What Kate Does

Last night's episode was a lot slower than last week's, but it still had a lot of emotional resonance for me. There were several scenes last night that reminded me of how much I love the characters of this show, faults and all.

My goal is to not do a recap. I promise! So, tonight, I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to go character by character, and then to a few thoughts and theories. Because it was Kate's story, and we saw Claire in both time lines, I'll start with them. Afterward, I think alphabetical should be adequate.

Kate in 2004

After how Kate essentially manhandled Claire and the taxi driver, I was happy that the compassion that has marked Kate since we've known her is still there. Looking in Claire's bag made her realize what she did to the woman, so she does what she always does - a very stupid thing. Oh, it was a kind thing, but also stupid. If you are a woman on the run from the law, you don't go back to the victims of your crime and taxi them around the city. The two women quickly bonded, a bond like the one they had on the Island. So Kate was there when Claire found out the adoptive parents didn't want her baby and when the baby tried to come four weeks early. The two even held hands when it seemed that Aaron's heart had stopped. When the police came by to ask Claire about "Joan Hart", Claire claimed she didn't know where Kate had gone.

There wasn't much else that marked Kate's time in 2004 except these;
- Kate's lingering gaze at Jack as she seemed to recognize...something. They did bump into each other on the plane, but I doubt she was paying much attention to his face while stealing his pen. So Jack isn't the only one who feels something in 2004.
- Kate looked as surprised as I did when Claire yelled in the hospital, "Is Aaron okay?" If Kate recognized Jack, she certainly responded to the name of the little boy that she raised as her son for three years.

Kate in 2007

Kate remained characteristic in 2007 too. Of course she was going to follow Sawyer, even after he asked her not to, and of course, she didn't have a clear plan of action for after finding him. I know I don't like Kate all the time, but I've never blamed Evangeline Lily, and I found her performance last night to be remarkable. With Kate, it's always the expression in her eyes. She follows Sawyer to LaFleur's house, and, seeing his heavy emotion, she tries to leave. At the dock, her face falls completely as she hears how much Sawyer loved Juliet, and when he leaves, she starts crying.

Have we ever seen Kate cry like that? She has faced rejection and anger from both Sawyer and Jack before, but I don't think I've ever seen her cry in response. Why did she cry? Because she realized how much Sawyer loved Juliet? Because she realized that she gave up Aaron not just to find Claire but also to find Sawyer? And she realized that the latter might not be interested in being found by her? Because she realized there was nothing she could do to ease Sawyer's pain? Or did Sawyer's statement that "Some of us were meant to be alone" hit home?

For some reason, it is Kate's tears that made the biggest impression on me when looking at her story (I had other impressions, just not about Kate). I noticed that a number of reviewers didn't even mention it in their recaps or comments, but I think it is significant. Perhaps Kate will finally understand that there are consequences to everything, and some things just can't be swept away. We'll see.

Claire in 2004

Well, she was quite pregnant, wasn't she? And quite brave to get back in a car with a woman who had held her at gunpoint. But, regardless of how unrealistic it was, I'm glad she did it. I think she realized that something was up with the adoptive parents when they didn't show up to pick her up, which, of course, was confirmed after a visit with a teary-eyed would-be mother. Kate was right - she should have called. I hope she pays for Claire's transportation and medical costs.

Watching Claire cope with the fact that the adoption fell through, I thought back to Season 1, when Richard Malkin arranged the adoption. We don't know if in this 2004 Richard Malkin even exists for Claire, but if he does, did he know the Bascombs would fall through? Does Aaron still need to be raised by Claire?

Claire was as surprised as we were when she yelled out, "Is Aaron okay?" Yet another connection to the pre-Jughead reality we know and love.

Claire in 2007

My mouth nearly fell open when Dogen told Jack his sister has been consumed by the darkness that will soon take over Sayid. I keep thinking back to her last scenes in Season Four. Her home exploded. She appeared alive and well, and accompanied Sawyer and Miles into the jungle. I don't remember this, but other bloggers do - Miles kept looking at Claire in that way of his (like he did with Sayid last week and last night). Was he watching the darkness inhabit her body? Claire wakes up by the fireside to see her father holding Aaron. She then disappears, without Aaron, to be seen by Locke in Jacob's cabin with Christian. She was very odd, and very cryptic.

So what, if anything, infected her? The explosion? Christian? Jacob? The Man in Black? Is Christian infected?

Three years later, she is the Rousseau of the Island, apparently doing what she can to rid the Island of the Others. (And who didn't cheer when Aldo bit it?). Why she shot just the two Others and not Jin doesn't really make sense to me, since she didn't seem to recognize him until afterward. Perhaps she only shoots people who aren't in her traps.

Do the Others think she has the darkness because she tries to hurt them? Or does she try to hurt the Others because she has the darkness?

And I also thought of my friend Brian (hi Brian!) when looking at Claire in 2007. She's the first of many who did not have dirty, pretty hair. I'm just saying.

Dogen

At last, we get a name, and yet another reason why he refuses to speak English to people who only understand English. I wonder, is he still like Pat Morita in The Karate Kid?

Dogen seems to fit right in with the Others, doing horrible things (like torturing Sayid) in the belief that what he is doing is too important to not do. He seemed to recognize that Jack (not Hurley as Miles claims) was the true leader, and seemed to respect him as such, eventually giving Jack more answers in less than five minutes than Jack has gotten in over three years.

But before he "respected" Jack, he tried to manipulate him, using Jack's obvious weaknesses to convince Jack to give Sayid a poison pill. Maybe Dogen gave Jack respect because Jack fall for it. Of course, it also appears that Dogen knows more about Jack than Jack knows about himself (of course, most people know more about Jack than Jack does, but that's a different story). But Dogen was upfront with Jack, giving Jack his understanding of what is happening to Sayid.

Dogen was brought to the Island just like Jack was. Did he come on the Black Rock with Richard?

Ethan Goodspeed

One of the problems with digital television and DVRs is that the show descriptions sometimes gives away a Lost "surprise". In this case, they identified William Mapother as "Ethan Goodspeed". But how delightful to see him again! A number of bloggers found him to be creepy in 2004, but I didn't. He just seemed like a good and caring OB/GYN. You know, one who cares for Claire off the Island just like he did on it. Only, without kidnapping her.

His presence in 2004 brought up some questions for me that we don't yet have the answers to. Did the Island sink when Juliet exploded Jughead in 1977? If so, then we know that Ethan and his mother must have been on the sub with the other women and children, including Miles and Charlotte. Instead of returning to the Island and joining forces with Ben, he must have been raised off the Island, without a father, and eventually becoming a doctor. If the Island did sink, does this mean that Ben, Horace, Chang, Eloise, Charles Widmore, and Richard Alpert are dead in this 2004? Were Penny and Daniel never born?

Hurley in 2007

Hurley had a more limited role this episode, mostly limited to comic relief. His two best lines:

"It's the Others, dude. They caught us. Again."

"Are you a zombie?"

Jack in 2007

We did see Jack in 2004, but it was only that recognition glance with Kate. Otherwise, all we saw of him was in 2007.

And the old Jack is back. Or perhaps not. Perhaps he is a new and improved Jack, who actually knows to ask the right questions and knows when he's being manipulated. He certainly confronted Dogen after finding out Sayid had been tortured. And I was impressed with Jack's conversation with Sayid, in which he told Sayid the Others wanted Sayid to take the green pill. The old Jack might have just tricked Sayid into taking it.

But the Jack that took the poison pill was especially new. What a way to call Dogen's game. Jack must be too important for Dogen to let die. I wonder why.

I was a little curious as to why Jack felt the need to kiss Kate when he did. If he wasn't intending to kiss her, he sure fooled me. What is it about her that keeps him so connected to her? She didn't seem ready to kiss him back, though. Maybe his attraction was part of the game he gets involved in when she seems to favor Sawyer? I don't know.

Jin in 2007

Jin continues to take a more active role this season than last season. He agreed to follow Kate, and when she dropped him and their minders like a hot potato, he took the opportunity to find Sun. I am not sure why Aldo was so insistent that Jin's questions not be answered (and I was quite happy that he died, let me tell you), but now Jin knows Sun's flight did land on or near the Island. Sadly for him, the Others found him. But Claire took care of them. Now what?

Miles in 2007

Like Hurley, Miles' role this episode seems to be mostly limited to comic relief. Who didn't laugh when he told Jack that he and Hurley could be found in the food court?

In my husband's family, they have a term that I never quite understood, "the hairy eyeball". They would joke that someone gave them a "hairy eyeball". But I think I now know exactly what that look is - the look Miles gave Sayid this week. I wonder if Miles himself has connected what he senses in Sayid to what he sensed in Claire. Time will tell.

Sawyer in 2007

Was I the only one who thought that Sawyer was completely reverting to Season 1 last night? The bad boy was definitely in force, as he held a gun on the Others and left the Temple to run away.

But his interaction with Kate told us otherwise. One of the two best scenes of the night was on the dock (the other was the conversation between Sayid and Jack). First, the sly line to Kate after she apologized for following him, "Which time?" Good one, Sawyer. But it was the new and mature Sawyer recognizing that he blames himself for Juliet's death, because he prevented her from leaving the Island in 1974. He didn't want to be left alone (I guess Miles, Jin, and Daniel didn't count for much!), but now he feels that maybe he was meant to be left alone (there's that fate vs. free will again). Then he kills me, "I was going to ask her to marry me." He had hidden the ring in the floorboards so Juliet wouldn't find it. And she never did.

I mourned Juliet's death in May, 2009. Last night, my heart broke for Sawyer's grief. Great job, Josh Holloway. You had me in tears.

Sayid in 2007

First, the darkness. Should I capitalize this term? Anyway, Sayid seemed to pretty much be Sayid, grateful to Jack for saving his life and all, so perhaps he hasn't been taken over by Jacob. But this infection scares me. Granted, Sayid is a pretty dark guy already (just ask Sawyer), but he has a strong sense of right and wrong - will that be gone? Who will he be? Who claimed him? More on that later.

Watching Sayid be tortured was hard, even knowing that he has tortured so many others, including Sawyer. But Sayid is not a helpless man, and here he cried in helplessness, because he knew he had nothing to tell them. And they never asked him a question. Why else torture someone if not for information? Neither Sayid nor Dogen's interpreter were fooled by Dogen's lie that Sayid passed any test.

One of my favorite scenes of the night was between Jack and Sayid. Sayid literally puts his trust in Jack's hands, "I only care about who I trust." If Jack says to take the pill, Sayid will.

I'm still not happy the Others tried to poison Sayid. In LA X, they told Hurley that things would be bad if Sayid were to die. Now they are trying to kill him. Does that mean that what Sayid could be is even worse than if he died?

Questions

I've already discussed one question I had above under "Ethan Goodspeed", whomever he might be. But Sayid's new quandary has intrigued me, and left me with more questions than answers. What is claiming Sayid? What claimed Claire? Did this same infection claim Christian and the French? Is this the sickness that Danielle mentioned in Season 1? Did Ben receive that same darkness when he was healed in 1977? Did Jacob know Sayid would be infected when he looked at the dying Sayid?

Is it possible that Jacob is the darkness? Or a manifestation of the Man in Black? Who is good and who is evil, anyway?

Next Week

Next week's episode is titled The Substitute. I am intrigued by the pairing of notLocke and Sawyer. Something tells me, it's going to be good.