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What Kate Does




This weeks episode “What Kate Does” is obviously a take on season ones “What Kate Did”. I’m not going to rip it as harsh as some people have. It wasn’t horrible and it certainly wasn’t up there in the range of “Stranger In A Strange Land” bad. It was a Kate episode and for those of you that have been with me for a while know I’m not a big fan of Kate episodes. I will say that I do feel Kate gets a bad rap and for a while I was right there with the people giving the bad rap to her. After last years “Whatever Happened Happened” when Kate did one of the most unselfish acts I have seen her do on the show, she wiped the slate clean with me and I gave her credit unlike I have ever given her before. Evangeline Lilly just gets better as an actress so if there is any fault with Kate as a character it is with the writers and directors. Kate is used well enough in other episodes she appears in but when it is time for her to take center stage in a Kate centric episode something usually goes wrong (Whatever Happened Happened being the exception rather than the rule) and they can’t seem to make the Kate scenes in a Kate episode interesting. Thankfully, this week we had the return of Claire and Ethan to make the flash sideways scenes a little more interesting.



Let’s look at Kate Austin and see if we can figure out why she is so disliked by many fans. First of all, she isn’t a bad person in that we can’t say we dislike her because she is a criminal, a fugitive, a murderer, or whatever else you want to call her. If she does something solely for herself, there are those that get up in arms and call her the “B” word and say she is no good. On the other hand when she is unselfish and does something for someone else without first thinking of her self, well the episode is then called boring and pointless. I have to disagree with all of this because Kate is rarely unselfish as she usually has ulterior motives for whatever it is she is doing but she is no more guilty of being a bad person or murderer than say John Locke, Sayid, or Sawyer is and none of these characters are as disliked as Kate is. I think the root of the problem the viewers have with her is people cannot forgive her for the love triangle. Even with the death of Juliette, the scenes in this episode between her and Sawyer should serve as to prove that no matter what, there is no future between her and Sawyer and the non kiss between her and Jack also serves notice that romance isn’t in the cards for them either. So with all of that in mind let’s dissect this episode a little. For those of you that thought the episode was crap, I hope I can offer you some sort of proof that while it wasn’t as good as the season premier, and what could be really (the biggest problem with this episode is that it had the misfortune of being right after the premier), it did have some things that were more than just “filler”.

Does the typewriter Dogan is typing the latest chapter of his memoirs on actually type in hieroglyphics. Lennon brings him the news that Sayid is alive. Right after Jack asks Miles to get Sayid some water look at Miles’ face. This ghost whisperer already seems to sense something isn’t right with Sayid. Sawyer is bitter that Sayid gets to come back but Juliette is to remain dead. He should look on the bright side and figure out that whatever Juliette’s journey was, it reached it’s conclusion on the island and she was done “fixing” her past failures or correcting her errors. Sayid still has a lot to pay for unlike Juliette. Sawyer tells Kate that he is going to run. Cue the flash sideways noise which still doesn’t sound right to me, it sounds broken like it’s taking us to something that shouldn’t be.

Kate is inside the cab and they almost run over Artz. Were the jars of bugs that he had on the island inside of his bags that are all over the ground? This time when Kate and Jack see each other the two seem to "remember" each other or at least something like that. Here’s the theory on this that I subscribe to: on the plane during the ATL when Kate comes out of the bathroom and steals Jack’s pen, the two of them don’t recognize each other. Later outside of the airport when Kate is in the cab they do seem to recognize each other. Again, they probably don’t know how or why they know each other it’s just a feeling they have. Why the second time but not the first time they see each other? At the time when they see each other on the plane they aren’t supposed to recognize each other because in the main time line, they hadn’t met yet. After the first time outside of the restroom on the plane, enough time has gone by that in the original time line after the crash and the initial rushing around, it was after the time the two would have met when Jack asked Kate to stitch him up. Therefore they don’t recognize each other until the actual time of their meeting on the island has passed in the ATL. Ow, now my head hurts. I probably could have explained that better but it's late and I've been shoveling snow all day! Anyway, the cabbie bails and Kate kicks Claire out of the cab as well. In Kate's haste to get away it seems that she missed the fact that Claire was very pregnant.

Jack is amazed at Sayid’s six pack and his now closed wound. Jack has another scuffle with the others when they want to take Sayid inside to “ask him some questions”. Miles gets a sucker punch for his troubles as well. Sawyer shoots above the crowd similarly to how he did when he got the stash of guns in The Long Con. Sawyer announces that he is leaving but not before telling the others that Sayid is not his friend. He also tells them that they can do with the rest of them whatever they want. Dogan asks Sawyer to “please stay”. Whatever the 815Er's are, they sure are important enough to make Dogan not only speak English but to actually be polite about it! Sawyer ignores Dogan and leaves after he tells Kate not to come looking for him which is LOST speak for “the next scene Kate will be leaving to go after Sawyer”.
Which she does and Jin says he will go with her. She goes because, as she tells Lennon, “she can be very convincing when she wants to be”. Woo Ho, yeah, it's not gonna work though. ATL Kate has the cuffs removed by a guy that I’m not sure if he was supposed to remind us of Tom "Mr. Friendly" or an older version of Sawyer. Either way he was way nicer than he had to be. When she goes to change, Kate finds the picture of a pregnant Claire. She also pulls out a stuffed orca whale just like the one that Aaron held onto when Jack and Kate were arguing back in “Something Nice Back Home”. On island Kate is ready to leave to go after Sawyer and Jack pulls her in and seems to want to give her a kiss but changes his mind. I wonder how Kate would have reacted to it if Jack had kissed her.

Sayid is strapped down onto a table and is electrocuted like he was back in Solitary by Danielle Rousseau. Then he is burnt with a hot poker. Lennon tells him that it was a test that they had to do and that Sayid passed the test. Lennon asks Dogan if he lied to Sayid about passing the test. Dogan says that he did indeed lie to him as it would appear Sayid failed the test.

Kate finds Claire at the bus stop almost exactly where Kate left her when she kicked her out of the cab. I guess that’s what you do when a woman kicks you out of a cab at gunpoint; you just stay right around the area where she kicked you out. You don’t call 911 because that would be stupid. Claire tells Kate about putting the baby up for adoption and the family that was supposed to meet her at the airport. Kate offers to take Claire to the address to meet with the couple.


Kate questions Aldo about the temple and Jin asks him about the Ajira flight. Besides being a pretty good tracker himself, Justin is able to stop Kate before she sets off one of the jungle traps. Justin also seems to know something about the Ajira flight but Aldo doesn’t allow him to say anything about it. Aldo says that Sawyer shot an other on his way out of the temple area. Justin remarks that the trap isn’t one of Rousseau’s and says that she has been dead for years. It’s only been three years, right or did I miss something? Justin is once again cut short by Aldo who tells him to shut up. Apparently Aldo has had a chip on his shoulder ever since Kate knocked him out rescuing Karl from Room 23. She knocks Aldo out again and sets off the boulder trap that knocks Justin out also. She tells Jin that she is escaping and has no intention of going back to the temple.

After Sayid is tortured Jack goes to find out what happened. The guards move aside and let Jack go right in like he is somebody important. Lennon comments “we were hoping you come on your own”. Choice and free will still seem to reign supreme. Jack had to come on his own free will because Jack had to be the one to give Sayid the “medicine”. From Dogan’s description of the infection it would seem that it is the same type of sickness that Rousseau spoke of that had infected her group. As Dogan continues to explain, he says that the medicine wouldn’t work if Sayid didn’t take it willingly and the only way they could get Sayid to take it freely was if Jack was the one to gave it to him. Think back now to Bea Klugh giving Michael the list of people he was to bring back with him to the others. Michael asked her why she just couldn’t go and get them. She tells him that it doesn’t work that way. Jack asks Ben over on the Hydra island “You want me to save your life?” to which Ben replies; “No, I want you to want to save my life.”. Jack wouldn’t or perhaps couldn’t save Ben unless he was to do it of his own free will.


There is a reason why Dogan needs Jack to be the accomplice in getting Sayid to take the poison. Before they dip Sayid into the water Dogan asked who was responsible for what happened to Sayid. Jack said that even though it wasn’t him that shot Sayid it is Jack’s fault that Sayid was shot. This episode Dogan asks Jack again about being responsible for Sayid being shot. So because Jack is responsible for Sayid’s condition Jack is to give Sayid the pill. It can’t be anyone else. Dogan is basically telling Jack that he has to clean up his own mess which we have heard before. Ben tried to get Locke to kill Cooper but Locke couldn’t do it. Why? Because Cooper wasn’t there for Locke he was there for Sawyer. Sawyer had brought Cooper to the island and so it was Sawyer who was able to kill Cooper not Locke. We have seen this before where Jack had to deal with Christian being on the island as well as Hurley dealing with Dave. Sawyer’s “Jabba-The-Hut” strangling of Cooper isn’t the only Star Wars reference here as the island acts as one big evil cave of Dagobah. What’s on the island? Whatever you bring with you. A thanks to Vozzek69 for pointing out the Star Wars similarities here.


In yet another shout out to Empire Strikes Back; Sayid says that they tortured him and they didn’t even ask him any questions which is similar to what Han Solo says happened to him. Hurley asks Sayid if he is a zombie and Sayid says that he isn’t. To which I agree that he isn’t ….yet! I still haven’t given up on zombie season or at least one zombie episode. Jack asks for some privacy and Hurley is right to balk at the idea. It’s time for the 815ers to be as honest and open with each other as they can be and it is time for the others to be less mysterious and more forthcoming with the truth and some answers would be nice to if they want the losties to help them. Alas that is a perfect world and maybe in yet another parallel version of the island the others are more direct but we aren’t on that island! Best Line of the Night Alert: Miles: “We’ll be over in the food court if you need us.”, classic! Sayid tells Jack that he knows he didn’t pass their test. Jack shows Sayid the pill and Sayid says he will take the pill if Jack tells him to.


Jin and Kate split up as Kate goes on to follow Sawyer and Jin goes to look for the Ajira plane and Sun. ATL Claire asks Kate to go to the door of the adopting couple with her. The woman is crying and apologizes to Claire for standing her up at the airport. The woman’s husband has left her and she won’t be adopting the baby after all. Claire then goes into labor.

Sawyer leads Kate back to the Dharma barracks. He is pulling up floor boards in what used to be the house he shared with Juliette. He pulls out a shoebox and he knows someone is there when he hears the floorboards in the hall creak. He is surprised to find Kate there. She tells him she was worried about him.

At the hospital, Ethan is there now going by Ethan Goodspeed. Does this mean Horace somehow got his son onto the sub before the bomb went off? Claire can have the baby right then if she wants which she doesn’t. Ethan tells her that he can delay the labor but doesn’t want to stick needles into her if he doesn’t have to. He stuck enough of them into her in the original timeline for two realities I guess. In a moment of stress when they can’t find the baby’s heartbeat she yells “Is Aaron ok?”. Kate seems to recognize the name. The two women from very different worlds are holding hands which could mean that at some point we will probably extend the Kate and Claire ATL story and see that Kate was always meant to be a part of Claire’s life and a part of Aaron’s life as well.

Kate tells a very emotional Sawyer that she shouldn’t have followed him. He smartly remarks “which time” referencing the many times that Kate, even in spite of her feelings for Jack, has gone after Sawyer. While sitting on the same dock he did with Juliette back in 1974, he tells Kate that it wasn’t her fault that Juliette died. He blames himself for her death because he asked Juliette to stay with him on the island. He says he did so because he didn’t want to be alone. He says that some of them are meant to be on their own. In one of the best performances I have seen Josh Holloway give, he goes on to tell Kate that he was going to ask Juliette to marry him. I wonder if Kate thought about Jack at that moment. Sawyer pulls out the engagement ring and throws it into the ocean which is similar to the way Desmond threw the ring into Sydney Harbor that he had bought for Penny. He tells Kate she can make it back to the temple by nightfall. Kate breaks down and cries when she realizes she cannot bring Sawyer back with her. She also has to come to terms with the fact that what Sawyer had with Juliette was more than anything she ever had with Jack. More upsetting is that what Juliette and Sawyer had was more than Sawyer ever had with Kate. Kate isn’t crying for Sawyer or Juliette here, she cries for herself. Kate realizes that Sawyer is too far gone and unfortunately Sawyer’s story is almost complete. Destined to be alone in life, Sawyer stays behind and will try to punish himself more than anyone else ever could. Something that doesn’t sit right is back in “Meet Kevin Johnson”, Ben tells Rousseau to take Alex and Karl and go to the temple. He gives her a map and tells her they should make it to the temple in a day and a half. Sawyer and Kate made it there and Sawyer tells Kate that she could make it back to the temple before nightfall if she was to leave right away. Say what now? Continuity error or something else? Did Sawyer find a shortcut?


In the temple office Dogan is playing with his balls. Ok, just one ball; a baseball. By the way did you know that a baseball has a total of 108 stitches in the hide that covers it? Go ahead and count them we’ll wait. Dogan explains that he uses an interpreter because not being able to speak English puts a barrier between himself and the people he is supposed to lead. Anybody keeping track of how many people that is that claims to be a leader of the others? The language barrier makes it easy, Dogan tells Jack, to tell people to do things they otherwise may not like being told to do. Jack asks Dogan if he is from the island. Dogan tells Jack that he was brought to the island like everyone else. Jack asks what that means and Dogan tells him that he knows exactly what that means. Their discussion turns to Sayid and the pill as Jack tells Dogan that he did not give Sayid the pill because he does not know what is in the pill. Dogan tells Jack that he is just going to have to trust him to which Jack responds by swallowing the pill. Dogan acts quickly and forces Jack to spit the pill back up. Dogan tells Jack that the pill is poison. Really? Why did this take so long? Imagine how long it would have taken if this wasn’t the last season though.

The sonogram that Claire looks at is dated October 22, 2004 so are we to believe that the ATL is a month behind where the original time line should have been? Claire covers for Kate when the detective asks Claire about the whereabouts of Joan Hart which is the alias Kate goes by in “Born to Run”. Kate claims to be innocent of the crimes she is accused of. Claire believes her and gives Kate her credit card. Kate tells Claire that Aaron is a great name and that she thinks Claire should keep the baby. Claire doesn’t know where the name came from as she claims that it “just came to her” and if you believe that one then you haven’t watched all of the previous five seasons have you?


Jack wants to know why they have to kill Sayid. Sayid has been “claimed”, whatever the hell that means, by a darkness that is growing inside him. When the darkness reaches Sayid’s heart what Sayid once was will be gone. Jack wants to know how they can be sure and Dogan says it is because that is what happened to Jack’s sister.


Back in the jungle, Jin is jumped by Aldo. Aldo threatens to kill Jin but Justin says that he is one of them. Aldo corrects him and says that Jin may be one of them. Jin runs and gets caught in a bear trap for his trouble. Aldo and Justin are shot by an unseen person. Jin looks up and sees someone standing above him. Island Claire looks a little frizzy and rough around the edges.

I don’t fully understand where they are going with Claire being on the island all crazy and acting like Rousseau. It will be interesting to see what her reaction is to seeing Jin. Dogan says that Claire is infected with the sickness or darkness. Of all the people in the French group, Rousseau was the only one that wasn’t infected so why is Claire, who is supposed to be infected, acting like Rousseau? Is it from all of the interaction Claire had had with Rousseau in the past? One thing is for sure we will probably see an on island flashback in order to find out what happened to Claire after she disappeared into the jungle at the end of season four. Did she also jump through time? Was she stuck in the 1970’s for three years as well? If so this would point to Claire being with Rousseau and it would explain Justin saying that the French woman had been dead for years. Maybe Rousseau did in fact die years before we saw her die originally leaving Claire to take over for her as the islands resident crazy bitch. We got 15 episodes to find out.

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