1.12 - Whatever The Case May Be

Title’s significance: Another charming pun from LOST, this time referring to the mysterious case that Kate chases all episode.

Recap: Via flashbacks, we learned that Kate has a history of robbing banks in cahoots with an organized gang, but she betrayed her gang for what’s in Safety Deposit Box 815 (that number sounds familiar). After finding a new swimmin’ hole, Kate and Sawyer go for a dip and find airplane wreckage with a mysterious silver briefcase, which piques Kate’s interest. Rising tides force the survivors to relocate, and Sayid enlists Shannon’s help in translating Rousseau’s notes; the notes seem like nonsense, which Shannon attributes to being stranded on “Mystery Frickin’ Island” and being “not quite adjusted.” Rose tries to get Charlie to look on the bright side of life by telling him not to blame himself; Charlie breaks down but finds religion with Rose. Kate and Jack exhume the marshal to get the Halliburton key; they open the briefcase and procure a toy airplane, which Kate treasures because it belongs to the man she claims to have loved and killed. Shannon finally recognizes the French words as lyrics to the song “La Mer” and sings to Sayid.

Thoughts: This was a good little mystery for an episode, setting up bigger mysteries about Kate’s past, but ultimately there isn’t a lot to take away from this episode. I enjoyed this episode on rewatch, but after “All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues” I couldn’t help feeling like this episode was a stalling tactic while the writers figured out how to approach the coming mysteries.

Favorite moment: The whole interchange between Michael, Sawyer, and Hurley about picking the lock on a Halliburton suitcase, and Sawyer’s experiments with impact velocity. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Shannon’s “other” new bikini.

Characters introduced (in order):

• JASON, Kate’s robber boyfriend

What we learned:

• The tides are rising too quickly.
• Locke and Boone are spending an abnormal amount of time in the jungle.
• Sayid is awkward around Topless Shannon.
• Charlie isn’t talking much these days.
• Shannon’s such a quitter when it comes to translating French.
• Jack personally buried the marshal because he felt guilty over euthanizing him.
• Kate used the alias Maggie (as well as Annie).
• There’s a toy airplane in the briefcase; it belonged to the man Kate loved and killed.

Questions:

• Why are the tides rising so quickly?
• Were the bank robberies the reason Kate was wanted? If so, why was she considered extremely dangerous?
• Why has the monster been quiet the last few weeks?
• Why is the toy airplane so important to Kate?
• Who did the toy airplane belong to? Why did Kate kill him – the man she claims to have loved?
• Does “La Mer” have any significance beyond Rousseau being crazy? (Spoilers: No, it doesn’t.)

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• I didn’t think anything of it the first time, but the fact that the tides are rising abnormally quickly might have something to do with the time distortion surrounding the island.
• It’s a slim chance, but I have to wonder if Kate is ever going to run into Jason again, especially since he promised to kill her (and promises have a way of coming back when you least expect them on this show).