Par Avion
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- For the mail reference "Par Avion" see airmail etiquette.
| “Par Avion” | |
|---|---|
| Lost episode | |
 Claire speaks to her father |
|
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 12 |
| Guest stars | John Terry (Christian Shephard) M.C. Gainey (Tom) Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau) Andrew Divoff (Mikhail Bakunin) Gabrielle Fitzpatrick (Lindsey) Julian Barnes (Dr. Woodruff) Rhett Giles (Officer Barnes) Danan Pere (ER doctor) Anne Elizabeth Logan (head nurse) John Medlen (man at crash site) |
| Written by | Christina M. Kim & Jordan Rosenberg[1] |
| Directed by | Paul Edwards[1] |
| Production no. | 3012 |
| Original airdate | March 14, 2007 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Enter 77" | "The Man from Tallahassee" |
| List of Lost episodes | |
"Par Avion" is the twelfth episode of the third season of Lost. It first aired on March 14, 2007, making it the 59th episode of the series. The character of Claire Littleton is featured in the episode's flashbacks.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The episode opens with a Claire flashback. She is waking up with blood trickling from an open gash on the side of her forehead. It starts to become clear that she has been in a car accident, as the windshield is shattered, the airbags deployed, and pieces of glass in her hair (which happens to be jet black instead of her usual blonde). She begins to panic when she sees a woman lying in the middle of the street in front of the car, not moving, clearly a passenger in the accident. Claire tries to open up the door, but it's stuck, so she climbs through the broken windshield and runs to the woman. She kneels down and begins screaming out, as she shakes the woman trying to wake her up. This woman is Claire's mother.
Claire wakes up to a day on the island, begun by a picnic set up by Charlie. As the two arrive at the picnic site, Desmond arrives and suggests that Charlie go boar hunting, which he says would be a better way to spend the day. Claire is initially upset, but she looks up and sees a glint in a flock of sea birds. Claire realizes that the birds migrate, and that they may be tagged. She decides to capture a bird, write a note about the crash of Flight 815 and the survivors, hoping that someone will read it.
Elsewhere on the island, Sayid, Kate, Locke, Rousseau and the captured Mikhail Bakunin trek through the jungle. They learn from Mikhail that since the implosion at the hatch an EMP wiped out an underwater beacon, making it impossible for the island to be accurately located and, therefore, for anyone to return to the island. Kate asks Mikhail why the Others stay on the island if they have a way off of it. Mikhail says they wouldn't understand because they are flawed. They aren't on the "list" because they are angry (looking at Locke), weak and frightened (looking at Sayid). The list was made by a "magnificent man" who brought all the Others there. When Kate tells Mikhail that Ben isn’t all that great, Mikhail replies that he isn't talking about Ben. Mikhail also reveals he knows their full names and begins to reveal his knowledge of Locke’s paraplegic condition when Rousseau interrupts him when she spots an endless ring of cement pylons that disappear into the jungle as far as the eye can see. Sayid believes that this is a security perimeter. Kate starts to walk through, but Sayid stops her, as he believes the sensors would be triggered. Mikhail claims the system hasn't worked for years, just like everything else on the island, but Locke simply grabs Mikhail and shoves him between two of the pylons. Then an odd, electronic sound rings out, trapping Mikhail, who says "Thank you" to Locke. The amplitude of the sound jumps up and Mikhail begins twitching and trembling, blood drips out of his ears and saliva foams at the corners of his mouth. He falls over and spasms violently, clearly dead from cerebral hemorrhaging.
After explaining her plan, Jin and Sun help Claire try to capture one of the birds when gun shots ring out and scare the birds away. Desmond emerges from the jungle, stating he was on the trail of a boar. Claire is incensed and immediately suspicious; she knows it somehow involves Charlie. She confronts Charlie about his and Desmond's strange behavior. Although Charlie appears to struggle whether to tell Claire about Desmond's prediction, he instead says her plan is a crazy scheme and that he won’t support it because he doesn't want to advocate false hope. Claire is angry that he won’t stand by her and asks Charlie to leave her alone.
Back in Sydney, Claire discovers her mother has a familiar visitor, Dr. Christian Shephard. However, Claire doesn't know him, and is about to ask who he is when her aunt Lindsey walks in. Lindsey and Christian immediately start arguing. Lindsey doesn't want him there and tells him to leave. Christian says Claire deserves to know the truth, but Lindsey won't hear of it. Claire shouts for them to stop arguing. She realizes he's the one paying the hospital bills, and asks who he is. Reluctantly, Christian admits that he is her father, meaning Jack and Claire are half siblings.
On the island, Sayid angrily confronts Locke about pushing Bakunin through the pylons. Locke replies that he had no way of knowing that the Others had a “sonic weapon fence.” They argue about Locke’s decision to enter 7-7 resulting in the destruction of the Flame station. Locke retorts that he might not have done it if Sayid had bothered to mention that the entire station was rigged with C-4. Kate intervenes, as the argument is getting nowhere, and asks for the ax so they can climb a tree and avoid the sonic trigger. Sayid gets the ax out of Locke's bag and discovers inside a brick of C-4 from the Flame station. Sayid immediately questions Locke's motives; asking if he really came to rescue Jack. Locke states there's no other reason for him to be there than to rescue Jack. They finish the tree bridge and Kate volunteers to climb up first. She climbs over the Pylon and reaches the other side safely. She checks Mikhail, and confirms he is dead.
While Claire works at her tattoo parlor, Christian comes in and asks, that as he is leaving that day, he wants to have coffee and talk with her. Over coffee, he explains that he had a fling with her mother which resulted in Claire’s birth. Christian visited a couple times when he could, brought her toys and sang to her. However, Lindsey did not like him and they both didn't like that he had another family and told him to stay away. He reveals that the reason he wanted to talk with her is because her mother is alive but not living and he wants Claire to think about taking her off life support. Christian pleads for Claire not to keep her alive for the wrong reasons. Claire gets angry, believing that Christian is there to "correct a mistake" he made by having Claire with her mother. She tells him paying the bill doesn't make him noble and leaves, after telling him she does not even know his name, and does not want to know it.
Back in Sydney, a once again blond and pregnant Claire visits her mother, who is still in a persistent vegetative state. Although still in a coma, Claire reveals to her mother she's pregnant but giving away the baby (it is unknown exactly when this occurs, but it appears to be after her boyfriend Thomas left her but before she agreed to take the flight to Los Angeles). She tearfully apologizes for the accident and for all the terrible things she said to her in the car before it happened.
On the island, after watching Desmond argue with Charlie about something, Claire decides to follow Desmond and find out what's going on. Desmond goes to a rocky enclave on the ocean and finds one of the birds trapped, and simply picks the bird up. Claire confronts him and asks him how he knew the bird was there. Desmond relents and tells her about his visions. He then points out a spot on the cliffs where he foresaw that Charlie would fall off the cliffs and die. Claire takes the rescued bird back to Charlie. She tells him Desmond explained everything to her and asks him to release the bird with her.
Charlie reads Claire's note which says that they are survivors of the crash but that they haven't given up hope of rescue. They attach it to the bird and release it and watch as it joins the flock and flies away.
Back on the Island, Kate, Sayid, Locke and Rousseau reach the Others' barracks and immediately they see Jack running towards them. Kate is about to call out to him, but Sayid stops her. Jack suddenly stops, turns, and catches a football that was thrown by Tom. Kate looks horrified as Jack smiles, spikes the football and goes off to continue socializing with the Others.
[edit] Trivia
- "Par Avion" is French for an item being sent "by plane". The words "Par Avion" can often be seen on stickers on postage envelopes alongside the words "airmail." It is used on airmail letters like the one "sent" by Charlie and Claire.
- According to Charlie at the end of the episode, they have now been on the island for 80 days, which would currently make it December 10th, 2004.
- Sawyer is seen reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
- Claire Littleton and Jack Shephard are revealed to be half-siblings in this episode, unknown to either of them. They share the same father, Christian Shephard.
- Claire's only mention of her mother prior to this episode came in her flashbacks in "Raised by Another"; when she and Thomas discovered she was pregnant, Claire told him that "[her] mom would disown [her]," to which Thomas replied "Well, she basically has already."
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Lost | |
|---|---|
| Production: | DVD releases | Episode list | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Soundtrack |
| Main characters: |
Ana Lucia | Ben | Boone | Charlie | Claire | Desmond | Hurley | Jack | Jin | Juliet | Kate Libby | Locke | Michael | Mr. Eko | Nikki | Paulo | Sawyer | Sayid | Shannon | Sun | Walt |
| Supporting characters: |
Alex | Bernard | Christian | Cindy | Ethan | The Others | Pickett | Rose | Rousseau | Tom |
| Organizations: | DHARMA Initiative | Hanso Foundation | Oceanic Airlines |
| Elements: | Crossover list | DHARMA Initiative stations | Flight 815 | Mythology | Thematic motifs |
| Miscellaneous: | Gary Troup | In popular culture | Lost Experience | Rachel Blake | Video game |
