Magali's review on "What Kate does" episode 6x03

Here another reviewer for the Blog, I can say she's very nice girl and I always loved to read her review on forum so i thought, why not to post it here too ? let's me know what do you think of Magali's review :)


WHAT KATE DOES- RECAP AND REVIEW by Magali

The recap idea started when Lyly asked Helena who asked me, over on the Outlaws forum. I balked at it initially but figured that what the heck? If anyone online can write a review than so can I. So this is purely a fan’s perspective on the show. I don’t claim to be an expert on anything, I’m just a huge fan of Lost. Since so much goes on into one episode and I can spend hours talking about it, I will just pick the central character in the episode and go from there.

This week we saw more dimensions to Kate, so I figured I would try to tackle her and leave the mythology stuff with Jack and Sayid to other, more experienced writers.

I RUN TO YOU

When we first met Kate, she was a cute-as-a-button fugitive who killed her father and was pretty good at running away from law enforcement as well as her emotional issues. Now, five seasons later, we see Kate still has maintained some of that desperate need she had to run away. On-island, Kate runs away from Jack, only this time, she is also running to something—Sawyer.

Armed with her persuasive skills she brags about to Lennon, Kate sets off with Jin (also running towards someone, his wife, Sun) in order to find Sawyer and drag his grieving-for-Juliet ass back to the Temple, because apparently it is “very important” that he stay there with them. I don’t know if the Others know this, but if they just maybe tell everyone what is the frak is going on with the Island, then perhaps our Losties would be more inclined to listen. Ignoring Dogen’s quiet request to stay, Sawyer runs off to parts unknown, opening the door for Kate to hunt him down.

While trekking through the jungle we see that Kate has not lost some of her fugitive skills, and promptly exercises them on an unsuspecting Aldo and clueless Jason the Other. It is important to note that when Jin demands what she plans on doing when she finds Sawyer, she says “We’ll have to figure that out together.” She also makes it known that she has no intention of returning to the Temple.

Now, let’s stop here for just a moment.

Back at the Temple before we started this Journey in Search of Sawyer, we had to witness a Jack and Kate moment. I am not going to lie. I liked this scene between them. I thought it was very old-school Jack and Kate, flashing us back to season one when they had their little heart-to-hearts on the inner-workings of the Lostie leadership. Jack wants to make sure Kate is safe and if it is a good idea that she is going out to find Sawyer.

Kate lets him known rather clearly that she will be fine, and for him not to worry about Sawyer, seeing as the last time Sawyer saw Jack he threatened to kill him. It is interesting to note, that Kate is holding back some vital information. Sawyer changed his mind, in the premiere, and was content to see Jack suffer for killing Juliet rather than die for it.

Why would Kate hold that back? Could it be that she doesn’t want Jack butting in on her, pardon the pun, affairs? Whatever her intention is, it works, because she turns Jack around to go make sure Sayid is safe and convinces him that she should go out looking for Sawyer. Looks like her persuasive skills worked there pretty well.

Now we come to a nice Jack and Kate scene, with pretty music (even if it is in a dark room) and Jack, it seems, leans in ever so slightly to kiss Kate goodbye, but Kate turns away before he can make his move.

Let’s take another step back, this time to season two. In the episode “What Kate Did”, Kate kissed Jack for the first time. We can speculate on her true reasons for doing so, but it seemed that she was trying to force herself way back then that she had feelings for Jack and they were the same as her feelings for Sawyer, who at the time, was in a coma-like sleep after being shot in the shoulder.

This time, in another episode about what Kate does or did or didn’t do, there is another Jack and Kate “kiss”…sort of. They didn’t kiss. Kate knows her feelings for Jack, she doesn’t need to play along with his. She doesn’t lead him on, and turns away, leaving him behind much like she did in the season two episode, to go back to Sawyer.

Now, back to on-island season six Kate.

Kate leaves Jin, who doesn’t understand and wants to go find Sun. This is fine with Kate, because she is going to find Sawyer and they can figure out what to do next, together. Quite the contrary to Jack. She didn’t want to work out anything together with Jack. However, she does with Sawyer.

She tracks Sawyer all the way to Otherville, and to the house he shared with Juliet. Can I comment on how ridiculous it was that Sawyer hid a ring in a bag in a box under the floorboards under a dresser in a room in a house on an Island? It’s like some warped Russian doll. He must really have not wanted Juliet to find that ring. Was she a nosy person? Well, we’ll never know because right now she is buried six feet deep and covered with dirt.

This scene was so poignant on so many levels. First, Kate witnesses the true extent of Sawyer’s feelings. I have no doubt she knew he loved the woman. She knew they were living together, that they were planning on leaving on the sub together. She was right there when Juliet was hanging by a fingertip and when she fell. And she was also there, helping Sawyer into the rubble of the hatch and watching him carry out Juliet’s body.

But this is something else entirely. This time she sees him in deep mourning, and turns to leave. It isn’t going to work. They can’t figure things out together, because Sawyer is too devastated. She goes to leave, but Sawyer hears her.

It is heart-wrenching that Kate could not see Sawyer’s face as he cried over the little bag he pulled out of the flooring, just as this time Sawyer cannot see Kate’s face when she says that she was worried about him. There is a lot going on in this scene. Sawyer unsure what to make of Kate showing up. Kate unsure of where to go from there.

Well they end up going to the dock where Sawyer and Juliet have had many a moment. If we can make a simple analogy, the sub dock is to Sawyer and Juliet fans as the cages are to Sawyer and Kate fans. A place where they’ve had some big moments or at least, one big moment.

In this scene, I truly believe we see how far Kate and Sawyer have both come, and yet we see how far they also have to go. These two are nowhere near being redeemed just quite yet.

Kate proceeds to apologize for coming after him, and tells Sawyer that she came after him so they can find Claire together. Because that way she can get Claire back to Aaron and then “everything” might not have been for nothing. She then says she is sorry, again.

You already said that, Sawyer tells her. This time she is sorry for Juliet. If she hadn’t convinced them, then Sawyer and Juliet would be back in the 70s betting on the Cowboys and buying Microsoft stock. Now Juliet is dead, because of her.

Kate is taking the blame here. This is quite the leap for someone who in “What Kate Did” was blaming Wayne’s evilness for why she blew him up. She was saying she did it for her mother, she did it to protect her, save her, but nope, Diane said. You did it for you. Kate couldn’t admit it. She didn’t admit guilt for directly taking her father’s life.

Yet in this scene, she is taking guilt for Juliet’s death, when Juliet was the one that chose to go back, who chose to ultimately follow Jack.

This doesn’t work for Sawyer, who blames himself. He doesn’t blame Kate, he doesn’t blame Juliet, he doesn’t even blame Jack anymore. He blames himself. Why?

Because he asked Juliet to stay, on that very dock, right where Kate is sitting.

This could not be more symbolic. He said “right where you’re sitting.” That might as well have been an anvil that Juliet was Sawyer’s replacement, like little Aaron was Kate’s Sawyer replacement. The two of them had crutches, people they used to fill the wounds left behind by the other.

Kate knows what he’s talking about. Whether Sawyer meant the “you understand that, right?” to mean that she knows what it is like to be alone, or she knows what it is like to ask someone to stay for you, or if he meant it as her departure is why he didn’t want to be alone.

Whatever it is, Kate knows, because she lets him continue talking. He says some people are meant to be alone.

The moment Sawyer said that, I think he just fast-tracked himself to a happily ever after ending on-island. Whether this is with Kate remains to be seen, or if it means he will just finally be at peace with himself and not being in denial or torturing himself for things out of his control. He then says he was going to marry Juliet.

He throws the ring into the ocean, symbolic of ridding himself of this weight and then tells Kate she can make it back to the Temple by nightfall, and leaves. Kate stays and sobs, devastated.

Now, I know some are out there parading and cackling about how this is the end of Sawyer and Kate, but I believe it is just another stop along the road for them. They both have been alone all of their lives. They need some sense of happiness. Do you hear that Damon and Carlton? They need to be happy! They have been miserable their entire lives. Now it’s time for some karmic payback.

The entire scene at the dock was heart-breaking. From Sawyer’s crying to Kate’s crying to him admitting that Juliet was his replacement for Kate…it didn’t stop.

Time will tell if Damon and Carlton intend on making these two a couple once again, or happy for that matter. They did succeed in showing that Juliet was nothing more to Sawyer than Aaron was to Kate, and that he blamed himself and not Kate. This isn’t about Kate at all. It is about Sawyer’s issues.

And Kate, grown-up Kate, doesn’t fight it, and lets him leave, and she goes off, numb, either to find Claire or return to the Temple. Somehow I don’t think she is going to the Temple. We’ll see next week.

Like any Lost episode, whatever the flashback, flashfoward, flashsideways is about, there are both certain similarities and differences. In this Alternate Universe Flash, Kate is once again on the run, and unlike on-island, she isn’t really running towards anything or anyone (that we know of). Instead, she picks up Claire, feeling bad for abandoning her on the side of the road when she finds Claire’s bag is full of baby stuff, including the stuffed toy that Aaron would hold in the season four episode “Something Nice Back Home” when Mommy Kate was fighting with her soon to be ex-fiance , his Uncle Jack.

This Kate shows some differences. She is tougher, harder, almost…meaner? In any case, she softens enough to go with Claire to the hospital and stay with her during the crisis with Baby Unborn Aaron. She has someone she is fighting for, someone she is trying to help.

Claire, who is receptive and asking for help, which is in stark contrast to Sawyer on-island, who wants anything but help from Kate. Kate returns to being on the run after she helps Claire, similar to on-island Kate returning to aimlessly wander (that we know of) when she can’t bring Sawyer back.

Who knows what will happen when on-island Claire (with a crazy wig!) finds out that Kate took care of Aaron in those three years, while Claire was being consumed by “darkness” according to Dogen (maybe Smokey took her over?!) but I think it is safe to say that this version of Claire doesn’t look like she needs anyone’s help….and Kate, for the time being, will continue to run.

At least this time, she has grown, and is no longer running from things, but towards them.