Lost Season Two Episode Summaries
"Abandoned" (#206):
Episode Analysis:
Jack was still at the hospital when Sabrina and Shannon arrived. He didn't give them the news about Adam Rutherford himself and yet he was in the hallway when another doctor met with them to give them the news. There is a strong possibility that Jack recognizes Shannon while they are on the Island . Indications have been that Jack has some guilt over something that happened with Sarah, but it's possible that his guilt is more directly tied to Shannon and what happened to her father. His drive to save the Marshal, his angst over the survivor who drown, his efforts reviving Charlie and especially his not wanting to give up on Boone all possibly point back to what happened in the ER that day when he chose a beautiful young woman for possibly selfish reasons over a middle-aged man. He (apparently) did not find long-lasting happiness with Sarah, while Adam Rutherford's death split apart a family.
Shannon 's father's name was Adam.
The doctor explains that Adam Rutherford stopped breathing at the site of the accident, but as seen in episode 2.01 ("Man of Faith, Man of Science", he was still breathing in the ER. He died on the table while Jack was working on Sarah.
The events in Shannon's flashbacks explain more of both Shannon and Boone's behavior. After her father's death, her stepmother and stepbrother basically abandoned her. She might have been spoiled, but as an eighteen year old in that situation, was she really equipped to make it on her own as they forced her to do. She finds her own way by using her feminine whiles. Because she feels that Boone abandoned her, she has no remorse over using his desire and guilt to scam him for money over and over again. The money is, after all, her stepmother's since Boone works for her. This way Shannon has found her own way of surviving, while being able to stick it to those who abandoned her. It also explains that some of her attitude is compensation for feeling alone.
Sayid has built a sizable shelter of salvaged plane parts and jungle foliage.
Sawyer refers to Ana Lucia as Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer who supposedly searched for the Fountain of Youth. In light of the Hanso Life-Extension Project, the reference has significance.
Walt appears to Shannon all wet and again whispers something. When played backwards, Walt says, "They're coming and they're close." His statement is somewhat ambiguous. "They" could indicate the Others or the "tailies'" group. A warning about the Others would be more ominous, but considering Shannon 's fate, the "tailies" end up posing a far greater danger to her.
Walt can't be a dream/hallucination of Shannon 's because Sayid sees him as well during his second appearance.
Consider the consequences of Walt's appearances in this episode: his first appearance shakes Shannon and puts her at odds with her new beau, who appears to be the only one reaching out to Shannon since Boone's death; his second appearance directly leads to Shannon 's death.
Walt seems to be aiding the Others/the Whispers or some malevolent force. Walt seems to have a special ability, but so far only bad things have transpired:
his parents splitting up when he was still a baby,
his father's accident,
the dead bird,
his mother's sudden illness and death,
Brian's near breakdown,
the plane crash,
his deliberate burning of the raft,
the Others attacking his father, Jin and Sawyer on the raft because of their pursuit of him,
his first post-kidnapping appearance comes at the same time as the opening of the Hatch and discovery of the button which has psychological consequences for the survivors
his latest appearances bring about Shannon 's death.
Charlie seems to have an unhealthy attachment to Aaron with no grounds for it. He doesn't seem to be romantically interested in Claire and considering her recent experiences with nightmares and being kidnapped, Charlie is very insensitive to her feelings. Charlie later talks about the responsibilities of motherhood which, as Locke points out, is bold coming from a heroin addict.
Libby is a clinical psychologist.
Rose doesn't seem to know about Shannon 's growing relationship with Sayid.
Locke now knows that Charlie has one of the drug filled Virgin Mary statues from the Nigerian smuggler plane.
Eko wasn't talking at some point, but now he is. It's possible that the Island gave him back an ability much like it did for Locke.
Locke knows about swaddling a baby and yet acts like he's never held one.
The Others came and took three tail-section survivors on the first night. They apparently knew about the crash almost immediately and yet they have left the fuselage survivors alone.
When she was younger, Shannon had a poster of Marky Mark. Now that she's eighteen, she's matured into listening to the Dave Matthews Band.
Backgammon, as Locke long ago explained, is a game between light and dark. The game between Charlie and Locke parallels the subject of their discussion: Claire and the drugs. It was not shown as to who was playing black and who was playing white, which makes the discussion more ambiguous.
The back-to-back scenes with the "tailies" and Shannon in the tail grass foreshadow that they are near each other and possibly going to run into each other.
Timeline of Cindy's disappearance:
She's at the base of the hill just in front of Libby as the effort to bring Sawyer up begins. She has laid aside her pack, which can be seen nearby.
Cindy has put her pack back on and is last, just starting to make her way up the hill.
Cindy hands Libby her staff, which Libby hands up along with her own to Eko. Libby can then be seen handing Cindy's pack up to Eko.
The group reaches the top with Sawyer, but Cindy is nowhere to be seen and Ana Lucia then notices she's gone.
Michael and Jin have heard the Monster, but haven't heard the Whispers. The two of them look puzzled, while the "tailies" look to be on the edge of panic. This would indicate that the "tailies" know that something bad is about to happen.
Several things may or may not be tied together: Cindy's disappearance, the Jungle Whispers and Walt's appearances. Cindy's disappearance would seem to indicate the proximity of the Others. This would tie the Jungle Whispers to the Others. Meanwhile, the sequence almost seems to implicate Walt. It is also possible that he's being used by the Others. He may have been trying to warn Shannon that the Others, or someone else (the Whisperers) were nearby, but the direction he moves off leads Shannon right into Ana Lucia's gun sight. Nothing portrayed on the show has been coincidence, so it's hard to assume that some of the occurrences at the end of the episode are coincidence.
Shannon followed Vincent and he led her toward the "tailies." The whispers put both groups on edge and finally Walt's appearance sent Shannon , already in a frenetic mode, barreling towards and jumpy and trigger-happy Ana Lucia. The whispers may have actually served to make the "tailies" jumpy, but Sayid and Shannon heard them because of how close they were. The whispers don't cause Sayid and Shannon to panic, but then Walt's appearance sets Shannon back in motion.
