Sea. 1, Ep. 12: Whatever the Case May Be

The Lost Rewatch's third week closes with the Kate-centric episode in which she and Sawyer find the case that had belonged to the U.S. Marshal on Flight 815. But it's no ordinary case. It holds some sort of special significance for our feminine fugitive.

Kate and Sawyer liberate the case from the bottom of a small lake they find in the jungle. The two explore the depths and spot two bloated corpses still fastened into their plane seats. (Let me just add here that these two corpses, which I'm sure were supposed to look disturbing and/or frightening, are just comically unrealistic. Well, I've never seen any waterlogged corpses, but I'm sure they look a lot more disgusting than the two featured here.) Underneath them is the case that becomes the object of Kate's affection.

We witness how shifty and sly Kate is, as she tries to convince Sawyer that she's not very interested in the case when he believes the opposite. Later on, she tries several times to lift it from him, betraying the cool and collected indifference she once professed about the case's contents. When she's unsuccessful in getting the case from Sawyer, she tries to pull one over on the good doctor. She tells him the unadulterated truth about the case, its contents, and how to open it. They have to exhume the Marshal's body, because the key was in his wallet. When they dig the guy up, Kate attempts to earn another Academy Award nomination by sneaking the key out of the wallet and then pretending to be upset that it's not there. But Jack knows better and demands to inspect her hands. Tsk tsk, Kate.

Eventually they open the case together, and in addition to all of the Marshal's guns and ammunition there's a small green envelope. As the suspense builds for the audience (what the hell's in there?!), Kate slowly withdraws a miniature toy airplane from the envelope. Um, what? Jack, like us, thinks there's more to it, and demands to know what's so damned important about it. All she can tell us is that it belonged to the man she loved. When pressed further by Jack, she exclaims that it belonged to the man she killed. She then breaks down, and we think, Oh, right. She was a fugitive. We don't know any better at this juncture, but we'll learn later that it actually belonged to a guy who indirectly died as a result of Kate's actions. It was her childhood friend Tom. She didn't actually murder him. She murdered her father.

Reinforcing this outlaw image, the flashbacks show us how Kate duped a whole bunch of people to get her hands on the plane in the first place. Some dude that she was with at the time orchestrated a bank heist, and she played the foil. She acted as a helpless victim so that the bank manager would allow the robbers access to the bank's vault. But once they were back there, she turned it all around on her beau so that she could get into a safe deposit box (GASP! She wanted access to box #815!). She put a bullet in each of the bad guys and then coerced the manager to open the box. Inside was nothing but an envelope, which I would guess held the plane that she so desperately wanted.

Other things of note in this episode? More of Maggie Grace's atrociously awful acting skills. When Shannon gets upset by Sayid's frustration, I always burst out laughing at what terrible range Ms. Grace possesses. I know that Shannon was written as a whiny, spoiled brat, but you'd think that Maggie could have some sort of two-dimensional whininess rather than the one-dimensional version she delivers. It's really, really bad.

Oh, and Rose rains on Charlie's self-pity party. A bit of tough love, and it seems to slightly help the recovering junkie as he worries about Claire.

This episode doesn't strike me as terribly deep, especially since Locke is absent. It's simply an opportunity to learn a little more about Kate's past. But even then, we don't learn too much. Just that she's an outlaw with a heart of gold.

Sea. 1, Ep. 7: The Moth

Hello and welcome once again to today's installment of the Rewatch. I have a feeling that this'll be a brief write-up, as "The Moth" doesn't offer much in the way of island lore, but it's a good episode nonetheless. As the writers were wont to do in the very beginning, this episode fleshes out some of the characters a bit more.

"The Moth" features the first deeper look at the island's resident rock star Charlie Pace. Remember how Charlie exchanged his heroin for his guitar at the end of the previous episode? Well, here we see the repercussions of that decision, as he begins to experience withdrawal. And Locke continues to exert his control over Charlie, saying that he won't return the drugs until Charlie has asked for them back three times. Locke stresses the fact that everyone has a choice, and Charlie can choose to give in easily to temptation or hold out and become drug free. Ironically, we see Mr. Destiny giving a lecture about choice and free will. As we've already covered in previous episodes, that's not what Locke seems to be about. He's a fatalist through and through. I don't know why he doesn't just use his commune with the island to help Charlie get through it without all the nasty business of withdrawal.

This episode also highlights the battering that Charlie's psyche is taking while trying to fit in among the others. No one seems to care that he was the member of a popular rock band, and his lackluster efforts to help Jack and company move their belongings to the caves get him pushed aside. Feeling lonely and small, he blows up at Jack, and his angry shouts lead to a massive cave-in of rocks. Charlie escapes the danger, but Jack gets trapped behind a wall of the rubble. Oops, Charlie.

Running parallel to this are, of course, the flashbacks. These Charlie-centric ones revolve around the relationship with his older brother Liam. It looks as though they got along famously until they literally became famous. They made it big with their band Driveshaft, but then the myriad women and limitless supply of drugs went to Liam's head. And history repeats itself, as Charlie--who was originally in control of the band--is pushed aside by his brother.

Another item of note in "The Moth" is the beginnings of the famous love triangle between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. The two men obviously have a thing for Kate, and Kate seems to be into Jack, but we should know by now that it's just the early stages of a long and unrequited love. Regardless, in this episode we see that Kate's sad that Jack's departing for the caves. Then Jack gets trapped behind the rubble and Sawyer learns about it. Sawyer's jealous of Kate's flirtations with Jack, so he withholds the information until he knows he can upset her with it. It's really all quite juvenile and I'm sure you can tell that it's not one of my favorite aspects of the show. But it is what it is, and I appreciate the fact that some people enjoy it.

Ultimately, Charlie resists temptation (after asking Locke a second time for his drugs) and redeems himself by going into the rubble to free Jack. What's more is that he pops Jack's dislocated shoulder back into place, something which would surely make me yak. Charlie is showered with praise, and at the end of the episode we see that his transformation is complete, because he asks Locke for his heroin so that he can throw it in the fire and be rid of it.

Oh, and I nearly forgot! Sayid tries to triangulate the location of the French distress call and is nearly about to do succeed when he's sabotaged! Some unknown figure knocks him out, and he's unable to complete his task. At this point we don't know who did it, but we later learn it was Locke. Why? Locke doesn't want to be rescued. And we know that he's serious about that. He'll even blow up a damned submarine to stay. My goodness.

Like I said, "The Moth" is heavy on plot and character development, but devoid of any larger mysteries. Since we know who knocked Sayid out, there are really no secrets in this episode. Consequently, I think my recap is a bit thin compared to others. But that's bound to happen, particularly when we get to episodes like "Exposé," in which those two terrible characters that the writers tried to introduce are killed off.

But once again, thanks for reading!

Sea. 1, Ep. 3: Tabula Rasa

“Tabula Rasa” gives us the show’s very first character-centric episode. That is, it’s the first episode in which the flashbacks focus solely on one particular character. As I’m sure you’re well aware, this Kate-centric episode creates the basic framework for storytelling: a balance of on-island events and flashbacks that help to illuminate why the characters act the way they do. So, without further ado, let’s jump into the episode that shows us how Kate Austen wound up on Oceanic Flight 815.

It was revealed in the second half of the pilot episode that Kate is a fugitive. At this point, we don’t know what she did or how she was apprehended, but she was seated next to the U.S. Marshall (Edward Mars) on Flight 815 and sporting a flashy pair of handcuffs. Of course we later learn that she was on the lam because she killed her father, who regularly beat the hell out of her mother. But that information remains a mystery in the early stages of the saga.

While in Australia, Kate took up work on a farm run by the widowed Ray Mullen. Ray tells Kate that his wife died eight months prior and that she left him with a “hell of a mortgage.” He hires Kate under-the-table because he needs help completing chores on the farm. His efficiency is hindered by a prosthetic right arm. Ray doesn’t mention how he lost his arm, but this detail about the Aussie should raise red flags in the minds of Lost fans. Although it’s purely coincidental, Pierre Chang (of the orientation video fame) also wears a prosthesis. It’s his left arm that’s missing, however. As we saw in the fifth season finale, Chang’s left arm became pinned during the incident when the electromagnetic force drew metal objects toward the drilling shaft. In some of the station orientation videos shot after the Incident, you’ll notice that he’s without his left arm; the prosthesis usually hangs at his side. Anyhow, this detail about Ray shouldn’t be scrutinized too closely, as it appears to be a coincidence, but it’s worth noting as we review these earlier episodes with the knowledge of following seasons.

As it goes, Ray eventually learns that Kate is wanted in the United States for murder. Stopping her late one night as she plans to flee, he doesn’t tell her that he knows she’s on the run and convinces her to wait until the morning so that he can drive her to a train station. But as the pair cruise down some desolate route in the Outback at daybreak, it’s revealed that he has turned her in so that he can collect the $23,000 reward to help pay his hefty mortgage. In a desperate attempt to escape, she grabs Ray’s steering wheel from the passenger seat and drives the truck off the road. But seeing that Ray is incapacitated and that the truck has caught fire, she pulls him to safety. Her oddly heroic efforts force her to stick around a little too long and lead to her capture by the Marshall. So her escape was all for naught and she’s under arrest and scheduled for extradition back to the States. And which airline do you suppose U.S. Marshalls prefer? Oceanic Airlines, apparently.

As Kate’s background unravels through the series of flashbacks, the on-island scenes in this episode continue to introduce us to the survivors of Flight 815 and explore some of their relationships. We see that Kate confides in Jack and tells him about the French distress call that the others in the “Polar bear party” agreed to keep a secret. This, of course, is something that will repeat itself often throughout the series. The cutesy—and at times, volatile—relationship between Charlie and Claire begins to take shape here as Charlie helps the mom-to-be assemble her luggage on the beach. And we see the strife between Michael and Walt as the two argue about finding Walt’s dog Vincent. Definitely not the most crucial argument between characters on the show, but it sets the trend for another one of Lost’s ever-present themes: the strained relationships between fathers and sons. Much like the “light versus dark” motif touched upon in the second half of the pilot episode, this sort of conflict appears again and again. Take for instance the interactions between Jack and his father Christian. Or how about Jin’s embarrassment over his father’s lowly livelihood as a fisherman (and to a lesser extent, his turbulent interactions with Sun’s father)? And even the genuinely good Hurley has a not-so-great rapport with his father. As another episode title suggests, all the best cowboys have daddy issues. And there sure are a whole lotta cowboys on this island.

“Tabula Rasa” marks another occasion in which the rain appears. This episode’s downpour sends the survivors on the beach scrambling for some sort of shelter, and its arrival coincides with Kate’s visit to the tent housing the ailing Marshall. His eyes flash open, connecting with Kate’s for an instant, and he summons a whole boatload of strength as he tries to strangle her. He collapses thereafter, with Jack informing Kate that the patient’s stomach has become rigid. The good Doc had said was a bad sign, and it signals the certain doom of Edward Mars. Mars later asks to be killed, a task which Kate gives to Sawyer. Sawyer shoots the Marshall in the chest, intending to hit his heart. The bullet instead punctures the Marshall’s lung, and he’s left to die an agonizingly slow death. Yikes.

The final portion of the episode shows us that Locke finds Vincent using the whistle he crafted on the beach. But rather than take credit for the job he did, he allows Michael to bring Vincent to Walt so that he can earn some parenting points. I remember when I first saw these episodes, I couldn’t figure out whether Locke was a good soul or pure malevolence. I mean, the writers sort of gave us a first impression of all the other characters, but they kept Locke mysterious for quite a while. I remember I was still having a hard time figuring him out when he was working on unearthing the hatch with Boone. So it’s interesting to review these early episodes. The final shot (following the musical montage of others on the beach) is a prelude to the Locke-centric episode that follows this one, but up until this point we only know John Locke as the reclusive backgammon man who finds Vincent. Knowing what we know now, perhaps this was the writers’ way of showing us how Locke was different from the rest; how he had the special commune with the island. I suppose the next episode does indeed show us how different Locke is! But that’s a capsule for another day (tomorrow, actually).

As always, thanks for reading! And comment away!