Spoilers. A Kate-centric episode that actually works -- because Evangeline Lilly is better at exuding maternal instinct than she is any other emotion. It also helps that the on-island action teases us over seeing how a temporal riddle might unravel, aided by a surprisingly harsh decision from Jack (Matthew Fox.)At the close of the previous episode, Sayid (Naveen Andrews) shot Young Ben (Sterling Beaumon) after escaping from the DHARMA Initiative, falsely accused of being a "hostile". The question is: can the young Ben die, considering we first met him as an adult? There are two competing theories, neatly pondered by the show's comic relief duo -- Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Miles (Ken Leung): one, "whatever happened, happened" as the Faraday-quoting title suggests, meaning Young Ben will survive his gunshot and the grownup Ben always had memories of being shot by Sayid; two, the timeline is in flux and they can do whatever they want in the past, because any deviations will just create an alternate timeline.
Jack agrees with the first theory, so when Young Ben is taken back to the Barracks in a critical condition, requiring the intervention of a surgeon, he's not prepared to help. Ben may be an innocent child in '77, but Jack's all too aware of what he'll become, and refuses to dance to Ben Linus' tune again, having previously saved him from a life-threatening spinal tumour. Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is shocked to get a glimpse of this selfish side to the usually altruistic Jack, but Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) has a contingency plan for Kate: smuggle the injured Ben to the Others, who may be able to cure him.Actually, Kate's role is more interesting in the flashbacks to her off-island life with Aaron (William Blanchette) -- Claire's baby she took from the island and pretended was her own to the world's media. Ever since then, Kate's been on her guard, petrified that outside forces will swoop in to steal Aaron away from her -- as she wrongly assumes they have when Aaron wanders off in a supermarket.
Kate also has a task to perform for Sawyer, who whispered the location of his secret lovechild to her, seconds before he bailed out of the helicopter in season 4's finale. Honouring his wishes, Kate arrives to meet with Sawyer's old girlfriend Cassidy (Kim Dickens), meet his toddler daughter Clementine, and give them an envelope of money on behalf of her absent father. Interestingly, Cassidy isn't so sure Sawyer jumped out of the chopper for the noble reason Kate describes (to give them enough fuel to reach the freighter), suggesting that he instead couldn't face a future with Kate off the island.
"Whatever Happened, Happened" also reveals what happened to get Kate aboard Ajira Flight 316, as she slowly faces up to the fact she took Aaron for selfish reasons, and never really had his best interests at heart. Accepting this, she visits Aaron's biological grandmother Carol Littleton (Susan Duerden), who has no idea about Aaron, and explains her reasons for deceiving her, before handing over her grandson. Then Kate says she's returning to the island to find Claire.
Overall, "Whatever Happened, Happened" was a great deal more entertaining than any episode revolving around Kate has been since season 1, with the actress doing a great job. Lilly's on record as saying she doesn't fully understand or enjoy Lost's mythological elements (does anyone?), but this episode was a more standard character-based story at heart, and she consequently appeared more confident and better able to tackle the material.The change to Jack's character was also an unexpected highlight. He's no longer the de facto hero of the group, and can afford to sit back (because there's a DHARMA infrastructure to pick up the slack), and just wait for his "destiny" to come calling. The cruel thing is: if Jack hadn't uncharacteristically ignored his Hippocratic Oath, young Ben would never have needed the Others' help, and their Temple ceremony will likely be the root of Ben's descent into wickedness. But, as the title says, "whatever happened, happened", so Jack was fated to have a hand in Ben's creation. Likewise, Sayid sealed his own fate by shooting young Ben in an effort to spare himself a future as Ben's assassin. You just can't escape your destiny.
Questions!
- How did Miles know that Ben turned a wheel to start the time-jumps? That must be an error on the part of the writers, surely.
- Is something going to happen between Kate and Roger, Ben's father? He didn't come across as a childbeating type here, and actually flirted quite successfully with Kate.
- How can the Temple heal Ben's wounds? Why will he lose his memory as a result of this process? Is the Smoke Monster involved?
5 April 2009
Sky1, 9pm
Writers: Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
Director: Bobby Roth
Cast: Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Matthew Fox (Jack), Ken Leung (Miles), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Nestor Carbonnell (Richard Alpert), Doug Hutchison (Horace), Susan Duerden (Carol Littleton), Sterling Beaumon (Young Ben), Patrick Fischler (Phil), Jon Gries (Roger), William Blanchette (Aaron), Kim Dickens (Cassidy), Sebastian Siegel (Erik), Candace Scholz (Debra), Susan King (Sweetb Young Woman), Miko Frankoni (Grocery Worker), Scott Moura (Manager) & Olivia Vickery (Clementine)
