s3e06: I Do

The Attack of the Pointless Backstory continues. Seriously, this gimmick was fun while it lasted, but can we please just admit that it's no longer adding anything to the story? I almost feel like they're only keeping it in just in case the show picks up new viewers and they aren't yet aware that Kate is a fugitive. Nothing else could possibly account for the inclusion of such a lame-ass backstory. I guess it tells us that even when Kate was happy, she couldn't stop running, and now that she isn't running anymore, she can feel free to get it on with Sawyer and not be all scared that her past will catch up with her. But who the hell couldn't have inferred that from oh, I don't know, the entire rest of the series?

Meanwhile, Pickett really wants to kill Sawyer, which continues to annoy me because dude. You totally brough this on yourself. Trace the chain of events back to the beginning: Others kidnap Sawyer (and Jack and Kate); Sayid, Jin, and Sun give chase; Others raid boat; Sun shoots Colleen. Other than that, Sawyer played absolutely no part in it. So you'll forgive me if I'm not quite buying "this is for Colleen." Not that I think the character is supposed to be sympathetic, but jeez. Annoying. It's almost like a token gesture - why doesn't he chase down the person who actually did it? "No, this is easier. And he's one of them so it's basically the same thing." Wuss.

In plot two, Jack uses his doctor skills to hold the Others hostage by inflicting a wound on Ben that will kill him in an hour if Jack doesn't fix it. I wonder just how many of them wanted Ben out of the way, considering the scrambled response to Jack's actions. Then Jack tells Kate to run and that's the episode. Considering we've got three months before the next one, I was expecting a little more of a cliffhanger.

In the barely-touch-on plot three, Eko is buried. Locke sees a line of scripture on Eko's prayer stick that says to look north, and gets that first-season glint back in his eye.

Next time on Lost: well, a whole bunch of stuff, because in three months we get sixteen straight episodes. Question: do you prefer this way, or if they'd gone the way of 24 and just started in January? Two hiatuses is a little annoying.