I DoAn interesting way to end the fall run of episodes, though I'm not sure this episode is as pivotal as the producers would like us to think it is.
First of all, I have to get my obvious bias out of the way--I love Kate episodes in only becuase it gives us the chance to see even more of Evangeline Lilly. And this Kate-centric episode features a whole lot of naked Kate, which is just a bonus for me. As if that weren't enough, you throw in Nathan "Mal Reynolds from
Firefly" Fillion in the flashbacks and I'm almost inclined to declare it the greatest
Lost episode ever...at least on paper. Now, I will say this--while the flashbacks didn't necessarily tread any new ground this week, I found them a lot more interesting than the flashbacks about Eko last week. We all knew Kate was a liar, but I guess we saw how far she'd follow the lie in this episode, even marrying under her assumed name. As if that weren't enough she really loves to flirt with danger, marrying a police officer. I thought for a while that he was going to see her picture on an FBI's ten most wanted list posting and that would lead to the crumbling of the relationship.
Instead what causes it to crumble is Kate's past coming back to haunt her. At one point, she calls the marshall we met back in the pilot to beg that they stop pursuing her. I have to wonder if his conversations served as a catalyst. Would Kate have stayed with hubby and been happy had the guy not pointed out she couldn't do it? That he knew she couldn't. Did he plant seeds of doubt to try and flush her out? I have to assume somehow her trip to Australia is what sent up red-flags as to where she was and how he could track her down. Also, I did wonder if the trip to Costa Rica for the honeymoon would have sent up red flags when it came to Kate trying to get a passport for her assumed identity as Monica.
At least the storyline filled in the detail of how Kate got to Australia. And we've seen how the events play out from there.
I think the storyline also hihlighted Kate's lack of ability to make a deicision and stick to it. I wonder if had she truly stayed with Nathan Fillion if the marshall would have found her. Seems he didn't have a lot of leads and should she just lay low, she might have had the chance for a happy life. Also, had she done what he said she was incapable of--stayed and had a normal life, stoping her running, she might have been able to continue in her happiness. But one thing we see is that Kate is never comfortable in any one place for long...which makes me wonder just how long she's going to be with Sawyer.
And how much of that was manipulation by the Others.
I think if you step back and look at their plan, a lot of it depends on what ifs. If Jack refuses to do the surgery, they manipulate him into a place where he sees Kate and Sawyer together and gets mad enough to want to leave the island. There's a whole lot of coincidence to this plan really. What if Jack doesn't respond to the voice telling him to leave the cell. What if he doesn't see Kate and Sawyer doing the horizontal tango in the cage? I guess we were seeing the desparation of the Others--or possibly Henry--to save Henry. But the question I have is why are we so desparate to save Henry? If we're to believe last week's revelation that they're unhappy with his leadership and want change, why are we so gung-ho to save him? I mean, Jack's plan is to get Henry in a vulnerable situation and then use that as a bargaining chip to keep Kate alive. But what would have happened if Juliet went--let him die, we want him gone anyway. Then Jack is beyond screwed becuase he's now betrayed the Others.
Of course, part of this plays into Jack's whole matyr complex to begin with. Jack seems to be drawn to women he thinks he can somehow heal or save. No more apparent than with Kate here, where he thinks he's going to save her from imprisonment or worse. But to what end? So if they get back to the group what is to stop the Others from descending upon our castaways and wiping them all out? Again, there must be some higher-up who wants them kept around for a reason...we've sort of seen that it's Henry. So if Jack lets Henry die, who's to say that he's not signing a death warrant for all of his friends on the other island. I don't think Jack has thought this plan through very far. Of course, he's reacting out of jealousy because Kate seems to have chosen Sawyer over him--at least for now.
I say that because with this show, you never know.
I did find it interesting that at no point did Jack tell Kate to take Sawyer. Was he kind of hoping she'd leave Sawyer behind, thus eliminating the romantic rival? Yeah, that should make for some fun times when everyone has a moment....there won't be any tense moments around the settlement over that. Oh no...not at all.
The last ten or so minutes were great stuff. I was pretty sure the cliffhanger would be a gun-shot with us wondering if Sawyer was alive or dead. But instead we got a cliffhanger that can't be resolved in one scene. Kate knows she can't go anywhere so an hour's head start is meaningless. Or is it? I am beginning to wonder how much of what Henry showed Sawyer was some kind of manipulation. Also, what's to keep Kate from eluding the Others in the jungle for a period of time. How big is the island they're on?
And now that Jack has shown his cards, will he be able to take advantage of the reward Henry offered him? Or is that offer null and void?
I did like the manipulation of Jack we saw in this story and how he reacts. How he becomes harder and more determined as the storyline goes along. Less selfless, though in the end it turns out it's mostly an act to save Kate. Gotta love when character flaws keep showing up time and again.
Meanwhile, we have the funeral for Eko and Locke gets the message. Three guesses as to what is to the north--I am thinking it eye-patch guy we saw last week. Interesting that Sayid knows Locke encountered the security system and wants to know what Locke experienced. I know Sayid went off in search of it and he's heard it whisper to him at times. This could be interesting to see if the characters start comparing notes on things. Where will it all lead?
Well, there's a lot of questions to contemplate over the next thirteen weeks as we wait for
Lost to return. I've got to say this is a huge gamble for ABC and I hope it pays off. That said, I'm eager to see where the rest of the season goes and will be counting down weeks until we get to the sixteen weeks of uninterrupted shows.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 11/09/2006 08:19:00 AM |
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