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Our castaways may be
stranded on an island, but human nature is a very powerful force. So
when Sayid presents Shannon with a brand new shelter, we aren't
exactly surprised when she invites him inside to spend the night. And
until Sayid leaves to get them a drink of water, we might think that
things are finally finding their way back to normal. But when Walt
comes strolling into the tent, still dripping wet, any thought of
normalcy goes flying straight out the hole in the tarp that serves as
a window.
Shannon screams at
the top of her lungs but by the time Sayid gets to her, Walt has
disappeared again. Half the beach is awake now and they all rush over.
Sayid tells her (and everyone listening) that it was only a dream --
everything is fine. But the fact that Sayid publicly refutes her story
leaves Shannon feeling angry and hurt. When Claire arrives with the
baby, Charlie scolds her for waking the baby up and Claire actually
apologizes.
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In FLASHBACK, we see a younger
Shannon and we're surprised to find her genuinely sweet and caring. She works
as a ballet instructor, dreams of landing an internship with a prestigious
dance company in New York and lives her life with the ease of someone who
knows they have their bet covered. But when her father is killed in a car
accident things go from bad to worse. In her father, she lost her best friend.
And her relationship with her stepmother Sabrina isn't exactly what you might
call loving. Boone does what he can to be there for her, but this type of
grief takes time to process. Still, she soldiers on the best she can and even
gets word about the internship in New York -- it's hers! There's just one
problem -- the internship is unpaid and she doesn't seem to have any money.
Her father always took care of that, so Shannon goes to see Sabrina to ask
when she is getting the money left to her by her father in his will. And it's
here that Shannon's world is turned completely upside down. Her father had no
will. And through a living trust, all his assets go to his wife…Sabrina.
Sabrina tells Shannon it's time to start taking care of herself -- that
everyone has to work for what they have and that the free ride is over. And as
Shannon is literally kicked out of the only home she has ever known we see the
pain on her face and know she is being pushed down a path that will change her
forever.
On the island, Claire finds
herself more and more upset about having her parenting skills questioned by
Charlie. As Locke helps her get the baby to sleep she rails against Charlie,
admitting that she knows very little about him -- he could be a religious
freak for all she knows. Why else would he carry a statue of the Virgin Mary
around with him? And as this lands on Locke, we realize Charlie is walking a
very dangerous line.
Halfway across the island,
Ana Lucia and Mr. Eko are leading what remains of their party on a trek to
join our castaways and unite the clans. They race against the clock of
Sawyer's infection and the ever-present danger of the Others until silently
and without warning, another of their clan simply disappears. Mistrust and
paranoia reign as they fight their way through the jungle and into the driving
rain -- never knowing they are on a collision course with tragedy just moments
away.
And elsewhere, Sayid tries
desperately to connect with Shannon, who has resorted to using Vincent to try
and track Walt. When he finally catches up to her in the jungle, it's all he
can do to prevent her from falling into hysterics. She tells him she knows he
thinks she is crazy and that they found the message bottle from the raft. She
knows he will leave her as soon as they are rescued. She knows this because
everyone leaves her. So he should just go now. But Sayid tells her he believes
her; promises her that he will never leave her no matter what happens. And
then he says something neither of them thought they would ever hear or say
again…He loves her. And as they fall into an embrace, Sayid sees something
that couldn't be there. He sees Walt -- and Shannon doesn't know whether to be
frightened or relieved. She takes off after him into the jungle and it takes a
moment for Sayid to jar himself into action. But that second is all it takes
for life on this island to take yet another tragic turn. |
