Observation about Danielle

[etta]

Watching last night, I couldn't help but notice an inconsistency in Danielle's behavior.
She has made it pretty clear in the past that she would do anything to find Alex and get her back, including kidnapping Claire's baby in an effort to make an exchange.
However, when she encounters Claire in the jungle when Clair is escaping and the Others are coming after her, Danielle helps Claire to escape instead of confronting the Others right then and there and seeing if they have Alex. Why would she try to save Claire with the possibility of Alex only a couple of hundred feet away, just to wait for Claire to have the baby, kidnap it, and try to make a trade.
Any thoughts on this or is anyone discussing?

[JinAndTonic]

she didn't know if Alex was alive. why risk her, and Claire's life on an unknown

[artzonyou]

That's a good point. Danielle is a complicated character, so perhaps at that moment, encountering Claire in the jungle, she felt sympathy, as a mother who has already lost her child. Then later, she might have realized what she could have done to find her own child, and became just desperate enough to do it. Anyone else?

[etta]

But she was going to take Claire's baby and trade them when she didn't know if Alex was alive in Exodus.
I just think it was odd that she didn't try to confront them and ask about Alex, especially after what she did to Sayid when she found him walking along. She drugged him tied him up and just kept repeating over and over again "Where's Alex?" in Solitary.

[artzonyou]

Well, let's face it -- Danielle isn't exactly the most stable character on the island, at least from what we've seen of her so far. Many of her actions (though not all) haven't seemed terribly logical. We don't really know that much about her, do we? Other than what she has said herself?

[etta]

Danielle's one of my favorite characters. I am always waiting to learn more about her. I'm not complaining about the inconsistencies in her character's actions, I'm just interested in them and curious of other peoples thoughts on her. Is there an official Danielle thread on this site?

[LostInWilderness]

She would have lost.

[Lawboy]

I for one think Danielle is very intelligent and very shrewd. I think she has seen much on the island. I think she is also a scientist of sorts, and not just some stupid boat traveller. Sure, being solitary has affected her social graces. So has the fact that she is French. But she sees much. Hears much. And knows more than she leads on. ANd as for not being stable--well, who in our cast of Losties is? None. Thay all have their wierd hangups too

[artzonyou]

I wasn't knocking Danielle by calling her unstable -- I actually like her quite a bit, and think she's very intelligent, and potentially a great asset to the losties . . . Didn't she indicate she was a scientest when she had Sayid held captive? At least that was my impression, not that she was just tagging along . . .

[Cranky]

Sayid wasn't just walking along and Danielle jumped out and hit him....he walked into one of her traps. She thought she had an Other and could question him one on one and get some answers, when she found Claire there was a whole group of Others headed their way, perhaps that's why she thought it was safer to take Claire and run.

For me, asking why the French chick helped Claire out once and then kidnaped her son the next is like asking why Jack and Locke switched roles completely in this episode from the last.

Etta, there is a thread just for Danielle, it's over in the Redshirts section

[imaguestage]

Danielle has been alone on an Island for 16 years, listening to whispers, getting attacked by bears, having her newborn baby stolen after she killed the man she loved. She is not unstable, she is crazy. This is the reality of who Danielle is and the character that TPTB created. Her inconsistancies are part of her being completely crazy, not errors by TPTB. I do believe that Danielle knows more than she says, but it is buried in the chaos that is her mind. If she was mentally together, she would have joined with the castaways for both protection and social stimulation. Instead she roams around the Island of Mystery, taking chances with the bears, the Others and the Monster.

[artzonyou]

Well put! Just for the record, for me unstable and crazy are essentially the same thing. Semantics, you know . . .

[imaguestage]

Well put! Just for the record, for me unstable and crazy are essentially the same thing. Semantics, you know . . .

I figured. I was making a reference to classing the other castaways as unstable. Yes, they have issues, but Danielle is a full blown crazy lady. :crazy: