"What Kate Did"

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

FOCUS: KATE
EPISODE: 2.9
AIRED: NOVEMBER 30, 2005

As a Kate fan, “What Kate Did” was obviously a highlight of Season 2 for me, since it promised both a surplus of Evangeline Lilly as well as the answer to a question we’ve had since the first episode (gotta love that the episode’s title is basically a response to fan questions instead of the usual pun or biblical reference). And what DID Kate do? Blew up her step-dad, because he turned out to be her biological dad (something I’m not sure if he knew, but either way it didn’t stop him from making lewd comments about her looks). All of the characters on the show have major daddy issues, but this one has to take the cake.

We also get Kate climbing a tree, Kate making out with Jack (hell yeah...), and Kate continuing to nurse Sawyer, who is delirious through most of the episode and then gets to share her vision of a black horse. This is of course an inverse allusion to Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, where Michael Myers (who also killed his step-dad) kept seeing a WHITE horse. And if you don’t believe me, then you explain what the hell this subplot is all about, because I got nothing better.

Also, for the 2nd episode in a row, Jack has to remind someone to push the button. For someone who thought it was a ludicrous exercise, he sure is gung ho about making sure it’s done. Luckily he has some more folks to help, with Michael and Eko learning about the button and also watching the “Orientation” video, which leads to a subplot about Eko having the missing part of the film, which explains that no one should ever use the computer. I never quite understood this scenario – why would someone go to the trouble of removing a 30 second chunk in the middle of a filmstrip and putting it in a bible on the other side of the island? But it at least allows for a fun scene between Eko and Locke (“Let me start at the beginning,” Eko says, and follows it with “Before the birth of Christ...”), and introduces (at least, overtly) a driving theme on the show – “Do not mistake coincidence for fate.” By now we’ve seen how everyone had an encounter with at least one other survivor in the past, but is it part of a grand design, or mere coincidence? Most of the show seems to point toward “grand design”, but I fail to see how even Jacob could pull all this stuff off. The real thing to learn? “Do not mistake Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for infallible beings.”

It’s also a good episode for Jin. He starts the episode smiling, basking in the morning sun and glowing from what was obviously a full night’s worth of sex with Sun, something Hurley totally approves (kind of creepy, Hugo). Later, he talks to Locke for the first time and finally gets the handcuff taken off (did they ever explain where the key was?), showing it to Michael without a hint of resentment. Speaking of which, I like how over the course of 2-3 weeks, Jin has gone from a total dick to the most loyal and protective member of the group. So far in this season alone he has risked his life to help Sawyer, Michael, and Sayid.

Speaking of Michael, I just want to give the show’s writers a big THANK YOU for the final scene, where Michael talks to someone that turns out to be Walt on the computer. Why? Because he doesn’t say what he’s typing! The writers (or director) had enough faith in the audience that they’d be able to read “Hello” and “Who is this” as he typed it, without having Harold Perrineau awkwardly say aloud what he was typing, something no human being does (or should, at least). You think I’m sitting here saying everything I’m writing?

Back to Kate, Lilly’s pretty good in this episode. She was probably the least experienced actor in the group, and she had trouble staying consistent with regards to how she played the character, but she delivers here. The pain of her mom’s betrayal, her emotional breakdown with Jack, and her typical bickering nature with Sawyer – she has a lot of sides to show in this one, and doesn’t disappoint. And she seems more comfortable with everything; compare her work here with the pilot (I didn’t mention it, but her scene with Jack and the sewing in the first episode is PAINFUL) and you can see she had gotten a lot more natural a performer. Also, purple suits her. So that didn’t hurt.

Where are we?