Lost: Season 2, Episode 15 "Maternity Leave" Review

"Are you the genius or are you the guy who always feels like he's living in the shadow of the genius?"

-Ben Linus

The 15th episode of season 2 of Lost picks up with Aaron getting sick.  Claire (Emilie de Ravin) becomes very worried, even when Jack (Matthew Fox) tells her it's a very common illness for infants.  Rousseau (Mira Furlan) arrives in camp and tells Claire that Aaron is infected.  Even more worried, Claire gets Libby (Cynthia Watros) to help her unlock the memories of her kidnapping.  Claire becomes determined to go back to where she was taken.

Over the episode, we see Claire's memories slowly return.  She was held in a Dharma station called the Staff and given injections by Ethan (William Mapother).  She was kept drugged and convinced to give up her baby to the Others.  One of the Others, Alex (Tania Raymonde), told Claire that she would be killed her after the baby's birth, but Claire didn't believe her, so Alex knocked her out.  She woke up in the jungle, where she was found by Rousseau, who was also forced to knock her out to take her back to her camp.  

Claire and Kate (Evangeline Lilly) journey into the jungle and track down Rousseau.  She takes them back to the place where she found Claire and, following Claire's fragmented memories, they find the Staff.  They are unable to find the vaccine, but they do find a makeup kit with a fake beard that looks remarkably like Tom Friendly's (M.C. Gainey).  Claire realizes that Rousseau actually helped her escape from the Others.  She returns to camp to find Aaron getting better.

Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) figures out Jack and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) are holding someone prisoner in the hatch and convinces them to let him speak to Henry Gale (Michael Emerson).  Eko simply confesses to Henry that he killed two Others on his first night on the Island.  He asks Henry for forgiveness because he needed to tell someone.  Later, Henry starts to manipulate Locke to try and turn him against Jack.

What Works:

The Ethan saga is one of my favorite storylines on Lost and I love getting to revisit it.  William Mapother is always creepy as Ethan, but it's a different performance this time around.  It's less violent-psychopath and more creepy-cult leader.  My favorite incarnation of the Others is when they act like a cult, so this is some really good stuff.  The flashbacks are pretty chilling all around.

Libby doesn't get much to do during her time on the show and this is one of her better episodes.  She gets to be the one to help Claire unlock her memories.  It's great to see her get used for something.  I only wish she had gone on the mission as well.

I loved seeing Claire actually get to go on a jungle trek.  She almost never leaves the beach and it's a refreshing change of pace for her to not only go on an expedition, but lead it.

Finally, the final scene between Locke and Henry is the best part of the episode.  Knowing the entire history between Locke and Ben makes this even more interesting.  This is the first of many times Ben is going to manipulate Locke and he's already got it down to perfection.

What Sucks:

As much as I love Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's performance as Mr. Eko, I don't care much for his subplot in this episode.  The performances are fine all around, I was just hoping what might be our only scene between Ben and Eko would be more substantial.  Ultimately, it doesn't amount to much.

Finally, the search of the Staff is a bit of letdown.  I was hoping they would find more than just a makeup kit.  This episode just doesn't really stick the landing.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most useful character in a given episode.  For "Maternity Leave," the award goes to Kate Austen.  She tried to talk sense into Claire like several other characters do, but quickly recognizes that Claire is going on the quest with or without her help.  Kate gets a gun from Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and is the stable one on the expedition.  This is Kate's first time winning the Platinum Polar Bear.

Verdict:

"Maternity Leave" is a solid episode of Lost.  It's great having Ethan back and it's fun to see Claire and Libby get more to do than usual.  Plus I always love watching Ben manipulate Locke.  I just wish the episode had stuck the landing better on both Claire's and Mr. Eko's storylines.

 8/10: Really Good