avion"

Going to have to make this quick - I'm going to be out all day tomorrow (Thursday) so I'll have to write this tonight...so no googling info or looking up other facts online. This is going to be straight from my head to the computer!

The title of this episode is "Par Avion." This is French for "by air." I know this because I spent a summer in France when I was 16. And I remember that when I sent mail back and forth to my family/friends, there was always a stamp on the envelopes that said "par avion." Anyway, this is in reference to Claire's idea to use the tagged birds to send a message "by air!"

Okay, so we find out that Claire is the illegitimate love child of Dr. Christian Shephard, Jack's father. Which means Jack and Claire are half-siblings! Another connection amongst the survivors. I have to say (and only because I have to gloat to my husband that I WAS RIGHT!) because I predicted this way back when (from season 2, episode 20 - the episode where Jack's father hires Ana Lucia to accompany him to Australia and he goes to a woman's house in the middle of the night demanding to see his daughter. For some reason I thought it was Claire, even way back then!)

And on a side note, who would have thought that Claire was a tattoo-parlor, body-piercing, "goth" chick?

Through Claire's backstory, we learn that she was involved in a car accident which ultimately left her mother in a coma. Though she did not die, she was basically dead (the doctor said that "she is alive, but she is not really living." So, once again, we have another survivor who feels responsible and GUILTY for the death of someone. We also find out she was fighting with her mother in the car just before the crash, and she told her she hated her and wished she was not her mother. This has obviously affected Claire in a huge way and I think it contributes to her willingness to "seize the day" and always be positive.

This episode also had a lot to do with hope. Claire comes up with the (very good) idea that they can send a message back on one of the tagged birds because it will eventually be caught somewhere and studied for migration purposes. However Charlie shows no signs of hope that this will work. As he said, he doesn't believe in false hope. And yet again, we see that Desmond is still saving his life every day, from an ill-fated death. Interestingly enough, each time actually, his "death" has to do with Claire (struck by lighting in her tent, trying to save her from drowning, trying to get the bird for her). However, ultimately Charlie is able to show signs of hope again, and he and Claire release the bird together with the note.

Another big revelation in this episode is we learn much more about Mikhail (eyepatch guy). He tells Locke, Sayid and Kate about "the list" and appears to be telling the truth. He also says that they were able to come and go on the island until two weeks ago when the first hatch imploded. Kate asks why they would WANT to come back to the island, and he says that they could never understand...because they are not on the list. He tells them because they are angry, and weak. He also tells them that he was recruited by a "magnificent man" (which he says was NOT Ben) when he was 24 (so obviously was many years ago). I am suspecting this is the "Jacob" who we have heard of before.

Mikhail also proves to them that he does in fact know quite a bit about each of them. He calls each of them by their full names, and he is about to tell John that "the John Locke I knew was pa...." just before he is cut off by Rousseau who finds the security barrier. However, Locke knows that he was about to say he was paralyzed. Perhaps that is why he pushes him past the gate, maybe he did know it would kill him? John seems to not want anyone to know about his "handicap" and the thought that the Others would out him like that seems to be a major issue with him. It is almost that he is ashamed or embarassed that he was once in a wheelchair, and he does not want his "status" as a hunter, a leader, to be compromised if the rest of the gang knew about his paralysis.

John also appears to be hiding something. We find out that he DID know about the explosives in the basement of the hatch. And he took them! Why would he take them, and then not tell Sayid and Kate about it? He definitely has some plan up his sleeve.

After Locke pushes Mikhail into the security fence, Mikhail says "Thank You" just before he dies. What is it with the Others and death? It is like they welcome death (remember last week when Ms. Klugh told Mikhail to kill her.)

Once inside the barracks, Kate, Sayid and Locke see the community of houses that the Others are inhabiting. It is like a modern day town, with houses, a man riding a bicycle...and Jack - playing football with Tom! This is very strange obviously as the last time we saw Jack he was being held hostage by the Others, after coming up with a scheme to botch Ben's surgery in order to help Kate and Sawyer escape.

My husband made a very good point (and I have to credit him for this one!) that it appeared as if Jack had been brainwashed. Just the way he looked seemed funny and it was like he was a different person. The Others could have possibly brainwashed him just the way they did with Carl. Because, knowing Jack, he would not have just given in and become pals with the Others. As we have seen many times already, he had a chance to be nice with them, and always chose to fight them. So something is definitely odd that he is all of a sudden chummy with them. And we know the Others are definitely capable of brainwashing.

Which brings me to another point - Towards the end, we see Sawyer reading a book - Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" - perhaps one of the most famous books of all time. The main theme of this book is that the main character refuses to conform along with the standards of society. He will not allow himself to be like everyone else and do as he is "supposed" to do. Basically the book is about being an individual. I thought this was interesting that this book made an appearance in tonight's episode, just before we see Jack at the Others camp - who now appears to be "one of them" when he has always been his own person, refusing to "conform" to their standards of what they want him to do.

I really liked this episode. Good stuff! Next week looks really good, too. It appears that we are FINALLY going to find out more about Locke's past and what put him in the wheelchair. I'm going to bet that whatever happened to him, is somehow connected to one of the other survivors or even with the Others (from the previews, Ben seemed to know all about it.) Maybe the Others even caused his accident just like they did with Juliet's ex-husband getting hit by a bus. As we have seen, they are capable of ANYTHING!!!