Tuesday, February 09, 2010

What Kate Does

Another fine episode of Lost tonight to keep this final season rolling. Even more so than in last week's two hour premiere, this installment was full of powerful, emotional moments for the characters.

In the "sideways reality," we got to see a great story involving Kate and Claire. A lot of what worked about it is audience knowledge about how things went down in the original timeline. Young Aaron would eventually become a major bond between them, and here we got an alternate take on seeing that happen. Seeing Claire crushed and set adrift when her planned adoption falls out from under her, and then having Kate there to swoop in and catch her -- it was all strong stuff. And the reminder that Kate is still trying to reconnect with Claire in the main timeline was a great accent on it all.

But the real emotional sucker punch of the hour was Sawyer's story line. His quiet rage at the circumstances that saved Sayid but not Juliet would have been enough, but to see him go back to the ghost town that was the place he lived with her for years -- and then completely break down as we have never seen him break down before -- was a showcase of what I think Lost does best. And made all the more powerful by them doing it with a character who is usually so strong.

Along the way were other fun little grace notes in the episode, like the return of Ethan (extending his ridiculous number of appearances after having been killed), the discussion of whether Sayid is a zombie, and the emergence at the end of the episode of "Jungle Claire" (or, as the Others would have us believe, "Infected" or "Claimed" Claire).

A full meal, to be sure, and yet I still find myself hungrily awaiting the next episode.

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