Lost: Season 3, Episode 15 "Left Behind" Review

 "I'm really sorry I called you rotund."

-Sawyer

"Left Behind" kicks off with Kate (Evangeline Lilly) being visited by Locke (Terry O'Quinn) who tells her he is joining the Others.  Later, she sees the Others packing up to leave and is gassed by them.  She wakes up in the jungle, handcuffed to Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell).  The two of them make their way back to the Barracks, while being chased by the Monster, which Juliet claims to not be familiar with.

Juliet blames Kate for the destruction of the submarine.  The two fight and Kate dislocates Juliet's arm, but puts it back in.  Juliet tells Kate that Jack (Matthew Fox) saw Kate and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) have sex back on Hydra Island and tells her she broke Jack's heart.  When the monster attacks again, they run into the sonic fence, which Kate refuses to cross.  Juliet reveals she had the key to the handcuffs the entire time and frees herself and activates the fence, which stops the monster.  She says the Others left her behind, so she handcuffed herself to Kate to make it seem like they were in it together.  They make it to the Barracks and Kate apologizes to Jack, but he isn't interested.  The three of them and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) start making their way back to camp, but Sayid is not happy Juliet is going with.

At camp, Hurley (Jorge Garcia) tells Sawyer that the group is considering voting him out and banishing him down the beach.  Sawyer realizes he will never survive on his own and asks Hurley to help him.  He gives Claire (Emilie de Ravin) a blanket and helps Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) catch a boar so they can have a feast.  Sawyer asks Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) about the vote, but he doesn't know about any vote.  Sawyer confronts Hurley, who admits that he was just trying to get Sawyer to step up and be the leader since Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid are all gone.

In flashbacks, Kate has returned to Iowa.  She runs into Sawyer's ex-girlfriend, Cassidy (Kim Dickens) who is trying to run cons.  Kate gets Cassidy out of jam and they get a drink.  Kate wants to talk to her Mom, Diane (Beth Broderick), because Kate wants to know why she sold out her own daughter to the authorities after Kate blew up Diane's abusive husband.  Cassidy helps get Diane away from the U.S. Marshals watching her and Kate talks to her.  Diane says it's because she loved Wayne and Kate blew him up for herself, not for Diane.  She tells Kate if she ever sees her again, she will scream for help.  As Kate leaves town, she offers to help Cassidy get revenge on Sawyer, but Cassidy tells her she is pregnant with his baby and still loves him.

What Works:

I've always been honest that I'm not a big fan of Kate and her episodes are generally some of the weakest on the show.  That isn't the case here.  It's one of the best Kate episodes and it has the best Kate flashbacks.  The conversation between her and Diane is incredibly powerful and contextualizes a lot of previous Kate flashbacks.  It's a heartbreaking moment for Kate and the most I've ever felt for the character.  I also really like that we get Cassidy and Kate teaming up here.  It's another fun Lost connection that actually pays off in the future.

I also love most of the Kate and Juliet storyline.  It's fun to have these two handcuffed to each other.  It creates some great conflict.  Kate beating up Juliet is satisfying, but it's even more satisfying to see Juliet put Kate in her place in her role in everything that has happened this season.  Plus we get the Monster and the sonic fences, which I'm always up for.

Kate's apology to Jack is a good climatic moment for her character, but I love that Jack doesn't really accept her apology.  He's pissed and he just kinda brushes her off.  They don't resolve all of this relationship stuff neatly and I appreciate that.  Matthew Fox doesn't get much screen-time or many lines in the episode, but still delivers a great performance.

Finally, the b-plot with Sawyer and Hurley is a lot of fun.  It's the closet we ever get to Lost becoming Survivor and anyone who knows me knows how much I love Survivor (Check out my Survivor podcast, the Castaway Consultants, at https://castawayconsultants.buzzsprout.com).  It's a wholesome little story that reminds me a lot of season 1.  It's also great foreshadowing for Hurley's role at the end of the series.

What Sucks:

I don't love Juliet's lie about not knowing about the Monster.  Even Mitchell doesn't seem to believe her own lie.  Juliet also gives up on her ruse way too quickly when they reach the sonic fence.  They're minor things, but they didn't quite jive with Juliet's character for me.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character in an episode.  For "Left Behind", this award goes to Hurley for tricking Sawyer into being a decent person and helping out the camp.  This is Hurley's 7th time winning the award, which puts him in 4th place overall.

Verdict:

"Left Behind" is one of the best Kate episodes of Lost.  We get some great moments between Kate and Juliet, an excellent performance from Matthew Fox, an awesome and heartbreaking flashback, and a really fun b-plot.  This episode has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great