Lost 6x03: "What Kate Does"
- Thread starter Agent Richard07
- Start date
I rated the episode Average. We didn't really learn anything, but there were nice scenes. Claire getting attached to Kate was kinda unbelievable, but I guess that's why it's important. I liked the Sawyer scenes. But all the stalling is getting really old. But it's still early in the season, so I guess we have to forgive it for now.
Average
As post season 1 Kate episodes go, this was par for the course. The flash-sideways was useless, at least it appears to be useless. Flashbacks, flashforwards, and it seems flash-sideways only work if they have an important island mystery or if they give us a revelation into the character. They don't work if it's just an excuse to bring Claire and Ethan back.
On the positive side was Josh Holloway's amazing performance.
As post season 1 Kate episodes go, this was par for the course. The flash-sideways was useless, at least it appears to be useless. Flashbacks, flashforwards, and it seems flash-sideways only work if they have an important island mystery or if they give us a revelation into the character. They don't work if it's just an excuse to bring Claire and Ethan back.
On the positive side was Josh Holloway's amazing performance.
As of now the poll reads as follows...
1
2
12
2
1
Nice pattern.
Anyway, pretty much everything has been said already, but here's my rundown...
- Not much meat on either the island story or the flashsideways. Or should I be calling the flashsideways-to-three-years-ago?
- Some good stuff with Jack and Sayid.
- Loved the scene where whatshisface started beating and violently heimliching Jack to get the pill back.
- More stalling and no real answers.
- Ethan. At first, I thought he was a spy from the island, then I realized that he couldn't be since it sank. Now this begs the question... Does he have a purpose, or was he just there as a nice touch.
- Claire at the end. And boy did she look odd and scary, like an island savage.
With the good and the bad, it all evens out to 'average' for me. It was funny to come in here and see that pretty much everyone sees it that way too.
You guys were also right about Sayid. People were saying last week that he was possessed by someone else.
Also, as I was watching, I got the sense that the folks in L.A. will somehow make their way to the island. Haven't got that worked out yet though.
1
2
12
2
1
Nice pattern.
Anyway, pretty much everything has been said already, but here's my rundown...
- Not much meat on either the island story or the flashsideways. Or should I be calling the flashsideways-to-three-years-ago?
- Some good stuff with Jack and Sayid.
- Loved the scene where whatshisface started beating and violently heimliching Jack to get the pill back.
- More stalling and no real answers.
- Ethan. At first, I thought he was a spy from the island, then I realized that he couldn't be since it sank. Now this begs the question... Does he have a purpose, or was he just there as a nice touch.
- Claire at the end. And boy did she look odd and scary, like an island savage.
With the good and the bad, it all evens out to 'average' for me. It was funny to come in here and see that pretty much everyone sees it that way too.
You guys were also right about Sayid. People were saying last week that he was possessed by someone else.
Also, as I was watching, I got the sense that the folks in L.A. will somehow make their way to the island. Haven't got that worked out yet though.
As I recall, most said it was possession by Jacob, which I said seemed too obvious. It could still turn that way I guess, but I think I was on the right track.
I think it really meant something when Clair said she just knew his name, without even thinking, like she knew it already. I think this might point to something like the fact that they really did go through all those experiences, and somehow even though things are reset, there is familiarity there still.
Average. I'm hoping they just have the one Kate episode this year, but I see probably two in the future. Josh Holloway did a great job, there are some intriguing questions (the show still asks new ones when it answers. It's going to have to realize that, at some point, they'll have to answer them all instead 
). Some OK Kate-Claire moments. The rest? It's a Kate episode, it can't be helped.
EDIT: Was Baby Ethan evacuated from the island?
). Some OK Kate-Claire moments. The rest? It's a Kate episode, it can't be helped.EDIT: Was Baby Ethan evacuated from the island?
It felt like a lot of setup but it had some great scenes mixed with some boring ones. Average, I'd say.
S
Stone_Cold_Sisko
Guest
The only real interesting part of the flash-sideways was Kate having a "moment" when she saw Jack waiting at the airport.
I wish there had been a similar 'wtf' moment when Claire saw doctor Ethan.
I wish there had been a similar 'wtf' moment when Claire saw doctor Ethan.
I liked it, and I don't like Kate. We have no idea where they're going with the alternate story-line, so we really don't know if it was pointless or not yet. That scene with Kate, Claire and Ethan in the delivery room was super creepy, though. And I guess Ethan is one person that benefited hugely from the bomb going off. Speaking of which, wasn't Baby Ethan on the Island when it blew? Maybe they made it off the Island during the evacuation and would've come back later in the time-line we know...I wonder how thoroughly Cuse and Lindeloft have thought through the changes in this alternate time-line. If they've only figured out the stuff they plan on touching on throughout the season or if they have all the back-stories figured out again, just to get those little things right for the nitpicky fan. That would be a lot of extra work, but kudos to them if the changes turn out to be airtight.
I'm not understanding the moaning about "there isn't enough time left!" either. It's not like the writers are given sixteen weeks and they start putting things together at week one so they better start cram, cram, cramming in everything just in case they don't have enough time at the end. There's an outline. You don't start a season, even the last season, treating every episode like the show finale. There's a story to tell and there has to be an act one to establish the particular conflicts and themes that will be dealt with and resolved. Someone said upthread that this episode would probably be much better on the DVD, and I think that's true. Pacing-wise, it'll be better with the final picture completed.
Before anyone really starts panicking that they're going to "stall" all season, we should review the second episodes of previous seasons: "Tabula Rasa" (Kate's establishing episode), "Adrift" (Michael and Sawyer's raft drama), The Glass Ballerina (Sun, Jin and Sayid hang out on the beach until the Other's attack), "Confirmed Dead "(Freighter people are introduced), "The Lie" (Hurley does Weekend at Sayid's, wacky hijinks ensue). None of these are exactly highly regarded, none are exactly plot movers, none answer any major questions as far as I remember. The best one of the bunch, IMO, is "Confirmed Dead," but only because it does a decent job of introducing us to the Freighter Folk. But it does not provide many answers about them, just questions.
Finally, it's not like Lost has been withholding all of its answers until this season. We've had a lot of questions answered and a lot more have come up. We know all about what's in the hatch, what The Incident was, if Desmond and Penny ever get together, who Ben is, who the Dharma Initiative are/were, how the Six get off the island and get back, what happened to Locke, what the bomb did (mostly), if Rose's husband really survived, what happened to Michael and Walt after they got off the island, who the real Sawyer is, what Kate did that put her on the run, even how Jack got those stupid tattoos. Is there more to be revealed? Of course. No one would be watching this season if there wasn't anymore mystery. But it's not so much that they have to be providing an avalanche of answers every episode.
Anyways, I kinda liked the episode.
I'm not understanding the moaning about "there isn't enough time left!" either. It's not like the writers are given sixteen weeks and they start putting things together at week one so they better start cram, cram, cramming in everything just in case they don't have enough time at the end. There's an outline. You don't start a season, even the last season, treating every episode like the show finale. There's a story to tell and there has to be an act one to establish the particular conflicts and themes that will be dealt with and resolved. Someone said upthread that this episode would probably be much better on the DVD, and I think that's true. Pacing-wise, it'll be better with the final picture completed.
Before anyone really starts panicking that they're going to "stall" all season, we should review the second episodes of previous seasons: "Tabula Rasa" (Kate's establishing episode), "Adrift" (Michael and Sawyer's raft drama), The Glass Ballerina (Sun, Jin and Sayid hang out on the beach until the Other's attack), "Confirmed Dead "(Freighter people are introduced), "The Lie" (Hurley does Weekend at Sayid's, wacky hijinks ensue). None of these are exactly highly regarded, none are exactly plot movers, none answer any major questions as far as I remember. The best one of the bunch, IMO, is "Confirmed Dead," but only because it does a decent job of introducing us to the Freighter Folk. But it does not provide many answers about them, just questions.
Finally, it's not like Lost has been withholding all of its answers until this season. We've had a lot of questions answered and a lot more have come up. We know all about what's in the hatch, what The Incident was, if Desmond and Penny ever get together, who Ben is, who the Dharma Initiative are/were, how the Six get off the island and get back, what happened to Locke, what the bomb did (mostly), if Rose's husband really survived, what happened to Michael and Walt after they got off the island, who the real Sawyer is, what Kate did that put her on the run, even how Jack got those stupid tattoos. Is there more to be revealed? Of course. No one would be watching this season if there wasn't anymore mystery. But it's not so much that they have to be providing an avalanche of answers every episode.
Anyways, I kinda liked the episode.
Argh. BBS swallowing my posts. I had typed out a few paragraphs; I'll boil it down this time to Above Average, but I'm one of the few who's always liked Kate.
Others have mentioned many of the points I had. One other bit I enjoyed was the parallelism to Sayid being strapped down by Rousseau early in the first season and examined while he begged to know what was going on.
Others have mentioned many of the points I had. One other bit I enjoyed was the parallelism to Sayid being strapped down by Rousseau early in the first season and examined while he begged to know what was going on.
I'm giddy with excitement that we're finally going to see what the sickness is all about. 
I quite liked this episode. Some great scenes. Jack trying to swallow the pill .. oh man.
I'd like to think that there is some explanation for why Kate seemed to drive the stolen cab around forever and was never noticed and that it wasn't just sloppy writing. Perhaps cabs are invisible in the alternate time line. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I quite liked this episode. Some great scenes. Jack trying to swallow the pill .. oh man.
I'd like to think that there is some explanation for why Kate seemed to drive the stolen cab around forever and was never noticed and that it wasn't just sloppy writing. Perhaps cabs are invisible in the alternate time line. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Or why Claire was perfectly content to go for a ride in the stolen cab with the lady who held up her at gunpoint.
S
Stone_Cold_Sisko
Guest
I think I know what's going on with the flash-sideways.
It's basically "Flashes Before Your Eyes" all over again... right after Desmond blew up the hatch and got caught in the big white electro-magnetic explosion.
He was back home with Penny. He had no memory of the island... but little things... the microwave making the hatch-beep, seeing Charlie in the street, etc, all eventually jogged his memory and he remembered everything that happened on the island.
The flash-sideways IMO is a season-long version of that episode. While Des was thrown into his past, the Losties are thrown into alternate reality. But the same conclusion... all of the 'touched' Losties will start to remember the 'island reality', little by little. We saw it tonight when Kate saw Jack on the street and stared like she knew him. Jack had the same reaction when he saw Desmond on the plane.
Once the writers get tired of telling what-if stories, BAM, things will happen that open the floodgates, and eventually everyone in flash-sideways world will somehow realize what Desmond realized... no matter what you do, you can't change what's 'supposed' to happen. Somehow the reality collapses when the universe 'course corrects' itself, and their minds fall back into their island-reality selves, but with memories of what their lives would have been like had they not crashed, and they'll choose to stay.
That's my theory anyways.
It's basically "Flashes Before Your Eyes" all over again... right after Desmond blew up the hatch and got caught in the big white electro-magnetic explosion.
He was back home with Penny. He had no memory of the island... but little things... the microwave making the hatch-beep, seeing Charlie in the street, etc, all eventually jogged his memory and he remembered everything that happened on the island.
The flash-sideways IMO is a season-long version of that episode. While Des was thrown into his past, the Losties are thrown into alternate reality. But the same conclusion... all of the 'touched' Losties will start to remember the 'island reality', little by little. We saw it tonight when Kate saw Jack on the street and stared like she knew him. Jack had the same reaction when he saw Desmond on the plane.
Once the writers get tired of telling what-if stories, BAM, things will happen that open the floodgates, and eventually everyone in flash-sideways world will somehow realize what Desmond realized... no matter what you do, you can't change what's 'supposed' to happen. Somehow the reality collapses when the universe 'course corrects' itself, and their minds fall back into their island-reality selves, but with memories of what their lives would have been like had they not crashed, and they'll choose to stay.
That's my theory anyways.
I enjoyed seeing creeptastic Ethan again. I was thinking, 'No Clare! He wants your bay-bee!' But then I thought that since the island sank he wouldn't be an Other. Has he been in every season now? Not a bad record for a dead guy.
I loved that Kate recognised Jack, and then later on Aaron's name. Just little clues that the Prime universe existed for them once. Kate told Clare to keep the baby, which seemed destined to happen anyway after the couple who were going to adopt Aaron split up. She needs to find Charlie and settle down with him.
The reveal of Clare at the end was very wtf? I knew it was to come at some point this season as we knew Emilie de Ravin was back in the cast. What's happened to her though? Has she been infected lke Sayid? Just the mention of being 'infected' was enough for me to squee. All this talk of Clare, inections and of course, Roussaue's traps made me think I was in season one!
Aside from these things, the episode was standard fare. Kate was in her usual, selfish ways. Why did you go after Sawyer? "I'm sorry I followed you." "Which time?"
I don't understand why Clare would be so trusting of Kate after she waved a gun in her's and the taxi driver's faces. I also don't understand why instead of going to the nearest phone and ringing the cops immediately, that she thought she'd stay in exactly the same spot. Very contrived to get her and Kate back together, though it admittedly led to a few nice scenes between the two.
The island plotline was a little dull in execution. There's still mystery, which I find good. I don't want all the answers to everything upfront, I'd like the last season to play out like any other season would. At the moment though, everyone is sitting around waiting for something to happen. Any exposition is a bit boring, and I'm still unsure over the Japanese guy's potential.
I enjoyed Miles's remark about Hurley being in charge now, and of course Hurley asking Sayid if he was a Zombie!
I loved that Kate recognised Jack, and then later on Aaron's name. Just little clues that the Prime universe existed for them once. Kate told Clare to keep the baby, which seemed destined to happen anyway after the couple who were going to adopt Aaron split up. She needs to find Charlie and settle down with him.
The reveal of Clare at the end was very wtf? I knew it was to come at some point this season as we knew Emilie de Ravin was back in the cast. What's happened to her though? Has she been infected lke Sayid? Just the mention of being 'infected' was enough for me to squee. All this talk of Clare, inections and of course, Roussaue's traps made me think I was in season one!
Aside from these things, the episode was standard fare. Kate was in her usual, selfish ways. Why did you go after Sawyer? "I'm sorry I followed you." "Which time?"
I don't understand why Clare would be so trusting of Kate after she waved a gun in her's and the taxi driver's faces. I also don't understand why instead of going to the nearest phone and ringing the cops immediately, that she thought she'd stay in exactly the same spot. Very contrived to get her and Kate back together, though it admittedly led to a few nice scenes between the two.
The island plotline was a little dull in execution. There's still mystery, which I find good. I don't want all the answers to everything upfront, I'd like the last season to play out like any other season would. At the moment though, everyone is sitting around waiting for something to happen. Any exposition is a bit boring, and I'm still unsure over the Japanese guy's potential.
I enjoyed Miles's remark about Hurley being in charge now, and of course Hurley asking Sayid if he was a Zombie!
I voted Average, but really that was generous. Personally, I think there's plenty of time for quieter episodes, I say bring them on in fact, it's our last chance to spend time with these characters! ...I don't think that's an excuse for a kinda boring episode like this one was though.
I'm surprised that I'm finding the Alternate Reality stuff way more interesting than the island storyline.
This seems like one of those episodes that's a good argument for waiting to watch the series in big chunks. That way duds like this are just kind of a 40 minute blip on your lazy Sunday Lost marathon instead of your whole week's Lost fix.
I'm surprised that I'm finding the Alternate Reality stuff way more interesting than the island storyline.
This seems like one of those episodes that's a good argument for waiting to watch the series in big chunks. That way duds like this are just kind of a 40 minute blip on your lazy Sunday Lost marathon instead of your whole week's Lost fix.
