Photos
Video
RSS
Twitter'Lost': Circling the square
Well, yesterday's entry certainly inspired a spirited response from all corners of "Lost" fandom. Having absorbed them all, I promptly changed my address, donned a clever disguise, and returned to the keyboard to continue Kate Austen Week here on the blog. I thought I'd inspired ire when I dissed "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," last spring, but that was a series of sensuous kisses compared with the ire hurled in my general cyber vicinity this time around.My advice to those that blew a fuse reading yesterday's article? Don't read today's. I can't imagine you'll like it. And that's totally fine, but at last count, there are at least seven other websites out here in the World Wide Web for you to peruse. At LEAST. I'm not here looking to annoy you intentionally. I promise. Might seem like I'm offending you on purpose, but trust me, I'm not. Got nothing but love and respect for your opinions on Kate, but I'm not sure either of us win if you read something that prompts you to unleash a torrent of insults my way. It's a waste of your time, and it makes me cry. (OK, not really. Sexist men don't cry. Duh!)
So we're going to look at the love quadrangle of Kate/Jack/Juliet/Sawyer today. Why? Because the show just...won't...let...it...go. I'm not a romance hatah. I promise. I don't look at a love story in "Lost" as something that gets in the way of mythology. I don't want to push away a genuine connection between two people on a romantic level in order to get some more face time with the four-toed statue. My problem is this: there are three couples on "Lost" that absolutely, positively shame the love quadrangle (Des/Penny, Sun/Jin, Rose/Bernard), and a few that outshine it in my books (Charlie/Claire, Hurley/Libby, Frogurt/arrows).
In the interest of disclosure, here's how I'd rank the various teased pairings of The Square, in terms of best to worst:
- Juliet/Sawyer
- Kate/Sawyer
- Kate/Jack
- Juliet/Jack
Never ever bought Juliet/Jack (or as I cleverly combine it, "Jack"...oh, wait...) for a millisecond. I loved them as kindred spirits seeking the same thing, but that thing was freedom, not a fling. Watching them kiss was almost physically painful for me. The middle two worked as often as it failed, often for no other reason that the show seemingly can't stand to have anyone happy for more than an hour. And then we get to Sawyer and Juliet, which to me was telegraphed from the end of Season 3 but still masterfully deployed in "LaFleur."
Course, by the end of "The Incident," we learned that the writers never considered what I believed to be a mature, understanding relationship to be anything but a sham and a placeholder until the real-deal Holyfield herself, Kate, came back on the scene. I think you can make a strong argument that Sawyer and Juliet's time together was borrowed, a product of time travel that placed them in a situation with an inherent and inextricable time limit. Therefore, they didn't really "deserve" this relationship in that it was a product of the ultimate case of "wrong time, wrong place." And that's all well and good, because that is not where I get my knickers in a twist about the way things went down in "The Incident."
In "The Incident," the show forces Juliet Burke to admit that her time with Sawyer was worthless. Just by the way Sawyer looked at Kate and called her "Freckles," she's ready to dismiss the previous three years of what seemed to me like a match between equals. Flawed equals? Perhaps. Delusional equals? About their fantastical surroundings, sure. But to have a character with Juliet's strength essentially wilt in the face of freckled competition cheapened nearly every character associated with this storyline. "What we had, it was just for a little while, and just because we love each other, it doesn't mean that we're meant to be together," she told Sawyer, in a line that made me throw more than a Hot Pocket at the nearest wall. Ugh.
And here's the rub: none of this is Kate's fault. None. Call it "Lana Lang Syndrome," wherein the writers of a show get an unnatural infatuation with a character that blinds them to the harm said character is doing to the show. For years, Lana Lang single-handedly made "Smallville" borderline unwatchable, as week after week the writers reminded us that Clark Kent and Lex Luthor merely orbit around the freakin' sun of suck that is Lana. ("Dollhouse" suffers a similar, if less crippling, effect due to Whedon's inability to see that Eliza Dushku is the lead of the show and yet the least interesting thing on it.)
When commenters used Darlton's praise of Kate Austen as proof I should shut my yapper and get on The Kate Express, I didn't doubt that the writers believed the positive things they said about her character. All I'm saying is that they might be looking through slightly rose-tinted glasses. The character they describe is not the character I see. This isn't unique to Kate, either on "Lost" or in any form of popular media. Musicians love songs that other people hate all the time. Garth Brooks thought "Chris Gaines" was a good idea, people. Kate isn't Chris Gaines, but she's not the center of the "Lost" universe that the show made her in "The Incident," either.
Remember, Kate's goal in coming back was NOT to end up breaking apart a nominally happy couple and then cause a man to detonate a hydrogen bomb in her honor. That plan reeks of Shannon, but not Kate. Kate came back for an incredibly noble and singular purpose: to rescue Claire. The fact that she actually took NO STEPS AT ALL TO DO SO UPON RETURNING isn't a reason to hate the character, either. She can't do more than is written upon the page. Clearly it's a Season 6 plot point, held off in order to get through the Dharma storyline first, but to get through that storyline the writers had to apparently blow up the freakin' Island.
Remember: she only agrees to go along with Jack's plan because she sees it as the best way to reunite Claire with Aaron. That's the selling point that convinces her. It's not to get another shot with Sawyer or Jack. I'd love to think that Jughead not only hurtles those in 1977 back to the present day, but also hurtle these three past what is now, ostensibly, a love triangle. But I'm willing to bet that The Man in Black will use Sawyer's grief against him, perhaps turning into a Palpatine-type figure convincing Sawyer's Anakin to work with him for the chance of cheating death and getting Juliet back.
Here's my hope for the love triangle/quadrangle/rhombus/etc. for Season 6: that it serve the story, not dominate it. These relationships need to inform the actions these characters take, not stop them dead in their tracks. While "Lost" shouldn't sacrifice character for story, it also shouldn't waste time in an already too-short Season 6 with another go round of "Who will she choose?" After all, Kate's already chosen.
She's chosen to reunite Claire with Aaron. And tomorrow, we'll look at that decision in depth.
Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.
69 Comments
Post a comment
Most talked about posts
Advertisement
Zap2it Twitter Talk Recent posts
Oh Ryan, I feel bad for you. I hope no flaming arrows come your way.
I'm glad that you chose not to blame Kate for breaking up Sawyer/Juliet as that was not her character's fault, but Sawyer's. I too saw Juliet's reactions at the ending episodes of the season to be out of character, but not Sawyer's. Because I figured he was still in love with Kate when I saw the look on his face when she came back.
My problem with Sawyer/Juliet and the reason I found their relationship to be less than epic is that the entire relationship is built on the foundation of a lie. I must be one of the few people who saw Sawyer's season 5 storyline as regression of character. His character progressed all the way up until the end of season 4 when he jumped off of that helicopter when his former insecurities about being able to live a good life in the real world came back and he freaked out. Then he suddenly finds himself in the midst of this giant lie, and as always, he thrives as a liar. Juliet and Sawyer's relationship was sweet, but it was based on a lie, and when you lie the truth will always find you. And it did for him when the Oceanic 6 returned, forcing him to face not only his former flame (and in my opinion true love), but his true identity.
Sawyer says to Kate in "WH,H" that they would never have worked out. And he was right, they wouldn't have worked out then. But through his relationship with Juliet and Kate's with Aaron, I think they've learned how to have a stable relationship and they could work out now (once he gets over Juliet, of course, because I'm not denying that he loved her).
Sorry for the essay, it's not entirely on topic either. But Sawyer's S5 storyline somewhat bugged me.
I also hope that the triangle doesn't dominate season 6, but I want to see it resolved. I agree that Kate will reunite Aaron with Claire and that it will be a culminating moment for her character. But it's not the only thing left for her either.
I was one who complained earlier and was annoyed when you said we'd probably hate the quadrangle entry, Ryan.. but I don't hate it. I actually agree with a lot of your points here. The reasons for Jack and Juliet wanting to detonate the hydrogen bomb were the lamest, most contrived plot points in the history of the show. That was something the writers put on Kate's shoulders, that truly didn't need to be there.
I also agree that Juliet was weakened from a once mysterious, kick-***, powerful woman to a weepy sap who could do nothing but tremble before Kate and ask her man if he still "had her back." They took an amazing character and destroyed her. If I were Elizabeth Mitchell, I would have begged them to kill me off.
I disagree, however, that none of the quadrangle pairings live up to Des/Penny, Sun/Jin etc. Kate and Sawyer are the ONLY pairing on this show who have gotten the entire journey. We got to see their first meeting, their first kiss, their first love scene, their first 'I love yous,' their first fight. The hugs, the cuddling, the flirting, the chemistry, the angst, the pregnancy scare, the long separation, the reunion, the love theme that's used only for their scenes. It may not be your cup of tea, but many people still love it and root for it. Not because it's "mature and understanding" but because it's complicated, sexy, dramatically compelling, romantic, and beautiful to see two people with such horrible pasts breaking down each other's walls and letting themselves be loved by someone who sees the REAL person, not the false identity. You seem to put Jack/Kate and Kate/Sawyer on a level in your piece simply because neither has worked out long term, but they have hardly been treated equally by the writers. One is written as a love story, one is written as... something else. I'm not even sure what.
The other point I disagree with is that Sawyer/Juliet were the best couple. Do you really watch TV to see "mature and understanding" relationships? In an adult drama like Lost - really? How boring would that get after a few episodes? You'd want Sawyer to remain neutered, flower-picking LaFleur permanently? There's a reason their relationship was presented in one episode as a WTF!? moment, with no build-up, no "firsts." It's because writers of a drama don't want to show any more of a boring, happy, peaceful couple than is necessary. I'm surprised that you, being a writer yourself, don't understand that.
This is my favorite recent quote from Damon and Carlton. I'm putting it here since you so clearly love quotes. ;)
"Sawyer and Juliet get along great, there's none of the sort of emotional fireworks that existed between he and Kate. But now Kate's back, and as soon as they see each other, that chemistry just locks in for both of them." - Damon Lindelof
Kate Fan, I like mature relationships to play out on screen. For example, Tami and Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights. They are amazing.
I wouldn't exactly call it mature just 'cause it's a comedy and they play pranks, but we weren't forced to watch Jim and Pam's various triangles stretch beyond the point of believability on The Office. Nor did we see their FIRST date, I love you, etc etc. A checklist of various moments played out on screen is not what makes a couple great.
Anyway, I thought this was a great post on the quadrangle. I have my own best-to-worst list and I'll say that we agree on "Jacket" as the worst.
As a Lana Lang fan I took great offense with your comments..."Infatuation"?.."Harm to the show?" what the heck are you talking about? Lana's character was an integral part of the show for 8 years and one of the reasons why this show lasted as long as it has. If your words were true this show would have ended soon after season 1. She was a main character along with Clark and Lex and continues to be one of my favorite characters of all time. Her character was a reason why "I" continued to watch and believe me I am not alone. Smallville as a whole has a lot of issues to be placing the blame solely on this one character. So,the "Lana hate" is getting pretty lame, childish,and completely unfounded.
This is visible now more than ever with the show's current HORRIBLE ninth season ratings...and guess what? Lana's character is no where in sight.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I really felt like I've gotten a lot of insights out of the Kate discussion and thus am grateful for Ryan's essays that have kicked off the discussion -- even if I don't completely agree with them. (Though I am largely in agreement with today's essay.)
After all, it wouldn't be very helpful if all we did was agree with Ryan and each other.
Furthermore, I happen to agree that the love that Frogut and arrows have for each other is one of the greatest, most epic romances of our time.
(That concept, along with the the phrase "love rhombus", actually made me -- as the kids say -- LOL!)
I think part of the problem has to do with time -- no, not travel, but time compression and expansion, which leaves us observers with too far a different perception than that of the characters, and thus their actions make even less sense to us than they otherwise would.
(Of course the occasional baffling lapses in the quality of writing doesn't help either, but I've harped enough on that in the past already.)
By time expansion and compression I mean that during the early seasons we viewers (in general) experienced a week of time for every day the characters experienced. I'm calling this time expansion.
On the opposite end of the scale, the Sawyer/Juliet era lasted three years for the characters, but only a couple of weeks for us. Time compression.
Now even though TV viewers are used to time expansion from decades of watching other shows, combining it with such radical time compression of the three years makes it so harder to relate to the overall story on a visceral, organic level.
For instance, I remember how a while back I was complaining how I just couldn't believe that the Sayid I had known for years (seasons) would shoot the young Ben. But then others on this blog pointed out to me that it didn't "feel" right to me because I was forgetting that most of those seasons I got to know Sayid covered just his initial few months on the island, and I wasn't sufficiently taking into account all that had happened during the three years he was off-island because I experienced it so quickly.
And once I thought about it intellecutally I realized they were right. But on an initial, organic level it seemed wrong because of the extreme time expansion/compression of the show.
So I hope that, at minimum, Darlton is able to "stick the landing" regarding the "love rhombus" (I love that!) -- as well as everything else (mythology, etc.) of course -- on an intellectual level.
But because of the time dialation I am concerned that even if they do it won't initially FEEL organic and satisfying.
(Of course, if one were to judge by the second half of "the incident" they will do neither -- but that possibility is simply too horrible to contemplate.)
Wow! I just read the comments and once again Kate Fan has knocked one out of the park! My favorite part:
"...but I don't hate it. I actually agree with a lot of your points here. The reasons for Jack and Juliet wanting to detonate the hydrogen bomb were the lamest, most contrived plot points in the history of the show."
Well put!
I can sorta see what the writers WANT to do with Kate, but I agree with Ryan that they just don't see what they're DOING with Kate.
On it's basic level, they're playing up the angle that every woman goes through at some point; do you choose the strong, successful, kind good guy or the rugged, dangerous bad boy? This way, they're trying to tie the relationships in Lost to the average woman.
I think that's what made Season 5 so significant is that Jack & Sawyer changed roles; I don't say switched roles, because Jack didn't become a charming bad boy...he just became a sloppy drunk washout. But Sawyer took the lead in New Otherton and echoed Jack-like qualities, which is what made everyone trust him.
Ryan is absolutely right that everything that happened at the tail end of Season 5 was because of Kate but not actually her fault. I think, if they're going to continue pushing the Jack/Sawyer/Kate thing, then having their entire history rewritten by Jughead will allow them to try again with a fresh take.
Of course, it might just be best for them to let it go entirely and let Kate's ultimate saving grace be reuniting Claire & Aaron.
Geez, Ryan, I read two pages of the comments yesterday and didn't see any insults. I did see well-reasoned disagreement (and agreement too)that shed a lot of light on the subject of Kate from fellow "Lost" fans. Your article was a springboard to some excellent analysis. How could you find something wrong with that?
You're a brave man to even offer an opinion on this one Ryan. Great insights with the exception that you think it was out of character for Juliet to wilt under the belief that she was no contender to Kate. I thought the writers had been presenting her as very insecure about her relationships right throughout the three seasons.From our point of view Juliet feeling inferior to Kate is laughable but is kind of in character for her.
Sorry, but this comment isn't on the subject at all. It's not about Kate, or any member of the 'square'. It's just that I've watched this moment over a dozen times, and in the hopes that there will still be a 'best moments in lost history' week before the new season, I don't know where else to post this.
I haven't organized my entire list of greatest lost moments yet, but one moment from S1 that I'm sure will be underrated keeps coming up in my mind. The moment, from '...in Translation', when you realize that Jin's father isn't quite dead yet. I get a lump in my throat every single time I watch it.
I agree with everything you said about Kate, but disagree with just one thing... it's always Kate's fault (the writers) for everything. It's the most insulting female character I saw on screen. As woman I feel always insulted by that character and the pain is even more heavy because they want to show her as the center of the LOST universe. She should be just the center of a wxxxxhouse.