We learned “What Kate Did” during season 2, so now it’s time to find out “What Kate Does.” On the island? Off of the island? Both? We saw last week that off-island, she was doing what she does best: running. Some things never do change. So Kate, what are you going to do?
Lennon tells Dogen the shocking news: Sayid is alive. I found it interesting that Sawyer mentions that Sayid shot a kid; that was a shocking moment for a lot of fans, and to see the show reference just what a terrible act that was was nice to see.
As the Kate/Claire cab is leaving LAX, Artz gets in the way. “Hey, I’m walking here!” he yells. Recognize that line? I did. Sawyer said that to Christian in “Two For the Road” (2×20) when Christian was with Ana Lucia. Not far down the road, the cab driver bails on Kate, and then she kicks Claire out as well after asking for her purse. As she gets out, it is clear she is pregnant. She was obviously pregnant in the original timeline, but there was some question as to whether or not she would be pregnant in this timeline, because we don’t know what happened to them before they boarded this flight. It would have been highly disappointing if this had been changed, so this confirmation was nice.
Inside the Temple, Jack actually takes some time to ask some questions about what’s going on, something that almost never happens on the show. Sawyer didn’t care, he just wanted out, and after getting hold of a gun, he was leaving and not taking no for an answer. “He ain’t my friend. You do what you want with him, and anybody else. But me, I’m walkin’ outta here. I’m gone, you understand?” Welcome back, old Sawyer. He’s back to caring about one person: himself. Then he looks and Kate and says “don’t come after me.” He might as well have just said “give me a five minute head start and then track me down, Freckles.” Looks like in addition to her off-island running, she’ll be running through the jungle after Sawyer. One minute later: what’s this, Kate volunteering to chase after Sawyer? Oh, how shocking! Jin volunteers to go as well, as he just wants to leave the Temple and try to reunite with Sun.
Kate decides to make a pit stop to get her handcuffs taken off. It’s very strange how freely she tells the man who takes them off that she’s wanted for murder. He laughs it off, almost in disbelief. She goes to change, and upon opening Claire’s bag, she sees a photo of her and realizes she’s pregnant, and immediately feels guilt for kicking her out of the cab. What’s this, Katherine Austen showing some…feelings? Maybe things can change after all. She then sees a stuffed orca and gives it a strange look, almost like she’s seen it before? Because she has. Does she actually remember it? I’m thinking no, but it seems like she got some sort of deja vu.
Kate and Jin prepare to leave the Temple with Aldo, who makes his triumphant return. The last (and only other) time we saw him was in 3×07 (“Not in Portland”) getting duped with what Sawyer called ” the ol’ Wookiee prisoner gag” outside Room 23. Jack tells Kate to be careful, and is just about to lean in and kiss her when Kate turns and leaves. Then the torturer becomes the torturee. Dogen “diagnoses” Sayid, which begins with him blowing what appears to be the protective ash over and onto him, is followed by some good old electroshock therapy and rounded out with a hot poker to the abdomen. Lennon comes in and tells Sayid that it was a test because they “had to be sure” and that he had “passed.” Sayid leaves, and Lennon asks Dogen if he just lied to Sayid. He did. Ruh roh.
Kate, overcome with this new “sympathy” thing, goes back to give Claire her luggage and then offers her a ride. Claire explains that she came to Los Angeles to give her baby up to a couple, so we have more confirmation that her story is still the same in this timeline. I wonder if she ever went to that psychic and what he said, and if we’ll find that out.
Continued belowAldo is quite the smart ass (“I’m sorry, is this a press conference?”) and doesn’t seem to like having to romp through the jungle with Kate and Jin. Justin, Aldo’s friend, mentions that Rousseau has been dead for years and then stops short when interrupted by his partner. Well then, who set this new trap that takes out the jungle boys? Is that what he was about to say? We’ll find that out later. Jack visits Lennon and Dogen to find out what they did to Sayid. Lennon says that the closest translation is “infected.” We’ve heard this word before; is this the same “infection” that Rousseau’s team had? The boys of the Temple have a task for Jack: give Sayid a pill. Jack demands to know what’s in it, but he gets no answer. Dogen then lays some serious guilt on Jack by reminding him that it was his fault that Sayid got shot in the first place, and that he was not the first to get hurt or die while helping Jack. “This is your chance to redeem yourself. It’s medicine and your friend needs it.” Jack asks what will happen if Sayid doesn’t take it. “The infection will spread.” My questions in that situation would have been how will it spread? Through his body? To the people near him? To the whole island? Sayid decides he’ll only take the pill if Jack says he should, because he trusts Jack. Jack doesn’t trust the Temple people, so he doesn’t tell Sayid to take it.
Kate reveals to Jin that she has no intention of bringing Sawyer back to the Temple, and that she’ll figure out what to do once she catches up to him. Jin wants to know where the Ajira plane landed, but Kate doesn’t know because she flashed off the plane and ended up near the waterfall with Jack and Hurley. They each go their separate way.
Kate drives Claire to the house to meet the adopting couple, and I kept thinking one thing during this scene: what if this couple (or one of the two) is someone we know from the island? That would have been crazy. However, they arrive and Claire asks Kate to come in with her. We meet a distraught woman who’s husband just left her. Four questions arose: who is he, why did he leave her, is he someone we already know, and does any of that matter? Only time will tell. Just then, Claire goes into labor. What timing. My initial thought: is Kate going to help Claire deliver again?
Kate arrives in Dharmaville and finds Sawyer digging up a box he had buried under the floor, presumably containing something important of his or Juliet’s.
Kate’s Cab Service pulls up to a hospital and Claire is immediately admitted. Kate sees a police car pull in behind her and decides to go in as well. Kate gets Dr. Ethan Goodspeed(!) to come help Claire. He gives her the choice to have her baby now or give her some drugs. “I just don’t want to stick you with needles if I don’t have to,” he tells her. How ironic, since he did indeed stick her with needles back in 2×15, “Maternity Leave.” Her machines start beeping, and Claire asks “What’s happening to my baby? Is my baby okay? Is Aaron okay?” Kate’s face upon hearing the name Aaron was the same deja vu face she made when she found the stuffed orca in Claire’s bag. Does that mean something?
Kate sits down with Sawyer on the dock and tells him that she needs to find Claire, and asks Sawyer for help. Kate blames herself for Juliet’s death, but Sawyer blames himself, since he convinced her to stay when she was ready to leave on the submarine, because he didn’t want to be alone. He says that some of us are “meant to be alone” and reveals that he was going to ask Juliet to marry him. Josh Holloway was brilliant last week, and nailed it again this week with this scene right here. I drew a parallel here: he told Kate about how he didn’t want to be alone, and I believe that a big part of the reason she went back to get Claire was that she had no one to see and nowhere to go. She didn’t want to be alone either.
Continued belowJack returns to speak with Dogen, who explains that he doesn’t speak English in front of his people to keep him separated from his people. Interesting Dogen line: “I was brought here like everyone else…you know exactly what I mean.” No, he doesn’t, and we don’t either. Unless of course, Dogen’s LA-bound plane crashed, he ended up finding a way home thanks to some people on a freighter but then had to come back to the island. If that’s the case, then we understand, but I doubt it. Jack didn’t give Sayid the pill, and again asks what’s in it. Dogen refuses to answer, and then Jack decides to take the pill. Dogen Heimlich’s it out of him and then reveals what the pill is: poison.
Claire takes a look at her ultrasound, which has an interesting date: October 22, 2004. The date of the original flight was September 22, 2004. Is this a blooper or does it mean something that the flight in this timeline is a month later? Detectives come looking for “Joan Hart,” but Claire lets them know that “Joan” was just the cab driver and that she has no idea where “Joan” might have been heading. The detectives leave and Kate comes out of hiding. Kate compliments the name Aaron, to which Claire responds “I don’t know why I said it, it’s like I knew it or something.” Is it possible that her knowledge from the island was somehow uploaded to her brain here in this timeline? Kate tells Claire she should keep Aaron. They wish each other luck and off goes Kate. I have a feeling she won’t go far and will be back to see Claire soon, because as much as she wants to run, she doesn’t want to be alone, and just maybe she’ll end up with Aaron again.
Dogen makes Jack some tea to help him after he swallowed the pill, even though it came back up. Jack wants to know why they want to kill Sayid. We then learn that the closest translation for what happened to Sayid is that he was “claimed.” Jack asks what claimed him, and Dogen replies “there is a darkness growing in him, and once it reaches his heart, everything your friend once was will be gone.” Jack asks how they can be sure. “Because it happened to your sister.” Claire.
Jin is alone in the jungle, and reaches down in the stream for a drink. Aldo and Justin take him down. Aldo, with a gun pointed right at him, threatens to kill him, so Jin runs and gets caught in a beartrap. Rousseau has been dead for years, so what’s with all the traps? Aldo is about to shoot Jin, when both he and Justin are shot. Jin turns around. The shooter? Claire. Dirty jungle “claimed” Claire. Will she recognize Jin? Is she the new Rousseau? Does this mean Rousseau was also infected? Should we call her Clairsseau? It has to be more than a coincidence that both had their baby taken from them, even though Claire seemed to just get up and walk away from hers, whereas Rousseau had baby Danielle literally stolen from her by Ben.
This episode didn’t have the excitement or the pace that “LA X” had, but the second half was pretty good and the ending was great. I hope they pick up right there to begin next week; Claire’s on-island story is something I really can’t wait to get answers on.
Until next week, namaste!
