Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 4 | Aired on 02.04.2009
Nighttime at Sea; Three Years Ago: Two days after escaping the island, Jack stands on the deck of Penny's boat, Searcher. Kate, holding baby Aaron, approaches and tells him Claire was originally flying to L.A. to give her baby up for adoption. Kate wants to keep Aaron -- say he's hers -- they can claim she was six months pregnant when arrested and that she gave birth on the island. Jack assures her there are other ways to handle this, but Kate says, "After everyone we've lost -- Michael, Jin, Sawyer -- I can't lose him, too." Jack assures her that Sawyer isn't dead. Kate seems to agree, but adds, "No, but he's gone." She bids Jack goodnight, and tries to take her leave, but Jack stops her. He introduces her to the big lie -- his plan for the six escape-aways to declare they're the only survivors of the crash. He insists it's the only way to protect them and those they left behind. Kate agrees, and we'll gloss over that logic, because every time I think I agree, I find myself trying to poke more holes in this rationale, and you all want to know what happened on the show, not the extent of my island fever. Jack tells Kate that the rest of the escape-aways will never go along with it if Jack's the only one pushing the lie, so he needs to know if she's with him. Still clutching baby Aaron to her bosom, Kate moves closer to Jack, wearing a warm, glowing expression, as if she were the Blessed Virgin Mother cradling the Christ child. "I have always been with you." See, Jack? If you love something -- set it free. Let it have sex in a cage with Sawyer, and if it comes back to you, it's yours, at least as long as Sawyer's a world away on an island that's disappeared into thin air. She turns and walks away, and just before she fades from view, she smiles. I think it's a Blessed Mother expression. My husband thinks it's a smirk. I'll spare you our argument... For now.
Three Years Later; On the Mainland; My So-Called Reunion: Kate dons one of Sun's suits -- or a dress and jacket. Whatever. It's black, and Kate manages to look wholesome yet sexy, and very professional. Sun asks Kate if she's sure she wants to do "this." Kate replies that this was Sun's idea, and toddler Aaron says, "Mommy" as he waves around what looks to be a bottle of pills. What the heck, Kate? Giving a toddler pills is bad enough, but letting him play with the bottle... Oh shoot, I need to take mine. BRB. That's better. Don't worry, I'm not sick; they're just crazy pills. (I totally called them that before that grandma did too, or at least before she was on TV.) When am I? Oh, yes. So Aaron's only actually waving around a mini-bottle of ketchup (I think it is Heinz, and it's the cutest ketchup bottle I've ever seen). Kate LIES to Aaron that she's just running out to do an errand and will be right back. Sun's going to get him jacked up on candy and let him watch whatever he wants on TV, so Aaron doesn't actually care that he's being left with someone who is (now, to him) a complete stranger. As Kate leaves Sun's hotel suite, a man approaches, but Kate keeps going. He hands Sun a package. And is it just me, or is it not odd that Kate -- whose custody of Aaron is being threatened -- doesn't even wait to see what's being delivered? You know, just in case it's something that could harm Aaron and/or Sun, or give her more information, or something? Well she can't wait, see, because then she would be privy to what Ms. Kwon is having delivered.