Lost 3.15: "Left Behind"

Written by Damon Lindelof and Elizabeth Sarnoff
Directed by Karen Gaviola

In which the Others abandon their barracks, leaving Kate and Juliet in the middle of the island, while Hurley tries to help Sawyer raise his stock among the survivors…

Status Report

Of all the prominent characters on “Lost”, the least effective has been Kate. Jack, Locke, Sawyer, and Sayid all have clearly defined roles and deep, tortured pasts. All of them have heroic qualities, but they are caught up in the negativity of their own psychological issues. Kate’s past, on the other hand, started out very dark and then seemed to be softened in “What Kate Did”, leaving her motivations muddled at best and contradictory at worst.

One problem with Kate is that her role doesn’t seem to be well-defined. Jack is the tortured warrior chieftain. Locke is the embattled mystic shaman. Sawyer is the roguish merchant prince. Sayid is the conflicted tribal sheriff. The characters are more complex than the short description would indicate, but the archetypes are represented. Kate is often central to the story, but she doesn’t fall into any defined category. She’s supposed to be vital and important in some way, but her contribution beyond “object of desire” is far from clear.

Part of the problem is that the writers quickly established a love triangle between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Kate’s path to personal redemption was defined by her ability to facilitate Jack or Sawyer on their own journeys. The trials and tribulations within the love triangle made this mutual redemptive path far more difficult, and much of the early promise seems to have eroded.

The point is that Kate lacks clear motivation as a character, which makes it difficult to understand the root of her decisions and reactions. In fact, one can look at this episode in particular and realize that the entire story is about how Kate is manipulated. Her role is remarkably passive; Juliet is clearly the one in charge, even in moments of apparent weakness.

The purpose of the flashback is simple. Kate recalls a time when she was on her own, emotionally abandoned, and another woman came to her rescue. Cassidy had recently been conned by Sawyer (something Kate doesn’t know), which left her feeling useless. Helping Kate with her problem was a way to overcome those feelings of self-depreciation.

Kate feels responsible, on some level, for ruining Jack’s chance to leave the island, despite all her best intentions. It doesn’t seem to matter that Ben and the Others had contrived the situation that led to that circumstance; Kate feels responsible. And that gives Juliet the opportunity to use Kate’s guilt against her. Juliet makes the case that Jack was broken by the sight of Kate and Sawyer in post-coital bliss, and on some level, that’s true. It’s also true that Juliet had offered to conspire against Ben with Jack, giving him further incentive make the sacrifice play. Still, Kate doesn’t know that, and her reaction to Juliet’s accusation hit her right on the chin.

Juliet’s gambit is very simple. She needs to survive, and that means forging as much of a relationship with someone other than Jack as possible. Knowing as much as she does about Kate (as suggested by her in-depth knowledge of Jack’s dossier), she probably understood how best to manipulate Kate into letting her return to the beach with them. As it stood, there were only three votes, and she knew Sayid would happily leave her behind.

Most likely, Juliet requested that she and Kate be left out in the jungle, handcuffed and forced to work together to survive. She played at being in a subservient role, pushing Kate every so often to gauge response and adjust tactics. The encounter with the “monster” may have been intentional, but there’s just as much chance that it was a calculated risk. Juliet’s eventual solution to that problem forced a confession of her gambit. While that could have backfired, it was enough to ensure that Kate wouldn’t raise any major objections.

Speaking of the encounter with the “monster”, those scenes revealed some interesting information about what the Dharma Initiative must have known. Either the “monster” was already there, or they created that “security system” upon arrival. Whatever the case, the perimeter system keeps the “monster” out, which may have been the intention all along. Using it as a defense against the “hostiles” may have been a side benefit, for as long as that lasted.

Juliet appears to be honest when she claims ignorance as to the nature of the “monster”; her reaction to its initial attack appeared to be a ruse intended to determine what Kate and her people might known about its origins. Was this Juliet’s first experience with the “monster”, prompting it to “read” her as it read Eko back in “Psalm 23”? One might also wonder if that was similar to Locke’s initial experience.

In terms of Locke, he certainly appears to be working with the Others. Ben might have convinced Locke that he was even one of them, wrongly labeled as not one of the “good people”. It wouldn’t be hard to convince Locke, given his inflated sense of destiny. Telling him about Kate (and potentially Jack and Sayid) might have been a part of that manipulation. Ben is an expert at manipulation, which doesn’t bode well for Locke.

Back at the beach, there’s a different kind of manipulation at work, and it’s somewhat less probable. Hurley convinces Sawyer that he’ll be kicked out of the tribe unless he starts making nice, and Sawyer falls for it completely. This doesn’t make sense initially, because he’s supposed to be a lot smarter than that, especially when it comes to cons. Looking back, of course, Sawyer seems to have some trouble figuring out Hurley.

Even if one grants the possibility that Sawyer would fall for Hurley’s trick under normal circumstances, it’s ludicrous to think that he would struggle with “making nice”. He’s a con artist; charisma and false sincerity comes with the territory. Sawyer would never need Hurley’s help to “make amends”, if he truly felt that his likelihood (such as it is) was at stake.

In terms of his leadership potential, however, Hurley is correct. Hurley is generally the type that sees what must be done, but lacks the confidence to do it himself. So he weighs the options and makes the best move possible. Sawyer is as good a choice as any for a leadership role, because he has the best eye for resources. It’s just a question of convincing him to think of the entire group’s viability instead of just his own. Done correctly, this would be an interesting evolution for Sawyer, since it would represent a major step towards possible redemption.

This is effectively a transitional episode, bringing the complication phase of the season arc towards a close and planting the seeds for the resolution phase. If the usual patterns apply, that process will begin in the next episode with Jack’s return to the beach with Juliet. That could be the right moment for Kate’s misgivings to be aired, and as such, this episode is relevant. It might have been better, however, if Kate’s motivations were clarified along the way.

Final Analysis

Overall, this episode is mostly transitional, offering some minor revelations while moving the story towards something far more substantial. The character at the center of the episode continues to have a lack of definition, and that takes something away from the episode as a whole. The subplot also falls somewhat short, leaving this a relatively average episode.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10

(Season Average: 7.5)