Episode 6.03 — "What Kate Does"

Greetings!

Well, okay, it was hard to follow that premiere, I understand. But why did it have to be Kate-centric? For me, Kate episodes are always a little weak. After such a fast-paced, epic opener, it seemed like we halted to a stop to check in with Kate and the love triangle, or what's left of it. I don't think Kate has changed at all since Season 1. Okay okay, she was a little different in the alt. And though my tone may be one of disappointment, the episode wasn't THAT bad. The good news is that it can only go up from here...

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1) Kate *sigh* — For those who know me, I rarely express negative emotions towards the show and its characters, but for some reason I rarely feel satisfied when we have a Kate episode. To see her 'chase' Sawyer (or Jack) is, well, getting really old. And then for her to tell Sawyer (who just watched Juliet die) that finding Claire would make all of their suffering worth it...is just ridiculous. What did she think, that Sawyer, after JUST losing his bride-to-be, would hop on Kate's bandwagon and go prancing through the jungle in hopes of finding someone who disappeared a while back? Give the man his space, Kate. The last thing he needs is for you to flaunt your Kate-ness all over. Am I alone here??



I'll admit, I did like the Alt Kate storyline, no matter how preposterous it is that a pregnant chick would get back in the car with the fugitive who just held her up at gunpoint. But, c'mon, it's LOST...since when do characters act logically? It was really interesting to see the parallels between the two universes—Ethan serving as Claire's doc, Kate being present for Aaron's birth, Arzt being awesomely annoying, etc.

So, what is it that Kate actually does for the episode to earn its name? I'm assuming it's the fact that Kate HAS changed (a teeny tiny bit) in the alt universe. Some believe that in her previous life, Kate would have never stopped to help Claire and this shows the subtle effect that her past experience has on her in this universe. This is arguable though seeing as how Kate always seems to have a soft spot for those in need. (Remember the Australian farmer?) The other main theory is that Kate is actually innocent of the accused crime, because the fact that the producers changed the title from the previous episode "What Kate Did" to "What Kate Does" somehow negates what she "did" in the previous episode. Either way, I'm not sure it has much significance. But I would love to be proven wrong.



2) Claire — Sooooo happy to see Claire again. Though it wasn't until the end of the episode when I got what I really wanted...a peek into Claire's life on the Island during the past three years. Some were confused at the ending, saying that Claire shot the Others to protect her friend Jin, but then she looked confused when he called her name. Quite simply, Claire was NOT protecting Jin. She was protecting herself from the Temple Others, who now appear to be her enemy since she was "claimed" (by the MiB, I assume), as Dogen told us.

Before we get into that, let's just have a quick recap of Alt Claire. Well, she is pretty much in the same scenario as we found in Season 1: She’s preggers and flying to L.A. to give her baby up for adoption. There is something interesting to note in this episode though, and that is the date on Claire's ultrasound printout. The date is 10/22/04, exactly one month after the original flight 815 crashed, meaning that everything we've seen in the Alt is transpiring one month after the original flight and crash. I'm not sure what the significance is but it's something worth pointing out in case it comes up again.



Okay, so back to on-Island Claire. Um, Rousseau, anyone? I know I wasn't the only person to immediately think of that "crazy French chick" when I saw filthy, scraggly Claire, right? Since we were told she has been claimed, it made me wonder what exactly that means. Are there varying degrees of "possession" by the MiB? Can you be infected but not totally evil or completely under the control of MiB? If that is the case, then we reeeally need to look at Locke throughout the previous seasons... If it's not the case, and Claire is infected and evil, this should be veeeerrrry interesting.

3) Temple Others — Okay, so I'm still confused about the purpose and nature of these folks. I mean, I don't expect to know in the third episode what their ultimate purpose is (wait, this is the final season....TELL US!!). I can't figure out why they are so violent. And we know the Others have a history of being violent. They have rarely shown any hesitation as far as harming or killing their enemies. Are these really the good guys?? Does it make you look at Jacob in a different light?



Then there's Sayid and the test. This scene was very difficult for me to watch. At first, I didn't understand why we had to see that or what exactly the purpose was. But it seems it was testing Sayid’s ability to heal...I think. We saw Jack make a comment to Sayid about how well his wound was healing. The test may have been to see if the wound would reopen, thus proving Sayid is not truly being healed but rather he is showing signs of a false healing, like what MiB might give to his followers. Others think it was a test for Jack to see if he would blindly follow Dogen. I need to watch it again. What was your take?

4) What's to come — I've read many theories about where people think this season is going. I've also included a few of my thoughts in previous posts. I'm still thinking there will be some sort of merge between the realities. In the Alt, we will continue to see the Alties crossing paths and interacting in ways that resemble what has happened on the Island. (Possible course correction?) I don't believe we have any major clues as to what will happen to bring these two realities together, but I'm hoping that in the last season of show, they will do something epic.


(Sorry, I had to throw a pic of Mac in there!)

5) Share your responses to various one-liner theories —

a) Eloise Hawking made it to the Orchid before the bomb was dropped in 1977 and turned the donkey wheel just as the bomb went off, banishing her from the Island and sending her back home where she began to push her son, Daniel, into the field of theoretical physics.
b) Jacob and MiB are playing a cosmic game of Go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)
c) The Alt story isn't happening parallel to our story but is what transpires after the end of the series, when the LOSTies "fix" time.
d) Jack is a descendant of Jacob, therefore making Aaron part of the family line as well.

Do any of these seem plausible to you? Why or why not?

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I was seriously considering waiting to write a unified post for "What Kate Does" and the upcoming episode, since I didn't find all that much to discuss this week. But I'm sure I missed something big, as I did not re-watch the episode or write this from any notes. I would love to hear what you thought about this week's episode. Feel free to prove to me that it wasn't as bad as I may have made it sound!

Until next time...

Namaste...and good luck.

SFO