"What Kate Did" is the ninth episode of Season 2 of Lost and the 34th episode of the series as a whole. Kate begins to believe that she is going mad after she sees a similar black horse to one from her past, as well as hearing her father when speaking to Sawyer. Meanwhile, Eko shows Locke an interesting item.
A 24-year-old Kate is sitting on a porch playing with a cigarette lighter when her father, Wayne, arrives inebriated. As Kate helps him to bed, he complains and makes advances toward her. As Kate rides away from the house on a motorcycle, the house explodes.
She rides to a diner where her mother, Diane Janssen, works. Kate confronts Diane about an injury caused by Wayne and then presents her with a homeowners' insurance policy, telling Diane that she'll be taken care of. Despite worried pleas from her mother to explain what has transpired, Kate leaves, fighting back tears.
Later, as Kate is trying to buy a bus or train ticket to Tallahassee, she is arrested by U.S. marshal Edward Mars. He says that Kate's mother had turned her in.
A black horse causes the car to crash, allowing Kate to escape
On a country highway during a rainy night, Mars is driving a handcuffed Kate to her arraignment in Iowa. He questions why, with no previous criminal record or history of violence, she would choose to kill Wayne now. Suddenly, a black horse passes in front of the car. Kate shouts "Look out!" and after swerving to avoid hitting the animal, the car hits a pole. With Mars momentarily stunned by the opening of the driver's airbag, Kate grabs the handcuff keys and tries to unlock the handcuffs but the marshal revives. After a short fight, Kate kicks Mars out of the car. She reverses the slightly damaged car and turns on the headlights to drive away. To her surprise the lights show the black horse standing next to the road quietly looking at her for a few seconds before leaving into the darkness.
Kate next visits a U.S. Army recruiting station and meets Sergeant Major Sam Austen, the man she believed to be her biological father. She tells Austen that she recently discovered that he was her stepfather and that Wayne was her biological father. Sam reveals that he had known this all along but hid the truth because he knew Kate would kill Wayne if she ever found out. He informs Kate that he must call the authorities, but agrees to give her a one-hour head start. In the background of the recruiting station a TV set is playing and a shot of Sayid can clearly be seen for two seconds.
The episode begins with a person on the beach in the morning light, then pans to Jin exiting his tent with no shirt on, followed by a smiling Sun. As she hugs him, Hurley gives Jin a thumbs up from his next shelter. Sun turns to look down the beach, and sees Sayid digging a grave for Shannon.
In the Hatch, Jack watches over a semi-conscious Sawyer, who mutters, "Where is she?" which Jack assumes refers to Kate. Sawyer then whispers, "I love her" twice, stunning Jack into silence.
While collecting fruit in the jungle, Kate is shocked to see a black horse standing in the undergrowth. She returns to the Hatch to attend to Sawyer and the computer, so that Jack can attend Shannon's funeral. On the beach, Eko comforts Ana Lucia, telling her that most of the survivors realize that Shannon's death was accidental, but she decides to avoid the funeral. At the funeral, Sayid tries to say a few words, but overcome by emotion, can only declare that he loved her before walking away. Jack, Locke, and the other survivors continue the improvised ceremony by each pouring a handful of sand into the grave.
At the Hatch, Kate plays a record of "After Midnight" by Patsy Cline and tells the sleeping Sawyer that she thinks she saw a horse outside. Sawyer begins to mumble, and as she leans in to hear better, he grabs her by the neck and says, "You killed me. Why did you kill me?"
Jack and Locke return to the Hatch to find the alarm blaring, Sawyer on the floor, and Kate nowhere to be seen. With only 23 seconds to go, Locke hastily enters the Numbers, resetting the clock to 108.
Outside, Kate bumps into Charlie in the woods and asks if he thinks there are horses on the Island. He replies that he has seen polar bears and heard monsters but never horses, and they part ways. Back at the beach, Charlie meets Jack, and tells him where to find Kate. Jack tracks her down and accosts her for leaving the Hatch. In the ensuing confrontation, Kate shouts, "I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you. I'm sorry that I'm not as good." She makes to run away, but Jack grabs her forearm and pulls her back. With their emotions reaching a fever pitch, Jack pulls Kate close and holds her. Without warning, Kate kisses Jack passionately and then, seemingly shocked by her actions, runs off into the jungle. Jack calls after her, but does not follow.
Sayid, going to Shannon’s grave to place his prayer beads on her cross, discovers Kate sitting there. She apologizes for missing the funeral and confesses that she thinks she's going crazy. When asked if he believes in ghosts, Sayid says that he saw Walt in the jungle just before Shannon was shot and asks if that makes him crazy too. Kate returns to the Hatch and relieves Sun, who has been tending to Sawyer.
Kate asks Sawyer if he can hear her, first saying "Sawyer?" then "Wayne?" At which point Sawyer stirs and mumbles inaudibly. Kate, believing that Wayne's ghost has possessed Sawyer's body, confesses aloud that she killed him after finding out that he was her biological father. It was too much to bear for her to know that the man who she hated would always be a 'part of her'. Furthermore, whenever she had feelings for Sawyer she couldn't help remembering Wayne. Following Kate's confession, Sawyer awakes as his normal self, and his comments reveal he has heard the whole conversation. Kate is embarrassed but relieved. She shows Sawyer around the Hatch, before taking him outside to prove that they have not been rescued. As the two talk until something catches Sawyer's eye, Kate turns to see what caught his eye and the black horse is standing there. A nervous Kate asks Sawyer if he sees it and Sawyer confirms this, proving to Kate the horse is not in her mind. Kate approaches and pets it, and after a moment the horse walks back into the jungle.
As Kate and Sawyer share this moment, back at the beach Jack approaches Ana Lucia, who is sitting carving a stake with her hunting knife. Jack offers her one of three miniature bottles of Tequila - recalling their first meeting at the airport. They commiserate, smile, and share a moment of peace.
In the Hatch, Locke uses bolt cutters to finally remove the handcuff that Jin has worn on his right hand since attacking Michael weeks previously. After Jin leaves, Michael asks Locke about the blast door in the ceiling, which Locke admits he had not noticed. Locke shows the DHARMAOrientation film to Michael and Eko and then explains that he has set up two-person shifts every six hours to enter the code. He demonstrates to Michael that the keyboard only works when the alarm sounds - Michael asks to inspect the equipment and Locke hesitantly agrees.
Later, Eko calls Locke aside and, after leading in with a story about Josiah and the book found during Josiah's rule, reveals a hollowed-out Bible which contains a small reel of 16mm film. The book was found by the tail-section survivors in the DHARMA bunker they inhabited on the other side of the Island. Locke unrolls part of the reel and recognizes Dr. Marvin Candle, the narrator from the original film. As it seems that the new part was cut from the original film, Eko and Locke splice the film from the book back into the main film reel. Locke marvels at the odds of them finding the missing piece, but Eko advises him not to "mistake coincidence for fate". They watch the missing section of the film, in which Dr. Candle expands on his warning that the computer is to be used only to enter the code. He explains that while the isolation of Station 3 may tempt one to use the computer to communicate with the outside world, such action would compromise the integrity of the project and may lead to another "incident".
At the same time, as Michael examines the computer equipment (apparently out of earshot of the warning from the newly reintegrated Orientation film), he hears a strange beeping from the terminal and goes to inspect. He notices there are still 51 minutes remaining on the timer and that the text "Hello?" is shown on the screen. Unlike Locke in his earlier attempt, Michael is able to enter text and replies with "Hello?". A moment later "Who is this?" appears and Michael responds "This is Michael. Who is this?" After a few seconds, the word "Dad?" appears on the screen. A stunned Michael is seen as the episode ends.
Trivia
General
A TV in the army recruitment center when Kate visits Sam Austen shows Sayid being pushed into the back of a car. Sam knew Sayid when he was serving in Iraq during the
In the official podcast, it was stated that the title of this episode was a response to people asking what Kate did. (Official Lost Podcast/January 09, 2006)
A deleted scene from this episode shows Libby first introducing herself to Claire. Libby compliments Aaron and then surprises Claire by informing her that she is wearing her shirt. Libby tells Claire that it looks good on her and that she should keep it.
A deleted scene shows Sun and Jin caring for Sawyer as he recovers from his gunshot wound and Jin tells Sun he's happy to be understood (in Korean).
This is the second episode this season where all credited cast members appear, although Maggie Grace is no longer a member.
This is the second extended episode of Lost running 5 minutes longer than the standard 1 hour episodes of Lost, other episodes that were extended were "The Other 48 Days", "The Long Con", "Maternity Leave", "Dave", "?" and "316".
The currency used in the ticket transaction includes the colorful U.S. twenty-dollar bill introduced October 9, 2003. When she was captured (in 2004) the marshal had been chasing her for three years (since 2001). This incident was the first time that they had met.
When Kate and Sawyer both see the horse in the jungle, the hand of the horse's trainer can clearly be seen on the right side of the shot.
The missing footage from the Orientation film that Eko gives to Locke appears to have been filmed at a different time than the parts directly preceding and following it. François Chau has a different hair style, the lab coat is slightly different and the lighting is much brighter.
The nameplate on Sergeant Major Sam Austen's desk misidentifies him as a Sergeant.
Sawyer woke up and yelled at Kate "why did you kill me?" (Life and death)
The timer had 23 seconds left when Jack and Locke discovered that Kate abandoned the Swan. Locke mistyped 23 as 22 for a brief moment when he was typing in the Numbers. (The Numbers)
Kate dealt out $42 to buy a ticket to Tallahassee. (The Numbers)
Marshal arrested Kate for murder. Then marshal said: "Your mama gave you up, Kate." (Imprisonment) (Parent issues)
Locke helped break Jin's handcuff from his wrist and said "free at last, huh?" (Imprisonment)
What Katy Did: the title of the episode refers to this book by Susan Coolidge (pen name Sarah Chauncey Woolsey). The book tells the story of Katy Carr who has a life similar to Kate. Katy is a tomboy always getting in trouble and fights, but wishing to be beautiful and loved. An accident makes her an invalid, but the recovery eventually teaches her to be good and as kind as she has always wanted. (Literary works)
Janis Joplin: Kate wore a t-shirt that had a Janis Joplin logo. (Music)
