Lost clues: "D.O.C" ep. 18, season 3

Synopsis:

Desmond, Charlie and Hurley tend to the parachutist who's landed on the island while Sun questions Juliet about what happens to women on the island who become pregnant.

The parachutist looks to be mortally wounded and Desmond and the rest, miles away from Dr. Jack and the beach camp, aren't sure what to do. Charlie and Desmond are arguing when Hurley accidentally sets off a flare gun, attracting the attention of the Other Mikhail who, you know, died a few episodes ago. Apparently he got better. And, being a former field medic for the Soviet army, he fixes up the parachutist so long as Desmond and the rest don't take him prisoner.

Meanwhile, Juliet leads Sun to a hidden ultrasound lab in the Dharma medical hatch. By measuring the growth of Sun's baby, Juliet can determine the baby's date of conception (D.O.C.) and learn whether the child was conceived before the plane crashed or after Sun and Jin arrived on the island. For Sun, the test also will reveal whether Jin or the man she had an affair with before the crash is the father.

Turns out the dad is Jin, a mixed blessing for Sun. This puts her conscience more at ease, but every woman Juliet knows about who's become pregnant on the island dies, as do their babies.

Back in the jungle, the parachutist revives. When Hurley tells her he and the rest are the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 she's shocked. She says the plane was found and there were no survivors. So, again we ask, what the heck is going on?



Clues, observations, speculation:

* If plane wreckage and dead passengers were discovered in the outside world, how is it that there's plane wreckage and living survivors on the island? Is some quantum, alternate time line scenario at work, where in one reality the passengers died and in another they survived? Or was the found wreckage faked by the Others to hide the existence of the island? The seem to have the resources to do such a thing.

* Why do women on the island die instead of giving birth? If the island is some alternate reality, or exists in a time line somehow separate from the outside world, maybe it's impossible to introduce new life into it.

* Also on the alternate reality front: We've seen that most of the crash survivors, due to choices they've made, have created certain realities or circumstances for themselves. Maybe that's what's happened on a much larger scale with the island, and maybe that's why this particular group of people ended up there. The island seems to be a place of healing and second chances. Maybe there were enough goofed-up, conflicted people on one plane to end up there, to survive the crash and to receive a second chance. Perhaps there's a mystic quality to the island's electromagnetic properties that drew the plane there. But, if this is the case, why do some people on the island die anyway, like Shannon, Boone, Mr. Eko and Libby and Ana Lucia?

* In regards to healing, Mikhail says the parachutist will recover quicker on the island than she would in the outside world. And, indeed, Mikhail is up and walking after apparently being killed. But this doesn't seem to be the case for some people. Boone died after his fall and Shannon, Libby and Ana Lucia all died from their gunshot wounds.



* On the other hand, maybe Mikhail faked his death. It looked pretty real though...

* More island weirdness: Juliet tells Sun that men on the island have much higher sperm counts than in the outside world. Why?



* Will any of the now dead people on the island, including Ethan Rom, Nikki and Paulo, come back too?

* We see that Juliet is feeding Ben information on her findings about Sun and other women among the crash survivors. And Juliet isn't happy about being a spy. But why is she agreeing to do this for Ben? What is he holding over her?

* Jack's acting shifty, showing a more clinical than friendly interest in Jin's pregnancy. Is he brainwashed?



* What will we learn about the parachutist? Was she sent to rescue Desmond by Penny? Is anyone from the outside world aware what's happened to her? Will they come looking?

* According to numerous reports, the parachutist says "I'm not alone" in Portuguese.

* The parachutist also spoke variously in Spanish, Chinese and Italian.

* Plus she's got a tattoo.



* Mikhail appears to have a special hatred for Charlie. He likely knows Charlie shot Ethan and perhaps wants revenge.

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