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Lost
Par
Avion
Airdate: 03.14.2007
Many theories
have been tossed about regarding the true purpose behind
stranding Oceanic Flight 815 on the island, and producers
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have only officially debunked
one to date – the ever popular “survivors are
dead, it’s all a dream/hallucination, and the island
is purgatory” angle.
Yet
this hasn’t stopped many fans from insisting that
there is more to this interpretation of the island happenings,
and “Par Avion” definitely gives them more fodder
to work with.
Case
in point, the central arc in this episode surrounds the
near death of Claire’s mother Carole, and the discovery
that she is actually Jack’s half-sister. Yep, Christian
Shepherd apparently gets around, and although this revelation
is unbeknownst to both siblings, we viewers sure get a kick
out of knowing the truth.
Despite
this new development (New? C’mon, who else was he
visiting in Australia?), the thing that didn’t quite
sit well with me was the persistent theme of someone being
on life support.
Sadly,
Carole Littleton is reduced to a vegetative state after
the car accident, and although Christian pays what little
is left of her hospital bills this is not enough to warm
Claire’s heart after learning the truth about her
father.
Note:
Claire doesn’t know who Christian is, let alone his
name or the names of his other offspring. All this time
she’s believed him to be dead, and considering that
an Aussie like Carole would have very few medical expenses
due to their national health coverage, the gesture on Christian’s
behalf is far less impressive than one would think.
But
I digress. The theme of someone being on life support extends
to Charlie’s situation on the island, with Desmond
acting as his breathing tube, of sorts. We all know the
resolution of Charlie’s arc, but in a way his time
on the island is paralleled to Carole’s time left
amongst the “living.”
Christian
urges Claire to consider pulling the plug, but Claire insists
that any life is better than none at all. So why does Desmond
feel compelled to keep Charlie amongst the breathing? What
does he hope to gain?
My theory
is that Desmond hopes to prove that he can change things
by helping Charlie escape his destiny. This ties back into
Hurley’s tale of “creating your own hope”
– Desmond is doing just this with Charlie.
But
here’s the rub. What if you can change some things,
but you can’t change the big moments? For example,
breaking up with Penny was a milestone in Desmond’s
timeline. Ms. Hawking insists that it cannot be avoided,
but the steps getting there were obviously re-arranged the
second time around.
After
all, his first time out, did he really bump into Charlie
on the streets? I’m sure he passed him by, but the
second time around, having been to the island and meeting
Charlie, he catches the words “Maybe, you’re
gonna be the one who saves me” on the street and recognizes
the singer.
How
does this change the way things worked out in the long run?
I recall a moment from an earlier Claire flashback in “Raised
by Another” in which Claire claims that her mother
would disown her if she found out she was pregnant. Claire’s
boyfriend Thomas quips that she has essentially done this
already.
Was
he simply being cold-hearted, considering that Carole is
in a coma? Or, did Desmond’s jump back in time alter
the way things played out in Claire’s past?
It’s
something to consider. The one thing that remains certain,
however, is that the producers have confirmed that the story
of Lost is not originating from the mind of someone
in a vegetative coma, or dying, or dead for that matter.
So maybe
all of these references to life support are merely their
way of poking fun at the theory altogether? What a funny,
if cruel, joke.
Next
time: Daddy issues abound as we return to Locke’s
issues with Papa. Plus, what’s better than an exploding
submarine?
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