Airmail, Sonic Fences, and Sibling (Non) Rivalries on "Lost"

Thank god.

For a minute there, I was concerned that this week's episode of Lost ("Par Avion") was going to be about Claire learning that her mother really wasn't her mother (it was her aunt Lindsey! shock, horror!) but thankfully the writers didn't go in that direction, giving us instead what we've suspected for some time now. Namely, Claire and Jack are siblings.

Does this change things on the island? Not really, unless Claire and Jack start making googly eyes at one another across the campfire. But for the moment, neither of them are aware of the fact that they're related and I love moments like these where the audience is more in the know about something than the characters themselves. Then again, at some point in time, this is liable to come out, once Claire and Jack start to, you know, actually talk about themselves. Sure, Claire might not know Christian's name, but she does know he's a doctor. And somewhere on the island is Christian's body... So who knows when Jack and Claire might discover it (or him walking about) and figure out that they are brother and sister.

Let's see, what else happened? Desmond continued to pursue his current purpose: keeping Charlie alive. Seems that this week, Charlie was meant to slip on some rocks and be beaten to death by the waves against the rocks (making a few Charlie-haters I know happy in the process), but good old Des manages to keep the former rocker rocking for another week. I'm still not sure why he had to scare away Claire's birds and then grab one off the rocks (Charlie was nowhere around during either of those things), but then again, we can't see everything this wacky Scot does. (And for the record, I don't want Charlie to die. Not when he's finally softening back into old Charlie again.)

Looks like Claire was right though about the birds: they are electronically tagged. I'm not sure that Claire's well-written note will bring them rescue (a la the messages in a bottle from Season One), but hopefully that bird will bring the message (without it getting wet, that is) to someone who will at least know that our castaways are still alive. So, I guess no matter what happens in life, there's always hope, even in a dire situation like this.

The Lost Flashback of the Week belonged to Claire, who had more screentime in this week's episode than in the past season and a half combined. A raven-haired Goth Claire is responsible for a car accident in which she's driving... leading to her mother going crashing through the windshield onto the road. It seems Claire was not only speeding but was ranting at her mother, telling her that she hated her and wished she was dead. (She nearly got her wish.) Both end up in the hospital and, after surgery, Claire is told that mum has suffered massive brain damage and is being kept alive by machines. (No wonder Claire hates hospitals.)

Claire argues with her aunt Lindsey when she learns that the cost of her mum's care is being picked up by an anonymous benefactor. Lindsey is acutely aware of who is paying for the costs but won't tell Claire. Unfortunately, Christian Shepherd (i.e., Jack's dad) shows up in Australia and Claire finds him ("the American doctor") standing over her mother's bed. Christian comes clean and tells Claire he's her father. They share a coffee and Christian tells her that, when she was little, he was in her life, visiting, singing to her, etc. But Lindsey hated him and so he stopped coming around (besides, there was that whole matter of another family). He wants Claire to euthanize her mum; Claire freaks out and thinks he came to Australia to kill her, not to save her. She storms out and says that she never wants to know his name. Months later, a blonde and very pregnant Claire visits her mum in the hospital (right before getting on Oceanic Flight 815, in fact) and tearfully apologizes for how awful she was to her growing up and how the accident was her fault.

Sniffle.

Meanwhile, Sayid, Kate, Rousseau, and Locke lead Patchy McPatches (a.k.a. Mikhail) closer to the Barracks (and Othersville), while he continues to mislead and lie to them. He does tell them however that he was recruited when he was 24 years old and came to the island (unlike Ben, he wasn't born there); they were able to travel to and from the island via submarine until two weeks ago when their underwater beacon was deactivated after an electromagnetic pulse (that would be the hatch imploding). However, they can still leave the island if they wish, something Kate doesn't understand.

In fact, none of them CAN understand this motivation because none of them are on the list of people who would understand (Kate is "flawed"). Sayid says that the Others do not know them, but Mikhail knows their full names and, even more damningly, knows that Locke was paralyzed. Something Locke isn't too happy about.

Oh and did I mention that Patchy says that Ben isn't their leader after all? (It's got to be Jacob, as he's the one that made the "list" and who is mentioned reverently in the brainwashing video.)

Rousseau discovers a sonic barrier surrounding the Barracks; Mikhail claims that it used to guard the barracks but, like everything else on the island, has been broken for some time. Locke doesn't believe Patchy and shoves him between the pylons. Mikhail smiles and mouths "thank you." Instantly, he begins to foam at the mouth and shake before dying in a bloody heap on the ground. Sayid is furious (after all, Patchy was his prisoner) and he doesn't trust Locke's motivations for coming on this rescue mission. Why did he destroy The Flame? (Locke claimed he didn't know the building was wired with C4.) But that excuse doesn't hold as Sayid discovers Locke has taken some C4 explosive with him from The Flame for some unknown purpose.

The foursome climbs over the pylons using a tree they chop down (smart, guys!) and continues towards the barracks. Finally, they come across a clearing where they see the village, complete with bicycle, swing set, and a child wandering around! They're hiding behind some shrubbery when Kate spies Jack running towards them and starts to call out for him. Sayid stops her and they watch in horror as Jack throws around a football with none other than Tom.

Just what happened since the Others' ship set sail for the Barracks? Is Jack brainwashed, faking, or actually enjoying his time with the Others? Has he seen the "light," as it were? We'll have to wait until next week to find out.

Next week on Lost ("The Man From Tallahassee"), it's finally here: the true as to how John Locke ended up in the wheelchair (it better be a doozy). Meanwhile, Ben offers to tell Locke the truth behind the island's mysteries if he stops his plan and Kate discovers that Jack has made a deal with the Others.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: College Basketball (CBS); The Office (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: Scrubs/Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); Family Guy/Family Guy (FOX)

10 pm: Raines (NBC); October Road (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Ugly Betty.

Finally a new episode! On tonight's episode ("Icing on the Cake"), Betty impulsively asks her orthodonist to be her date for Charlie's birthday part, while Wilhelmina tries to get between newly reunited siblings Daniel and Alexis.

8-9 pm: The Office.

Over on The Office, it's back-to-back repeats of two of this season's best Office episodes, with some added scenes never seen before on TV. First up: "Traveling Salesman," in which Michael pairs up his sales team and forces them to hit the road for sales calls, while Dwight helps Angela cover up a potential scandal and Karen gets some surprising news. Up next: "The Return," in which Dunder Mifflin's prodigal employee Oscar finally returns, while Andy tries to get closer to Michael, now that Dwight is gone, and Jim convinces Pam and Karen to stage a prank on a new target. Gee, wonder who that could be? Cough, Andy Bernard, cough.

9 pm: Scrubs.

Finally! Scrubs is back on NBC's schedule, where it belongs. On tonight's episode ("My Two Dads"), J.D. finds himself in quite the quandary when he catches Dr. Cox, er, borrowing some cash from a dead patient. Ouch, that's harsh, man.

9:30 pm: Andy Barker, P.I.

No, it's not going to get stuck on my mind grapes like 30 Rock, but the premiere of Andy Barker is at least worth checking out, if only for Andy Richter and the incomparable Tony Hale (Arrested Development). On the pilot episode (revised from the original version I saw last May), Andy begins a double life as a strip mall accountant and private eye when he's dragged into solving a case involving a missing husband.

10 pm: Raines or October Road.

Coin toss time: I haven't decided which midseason drama I'll check out tonight. The choices are either Raines' pilot episode, in which a murdered woman haunts homicide detective Michael Raines, giving him hallucinations as he tries to piece together the crime. On October Road, a popular twenty-something author returns to his hometown only to discover that facing the people he based his characters on is not so easy. (More than likely I'll record both and they'll sit on my TiVo for a while before getting deleted.)