Lost Recap #6.5: Whatever the Case May Be
Season 1, episode 12
Hero(es) of the episode: Rose Zero of the episode: Kate
Quote(s) of the episode: “If you wanted to play rough, all you had to do was say so.” – Sawyer to Kate
Music vibes: opens with a certain curiosity as Kate is walking alone and continues when Kate and Sawyer find the bodies. | Ends on a hopeful note when Shannon sings.
Little things: Kate and Sawyer swimming | Shannon and Sayid bonding | Charlie asking Rose for help
Episode notebook:
Isn’t clear at first who is the focus of this episode. Takes a while before we get the flashbacks, but it’s clear Kate is the focus.
Hidden oasis in the jungle, complete with a beautiful waterfall. I feel like we return to this spot in later seasons.
Swimming is fun for Kate and Sawyer until it isn’t. Two bodies from the plane. Sawyer being the ghoul that he is, decides to search the bodies. What if there’s something valuable on one of the bodies?
Kate spots a silver briefcase. What’s in it? She’s tight-lipped. Acts like it has no value to her, but Sawyer knows she’s lying.
The beach is eroding, time for the survivors to move.
Shallow Shannon once again sitting on the beach doing nothing. It’s harsh, but Boone calls her “useless.” I’m drawing a blank on their backstory. I remember they’re stepsiblings and they got friendly with each other in the past, but everything else is a mystery.
Michael and Hurley mock Sawyer for not knowing how to open the briefcase. Without a key, the only way to open this kind of case is with a lot of force.
Kate wants the case back but has a lot of trouble getting it back from Sawyer.
Time for Jack to help. Kate knows the key is in the marshal’s wallet. The same marshal who has been dead and BURIED for weeks now. Gross!
Jack will only help if Kate comes clean about what’s really in the case. There are more than guns in the case.
Kate’s flashback involves an elaborate bank heist. Does this heist come up again when Kate goes on trial? Feel like this little nugget isn’t addressed in later seasons. We’ll see.
Shannon works with Sayid to translate notes on the maps he stole from Danielle. Sounds like what Shannon is translating is a song or ramblings of a crazy woman trapped on an island for sixteen years.
The case is open. What’s the significance of the contents? Why was Kate so guarded? Doesn’t she have some level of trust with Jack at this point?
Episode recap: A day on the island starts out too good to be true. Kate has climbed high up in a tree to pick fruit. Sawyer is trailing Kate as a means of protection after what’s happened to Charlie and Claire, but he’s not very stealth at surveillance. Kate easily spots Sawyer, and their ongoing banter ensues. While walking back to camp, Kate and Sawyer discover a hidden oasis. A beautiful body of water, with a waterfall – a serene spot for Kate and Sawyer to swim and briefly forget their problems. The moment is spoiled by the discovery of two bodies – one still strapped into her plane seat – and a silver briefcase.
That case belonged to the marshal escorting Kate, and in it cash, guns, ammo, and a key to Kate’s past. Only Kate doesn’t want to tell Sawyer the truth about the case or her past. I understand not wanting to tell Sawyer about the guns. He’s a hothead and putting a gun in his hand is just asking for trouble. But why hide her past from Sawyer? I never understood why the writers/creators made this choice. Out of everyone, Sawyer would have understood. He’s not exactly an upstanding citizen and wouldn’t have judged Kate about her past. Instead, she’s given Sawyer what he feeds off – power and desperation. Sawyer knows the case is important to Kate and enjoys her pursuits to get it back from him.
While Kate and Sawyer are playing hide-and-seek with the briefcase, the survivors on the beach are facing a new problem – beach erosion. The tides keep coming higher and higher, soon their little encampment will be swept away if they don’t move to a better spot. Rose uses this as an opportunity to break Charlie out of the doldrums. Rose reminds Charlie he’s not the only one who has lost something. He can either give into despair and depression or help the group. Locke and Boone continue their covert mission, digging up the hatch. Even Shallow Shannon takes a break from sunbathing to help Sayid translate the French on the maps he stole from Danielle. But it’s a dead end, as the words don’t make a lot of sense. Maybe Danielle did lose her mind.
Kate enlists Jack to get the case from Sawyer. But Jack is just as perceptive as Sawyer. He believes there are guns and ammo in the case, but Jack is certain there’s something valuable to Kate in it. What’s so important to her? In the past, she went through an elaborate bank heist just to get an envelope out of a safety deposit box – which is now in the silver briefcase. When they finally get the case from Sawyer and Kate opens the envelope, I thought “That’s it?! A toy plane?” All of this aggravation and effort over a toy? She says it belonged to the man she killed, but Kate’s history of lying, and my memory, make me doubt that. I don’t remember if we get the backstory on that toy but I’m eager to find out. Please come back next week for my recaps on episodes thirteen and fourteen.
Upcoming post:
Monday: Dorothy Must Die: But only if you read all four books!