TUIW Conversation – “What Kate Does”

Each week, after taking a couple days to digest the episode and read what the blogs are says, we’re going to have a TUIW Conversation about Lost to try and unpack the episode, bounce theories off each other, and see if we can’t figure out what’s going on with our favorite group of TV castaways (sorry Gilligan!)

Jonah: After last week’s massive download of mindblowing info, we got a decidedly more sedate episode this week that felt more like a way to ease into the season proper. Despite some tantalizing peeks into what Kate’s alternalife is like, there wasn’t a whole lot of insight into the workings and mysteries of the alternate timeline. Meanwhile, on the island, the Losties started splintering off, with Sawyer and Kate in New Otherton, Jin stumbling upon a decidedly Rousseau-like Claire, and Sayid being infected with The Sickness. The pieces are in place, but Michael, let me start by asking, on a basic level were you satisfied with the episode, even if it was a step down from “LA X”? In the pantheon of Kate episodes, how does this one stack up?

Michael: I think that “What Kate Does” is an episode that picked up steam as it went on. You mentioned in your review that Kate was a pretty good character in Season One, and I agree with you. But her story has seemed repetitive and over dramatic since then. Seeing AlternaKate reminded me of a time when she was an interesting character on the run instead of one that makes snap decisions based on who she likes most that day. I have to say that the scene between Kate and Sawyer on the dock was one of the best and most heartbreaking scenes Lost has ever done, and to me was the highlight of the episode. Overall, I think “What Kate Does” was a natural progression out of “LA X.” That episode was about answering the question of what happened when the bomb went off and set up the parameters for Season 6. “What Kate Does” seemed to be about laying out the characters’ objectives: Kate wants to find Claire, Jin wants to find Sun, Jack wants redemption, and Sayid looks like he’s going to become a bad guy. I think “What Kate Did” will play out better in a repeat viewing of the entire season once its all said and done. One of the more important parts of the episode was the very end, when Claire emerged from the jungle, the “darkness” inside of her. What do you think Claire’s return is going to mean not only for the Losties at the Temple, but those with Smokey at the Beach?

J: The shot of Claire busting caps and looking generally pretty badass was pretty exciting and definitely fired off the theory synapses in my brain. But before I get back to that, your point about rewatching reminded me of something, namely the fact that this is the last time people will be experiencing Lost with the week long gaps between episodes. Season 5 played so well on DVD not just because I was rewatching and was much clearer on what happened, but also because at the end of an episode like “The Lie” I could just pop in another one. Episodes like “What Kate Does” may be unsatisfying in the weekly doses we’re on now, but, as you pointed out, its necessary to move everything into place. Anyway, back to Claire, who seems to have come down with The Sickness that we’ve been hearing about since season one (somewhat ironically since she was the one getting regular vaccines). Assuming that she (and now Sayid) are somehow aligned or related to Smokey, then I think its going to start bringing a little ambiguity to the Jacob vs. Smokey war. It also makes me wonder what exactly has been happening on the island between when the O6 left and now. Dogen, at least, seemed to know about Claire, so clearly she’s been around and active for a while. I also think its going to raise the stakes for Kate, who seemed to have all but given up on her search for Claire, and Jack, who hasn’t actually interacted with Claire knowing that they were related. What do you think about the “darkness”? Has it totally claimed Claire or will there be some way to rescue her (and Sayid)? Do they even need rescuing?

M: I think you’re definitely right about creating an ambiguity to the Jacob vs. Smokey war. So much faith has been put on Jacob as being the “good guy” and Smokey the “bad guy,” yet we still have absolutely no idea who they are. It’s not exactly a “good guy” thing to inhabit someone with Darkness or take over the body of a dead guy, but we don’t yet have a reason to believe Jacob is truly good. That aside, it seems like Claire (and possibly Sayid) may be lost to the Darkness. Dogen wanted to poison Sayid, which doesn’t sound like a cure. If they can be saved, I think it would be good to see both of them rescued. Claire was a genuine, loving character before disappearing in the jungle, and for all the bad Sayid has done, he’s full of remorse and doesn’t believe it possible for him to be saved. I want to know about the future of Sawyer and Jin as well, but I feel we could play the “what’s going to happen to them” game into the ground. Instead, I’ll look at the big picture. So far in three episodes (counting “LA X” as two), a lot has happened in the flashsideways that mirror what happened on the Island. We’ve talked about the inevitability of the two worlds colliding, but I’m wondering what you think the relation of it all to the Jacob-Smokey war. Do they go hand in hand or are they two separate things?

J: I’m very interested in the parallel universe (indeed, I was a little disappointed we didn’t spend more time getting our bearings there last week, although that’s because of my own expectations). I think the little parallels are cool, I almost wonder if they’re this season’s equivalent of the castaways random connections from earlier seasons. There may not necessarily be any factual explanation for why it is, but it feeds into the notions of predestination and free will that this season seems to be about. I’ve thought about a number of possibilities for the alternate timeline (that it represents a kind of after-life for the Losties, that the consciousness of the alterna-815ers will take the place of the ones on the island, that whatever happened to create that timeline still actually hasn’t happened yet) but it still seems too early to make any kind of judgement like that. As far as Jacob-Smokey are concerned, I almost wonder if the alternate timeline is something that’s either completely unexpected or out of their control. Maybe it represents a way for our Losties to break free from being pieces in the game. Or maybe its the “ending” Jacob talked about in “The Incident” (after all, we still don’t really know what Jacob wants in all of this). At least for now, though, I’m finding myself more content to just ride it out than I thought I’d be. It may be a while before Alterna815 actually starts making sense, but its still kind of fun to see and explore that world. What about you? But, while “What Kate Does” seemed to be more about what’s the same between the two timelines (Kate and Claire trust each other, Claire’s naming the baby Aaron and seems to be keeping it, she still recieved care from Ethan), there are still some major changes in the timeline (like the fact that Ethan is nice and not on the island). What did you make of that? And do you think this universe is ultimately more about what’s the same or what’s different?

M: I’m really not sure what to think of that. In the AlternaWorld, there’s a Nice Ethan and a Lucky Hurley, but there’s still Drug-Addled Charlie and Wheelchair-Bound Locke. Maybe things are character specific? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Like I said earlier, I think “What Kate Does” is about establishing the season objectives for the characters on the Island. Sides are going to be chosen, and the true destiny of these characters is going to be revealed. “What Kate Does” was at times tedious to watch, but I think it’s going to be a crucial episode come the end of the season. Next week, we get to shift gears and go back to the Smokey plot. The description from ABC is “Locke goes in search of help to further his cause.” That gives us absolutely nothing, but perhaps after next week, we’ll have an even better picture of what to expect for the rest of the season.