Before there was Game of Thrones, there was Lost, an “event” television program that glued viewers to their tv sets weekly before the streaming era. It aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010, and for six seasons kept fans guessing as to the fate of the survivors of Ocean Flight 815’s sudden crash onto The Island. Fans couldn’t get enough of the plot twists, double crossings, and endless mysteries the characters encountered. Three of the most popular characters to emerge from Lost also happened to participate in one of the most dramatic love triangles on primetime.
At the heart of it was Kate, a spirited young woman with a mysterious past. As the series progressed, she found herself pulled to two very different men; Jack Shephard, a handsome young doctor with a natural gift for helping others, and John “Sawyer” Ford, a sexy con-man with a vengeful past and a knack for surviving tough situations. Each of them brought out something different in Kate, and each of them proved their worth to her on numerous occasions. So who was better for her? Read on to make your choice.
JACK: HE WAS A STAND UP GUY
Without a doubt, Jack has presented himself as a man of integrity from the beginning of the series. He became a defacto leader for the survivors of the crash, and did his best to help those less fortunate than himself both on and off the island.
Jack wasn’t a perfect person, but his ability to inspire others to be better than their limitations was a quality that excused a lot of his more petty traits. It was one of the reasons the Island chose Jack, even if that meant he must sacrifice a life with Kate.
SAWYER: THEY HAD GREAT CHEMISTRY
Sawyer, like a Southern Byronic hero, was complicated, brooding, and charismatic. He had an easy-going charm about him when he wanted to, but the walls he put up around his heart made someone curious enough to want to break through them.
Though Kate may not have “loved” Sawyer in the strictest sense of the word, the two of them shared great chemistry. Whereas she shared a comfortable contentedness with Jack, it could often grow complacent, whereas the sparks between her and Sawyer would often catch fire and start a smoldering blaze.
JACK: HE WAS MORE MATURE
Following the fated crash onto The Island, Jack was a man of action. Ready to lend a hand to anyone who needed it, he jumped into leading his community with a natural affinity for the responsibility. He was always capable of making the big decisions when it came to preserving resources and human life, ensuring an abundance of both.
Sawyer ducked out of Kate’s life when he realized that he wouldn’t be able to compete with Jack’s level of maturity in the real world. Unlike when Jack gave Kate the choice to choose a path with him or Sawyer, Sawyer removed himself from Kate’s life out of cowardice, not out of respect for her decision making process.
SAWYER: HE WAS CAPABLE OF CHANGE
From his swarthy appearance and devil-may-care glint in his eye, to his twangy Southern drawl, Sawyer comes off as a smooth operator who can’t be fully trusted. His selfish self-preservation and anti-social attitude on the island didn’t make him many friends, whereas Jack was a natural leader from the start.
Based on his appearance when the series started, Sawyer went form a cruel loner who only looked out for himself, to becoming a compassionate community leader and caring partner. Whereas Jack remained on a one-note path of character development, Sawyer showed he could change for Kate.
JACK: HE CHALLENGED HER TO BE A BETTER PERSON
In the same way that Juliet would challenge Sawyer later with her patience and intellectualism, Jack challenged Kate with his stalwart and empathetic persona. His Dudley Do-Right edifice wasn’t an affectation; he was as genuinely a “nice guy” as he appeared to be, and he encouraged those around him to reach their highest potential.
That was a tall order for someone like Kate who, like Sawyer, wrestled with her own self-serving motivations, but by being with Jack, she saw different sides of herself, and was exposed to a different way of navigating the world. Next to Jack, Sawyer was a corruptible force that prevented her from changing.
SAWYER: THEY HAD MORE IN COMMON
In many ways, Sawyer and Kate seemed like a far more congruous pairing than her and Jack ever did due to their disreputable pasts. Despite Sawyer being a confidence man (aka a conman), Kate wasn’t without a checkered history. In fact, she was on Flight 815 in police custody, a point she concealed from Jack in their first interactions.
They were both used to taking what they could from the world when presented with an opportunity, and while the trait may have seemed opportunistic and deplorable, it helped them both be survivors. They also understood what it was like to be separated from a community and considered an outsider for how they chose to lead their lives.
JACK: HE WAS A SOURCE OF STABILITY
Maybe it’s because Jack was a doctor, or maybe because his naturally reserved demeanor had a calming effect, but he provided a necessary stabilizing force in Kate’s life. A logical thinker who never reacted hastily or irrationally to anything, what some might call dull, others would call competent.
Jack was someone that Kate could build a future with which, even given the temporal changes relative to Lost’s timeline of events, Kate would not only choose, but miss in the event that she lost it. She would pine for Jack in a way she would never pine for Sawyer.
SAWYER: HE WAS A SOURCE OF EXCITEMENT
Being on the other side of the law makes a man like Sawyer exciting for those whose intrigue is piqued by the thought of risk in a relationship. Unlike Jack (who tends to stick by the rules and play it safe), Sawyer played by his own rules, which could even mean double-crossing Jack about the guns to get control of the Losties.
Consider when in Season 3, Sawyer and Kate are captured and residing in dirty cages. Where some would see doom and defeat, Sawyer clearly saw desire, and Kate responded to his advances. It was unfortunate that Jack had to discover their act of intimacy via a monitor, but who knows, maybe he found that exciting too (though he’d never admit it).
JACK: SHE ALWAYS LOVED HIM
JaTe (short for “Jack and Kate”) fans would argue that Kate loved Jack from the very beginning. There was a bond that drew them together inexplicably, even culminating in a clumsy, awkward kiss from Kate before they knew very much about each other. They were two very different people thrown together by circumstance, doing the best they could.
Sawyer was a very obvious partner for Kate, and perhaps she’d fallen in love with men of his ilk before but Jack ennobled her, and we saw that she liked who she was around him. Also, Sawyer encouraged some of the very behavior that got her into custody on Flight 815 in the first place.
SAWYER: HE WOULD DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO BE WITH HER
Though Sawyer may have seemed a selfish brute in the beginning of Lost, he underwent a significant character arc after the first season. He became protective of his community (killed a polar bear in Season 2) and especially of Kate, who he would sacrifice his own freedom for (when they were trapped in the cages in Season 3).
He even eschewed his chance of leaving the island by jumping out of the helicopter so that it could land, guaranteeing the rest of the characters got to live out the storylines they’re meant to. Kate is visibly upset at his sacrifice, not realizing that he did it so that she could be with the person she was intended to be partnered with (i.e. Jack).
