I Do
Original
Airdate: November 8, 2006
Writers:
Damon Lindelof &
Director: Tucker Gates
Thus ends the now infamous “mini-season”. The sting of this has diminished as the
hiatus and remainder of the season passed and shouldn’t be an issue to those
watching Lost on DVDs and in syndication.
While I didn’t hate these episodes, there wasn’t one that had the punch
of past great episodes. I can also
understand fan frustration that their brief taste of “Lost” since coming back
from summer hiatus hardly featured 2/3rds of the cast. Considering these were the only episodes fans
would have for three months, it left a bad taste in the fans’ collective
mouth. In retrospect, it would’ve been
better to wait until January like “24” has, and luckily they learned their
lesson and won’t air new episodes until February 2008.
So the episode delves into Kate’s psychology,
her habit of not standing by the men she loves and how she is now supporting
Sawyer and Jack. The most problematic
element of Kate’s character is that the men in her life define her. With Jack and Sawyer, their characters can
survive and be defined without Kate. The
big question Kate’s fans ask isn’t how will she redeem herself for her crimes,
but who will she pick? The writing and
press have encouraged that, causing some shippers not to acknowledge that
unless they never leave the island, Kate will be at best on the run for the
rest of her life with whomever she chooses.
Kate is a fugitive. In a way, her character is like Desmond, who
too also runs away from whatever he has in life, regardless of how important it
is to him. He does it out of cowardice;
she does similarly, but she is afraid specifically of what punishment she’ll
face for her crimes.
Perhaps The Others had always planned for Kate
and Sawyer to have sex. Kate’s easily
escapable cage, the revealing clothes they give Kate, the bond formed while
defying The Others; it all leads to bringing them together. Unless there are some Dharma condoms or birth
control pills (those are probably the only things that don’t have a Dharma
equivalent), Kate is at risk of getting pregnant. Besides Sun, who is married, any other woman
who we’ve seen have sex on the island died before pregnancy could be an issue.
The Others must have
thought that seeing Sawyer and Kate together could turn Jack. However, Jack has pushed the “live together,
die alone” mantra constantly and he needs to help and to save people, not to
mention the power Jack wields as the only guy who can help Ben. If he can free those two and leave himself
for The Others to do as they want, so be it.
So holding Ben hostage until his friends are free is bold, but expected
(unless you’re one of The Others).
It’s important to remember that coming into this
episode only Sawyer knew that they are on
Probably the biggest part of this episode that
could’ve slipped past our ears if it wasn’t for diligent viewers is “Jacob’s
list”. In “Live Together, Die Alone” it
could’ve been surmised that Ben was the powerful leader or that he made up the
concept of “Him” to solidify it.
However, Pickett’s throwaway line suggests that
Ben is acting beyond Jacob’s wishes for his own needs and that there is
someone, Jacob, higher up in the ranks.
That Ben isn’t punished begs the question as to why Jacob isn’t doing
anything about it.
Alex’s status in The Others’ society is given a
bit more development. It appears that
Ben sees himself as a father figure to her.
It makes sense for her to be so rebellious towards The Others’
operations and for it to be tolerated if she’s the boss’ “daughter”. Not to mention the added push this will have
when Rousseau finds out.
Outside of Kate’s flashbacks and The Others, the
only thing of notice was Eko’s funeral. It would make sense that Locke would want to
avoid another funeral on the beach and give them an opportunity to break the
news of his death in a way they can control.
We must remember that it has been only over a week since Michael killed
Ana-Lucia and Libby.
Eko’s “Jesus Stick” offers
Locke one bit of parting advice, “Lift up your eyes and look North”, with the
scripture passage “John, 3:05” serving almost as a direct address to Locke (and
it’s worth noting that Eko died in episode
3X05). This, like many of the cryptic
things on Lost, is up for speculation, and will likely play a big role in the
next few episodes.
Frustratingly underused is Nathon
Fillion of “Firefly” fame as Kate’s husband
Kevin. He serves little more than as a
set piece, the perfect husband Kate can’t have because of her past. Perhaps he wasn’t interested in playing a
major or recurring character on another sci-fi/fantasy
show or at least one that was filmed a five hour plane ride from LA. Nonetheless, it would’ve been nice if he
could’ve done something substantial.
Another actor I enjoy, Clancy Brown, had only two episodes on “Lost”,
and he was memorable in both. Why
couldn’t they give Captain Mal a little more?
Now that we can look back on these six episodes,
it makes their errors more forgivable.
This arc was introductory, much like the time before Claire was
kidnapped in season one and the merging of the survivors in season two. It wasn’t meant to be an arc the way a full
season is and that poor advertising had a negative effect on fan reaction. What was originally thought of as the show
heading towards collapse turned into a bumpy start before Lost’s
groove was regained.
Overall
Score: 7/10