Day 4

[John Vanderberg]

Kate’s secret is set up by Marshall asking Jack for his handcuffs in his jacket pocket, but Jack finds the printout of Kate’s mugshot. Marshall warns Jack that she’s dangerous. 
The demand comes from playing “I Never” with Sawyer. Sawyer says, “I’ve never killed a man.” Kate drinks, revealing that she has. Then Sawyer drinks, showing that he has. This is the first thing they have in common. I don’t remember why Sawyer suspected this of her, but that is really the answer about where the demand came from. Not really sure what it was based on these clips alone.
Kate’s secret is revealed in a flashback to open an episode. 
What drama was this scene built around? I’m not sure which of the 3 scenes you’re asking about. The first scene is built on Jack trying to save Marshall’s life, and it’s revealed that his love interest has a past and is dangerous. The drama in the “I Never” game is built on raising the stakes with the intensity of the questions, from Disneyland, to being married before, to the intention of flirting, then the big one – about killing someone. The drama in the 3rd scene is not knowing what the drunk was going to try to do. There was tension as she helped him to bed because there was no levity. She seemed to be doing it out of obligation. Although he kept complimenting her, he also seemed threatening in how he spoke to her, and asked her to take his pants off after his shoes. She was clearly not interested, and so the drama and tension rose throughout the scene. 
Traits that came up:
Jack – life-saver, determined, stoic, cares for Kate, but conflicted by the reveal. 
Kate – invested, interested in Sawyer, dangerous, drinks, flirt.
Sawyer – rebel, scoundrel, has a past, knows how to get people talking. Drinks.
Insights on what makes this character great: Kate is a great character on many levels. She’s portrayed as a desirable love interest by two very different men, which empowers her. She’s beautiful, brave, adventurous, mysterious, flirtatious, and emotionally available. She’s strong and has strong beliefs and feelings. Her secret makes her even more interesting, and after it’s revealed, there are still a lot of questions about how her relationship with the man she killed got to that point. “Lost” is a great show and was so well written.  My insights on creating a character with a secret are about leading the audience and other characters along with clues. Enough breadcrumbs to keep everyone interested, and then the build-up to the payoff.  
For my script “Wish Away,” I have a number of pay-offs that I lead up to throughout the script. One of the big ones is that John (the cop) is actually a guardian angel, or spiritual leader, to Max, our protagonist. Another is that Max’s sister, who is coming to visit for Thanksgiving, much to Max’s chagrin, is bringing their parents, unbeknownst to him. And there’s a lot of tension and resentment built up for them over time, so it’s leading up to an unexpected reunion. 
Studying these scenes from Lost makes me feel like I can examine how to create better suspense or build up to my payoffs. I would really like to hear what others thought about these scenes.