Previously on LOST: What Kate Does
Previously on LOST is a weekly column recapping and analyzing each episode from the final season of Lost. (Warning: May contain spoilers!)
“What Kate Does” is the LOST equivalent of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. It’s pretty shitty, and you can judge a fanboy’s unwavering devotion to a franchise from how they react to it.
The episode reinforces what I think has been a problem with LOST the past couple seasons. The character writing has just not been at a high level. When Kate hijacks a cab she wants the driver to run over a man in front of her and ten minutes later she’s going out of her way to help a poor young lady to the hospital. I understand that Kate seems to feel a connection to this child, but unless we ever find out a reason why, it just seems completely unrealistic.
Nothing seems to need a reason or validation within the scope of an episode. Everything will be “explained in the end”. This is a luxury no other TV show gets. On older episodes of LOST, a character’s behavior or reaction to something was examined within the episode. A flashback would reinforce a character’s actions on the island. In this episode, there is a lot of uncharacteristic behavior without any reason for it. I mentioned Kate in the paragraph above but there were other examples. I thought this guy was a miserable prick who didn’t trust anybody. Now he’ll take whatever pill Jack tells him to, and he can’t understand why people aren’t rolling out the red carpet for him when he springs back to life.
I don’t like the fact that I’m ripping on the show so much, but that’s honestly what stuck out in my mind after watching the episode. There are some things I did enjoy though. I think the new characters have been interesting and refreshing, particularly Dogen. That bad-ass Asian is already my favourite part of this season. I thought the scenes between him and Jack were the strongest in last night’s episode.
I saw a glimpse of the old Sawyer too, with a great line after Sayid was revived: “Of course he’s fine. He’s an Iraqi torturer who shoots kids. He definitely deserves another go around.” These little things keep me entertained but they’re few and far between. I’m still waiting for LOST to turn the corner this year.
Discussion Topics
- Any theories as to what the infection Sayid and Claire have? And how did he fail the test?
- Is Jacob the good guy or the bad guy? I think/hope he will be bad.