This is stating the obvious, but a lot of the discussion about “who Rousseau is” is simply due to the mysteriousness of how the character is written and acted. She never seems to give clear cut or complete answers, and of course the Losties never seem to ask her enough questions. But the same is true for pretty much every other character we’ve come across. And that is one feature of the show that makes it so compelling. If they came right out in season 1 and told us everything we need to know about Rousseau (or Ben, or Mikhail, etc) and gave her a flashback or two, the show would be much less interesting. Trying to solve the puzzle is half the fun.

She does know a lot more than she is letting on. There has been a lot of speculation as to why she did not go into the Flame Station and what exactly did happen in there.

there’s also the possibility that her team of scientists -was- dharma, sent by the company to investigate a mysterious loss of contact (a la ripley in ‘aliens’), under cover of being a science team, and kept in the dark about the dharma projects on the island.

god, the writers must have some massive, comprehensive timeline somewhere.. at least, i hope they do.

“It [or he] is outside. It [or he] is outside and Brennan took the keys. Please help us. They are dead. They are all dead. Help us. They are dead.”

This Line Troubles me the most. Who is Brennan, and what keys is she referring to?

The whole transmission is here.
lostpedia.com/wiki/Distress_si...

Which Lostie was killed by an Other?

(1)Boone died because of Locke,
(2)Shannon was killed by Ana Lucia,
(3)Ana Lucia and (4) Libby were shot by Michael (I suppose one could argue he was manipulated by the Others into doing that, but they never told him to kill, or even hurt, anyone), and
(5) Eko was killed by smoke monster (possibly created by Others, but no proof of that).

The only people killed by the Others are Pickett, killed by Juliet, and Ms. Klugh, killed by Patchy (who may or may not be an Other).

The Losties, on the other hand, have killed Ethan (shot by Charlie), Goodwin (stabbed by Ana-Lucia), and Pickett’s wife (shot by Sun).

Oh wait, Goodwin snapped that one Lostie’s neck. Even so, the score is still Losties: 3 Others killed, Others: 1 Lostie killed.

Losties are still ahead!

Losties: 3, Others: 2

That non-character’s death was such a non-event they didn’t even have an on-camera funeral for him.

After 16 years she is probably so uncomfortable in any social situation that involves being indoors with technology so am inclined to believe her when she offers to wait by the stream.

Except that she “claimed” that she never saw that place before. How would she know she would be indoors with technology?

Again, she’s in a search party for Jack and more importantly Alex. After 16 years looking for her kid, she should be “all in”. And if she’s survived by avoiding confrontation, why did she coming running to Sayid’s voice after a gun battle? To be consistant with her own story…she would have run back to her hide out after hearing the shots.

(This debate is awesome.)

I just have a feeling. Deception is huge on Lost and it’s not without precedent to lead us to believe one thing and then change direction in a heart beat. They have even used a second flashback to contradict what we thought from an original flashback. Character’s actions lead us to more info in the future. Her actions in “Enter 77″ have me waiting for what it is.

Either way, I would rather be with people than wait by the lonely stream for Smokey to appear. She is an enigma!

I know I’m beating a dead horse here…but if you have no reason to fear Smokey, you wouldn’t mind being alone…would you? (I love this stuff:) ).

SAYID: What is this place? Those batteries — they wouldn’t be able to produce enough power to transmit your distress call all these years.

DANIELLE: I broadcast from somewhere else. But they control it now.

SAYID: They?

DANIELLE: You. And the others like you.

And that exchange occurred after a scene where Rousseau is torturing Sayid and asking him “Where’s Alex?” (Note that this episode is where the term “the Others” originated, and Rousseau was the first to use it.)

It’s possible that these scenes are part of a very elaborate deception by Rousseau, as Hammer and other people have stated. But the way she tortured Sayid and accused him of being one of the Others and of knowing where Alex is, I just find it very difficult to believe she is one of the Others. Maybe she is a “banished Other”, as downthehatch said in Comment #2, but I’d say now she has no ties to them at all.

This reminds about a question I had about last week’s episode. The “Russia” has a poster of Nadia Comaneci (1976 Olympics) on the wall, saying that she was the greatest gymnast of all time. While this may be true, I found it pretty strange that a Russian would have a poster of a ROMANIAN gymnast on the wall instead of the (equaly impresive) Russian gymnast Olga Korbut (1972 Olympics).

Anyway, I don’t know if that meant anything, but I found it a little odd to point that out.

If Ben and Rousseau actually had a realtionship, and Alex is the result, this is information that has not been passed on to the Losties, given that she first trapped and then shot Ben with an arrow in Season 2. She only identified Ben as “one of them”, not a former lover. If they did have a realationship, then it might be easy to accept that Rousseau truly is a spy, sent to gain the confidence of the Losties, to some sinister end, which may play itself out soon, as they are searching for Jack.

It will be interesting to see how this all comes together.

What if the same thing happened to Frenchie, and she got hooked up with the Benster?

Why was she spared when all her companions were “lost”? Because she was on the list.

Locke is also on the list. Maybe he is Jin’s xy-contributor.

While I don’t think Frenchie is lying, she knows more than what she is willing to tell the Losties.

In the preview to Par Avion (I’m not giving away any spoilers) she appears to interrupt Patchy when he’s right in the middle of revealing some important information. I think she knows that the Losties, at least the ones not on the list, are better off by now knowing certain things.

Why was she spared when all her companions were “lost”? Because she was on the list.

maybe the list is about fertility

Also, recall that Rousseau tortured Sayid because she *thought* he might know where Alex was. And yet when she had captured Ben (whom she *knew* was an Other), she didn’t try to get any info out of him; she merely passed him over to Sayid, because she thought Sayid might get some of *his* questions answered.

Odd behavior indeed.

I am aslo thinking on the lines that maybe they did something to do the baby in the womb. I mean…do we really know they gave Laire’s baby a vaccine? Maybe they did something to put Ben’s genes in there. THey may take her baby eventually but for now they let Aaron stay with his mom.

Yes these are far fetched too but they are possiblities.

Rousseau has just too many convenient butt-ins and lucky timings to be just a survivor, in my opinion. I think it’s pretty clear she’s a kind of backup mole, sent to watch the passengers and instill in them the appropriate sense of dread of the Others. When that didn’t work, she’s now pretty much winging it.

It also seems Danielle has suddenly gotten over her fear of technology and confrontations, just hopped right over that security system and straight for Otherville.

Did she ever mention what type of a scientist she was?

You know…we haven’t seen other children on the island. I mean we have, but just because they say Ben is her father doesn’t mean it’s her dad. Do they say dad or father? You know like sometimes when you follow someone…you call them Father…like God for instance. So maybe Everyone calls him Father. Like all the young people. They will be his followers. Is that a stretch.

I am aslo thinking on the lines that maybe they did something to do the baby in the womb. I mean…do we really know they gave Laire’s baby a vaccine? Maybe they did something to put Ben’s genes in there. THey may take her baby eventually but for now they let Aaron stay with his mom.

Yes these are far fetched too but they are possiblities.

Tasha wrote:

You know…we haven’t seen other children on the island. I mean we have, but just because they say Ben is her father doesn’t mean it’s her dad. Do they say dad or father? You know like sometimes when you follow someone…you call them Father…like God for instance. So maybe Everyone calls him Father. Like all the young people. They will be his followers. Is that a stretch.

I am aslo thinking on the lines that maybe they did something to do the baby in the womb. I mean…do we really know they gave Laire’s baby a vaccine? Maybe they did something to put Ben’s genes in there. THey may take her baby eventually but for now they let Aaron stay with his mom.

Yes these are far fetched too but they are possiblities.

Sorry for messing up that last post. I think Tasha is onto something. Juliet enabled her sister to become pregnant..she was recruited to the island after being shown an x-ray of a young woman whose reproductive organs were aged. Ethan was there at the time, and involved with pregnant Claire’s abduction.Rousseau had a baby on the island that was stolen.All the children were stolen. Now Sun is pregnant.

Now to another crazy idea…is everyone related to everyone else on this island somehow?

Maybe they know much about people that can or can’t be cured by medical advancements by doctors. Faith has played a role and nature in curing things in the show. Take a look at how fast people have been healed. I think the island is some sort of power like the healing powers of the iron ore in Sedona AZ or the mysterious magnetic poles of the Bermuda triangle. Perhaps children are being taken for science. They need new blood, bone marrow, etc. for experiments. They are trying to live out their lives in solitude to heal. (M night Shyamalan “The Village Theory”)

Remember when Ben had a file of Jack and some losties? What’s up with all the secret info. into their personal lives?

By the way I thought Jack and the others were on another island? Did Syid, Locke and Kate travel on the boat back to the other island?

What do we know about Russeau? She has been on the island for 16 years. She has a daughter on the island. She is a scientist from an explorer ship that crashed there. (We haven’t seen the ship) She knows about voices of others but up until the losties hasn’t seen them. She claims to never have seen what I call “The Microwave Frying Gate”. She is an explorer you would think she had seen that. And you would think she knew about the hatch if she was Darmah. I believe she may even be a “Other Castaway” and brain washed to forget things.

By the way I thought Jack and the others were on another island? Did Syid, Locke and Kate travel on the boat back to the other island?

Jack went via boat with Ben from the other island for Ben’s recuperation stay on the main island.

I think it is obvious the others are all part of a cult. They may all have medical conditions and are seeking out private lives on the island that has mysterious healing powers. Locke was paralyzed from the waist down. How did the scientist know he was paralyzed from the waist down? Has he been on the island before?

Maybe they know much about people that can or can’t be cured by medical advancements by doctors. Faith has played a role and nature in curing things in the show. Take a look at how fast people have been healed. I think the island is some sort of power like the healing powers of the iron ore in Sedona AZ or the mysterious magnetic poles of the Bermuda triangle. Perhaps children are being taken for science. They need new blood, bone marrow, etc. for experiments. They are trying to live out their lives in solitude to heal. (M night Shyamalan “The Village Theory”)

I like the Sedona AZ parallel.

Did Reusesau get the explosives from the old slave ship? Or did she have c-four? If so how did she know about the slave ship and not the “Microwave Frying Fence”? She had a map once of the island didn’t she? I would be interested to see the map of the Russian and the season 1 map by Russeau.

Rousseau=Kate in the future?

Nah, American people don’t become French when the get old…ha ha.

Oh, and her explanation of ‘avoiding confrontations’ when she heads for the stream…is weak also. She has been so determined and driven to get Alex yet when it comes down to being face to face with Others, she turns away? The only Other that we have seen her face to face with is Ben, the leader. Maybe she knew she could rely on Ben’s deceptive nature to backup her “disguise” but worried that Patchy and Ms. Klugh might accidentally give up her real identity.

The thing that always bugged me with her was the whole ‘I shot ben with an arrow’ bit. That has always struck me as very strange, considering how she seems to be a card carrying member of the NRA. I get the feeling that she is in bed with the others. To what degree, I am not sure.

As far as not asking about her daughter: I find it odd but not totally out of character. I mean the woman has proven to be a little, well, off. Something is wrong with her. I mean if what she says is true and she has lived in isolation of some kind for 16 years, then she’s a wee bit addlepated to say the least. Maybe she’s afraid that there’s something hideously wrong with Alex and can’t bear the thought of knowing it. Perhaps she fears that her daughter is “infected” and can’t help but imagine that she’ll have to put her down the way she did with Alex’s father Robert and the rest of her scientific crew.

OR maybe its like I said before about the post regarding Alex’s parentage-MAYBE BEN IS HER REAL FATHER!! (Cue eerie music)

What if Ben is Robert and Danielle didn’t atually kill him? Maybe what she refers to as infection is whatever happens to the Others on that island that makes them “Others” i.e. brainwashing, purging, the injections we saw ethan giving claire and claire giving to aaron? there a multitude of possible interpretations for the disease/sickness Rousseau refers to and she never tells any of the Losties what the symptoms of the sickness are, but instead she tells them that they’ll start to see it in the survivors (if I remember correctly).

I don’t know, but she is definitely NOT an Other like Ben and Juliet. If she’s an other, she’s another kind of Other altogether.

Regarding the fact that Rousseau didn’t ask many questions about Alex….I thought it was a bit strange that she wouldn’t be more inquisitive, but I did buy her explanation. I, personally, would not have acted that way, and most people I know wouldn’t act that way either. But it seems to be consistent with what we’ve seen of her. All along she hasn’t been very forthcoming with information, and she hasn’t sought out a lot of information. For example, when she originally caught Sayid, she didn’t ask much information about the plane crash, how they survived, or even ask some questions about the outside world. I know I’d want to spend as much time with possible with these newcomers to find out what’s going on in world news, politics, entertainment, sports, scientific discoveries (being a scientist, you’d expect Rousseau to be intrested in that), etc. Also, a minor point about scottc13’s comment #36, when torturing Sayid, Rousseau only asked him where Alex was, she didn’t try to find out other information about her, so she has stayed consistent in that regard. She has always been interested in finding Alex and has taken drastic measures to find out where she is, and she has never asked anyone (not Sayid, not Claire, not Kate) for particular information about her.

I guess what some people here are saying is that because she didn’t ask about Alex, that means that she is one of the Others? Or is acting as a spy for the Others? I would think that if that were the case, she’d want to act as “normal” as possible, and in most people’s minds, that would include asking as many questions as she could about Alex. To me, asking a lot of questions would have been a key part of the deception, if she were an other. So being that she has not done that, I find that to be consistent with her character, and I found her explanation to be sincere and believable.

I also degree that she has taken drastic measures to find Alex. On the contrary, it appears that she has been a hermit for 16 years hoping to trap Alex close to her own hideout.

“What are you thoughts on why the writers would have Kate start to doubt Danielle’s story?”
Maybe this is a cop-out but I think the writers were anticipating criticism from viewers asking the same question. Like I said, most people would probably ask as many questions as they could about their long lost daughter. Perhaps as they were writing these episodes, someone working on the show asked that precise question, and by now I’m sure the writers/producers/directors are well aware of the criticism of the show that has been plastered all over the media (e.g., why don’t they answer more questions, why don’t the characters share information among each other), so they may be trying to pre-empt the anticipated criticism. I think there’s been several instances of that in these last few episodes. (Just a couple examples: in Tricia Tanaka… Hurley’s speech at Libby’s grave was an indication that Hurley did tell everyone what happened to Jack, Kate and Sawyer, even though we never saw those conversations on-screen, which was a common complaint earlier in the season. And Sawyer’s quick “Who the hell are you?” to Nikki was an acknowledgement of the complaints about the sudden appearance of her and Paolo).

“Thoughts on why the writers have her on this mission to help find Jack and Alex, but have her claim she know nothing about the Flame or Othersville?”
I had said on one of the other threads here that I bought her explanation that she survived for 16 years precisely by avoiding those types of confrontations. There’s some related info in my response to your next question.

“Why she didn’t want to confront the Others at the flame but when they find the barrier, then hop over it without question, and has really has been of no help at all?”
On another thread I had said that as far as Kate (and therefore, Rousseau) knew (prior seeing Jack playing football), Jack and Alex are not on this island, but are on the other island, and I believe Kate’s plan is to find the Other’s camp (which Karl mentioned to her and Sawyer), and then threaten the people there into getting Jack released. And I think it was clear to the 4 of them in the search party that the Flame station was not the Other’s camp, so Rousseau didn’t see the point of investigating it - she just wanted to get to the Other’s camp. From the map, it was clear that the barrier surrounded the Other’s camp, and that was their stated objective.

“I also degree that she has taken drastic measures to find Alex. On the contrary, it appears that she has been a hermit for 16 years hoping to trap Alex close to her own hideout.”
The drastic measures were torturing Sayid and kidnapping Aaron. We don’t know for sure what she’s been doing for the last 16 years. She may not have explored every inch of the island, but she was at least familiar with the Black Rock (ship), the radio tower, the monster, and the whispers. She’s done what she had to do to survive, and in her mind, that includes not exploring too much. It also includes setting traps, which serve three purposes - primarily to catch boars or other animals she could eat, equally important to catch anyone who may be a threat to her (Sayid, Ben, and who knows who else in the past), and of lesser importance to catch Alex (although even if she did, how would Rousseau be able to determine if Alex was her daughter, and why on earth would Alex believe this crazy woman?).

As I’ve said before, I don’t completely rule out the possibility that Rousseau is part of the Others, but I think it’s far more likely that she’s not (although I am prepared for all of my theories about her to be shot to hell). I agree that there is a lot more to her story than we’ve been led to believe, and I particularly agree with Tina who said Rousseau “a wee bit addlepated”, not that I know what that means but I agree nonetheless. I think that is a big part of the explanation for why she acts as she does.

ToeKnee - What are you thoughts on why the writers would have Kate start to doubt Danielle’s story? Thoughts on why the writers have her on this mission to help find Jack and Alex, but have her claim she know nothing about the Flame or Othersville? Why she didn’t want to confront the Others at the flame but when they find the barrier, then hop over it without question, and has really has been of no help at all?

I also degree that she has taken drastic measures to find Alex. On the contrary, it appears that she has been a hermit for 16 years hoping to trap Alex close to her own hideout.

The writers likely have kate doubting Rousseau’s story because her reaction to finding out her daughter is alive is simply unreasonable. I say unreasonable because any reasonable mother would immediately demand as many answers as she could get (you know the whole mother bear instinct). Rousseau reacts in a way that can only be described as both strange and detached. Though there has been no evidence given to the audience that she has tried and failed in the past to actually get to Alex, we do know that she has looked for her and tried to bargain for her (trading aaron for alex). Just because she hasn’t told the Losties she’s been desperately trying to get to Alex or been show doing so in a flashback doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. I figure after 16 years anyone would eventaully have given up a tad bit.

I tend to think she looked desperately for say 3 years maybe even 5 and then started to descend into whatever state of mind you would classify she is in currently. She is no longer a reasonable person which is why everyone’s reaction to her limited questions about her daughter is “WTF, wy isn’t she freaking out and asked a ton of questions or being more helpful in the quest to get to her?”.

Despite this, I find it in character to her to not ask the questions because I think she’s addlepated, unreasonable and most definitely keeping a TON of secrets from Kate, Sayid, and Locke. She is crafty and little bit crazy and that makes for a very volatile and scary combination after 16 years of isolation.

She’s a timebomb and we’re going to see the explosion soon since she did agree to hop over that sonic fence with the rescue crew. I predict a confrontation with Ben that reveals details about how Rousseau got to island, who she really is and why the Others stole(and that’s still in question) her infant daughter. All of these things are why the writers have included her in this aspect of the storyline.

At least, that’s my theory.

That being said, I have some questions, five to be exact and three of them have to deal with Rousseau, so I thought I’d post them here. Random thoughts I have drummed up reading these blogs.

1.(Already asked on another post) Why did Rousseau torture Sayid but then let Sayid have Benry?

2. If Alex was taken as a baby, wouldn’t she call anyone “father” that they told her was her father? I’m sure she doesn’t know she is adopted.

3. If Christian went with Ana Lucia to Sydney to see Claire (which had to be day(s) before the plane crash), who was the woman he met at the door of the house? Was that Claire’s Aunt, or did her mother come out of the coma?

4. Who buried the real Henry Gale and where is his wife (Jennifer?)?

5. When Mikhail was talking about knowing each of the people on the A-team, he never mentioned Rousseau. Did she interrupt him before he could get to “Danielle Rousseau, you are still hopelessly searching for your dau….”? He seemed to know she wasn’t part of the losties.

I’m sure I’m missing something obvious on all of them so please be gentle in your responses. :)

This could lead to a couple of new theories.

1.) The flame was a decoy, quickly built by the others to hide the real Flame, thus Danielle may have never seen it.

2.)By Kate asking some of these questions, she is realizing Danielle is a plant of sorts, and only wanted her to come along to use as a trade with the others. Maybe Kate will threaten Alex if Russo doesn’t cooperate.

Anyone else think Mr Widmore may be “Him”

She once again disappeared when there was a chance for the others to see her.

Which apparently was a smart move because she was the only one to not get captured. Just because she wasn’t foolish enough to go barging into the Others’ camp doesn’t mean she’s an Other. :)

True ToeKnee…but it doesn’t prove she’s not an other either. I’m want to more than what she has told the Losties. I think pretty much character on this show has been confirmed a liar…just waiting on Danielle.

In reading through lostpedia, I came across the fact that Kate’s boyhood friend was Tom Brennan.

Could there be a connection?

Could Tom have survived the shooting, and been recruited since his career was probably all but over at the hospital after helping Kate?

The comment Russo made in her distress signal has been bugging me. Why would the writers put in “and Brennan took the keys”. They don’t just throw in minor, useless information.

In reading through lostpedia, I came across the fact that Kate’s boyhood friend was Tom Brennan.

Could there be a connection?

Could Tom have survived the shooting, and been recruited since his career was probably all but over at the hospital after helping Kate?

I don’t think that Tom is the Brennan that Rousseau mentions in her recorded message. Supposedly the message was recorded 16 years ago, and the events in Kate’s flashback with Tom occurred within the last few years. So, unless Sayid’s calculation that the message has been running for 16 years is incorrect, or unless there’s some time-travel issue (both of which are possible), I think Kate’s Brennan and Rousseau’s Brennan are two different people.

I could see that. Like scottc13 said, it seems like there should be a connection between the two, being that the writers gave them the same name. Froum Rousseau’s message, it’s not clear to me that Brennan was killed, or even that Brennan was part of Rousseau’s science team. Maybe he is one of the Others, and maybe he’s still on the island? That would be pretty cool, assuming he and Kate run into each other sometime.

Well, do we know what Mr. Friendly’s last name is? Maybe he is Tom Brennan Sr.(If he’s not the gay character)?

Well, do we know what Mr. Friendly’s last name is? Maybe he is Tom Brennan Sr.(If he’s not the gay character)?

That is ingenious! Did you just come up with that? I’d never heard that theory before and I could totally buy that. It would explain why he’s always been so nice to her. Well, other than the time they gagged her and put a bag over her head.

Maybe Roger was Brennan. Tom’s brother / father? He had the keys to the Van. I wouldn’t be at all surprised that as we find out more about Roger Workman maybe we will see more of Tom Brennan as well.

Could be Roger too…I still get the feeling it could be Tom though. Danielle hung out with Kate and her bunch until she saw Tom throwing the ball with Jack. Then she pulled one of her diappearing acts. Something is going on with her and the others…I just feel it.