Lost – Character Profile – Kate Austen

Lost
Character Profile
Kate Austen

Actor: Evangeline Lilly

On Flight 815: Kate was being escorted from Australia to the United States by a Marshal

Profession: Unknown

Prior to the Crash:
Kate despised her stepfather, Wayne, and blew up her mother’s house, with Wayne inside. She later learns that Wayne was her biological father. Kate’s mother, Diane, turns in Kate and Kate goes on the run.

She is caught at a bus stop by Marshal Edward Mars. While in the car the Marshal swerves off the road. Kate escapes and tries to contact her mother under the alias of Lucy. She finally meets up with her mother, who says that she loved Wayne and if Kate ever tries to contact her again, she would scream for help. With this, Kate flees the state again.

Kate heads to Miami and takes on another alias, Monica. She meets Kevin, a police officer, and becomes engaged. After the wedding, Kate calls Edward Mars from a payphone and beggs him to stop looking for her. At a later time Kate takes a pregnancy test and it is positive. Kate confesses to Kevin and leaves him.

At a later point Kate learns that her mother is dying of cancer. She returns to Iowa. At the hospital she meets Tom, her childhood love, who is happily married and working as a doctor. They meet one night and dig up a time capsule that they had buried as children. In it is a tape recording and some old toys, one in particular being Tom’s toy airplane. Kate convinces Tom to arrange a meeting with her mother. When Diane sees Kate she begins screaming. The police arrive and Kate flees. She leaves in Tom’s car and he insists on joining her. She drives through a barricade and Tom is shot by the police. Kate flees the scene and leaves the toy airplane.

Kate assumes another name, Maggie Ryan. She visits a bank in New Mexico, looking for a loan. The bank is overtaken by robbers and Kate is taken as a hostage. We find out that Kate is in on the robbery and she is with one of the guys. The male robber reveals to the bank manager that Kate is in on the robbery and she shoots him in the leg so that he can’t kill the manager. Kate forces the manager to open the deposit box, which contains the same toy airplane.

Kate heads to Australia, this time under the name of Annie. She is captured by Edward Mars when she chooses to save a man instead of fleeing. On board the flight, Kate is still handcuffed and seated next to the marshal.

After the Crash:
Kate bonds quickly with Jack when she sews up a wound on his back. She also forms a relationship with Sawyer. Jack learns that she was a fugitive and confronts her on it. Kate helps deliver Claire’s baby as Jack works to save Boone. Kate does much to assist the other characters – taking care of Sawyer in the hatch, helping Sun in the garden and then later with her English, and taking Claire to search for the station where she was taken captive. Kate is also involved with many of the Losties’ adventures – dealing with Henry Gale, going to Black Rock with Rousseau, following the gang in the search for Walt, only to be captured by Tom.

Later, Kate is captured again by the Others, this time with Jack and Sawyer. Kate and Sawyer live in a cage and work to break up and haul large rocks. She sneaks into Sawyer’s cage and sleeps with Sawyer. She doesn’t realize they are being taped and that Jack will be shown the tape.

After escaping from the Others and returning to her camp with Sawyer, Kate decides to go back and save Jack. She destroys his chance to get off the island. Juliet tells her that she broke Jack’s heart.

In Season 4 Kate sides with Camp Jack. She eventually infiltrates Locke’s camp to get at Miles. She wants to find out if the freighter people know about her. They do. Kate leaves Sawyer (who is at Camp Locke) and heads back to the beach.

Off the Island:
Kate is part of the Oceanic 6.

Kate goes to trial – charged with fraud, arson, assault on a federal officer, assault with a deadly weapon, grand larsony, grand theft auto, and murder in the first degree. She pleads not guilty. The attorney tells Kate that the DA is taking the case and they should cut a deal. Fifteen years and she’ll serve seven. “No way,” she says. “We need him in the courtroom,” he says. Kate says no. “You are not bringing him in here. You can make this about me, but you are not using my son.” But Jack does testify for Kate. And Kate’s mother decides not to testify against her. The DA cuts a deal – 10 years probation as long as Kate doesn’t leave the state. Kate says she’ll sign it. She then goes home to her son – who is Aaron.

Jack eventually moves in with Kate and Aaron. Jack proposes to her and she says yes. At one point Jack catches her on the phone with someone. She says it is a friend but he later confronts her and she says she was out doing something for Sawyer. She and Jack fight and he leaves.

Later she meets with Jack and he tells her they need to return to the island, she gets out of the car, saying “he’s gonna be wondering where I am.”

Key Character Relations:
Kelvin – Indirectly. Kelvin worked with Sam Austen in Iraq.
Sawyer – Indirectly. Kate’s mother served Sawyer in a restaurant. Kate also met Cassidy, Sawyer’s ex-lover.
Sayid – He is on the television when she visits her step-father.

Image used with permission from Newscom