Season 4, Episode 11: "Cabin Fever"

Ahhh, you all have suckered me into writing a blog this week when I seriously have NO IDEA what to write about!! I just read all the comments from last week's post wondering where I was! LOL. Sorry for the delay in posting, but honestly after watching last week's episode, I looked at my husband and just said, "well, crap...I don't have any idea what I'm going to blog about because I have no clue what is going on here!"

I don't even know where to begin. This was probably one of the most confusing episodes for me, because I feel like there was so much new stuff brought to our attention, HUGE things, but without anything filling in the rest of the blanks to make any sense of anything. So, I can't promise that what I have to say is going to help anyone figure anything out, because I don't really know...but here are just some observations from last week's show:


The title is CABIN FEVER. This is also what the people on the freighter have been "suffering" from since they can't go anywhere, causing them to kill themselves. Also another tie-in to the title is the fact that Locke is searching for the CABIN on the island.

So, the "backstory" this week was of Locke. We learned more about how he was born and grew up. Interesting that his mom was a teenager who got pregnant and didn't want to raise him (similar to Claire's story...how initially she didn't want to raise Aaron, and then how he was also considered "special.") And then all the connections throughout his childhood and adult life where he has these run-ins with people that we have come to see later on. First of all, Richard Alpert who comes to see him as a boy and wants to take him into his "special" school. At the time he says he's not ready to go. Locke seems disappointed, like he did something wrong. Then we see that he grows up into high school to be somewhat of a "nerd." People always picking on him, and of course the teacher telling him that he'll never be the quarterback, never be the popular guy. It seems like Locke wants to be that guy. He tells the teacher "don't tell me what I can't do" - which we have heard him say numerous other times throughout his flashbacks. It seems that this is a recurring theme for Locke - he never is able to be the man that he wants to be, and doesn't like people telling him what he can or can't do. Maybe now that he is on the island...he can finally be the man that he was MEANT to be. (the leader??)

Also, we saw the black man who was the hospital orderly pushing Locke in his wheelchair, was also the same man who we have seen in the "flashforwards" when he goes to see Hurley in the mental institution (pretending to be the Oceanic lawyer). This is also the same man who we saw with Naomi organizing the group of four people who were chosen to go on the freighter to carry out this mission on the island. In Locke's flashback, the orderly is actually the one that suggests Locke go on the walkabout (something that others told him he could not do). This is the reason that Locke ended up on the island, after going to Australia and being told he could NOT go on the walkabout. The orderly said something to Locke insinuating that he would see him again. Obviously this guy is a big part of the show, organizing things, somehow connected to the group on the freighter. Maybe HE is Jacob ???

So, with that thought, probably even bigger of a revelation was the fact that we saw for sure that it is Christian Shephard in the cabin. This has been suspected for awhile that it was him, but now it is confirmed. When Locke asked if he was Jacob, he said no, but that he could "speak for him." Obviously he is a big part of all this and has been for some time. And I think I can vouch for everyone who was watching that I was completely shocked to see Claire sitting there with him, with this strange little smile on her face. What was up with that? Has she known about him the whole time? Was she drugged? Why was she weird like that? Claire and Christian both did seem very pleased though when Locke said that his only question was how can he save the island. They both looked at eachother like they had the answer they had been waiting for...finally the person who was there with the right intentions.

Another strange thing to note from a few episodes back is that if you remember after Sawyer noticed that Claire was missing, he finds baby Aaron very perfectly placed in a tree in the middle of the jungle. Very similar to the scene of baby Jesus lying in the manger. We have always seen so many religious references and especially when it comes to Aaron, being somewhat of a "Messiah" figure. And then of course now there is something strange about the connection here with Claire and Christian (her father, and Jack's father) and baby Aaron. Why did Claire just up and leave Aaron to go with her father (Christian), leaving her son all alone in the jungle (and ultimately to be raised by someone else....just as her "psychic" predicted back in the first season).


I thought another pretty huge revelation in this episode is that of the freighter doctor. We saw a couple episodes ago that his body washed up on the island, dead, with his throat slit. However in this episode, we see him very much alive, and the captain tells him that he got a call on the radio saying that they found his body on the island. The doctor kind of laughs it off and says "well I'm alive!" Then of course we see that the captain himself slashes his throat and pushes him overboard into the water. We always knew that time on the island is different than time in "real life," that it passes more slowly or something (based on Faraday's rocket experiment...though that was only 30 minutes). However, if the survivors found the doctor's dead body before he was actually killed, then that would insinuate that the island is actually in the future. And if you think back to Desmond's "visions" of seeing things in the future (like the helicopter coming, Charlie dying, etc.), then that starts to make sense if they are in fact in the future. (Which I still don't know if I think is feasible, but who knows anymore....)

Also I started thinking about all the different times we have seen car accidents and/or hit-and-runs on this show. After this episode and Locke's mom being hit by a car and therefore causing John to be born premature, it brought back all of the other times when someone was hit by a car or involved in an accident. It makes me wonder how many of them were truly "accidents."

- Locke's mother was hit by a car while she was pregnant with him.

- Jack's wife (Sarah) was in a car accident, in which he "saved" her...it was also Shannon and Boone's dad who was the other person in that same accident (who died because Jack chose not to work on him).

- Jack causes a car accident (in his flash-forward) when he was trying to commit suicide on the bridge, and saved the woman and her son from the car. (Which I still think we are going to see in a future episode that the woman and her son are connected somehow).

- Kate caused a car accident which ultimately killed her childhood friend, Tom.

- Kate also caused another accident with the U.S. Marshall, which allowed her to escape after he was knocked unconscious.

- Juliet's ex husband was hit and killed by a bus, while she was being "recruited" to come to the island for research purposes.

- Claire and her mother were in a bad accident, causing her mom to almost die (which Claire felt very guilty for). This was also when Claire found out that her "real" father was Christian Shepherd.

- Michael was hit by a car and broke both his legs, shortly after his wife left him and Walt was just a baby. He was in the hospital for months.

All of these "accidents" don't all necessarily seem like accidents. Some of them seem like they were caused by others...especially how so many of them were people who were hit by a car. I have a feeling that Dharma or the freighter folk or Jacob or whoever is running the show here, is behind all of these people being "hit" by cars. Somehow trying to cause (or prevent) certain things from happening...which ultimately is playing with FATE.

So, as I said already, there was SO MUCH in this episode. So many huge things! And there are only two more episodes left. Next week is part 1 of the season finale...and get this, the title is "There's No Place Like Home." Um, hello?!!! An obvious reference to the Wizard of Oz, which of course we have seen SO many references in this show. Very interesting.

Until next week....