'Lost': Jack and Kate hook up

Tonight's "Lost" was another Jack-centric episode, in which we found out that Jack and Kate totally hooked up after getting off the island and we saw the origins of the "Grizzly Adams" beard Jack was sporting at the end of Season 3.

In the jumbled post-island time line, Jack and Kate's love affair and subsequent engagement apparently falls after Hurley's first visit from Charlie, but before Jack's full-blown descent into substance abuse. But how long is this after their escape from the island? The last time we saw Aaron, he was still a weird -looking infant Kate was caring for as a single mom. But in this episode, Aaron is old enough to walk around, sleep on his own and be into "Star Wars." I'm no parent, but I'd guess that makes him about 4 years old, which would place tonight's flash-forwards sometime around 2008.

The only clue we were given was the sports headline declaring "Yankees Bludgeon Red Sox in Series Sweep." Are they talking about the World Series? No, the Yankees could never have faced the Sox in a World Series. They did, however, sweep the Sox in a five-game series in August 2006 and again in a three-game sweep in August 2007. My money is on the latter, making Aaron somewhere between 3 and 4. Just the right age to be into "Star Wars" and hear his dad tell his mom that she's not even related to him. Oh, that kid's gonna have doctor bills later.

The more I saw of Jack's post-island life, the more I began to understand the emotional wreck his life is about to become. What with the love of his life prancing around his house in next to nothing, his engagement and his infidelity worries, it looked like this episode of "Lost" was guest-produced by Shonda Rhimes. You can't be a doctor on TV, it seems, without a whole lot of weepy relationship stuff gumming up the works.

We once again got to glimpse Hurley at the mental institution, looking in much worse shape than the last time we saw him and passing on messages from beyond the grave. He's been having regular visits from Charlie, and he tells Jack that he too will have a ghostly visitor very soon. That visitor turns out to be Jack's father, but they don't quite get to connect and it looks like Christian Shepherd will have to wait for another Jack episode to pass on his message. The visits by ghosts of the past, by the way, look to be yet another Dickens reference. This time it's to "A Christmas Carol," as if I really need to tell you. And the bedtime story Jack was reading to Aaron was Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Two more to add to the ever-expanding "Lost" reading list.

And while Christian and Jack never quite got to speak, Christian did make a successful rendezvous with his other child, Claire, whom he appeared to in the middle of the night and led off into the jungle. Will we see Claire again? My guess is yes, but probably not this season. She has no doubt gone off to wherever all those other people from Oceanic 815 went -- the ones who said they were just there to watch.

Meanwhile, the seeds were being planted for the upcoming season finale, where we'll probably get to see how the Oceanic Six got off the island. Jin made a deal with the weaselly Charlotte to take Sun off the island no matter what. And was it my imagination or did Charlotte smile ever so slightly after she agreed to the deal? Juliet let Jack know that she knew he may still have feelings for Kate (which everyone but Jack is sure of). It looks like Juliet will probably sacrifice herself in some way so that Jack and Kate can go off and be happy together. With a Shakespearean name like Juliet, her story can only end in tragedy.

One of the biggest unanswered questions from the episode was who was Kate talking to on the phone? She told Jack that it was related to a request from Sawyer, but she refused to discuss the person's identity or what Sawyer's request was. But I'm guessing the person on the phone was Ben, who might be recruiting all the Oceanic Six soon in his ongoing battle with Charles Widmore. He already has Sayid killing for him, and Kate has always been drawn to the shadier side of the law. She would be a perfect killer for Ben.

Our time with the "Lost" survivors is growing short this season. Are we really almost up to the season finale? But it looks like the remaining four hours will have some doozies, judging by the scenes shown from next week, in which the murdered Dharma Initiative members make themselves known to Locke. But why? And how do they feel about his traveling companion, Ben? My guess is it won't be the usual reaction.

--Patrick Kevin Day

(Photo courtesy ABC)

Comments

[Grey Barr]

My comment doesn't relate to this week's episode, but to the fact that ABC has the cojones to keep LOST on the air. It is a noble experiment and I don't think that even HBO or Showtime would ever run a show of this nature for four seasons.

That said I continue to be amazed by the writers ability to come up with more rewind-and -fast forward tales on prime time. And then the scholarly episode with footnotes the following evening. Unheard of even on PBS.

LOST brings new resonance to the old John Donne quote: No man is an island entire of itself.

[Hannah]

I think you're dead on, except about Kate being on the phone with Ben. I think she was talking to Cassidy, Sawyer's ex/baby mama.

[Roger]

I think the ultimate is that the show is called "Lost." It's how regular viewers often feel after watching one of these superbly crafted episodes filled with enigmatic chess moves.

[Michelle]

I agree that Kate was talking to / seeing Cassidy, who claimed she birthed Sawyer's love child, Clementine. Sawyer has recently allowed himself to open up a little to people he cares about (Hurley, Claire) and may want to reach out somehow to his alleged daughter. He could be asking Kate to get the Oceanic Airlines settlement money for Clementine. Remember, when Sawyer was in prison he was paid a "commission" to tell the officials where Munson hid the money. Sawyer instructed that the money was to be put in an account for Clementine.

Oh, and Charlotte did give a sinister smile after making the deal with Jin.

[Digmusicman]

Totally agree with Hannah. Kate was talking to Cassidy. She's the only person Sawyer cares about back at home.

[Sylvia]

Oh, this show is so frustrating! Is the only thing we learned last night that the Aaron Kate is raising is indeed the same Aaron that Claire gave birth to? Did we learn anything new? No. But we got plenty of more questions -- why does Miles sense dead people, and Hurley, for that matter? Who is Kate talking to? How did Jin die? Why the bleep does redhead girl speak Korean?

The answers are so stretched out I can't remember the story. Like Clementine - I swear I've never heard of her before. Grrr.

[Lauren]

Sylvia,

Perhaps the reason Charlotte (redhead girl) speaks Korean is because she could be associated with Sun's father, Mr. Paik, in some way. Just a guess. Mr. Paik is a rich and powerful man a la Charles Widmore. Maybe they are connected on some level?