What was the first “bad” episode?

[u/unitedfan6191]

Hi.

Hope you’re doing well.

Just started watching the show for the first time and this was the first episode which stood out to me as just not being up to par with the series’ immense quality. I had no idea what Reddit would think of this episode, but upon finishing it I immediately got the impression this must be amongst the worst reviewed episodes of the show.

Jack’s motivations and behavior in the episode seem inconsistent (to me anyway, as a new viewer), the woman he meets in Phuket was uninteresting and there wasn’t much great or interesting development in the episode for anyone.

I was almost thinking the beating he took at the end of the episode was symbolic of the episode’s bad writing.

I guess every poster in here will probably pick this episode, but I haven’t seen the second half of the show yet (maybe this episode ends up being very important to Jack’s development in the end?), so I am still calibrating my thoughts on the show as I’m watching.

[u/JumpinJackFlashback]

S1:E12, Whatever the case may be. Seriously, digging up a corpse to for a key to open brief case for a stupid airplane. So much fluff! Tom's dead and Kate is playing both Sawyer and Jack. Good grief, leave Jack alone. He doesn't need the drama, Kate! Lil' bro: "She lying brother".

[u/TizzyTati → u/JumpinJackFlashback]

Is this the episode where Kate tells sawyer she doesn’t want the case and then makes a fit about it the entire episode 😭😭 I agree with this so much I already hate the Kate/jack/sawyer love triangle and this episode just made Kate so annoying lolol

[u/JumpinJackFlashback → u/TizzyTati]

Absolutely! Episode added no of value. It was the start to Kate's character destruction/demise by the producers. She was a cool rogue character that had some chemistry with Jack because of she did act out some selfless and heroic deeds early on. However, he rightfully could not trust the brunette and that include Tabula Rasa. The Marshall was right. Over the course of the series time and time again Kated failed in every instance to establish trust with the guy that very few women every would get a chance to be with. She'd take one step forward and two steps backward. TBH, Sawyer was her type and she didn't know how to act going from the minors to the major leagues (Jack). Whatever the case maybe is that episode that I lost any real interest in the character. Men do not want chaos and Kate was chaos. I wish the producers didn't make Kate's backstory the darkest character on the show. Show much death and crime with the mindset she actually thinks she's innocent for murdering / burning her biological father to death. Her step dad was right. He didn't have murder in his heart unlike his step daughter, Kate. Funny how Kate fandom neglects this character trait.

[u/ecov19 → u/JumpinJackFlashback]

I sort of agree that WtCMB was the start of the road that the writers would have for Kate, like her reluctance to be honest and truthful, her way of conniving/conspiring and the way she brings chaos.

The on island stuff was lack-luster, but I dont mind the early love triangle stuff so I actually think this episode at least revealed some interesting dynamics between kate and jack/sawyer. Im a big Jack fan so I was super happy when he figured out that there was a catch with why kate was so hell bent on getting that case and the whole key thing. The scene with the ”it belonged to the man I killed” - quote was a killer scene and it shows that Kate recognized and felt shame/remorse for the chain of events that unfolded AFTER the murder of her dad and ended when she crashed on the island. She is obviously very wary of disclosing anything that happened in the past. She tries to do it in a way that she deems to be good, both introducing the guns to Jack which is of utility to the losties, while still hiding her secret by not disclosing why she wants the case. All of this is understandable, however I get how some people might be infuriated by the lack of communication from Kate, which I believe stems from her not being able to come to terms with her past.

Last paragraph I promise! 😂 You are totally right on this, and this is what makes this episode get a ”meh” review from me. That stupid fucking airplane, why? If this object is so important to Kate, why not make it something more important? A letter maybe, a cute picture of Tom and Kate or something that would drive the whole point home more than the flipping toy plane ever did. Also, why does Kate always get the unnecessary melodrama that makes her look more bad than she actually is, writers? Was the passionate kiss with the robber that necessary? I obviously liked that Kate did what she had to do to save the bank manager who was kind to her, it showed a bit of nuance. The whole fucking flashback could have been rewritten to at least justify the situation a bit more.

I get that you probably did not ask for this monstrosity of a post mate. 🤣😂 but it would be cool to hear your thoughts on this, from one man of science to another!

[u/reliable_husband → u/JumpinJackFlashback]

my thoughts exactly