LOST DISCOVERIES
Born To Run
Episode 1.22 - Air date: Wednesday, 11-May-2005
Created by: J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof
Written by: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Directed by:
Tucker Gates
May Day
By Spring
Summers – 11-Jun-2005
A Soulful Spike
Society Review: www.soulfulspike.com
The
Themes:
How many times do people ask for help in this episode? Let’s count:
* TOM: So any particular reason why you're hanging out in the back of my
car? KATE: I need your help.
* WALT: Help! I need help.
It's my dad. KATE: What's the matter?
WALT: His stomach is really bad.
* DIANE: Help. Help. KATE: It's okay, mom. It's me. DIANE:
Help. Help. KATE:
It's okay. DIANE: Help.
Help me. Somebody help me.
* KATE: Thanks. SUN: Why should you be punished you were only
trying to help me? He said he
wouldn't tell the others.
But Kate wasn’t trying to help Sun, was she, when she
suggested the poisoning idea her? She
had an ulterior motive for wanting Jin to be too sick to join the others on the
raft. But Tom - why should Tom have died, when he was only
trying to help Kate? Getting involved
with others, having a handle on your hatch:
It’s risky business.
It’s less risky to run, and to stay closed up tight. Better
to have a hatch that opens only from the inside. If you keep a secret; if you
keep information to yourself - you retain control. Along with the images of people needing and providing help, at
various costs to themselves, is the constant mention of “what you know.” We note the way someone can help or hinder
others by sharing, or hiding, what they know – we note that knowledge is power.
And some people, for reasons both legit and not so much, hoard the power.
EXAMPLES
* Artz’s weather
expertise comes in handy.
* Kate tries
to talk Michael into letting her on the raft, by mentioning her sailing
expertise.
* Sayid
tries to make sure Jack will follow him, by not telling him about the hatch.
* Locke has
tried to retain control of what happens to the hatch, by withholding the
information (just as Jack did, by keeping the case full of guns secret).
* Jack says
he can’t decide whether Kate poisoned Michael, because he doesn’t know what
she’s capable of.
* On the
tape recording, we learn that Kate always wants to run away, and Tom “knows
why.” This has created a strong
connection between the two.
* Sawyer
quashes Kate’s power play, to take his place on the raft, by outing her.
* Walt and
Michael get closer when Walt admits that he burned the first raft.
In this episode, the primary example of the folly of cutting
yourself off with secrets is Kate. Her
complete inability to face up to whatever initially happened to her, her
desperation to retain control by running away and lying to others, snowballs. It hurts her, it isolates her, and it hurts
everyone around her.
The
story:
Yikes! The more I
learn about Kate, the less I trust her.
She’s giving everyone the awe-golly eyes, while she attempts to
manipulate everybody around her. “Do
you think I’m capable of that?” she says to Jack, about poisoning Michael, by
way of denial. But it turns out she was
perfectly capable of it. We know she
was capable of taking part in a dangerous bank-heist that got people killed; we
know she was capable of kissing the married Tom in a car, and putting that
young father that she claimed to love, in terrible danger, rather than
surrender herself.
As an episode, it kept my attention, though I wouldn’t list
it as a favorite. The writing was solid
but with such depressing subject matter, it didn’t exactly sparkle. I liked that Walt confessed to Dad. I liked Artz. I liked Tom, and felt sad when he died.
I wish there was less mystery around Kate. All the mystery, coupled with some very
unsavory history, is making her less interesting and sympathetic, not more.
The
questions:
* So, Kate
used the name Joan? Does that make
Sawyer “Randy?”
* What
happened to Kate as a young girl, that made her want to run away?
* What was
Kate initially accused of, that had her running to begin with? It can’t be the bank heist, because the
little plane was already dug up by that time.
* So – Walt
can kind of . . . get information from people’s minds, when he touches them?
* What’s in
the hatch?
* Why wouldn’t
the guys want to bring a girl on the raft?
Quotes
of the week:
LOCKE:
Michael and Jin getting along?
HURLEY:
Well, they fight like a married couple building a raft together.
Hurley,
answering the last question, above.
HURLEY:
He doesn't know? Well how am I supposed to keep straight who knows what
around here? I mean, Steve didn't even know about the polar bear.
Hurley, an honest man in The Kingdom
of the Shams.
CHARLIE:
Smashing. Okay, check this out. This is track 2. It's called “Monster Eats the Pilot.”
That is going to be one smokin’
video.
.
The
cast of helpers:
Jack – Matthew Fox
He knows a lot. He helps a lot.
Kate – Evangeline Lilly
She doesn’t know nearly as much as she thinks she does. She helps herself.
Charlie – Dominic Monaghan
He knows how to write songs. He helps Claire.
Hurley – Jorge Garcia
When he knows something, eventually everyone will. Too straight to keep twisted secrets, Hurley helps everybody, just by being Hurley.
Claire – Emilie de Ravin
She knows how to cut hair. She helps Charlie with his hair.
Boone – Ian Somerhalder
and
Shannon – Maggie Grace
Boone knows what happens after death. I’m sure St Boone is helping from on high,
if he’s able.
Sayid – Naveen Andrews
I want him to know me, biblically. Why won’t he help me?
Michael – Harold Perineau
and
Walt – Malcom David Kelley
Michael knows how to build things. He’s trying to be of help in the rescue by building the raft.
Walt knows things, in a kinda creepy way. He’s trying to help by telling Locke what NOT to do.
Sawyer – Josh Holloway
Sawyer knows how to get to Kate, even though her hatch
doesn’t have a handle. Will he help
himself?
Locke – Terry O’Quinn
Locke knows many things. He helps, discretely. Very discretely.
Jin – Daniel Dae Kim
and
Sun – Yunjin Kim
Jin knows boats, and how to salt fish. He uses his skills to help.
Sun knows how to speak English, and make drugs from plants. She helps Michael to a case of violently painful stomach cramps. Sweet.
The Dog
Vincent knows all. He’s everyone’s best friend.