This episode focuses on Aaron having a fever and rash. Danielle shows up in camp, and says he is “infected.” Jack suggests it is rosiola, common in children. Claire starts to remember something, and asks Libby to help her recover her memories, since she thinks that the others did something to her baby. Libby tries hypnosis. Claire begins to remember Ethan injecting her with something. Libby is concerned that Claire might be combining genuine memories from before the trip with things from the island. Claire asks Kate to help her find the place that Ethan took her to, and to find the medicine. Claire remembers Alex telling her to get out of there, and a nursery they made for the baby. We also see “Friendly” without the beard, talking about what “he” will do when he finds out that Ethan brought Claire in ahead of schedule. Ethan mentions there not being enough vaccine for both her and the baby, and says that they are good people. But when Alex helps her escape, she says that they were planning to cut the baby out of her, killing her. After Claire escaped, Danielle found her and tried to help her, but Claire had been drugged and was shouting for Ethan and scratched her. Danielle then knocked her out and carried her back to camp.
We see Danielle suddenly decide to help Claire find the place she escaped from, after she mentions having seen a teenage girl. When they find the Dharma medical station, it is abandoned and the power has been switched off. The nursery is still there, but no longer decorated. In a locker, Kate finds costumes and theatrical glue as well as a fake beard.
Danielle says that she hopes her baby is not infected, but if it is, that she ows what must be done.
Locke gives their prisoner (can I just call him “Ben” with the benefit of hindsight?) a copy of Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. He mentions the fact that Ernest Hemingway wanted to be the world’s greatest writer, but always felt that he could never surpass Dostoyevsky, and thus lived forever in his shadow.
Mr. Eko comes to the hatch to borrow a saw. He realizes they are keeping someone there, and asks to speak to him alone. Eko tells Ben about killing two men who dragged him into the jungle the first night they were there. He says he wants him to know that he is sorry, and is back on the righteous path now. He cuts off a bit of his beard.
By the end of the episode, Aaron is feeling better. I think it is safe to assume that the illness Aaron had was something mundane. The “sickness” theme was a false trail, distracting us about what was going on, since we later learn that the sickness Danielle was talking about was the way the island turned people evil. The vaccine theme doesn’t seem to have been meaningful either, although it might have had to do with the fact that babies born on the island tend to die.
We see Ben’s ability to manipulate people for the first time, as he plants seeds in Locke’s mind, mentioning that he doesn’t understand why he lets the doctor call the shots, making him so angry that he soon after scatters bowls from a countertop.
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