Lost Recap #11.5: Born to Run
Season 1, Episode 22
Hero of the episode: N/A Zero of the episode: Kate, Sawyer
Quote(s) of the episode: “Don’t worry pudding, your secret’s safe with me.” –Sawyer talking about Kate’s past; “Hey Sawyer, if I want your spot I’ll get your spot.” --Kate
Music vibes: mysterious on the trek to the hatch and on Kate/Tom’s trip to dig up the time capsule
Little things: Charlie thinking of the fame waiting for them when they get saved | Claire giving Charlie a haircut | Charlie writing songs
Episode notebook:
Kate-focused episode. Opens with a flashback of her time on the run. Re-appearance of the toy plane from episode twelve. The backstory behind that plane still seems underwhelming. She robbed a bank in episode twelve to get the beloved memento of a former boyfriend.
A science teacher is among the survivors. He notes the boat needed to launch already. Monsoon season is coming, and the winds will shift—potentially sending the boat in the wrong direction.
Kate is on a mission to get a spot on the raft.
In the past, Kate is trying to visit her dying mother in the hospital. Her former boyfriend, Tom, is recruited to help.
Sayid takes Jack to the hatch. Locke confesses to knowing about the hatch for three weeks. Jack is mad about being kept out of the loop. Locke gives Jack a taste of his own medicine. Jack hid the case of guns before telling Locke.
Michael is sick. Was he poisoned? Jack thinks someone poisoned Michael’s water. Was it Kate or Sawyer? It’s seldom the most obvious suspect.
Walt gets a sudden premonition about the hatch, telling Locke not to open it. Feel like the series didn’t go enough into what made Walt special. The actor’s growth spurt and ascent into puberty seemed to hamstring his storylines.
Sawyer exposes Kate’s past to the group.
Sun poisoned the water. I forgot about this. She intended to poison Jin, just to make him sick so he couldn’t leave on the raft. Although, it was Kate’s idea. Sun and Kate keep each other’s secret.
Episode recap: We’re looking at a chameleon as the episode opens, getting a glimpse at a woman trained in the art of deception. This mystery woman has a trunk full of license plates, not to collect but to avoid detection. A new license plate for every stop? This mystery woman weasels her way into a motel room, not for rest but to dye her hair from blond to brown. Who is this woman? It’s Kate. To resort to these lengths Kate must have been avoiding the authorities for a long time. But she’s about to come out of hiding, Kate learns someone close to her is dying and she has to see her. It could only be a family member, otherwise why risk her freedom?
Freedom is something Kate is worried about on the island. If they’re rescued everyone else will go back to their regular lives, their families, and their jobs. Kate on the other hand will head straight to a jail cell. But maybe there is another option. If Kate can get a seat on Michael’s raft and they reach land, maybe she can slip away back to life on the run. If she stays on the island to await rescue, it will be a lot harder to escape the authorities. But the raft is full, with Michael, Walt, Sawyer, and Jin taking all four seats.
Kate is determined to bump Sawyer off the boat and take his place. Michael built the boat, Walt goes where his father goes, Jin helped rebuild the boat and can catch fish—making Sawyer the weakest link. Time is of the essence as another survivor, Art (who is a science teacher), points out that monsoon season is ahead. If the raft isn’t launched soon, the boat will drift in the wrong direction—toward Antarctica. Time to get out of dodge. But no plan on TV works out perfectly, someone is trying yet again to foil the launch. Michael is poisoned shortly after Kate convinces him to take her, as she knows how to steer, instead of Sawyer. Did Sawyer poison Michael as retaliation? Or did Kate do it to frame Sawyer?
What lengths is Kate willing to go to get what she wants? In the past, she was willing to risk everything for a few moments with her dying mother. Kate reaches out to a former boyfriend, Tom, and a doctor to help her see her mom. There must have been a deep love between Kate and Tom. Why risk his career and freedom for someone he didn’t care about? It’s been years since they saw each other, but the bond is still there. They even take the time to dig up a time capsule from their youth. Again, not something you do for someone you don’t care about. Inside that time capsule? Lots of mementos, including the toy airplane Kate was so desperate to hide from Jack in episode twelve. The toy plane was special to Tom, therefore also to Kate as she is clearly in love with him.
A love she’s been running from. A love that might never be rekindled as Tom has moved on. A love that she exploited to see her mother, Diane. A woman who seemed repulsed by the sight of her daughter. Yeah, momma screams for help when she sees her daughter and Kate has to run again. When Tom tries to convince Kate to stop running and finally face the consequences, it comes at a cost. The former lovebirds get into a car accident, it’s not totally clear if Tom is dead but what is clear is Kate must go back to running.
On the island, Kate can’t run from her past as Sawyer exposes her for being a criminal—in front of everyone. People who once might have called her friend now look at her suspiciously. She’s not who everyone thought she was. She could be dangerous. No matter how much Kate denies poisoning Michael, at the very least people think she’s a liar. Why trust her? Doubts about Kate’s character are all Sawyer needs to secure his ticket back on the raft.
Perhaps if Kate had been honest from the beginning things would be different? Hmmm? I don’t know. Characters on this show are often quick to judge without knowing the whole story. Would the truth have helped Kate? People would probably think of Kate the same way they do Sawyer—you can’t trust what comes out of her mouth because she cares more about her personal freedom than anyone on this island. Please come back next week for a recap of episode twenty-three. Just one episode next week. The finale is split into three parts, and I want to watch the last two together.
Upcoming posts
Monday: Things I Would Tell My Younger Self
Thursday: Recap for Lost episode twenty-three