Lost - Raised by Another [Census]

So previously William Maprother was kind of introduced in passing but not given any real elaboration. He is Ethan, seemingly a hunting companion for John Locke, but he can be seen gathering firewood and just kind of helping around wherever needed. He never appears to be at all threatening. Even as the episode, “Raised by Another”, concludes, Ethan has a soft face and doesn’t give off any intimidating vibes. Sure the hook of the close as Claire and Charlie seemingly prepare for the worst, Ethan doesn’t appear to be a danger to them, although the music, camera, and facial expressions would imply a different response. Perhaps we should recoil? Perhaps once Hurley tells Jack, after Sawyer voluntarily gives him the passenger manifest to correlate with his own consensus (in “Raised by Another”, Hurley spends the episode going passenger to passenger collecting names and where each comes from), that one among their party isn’t a plane survivor, Ethan is set up as a shocking revelation…does he have diabolical plans for Claire? That is the bait to lure us into the next episode. That Hurley sees how things are—previously he sees that everyone is miserable and on edge, proposing that they need to do something fun to counteract the tensions rising, which led to the golf—and dwells on what needs to be done to encourage civility and social order says a lot about how his mind works. If there is only misery and distrust—he considers the census after Claire is almost attacked, surmising that there could be others on the island, so why not have an actual document of all among them, both on the beach and at the caverns—how can they survive together on the island long-term?

When stranded on an island each individual perhaps offers something specific that helps to produce results needed to make sure as a whole folks don’t turn into savages just tearing themselves asunder. Ideas produce results that help to maintain small communities. So Hurley has ideas that further this cause…to achieve order while Jack is tending to the needs of the group, Hurley’s who’s-who census is ideal in establishing any outsiders that might attempt to infiltrate and violate those on the plane, stranded now on the island. And it details for the viewer that the island just doesn’t have plan survivors…others are on the island as well. As evidenced with Moprather…