LOST Smackdown! Kate vs Juliet

No, not the popular apocalyptic novels but Kate and Juliet. Left behind by the Others to face, well, each other.

This is a Kate-centric episode only a few months after she blew up her stepdad who was really her dad. Her flashbacks show her stuck in Iowa while her car is repaired and she helps a female con get out of a jam. That's right a female con. Now, what female con have we been introduced to before? That's right, Cassidy, the mother of Sawyer's child, Clementine. He taught her well, but apparently not well enough to con the guy at the gas station in the middle of nowhere in Iowa.

Kate and Cassidy hook up to help Kate get a little bit of alone time with her estranged mom. Cassidy, now a Bible salesperson, dresses like Kate and goes to her mom's house. In the process, they find out exactly how many government agents are hunting down our precious Kate.

Now, I don't know a whole lot about the U. S. Marshalls, but six agents after Kate seems a bit much. Sure, she blew up her daddy, but she's not really a threat to anyone else. It's not like she's on a killing spree or anything. "Overkill" is the word that comes to mind. Even if the Marshall does hate her as much as he seems to, it seems over done. And why would her poster be up in Australia as we saw in Season 1? International fugitive seems a bit of a stretch unless there's a lot more we don't know. And with LOST there always is, so I guess it's possible.

So why did mom turn her in? "You can't help who you love." And mom loved the guy, even if he did beat her regularly. Loved her more than she loved her Katherine apparently. At least she didn't call the guys sitting at the table and let Kate leave. At least now we know why she started screaming at the hospital in Season 1 when Kate showed up. She did just what she said she would - call for help.

Back on the island, there were two main stories - Kate and Juliet and the cat fight over Jack and Hurley conning Sawyer into being, well, nice.

Kate is in the rec center - the one complete with pool and backgammon - when Juliet brings her something to eat. Kate, being Kate, takes a swing at her only to find that Juliet is not defenseless and knows some sort of martial arts. She leaves Kate on the floor with a broken plate and a sandwich spread over the floor. She seemed genuinely surprised and a little upset that Kate would try to attack her. Do 'they' not get that people don't like being held prisoner and will fight back when given the opportunity? They seem to expect everyone to submit to Other prison like docile lambs or something. They just don't seem to 'get' the fighting back thing - oh, and they can kill any of you, but don't kill one of them or you just may be marked for life like Juliet apparently is.

Kate sees the Others preparing to leave, gas masks and all. [Side note: why would they need gas masks if they're throwing the canisters into confined spaces and staying outside themselves?] They throw the gas into the rec room and the next thing Kate knows, she's waking up in the middle of the jungle, handcuffed to her favorite captor - Juliet. There's a little bit of female bonding over their shared predicament, but it doesn't last long.

Line of the night goes to Kate: "Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell is going on."

They go on to discuss Jack. Though Kate chose Sawyer in the cages [was proximity the final straw there?], she still has feelings for Jack and didn't like the seeming camaraderie she saw between the two when she first arrived at Otherville. Then Juliet drops the bomb. Jack saw her and Sawyer together in the cages. She broke Jack's heart and that's why he didn't want her to come back - not to protect her, but to protect himself. And because Benry had promised he could go home. I wouldn't want anyone coming for me either if Head Other had promised I could get off this particular island.

Next thing we know - chick fight! Kate v. Juliet. Handcuffed together, they go at it. Kate gets the upper hand, twisting Juliet's arm behind her back so hard that her shoulder comes out of the socket. Just as things start to calm down, a noise we're all too familiar with startles the ladies.

The monster - Old Smokie - is back.

With visions of Eko being smashed against trees dancing through my head, Kate utters one word. "Run!!!" Juliet just doesn't seem to get it. You hear something uprooting trees and making all sorts of mean rattling noises, you don't stop to ask, "What's that?". You turn and run as fast as your little legs can take you in the opposite direction - or to the nearest bannion tree which seems to offer some protection. That's where Kate and Charlie hid when Smokie was taking out the pilot in the Pilot and it's where others [not Others] have hidden since.

Smokie comes close, seemingly takes pictures of Juliet, and retreats.

Kate seems a bit surprised that Juliet doesn't know what Smokie is, but apparently she doesn't. They get Juliet's arm back in the socket and spend the rest of the night in the tree. With daylight we see them heading back towards Otherville. And then... here it comes again. They take off running, fall down in the mud - a 'gift' of sorts, I'm sure, to the male viewers after the women have gotten so much Sawyer lately - and then stop short.

They've come to some of the pylons that took out our favorite Russian Other, Mikhail. Juliet insists they're turned off, but that's exactly what the late Mikhail said as well. Juliet, it turns out, had a key to the handcuffs all along. She takes her handcuff off and goes to the other side of the pylon with no problem. She enters a code on a panel, gets Kate on her side of the pylon and activate the fence.

Apparently, Old Smokie doesn't like their electric fence. Juliet tells Kate, "We don't know what it is, but we know it doesn't like our fence." Maybe the beach Losties can build their own fence using the electrical cable Sayid found in Season 1...

Speaking of the beach Losties, Hurley tells Sawyer that there's going to be a vote. No, Jeff Probst isn't going to be there asking his usual insightful questions [I wonder what would happen if, just once, all the Survivors wrote his name down], but Sawyer is going to be banished a half mile down the beach because he a taker not a giver. A leech, if you will.

We have additional confirmation that Scott was killed by Ethan, because, according to Hurley, Steve gets water every morning. Sawyer drinks but never helps.

After catching his own fish and attempting to gut it, and getting a dirty look from Sun in the process, Sawyer realizes that he needs the others. He can't continue to freeload and con his way through island life. He asks Hugo for help and help he gets. He sidles up to Claire and compliments little Aaron. It's a little on the lame side - "He's not as wrinkled as he was a couple of weeks ago" has to be one of the lamest baby compliments ever - but he wins over mom with a blanket. Claire, as Hurley points out, is well-liked by the other Losties and how she votes could easily determine Sawyer's fate.

The next morning, we see Des and Sawyer out boar hunting. They bring one in - mainly thanks to Desmond. Sawyer did a good job holding a pistol but precious little shooting with it. The beach losties have a feast [the first non-Dharma sponsored one since Locke got obsessed with the hatch instead of hunting boar?] and Sawyer's fate seems a bit more secure. After an enlightening non-conversation with Charlie, Sawyer realizes he's been had. "The lamest con in the history of cons." Hurley points out that with Jack, Locke, Kate, and Sayid gone, leadership falls on the shoulders of the resident conman [how does it feel be fifth in line?]. Sawyer wants to be a leader about as much as Jack did when they first landed.

It seems unlikely that Sawyer will be asked to hold the mantle of power for too long as Kate and Juliet return to Otherville to find Jack and Sayid. Jack is still passed out from the gas - and 'his house' looks like it's been broken into with lamps on the floor and so on. Kate manages to wake him up and tries to have a little heart to heart. She apologizes for ruining his chances to go home and all she gets in response is a query about Juliet. Juliet has gone to get Sayid from one of the backyards that Karl told Kate and Sawyer about before Sawyer let him go and they meet up at Jack's place. Sayid wants to leave Juliet behind, but no such luck. Jack insists she's going as well.

My guess? Jack ends up on the beach soon, relieving Sawyer of his leadership duties.

Now Juliet... was she really 'left behind'? Is she a spy - an accepted one, much the opposite of Benry last season? Does she genuinely want to help our Losties, especially Jack?

Time will tell.

All together, I enjoyed this episode. Nikki and Paolo didn't dig themselves out of their sand and diamond filled grave giving credence to the idea that they really are most sincerely dead. Kate is back. Sawyer is showing signs of the real James Ford. Sure, he's a conman, but he genuinely cares for people, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

He got shot trying to save Walt at the end of Season 1. He set up a trust for a daughter he wasn't sure was his [Cassidy did learn from one of the best after all. Barring a DNA test, how could he be sure Clementine is his? We know, thanks to the Kateback, but Sawyer didn't at the time.]. He helped Hurley with the bus [okay, he was in it for the beer, but he sure seemed to be enjoying himself]. He's connected to Jin via their shared raft experience and subsequent Tailie encounter. He's glad Sun isn't spilling her little secret, not just because he doesn't want to take on Jin [who we know can take care of himself], but because he has genuine feelings of friendship towards him that weren't there when the Sun/gun con was undertaken. He obviously cares for Kate and Jack too though he may not admit it.

Sawyer's on the road to redemption, becoming less and less Sawyer and more and more James Ford. Hopefully, that won't make him a target for Smokie since Smokie seems to go only after those who either have already been redeemed, like Ana Lucia,] or who have determined they don't need redemption, like Eko. The "Save the Junkie, Save the World" petition was started for Charlie, maybe it's time to create a "Save Sawyer" petition. Or maybe the powers that be at ABC and LOST are too smart for that - knowing that Sawyer is an extremely popular character, especially among women, and that killing him off would bring the wrath of fans in a way they've never seen.

This episode gets 8 out of 10 stars.