What Kate Did

I loath Kate .

This episode was full of plot holes . And I have a question . Why did Jack send Kate off to look for food for Sawyer when they have a pantry full of it ?

A filler episode at its best .

"What Kate Did" delves into Kate Austen's past, providing crucial insights into her character and her actions on the island. The episode opens with Kate experiencing disturbing visions of a horse, leading to growing tension and fear among the survivors. The direction by Paul Edwards effectively captures the emotional intensity and suspense of Kate's journey.

Evangeline Lilly delivers a standout performance as Kate, portraying her vulnerability and desperation to reconcile with her past. The flashbacks reveal more about Kate's tumultuous relationship with her stepfather and the events that led to her life on the run. This backstory adds significant emotional weight to her present-day actions and interactions, particularly with Jack and Sawyer.

The writing in "What Kate Did" explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the search for identity. Kate's struggle to confront her past and her evolving relationships with Jack and Sawyer create a compelling narrative. The script skillfully balances character development with plot advancement, gradually revealing more about Kate's past and the island's mysteries.

The cinematography captures the episode's emotional and suspenseful moments, using close-ups and dynamic camera movements to convey Kate's inner turmoil and the eerie atmosphere of the island. The editing maintains a steady pace, ensuring a seamless flow between the flashbacks and present-day events. The sound design, including the use of ambient noises and haunting music, heightens the episode's tension and emotional resonance.

In conclusion, "What Kate Did" is a haunting and emotionally charged episode that delves into Kate Austen's complex character and the island's mysteries. The performances by Evangeline Lilly and the supporting cast are compelling and multifaceted. The writing, direction, and cinematography create a rich and engaging narrative, adding significant depth to the series' character dynamics and overarching themes.

Kate is one of my least favorite characters on Lost. She cannot have her story told without flirting with Jack and Sawyer in-between flashbacks. However, the flashbacks here were interesting. I liked the story, even though it might feel cliché. My problem is the love triangle. Stop that. Kate is practically playing with Jack's feelings every episode. Aside from that, Locke is excellent and Mr. Eko is too. In typical Lost fashion, the cliff hanger ending leaves me wanting to watch the next episode, and then the one after that, and then the one after that.

SPOILER: This is another brilliant case of "does exactly what it says on the tin": the title of the episode is What Kate Did, and what the writing team made up of Steven Maeda and Craig Wright does is precisely what fans have asked for since the show began - reveal why Kate Austen was on the run. And it's every bit as good as it sounds.

On the Island, the castaways are preparing for Shannon's funeral, while Jack keeps watching over a convalescent Sawyer and Locke sets up shifts to push the button in the hatch now that Desmond is gone, striking a friendship of sorts with Mr. Eko in the process. Kate, meanwhile, fears she is going insane after seeing a black horse in the jungle, which leads to her having a talk with Sawyer on the subject of mental instability, and Michael discovers a way to get in touch with his captive son.

As for what Kate did, it turns out she murdered her abusive stepfather by blowing up his house. She was arrested by US Marshal Grant (Fredric Lehne, always a welcome presence) but managed to escape - a black horse was involved, weirdly enough - and confronted her birth parents about her crime, making a shocking discovery about her step-dad.

What Kate Did is a spellbinding combination of standalone character bits and relevant mythology plotting: in the former camp, we have all scenes featuring Evageline Lilly, whose performance hits all the right notes and remains sympathetic even in the darkest moments; in the latter, we have the bond between Locke and Eko, which is strengthened by the appearance of another Marvin Candle tape, and two climactic revelations that suggest the rest of the season will amp up the danger factor. Oh, and did I mention Kate and Jack kiss?

SPOILER: "What Kate Did" is definitely one of the better Kate-centric episodes, and probably the best (although I will have to see "I Do" again before deciding on my favorite) of the bunch overall, actually. While the reveal of the 'mystery' of what Kate did is somewhat disappointing, and certainly caused some less than favorable feedback from fans, the episode as a whole is quite strong thanks to a solid script from Steven Maeda and Craig Wright.

The flashbacks show Kate's torching of the house, her meeting with her mother just after, and her later encounter with the man she thought to be her father. It's a decent flashback episode, but not much worth discussing, really. The island events are far more interesting, in spite of being a bit grating on occasion- this is the real beginning of the love triangle nonsense. Still, we do get some really interesting scenes between Eko and Locke which are excellently-written and provide a lot of food for thought. Similarly the scenes with the orientation film are entertaining, as is the cliffhanger ending.

The episode is particularly notable for the outstanding direction by Paul Edwards. Already, just a few episodes into the second season, "Lost" has easily surpassed, visually, the first season of the show, where half of the episodes showed incompetence on the part of the directors (other than Jack Bender and other regulars, and some other exceptions as well). This was his debut, but there's a lot of beautiful shots here and for an episode which hardly features any tumultuous events it moves at a fairly fast pace.

"What Kate Did" is especially notable for its visuals and Eko-Locke interaction, but it remains the most tolerable Kate-centric episode (outside of "I Do", perhaps), and is a fairly solid episode with certain outstanding scenes (Sayid's placing of his prayer beads on the cross at Shannon's grave, for example).

7/10