Lost: Born to Run Rewatch

June 12, 2023 7:35 PM - Season 1, Episode 22

Kate runs.

S1E22: Born to Run (Lostpedia | transcript): air date 11th May 2005 • writers Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Javier Grillo-Marxuach • director Tucker Gates • day 43 on the island • Kate flashbacks

Psycho hair-dye • don’t you want to be famous? • Arzt • raft’s full • Tom • HATCH • I guess it’s time we talked about this • I want your spot, I’ll get your spot • Michael, sick • all due respect, Jack, but since when do I report to you? • you think it’s still there? • Monster Eats the Pilot • Michael, poisoned • how am I supposed to keep straight who knows what around here? • Charlie gets a haircut • Tom’s plane • you always want to run away, Katie • don’t open it, Mr. Locke • Diane • Tom shot • if I were you, I’d say goodbye • there ain’t anything on this island worth staying for • me too

Myles McNutt, AV Club: Lost (Classic): “The Greater Good”/“Born To Run”

The pending departure of the raft — hastened by Arzt explaining monsoon season — means that everyone goes into overdrive, their most basic instincts kicking in as the possibility for rescue emerges. Just look at how Charlie reconnects with his music again, the thought of being rescued making it feasible that he could end up back in the world and riding a wave of press following his disappearance. In this way, Kate’s predilection for flight rather than fight is consciously boiling the character down to her essence, allowing her the chance to build herself up again when her plan to earn a spot on the raft — by convincing Sun to poison Jin to keep him on the island, thus opening a spot for her — fails and she’s got nowhere to run.

If “The Greater Good” was about using Sayid to outline the thematic stakes facing the castaways in the wake of Boone’s death, “Born To Run” is about laying the cards on the table. The episode itself is structured around the mystery of who poisoned Michael, which pulls various other characters — Jack, Locke, Walt, Kate, Sawyer, Sun — into the web to stir up more anxiety, and reinforce how many of them are dealing with mysteries of their own. The scene where Hurley accidentally reveals Kate’s criminal past to Locke is a great reminder that although a lot has happened on the island, not everyone’s clued into every detail, and the audience at this stage knows more than any given character.

Louise MacGregor, The Cutprice Guignol: Lost S1E22: Born to Run

A lot of secrets are coming out — this is the set-up for the finale, after all, and it’s only fair that everyone is playing with a full deck. Jack finds out about Locke’s hatch, and Locke finds out about Jack’s knowledge of Kate’s criminal past, and the two of them snipe at each other in a very Who’s-Afraid-Of-Virginia-Woolf passive aggression for the rest of the episode, which I’m totally here for.

I think the best moment, though, when it comes to secrets — though the unveiling of Kate’s past by an enraged Sawyer is actually pretty good — is between Michael and Walt. Walt admits, on the eve of their leaving the island, that he was the one who burned the raft before, because he wanted to stay. And there’s this fabulous moment from Harold Perrineau, as he processes the news and what it means, and then instantly promises his son that they can stay, that they can give the raft to someone else, and that they can make a life together on the island. Not just giving up on the weeks of work he’s put into the raft, but the life that he wanted to return to. It’s one of the show’s most organically moving moments, not least because the chemistry between Walt and Michael has always been really interesting, and I love how un-dramatic and natural the scene plays out.

Rewatch companion: THE STORM: A Lost Rewatch Podcast - S1, E22: "Born To Run" with Alan Sepinwall

Dave Gonzalez: “I always appreciate how a lot of Kate’s cinematography in flashback is concerned with motion. Either she’s in motion or the camera’s in motion around her. To set up the geography of the hospital that she goes to visit her mom at: that first scene feels like an extension of the cold open, with the weird angles over the shower and the motion through the motel. It’s almost like the camera is thrilled to not be on the island and to actually have some straight lines for composition.”
Neil Miller: “I will agree with Dave there’s an energy to this episode. It’s got a very efficient pacing to it. We’ve seen a couple of episodes in season one where the flashback and the island story fit together really nicely and really efficiently. This feels like a good quick sort-of-interesting episode where some other stuff happens, but for the most part, these are both stories about Kate. And Kate’s one of those characters: her problems, being on the run, gonna go to jail if she gets back to civilization, is something that translates well to the island. But also Evangeline Lilly just is great. She’s great every second she’s on screen.”
Joanna Robinson: “She is great. She's absolutely great. I like Kate episodes and I especially like off-island Kate stuff. We sort of said that all the last run of episodes in the season were good. I think if you take the on-island plot of last week, and the off-island plot of this week, and put them together: that’s a really good episode of Lost. But the other halves are a little weak in these two episodes I think.”
Dave Gonzalez: “I like the on-island stuff this week because it introduces a new Lostie that has a dynamic that thus far had to be filled by a character that we like. Putting a new annoying science character in allows them to lay down truths but also doesn’t tarnish our other characters; like when Jack goes off the handle.”
Neil Miller: “Yeah, Arzt is the real hero here.”

Alan Sepinwall: “Arzt! The introduction of Leslie Arzt! This was the best thing you could have done for me, was to give me Arzt’s debut episode. I know this would never make a top 20 episodes of Lost list for me, but Arzt is definitely one of their better minor characters. And Daniel Roebuck makes a very good impression. It was this weird juggling act they had to do, because there were obviously a lot more survivors than just those 14 main characters; and occasionally they would work them in, but not always well. I like the idea that here's this just annoying teacher who’s been hanging around the whole time. And instantly as soon as he’s bickering with the raft guys you're like: okay, I can see how he's been here all along and this is why we haven't seen him until now. But I buy that he's been there.”
Joanna Robinson: “No one wants to talk to him. Everyone does such a good job reacting to him. Just this sort of like, I buy into what you’re saying, but I’m also deeply annoyed by anything that comes out of your mouth.”
Alan Sepinwall: “The thing about Arzt is it’s perfect, because the show depends to a certain degree on idiot plot. Like, people just have to make wrong decisions for the show to move forward, or for this particular story to move forward. And so it helps to establish a guy who is actually right but he’s so annoying that you don't want to listen to him. Like I understand, okay, they're going to make the dumb decision, because this guy’s such a pain in the ass.”

Dave Gonzalez: “And then everybody's secrets come out. Which I think is great. That’s what you want in serialized storytelling. I think the poisoning, taken with Walt and Locke, taken with Locke, Sayid and Jack at the hatch: all those things, all those revelations coming at once and then ending with Walt telling Michael that he now wants to get off the island but he lit the first raft on fire: it’s like all these tinier secrets that they had amongst themselves have at least been expressed to one other person at this point, finally.”
Joanna Robinson: “That’s Dave's favorite thing; he most hates a secret.”
Dave Gonzalez: “Yeah. Forward motion; less secrets. It seems very weird for television shows to sometimes hold back for no other reason than the plot couldn’t go forward. I don’t think that’s the case with Lost season one, but that doesn’t make it any more thrilling this episode when it starts to be, like, teams: your part raft, your part hatch, the Losties are all together, we've kind of forgotten that the Others exist. The human secrets have opened up, and now the island’s secrets remain to be cracked. And I like that positioning leading into our finale episodes.”
Neil Miller: “It does feel like there’s an element of this episode where you can feel them starting to ramp up. But it’s hard to tell what in this episode is the A, B, C stories on the island because they’re all sort of interwoven together. That feels like it’s sort of the ramp up to what — I mean next week, I’ll spoil it, next week it’s about multiple characters. It’s not just a Kate or a Jack or whatever. So this feels like the precursor to the finale. I like it.”

“We can stay here. You and me. We don't have to go.”
“Yes we do.”

L O S T

posted by We had a deal, Kyle (2 comments total)

Currently streaming in the US on Hulu (subscription) and Freevee (free with ads); in the UK on Disney+; and available for purchase just about everywhere. I am running way behind on these; next post will cover the entire 3-part season finale, will aim to post at the weekend. Probably.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:35 PM on June 12, 2023

So: Sawyer angrily calling Michael "boy" kinda landed differently for me post-Burn it Down.

On the one hand: yes, it's a deliberately shocking bit of antebellum racism that serves to reminds us that Sawyer's still on a journey towards becoming a decent person; and I think it does contrast nicely with Sawyer's actions in Exodus, in which he risks his life to try to save Michael's son.

But; but: there's enough similar casual ha-ha-racism stuff reported in Burn it Down that you do wonder: is this how they were talking in the writers' room?

Somewhat relatedly: back at the start of this I briefly considered "Sawyer nickname watch" as a running section in these posts; but: oof.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:05 PM on June 27, 2023