RAISED BY ANOTHER

Or, Claire's Baby

[Originally Aired December 1, 2004]

Clair has a Very Bad Dream. She wakes up screaming and freaks everyone out. In her flashback, Claire just found out she was pregnant. She's frantic, unsure what to do. Her artist boyfriend suggests she move into his loft and start family with him. For kicks, I guess, Claire visits a psychic to find out about the baby, but he freaks her out and refuses to do her reading. Back on the island, Claire wakes up the next night screaming again. She says she was attacked and someone was trying to hurt her baby. In the confusion, Hurley realizes he doesn't know who belongs up at the caves and who is supposed to be down and the beach and decides to conduct a census. Hurley finds out Locke is from Tustin, and he meets some guy named Ethan picking coconuts. Jack thinks Claire wasn't attacked at all that she's just having anxiety dreams, common with pregnancy. Charlie offers to be Claire's friend, but she rejects him. In flashbacks, Claire's boyfriend leaves her, unable to deal with the pregnancy. She returns to the psychic. He tells her that she must raise the baby. If anyone else raises the child it will be Very Bad. She wants to give the baby up for adoption. He spends months begging her not to. Not sure what will be bad if he is raised by someone else. Will he become the next Hitler? Someone tells Hurley to get the manifest from the plane, and then he can finish his census. Bad news is Sawyer has the manifest. Hurley asks him for it, and surprisingly Sawyer gives it up without asking anything in return. Jack tries to give Kate some Xanax to mellow her out. She gets pissed and storms off back toward the beach. Charlie follows her. She starts having contractions. Charlie heads back to get Jack. On the way he runs into Ethan and sends him for Jack before returning to Claire. While signing the adoption papers to give her baby up, the pens keep running out of ink. A sign if there ever was one. She flees and meets the psychic. He puts her on the doomed flight. On the island she realizes that he knew all along the plane would crash, and put her on it to guarantee she'd have to look after the baby herself. Meanwhile, Hurley has discovered that someone on the island isn't on the manifest. Sayid returns and tells everyone, "We're not alone." Claire and Charlie meet up with Ethan again in the jungle.