Catch A Falling Star: Kate Learns the Meaning of Sacrifice on "Lost"

"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again. It doesn't necessarily do it in chronological order, though." - Douglas Adams

Last night's episode of Lost ("Whatever Happened, Happened"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, revealed the fate of the wounded Ben and fleshed out just what happened to lost boy Aaron as well as the promise that Kate made to Sawyer before he sacrificed his spot on the helicopter bound for safety. (Both of which I had predicted a while back.)

Far more surprising in this week's installment was the dynamic shift in the relationships between Sawyer, Jack, Kate, and Juliet. I'm not referring to any romantic entanglements but the bonds of allegiance and loyalty, which were severely tested by Jack's decision not to help the wounded twelve-year-old Benjamin Linus, a decision which will likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

So slip on your Dharma jumpsuit, crank up the Geronimo Jackson, and let's discuss "Whatever Happens, Happens."

Kate. I'm glad that this episode was a Kate-centric one. She's been a bit of a ghostly presence so far on this season of Lost, concealing deep pools of regret and guilt behind her usually limpid eyes. Mommyhood has changed this bad girl in ways that go beyond the surface. Her absolute terror when Aaron disappears in the supermarket speaks to more than just the normal fear that a mother would experience if her son suddenly vanished: in fact it points to the fact that, throughout her time off-island, Kate has been waiting for that very moment when Aaron is seized from her. Raising Aaron went against the natural order of things; she was never meant to have him and the island--or Life, in general--has a way of restoring the balance. She was never meant to have Aaron forever, no matter how much she needed him in her life, no matter how much she craved having a Purpose and it's only right that he should be with his grandmother Carol Littleton in the end. (After all, she's known for quite some time where Carol is staying, thanks to Ben.)

I loved the fact that Kate sang "Catch A Falling Star" to Aaron; after all, it's the song that Claire told a set of prospective adoptive parents that she wanted the lullaby sang to him and it also popped up on that mobile in The Staff. A nice touch that speaks volumes about Claire's influence, even after her disappearance on the island. And did anyone else think it was completely intentional that the woman in the supermarket who found Aaron looked suspiciously like Claire from behind? Could it be that it's been guilt about leaving Claire behind and raising her son as her own that's been eating away at Kate?

I also loved that Kate befriended Roger Linus and donated blood to the wounded Ben, as well as forming a bond with Juliet that wasn't based around Sawyer or any sort of rivalry. It's clear that both of these women respect one another and that their relationship would evolve into a sisterhood that strives to save the life of a child rather than arguing over a man points to the fact that Lost develops its female characters far more convincingly and three-dimensionally than most series.

This week also featured a nice reunion between Kate and con woman/former con victim Cassidy (Kim Dickens), who also happens to be the mother of Sawyer's daughter Clementine. I've been waiting to see just what would happen if the two women loved (and, according to Cassidy, abused) by Sawyer met up again. Here, Cassidy isn't a rival for Sawyer's affections but a genuine friend to Kate, despite her feeling that Sawyer's sacrifice wasn't that in the end, but a means to jilt Kate and leave her for good. Kate, for her part, confides the truth about what happened on the island to Cassidy; it's an unburdening for Kate and a safe haven. It's clear that over the course of the three years, these two women become very close, even if Cassidy can't figure out why Kate would want to return to the island. She sees a very different side of Sawyer than Kate does... and Juliet loves a much different Sawyer than Kate did.

Ben. Can one's innocence be stripped away like a discarded piece of clothing? It was patently obvious that young Ben (or as one reader called him Ben12) would survive Sayid's shooting. After all, his dying would create a rip in the space-time continuum that would destroy the universe. But we know that Ben never did die because he is alive and well (at least somewhat) in the future. Did Ben always get shot by Sayid? Yes. Did he survive that attack and grow up to become the Machiavellian master manipulator he is today? Youbetcha. Did he need the help of Juliet, Kate, and Sawyer to do so--and the lack of assistance from Jack--in order to do so? Indeed he did. So desperate is Ben to escape the confines of his life with the Dharma Initiative that he frees Sayid in an effort to join their enemies, so strong is his belief that Richard Alpert has finally sent for him. But Sayid isn't a hostile and Ben12 learns for the first (and possibly last) time that he's been played and gets shot.

In refusing to perform surgery on Ben, Jack is just as culpable as Sayid in creating the monster that Benjamin Linus becomes in the future. Had he acted and not turned his back on his Hippocratic oath, he could have saved Ben, but Jack was never destined to help and so Kate, Juliet, and Sawyer make the ultimate sacrifice, launching a plan to take Ben to the Others and beg Richard Alpert for help. I'm not sure what Richard Alpert will do to Ben in the Temple, other than strip away his "innocence," making him an Other through and through. It is, after all, that very loss of innocence that leads to the Purge of the Dharma Initiative and everything else that happens to the castaways after they arrive on the island.

So what did Kate and Sawyer sacrifice to bring him to Richard? Everything, really: their future happiness, the idyllic community of the Dharma Initiative, their very sanity. In offering Ben to Richard, they know that they've completed the cycle and ensure that everything that happened to them will come to pass. That it's the actions of these two--each parents in their own way to a child--is more than significant. Ben might lose his innocence, but it's a parent's love that ensures that he will live.

Jack. As for Jack, I was absolutely shocked that he would refuse to perform surgery on a child, even if that child would grow up to become their enemy. Has Jack really changed that much that he would let an innocent child die because of the things he'll do as an adult? Has his worldview been clouded that much? Doesn't he realize that by not acting he's actually ensuring that Benjamin Linus the villain will come to pass? It's a wake-up call for Kate as well who sees that Jack has changed and not for the better. "I miss the old you," she says to him before he spits that sentiment back in her face, saying that she didn't like the old him either. (Ouch.) That he would refuse both Kate and Juliet's pleas for help show just how much of his leadership role among the castaways he's lost. Is it a fitting revenge to not perform surgery on Ben this time? Perhaps, but a selfish one. Jack listened to Kate once before and saved Ben's life, removing a spinal tumor, in order to save Sawyer's life. Now, when faced with the same dilemma, he chooses not to act at all.

Sawyer and Juliet. I have to say that I am loving these two as a romantic couple. The way with which they look at one another, the understanding between the two, the trust and support is all absolutely heartfelt. Sawyer has changed from the brutish outcast we saw in Season One; over the past three years, he's become a responsible leader, a family man, and a man of convictions. He's, in essence, redeemed himself. That he would not stop Kate at the sonic fence but drive out to help her is proof of that. The old Sawyer would have Ben die. Now, he can't but the reason he helps Kate isn't Kate; it's for Juliet. All of which makes me extremely nervous as happy romantic love can't last very long on this accursed island...

Miles. I squealed with delight at Miles' attempts to explain time travel theory to Hurley (who thinks they are going to disappear a la Back to the Future) while he had the castaways under house arrest. Whatever happened, happened. They can't change the past but they can ensure that the future will happen. They were always "meant" to come to the past; every action they make ensures that the future happens in precisely the way it does and always has. Ben was always shot by Sayid, was always saved by Richard and turned to the dark side, was always protected by Juliet.

But Hurley does raise one interesting point: if Sayid always did shoot Ben12, how come Ben doesn't seem to recognize Sayid when they have him imprisoned in The Swan during Season Two? The answer: because Ben hadn't yet been shot by Sayid yet. Time had yet to loop in on itself, forming a serpentine shape that doubles back on itself instead of running in a straight, linear fashion. Or is it because of Richard's involvement, as he promises that Ben won't remember the shooting? Hmmm...

Ellie and Charles. Given the conversation between Richard Alpert and an unnamed hostile, it's inferred that Ellie Hawking and Charles Widmore have assumed some sort of leadership role within the Others since we last saw them in the 1950s. However, Richard doesn't care what they might think of him taking Ben into The Temple; he says that he doesn't answer to them. So what happens to Ellie and Charles between now in 1977 and the present day remains a mystery of sorts... though it clearly stems from his very moment, in Ben receiving the dark gifts of the Others, and ends with Ben exiling Charles from the island. Hmmm...

Locke. And I loved the scene in which Ben, in the present day, woke up in The Hydra to see John Locke staring back at him. It's clear that he didn't expect to see Locke there, much less alive and well, so the look of shock on his face is palpable. Plus, how awesome was it that Locke got to say, "Welcome to the land of the living"?

All in all, a fantastic installment that set up what looks to be an incredible episode next week in which we'll finally learn what happened to Desmond and Penny, what truly made Ben into the monster he is today, and have him face down the cosmic judgment of the smoke monster in The Temple.

What did you think of this week's episode? Did you think it was absolutely fitting that Jack would refuse to operate? Did you love that Sawyer helped Kate save Ben for the love of Juliet? Just what does Richard do to Ben in The Temple? Discuss.

Next week on Lost ("Dead is Dead"), Ben attempts to summon the smoke monster to atone for sins of the past.