TVSquad

(S04E04) "Eggtown" gave us more answers and another shocking ending; I could really get used to this. This week, we got a closer look at Team Locke's life at the Barracks, caught a glimpse of Kate's future off the island, and got to catch up with the survivors on the beach--remember them? Not many shows could mix topics like blackmail, grenades, and motherhood into one episode, but Lost pulled it off.

Gallery: Lost: Eggtown

The Barracks

After seeing what life is like under Locke's regime, Jack's corny pep talks are looking better and better. Sure, Team Locke has the modern conveniences of the Barracks (like DHARMA boxed wine and Xanadu video tapes), but there is a brutal side. Banishment is considered a valid form of discipline, as are starvation and near-torture for prisoners. But hey, in Locke's own words, he's not a dictator.

Desperate for answers, Locke moved Ben into the basement of his own house to keep him close. Ben saw through Locke's attempt to win him over with breakfast and reading materials, and refused to give the name of his man on the freighter. He also teased Locke about his cluelessness for good measure. This scene, and Locke's angry reaction afterwards, reminded me of "Lockdown." Ben got under Locke's skin then (about his power struggle with Jack), and he's just as capable of messing with him now.

Kate, who decided to bunk with Claire and Aaron, got an early morning visit from Sawyer. He offered to evict his current roommate, Hurley, and let Kate move in. After an awkward conversation about her possible pregnancy, Kate told James to go home, and added that she doesn't trust him. Kate didn't stay behind to settle down with Sawyer; she had a different agenda.

After asking Locke about Miles' whereabouts and getting shut down, Kate tricked Hurley into giving her the information. She wanted to know if Miles and the other Freighter folks knew about her, specifically about her fugitive status. Miles wasn't giving anything away for free, however. He wanted a sit-down with Ben Linus first. Later that night, Kate sought Sawyer's help with setting up the meeting. After pretending to warn Locke about Kate's plan, Sawyer led Locke to the now-empty boathouse where Miles had been held. Meanwhile, Kate led Miles to Ben's basement cell. This brief scene didn't give us any more clues about Ben's identity or the island; we merely learned that Miles is only interested in money. He wanted 3.2 million dollars from Ben to tell his employer that Ben was dead. Miles was willing to take care of Charlotte as well, and gave Ben one week to come up with the cash. Kate barely had time to learn that the Freighties know all about her criminal past before Locke returned.

Locke visited Kate later that night to learn what Miles and Ben said and to banish Kate from the Barracks. She wisely chose to spend her final night in Sawyer's arms. The next morning, Kate told James that she wasn't pregnant and left for the beach. Locke's morning was far more productive. He reminded Miles that he was "responsible for the well-being of the island," took the pin out of a grenade, and put the grenade in Miles' mouth. He'll be fine as long as he keeps his mouth shut over the grenade's trigger. Way to get your point across, Locke.

The Beach

I was glad to see Jin and Sun again, even if it was only for a few minutes. We've seen a lot more of Team Locke in the past few episodes, and I'm curious to see what happens to the beach group. The island's parents-to-be were discussing potential places to settle down after they're rescued. Jin was pushing for American cities like Albuquerque and New York; he is learning English, after all. Sun explained that she wanted to raise her baby at home in Seoul. Jin's gentle correction--"You mean our baby?"--was interrupted by Jack's return. Naturally, Jin was far too trusting to follow up on this obvious red flag.

With the chopper in the air, Jack and Juliet returned to the beach with Charlotte and Daniel. Their first order of business was to contact the freighter and check on Sayid and Desmond, but they didn't reach anyone. Charlotte and Daniel busied themselves with a strange sort of timed memory test. Daniel had trouble remembering the number and suit of three playing cards. He got only two out of three correct, which Charlotte deemed an improvement. Daniel is becoming more intriguing with every scene. In the "enhanced" version of "Confirmed Dead," the woman in Daniel's flashback was described as his caretaker. What is wrong with this man?

When Juliet and Jack brought the Freighties up to speed on their communication problem, Charlotte suggested they use the emergency number. They contacted Regina (the other number was Minkowski's line), who had no information about the helicopter or its passengers. Sayid, Desmond, and Frank the pilot are missing. I'm not sure how worried we should be about this--we know that Sayid gets off the island, after all. Could Desmond still be in danger?

Flash-Forward: Kate

Kate finally had her day in court. She was facing a pretty hefty list of charges: fraud, arson, assault on a federal officer, assault with a deadly weapon, grand larceny, grand theft auto, and murder in the first degree. Her celebrity status didn't do her any favors, either; she was denied bail, and Kate was put into handcuffs once again. At the start of her trial, the best deal she could get was for a fifteen-year sentence. Things weren't looking good for Kate. She was facing a possible life sentence for her father's murder, and her mother was the prosecution's star witness. The defense attorney told her that the only remaining option was to use her son to get the jury's sympathy. Kate refused to use this tactic.

Her lawyer played up the hero angle instead. Part of the official "fake" story behind the Oceanic Six is that Kate saved the survivors. Jack appeared in court as a character witness and claimed that eight crash survivors landed in the water, and that Kate personally helped him to shore. According to his version of events, the marshal died in the crash, and the two additional survivors died later. He described Kate as a combination of Jack and Locke, a brave leader and caretaker who helped everyone survive. Later, Kate's attorney mentioned that the island was deserted, and that Kate had nearly starved to death. The prosecutor asked Jack if he was testifying because he loved Kate, but he said he didn't love her anymore.

Kate's mother, Diane, visited her briefly after one of her court appearances. So far she had beaten the odds and lived another four years after being told she would die in six months. She was still very ill, however, and wanted to see her grandson. Still angry about Diane's behavior in the hospital, Kate refused to let her see him--even after Diane said she didn't want to testify against her. Diane chose not to testify anyway, which severely weakened the prosecution's case. They offered Kate a much better deal: ten years probation, on the condition that she didn't leave the state during that time. Kate took the deal, and left the courthouse a free woman.

As she walked to a waiting cab, Kate saw Jack again. He admitted that he didn't mean what he said about not loving her. They both appeared to still have feelings for one another, but Jack wasn't willing to visit Kate and her son at home. Kate told him that unless he was comfortable seeing both of them, they couldn't pursue a romantic relationship. She left, and the cab took her to a beautiful California home. A nanny was there to meet Kate, and promised that her son was napping and hadn't been watching TV. Kate went up to her son's bedroom, gave the toddler a hug, and called him Aaron. She's raising Claire's child as her own, and Aaron believes that Kate is his mother. It's time for Claire fans to start worrying.

Final questions/comments:

• My favorite line of the night: "You just totally Scooby-Doo'd me, didn't you?" --Hurley
• Ben asked the question first: Why did Miles ask for exactly 3.2 million dollars?
• Sawyer was reading The Invention of Morel, which is about a fugitive hiding on a deserted island. The Wikipedia entry for the novel mentions Lost. At one point the fugitive, in an attempt to explain the strange events that have occurred on the island, tries to convince himself that he is in a mental institution and dreaming the entire thing.
• Kate said that Jack had told the fake survival story many times before. Who came up with the story? Oceanic Airlines? The Freighter group?
• The book that Locke brought to Ben was Philip K. Dick's VALIS, an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System.
• During his testimony, Jack said that Kate tried to save the other two survivors of the crash. Who is supposed to have died after the crash? Why did these two people need a cause of death other than the plane crash?
• Does Aaron technically count as one of the Oceanic Six?
• Malkin, the psychic from "Raised By Another," said that Claire had to raise Aaron herself and implied that bad things would happen otherwise. What negative consequences could this development have for Aaron and Kate?

Next week--the Freighter folks have a secret (no surprise there), and we learn the fate of Sayid, Desmond, and Frank. In the meantime, don't forget to check out AOL's Lost coverage!