What Kate Does Does Does Does Does (etc.)

(Spoiler Alert: Read this if you're up to date or like reading more than television)
This was by no means a good episode of LOST, in fact it embodies the worst of what the show has become, which is an Easter egg hunt for answers. At its best, LOST is a compelling show, with a captivating mythology. Tonight’s episode was boring television that relied solely on the mythology of the show for entertainment.
People have espoused the idea that the flash-sideways may not captivate viewers the way the flashbacks and flashforwards did. I now believe that this is the truth, as the Kate storyline was absolutely abysmal. Granted, I’m a Kate hater, so I have a bias, but her arc was just bad.
It was also unbelievable, as embodied by the guy who aids an on the run felon for $200. I’m a little worried about what that guy would have done for $300. Ripped off his face and let Kate wear it as a disguise?
There were only two interesting bits in Kate’s flashforward. The first is the presence of Ethan, and what that means, and the second is the recurring bits of déjà vu.
Regarding the latter, which included Jack and Kate double taking on each other and the naming of baby Aaron, I think we can be assured that our heroes have some vague recollection of a past together. I don’t know what this means, but the show’s head writers have said this storyline is not some alternate reality and that it is a flashsideways, so I don’t know how it would be possible that these characters know each other.
The much more interesting aspect is the introduction of Ethan into this world, which begins to tell us a lot about the flashsideways world. Ethan in the standard timeline was the son of Horace Goodspeed, who met his wife on the island. We know that the Dharma initiative was on the island in the flashsideways, as we saw Dharmaville underwater, which leads me to believe that Ethan is the same person as the kid who was born on the island. In this reality he left the island with his family on the submarine that fled and has started a life in the flashsideways world off the island. It makes sense that Ethan would have left the island, because in the normal timeline he is a skilled doctor. He most likely gained those skills off the island, which would lend credence to his appearance off the island in Juliet’s flashback.
But what does Ethan’s presence mean to the creation of the flashsideways? I think it means that this world is based on one in which the island sank to the bottom of the ocean after Jughead was exploded. Although an H-Bomb probably should have destroyed the whole island…
Regardless, I think we have to assume that our timeline in the flashsideways is different starting from 1977 with the explosion of the bomb. Two deviating stories were created at that point, with the bomb causing one flashsideways and merely causing a time shift in the other.
In my opinion the most interesting reveal revolved around the “sickness.”
We first learned of this term from Rousseau who seemed prevalent in this episode, even though she’s been dead for three years. Rousseau first used this term when telling Sayid about the rest of her team, which she had to kill after they caught the “sickness” from the others. This was apparently not completely true, because we later saw that Rousseau’s crew began acting strange after spending time in the smoke monster’s (MIB) hole in the ground.
The most significant part of this is that Rousseau said she had to kill her teammates in case they were rescued. This implies that she didn’t want the sickness to get off the island. We don’t know why she thought this yet, but it appears she was right (if you assume that the sickness is from MIB), as Man in Locke wants to go home. Maybe that means the temple, but it could mean off the island, in which case she prevented MIB from getting off the island.
The “sickness” apparently makes you act strange, which made it less of a surprise that Claire had been infected with it. I’m inclined to believe that her disregard for her son when she abandoned him was a product of her infection. It’s hard to tell when she was infected, but it was confirmed by Mr. Miyagi that she was infected.
If we accept that Claire was infected when she was with Christian, it seems likely that Christian was driven by the MIB. That would mean Locke was taking his instructions from MIB when he was told to bring everyone back. The counter argument to this would be that Jacob also appeared to want our heroes back on the island (Obviously there’s much more to explore about MIB causing visions and impersonating people on the island, but I can’t explore it now).
I do wonder, though, who else has been claimed, why people are claimed and how people are claimed. Sayid’s possession seems to have begun with the murky water or when he died and his body became an empty vessel. This empty vessel idea would reinforce the idea that MIB was running around the island in MIB’s body, and would lend deeper meaning to Flashsideways Locke’s comforting words about Christian’s missing body (he characterizes it as nothing more than a body).
As far as who else has been “claimed,” it seems possible that Ben could have been claimed as a child, but I’m not sure.
All of this makes me wonder why the Others were taking so many blood samples. Michael was tested by the Others when he reached their camp and at the start of season three Jack, Sawyer and Kate were tested. Seems a little different than the electroshock test, but maybe that had another way of testing. Regardless, it seems like the Others have known about this threat for a while.
IT also would seem like the Dharma initiative was aware of the disease, since they had their own vaccination program. Additionally, they built the sonar fence that seemed to stop the smoke monster, which probably carries the virus. They also had the quarantine label on the hatch, and that could point to some knowledge of a virus.
All of this is very circumstantial, as it’s not clear who is good and who is bad. I think it would be too easy to accept that the MIB is bad and Jacob is good. Because of that, I’m hesitant to endorse any of my ideas too strongly.
Ok, so now just some random thoughts…
• A dejected Sawyer is a depressing Sawyer. Although, I think he could become a very destructive force if he believes he has nothing to live for. At the same time I could see him just calling it quits.
• I am inclined to believe that many events from the island will pop up in some shape or form in the flashsideways.
• How does Mr. Miyagi know that Claire is Jack’s sister? Was he talking to ghost Christian?
• Speaking of Mr. Miyagi, we now know that he was brought to the island. Most likely he was brought by Jacob, but when and why?
• I firmly believe that Kate’s character was inspired by Julia Roberts’ performance in Runaway Bride
• So Claire was still destined to give away her baby, and apparently to a real couple. Makes me wonder if the psychic guy ever picked out adopted parents in our normal timeline. I don’t think so.
• I like when Jin gets some dialogue. He is criminally underused.
• It was great to see Aldo being brought back, although I’m sad he’s dead. The nice thing is that in the flashsideways he is the co-owner of a bar in Philadelphia.