"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Friday, May 25, 2007

Lost New Questions: 3. Who's Waiting for Kate?

One of Infinite Regress's readers - muneeb - brought this up in a comment he made to Question 2, and it's certainly something I - and I'm sure most of you - have been thinking about:

Who is Kate talking about, when she tells Jack that "he's gonna be wondering where I am," in the very last, heart-rending scene of the finale?

(What a scene - I've watched it a bunch of times now, and it's even more powerful each time...)

Let's do the Holmes, and eliminate the impossible: "he's" no woman, and not Jack (again, assuming we're not in alternate universes with two Jacks).

What's left? Well, first, "he" is either someone we know now, or do not know.

It certainly could be either, but from our standpoint, someone we already know is the more fun direction....

The number-one choice for that would of course be Sawyer. We know Kate already loves him, or feels something for him. It may not be as much as she feels for Jack, but it's real enough. And she could be carrying Sawyer's baby...

Who else could it be from the island? Not Ben, not Hurley, or Bernard. Not likely Locke, either. Possibly Sayid - but that would be a long shot. Sayid loved Shannon and still loves Nadia. And we've seen no chemistry between Kate and Sayid so far... Desmond would be the same kind of long shot as Sayid - Desmond presumably still loves Penny.... Not Jin, either, unless Sun were dead - and even then, Jin would be grieving for her.

But here's another possible factor: The assumption that we're making, so far, is that the "he" is romantically connected to Kate, in some way. Let's say it's a "he" that's not? Let's say Rose died, and Kate is taking care of Bernard - he might be wondering where she is.

Here's an even wilder possibilty - this one is not mine, I came across it somewhere on the web (I think on Lostwiki) - the "he" is Kate's baby. By which man? Sawyer - that would be the most likely. But the baby could be Jack's, and he doesn't know it's his ....

For that matter, the "he" could be someone else's baby or toddler - Claire's (Aaron) or Sun and Jin's ....

All interesting possibilities. Sawyer is clearly the best, most obvious choice.

But as we've seen many times, Lost doesn't go for the obvious....

Useful links:

Lost New Questions: 1. How Far in the Future? ... 2. Who's In the Coffin? ... 4. Who Is Naomi's Boss? ... 5. Is Mikhail Immortal? ... 6. What Constitutes Reliable Evidence? ... 7. Are the Flashforwards Desmond's Flashes?

Lost Season 3 Finale ... Flashforwards

Lost: Keys to What's Really Going On


And see also Lost's Back Full Paradoxical Blast: Season 4 Episode 1






The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

The way that I read in to their discussion, it seemed like Kate needed to leave because she was meeting with Jack. Jack, specifically, that is, and not just that she was out of time. Even looking in to where they met - there was an implication that they'd met there before.

What it left me with was that at some point, Jack & Kate (off island or even on) were involved in a romantic affair together, and Kate is now past it. This leads me to believe that there's only two people we know of anymore that might be upset with Kate for meeting Jack: Sawyer, and her previous boyfriend (the police officer).

Can any of us really imagine Kate & Sawyer going shopping for a Volvo?

Anonymous said...

See my take on the finale at http://mytvmusings.com/2007/05/26/lost-finale/

Paul Levinson said...

Good analysis, Dave.

Sawyer's a great example of why Lost is so good: he's the most obvious in this case, which also makes it unlikely that he'll be the one.

And you're right, too, about the Volvo.

But, if not Sawyer, then I think the next most likely is someone we don't currently know...

Anonymous said...

Why immediately rule out Ben?
Ok, everyone hates him, especially kate. But say kate were some kind of contract between Ben and Jack. For example, Ben could intervene with a rescue attempt, but instead agrees to let them all go, if he can have kate.
I'm not really sure where this idea came from- it was just my first instinct. would love to hear your thoughts.

Paul Levinson said...

Well, I wouldn't say Ben is as impossible as Jack (for which we'd need two Jacks, in the finale...)

But, yeah, Kate could be staying with Ben to fulfill some sort of deal ... but, on the other hand, given her strength of will, I can't really see that, either... She'd sooner kill Ben, unless he was holding someone she loved hostage ... but that didn't really seem to be the case in that last scene ... she didn't say "he's" with loathing...

Ben could only work if somehow he proved himself to have been trying to help people Kate loved ...

But, even then, I can't see Kate loving or even living with Ben ...

lerkey said...

Going along with what I posted in "Who's in the coffin?" Could it be Sawyers Child? I share this theory with others. I've read someone de-bunking this theory, because an infant would not be wondering where its mother is. Maybe true, but Mothers also miss their babies even when gone for a shot period of time, and say things like that. It's also a good excuse to get out of hanging with Jack, which clearly to me, looked like they had made an agreement never to see each other for some reason or another.

Paul Levinson said...

Good analysis - I agree that "he" could even be an infant, and when Kate says he'll be wondering where I am, she's speaking generally, metaphorically - about "his" emotional state - and not his literal thought process.

So we can't rule out that possibility.

Anonymous said...

After Sawyer, my immeadiate guess about this has always been her child. Whch would be a rather interesting spin!

Karen said...

Some clues we might think about:

It seemed to me that Kate had asked Jack not to call her anymore. Listen to the phone conversation. I think he says, "Yeah, I know what you said, but I really have to see you."

They meet in a covert location where they have met before, and seemingly had basically the same converation before. Jack is unhappy with his situation and wants to go back, Kate does not.

I get a "let's not go over this again" vibe from her - they have discussed this ad nauseum and she's sick of hearing the same argument from him.

So - Why the reluctance to see Jack and why the secrecy? Why the hasty and somewhat-guilty exit Kate makes just a few minutes after arriving?

It makes sense if there's a jealous boyfriend or husband waiting for her. I just don't think she was talking about a child. Her mannerism and the "he'll be wondering where I am" sounds like a nervous or guilty woman talking about her love interest.

Alternatively, there's a man who's not her lover but who's got a Svengali-type hold over her and is keeping tabs on her whereabouts. That seems much less likely, however.

Karen said...

I agree that Sawyer's the most obvious choice for who "he" is.

But as we've seen many times, Lost doesn't go for the obvious....

Well, that's true!

Let's turn the question around:
Where's Sawyer?

Possibilities:
1) He's dead - either on the island or in the coffin.

On the island: Doubtful. Seems highly implausible (to me) that TPTB are going to prematurely kill off another main character, not to mention one involved in a very popular storyline (the love triangle). The actor has a huge following, and the character's story remains unresolved (unlike Charlie's). Why kill him off and risk killing off your ratings, too?

In the coffin: No way. Would Sawyer's death have so little affected Kate that she would scoff at the idea of attending his funeral?! Can't imagine that of the Kate we've come to know. Yes, she's different in the future, but not THAT different.

2) He's been left behind on the island.

Again, doubtful: Kate doesn't want to go back. If Sawyer was stuck there, Kate would want to go back to rescue him. This is the woman who's always going back to help someone. Wouldn't she be motivated to go back for the man she was closest to on the island? Unless he stayed voluntarily (which again seems implausible), I can't see her leaving Sawyer stranded.

3) He's off the island but not living with Kate - we'll meet up with him in a S4 flashforward.

Very possible.

4) He's waiting at home for Kate, "wondering" she is.

Plausible: He agrees with Kate that they shouldn’t go back to the island. He doesn't want to entertain Jack's arguments anymore nor does he want Kate to have to. We know he's been jealous of Jack in the past.

Implausible: As Dave says,
Can any of us really imagine Kate & Sawyer going shopping for a Volvo?
Could the con man and the fugitive have settled down on the affluent Westside together? Seems unlikely. But then, outwardly, Kate seemed changed. Could whatever changed her have affected Sawyer similarly?

Paul Levinson said...

Karen - you've put the case for "he" being a romantic/sexual partner very well - and convinced me.

The especially telling piece of evidence you cite is Jack's earlier response to Kate on the phone - you're right that that's clearly not a response to a baby or toddler at home.

So that leaves us with Sawyer as still the most likley - and clearly what the producers want us to think - or someone we don't know at all, with I'd say maybe an outside shot for Sawyer.

But I'm now moving the baby or toddler waiting for Kate to the bottom of the list...

Ben (anyone) have something we may have missed about the baby hypothesis?

Anonymous said...

More about the Baby hypothesis: My friend and I noticed some things supporting this throughout the episodes FF's.

1) When Jack saw Sarah, he got pretty emotional (and please don't say it's because he's still in love with her. That woman is vile and broke his heart!).

2)He teared up when he saw the car accident victims kid in the waiting room.

3) When the car does get into the accident, Jack just kind of... stares at it, until the kid yelling for his mom shakes him out of his stupor and gets him into action.

Then again, I could be looking into it too much.

Paul Levinson said...

Welcome to Infinite Regress, Lindsay.

I think the examples you cite do indeed mean that Jack is especially sensitive to children. But this doesn't mean that Kate has a baby waiting for her at home. It could just mean that Jack feels life is passing him by, or who knows what ....

Actually, it just occurred to me that maybe Jack now knows Claire is his half-sister, and he's more in touch with kids now because of Aaron...

Another good thing to look forward to next year...

Anonymous said...

Paul - Not really, just I thought it would be a pretty good curveball that most people wouldn't have considered. We'll just have to wait ;)

Paul Levinson said...

Ben ... works me for me :)

Anonymous said...

Could also be the ACTUAL husband she ran away from all those years ago. (Nathan Fillion)

Seems they have to lie abut what actually happened on the island, most likely as a deal to be let go to live a 'normal' life.

Kate would need an alias to be able to go freely. Yes?

I'm thinking Hanso agreed to let them all go, naomi was lying about the plane being in the water, and Jack is hailed as hero in the world.

Paul Levinson said...

Good points, all.

Anonymous said...

If there is some form of time travel involved where they somehow are able to right their wrongs of the past (i.e. Jack doesn't rat out his dad so he is alive...) It could be Kate's childhood love that died accidentally when he was shot while she was trying to escape the hospital... Gotta love this show - makes your head spin with the possibilities.

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