Okay, I just saw HOTRS for the first time. (I'm so glad the FINALLY reran it!) My question: Why was Kate so weird about going to stay at the caves? It didn't seem to be about rescue because they tied in her criminal past. So what the heck would THAT have to do with it?

Anyone?

Maybe it would feel too much like jail.

as I posted on another thread:

As far as why Kate wouldn't go, it had nothing to do w/Jack imo. She's been on the run, & as Jack commented once "she has a hard time staying in one place for very long." Kate/Sayid shared the same passion for rescue, & like him, I think she felt "digging in" was admitting defeat. If you notice it's when Jack says "I think we could live here" that we see Kate's 1st obvious discomfort w/the idea....Also, watch her expression when Jack says one of the bodies is female. She even reiterates "I don't want to be Eve" because she believes if she moves to the caves, she'll become like Eve. Dying trapped in a place much like the prison s he was trying so hard to run from.

I wonder if this ties into her always having to 'go' whenever anyone went anywhere. She 'had' to go with Jack to the cockpit. She had to take the hike with Sayid for the transciever. She had to help Sawyer track the boar...she 'had' to go to the Black Rock....she had to go set the rockets off for Sayid..she had to go to the Black rock....etc. She was always up for a journey into the 'heart of darkness'.

I wonder what would happen if she were forced to stay anywhere?

I think mainly it's that, based on everything we come to know about Kate, she is desperate for control. She is the type that needs to make things happen rather than have things happen to her.

She has spent a long time as a fugitive and she will not be caught with her pants down on anything. It seems she figures staying on the beach gives her the best chance to not be caught unawares when a rescue might come. She might feel that there is not much of a chance after the French transmission but she figures if a rescue is made it will be easily detected from the beach (sky or sea.) Once she knows what is happening with the rescue she can determine what her move will be to avoid identification and option for escape.

Her attempt to hijack a spot on the raft later on and the theft of Joanna's driver's license shows she is constantly making sure she has the upper hand and is in control of her life on the lam. Even if she feels that a rescue is not coming she will not allow herself to be caught off guard if it does.

Other levels of discomfort probably come form a fear on enclosure in the tight cave area and but even more so a fear of intimacy with Jack. A decision to stay on the beach keeps Jack at arms length. Which is where she likes everyone (as we come to find out through her flashbacks in later episodes.) This would be even more amplified if she did have an intimate relationship with the marshall and then had to watch him die due, in a round-about way, to his pursuit of her.

Jack says "What happened to you, Kate?"

I don't think it was very nice, whatever it was.

Other levels of discomfort probably come form a fear on enclosure in the tight cave area and but even more so a fear of intimacy with Jack. A decision to stay on the beach keeps Jack at arms length. Which is where she likes everyone (as we come to find out through her flashbacks in later episodes.) This would be even more amplified if she did have an intimate relationship with the marshall and then had to watch him die due, in a round-about way,* to his pursuit of her.

Though I do not deny* they both have issues with letting each other close, I don't believe her choice to stay on the beach was because of Jack very much at all.Kate clearly wanted him to stay w/her because at the end of the ep we see tears in her eyes & their split screen image. Also in Moth,* Jack slips us & says "I don't understand why you won't come w/me, US." ....Kate says "so you're not staying?" & looks let down when he leaves...Further in the ep in the sling scene, Jack doesn't want her to go "So you're going back to the beach huh?", & they both become disappointed at the prospect of being rescued implying they'll have to go their separate ways because of their different lives.

Kate's discomfort w/the caves shows when Jack says "I think we could live here", & I think that has to do w/the cave representing "digging in" & essentially being like admitting they're there for good & the island is the prison she was trying to avoid... As Sawyer put it "are you going w/the pessimists, or waiting for the rescue boat."

Kate's discomfort w/rhe caves shows when Jack says "I think we could live here", & I tink that has to do w/the cave & "digging in" essentially be like admitting they're there for good & the island is the prison she was trying to avoid. Staying on the beach as Sawyer put it "are you going w/the pessimists, or waiting for the rescue boat."


I understand the whole "Kate has to run" thing, but if she goes back to civilization, she's going to a real prison for sure. So I'm a bit confused as to why she wants to be rescued so badly. I mean, I don't think any of them WANT to stay on the island (except crazy man Locke), but I understand that some may not be as anxious as others to be rescued. I would imagine Kate to be in the not so anxious category. I guess I'm wrong, huh?

Though I do not deny* they both have issues with letting each other close, I don't believe her choice to stay on the beach was because of Jack very much at all.Kate clearly wanted him to stay w/her because at the end of the ep we see tears in her eyes & their split screen image. Also in Moth,* Jack slips us & says "I don't understand why you won't come w/me, US." ....Kate says "so you're not staying?" & looks let down when he leaves...Further in the ep in the sling scene, Jack doesn't want her to go "So you're going back to the beach huh?", & they both become disappointed at the prospect of being rescued implying they'll have to go their separate ways because of their different lives.

Kate's discomfort w/the caves shows when Jack says "I think we could live here", & I think that has to do w/the cave representing "digging in" & essentially being like admitting they're there for good & the island is the prison she was trying to avoid... As Sawyer put it "are you going w/the pessimists, or waiting for the rescue boat."


Very nicely put.

Thanks Sam :)

well nonya...Her burning of the passport indicates she believed she could be rescued & fool the rescuers long enough to get away. By offensively going off the island to the rescuers vs waiting for them to come to the island, Kate et al would likely be taken back to the mainland before it could be discovered Kate is not Joanna.Kate wouldn't be in custody so off she goes.