3.12 - Par Avion

Title’s significance: “Par avion” is French for “by air” – y’know, like airmail – but it also shares the root word for “bird,” the crux of Claire’s plan.

Recap: Focused around a car crash in her past, Claire’s flashbacks answer the question we’ve been asking – Christian Shepherd is her father. After the accident, Christian revealed that he wanted to euthanize Claire’s mother. While picnicking with Claire, Charlie’s told that he needs to go hunting with Desmond; meanwhile, Claire gets the idea to send a message via a tagged sea bird. Mikhail taunts the survivors about a “list,” which he says does not bear their names because they are flawed in some way; they encounter a sonic fence. Desmond accidentally sabotages Claire’s bird trap, while Locke throws Mikhail into the fence to test it; it’s very much active, and Mikhail is seemingly killed. The A-Team develops a plan to climb over the sonic pylons as Desmond captures a bird for Claire and reveals the truth about his visions. The A-Team make it to The Barracks – Othersville – and find Jack happily playing football with Tom Friendly.

Thoughts: Not a terrible episode, but not a landmark great episode, either. I couldn’t get behind Claire’s plan – in realtime or on rewatch – because it’s both an impossible means of rescue and terribly anticlimactic, so it’s almost irrelevant. The A-Team plotline, though, was interesting, even if Mikhail’s lying about everything. The ending of the episode sets up nicely what the whole season is about “us vs. them” and whether there’s really a difference.

Favorite moment: The reveal that Christian is Claire’s father.

Characters introduced (in order):

• CAROLE LITTLETON, Claire’s mother
• LINDSEY LITTLETON, Claire’s aunt
• DR. WOODRUFF, Carole’s doctor

What we learned:

• Claire was in a bad car crash with her mother.
• The Others have a submarine.
• Kate is not on “the list.”
• A security perimeter encircles The Barracks, and it’s still active.
• Locke stole some C-4 from The Flame, which proves he knew the building would explode.
• Christian Shepherd is Claire’s father.
• Claire never knew her father’s name.

Questions:

• How does Mikhail know what he knows about the survivors of Flight 815?
• How did the sonic fence get on the island?
• What does Locke have planned for the C-4 in his bag?
• Why did Locke blow up The Flame?
• Will the homing pigeon plan work?
• Has Jack flipped his lid?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Mikhail says that Kate is not on “the list,” but I notice he conspicuously does not mention whether Locke is on the list. I’m assuming the list is Jacob’s, so what’s the significance of who Jacob has chosen?