Lost/Recap/S01/E10 Raised by Another

Season 1, Episode 10:

Raised by Another
Claire wakes up at the caves, hearing a baby and discovering that she's not pregnant anymore. She follows the baby's cries into the jungle and finds Locke reading a pack of Tarot cards that make knife sounds. He tells her that "he was your responsibility but you gave him away, Claire. Everyone pays the price now." When he looks up, one of Locke's eyes is white and the other is black. Claire keeps following the sounds of the baby and a crib sitting in the middle of the jungle, with a mobile of Oceanic airplanes. There's a sound like the plane crash and Claire starts digging through the crib's blankets; when she draws back, her hands are covered in blood--

--and she wakes, screaming, standing in the middle of the caves, thrashing about as Charlie tries to calm her down, blood on her hands. It's her own, caused by digging her fingers too tightly into their palms. Jack treats her hands and asks about her and the baby's medical history.

Claire takes a home pregnancy test that confirms her suspicions. At first, her and her boyfriend Thomas completely freak out, until Thomas decides that they should really "give it a try". Claire is reluctant, but Thomas talks her into it keeping the baby.

Jack and Kate chat idly on the beach, and the conversation comes around to Claire, who's almost ready to give birth. Charlie finds Claire sitting along in the jungle and tries to make her feel better with jokes, tea and stories about his own weird dreams. He tells Claire that he's there for her if she needs a friend, but there's an implication that he'd like to be more than friends, and she turns him down.

Claire's friend, Rachel, takes her to see Richard Malkin, a psychic. Through a palm reading, Malkin discerns that Claire is pregnant. Moments later, he grows concerned about something and stops the reading, giving Claire her money back and asking her to leave immediately.

That night, Claire has flashes of a hand on her throat, a knife, and a syringe being injected into her belly: she wakes up, screaming about being attacked. Charlie and Hurley head into the jungle to try and find the attacker and Jack sends another survivor, Ethan, to fetch water while he and Michael ask her questions about what happened. Later, Hurley tells Jack that no one heard or saw anything, and puts an idea to him: a census of the survivors, to find out who everyone is and where they're staying. He cites the fact that people only know him as Hurley, a nickname, when his real name is Hugo Reyes. At the caves, Charlie brings Claire a blanket and assures her that he'll stay and watch out for her.

Thomas comes home to his and Claire's flat, which is much nicer and homier than ever thanks to Claire's efforts, and douchebags out: he breaks up with Claire, balking at the responsibility of being a father, saying that his career as an artist is more important, accusing Claire of getting pregnant on purpose and making like he's the victim before walking out on her.

Hurley visits the beach to get details for his census, and gets creeped out by Locke's declaration that he was in Australia "looking for something", but it found him instead. Later, he gets details on Ethan Rom, from Ontario. Jack and Charlie talk to Kate about whether anyone left the beach during the night, and Jack suggests that Claire wasn't attacked at all, but instead had a vivid hallucination brought on by anxiety, something that happens to pregnant women--a suggestion that Charlie gets very angry at. Jack reminds them that Claire is due in a week or two, but an anxiety attack could trigger an early labour, and that would be dangerous for her and the baby. Jack returns to the caves and suggests to Claire that she hallucinated the attack, but she gets angry and decides to leave for the beach.

Claire goes back to Richard Malkin, the psychic, and asks for another reading. He knows about Thomas leaving her, but as he reads, he grows more and more concerned.

"Malkin: It is crucial that you yourself raise this child. Claire: You mean with Thomas? Is he-- Malkin: The father of this child will play no part in its life, nor yours. Claire: So what exactly are you saying? Malkin: This child, parented by anyone else, anyone other than you... danger surrounds this baby. Claire: Danger? Malkin: Your nature, your spirit, your goodness must be an influence in the development of this child. Claire: Look, if Thomas and I don't get back together I'm putting this baby up for adoption. I just wanted to find out what would give the baby the happiest life. Malkin: There is no happy life. Not for this child, not without you. Claire: I don't-- Malkin: It can't be another. You mustn't allow another to raise your baby."

Malkin spends months trying to convince Claire not to give up the baby for adoption, claiming he's got a plan, but she doesn’t listen.

As Claire hikes back to the beach, Charlie follows, trying to convince her it's a bad idea. At the beach, Hurley talks to Boon and Shannon about his census, and when he reveals that Claire was attacked, Shannon changes her mind about moving to the caves. Boone suggests that Hurley get the flight manifest, which already has the names of the dead crossed off, but Sawyer is the one in possession of it. Nonetheless, Hurley convinces him to hand over the manifest by telling Sawyer that he "could use the points". In the jungle, Claire is halfway telling Charlie that she doesn't need rescuing when the contractions start. He's reluctant to leave her alone in the jungle, but when Claire tells him to, Charlie runs off to find Jack.

Claire and her lawyer meets with the Stewarts to formalise their closed adoption of the baby, meaning that she'll have no right to see or correspond with the child after its birth. She makes the Stewarts promise to sing "Catch a Falling Star" to the baby, but when she goes to sign the documents, her pen doesn't work. Neither does the lawyer's. Or the Stewarts'. She decides not to give up the baby and goes back to Richard Malkin, asking about his "plan" for the baby.

Charlie finds Ethan collecting firewood and sends him back to the caves to get Jack, then returns to Claire. He manages to calm her down a bit and she talks about how she not meant to be there.

Malkin tells Claire that he's found a couple in Los Angeles, "good people" who can take care of the baby, and that it'll be safe with them. She's reluctant, and sceptical of Malkin's "ability", but he talks her into it.

Claire tells Charlie about Malkin and his predictions. She thinks he was full of it, but Charlie has another idea: now that she's stuck of the Island, Claire has to raise the baby herself... so what if that was Malkin's plan?

Malkin gives Claire her plane ticket. She doesn't think she could leave as early as the next day, but he insists that Claire travel on that exact flight: Oceanic 815.

The realisation hits her:

"Claire: There was no couple in Los Angeles. He knew. He knew about the plane, what was going to happen. Oh my god, he knew."

Claire realises the contractions, or whatever they were, have passed, and thanks Charlie for taking care of her. They start heading back. At the caves, Sayid arrives, injured and dehydrated.

"Sayid: Listen to me. I found her, the French woman [...] The woman, on the island. I had to come back. I had to come back. [leans in close to Jack] We're not alone."

Moments later, Hurley arrives with a warning of his own.

"Hurley: We've got a problem. The manifest, Jack, the census, the names of everyone who survived, all 46 of us. I interviewed everyone. Here, at the beach, got their names. One them, one of them isn't -- Jack! One of them isn't in the manifest. He wasn't on the plane."

In the jungle, Claire is showing Charlie where the baby is kicking when someone interrupts them, someone who doesn't answer their questions, someone who stares intently at Claire's belly: Ethan.