Lost - Tabula Rasa

I like the approach of the third episode (or second if you continue the two parts of the Pilot as one) to kind of single out a specific character and give that person focus. The Pilot did its part in just kind of introducing all the principles, and now the series can start to give each form. It is hard for a Pilot to take clay, then mold and shape it into something distinctive in such short time. The fingers start somewhere and before you know it, the features become more and more defined. Now that I got that out of the way…

Kate is revealed in the previous episode as the one handcuffed, being escorted by the deteriorating marshal (he is gradually dying while Jack tries to find medicine and antibiotics that can stop his infected wound) on board the plane. What was Kate’s crime? She tells a widower farmer she’s from Canada, doing the global tour “to find herself”. Australia is a place on her itinerary. A wanted poster gives her away. The farmer needs money for the mortgage, and her price tag will certainly help his cause. As far as the title of the episode, at the very end Jack is about to be told by Kate what she did in the past, but he tells her that it all doesn’t matter. Their past life is just that and the island is kind of the “blank slate”.

Fredric Lane has been guest-starring as the marshal, the man Kate seems to be running from. When in the farmer’s truck, Lane follows behind them in a SUV, with her trying to grab the steering wheel, to avert capture if possible. The truck flips and she pulls him to safety. Of course the prosthetic arm he has will need to be tossed aside, the pesky nuisance. Kate can’t quite pull away from the marshal, however. On board the plane, her trip to whatever possible sentence might await her in the criminal justice system is instead diverted to the island. At least Jack is fond of Kate. And the marshal is almost dead, conveniently succumbing to his wounds. Sawyer, always willing to use a gun, is given the chance to put a bullet in the marshal and end his suffering. Too bad he punctures the guy’s lung instead of the intended shot in the heart! He appropriately feels like an idiot.

Obviously anyone that might pass by the blog will notice a catalogue of Evangeline Lilly in my reviews. That freckled, forlorn beauty, those sad eyes and teetering countenance; it is like she keeps toting the baggage of a dogged life she’s so ready to unpack. I can’t get enough of those close-ups of her. She’s incredibly beautiful. But I like that the episode sees fit to take care of her first. The show provides the first challenge in Kate’s rehab, and Frederic Lane appears to be but a minor anthill she’ll be able to hop.

The fuselage with its bodies is like the haunted house a little kid will go nowhere near for Hurley. He’d prefer to stay as far away from it as possible. But there are supplies and “leftovers” that could be useful. Jack’s foray inside is to secure medicine while Sawyer is just pillaging the dead. Jack calls him on it but Sawyer could give two shits about any sort of judgment. He found some Playboys and a pack of smokes, so Jack can just remain as noble as he wishes. Sawyer will just plunder and enjoy the dead’s pleasures.

So coming down off the mountain, those that went up it make camp and discuss what they know. The distress signal from the French woman is 16 years old. 1000 miles off course due to loss of communication at ground and the crash caused by turbulence, this island is their current home…and could be for some time. But Sayid speaks to Boone, Shannon, Kate, and Sawyer about concealing what they know so all the others will remain hopeful of rescue. Without hope, they will panic and run amok. Sayid gets back down to the beach and starts gathering the folks together, giving out instructions and taking charge. Kate tells Jack because of all those on the beach that aren’t aware she sees him as the responsible kind who won’t careen off into hysterics. They plop down together and look outward into the waves processing what it to come as they fade the past while the sun bathes them.

Not to ignore the remaining cast, but some slight but nice details involve John Locke using a dog whistle to draw Walt’s (Malcolm Kelley) canine companion out of the woods, Michael out looking for that dog and encountering the rustling in the trees which rushes him right almost into the naked body of Jin-Soo’s wife, Sun-Hwa (Yunjin Kim) who was bathing, and a montage at the end where those in conflict (Boone finding Shannon’s glasses and giving them to her, Sayid tossing Sawyer an apple, etc.) try to ease the tensions though better behavior. Complete with the soft music that accompanies these acts of simple kindness, John Locke looks on at Michael as he celebrates the return of the dog to his son, letting someone else take credit for his own actions.