If it seems like "I Do" is fairly intense for being only the sixth episode of the season, it's not a coincidence. This was the last episode before a three-month hiatus so it was time to wind down the Hydra arc.
The flashbacks are more of the same when it comes to Kate, but ironically it's a breath of fresh air. Suddenly LOST feels like LOST again! This time Kate — er, Monica — is trying marriage on for size in Florida. When her husband Kevin tells her to get her passport ready for Costa Rica (ain't gonna happen), she inevitably blows up the marriage. As Kevin falls to the floor from her sedative-laced drink, she announces — again, at the worst possible time — that her name's not Monica. She's back on the run.
At the Hydra, Sawyer's getting clobbered relentlessly and threatened with death if Jack doesn't operate on Ben. Jack eventually agrees to the surgery but only after he passes a security monitor and witnesses Sawyer and Kate in a post-coital embrace. The twist: Jack slits a wound into Ben that'll kill him within an hour if left unattended, giving him leverage to demand Kate and Sawyer's release. Cue the dramatic "Kate, dammit, RUN!" as the hiatus cliffhanger.
The thing I like about "I Do" is that it focuses primarily on plot advancement which was desperately needed at the tail end of the Hydra arc. Don't get me wrong, I love deep character exploration — but never at the cost of stalling the plot. I suppose the biggest benefit of keeping the characters in captivity was that it truly felt like we were ALL set free when Kate and Sawyer booked it for the coastline.
There are some loosely constructed parallels between the flashbacks and the island storyline, most of them involving barriers (real versus conceptual) between Kate and the men in her life. When it comes to men that are responsible and kind those barriers are often invisible. When it comes to Sawyer, who appeals to a completely different side of her, the barriers are much more obvious.
Other treats exist in the script if you're paying attention, not just memorable lines about "taco night" but also the first mention of Jacob. As Locke's team buries Eko and bids farewell, Locke focuses on a specific verse carved on Eko's stick: "Lift up your eyes and look North. John 3:05".
There's no doubt that Kate's centrics started to get a wee bit repetitive by "I Do", but Evangeline Lilly certainly didn't use that as an excuse to mail it in. I especially love the flashback scene when she reveals her past to husband Kevin, slowly going from calm and collected to a frustrated, tear-soaked mess.
Lilly finally got a chance to deliver an iconic line. I loved her delivery of, "Taco night? I don't DO taco night!"
Holloway mentioned in commentary that he was exhausted by the end of filming "I Do" and it's easy to understand why. Sawyer took so many beatings during his stint in the cages he probably welcomed the idea of Pickett putting him out of his misery. His best moment was the tentative "I love you, too" to Kate when they were embracing in the cage. It was an elevating moment for Sawyer, but tempered by the fact that he wasn't looking her in the eyes.
Fox does a great job of balancing two roles. He established early that he was completely in charge of the operating room, but it completely went against the grain for him to intentionally put a patient's life at risk.
Nathan Fillion (Kevin) was a good pick for a one-time guest star, but at the risk of offending the Fillion bandwagon I wouldn't have wanted an extended or recurring role for him. His delivery is very understated, almost in the same vein as David Duchovny. It works for some roles but somewhat clashes with the ever-dynamic style of almost everyone else in the cast.
I'm so glad Carlton Cuse gave special mention to Tucker Gates in the episode commentary because he seriously deserves it. He really is an outstanding director and the more I watch LOST the more I notice the subtleties that make his episodes feel just a little more polished than most others.
The last ten minutes of the episode are the peak of intensity for Season 3 up to that point, and any time such intensity comes across to the audience the Director deserves some credit for it. Apparently it was also Gates' idea to add rain to the scene where Sawyer's about to be executed by Pickett. This was a great call, for nothing amplifies the urgency and emotion of a scene quite like rain.
There was a specific transition that I thought was a huge missed opportunity. At the Ajira runway site Kate puts on a cloth hood, then we switch to a flashback with her wearing a veil and wedding gown. The transition here is obvious — wait until her hood is half-way on, then cut to the flashback and show her fitting the veil, all in one smooth, connected motion. It's a little surprising and unfortunate that it didn't happen that way.
If you're interested in the Kate/Sawyer dynamic then this is about as good as it gets in terms of rewatchability. They didn't stop with the steamy sex scene, they went on to quite an extended session of cuddling afterward — a bit of an exclamation point declaring that their feelings went deeper than mere animalistic instincts.
I'm not all that invested in their relationship but I enjoy the fact that "I Do" holds the Hydra arc high in the hair so it can be smashed post-hiatus. Since the Hydra is still technically the "home base" of this episode, it's not one that I'd put anywhere near the top of my list to rewatch on a whim.
The first mention of Jacob is obviously huge, another example of "planting seeds as early as possible" mentioned by Javier Grillo-Marxuach in mid-Season 1. And naturally there's some significance in Jack "negotiating" Kate and Sawyer's release.
Tucker Gates deserves credit for the one scene I thought was dripping (pun intended) with atmosphere — Pickett preparing to execute Sawyer. The torrential rain was one thing but Giacchino's score REALLY sold the moment. I admit I wavered a bit the first time around, wondering if this could really be Sawyer's final act of defiance.
There were finally a few moments which elicited some strong emotion. It was simply heartbreaking when Jack saw Kate and Sawyer in the security monitor. Once again Jack gets the short end of the stick (sort of) despite being the most altruistic person at the Hydra.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I was elated when Jack finally turned the tables on his captors. It was a sweet moment when Jack commanded Tom to bring him a walkie, especially with M.C. Gainey's facial expression saying, "We're screwed."
