Lost, Season 4, Episode 4, “Eggtown”

One of the most basic metaphors of the show is the idea of the island as a tabula rasa or blank slate. That means for most of the characters, being stranded on the island is a chance to put the sins of their past behind them and get a fresh start on life. But one exception to this rule is Kate. In her flashbacks we find that she is manipulative, impulsive, and brutally violent. And on the island she is exactly the same. In this episode alone she effortlessly fools Hurley into revealing the location of Miles’s prison and enters into a sort of Faustian bargain with Miles to learn whether the rescuers are planning to haul her back to prison. She then (unwittingly, at least) assists Miles in blackmailing Ben, and even finds time to – yet again – give poor Sawyer blueballs. I’m beginning to think Kate might actually be the worst villain on the island.

In the flash forwards, meanwhile, we see Kate looking sort of Jane Austen and on trial for her numerous past offenses. I couldn’t even keep track when the judge rattled them off – were all the ones we’ve seen in other flashbacks accounted for? Did he name crimes we haven’t seen? At any rate, a pre-beard Jack is dramatically called to the stand as a character witness. His testimony is fascinating: Jack states that only eight people survived the crash, Kate saved them and helped them to shore, where they almost starved to death. So for the first time we get a sense of what the general public has learned about the weird and tragic happenings on the island – absolutely nothing. What has led Jack and the other survivors to create this fiction, and preventing anyone from trying to rescue the other Losties? How does that fit in with Hurley’s and Sayid’s flash forwards? And why, as we learn at the end of the episode, is Kate raising Claire’s baby, who Jack is so afraid to go visit?

While we’re absorbed with these questions, we almost miss the fact that we’re watching the most asinine courtroom scene ever on television. I was actually encouraged, at first, to see the trial set in a realistic looking courtroom with hung ceilings, putty-grey walls, and fluorescent lights. But around the time the judge said “I’ll allow it” in response to a question, I realized that the trial was ludicrous. Are we really supposed to believe that out of all the crimes Kate committed, including arson, murder, and armed robbery, the best witness the prosecution could dig up is Kate’s mother? (And doesn’t mom’s testimony – that Kate confessed the crimes to her – count as hearsay?) After a melodramatic mother-daughter confrontation, Kate’s mom conveniently has too much cancer to testify, and Kate gets off with probation or something. Of course, we knew that already since we already saw an even more future Kate where she was at least free enough to meet Jack by an airport runway. For all the imaginative surprises the Lost writers can serve up, they sure do drop the ball on basic television plot devices.

At least the plot is still humming along back in the past. I loved Locke’s throwaway line, “I’m John Locke, and I’m responsible for the well-being of this island.” I feel like this is a new level of megalomania for him, but it’s interesting they didn’t emphasize it, like having him say it just before a commercial break. And it’s tough to figure out why Daniel was having trouble remembering the cards Charlotte laid out. Is that an island effect, like he was testing the time bubble last week? Or is he a Memento short-term amnesiac? If it’s the latter, that might give a reason for why Daniel was crying at the news of the Oceanic 815 crash, but couldn’t provide an explanation. Too bad the guy who’s doing the most to actually figure out why the island is so funky might not remember it by the time he leaves.

Ultimately, Kate’s backstory is so frustrating because it has so much potential. Kate has proven to be a better fighter and tracker than even Sayid, but we’ve never even come close to an explanation of how Kate received this commando training. Instead we’re stuck with some kind of drawn out Lifetime movie about a true story of a beaten women who struggles against adversity to overcome blah blah blah what a bunch of crap. It is possible, though, that the show writers have been swept up by Kate/Jack/Sawyer shippers and now feel compelled to cater to viewer interest.

There’s still one thing in the episode that struck me as particularly ominous. After he reveals that the rescuers know all about her past, Miles tells her, “If I were you, I’d stay right here on the island.” Since we see Kate get set free in the very next scene, the only way that line makes sense if there are much worse things than prison in store for Kate. She certainly deserves it.