Lost Recap #2: Tabula Rasa
Season 1, episode 3
Hero of the episode: Jack for gathering medicine from the fuselage; Sayid for organizing the group
Zero of the episode: Sawyer
Quote(s) of the episode: “He looks kinda dying.” – Hurley on the injured marshal; “You don’t look free to me.” – the injured marshal to Kate; “Three days ago we all died. We should all be able to start over." – Jack
Music vibes: Creepy horror music when the marshal tries to strangle Kate. Hopeful music starts in the last few minutes but then turns sinister with a last shot of Locke.
Little things: Locke makes the dog whistle to find Walt’s dog, Vincent; when he finds the dog Locke lets Michael take the credit. Michael needed the win more than Locke. | Jin seems to soften a little bit with Sun.
Episode notebook:
The injured marshal continues moaning in pain, occasionally mumbling about someone “dangerous.” He tells Jack to look in his jacket, where there is a mugshot of Kate. What to do about the mugshot?
More nicknames from Sawyer. “Freckles” for Kate. And racist names for Sayid like “Al-Jazeera.”
Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, Shannon, Boone, and Charlie agree not to tell the group about the French distress call. But Kate can’t resist telling the truth to Jack, of course!
The flashbacks are all about Kate. She’s on the run from something. Running to the Australian outback, sneaking onto a farm. The farm owner seems a little skeptical of Kate but still offers her a job. Isn’t the first rule of running not to get too comfortable?
The farmer sells Kate out, convincing her to stay an extra night when he’s actually stalling until the marshal can come to get her. While driving Kate to the train station, the farmer notices a car following them. It’s the marshal.
In the present, Kate says the quiet part out loud. Someone needs to end the marshal’s suffering.
Sawyer tries to do what Kate can’t, shooting the marshal
Episode recap: Our first episode where all of the flashbacks are centered on one character. This one is all about Kate. We don’t learn the crime she committed but we know Kate was running from her past, landing on a remote farm in Australia. But is Kate dangerous? In the present day, the injured marshal certainly thinks so. In between bouts of pain, the marshal lets Jack know the truth about Kate. Our hero is skeptical. In just three short days, Jack has gotten close to Kate. His facial expressions are a dead giveaway, Jack is struggling to believe Kate might not be a good person.
Meanwhile, Sayid, Kate, Sawyer, Shannon, Boone, and Charlie return from the jungle, having decided not to tell the other survivors the truth about the distress call. Why take away what little hope everyone has?
We get a little more character development in this episode. Jin finally starts to soften his approach to Sun – even though it’s just a little bit. Charlie and Claire start to bond. The survivors band together to survive, rationing food, collecting water, and gathering electronics for Sayid to boost the radio signal. If everyone has some purpose, then they can hold onto the hope of being rescued.
However, there is no hope for the injured marshal. He’s dying and his screams of pain are getting harder for the larger group to ignore. Kate starts advocating that someone should end his suffering, which is a bridge too far for Jack. The good doctor says, “I’m not a murderer.” He reveals to Kate that he’s seen her mugshot. Is Kate a murderer? We don’t learn that answer for at least another season.
Kate debates killing the marshal but ultimately leaves that task to Sawyer, who has no problem with this especially since the marshal is begging to die. Only it doesn’t go so smoothly. The marshal is still alive after being shot, and according to Jack could take hours to die. But just a few moments later the marshal goes silent, leading me to believe Jack did something that went against his beliefs. We don’t see the marshal die, but I think Jack must have suffocated him. Did Jack end his suffering? I don’t remember if that question was ever answered. But Jack’s final speech to Kate is a bit of a clue. “Three days ago, we all died. We should all be able to start over.” What did Jack do and why does he need to start over?
Please keep reading, my recap for episode four is also posted.