What did I think of the latest LOST episode, “Eggtown”?

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I think this episode was a great episode, but I must say that this episode was the weakest of the season. But that is still saying a lot, because even the weakest episode of LOST, is still stronger than a strong episode of most TV shows out there. I am not ashamed to admit that I am not a Kate fan. I think she is the least evolved character on LOST, and one of the more least interesting characters, in my opinion.

Having said that, I was kind of looking forward to Kate’s flash-forward, as I hoped to finally have the answer that I had been waiting for ever since season 3 concluded with the bang it did. That answer being, who is the “He” that Kate was referring to. I got this answer, all right. In spades!

The episode’s title is also very interesting, as I’m still trying to find my way around it. “Eggtown” - - very interesting title. If anyone has made heads or tails of this title, let me know because I am a total loss. I understand the episode began with eggs but what does that have to do with anything?

This episode began with something that we do not see a whole lot of anymore in the series - - the eye opening sequence. We saw a lot of it in season 1, but we do not see anymore of it in the later seasons. It’s not a bad thing, but I just thought it was a nice bit of nostalgia to see it again.

We are then treated to a wonderful scene with Ben and Locke. This reminded me very much of the many scenes Ben had with Locke in season 2 within the Dharma Initiative Hatch. I think this scene was very compelling to watch. It almost seemed like that same scene once again. I think from the get go you saw that rivalry between Locke and Ben. That rivalry seems to continue on the island to this day. I also think it’s amazing that Ben’s words can still cut Locke to the core. I also think Ben is enjoying watching Locke squirm, as he tries to figure out what to do next.

I think that every episode he is placed in, Locke seems to evolve as a character. It is my opinion that Locke is the most evolved character on this show. It seems that he is changed a lot from the pilot to this episode. We also got to see him kind of stumble in his leadership skills a bit.

Kate’s flash-forward was kind of interesting a bit and actually revealed quite a few things about Kate’s post-island scenario. It seems that for most of her post-island life, she has been fighting hard to beat her charges that were plaguing her when she arrived on the island.

As I stated earlier, the flash-forward revealed who the “He” she was referring to in the season 3 finale. Now, I must confess that before this episode, I thought that the “He” was Sawyer and that Sawyer had gotten off the island with her. But by the time season 4 started, that theory started to dwindle. Then, after the last episode, I thought it might’ve been Ben, and that he was closely monitoring the Oceanic Six.

But I was pleasantly surprised when it was revealed that Kate had a son. This was the reveal that took a whole episode for me to figure out, because I was juggling so many scenarios as to what Kate’s son could be.

Another thing we got to see in this episode was the introduction of Faraday and Charlotte to the castaways on the beach. You could tell that even though Jack was hopeful that they could help them get off the island, there was a little bit of questioning by the other “Lostaways” regarding the intention of the Freighter Gang. Jack refuses to let this kind of thinking pervade his camp, but it almost makes me wonder if more people will defect to Locke’s group before the season ends, and maybe that’s why only Six left the Island.

In this episode, we got to see Kate kind of playing the spy a little bit. One thing that is often a repeated theme in the Kate-centric episodes, and it gets tiring after a while is Kate’s desire to preserve her secret about what she did in her pre-island past. You’d think that she’d want to stay on the island because of this dangerous secret (which is not necessarily a secret anymore, everybody on the island knows), but she does nonetheless.

Also, in Kate’s flash-forward, we saw the second post-island appearance of Jack for the season, as he testified at her trial. I have to say that I love Matthew Fox’s appearances this season as Future Jack. It almost feels that Future Jack is a different character from Present Jack, and has a different character story thay we will follow for the duration of the series. It is probably the main reason why none of the episodes thus far have featured Jack’s post-island story, as we will no doubt follow the character progression of clean-shaven Jack of this and Hurley’s flashback to the bearded Jack we saw in the season 3 finale.

I found it interesting that in the courtroom scene with Jack, that Jack told a different story about how he met Kate on the Island. The story that Jack told was that Kate saved his life, which we know he did of course, but that she saved him in a heroic way of her own accord. This is actually a throwback to the original LOST pilot script, crafted by J.J. Abrams. In that pilot script, Kate was to be the hero, and Jack was going to die, instead of the pilot, in the pilot episode. Jack continues his story by saying that 8 people survived the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, and that 6 escaped. My question to that is - - which 8 people survived? And if they survived, what happened to them? This is obviously a fabricated story, cooked up to simply stop discussion on what REALLY happened on that Island, which I hope we find the answer to relatively quickly (but I totally understand if we didn’t; it is LOST after all). I also know that Jack did not fabricate this story himself. Who created this story? Are there ties to DHARMA? Man, this has me intrigued.

Meanwhile, on the Island, Kate convinces Sawyer to help Ben escape. I have to admit this got me excited. It really was a hearkening back to the earlier seasons of LOST when Kate and Sawyer would teamiup often, thus furthering their budding relationship.

I have to say that the way Sawyer decides to distract Locke was classic! He distracts him with a game of Backgammon, which is another callback to earlier episodes of the series, where he would often play Backgammon against Walt when Walt was on the series.

This scene was also rather touching, as we got to see an honest connection between Locke and Sawyer. We haven’t seen a lot of this connection. Throughout the season, it almost seems as if Sawyer is kind of Locke’s second-in-command through all of this. But I felt there was a strong connection between these two characters, as Sawyer gave Locke strong advice about leadership. Although we know that this little heart-to-heart was part of Kate’s plan to distract Locke, so Miles could have a minute with Ben.

I also got the sense of this honest connection not only on Locke’s part. I think it was also an honest connection on Sawyer’s part. He deliberately asked Locke to protect Kate from any harm. Like I said before, Locke and Sawyer definitely share a connection and I think the connection actually began in the season 3 episode, “The Brig,” when Locke led Sawyer to the original Sawyer.

I think one of the greater scenes of the episode was the scene between Ben and Miles. This scene really revealed a lot about Miles, and what he really wants with Ben. I think that Miles really did do his research when it came to Ben Linus, and knows what he is all about, and what he can “do”. Also, for some strange reason, Miles wants 3.2 million dollars (why that much? 3.3. or 3.4 too much?) from Ben, and will gladly tell his boss (who has spent a lot of time and resources to finding him) that Ben is dead. I thought this scene was particularly well-done. This obviously creates some great tension on Locke’s side of the island.

In the scene that Locke has with Miles was also very well-done. I think it was a great return to form for Locke. At the beginning of the episode and throughout points of this episode, we got to see Locke kind of struggle with his leadership role. But in the scene with Miles, we really got to see Locke kind of take charge with his leadership role. This take-charge kind of attitude really prevailed Locke through much of season 1. It was great to see that attitude prevail again. I almost want to know what is going to become of Miles now that that grenade is in his mouth. Will he die? I don’t think so but I most certainly hope not. The line of that scene was “My name is John Locke and I am responsible for the well-being of this island.” Pure awesomeness. Definitely reminded me of season 1 Locke.

Also, Kate’s scene with Miles was very telling. It is something that I have said from the beginning. I honestly don’t know why some of the “Lostaways” are struggling so hard to get off the island. They honestly don’t have anything to return to. Miles actually kind of inferred that perhaps Kate was already dead off the island, and that she shouldn’t leave the island, but stay.

I want to talk about the other Freighter Ganger that made some interesting reveals: Daniel Faraday. We really saw more of the inside of Faraday’s psyche. I do think that Faraday is some sort of idiot-savant. But going back, I think that something happened to his brain during the journey to the island. I do think this will be furtherly discussed in the next episode of the season. We did see a lot of mental struggle between Charlotte and Faraday.

Another great reveal in this episode was the fact that the Freighter Copter had not made it to the Freighter yet. As I have said in my last review, I do believe that the delay to the Freighter will be discussed and explored in later episodes this season. It shall be very interesting to watch, indeed.

I also find it interesting that Jack could not contact the Freighter when he wanted to. What secrets were blocking the radar on the Freighter? I honestly don’t know what this was all about. But I think it was a way to delay finding out that the Copter had not made it to the Freighter yet. I hate to say that, as I am a huge fan of this show, but that’s the only solution I could think of. I’m sure we will find the answer in a future episode, though.

Also, in this episode, we saw another honest character-connection that we don’t see a lot of and that is the character connection between Claire and Kate. I really thought that Claire and Kate seemed to have a great rapport together. It was actually cool to watch. You could tell that Evangeline Lilly and Emilie DeRavin enjoyed working together, as they didn’t get to work together often. This character-connection was written on purpose to serve the story of the episode, but sometimes when that kind of character connection is written in, it feels forced. But in this case it did not.

While we’re on the subject of character connections, let’s talk about Kate and Sawyer. I honestly think that Sawyer and Kate are done at this point. I honestly don’t see any more of a relationship blossoming between these two. True, Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly have great chemistry, and the writers will try to exploit that. I definitely see that Kate is not interested in pursuing a relationship with Sawyer, as all he wants to is “play house.” When confronted with the issue of a possible child, Sawyer wants to avoid that like the plague. Obviously, Sawyer has his reasons for that, but that’s not good enough for Kate. I think Kate is honestly considering leaving the island and considering possibly having a family on her post-island.

Also, in this episode, Locke banishes Kate from the Barracks and from his camp. He also got information from Kate regarding Miles and what he wants from Ben, which as we know he was able to use against Miles to his advantage.

Now, Kate’s flash-forward continues when Kate’s mom agrees to see Kate, and to not testify against her, but wants to see Kate’s son. The appearance of Kate’s mother definitely felt like a resolution to the previous plot threads regarding Kate’s pre-island “on the run” scenario. It was really touching. There was definitely closure to that plotline with everything that had been going on with her, and we can move on to more interesting plot lines with Kate.

Another interesting thing with Kate is her sentence that she is given. The prosecutor gives Kate a ten-year probation which is to also keep her from leaving the state. I don’t know if any of you caught this, but this also means that Kate will no longer be able to return to the island, when Jack will ask her to in the future. But will Kate’s devotion to Jack put her in danger with the law again when she decides to return with Jack to the island. But Kate seems to be fine with this, either way. Was she using her love for her son to stop her from returning to the island?

I think another scene in the flash-forward that I particularly enjoyed was the scene with Jack and Kate. I have always been a fan of the Jack and Kate (aka “Jate” for all you shippers) relationship, and I think theirs is the most honest of the relationships in the Sawyer-Jack-Kate triangle. It made me smile to see that Jack and Kate still have that honestly, love, and openness with their relationship even after four years. I think Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly have great chemistry onscreen, and even though I am not a shipper, I honestly hope they get together in this series.

In the final reveal of the episode, it is revealed that Kate’s son that she was so adamant not make an appearance in court, and that her mother not see is actually Aaron! This twist actually threw me for a loop. Throughout the episode, we knew that Kate had a son. In previous episodes, this was hinted that Kate was possibly pregnant, so I had originally thought that the son was Kate and Sawyer’s. Then, in the aforementioned scene with Jack and Kate, the dialogue led me to believe that the son was Jack and Kate’s. When the son was actually revealed, the child did bear a striking resemblance to Sawyer. But when Kate called her son “Aaron,” I couldn’t believe it. So how did Kate come upon this child? It is my belief that Claire will be one of the survivors to die on the island. We have heard that people will die on the island, and I think Claire will be one of them. I think that is why Kate and Claire are so close. I think throughout the remains of their stay on the island, Claire will die, and pass her baby to Claire. Or will Claire indeed die and Kate will just take the baby as her own? Or will Kate just take the baby anyway? But I am sticking to my “Claire’s gonna die theory.” It’s the most plausible in my opinion. I thought this was an amazing plot twist and definitely gives Kate a reason to stay off the island when Jack will beg her to return.

This episode was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Gregory Nations. Gregory Nations made his writing debut with this episode, but Elizabeth Sarnoff has co-written many favorite episodes of mine with other writers (The Man Behind The Curtain, The Hunting Party, Stranger In A Strange Land). So this episode did soar a bit on the writing side.

The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, who also directed this season’s follow-up episode, Confirmed Dead, but also directed the Juliet-centric episode, Not In Portland. So he is a very stunning director and can make a LOST episode look really good.

This episode was a very interesting one, and as I said, was one of the weaker episodes of the season, but that is only because I am not a huge fan of the Kate-centric episodes. I did think it was very well done, though. It still moved the season in a nice forward direction and left many questions along with providing answers with its lovely flash-forward. It also seemed to be very character-driven with all the action. I think these character-driven episodes can work because the characters are so well-defined and sympathetic.

RATING: 7/10