1.22 Born to Run

Charlie approaches Kate, strumming his guitar, excited that when he gets rescued, DriveShaft is going to be extremely popular. Kate seems less excited about getting rescued.

Arzt, a teacher and self-appointed expert on wind and monsoons, tells the raft people that they have basically missed the chance to leave with the winds blowing north. If they leave now, not only will it be the dangerous monsoon season, but they will be blown south to Antarctica.

Kate tells Michael that she is coming on the raft, but Michael says it is full. Kate tries to convince Michael that she is a better sailor than Sawyer. When that doesn’t work, she intimates that Walt should stay behind because of the dangers. Michael is having none of it, however.

Sun asks Jin if he is going on the raft. Jin says he is, and Sun, disappointed, walks away.

Sayid has brought Jack out into the jungle without telling him why. They meet Locke there, and Locke leads them to the hatch. Locke (and Boone) have excavated around it, revealing more of the structure and shape.

Apparently, Kate’s needling has gotten to Michael. When Sawyer asks some pointless questions about the salted fish that Jin is bringing, Michael tells him that maybe he is the wrong person to go. Sawyer finds out his replacement is Kate and confronts her. Sawyer tells her he knows she was the Marshall’s prisoner, but the secret is safe with him. Kate tells him that she will take his spot on the raft if she really wants it.

Jin and Michael are putting the finishing touches on the raft. Michael looks ill and suddenly doubles over with abdominal pain. Walt finds Kate who tries to find Jack.

Jack questions Locke as to why he knew about it for three weeks without telling someone. Locke throws it back at Jack, asking him why he withheld knowledge of the guns. Jack wants to open the hatch, believing that it will provide shelter and possibly supplies. Sayid is against it, suggesting that because of the lack of a handle, it was not meant to be opened from the outside.

Despite Michael’s need to launch the raft tomorrow, he is in severe pain and is ordered by Jack to lie down. Jack finds that someone has put something in Michael’s water to make him sick.

Hurley, Jack, and Locke are discussing who might have poisoned Michael, when Hurley lets slip that Kate was a fugitive.

Charlie plays the guitar and the baby sleeps in its cot. Claire tries to cut Charlie’s bobbing head. He asks her what she will do first when she is rescued, and tells her she can stay with him in L.A.

Jack asks Kate if she poisoned Michael. Kate is appalled that Jack would think she is capable of something like that.

Walt visits Locke to tell him that he did not poison Michael. When Locke touches him, Walt senses something, and tells Locke not to open ‘that thing’.

Michael believes that Sawyer poisoned him. When he kicks Sawyer off the raft, Sawyer retaliates by exposing Kate as a criminal. He grabs her backpack and empties the contents in front of a group of people and finds the partially burned passport of Joanna, the woman who drowned. Kate admits that she was the prisoner of the Marshall and says that she will be going to jail when she gets back. Michael gives back her passport, and everyone walks away, leaving her alone on the beach to gather up the contents of her backpack.

Jack confronts Sun, realizing that she was the one who poisoned Michael, in a misguided attempt to poison Jin and stop him from possibly dieing on the raft.

Walt tells Michael that he burned the original raft. When Michael says that he and Walt can stay on the island, Walt is convinced that they cannot.

Kate and Sun lament about their shared and shattered dream of finding the man they love and being happy forever.

Kate’s backstory flashback:

Somewhere in a midwestern setting, a blonde woman stops at a motel and checks the numerous license plates in the trunk of her car. She steals a towel and some shampoo from the cleaning lady, and grabs a free room for a shower. In the shower, her hair color and body dirt washes away; now we see it is Kate. She gets a letter she was expecting, goes back to her car, and cries.

Kate is at a hospital to visit her friend Diane, who is dieing of cancer. But the room is guarded by a cop. Kate asks a doctor friend Tom for help. He arranges to get an MRI for Diane. Kate convinces Tom to drive to an obscure location and dig up something they buried a long time ago – a time capsule from about 15 years ago, when they were teenagers in love and thought they had a future together. They share one kiss, and then drive away.

Kate gets a chance to spend a few moments in the hospital with Diane, who we find out is her mother. But when her mother recognizes her, she cries for help. Kate backs away and when a security guard tries to detain her, she knocks him out. Her friend Tom pursues her and jumps in the car with her, trying to convince her not to run. But she leaves at high speed, and, when she crashes the car, Tom is killed.

Comments

The raft is ready to go now, with Michael, Walt, Jin, and Sawyer the scheduled passengers, unless something happens to change that.

We keep learning more and more about Kate’s backstory, yet we are going to need to go back even further to find out why her own mother was so fearful of her.

Is there a correlation between Kate and Tom’s buried time capsule, and the contents of the buried container on the island?

Memorable Moments

• Jack and Locke’s discussions about who told what to who and when

Quotable Quotes

Jack: My god! What is this thing?
Locke: Exactly.

Sawyer: But just so you know: no way in hell you’re getting my spot on that raft.
Kate: Hey Sawyer! I want your spot…I’ll get your spot.

Locke: What did she do?
Jack: I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?
Locke: And you didn’t think the others should know about this, Jack?
Jack: Discretion, John.

Walt: I’m the one that burnt the raft. I didn’t want to leave, and I thought I could stop you. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, dad.
Michael: Hey, it’s okay, man. We can stay here, you and me. We do have to go.
Walt: Yes we do.