Lost Rewatch on VHS: What Kate Did

 

If you are fascinated by Kate, then this episode is a true revelation. If, like many fans, you loathe Kate (and watching this episode, it’s really hard to understand why you would) there is still quite a lot going on with many of the characters and stories, mysteries are solved and some are left open, and some revelations that will take the rest of the season to untangle.

To quote the episode, I would like to begin at the beginning. Specifically Kate’s flashback which (in typical Lost fashion) is the fourth one devoted to her, but the first chronologically. The first shot we see of Kate is her flicking a lighter. Some questioned how bright she was to do this give what happens in the first flashback; I think it sums up Kate perfectly. She will always play with fire, and she will also get too close to the flame.

The flashbacks deal with the four most important adult figures in her life and how each one of them treat her tells us as much about her as does about each them. First we see Wayne who we think is her stepfather and who in a minute tells us everything we need to know about him – everything else we see in the episode is basically confirmation. Then we see Diane, who exhibits every attitude of a wife so utterly battered that even before she knows what her daughter has done, clearly demonstrates that saving her would have been a wasted effort. Then we meet Marshal Mars, and we get a very clear sense not only why Kate loathed him so much but really makes you question what he was doing in law enforcement in the first place  - most cops dealing with the situation Kate was in would at least try to fake a sympathetic ear; Mars not only doesn’t bother to that, but he also actually seems to mock the horrible situation Kate found herself in and has no sympathy for the woman who was abused all this time. (Seeing it again, I marvel at Kate’s restraint when she just him trying to escape, I would have killed him right then and there.) Finally Kate goes to see Sam, the man she thought was her father her whole life, the man who clearly loved her as his daughter and is the only person before she became a fugitive who loved her unconditionally. And when she explains why she did what she did, what he says has to be as devastating to her as anything she has gone through to that point. After this it is crystal clear why Kate has spent her life running away; what we can’t understand is why she keeps coming back.

In ‘Outlaws’ Sawyer was visited by an animal that he thought represented a demon from his past, and Kate helped him chase it down, though she never understood the reason or even asked why. Now in this episode, Kate sees an animal that represents her past, hears what she thinks is a voice from it, and Sawyer is present for it. In neither case do we ever get an explanation for what they heard or saw: there is a possibility in each case that it is a hallucination brought on by a combination of guilt or exhaustion, and there may very well be a rational explanation for the presence of a black horse on the island. But we can never rule out the possibility that the eye of the island is showing these people what they need to see in order to move past their guilt.

In this case, however, Kate can’t move on as easily. Many fans were eternally frustrated by the constant movement Kate did between Jack and Sawyer over the course of the series, and I sometimes wonder if the writers actually had similar irritations in later seasons given what Jack and Sawyer would say. That said, What Kate Did clearly illustrates exactly why Kate is pulled between both of them and why she can’t feel comfortable with either of them. Indeed, she more or less spells it out for each man at a different point in the episode. In the case of Jack, after he confronts her near the caves and starts acting in his usual Jack-ish fashion Kate, who usually just takes it, loses her composure in a way we’ve barely seen before. She utters a teary, rambling apology towards Jack which he is baffled by but based on what the flashbacks have shown us, make perfect sense: we’ll never know for certain that Kate was abused by Wayne (her denial is a little too quick) but she is from a broken, ‘white trash’ home. She might feel she is undeserving of the kind of love from the kind of man Jack is she might feel, based on her home life, that this kind of relationship is love. At one point Hurley brings up transference in relation to Jack, but it could just as easily apply to Kate: her rambling apology is very likely to kind she heard Diane say over and over and over. In Finding Lost, it was asked why Kate kept going back to Jack if all she got was abuse. Maybe part of her interpreted that as love.

Similarly when Kate looks at Sawyer and sees Wayne, she makes it very clear why there is a part of her that is both attracted to him and is afraid of being with him. She knows there’s not much of a difference between Sawyer and Wayne in the type of person they are (he’d never hit a woman, but he’s destroyed more than his share in his time) and a part of her is just as afraid that this is the only kind of man that she deserved. Sam told her he didn’t kill Wayne because he didn’t have murder in his heart, and he also tells her that he knew if he told Kate Wayne was her father he knew he’d kill her. The implication couldn’t be clearer even when she tells ‘Wayne’ that. And the fact that Sawyer interrupts her rant by saying “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard” and Kate’s reaction tells you a fair amount about both of them. The reason Kate is drawn between Jack and Sawyer is that both men represent parts of her nature. She doesn’t think she’s worthy of one and the thought of being with the other terrifies her. That’s why when she kisses Jack for the first time, she backs away immediately.

Much of what is going on in this episode has to do both with reunion and isolation. The first scene of the episode shows Jin and Sun emerging from their tent having, ahem, reunited. (If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was when another major storyline began, but…we’ll get to that) Then Sun looks down the beach and sees Sayid digging Shannon’s grave. The expression of joy on her face fades as she clearly realizes that in the space of less than a day, the two of them have  completely had their situations reversed.

Naveen Andrews work in this episode and many of the ones to come will be a highlight of what will be a weak stretch of stories. Sayid is silent while he digs Shannon’s grave, can barely manage to get through her eulogy before walking away, and seems utterly detached from reality in his conversation with Kate. There is something detached in Sayid’s talk during this episode and the next few as if the craziness that is going on around him is little more than background noise. He barely blinks when Kate expresses her fears and when he tells her what she saw in the jungle – something he couldn’t comprehend when it happened – it is as if happened to someone else. And in a way, it did. Sayid will return to something resembling normal later this season, but its clear that there is a part of him that is broken and may never heal.

Nor is he the only person who engages in isolation – Ana Lucia chooses not to come to the funeral, even when Eko explains that most of them think it was an accident. (Charlie’s phrasing of it when he meets Kate might be mistaken for his mean streak but in this case I think he’s being honest.) Ana Lucia would seem determined to be in exile but in what may be action of a leader addressing a leader, Jack comes to her with an offer of drinks.

It's interesting that of all the people who could be a challenge Jack’s leadership during the run of the series, Ana Lucia is the only one he not only reaches out to on his own but spends much of their time together talking as equals. He will listen to other people’s advice but ignore it most of the time; Ana Lucia is the only one he actually takes seriously. (Unfortunately for him, Ana Lucia is just as aware of his weakness and just as willing as everyone else who challenges him to exploit them to her advantage.)

This is the first episode in awhile that has been spent mostly in the hatch and as a result the focus comes back to Locke. Michael and Eko are exploring the Swan and clearly are picking up on things that Locke has been – Michael notes the blast doors which will come back to bite John in a big way soon. They both see the Orientation film and Michael has a lot of questions about it, much of which Locke tries to deflect.

Then comes the first big scene between Eko and Locke. This is the first truly magnificent moment of Adewale-Akinnouye Agbaje on this series as he gives the longest speech he’s done on the series to being introduced. Watching both Eko and Locke during this time, I find myself fascinated fundamentally watching Locke’s reaction during this period with some amusement. Throughout the series so far when Locke engages with many of the other survivors, he tends to deliver long and meaningful stories which clearly have significance. While Jack clearly doesn’t believe them, everyone else at least goes so far as to listen to them and the lion’s share do take him seriously. Now Eko is telling the same kind of story to Locke – and watching Locke’s face, you can basically hear him saying ‘Get to the point already!” Perhaps it is because of the kind of stories both men will tell Locke’s stories are either personal or based in history; Eko’s will basically be religious, either in the terms of gospel or parable. These are both men of faith, but it’s clearly a different kind of faith, and perhaps its not a shock they clash later in the season.

The irony is that when Eko does get to the point, he truly does have something that is important to Locke. The look on his face when he sees first the film and then learns that it is edits from the Swan is a wondrous expression, and when he is the process of splicing the film back together, you hear a sense of awe that we haven’t heard in his voice in a while. Given the course of events to this, you couldn’t blame. What’s equally interesting in Eko’s reaction: “Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.” Given the nature of the speech he gave before showing Locke the film, and his clear recognition of where he had spent the last several weeks, you would think he would have the same awe – and yet his argument is not unlike the kind Jack might make in this scenario.

To be fair when we finally see the director’s cut of the orientation film, it does seem anticlimactic given the buildup. But in a sense that’s why the last minute of the episode is so important. Because the person who very well needed to see that film was in the other room. And as a result when he sees something that does not fit the parameters of what he has been told (and does not necessarily believe) he finds himself playing along thinking he’s being messed with. Then there’s that last pause – and the last shot. The significance isn’t apparent at the moment but its critical in retrospect. The last few episodes Michael has been focused on reuniting with the camp more than anything else and is essentially becoming part of the group. This last scene drives a wedge between him and everyone else that will never be restored.

 Sayid said in Tabula Rasa that hope is a dangerous thing to lose. What happens with Michael shows that it’s just as dangerous to get it back.