in Kate's back story.

Huh. I gotta think about that a little. I got the feeling from what we've seen of Kate on the island, she's not much with making friends with other females. She doesn't find them as useful to her as men, so she doesn't cultivate them. If EC was in her backstory it would have to be as a patsy, IMO. Although, it would be nice if by putting her in Kate's backstory it could show us a different side of Kate than we've seen.

Sail, I sort of get the same feeling you get from Kate. On the other hand, though, we've seen her and Sun interacting as friends, and she did mention (in the second half of the pilot) that she has a friend named Beth (IIRC) who loves Driveshaft, so it wouldn't be out of character to see her with female friends in her past.

I want Emma Caulfield to be Locke's Helen, myself, but I suppose she wouldn't get much screen time...

edited because Emma Caulfield and Anya are, in fact, two separate entities.

Kate strikes me as playing everything close to her chest. Her interactions with Jack and Sawyer strikes me as channelling the impulse to get them close to her chest. Of just about everyone, I think her pre-crash personality is least apparent.

EC could be ... sister/friend/lover/enemy/so many things.

Kate strikes me as playing everything close to her chest.

Not just that, but that she doesn't open up easily to anyone, anymore than Sawyer does. I think that game of "I never" was very telling for both of them. It's why we haven't really seen any evidence of female friends other than a brief mention of a female someone in her backstory.

we've seen her and Sun interacting as friends

You can be friendly to someone without being their friend. Not saying she isn't becoming friends with Sun, but that we don't have any real evidence of a friendship there, yet.

I think Sawyer's easier to read, but I don't know if it's acting, writing, directing or what that's keeping Kate vague. Even to those who haven't seen the flashbacks, especially Kate, he's a little transparent.

know if it's acting, writing, directing or what that's keeping Kate vague

I'm in the same boat. I want to attribute some of it to the writing, but I'm more tempted to say it's EL's acting. I like her, but I think there's a lot she's got to learn yet.

From TVGuide.com:

Question: OK, since Alias' 90-minute season finale will be on May 25, does that mean Lost's 90-minute finale will be on the same night? — Luis

Ausiello: Actually, Lost's 90-minute season finale has just been expanded to two hours. As a result, it appears J.J. Abrams will have to trim Alias' 90-minute climax back to 60 minutes. Or maybe he'll divide it into two episodes. In any event, getting back to your original question, yes, Lost and Alias will wrap up their respective seasons on May 25.

And more from TVGuide about Lost:

CLASH OF THE TITANS: In what's being billed as the sweeps showdown to end all sweeps showdowns by, well, me, ABC has scheduled the two-hour season finale of Lost directly opposite the two-hour season finale of Fox's American Idol on Wednesday, May 25. The Lost climax, originally slated to be 90-minutes long, was expanded to two hours for creative reasons, Variety reports. OK, everyone just relax. Here's what you do: The moment Lost ends at 10:02 pm, hit "List" on your faux TiVo, scroll down to American Idol, push "Select" and fast forward to the very end when Ryan Seacrest announces Bo Bice the winner. Any questions?

Hey, Drew Goddard wrote tonight's Alias !!!

The first scene of "Kanes and Abels" is up at UPN's Veronica Mars site.

Who is that actress? She looks so familiar to me.