Lost: What Kate Does

Last night’s episode of Lost has my mind spinning with theories about the meaning of the show. Instead of rehashing the details of the episode (if you are reading this you probably already saw it), I am going to write about what I think things mean.

GIANT CHESS GAME

The most disturbing element of the episode for me came at the end when we see Claire taking on the role of Danielle Rouseau. Claire apparently has been prowling the island with her shotgun, setting traps for people and living in the jungle by herslef.

My theory on this is that if the Losties are pawns in a big universal game of Chess, then just as players need pawns, rooks, a king and queen to play the game, the gods need certain characters, too.

Both Danielle and Claire have similar characteristics: Each is a single, pregnant woman who gives birth to her baby on the island. Is Claire a replacement for Danielle? Or could it be that Danielle was being used by one of the gods while Claire is being used by the other?

Likewise, Christian Shephard was brought to the island in a coffin the first time around, and seemed to be aligned with Jacob since he was found hanging out in Jacob’s cabin. This time around, John Locke came to the island in a coffin and is now being used by the evil force, “Esau”.

It seems there must be something significant about how Claire spontaneously decided the name for her baby would be Aaron. With all of the Biblical references in the show, could this have a connection to the fact that Aaron was the son of the Biblical Jacob?

The Others told Jack that his sister (Claire) became infected with the evil force on the island. But could it be that just like Rousseau, whose friends were overtaken by evil, Claire also is trying to protect herself from the “infection”.

Another reason for this “Chess” theory, which of course, started with that creepy trailer involving the chess board, was when Jack asked the leader of the Others how he came to the island. Dogen says something along the lines of: “I was brought here, just like everyone else.”

DESTINY

My second theory from last night’s show has to do with the idea of free will vs. destiny.

At this point, we seem to be watching the characters in two parallels existences, one showing life on the island and the other showing what would happen if they had never crashed.

However, I’m wondering if the show will reveal that despite their circumstances, the characters’ lives are destined for certain outcomes. Even without the crash, the characters are starting to make connections with each other.

For example, Claire wasn’t meant to give up her baby for adoption, regardless of whether she crashed. Next enters sneaky, scary Ethan, who is still alive in the parallel universe. Does this mean he will steal Claire’s baby again?

And what about Kate? It looks like regardless of her situation, she is a good person at heart who want to love others, but she is destined to run from situations and avoid commitment. In both story lines, she has become Claire’s “protector”.

THE INFECTION

We also learned a lot more in this episode about the “infection”, which we first heard about from Rousseau in Season 1.

It seems that the forces of the island are able to take over the bodies of people who die or are killed. We saw this happen with Rousseau’s friends, who were lured into the hole of the smoke monster and then emerged “changed” as if something had inhabited their bodies. Rousseau ended up killing them to protect herself.

Now, we see that the Others are convinced Sayid is being overtaken by the evil force. They are somehow convinced of this by how Sayid reacted to his torture. (Should it have killed a mere mortal?)

The Others seem to be giving Sayid a “witch test”. First, they try to drown him. If he lives, it proves he is a witch, but if he’s not a witch, well then, he’s dead. Same with the torture. If he’s a mere mortal, it will kill him. (Darn.) If he survives, it proves he’s infected.

The Others also seem to be very concerned about keeping the other Losties alive. Perhaps they are afaid that if they are killed, their bodies will be used for evil.

WHAT KATE DOES

Finally, I love the fact that this episode “What Kate Does” is a reference to the name of the earlier episode, “What Kate Did” in Season 2. Does this mean we will now get an episode focusing on the life of each of the Losties and what would have happened if they plane had not crashed? It looks very likely.

What did you think? Do you think I’m way off base with my theories? Do you have any ideas about what all of this means? Let me know in the comments!

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