2.09 - What Kate Did

Title’s significance: The episode title out and out tells us that we’re finally going to learn what crime Kate committed.

Recap: Flashbacks reveal that Kate killed her birth father, who her mother had later married but was abusing both Kate and her mom. On island, a near-delirious Sawyer tells Jack that he loves Kate, while Kate sees a mysterious black horse in the jungle. The survivors hold a funeral for Shannon next to Boone’s grave; Eko and Libby attend, but Ana Lucia refuses to go. Barely conscious, Sawyer attacks Kate, blaming her for killing him; Kate books, but Locke arrives just in time to plug in the numbers. Jack confronts Kate out in the jungle, and the two make out before Kate tells Sayid that she thinks she’s seeing ghosts. Locke shows Eko and Michael the Swan’s orientation video, and Eko reveals that in The Arrow he found film edited from the video, which reveals that the computer must not be used for communication, which could indeed lead to another incident. Kate apologizes to Wayne through Sawyer, who wakes up and believes they’ve been rescued. Back at the Swan, Michael receives a message on the computer: “Dad?”

Thoughts: With this episode, I finally figured out what the problem with the second season is. It’s the weakest season of LOST, by far, and it’s because the storyline is being dragged out. There’s a fine line between mystery and frustration, and this season of LOST is more the latter. Though “What Kate Did” offers a few interesting tidbits, there’s just not enough to sustain a whole episode without characters sitting in the jungle for minutes at a time and crying (seriously, I wish I’d been counting how many times Jack cries). Thank goodness later seasons compress the storytelling into episodes that are more bang than bore.

Favorite moment: Because she’s saying what we’re all thinking, I loved Kate telling Jack somewhat sarcastically that she’s sorry she’s “not as perfect” as he is. I also loved when Eko says he’s going to tell a story but must “start at the beginning”; when he begins with a story from the Old Testament, Locke says, “Boy, when you say beginning, you mean ‘beginning.’” That, or Sawyer’s “You mean the big-ass horse standin’ in the middle of the jungle? Then, yeah [I see that]... you know that horse, Freckles?”

Characters introduced (in order):

• WAYNE, Kate’s birth father
• SAM AUSTEN, Kate’s “father” and her mother’s first husband

What we learned:

• Kate killed her birth father because she hated that she was related to him.
• Kate’s mother worked in a diner.
• Kate’s mom turned her in to the marshal.
• There are blast doors in The Swan.
• Kate saw the black horse when she was in custody AND on the island.
• Kate’s mother never told her that Wayne was her real father, since Sam Austen was in Korea.
• Sawyer reminds Kate of Wayne – Freudian, anyone?
• The missing scene from the Swan video was stashed in The Arrow and threatens another “incident” if the computer is misused.

Questions:

• Where did the mysterious black horse come from?
• What’s going to happen when the alarm ticks all the way down to 0:00?
• What are the blast doors for?
• Are the ghosts that Kate is seeing connected to the “ghost” of Walt that Sayid saw?
• Are the odd things around Kate – Sawyer as Wayne, the black horse – ghosts, guilt, the smoke monster, or something else?
• What was Sayid doing on the television in Sam Austen’s office?
• Who edited the Swan video? Why?
• How could communication with the outside world lead to another incident?

Things that are going to be important in Season Six:

• Nothing of mythological significance here.