"Left Behind"

DECEMBER 2, 2010

FOCUS: KATE
EPISODE: 3.15
AIRED: APRIL 4, 2007

I can only assume the Lost producers were specifically seeking to rectify my recent disapproval with a few episodes of the show by writing “Left Behind”, in which half the episode finds Kate and Juliet handcuffed together and occasionally mud wrestling, and the other half finds Kate teaming up with Cassidy, whom I’m also smitten with. Add in some wonderful comedy with Sawyer and Hurley and you got a pretty great episode.

It’s funny how a throwaway subplot about Sawyer not being able to use nicknames was consistently referred to several times over the next few episodes – it’s actually one of the best reminders of how little time passes between episodes that we’ve ever gotten. And it’s always funny to see how hard it is for him, I think he actually forgot Aaron’s name at one point. I also love “You sir, are rotund.” I say again – one of the dumbest moves on this show was splitting these two up for such an extended period. Maybe even more so than keeping Jin and Sun apart. One line sticks out though – Hurley’s claim that Claire is influential on the group. Really? Why? We never see her interacting with anyone besides Charlie and Sun.

Anyway, it’s a nice little subplot, and the epilogue, with everyone enjoying boar and warm Dharma beer (why not keep it in the ocean in one of Jin’s nets?), reminded me of some of the first season’s final scenes, when they’d always play a song from Hurley’s iPod and such. I also like that Dharma has their own A1 sauce.

Then in the main plot we have Kate and Juliet sort of bonding but mostly fighting and running around soaking wet and/or covered in mud. This, of course, is awesome for several reasons, but it doesn’t appeal solely to my prurient interests – there’s actually some great dialogue exchanges and even the odd nugget of info here and there. I love the scene where Juliet tells Kate why Jack didn’t want her to come back, and it’s pretty awesome to see the smoke monster stopped in its tracks by the sonic fence. And anyone who has suffered through Via Domus should appreciate the scene where they hide in the Banyan tree, albeit without a Native American-sounding Locke guiding them (nor do they lose their bearings going in and out and get killed 5 seconds later, as you would in the game).

The flashback story is also pretty good; I like the idea of Kate being the one to convince Cassidy to turn in Sawyer, and the scene they meet is cool, because we see Cassidy trying to pull a con that doesn’t work, which is how she was introduced (with Sawyer trying to con her). A nice little full circle moment, eh? Some of the plot doesn’t make any sense (they grilled Cassidy for hours but never noticed her crappy wig? Why didn’t Kate’s mom recognize Cassidy? And how did Kate get into the restaurant if the place was being watched?), but as I’ve mentioned before, this show favors the male characters, so any time they have two of the females teaming up (both in the flashbacks and on the island!), it sticks out and feels fresh enough to forgive some of its logic issues.

I won’t, however, forgive yet another odd detail about Kate and Edward’s relationship, with Cassidy being sort of stunned at how badly the guy wanted her. What the hell’s the deal with these two?!?!? I think I’ll just go find some fan-fic and accept it as canon just to ease my mind.

Tomorrow’s isn’t as fun. But after that is another Desmond episode, so it’s all good.

Where are we?