Her next big event was dealing a drugged out Charlie in the first class lavatory. Charlie was getting his fix when the plane began its turbulence and suddenly broke a part. Charlie wound up with the middle section survivors, but Cindy, who was within feet of him, wound up in the Tail Section camp.
There are two explanations for this major inconsistency. First, she was thrown clear of the cabin section and wound up on the other side of the island, but this is highly improbable. As strange as it seems, in the Other 48 Days, she appears relatively quickly during the initial beach rescues. Second, if she did land with the other middle section survivors, but she left or was transported to the tail section beach. This is also highly improbable because it took Ben time to send his spies to each camp. Another explanation is that Cindy was an Other planted on the plane so she knew her mission prior to the crash landing on the island.
While with the Tailies, Cindy was one of the women allegedly kidnapped by the Others. There was no apparent reason to take Cindy from the camp, except that she became close to the children, Emma and Zach, the real prizes. From the point of her abduction, she made no moves to leave the Others or seek rescue with her fellow 815 survivors. This leads credence that she was different than the other passengers and crew aboard Flight 815.
If she was a plant on the plane, then that would mean that she had some forecast with future events, i.e. giving Jack the alcohol to treat his wounds, or getting to the Tail Section to secure the children for assimilation into the Others community. This would mean that there was an evil intent behind the plane crash, and that it had some "control" over the life and death of certain passengers and crew members. It would also mean that Desmond's failure to enter the alarm numbers into the Hatch computer did not cause 815 to crash. It was a convenient coincidence that the island used to guilt Desmond into staying on the island in order to use the fail safe key.
One bothersome aspect of Cindy's character was her appearance. On the plane (above) she had short, reddish hair. But during the island time, she quickly is seen with long, black hair. Her hair length would not have grown that much in the time shown on the island. And why would she wear a wig in a hot, tropical climate if she was not hiding from anyone. It was one of these little things that does not make sense either for the character or in the context of the whole story line.
When MIB turns into Flocke and begins to terrorize everyone on the island, Cindy is at the Temple with Zach, Emma and another young boy. When it came to a decision to follow Flocke, Cindy took the children with her and left the Temple. Clearly, she took it upon herself to insure the safety of the children.
Which brings into play a similar parallel in island history. A stranger comes upon two children without parents. This stranger then adopts them as her own. Cindy's behavior after the plane crash mirrors Crazy Mother taking control over Jacob and MIB. In an odd footnote, could Cindy have been Crazy Mother? As a smoke monster, she could travel instanteously about the island, taking whatever shape shifting form she chose to adopt.
During the final episodes treks across the island, and the waiting, we lose track of Cindy and the children. Where did they go? They did not go to the Barracks because they were not seen during Widmore's final confrontation with Ben. They would not have gone back to the Temple, because Cindy would not want to have the children see the deadly carnage left behind by Flocke. She never went to the Hydra Station because everyone on the island, except candidates, were killed off by Widmore's men. So where did Cindy hide? Again, this is like what Crazy Mother did with young Jacob and MIB - - - hiding out in their own camp and telling them not to be involved with the Roman villagers.
One aspect of Cindy we do see is that she appears on the flight that lands at LAX (in the sideways world). But we don't see Zach or Emma. If everyone in the sideways world is dead, when did Cindy die? On the island?
There are some who believe that after Flocke's death, Cindy and the children joined the Island's new protector, Hurley, in living out his new era on the island. Except, we have no evidence of that happening. We only get a vague tip-of-the-cap from Hurley that Ben was a good island second-in-command. If Hurley was in charge of the island, why wouldn't he make sure that Emma and Zach were reunited with their parents in LA? Hurley had a strong bond with his family so why would he doom the children to stay on the island? Unless, of course, he could not change what they had become, i.e. spirits in the after life.
Or is it more reasonable than none of the people left on the island ever left the island. They would have stayed there as the next cycle of guardianship would unfold. Perhaps, Cindy took over for Hurley - - - to train Emma and Zach as the next candidates to take her place. But, that does not answer the real mystery of why the island needs a guardian in the first place.
I think from the circumstances, there is more to Cindy than just being a flight attendant who survived a plane crash. Her ability to stay out of the line of fire was uncanny. Her sudden devotion to the children was overprotective. She never once tried to leave the Others once she was allegedly kidnapped. She knew that following Flocke was the only way the children would survive, but then she took an opportunity to hide them away. Cindy seemed to know a lot more of what the island was and what was happening than the average castaway. But who or what Cindy was will remain a mystery.
