Final Stand: The Redemption of Katherine Anne Austen in LOST by Pearson Moore
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She ran. She didn’t need a reason. She ran from the law, from her lover, from her family. She ran from Sawyer, from Jack, from anyone who sought her heart. She murdered. Not once, but many times. She burned a house to the ground, assaulted federal agents, left her husband, robbed a bank, used a dozen aliases, endangered others’ lives. She took advantage of a physically handicapped old man, then almost killed him.
Perhaps someone like her does not deserve a second chance. But the Island gave her a clean slate. “It doesn’t matter,” Jack told her, “who we were – what we did… before the crash…. Three days ago we all died. We should all be able to start over.”
She learned to love. Not from the strong men who yearned for her affection, but from a helpless infant who needed her care. She gave herself, not to a man’s embrace, but to a mother’s rehabilitation.
She is midwife, surgeon, healer, nurse. She is daughter, mother, friend, and wife. “I have always been with you,” she told Jack in his darkest hour.
She is devotion. She is courage. She is strength. She is Kate Austen.
The Douglas DC-3
Kate held two dozen hostages and shot three men to retrieve this toy airplane from a bank in Ruidoso, New Mexico.
Ed Mars, the federal marshall who tracked Kate over several years, must have thought this important bit of evidence would be safe in a location so far from Kate’s normal haunts. Did he know the plane once belonged to her childhood sweetheart, Tom Brennan, who died trying to aid Kate’s escape?
Kate hired three men and engineered and executed an elaborate bank robbery, not to steal money, but to recover the small plastic toy from Safety Deposit Box 815. The plane had been Tom’s contribution to the “time capsule” they buried in 1989, when they were twelve years old. Thirteen years later, Tom was a doctor. He had a wife and a son. Kate, as usual, was on the run, this time for the murder of her father, Wayne Janssen. The two of them dug up the New Kids on the Block lunchbox and listened to the cassette tape they made in their youth.
TOM: It’ll be totally cool when we dig it up in like twenty years.
KATE: How do you know we’ll be together?
TOM: Because we’ll be married and you’ll be a mom and we’ll have nine kids.
KATE: I don’t think so. As soon as I get my license we should just get in a car and drive. You know, run away.
TOM: You always want to run away, Katie.
Even at twelve years old they couldn’t agree on their future. Both of them were correct in their predictions, though. Tom was happy, married, and well on his way to having the nine children he dreamed of. Kate by then had much experience with a life centred on getting in a car and driving, to “you know, run away.”
The DC-3 in the stolen lunchbox represented the stable life she could have had with Tom, the commitment he envisioned. It represented normalcy.
A Normal Life
Wayne Janssen was almost all Kate understood of “normal”, but as she grew into a woman, she knew something was not quite right about her father’s relationship with her mother. Diane’s face not infrequently bore the signs of struggle: bruises, scratches, a black eye, a bloodied nose. She knew Wayne was responsible, and she intended to give her mother the gift of a normal life without her abusive husband.
When Kate brought her mother the happy news, Diane was horrified. Ed Mars summed up the situation well, with all the sensitivity of his profession. “White trash mom divorces dad, starts up with some guy who’s a drinker. Then he knocks her around a little bit, she marries him, because, you know, that’s what happens. And then this drunk, this Wayne, he moves into your house, and you get to lay there every night and listen to him doing your mom right there in your daddy’s old bedroom. And even that wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t beat her up all the time. But she loves him. She defends him.”
Incomprehensible as it was to Kate, Diane loved Wayne, wished to spend her life with him, got pregnant by him. The result of Diane’s infatuation was the birth of Kate in 1977. Wayne was the father, but he was not the husband. Diane was married to an absentee husband, off fighting a war that should have ended twenty years before.
These, then, were the circumstances of Kate’s “normal” childhood. But they are not the complete circumstances. Just as Kate’s mother “made her bed” in choosing Wayne, Kate made her own adult decisions about the acceptable range of normal human life. In the sufferings she endured sharing a house with an abusive father, we might be tempted to feel pitty for Kate. But she had greater examples than Wayne. Almost all of us, even those who suffered the most oppressive of childhoods, become acquainted with examples of lives well lived. In that regard, Kate was more fortunate than many of us.
Sergeant Major Sam Austen
Sam Austen was serving in Korea when Kate was born. He knew of his wife’s indiscretion, but he never spoke of the matter with his beloved daughter, choosing to allow her to believe that he was her father. In fact, he was her father in all ways that might have any relevance to a girl growing up in a very bewildering world. He was Kate’s anchor, the person who most truly and completely loved her, in every sense her Constant.
Sam provided the correct example at every turn. He taught his daughter to track and hunt game through the forests of Iowa. He stayed with his wife, despite her infidelity. When Kate was on the run, she knew the United States Army employed one man of deep integrity to whom she might turn in a time of great need.
Perhaps if he had explained to her the great value of steering a clean course through life she might have been spared the horrendous rollercoaster ride of so many years on the run. But he was the best father a child could ever hope to have. His life could have served as perfect template for Kate, but rather than cultivating Sam’s sense of balance for her own life, she chose instead to impose her understanding of a normal order on her mother’s life. But not everyone can be Sergeant Major Sam Austen. Kate’s mother made her own choices in life, poorly conceived as they sometimes were. She never lived up to the good example of her first husband, and she could never summon the discipline to order her life according to his rules.
In murdering Wayne, Kate was failing most egregiously to live by Sam’s example. She had never chosen to follow his lead. But Sam would become Kate’s sure example in her own darkest hour, when the fate of the Island, and the world, rested on her decision.
Kate’s World
We need to understand Kate’s range of choices prior to her life on the Island if we hope to make sense of her final disposition at the time of the Island’s greatest crisis. Kate grew up with four life examples: Wayne Janssen’s, Tom Brennan’s, her mother’s, and her father’s.
Diane’s example was a life in the gutter. Take what you can when you can get it. When life gives you a good man, like Sam Austen, it ends up taking him away for years at a time so he can point his gun toward a demilitarised zone that should have been cleared twenty years ago during their fathers’ war in Korea. You can’t count on life being fair or even worth living, so take what you can get.
Wayne’s example was to live life for the moment: eat, drink, and be merry. If it happens that someone else’s wife is there to be merry with you, so much the better. While Diane had scruples, Wayne had none. His was a wild life, lived from one night to another, one bar to another, one woman to another. Instant enjoyment and survival were the only aspects of life he ever contemplated.
Tom offered Kate an ordinary life, a life committed to each other, a life worth sharing. This was a life of equals, of two people who truly respected and loved each other. A mortgage, a car, and nine children. Though with nine children, it would have to be a very big mortgage, and maybe a couple of large vans rather than a car. But all in all, an ordinary life of marriage, work, and family.
Sam called Kate to something higher, to a way of life that would not deviate, no matter the obstacle or condition. Sam did not request from life a woman destined to be unfaithful to him, but this is what he received. He followed the course he knew to be correct regardless of the poor choices everyone around him made. He lived a life of integrity, dedicated to ideals for which he was willing to sacrifice even his personal happiness. One does not extract vengeance, regardless of the crime. A man takes care of his family, no matter the cost. His example was the sure sign of the endurance of a set of principles always available to each one of us. Sam Austen was for Kate, and is for us, an example of our highest humanity.
Kate’s Destiny
Kate chose the wild side, the darker, more exciting angels of her nature. One man understood her, knew the kind of woman she was, was happy in the knowledge he would catch her. Kate telephoned him, always on Roman Catholic Holy Days.
MARS: [Picking up the telephone] Agent Mars.
KATE: It’s me.
MARS: Well, I’m glad. I realized this morning that it was the Feast of the Assumption and I was feeling bad. How many holy days have come and gone since you last called? I thought you and I were friends?
KATE: I don’t want to run anymore.
MARS: What’s his name? ….
KATE: Edward, please. I know you don’t want to spend the rest of your life chasing me. Please, I love this guy. Just let me go.
MARS: I’ll tell you what. If you can really stay put? Really settle down? Then I’ll stop chasing you. But you and I both know that’s not gonna happen.
Short days later, Mars’ prediction proved to be on the money. When Kate missed a menstrual cycle her first thought was pregnancy. Her second thought was the impossibility of that condition. Pregnancy meant stability, it meant responsibility. It meant commitment. Even if she was married to a man much like Tom Brennan, a responsible, decent man, she couldn’t live like him.
KATE: Whatcha workin’ on?
KEVIN: Just finishing some IRs, and that fugitive recovery in Tampa. Being a cop is just endless paperwork….
KATE: What if I told you I was a fugitive? What if I told you I was on the run for blowing up my father, and it was only a matter of time before you found out?
KEVIN: This isn’t funny.
KATE: [Crying] It’s not a joke. I almost had a baby, Kevin. Me, a baby! I can’t do this! Taco night?! I don’t do taco night!
KEVIN: Okay, calm down, Monica…
KATE: My name’s not Monica! I love you. But I can’t stay.
If Agent Mars could have heard this conversation he would have been laughing in glee. He would catch her, because the foul droppings of her misguided life would lead her straight to him, and him to her. Working on opposite sides of the law, nevertheless they shared an outlook on life, and their view took in only the seamy side, the dark side, the side they both inhabited.
Ed Mars was right. Kate would fall into any trap he chose to set–it was going to be that easy. More importantly, Kate’s future was full of sad hours and dark days, and once in the “sideways” world her soul would never know peace, never feel the warm presence of any Constant.
But then Flight 815 crashed.
A Higher Calling
Kate was the midwife. Always Jack’s second, here she was filling in for the surgeon, who had his hands full trying to “fix” Boone. Only Locke understood that Boone was the “sacrifice the Island demanded”, but that is a topic for another essay. For our purposes this weekend, it is enough to say simply that Aaron’s birth was a necessary evolution in Claire’s life, the life of the Island, and most importantly, Kate’s growth from the darkness of Wayne’s world into the light and happiness of life with Jack. With Boone’s death came the first successful birth since the days of the Dharma Initiative, when Amy Goodspeed delivered the boy she decided to call Ethan.
Life was no less confusing on the Island than it had been growing up in Iowa and living as “Monica” in Florida. Life was supposed to be a con, a deception, like the life she had started with Officer Callis in Dade County. Life was drunken Wayne and abused Diane. Was it any wonder she became attracted to the man who promised her “afternoon delight”?
She was attracted to Sawyer, and to her mind the attraction was normal and probably inevitable. But she felt something for another man, too. Jack confessed his love for her, and then he did something entirely beyond Kate’s experience. Ben was under Jack’s knife in the Hydra surgery. Guns were pointed at Jack. When the situation was tense, when lives were on the line, Jack sacrificed his love and risked his own life, not for any hope of being with her, but so that she might escape with her lover, Sawyer. Jack was subsuming his love to Kate’s desire, foregoing his own happiness so that Kate might be happy.
Here was a love triangle worthy of prime time. Kate had experienced this depth of love only once, though she didn’t know it, didn’t understand what Sam Austen had sacrificed to love her in precisely the way Jack was now demonstrating his love for Kate.
The Island was a new world for Kate.
Kate’s Island World
Kate had before her a bewildering array of choices. Should she follow Sawyer for “afternoon delight”? Should she try to re-establish romance with that rock of a man, Jack? The decision was inevitable, even if she didn’t understand the rationale. In the meantime, there were adventures. Kate volunteered for more expeditions than anyone else on the Island. If there was a dangerous trek planned to a newly-discovered Dharma station or 140-year-old shipwreck, Kate was first in line, shoulder pack ready, gun cleaned and chamber full.
Jacob tried to point her in the right direction in Mr. Springer’s General Store, paying for the lunchbox she stole, but Kate was a tough cookie, and hewed close to her chosen life of take-it-and-run-and-to-hell-with-the-consequences. Jacob must have believed his trip important. Probably he had prepared years in advance to meet up with his beloved Number 51. Hers was not one of the Valenzetti Numbers; was she Jacob’s “Variable”, the person who would introduce the new existence coefficient that would upset the inevitable outcome of Valenzetti? She was important, then, truly essential to the future of the Island, and the world. But for all Jacob’s planning and hard work, Kate was undeterred from her rollercoaster life.
When they left the Island she knew she would have to make a life with Jack. He was the kindest, most considerate man she had ever known. She really, truly loved him. Learning that he was Aaron’s uncle only confirmed the wisdom of her choice. When Jack proposed, she felt the deepest emotion that had ever filled her soul, and through her tears she said, “Yes!”
Weeks later their engagement was off, their romance in ruins. The apparent cause was Jack’s drinking and his jealousy over Kate’s feelings for Sawyer. But these were not the real causes. Jack had long known of Kate’s attraction to Sawyer, and had even been willing to let go his own feelings for Kate. His nature was not possessive and jealous. The real cause was Jack’s gut-wrenching transition from an existence based on science to a life grounded in faith, and that, too, is a topic worthy of its own essay. For our purposes this weekend, it is sufficient to note that Kate never gave up on Jack, never felt the slightest decrease in her feelings for this man. “I have always been with you,” she told him. She meant those words more than any that had ever passed her lips.
Kate was confused. The man she loved seemed possessed by the same forces she was now trying to escape. Her life seemed to be coming together, but now it was falling apart again. She was acting as mother to Aaron, but even here she felt something was not quite right.
Jacob could not help her find a way to her true destiny. Jack was stoned on booze and Schedule II opiates, virtually incapable of holding a conversation, let alone dispensing wisdom or providing concrete assistance. Her mother hated her, wished to see her rot in prison. Her father couldn’t help her. But she was not alone. Help would come from a source she never could have imagined:
The Island.
To Highest Mountain, To Deepest Sea
Claire had to raise Aaron. It was a ruling somewhere etched in stone, an inviolate law of the universe. But Claire in her own way was as obstinate as Kate. No visit from Jacob would have deterred her from giving up Aaron for adoption. Two visits with the psychic, Richard Malkin, could not dissuade Claire from her decision, and his numerous late-night calls only made her angry. But the Island had more endurance than Claire. During her last visit with Malkin, he produced a one-way ticket for Oceanic Flight 815. It had to be that flight, and it had to be the next day. Malkin said he had arranged for Claire’s baby to be adopted in Los Angeles. Of course, he had arranged nothing. But he knew the Island had arranged something: a crash that would instantly kill three hundred of her fellow passengers but would miraculously save her life.
She was not among Jacob’s Candidates. Probably Jacob didn’t even know her, her name, the enormous role she would play in the Island’s endgame. But the Island knew. Claire and Aaron were essential, because Kate was essential. Without Aaron, Kate would never be persuaded to return to the Island after she left as one of the Oceanic Six. But the Island, in the form of Christian Shephard, ensured her return.
Christian–the resurrected Christian Shephard–came to his daughter and asked to be allowed to care for his grandson. We don’t know what he told her. He may have told the truth, or he may have concocted a bold, elaborate deception. But he knew the outcome. He would take the infant, put Claire in the hands of the Man in Black and have her escorted far away. Then, when his daughter was out of sight and too distant to hear even the pleading cries of her own flesh and blood, he would place the infant on the path he knew Kate or Sawyer would walk only short minutes later.
Sawyer, finding the baby, became the temporary and quite flustered guardian. Kate, deprived of a real mother in her own childhood, could not bear the thought of any child being forced to grow up without a loving mother. Now, before her very eyes, was the baby she had brought into the world. Had Claire abandoned him? Could she not face the responsibilities of motherhood? Kate knew all about irresponsible mothers. She wouldn’t allow Aaron to face the kind of childhood she had been forced to endure.
There was no time to decide whether she was acting in haste, no time to locate Claire. She had to leave the Island, and leave now, or she would never be free. With the Smoke Monster looming, with the atmosphere of death that permeated everything on the Island, staying behind was not an option.
Three years later, when Aaron was old enough to laugh at jokes and question the authenticity of children’s cartoons, Kate had second thoughts. She was not Aaron’s mother. Regardless of her implacable commitment to the toddler, she was no substitute for Claire. And what of Claire? If she was alive, she had to be enduring the worst possible torments that any human being can face, knowing only that her son was gone, was nowhere to be found anywhere on the Island. Was he alive? Dead? Suffering? In the hands of one of the Island’s horrible creatures? Was he being tortured? Starved to death? Kate had inflicted on Claire an existence worse than the most painful and unrelenting death.
Losing Aaron in the grocery story, she realised the horror of her action. She had felt enormous, almost unbearable pain in the few seconds that Aaron was missing. Her anguish was relieved in less than a minute. Claire had been enduring the same torment–not for thirty-six seconds, but for thirty-six months. Day after day, year after year, incessant, horrible, mind-altering emotional terror.
Kate felt Claire’s pain. And in that empathy was Kate’s redemption. In Claire and Aaron she found a cause worthy of lifelong commitment. Kate would give everything–her own happiness, even her own life–to bring Claire back to Aaron. Whether she realised it or not, Kate had finally found Sam Austen’s footsteps, and she was firmly planting her own feet in them. She discovered in herself a reservoir of unconditional love, and now she was harnessing that love to serve a mother and a child.
Kate had to go back. No mountain was high enough to stand in her way. No sea was deep enough to keep her away. Kate would overcome any obstacle to return to the Island, find Claire, and reunite mother and son.
Devotion. Courage. Strength.
This is the Kate I know from LOST. Scarred and wounded but strong. Unsure but resolute. Muscular yet feminine. Fearful yet courageous. It is a portrait I know most others–even those who consider themselves unwavering fans of LOST–neither appreciate nor understand. “Ugh, it’s another Kate episode tonight,” many fans said. Whenever I learned the episode centricity was Kate, I was beaming, looking forward with great anticipation. Kate and Locke were my favourite characters, and I always had a special place in my heart for Kate’s character and the actress who played her. Evangeline Lilly bears an uncanny, unearthly resemblance to the protagonist of my first novel (http://pearsonmoore.com/trinity2045.aspx). Whenever Lilly was called on to carry an action sequence, she owned the scene. Her talents were terribly under-utilised during the six years, and I feel this was one of LOST’s greatest weaknesses. She was the female lead, outstanding in action sequences, unequalled in emotional scenes, but the writers chose to use Kate mostly as love object to Sawyer and Jack. Darlton, you created the most amazing series I’ve ever seen, but by relegating Evangeline Lilly to essentially soap opera roles, you fell short. Whether she continues as actress or tries to make a go of it as a writer, I have to believe she will continue to astound with her creativity and authentic humanity.
The Island brought her back. She thought her mission concerned only Claire, finding her, getting her off the Island, and reuniting her with her toddler son. But this was an almost incidental, secondary mission. If the Smoke Monster had decided to do away with Claire, Kate’s raison d’être sûr l’isle would still stand. Her reason for being: a bullet, administered with sudden and destructive force, into the chest from the dorsal side. Hers was the highest calling: to destroy the Smoke Monster. Claire and Aaron, Claire’s insanity and forced alliance with the Smoke Monster, Claire’s suffering, Kate’s many brushes with death, Christian’s risking of Aaron’s life–all of it was the dangerous, risky, inhumane but entirely necessary preamble to Kate’s role as slayer of the world’s most fearful nemesis.
On the black volcanic cliffs Kate did not run. She did not run from the Island. She did not run from the man she loved, did not run from her responsibilities. She stood firm, aimed the rifle, and delivered the final bullet.
Kate was Jack’s salvation, the Island’s salvation. She was the salvation of the world, though she must not have known that. It was almost another day in the jungle for Kate Austen, for she still had work to do. She did find Claire, brought her home, and must have spent the next fifteen or twenty years ensuring Aaron’s future.
I have heard nothing of the epilogue, save that it concerns Hurley as “Number One” and Ben as “Number Two”. But we know already that Hurley was hesitant to take on the role. We also know that Walt was gifted in many of the same ways Locke was. Add to this the fact that Aaron’s birth was pre-destined, known to the ancients, and a most inevitable evolution presents itself. Seems to me most likely that the eleven-minute epilogue we’ve been promised on the Season Six DVD will involve one simple storyline: Hurley will gladly relinquish his role as “Number One” to the young man surely destined to care for the Island: Walter Lloyd. And his “Number Two”? Someday, it will be Aaron. And if the kid has any brains, he’ll invite Aunt Kate to the Island from time to time. She could arrive by plane on the Hydra runway. Plenty of Douglas DC-3s are still in service; Kate would make a most appropriate passenger, visiting in style and comfort the Island whose future she assured.
PM
Related posts:
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Humanitas Insulae: The Culture of LOST by Pearson Moore - So You Could Find One Another: Cultural Perfections in LOST 6.17-6.18 “The End” by Pearson Moore
- Reconvergence: A Cultural Interpretation of LOST 6.08 “Recon” by Pearson Moore
Tags: Kate, Pearson Moore, recaps&reviews
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Rules for commenting.
- The Admins of SL-LOST will not tolerate any form of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
- Do not be rude: personal attacks and destructive criticism will get you banned.
- Use only English. Please use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
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If you don't follow these simple rules you will be permanently banned from SL-LOST.com.
June 28th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Great analysis, Pearson, thanks! Allow me to correct the french sentence, though: raison d'être sur l'île.
June 28th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I too have always been a fan of Kate. I think you did an excellent job of summarizing and analyzing Kate's character. You explained what a vital role she had to play on the island and in the lives of her fellow castaways. Thanks.
June 28th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
This is wonderful – as always. I cried repeatedly reading your insightful analysis of the terribly underappreciated character of Kate. I hope you continue to write about LOST!
June 28th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Hi Steven,
Thank you for your kind words, et aussi pour la correction!
PM
June 28th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for contributing. I'm always happy to meet another Kate fan!
PM
June 28th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Hi Inthedale,
Thank you for your gracious words, and for the encouragement.
I don't know that I will write every week. I'll see what the reaction is to this article. I've been writing non-stop since the first week in February–my only break was two weekends ago. At some point I'll have to put a bit of energy into a book contract. We'll see what happens!
PM
June 29th, 2010 at 12:58 am
Final Stand: The Redemption of Katherine Anne Austen in LOST by Pearson Moore…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
…
June 29th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Nice.
I really wish you could write something about Juliet.
It's really frustrating how her last sacrifice during the end of season 5 was completely not valued by the writers during the last episode of the series.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:16 am
great post like always… your posts have always been a delight to read.. by the way, do you have a blog? or just write here?.. I would l.ike to read more of your stuff. as a writer myself, I like to support intelligent reads like yours..
king krims
June 29th, 2010 at 3:21 am
Pearson, awesome as always. I don't know how often you will be writing (though weekly would be a dream come true) but if you do write again, maybe Desmond or Sayid?
Also, are you planning on writing something for the epilogue?
June 29th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Brilliant analysis of Kate Austen… One of the things that made me so happy about S6 and the finale was the way writers redeemed Kate. Now when you look at the journey you realize how fascinating her story was and how great the ending was.
Like you said the writers used her to drag the triangle plot most of the time and i too wished they could have handled it better but despite that she was a great character.
Thanks for the essay.
June 29th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Hi Cbrivaspaulino,
Thank you for your kind words.
My blog is here:
http://pearsonmoore.blogspot.com/
but I have not written anything for the blog since 2008, though the topics do not age. I will resume whenever I'm done with Lost.
My website is here:
http://pearsonmoore.com/default.aspx
The website promotes my novels: My first novel, TRINITY, and my historical novel, CARTIER'S RING. I have begun a third novel, GREENWICH STEAM, also mentioned on the website.
PM
June 29th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Great post, as always! I really like your analysis of Kate. She was truly underutilized. I literally cheered when she shot the MIB. Kate was finally vindicated.
You mentioned that “She was the female lead, outstanding in action sequences, unequalled in emotional scenes, but the writers chose to use Kate mostly as love object to Sawyer and Jack.” This was the reason why many people (including me) found Kate episodes boring. They portrayed her as too flaky and vacillating between two men. I think Kate needed to come back to the Island, and see Sawyer and Juliet in a relationship, to truly let go of Sawyer and realize that the person she really loved and cared for, was Jack. On the other hand, I'm not sure Sawyer ever make that choice emotionally- he was always drawn to Kate, even after Juliet died, which sadly, cheapened his story arc for me and made his after-life meeting with Juliet less convincing. You don't drink imaginary cocoa with your old ex-flame and call her “Freckles” mere days after your girl-friend if 3-years has died.
I think that Kate never got together with Sawyer after they left the Island on Ajira, but like you said, helped Claire raise Aaron. However, going from “Mommy” to “Aunt Kate” would have been heart-breaking for Kate, so I hope Aaron continued to call her “Mommy”, and called Claire “Mum”.
I like your idea about Walt being Hurley's successor, but I want to believe that Hurley and Ben lived long and accomplished much good before they moved on.
Rams
June 29th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Once again, Pearson, you have out done yourself! Thank you for this wonderful analysis of Kate Austen, she was always my favorite character. I did hate it in Season 3 when they had her going back and forth between Jack and Sawyer, but in the end, they did her character justice! I think what happened between her and Sawyer in the cages on Hydra Island was an act of compassion on Kate's part. She thought that Sawyer was going to be killed the next day and it broke her heart to look at him all beaten up and bloodied in the cage next to her. Of course, I wish it had not happened, because I wanted her to end up with Jack, but I understand why it happened. I was glad in the end that she stayed true to her mission of getting Claire back to Aaron, that was her ultimate redemption in my eyes. She put her happiness aside for the sake of Aaron and Claire, that was so amazing. I was hoping that she would tell Sawyer to get Claire on that plane because she was never going to leave Jack. I broke my heart to watch Jack die in that bamboo grove. The way the writers brought it all full circle in the church was very satisfying to me, but still sad to think that Kate went on to live a long life after Jack died. The idea that we will all be together with the people we love after this life is so beautiful, I am grateful that the greatest television show ever made ended with such a hopeful message.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I love that you “get” Kate, that you see how she went from being what her policeman husband said she was “what you see is what you get”, that she had learned to reflect whatever anyone expected her to be. It wasn't until the pilot episode in the infamous scene where she is stitching up Jack
Kate: If that were me I think I would have run for the door.
Jack:No, I don't think you would… your not running now.
At this point Kate sees herself differently. It is on the island that Kate learns to look inside and discover WHO she is on her own terms… allowing no one else to define her inner character.
You are unique in that you saw the inner or real Kate even before Kate understood it herself. It was there just not obvious.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Hi Cristiane,
Thank you for contributing to the discussion.
I agree; Juliet would make an excellent topic for an essay. I'm going to keep her in mind.
PM
June 29th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your kind words.
I don't know how frequently I'll be writing. I think it will depend on response. As for future topics, Desmond and Sayid are excellent choices. I will definitely be writing on the epilogue.
PM
June 29th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Hi Ozge,
Thank you for your very kind response to my essay.
I agree. Lost was a great story, but I do find myself imagining what it might have been with a stronger female lead. They had only to tap Evangeline Lilly's talents. But they did make better use of her in Season Six, as you said, and we can certainly be thankful for this.
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June 29th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Hi Rams,
I'm glad to know you enjoyed the article. We know Kate devoted her life to Claire and Aaron and didn't get together with Sawyer. She and Claire were the only two sitting next to each other on the Ajira plane as they left the Island. When Kate met Jack after the concert–after her awakening–she told Jack, “I missed you so much.”
As for Hurley, Ben, Walt, and Aaron, we shall know in two months!
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June 29th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I've always enjoyed your analysis of Lost and hope you write many more articles like this. Please do one on Jack, my favorite.
June 29th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Hi Flyersrock1973,
Thank you for your very kind comments.
I find myself wondering how long Kate had to wait for Jack, but we have the only answer that really matters: She waited as long as she had to wait. With her devotion to Claire and Jack, she finally got her life into order. She had to plead with Jack just enough that he knew she cared, but she knew he had to bring order to the Island, too. It meant living the rest of her life without him, and that must have been an awful burden, but not an impossible task. She knew she would have him in the end; it was the way things had to be.
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June 29th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Hi J4sh0rt,
Thanks. I don't know if I could be said to have unique insight into Kate, but I definitely had unique *incentive* to try to understand her. You have no idea what a shock it was to see *my* Rachel, Rachel Hughes, the character I created in my social sci-fi novel, TRINITY, and described in exquisite detail (Rachel's physique was important to the plot) and then have her appear in the flesh in the pilot episode of Lost. I had just completed the first draft of my novel, and I had never before seen the actress, Evangeline Lilly. I felt the urge to send her a copy of the manuscript (“You could play the protagonist in the film version, Ms. Lilly…”) before some common sense soaked in. It was a strange shock.
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June 29th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Hi Junie2323,
Thank you for your warm comments. Jack would certainly be the most logical choice for an essay. His story is big enough I don't know that it could be fit into a single 4000- or 5000-word essay, though. Any such essay would probably have to be split into two or three Jack-related themes. I'm going to keep this in mind. In the end, I am going to take my cue from a mix of popular opinion and the topics I would like to cover. Another one that comes to mind is a scientific explanation of the Island. I am not a geologist, though, so it would take a bit of study to be able to convey the proper processes using appropriate language. If there are any geologists out there, maybe you'd like to take a crack at it or collaborate with me.
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June 29th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
This is an amazing analysis. I ❤ Kate
Tuesday is miss LOST day.
June 29th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
This is an amazing analysis. I ❤ Kate
Tuesday is miss LOST day.
June 29th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Hi Katiushka,
Thank you for your kind comments.
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June 30th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Thank you Pearson – this is a beautiful analysis of the Kate Austen character, and puts the love triangle in it's proper place. I love the Kate's life charts – I never saw those parallels before. Please do keep writing on Lost, as often as you can. Thank you for deepening my understanding of my favorite 120 hour movie.
June 30th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Hi Jstephane,
Thank you again for your gracious response to my article. I'm glad the charts were useful!
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June 30th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
As always, great post Pearson. I for one am not a Kate hater, she's never been one of my favorites but I've always admired her courage and her sense to always lend a helping hand to those she cares for. She is very compassionate, tough, and overall brave. I'm glad someone finally pointed out that while she is flawed she is a redeeming force of nature. I'm glad that we live in world were we have strong female characters to look up too. Thanks for telling Kate's story, Pearson. Well done.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Hi Jessadiemae,
Thank you for your kind words. Kate was a memorable character, and I think an excellent example of a strong heroine. Both women and men can be compelling leaders, but I find the feminine approach to leadership more interesting because I think more factors are brought to bear–or perhaps I should say are more likely to be brought to bear–on leadership decisions. I find men are more likely to act without regard to human consequences, while women are more likely to consider the impact on human lives. This is more interesting, at least from a storytelling point of view, because the human angle is intensified, and multiple avenues for conflict open up. All this is a roundabout way of telling you that the protagonists in my novels are always women. Makes for more interesting stories!
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July 1st, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant essay on Kate. Kate & Locke have always been my favorites, too.
Thanks so much for this!
July 1st, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Ciao Monda Italiana,
Thank you for your gracious comments on my article. It's good to meet another Kate fan!
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July 2nd, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Thank you Pearson,
another great essay, absoloutely flawless.
Defeating the MIB, was the best way to end Kate's storyline imo.
I'm speechless…perhaps i'll come up with a theory in a few days, & hoepfully discuss it with you as usual; i'm not good with Kate's arc. so I have to rewatch a couple of her episodes.
I'm looking forward to your next entries.
Thanks again.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Hi Hygoniz,
You are too kind, but I thank you for your warm response to my article. I'm finding as I re-watch episodes that I'm getting more out of them than ever before. We know where the story is going, and this opens my eyes to the importance of events I once ignored. I hope you enjoy your re-watch!
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July 3rd, 2010 at 6:06 am
Thank you Pearson,
I'm eager to read one about Mr Eko, I think he's one of the most overshadowed characters of the show.
Now that we know all about the MIB, Jacob & the whispers, I think some mysterious events in episodes “?” or “The cost of living” will be more clear.
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
She is Katherine Kate Austin and I love her character so much —> Skate forever
Thanx again for this admirable article Pearson
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:18 pm
I was so excited to find that you had written another essay, Pearson. As always, this one was so enlightening, and helped me to appreciate a character I've always had a soft spot for. I also realized how much I had forgotten about Kate's story (I'm in dire need of a complete series rewatch).
I don't know if this is true, but somewhere I read that Jack was originally supposed to die early on, and that Kate was supposed to have been the lead character after that. If that's true, it would have been so interesting to see how the story would have played out.
I know that, like me, John Locke has been one of your favorite characters. I've tried searching your website to find an essay on him but maybe I'm not looking properly. On a Lost rewatch site that I'm following http://www.lostblog.com the consensus seems to be that John Locke was being manipulated by MIB/Smoke Monster from the get go, and they see him as often really creepy. I do remember him encountering the Smoke Monster, but I always had seen him as the one who trusted the Island and wanted to do it's will. Perhaps within that he was at times used by MIB, but Jack paid him tribute in the finale when he told MIB that John Locke had it right all along, and he should have listened to him. Do you have any thoughts about this…and if you have written any essays about John Locke can you point me in that direction on your website? Thanks.
July 4th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Hi Fritzie,
You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the essay.
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July 4th, 2010 at 12:36 am
Hi Diane,
Thank you for your kind words.
I have written more about John Locke than any other Lost character. You can find 25 of my Lost essays here:
http://www.sl-lost.com/page/3/?s=Pearson+Moore
The ones that pertain to Locke are here:
http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/02/14/impartial-ris...
http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/02/07/magnificence-...
http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/02/18/prime-candida...
http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/02/28/mirror-mirror...
http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/06/06/the-measure-o...
A lot of what I wrote were musings on the resurrection or reincarnation of John Locke. I interpreted the Canton-Rainier (anagram for reincarnation) truck to be a reference to the real Locke, and I thought he would return sometime toward the end of Season Six. You'll have to kind of read around these passages, but they do contain some of my thoughts on Locke and his importance to the story.
Enjoy!
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July 4th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Thanks so much for the links. I know I'll enjoy reading them.
July 6th, 2010 at 12:56 am
The apparent cause was Jack’s drinking and his jealousy over Kate’s feelings for Sawyer. But these were not the real causes. Jack had long known of Kate’s attraction to Sawyer, and had even been willing to let go his own feelings for Kate. His nature was not possessive and jealous. – I'm not too sure about this… Sure he may have accepted that Kate was attracted to Sawyer but he expected that to dissipate after years of not being on the island.
In the episode, “Something Nice Back Home”, Kate asked Jack to just trust her and he yelled and repeatedly demanded that she tell him where she was and who she was with… In the real world, this controlling behaviour would be a sign of abuse and is definitely a sign of possessiveness and insecurity.
When Kate tells him, she was doing something for Sawyer. He doesn't care that she tells him that it has nothing to do with them showing distrust. Jack's jealousy is shown with this line, “But he's not here, is he? No. No, he made his choice. He chose to stay. I'm the one who came back. I'm the one who's here. I'm the one who saved you.” Basically he's putting Sawyer down to lift his ego up because if I recall, Sawyer jumped to save them all.
July 6th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Hi Mik,
Thank you for joining the discussion.
My take on Jack's off-Island behaviour is that he was in the midst of a deep struggle between his life-long appeal to science as the measure of all things, and the new, competing notion that the most important aspects of life had to be based on qualities that could not be quantified or even entirely understood. His mind was reeling and he ended up doing and saying things he would not otherwise have done or said. He was able to give up drugs and alcohol once he resolved to return to the Island. He would not have resorted to chemical stimulation if he had committed his life to faith in the Island. In the same way, he would not have created an argument with Kate if his life had been in order. He didn't argue with her once they were back on the Island. Thanks again for your comments!
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July 6th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Love this but…i don't know, There's some points.
You said Kate didn't run from the man she loved but she did. She didn't love her enough to stay and die with him like Jin did. Aaron and Claire was much important to her so she went with them. It would have been so easy to ask Sawyer to take care of Aaron as he did for Clementine and stay with Jack on island, even Hurley and Ben did it but Kate…nope. Jack didn't need to stay on island too, his job was over. He could have left with Kate but he chose destiny over her. So…Kate said she loves him but her action didn't seem to go that way.
He didn't ague with Kate once he was on island it's because he was all about destiny and care much more about this than about Kate…
I'm not a Jack hater myself, but i do think that Jack could be possessive and jealous on relationship and it wasn't bacause of the island and everything. He acted the very same way he did with Sarah than with Kate in 410. He couldn't trust her, he was jealous when he heard about Sawyer because he knew Kate's feeling about him. He was jealous with Sarah when he thought she was seeing another man because he couldn't let her go, he was scared to fail. So i still think jealousy is a side of Jack, we saw it couple of times before he went back to the island. I just HATE the way he treats her on that scene, i HATE how he's just abusive and how he never really accepted her past, how he was never here for her off island when she just begun to take care of a newborn…
Anyway lol we're talking about Kate here lol. I think whatever we can say, her ending was one of the most powerful because others character hardly had closure like she did. We left the island alive and with Claire, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, etc when she wanted Claire to be back with Aaron. She killed the bad guys and saved everyone. YES she didn't run from MIB this time =P. I do think she could have a life with Sawyer off island because of all the hints through the season. I don't think because she said to Jack she missed him it means that she never made her life with another man and stayed alone for the rest of her life…That would be sad, no matter if she's happy after been dead because, i mean, no one knows about the afterdeath…the only think we knows, it's life! For me it's more important =P
Sorry for my bad english lol. Not the biggest Kate's fan here but i like her. You did a great post!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Hi Audrey815,
Thank you for this excellent response!
You bring up a number of terrific discussion points, and they deserve a lengthy response. I have in the works a first essay on Jack Shephard, and it ought to address most if not all of the points you've brought up here. As a way of introduction, you might scrutinise the “Kate's World 2004″ illustration above, which I will be using and expanding upon in the Jack article. If you look carefully, you will see two-headed arrows between Kate and Jack and Kate and Sawyer, but the arrow from Kate to Claire and Aaron points up only. This was intentional. We are discussing two very different kinds of love here–reciprocal and all-giving (altruistic or agape love). Kate and Jack had reciprocity, but Kate/Claire is all-giving from Kate to Claire. You can probably guess that Jack's love diagram is going to have the Island at the top. This is where I am going with the discussion, and I hope to have the first installment completed next Sunday afternoon. Thanks again for a *great* response and addition to the discussion!
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July 7th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I've been enjoying your earlier essays. The one about 7 being a perfect number was interesting to me, because I recently came across a symbol used in China, which is also the Dharma Initiative logo. In China 8 is an auspicious number (that's why the Chinese wanted the Olympics in August). The number 4 is considered unlucky and 15 is an important number too. I have no idea if these numbers have anything to do with Lost, but they were all numbers of candidates. Here's a link to the feng shui symbol.
http://j.mp/aVKhKO
I look forward to your post about Jack.
July 7th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Hi Diane,
Thanks for the feedback about 7. Lost ended with 6 being a much more important number, all the way through the series. I don't know if special meaning attaches to 6. Perhaps 6 is meant to indicate being Lost, being short of perfection somehow.
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July 8th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
I did a quick google search, and the number six does have significant meaning in numerology and Hinduism. Here's just a bit of what I found.
In numerology
Six: The symbolism behind number Six is legend. With Venus as its ruler, Six represents harmony, balance, sincerity, love, and truth. Six naturally reveals solutions for us in a calm, unfolding manner. We invoke the Six when we need delicate diplomacy when dealing with sensitive matters. The spiritual meaning of number Six also deals with enlightenment; specifically “lighting” our path in areas we require spiritual and mental balance. Sixes beckon us to administer compassion and consciously choose forgiveness in a situation.
Link to meanings of numbers in Hinduism.
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/numbers.asp
I think there was a lot of influence of Eastern spirituality in Lost, maybe even more than specifically Christian. In any case, sorting through it all could take a lifetime, and at that it would only be our own interpretation. It's fun to speculate, though.
July 8th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Hi Diane,
Thanks for looking up this very useful information on number six. I may have a bit more to say about this in next weekend's article on Jack's journey. The numbers certainly are a rich part of our favourite show!
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July 17th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
lovely, lovely, lovely, Pearson.
I have always adored Kate, and you've given words to my intuitive sense that there was more to her than meets the eye, and that she was very, very important in the Story of the Island. Love the thought that she was needed on the Island to finally defeat the Smoke Monster, though very ironic that Smokey in the form of Christian led Claire to leave Aaron in Kate's hands, which is what would bring her back to eventually destroy him. Such great insight about her relation to Sam, Tom, Dianne and Wayne being like Claire and Aaron, Jack, Ed and Sawyer. And so tear-jerking that the only thing that made her stop running was motherhood, and feeling empathy for Claire who was separated from Aaron not for 36 seconds but 36 months – brilliant. She always made me cry more often than any other character – every time her eyes watered up, mine did too! Especially that episode where she realized where Cassidy made her realized that Aaron didn't need Kate, but rather SHE needed HIM. and then her deciding to go back in order to right that wrong. her final goodbye to Aaron leaves me sobbing everytime…ah, Kate I miss you!
thanks for bringing such beautiful insight to her and helping us relive some forgotten elements of such a great character!
July 18th, 2010 at 1:42 am
Hi Jen,
I'm glad you enjoyed the essay! It was puzzling to me that the MIB (in Christian's form) would leave Aaron there for Sawyer to find. That incident and several others didn't make sense at all if Christian was the MIB. So a few weeks ago I proposed something radical: Christian Shephard is Christian Shephard. The MIB never took his form. You can read it here: http://www.sl-lost.com/2010/06/13/white-rabbit-...
I hope you enjoy “Born on the First of July”!
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July 25th, 2010 at 8:57 am
i am stunned by your analysis on Kate, Pearson ,
as for the love story Darlton made up for her, it was just Alice's “white rabbit” after your great analysis it seems like Kate was destined to have such a course in her life… all of her actions including the triangle appear so accurate and normal from your aproach…
finding who you are and getting along with it is one of the great purposes in life, and the island played significant role in finding herself among many others too…
July 25th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Hi Mand1as,
Thank you for your very kind comments. Kate certainly was a rare creation, and a rare pleasure for us in being able to see this complex character's story unfold.
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November 2nd, 2010 at 4:11 am
[Hi Rams,
I'm glad to know you enjoyed the article. We know Kate devoted her life to Claire and Aaron and didn't get together with Sawyer. She and Claire were the only two sitting next to each other on the Ajira plane as they left the Island.]
No one knows for certain whether Kate had devoted her life to Claire and Aaron. No one even knows what happened to her after she reached the States. Kate had jumped bailed. Chances are she was facing jail time for her actions, unless a lawyer found a way to make certain that she would stay out of prison. And Claire had a chance to return home to her mother and Aaron in Australia. What was Kate going to do? Remain in Australia, without being found out by the authorities? I don’t see that happening.
November 2nd, 2010 at 4:13 am
By the way, I don’t think that Kate was fully redeemed at the end the series. Certainly not when she left the island on the Ajira jet. Look, . I don’t hate Kate anymore. I stopped hating her when she finally admitted to Claire that it was wrong of her to claim Aaron as her son.
But I have to point something out. I don’t blame Diane Austen for calling the police on Kate. Kate had WRONGED her . . . terribly. Yes, Wayne was an abusive husband. But Diane loved him, for better or worse. Kate HAD NO RIGHT in killing him. Kate didn’t kill Wayne to protect her mother. She killed him, due to her own insecurities when she found out that he was her real father.
Kate had wronged Diane badly. And I think that losing Jack in the end was cosmic payback for killing her father and not expressing any remorse for her actions.
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:19 pm
[Sawyer, finding the baby, became the temporary and quite flustered guardian. Kate, deprived of a real mother in her own childhood, could not bear the thought of any child being forced to grow up without a loving mother. Now, before her very eyes, was the baby she had brought into the world. Had Claire abandoned him? Could she not face the responsibilities of motherhood? Kate knew all about irresponsible mothers. She wouldn’t allow Aaron to face the kind of childhood she had been forced to endure.]
Again, you’re making excuses for Kate. It’s becoming a bad habit. Kate claimed Aaron for herself out of pure selfishness. She used Aaron to make up for the loss of Sawyer. She pretty much admitted this in Season Five. The Oceanic Six could have made an effort to find Aaron’s family. They didn’t. If they had, Aaron would have been with his grandmother.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:33 am
You are probably going to take this the wrong way, but I have to say it. I think you’re too much in love with the character of Kate Austen. You’re either in love with the character, with the actress Evangeline Lilly or with both. And I believe that this infatuation is blinding you from the truer aspects of the character.
I will confess that I used to dislike Kate. My my dislike came from the way many fans made excuses or turned a blind eye to her faults. Yes, I found her rather flaky and morally questionable. But almost all of the characters were like that. I could not stomach the fans’ tendency to make excuses for her murder of Wayne Jensen and her claim that Aaron Littleton was her son. She did the right thing by Aaron when she finally handed him over to his grandmother, Carole Littleton; and when she finally admitted that she had been wrong to raise Aaron. I don’t think she had managed to completely rise above all of her morally questionable acts. Although she admitted to herself in “What Kate Did” that the only reason she murdered Wayne was because she could not endure the idea of him being her biological father, she never expressed any remorse. Not even by the end of the series. And I feel that is why that Jack’s death was the price she paid for her actions and lack of remorse.
But getting back to my original comment. I think you suffered too much from some kind of infatuation of Kate. You tend to praise her excessively. And like many others, you’re still making excuses (on a certain level) for her actions regarding Wayne Jensen and Aaron Littleton. I don’t think I can take anything you say about Kate with a grain of salt. Not now. Who know? Hopefully, you will one day stop paying lip service to Kate’s flaws and learn to examine her character with a more objective eye.
April 6th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
["Wayne Janssen was almost all Kate understood of “normal”, but as she grew into a woman, she knew something was not quite right about her father’s relationship with her mother. Diane’s face not infrequently bore the signs of struggle: bruises, scratches, a black eye, a bloodied nose. She knew Wayne was responsible, and she intended to give her mother the gift of a normal life without her abusive husband."]
This is utter crap. I’m sorry, but you are FOOLING YOURSELF. You’re trying to say that Kate had murdered Wayne Jensen on her mother’s behalf. Get over it and watch “What Kate Did” again. Kate made it perfectly clear that the only person she was benefiting with Wayne’s murder was herself. Why? Because she could not stand the idea of him being her father.
September 15th, 2011 at 3:48 am
It looks to me that this web site doesn