S03E12: 'Par Avion'

In a flashback, we see Claire – with dark hair – emerging from a car accident that has sent her mother flying through the windscreen into the road. Later at the hospital, her comatose mother is visited by Jack’s father – Dr Christian Shepherd. It emerges that he has been paying her hospital fees and is in fact Claire’s father. Her aunt Lindsey turns up and argues with Shepherd, demanding that he leaves. Claire and her newly discovered father meet for a coffee and Shepherd suggests that the life support system be turned off as there’s no hope for Claire’s mother. Claire angrily storms off.

On the island, Claire hatches a rescue plan that involves attaching a message to a see bird in the hope that it will migrate and ultimately be found. Desmond urges Charlie to go hunting with him, behaving in a very agitated manner. Later, as Jin, Sun and Claire try and capture a bird, Desmond appears and fires a shot that scares off the birds. Shortly after, he explains his portentous visions and says that he is only trying to save Charlie from death. A bird is then captured and a message attached before it flies away.

Meanwhile, Kate, Locke, Sayid and Rousseau are in the jungle with the hostage ‘Other’ Mikhail, who soon reveals knowledge of the inhabitants’ pre-crash lives. They encounter an apparent security barrier of pylons that Mikhail claims are harmless. Locke pushes him towards them, with the captive quickly thanking him as he violently contorts and slumps to the ground dead.

Soon, Kate devises a system involving a makeshift wooden bridge to get over the deadly pylons. All of the group manage to successfully cross to the other side unscathed. Once they make it towards the Others’ settlement, they are stunned to discover Jack playing American football with his captors, seemingly happy.