2.06 - Abandoned

Title’s significance: Shannon feels abandoned in both her flashbacks and on the island.

Recap: Shannon gets her own flashbacks, which detail her time as a ballet instructor, the death of her father, a stepmother who hated her and stole her inheritance, and her struggle to be believed in. On the island, Sayid builds a love shack for him and Shannon, but she sees another vision of Walt while the Rafties and Tailies discover that they’re lost. Sayid reassures Shannon, but she takes Vincent off to find Walt. While tending to Aaron, Locke learns that Charlie has relapsed when Claire slips that Charlie has a Virgin Mary statue, and Charlie starts feeling jealous about Locke’s relationship with Claire. When the Rafties/Tailies cut through the jungle, Ana Lucia reveals that the Others have abducted at least 12 Tailies; Charlie denies that he’s no longer a recovering addict, and when Sawyer’s gunshot wound takes a turn for the worse while trekking in the jungle, Michael refuses to leave him behind. Shannon follows another vision of Walt, which leads her directly into the path of the Tailies; believing her to be one of The Others, Ana Lucia shoots Shannon.

Thoughts: I think one of the main reasons Shannon was killed is because the writers didn’t know what to do with her after Boone died. She could have been an interesting character, but I think the writers didn’t want to push her in the direction of being the island’s manipulative bitch. Instead, they tried – and failed – to make her a sympathetic character by putting her in an unconvincing relationship with Sayid and by giving her a floppy cardboard backstory. Consequently, the scenes with Shannon are among the least interesting this series has offered, and the only saving grace is the appearance of Walt. The Tailies’ plotline is very interesting, though, and should have been the main focus of the episode.

Favorite moment: The eerily foreboding flashback in which Boone tells Shannon, “Death sucks, doesn’t it?”

Characters introduced (in order):

• SABRINA CARLYLE, Shannon’s stepmother (“the Martha Stewart of matrimony”)

What we learned:

• Libby is a clinical psychologist.
• Locke knows a lot about babies.
• There seems to be some tension between tough leader Ana Lucia and the caring Mr. Eko.
• The Others periodically abducted Tailies.
• The Others are familiar enough with the island to move through it undetected.
• Shannon’s stepmother cut her loose after her father’s death.
• Cindy is abducted by The Others.
• Ana Lucia killed Shannon.

Questions:

• How does Locke know so much about babies?
• Is Sawyer gonna be okay?
• Why is Shannon seeing visions of Walt?
• What’s Sayid going to do to Ana Lucia?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• As of Season Five, I still don’t think it’s clear why The Others are abducting people; the baby thing becomes clearer, but the regular people thing is still confusing. I hope we get a full explanation, but it doesn’t seem like a chief concern at the moment.
• I really hope we find out more about the visions of Walt, though I’d be happy with just a “Walt is special” or “the island was messing with Shannon” explanation.